Elizabeth Thatcher Thornton looked down at her sleeping son in his crib. Elizabeth couldn't believe how much her life had changed in the past year. A year ago, she was a newlywed waiting for her Mountie husband to return from an assignment at Fort Clay. Now, she was a widow with a four month old son she had named after his father. Little Jack Thornton Jr was such a gift in her grief. She was returning to work and the thought of leaving him was so difficult.

Being a teacher was all that Elizabeth had ever wanted to do. The students brought a joy and a light to her life. Now as a mother though, she wanted to hold her son close and look into his sweet face all day. The women of Hope Valley were willing to help her in watching Little Jack as she taught school. The blessing of this town was something she would never take for granted.

Elizabeth walked downstairs holding Jack, knowing it would be time for her to leave soon. As soon as she had that thought, there was a knock and then the door opened. "Good morning!" Rosemary exclaimed. "Are you ready for your first day back to school?"

"I guess so."

"Elizabeth, what's wrong? I thought you were excited about going back to teaching? Weren't you telling me just the other day that you missed the students?"

"Of course I miss them, it is just really hard to leave the baby this morning," Elizabeth sighed as she put her head against Jack's and looked at Rosemary.

Rosemary smiled at her, "The day will go faster than you think and then you can come home to your sweet baby boy. He is going to have a wonderful day with Auntie Rosemary. Aren't you?" Rosemary reached for Jack, taking him out of Elizabeth's arms.

Elizabeth looked conflicted but finally walked over to the table by her front door to get her basket. She looked back at Rosemary holding Jack and went over to kiss her son on top of his head. "Ok, mama will be back soon," Elizabeth looked up at Rosemary, "Thank you Rosemary for watching him."

"My pleasure, we will see you later."

Elizabeth walked out the front door, waving at her son and best friend as she shut the door behind her. Tears started to form in her eyes as she walked down the stairs to the path leading towards town. As much as she wanted to turn around, she kept going heading for the school. She knew every day would not be this hard and she did still love teaching. As a single parent, she had to do everything to create the best life she could for her son.

She walked the long way to the schoolhouse that day, behind all the town buildings, so she wouldn't run into anyone. Elizabeth was normally a social person but she didn't want anyone to see her cry today. She was trying to get her feelings under control before she saw the students. She could hear them playing outside as she got closer. One of the students saw her as she approached and called "Mrs. Thornton, you're back!"

All of the students came running in her direction. Elizabeth put a smile on her face. She really was happy to see all of them again. She had seen some of them around town after Jack was born but not this many all at once. Some of them came up and hugged her, others were asking questions about the baby. "Hello everyone! I missed you all. Why don't we go into the schoolhouse and I will answer all your questions, how does that sound?"

The children ran out in front of her to grab their lunches and books and headed into the schoolhouse. Opal ran into the school first and came back out with the cowbell that Elizabeth had gotten from her husband Jack when she didn't have a school bell. "Mrs. Thornton, I thought you might need this!"

Elizabeth smiled, "Thank you Opal." Elizabeth rang the bell and all the children walked inside. She walked up the stairs to the doors of the school. Before she walked in, she saw the plaque the town had made that said JACK THORNTON SCHOOL and she looked down at the cowbell in her hands. Elizabeth turned with her back to the school and looked up to the sky. Elizabeth whispered, "I know you are with me today Jack. I miss you and I love you." Elizabeth wiped a tear that had fallen on her cheek and turned back into the school and shut the door.

––––––––––

Rosemary was right. The day did go fast. Once Elizabeth had walked into that schoolhouse with the children, it was like she had never left. Rosemary had promised to bring Jack to the schoolhouse at the end of the day after the students had left. Elizabeth didn't want the baby to be a distraction to their studies but she also couldn't wait to see him. Elizabeth needed to go to the mercantile later so she would take Jack with her and perhaps Rosemary would walk with them.

Elizabeth was sitting at her desk grading papers. She was trying to get a much done before she went home in case Jack was fussy tonight. As it was her first day back in the classroom, Elizabeth was trying to figure out how to balance her life as a teacher and being a mother. She knew she wouldn't be able to rely on Rosemary every day. As much as Rosemary was willing to help, it wasn't fair to her. She had things she wanted to do and Elizabeth didn't want to stop her from doing that.

Elizabeth packed up her basket and headed for the front door. As she reached the top of the steps, turning around after shutting the door to the school, she saw Rosemary walking towards her with the buggy. Rosemary waved and put her finger to her lips. Jack must be sleeping, Elizabeth thought. As much as she wanted to hug and squeeze him after missing him all day, she knew it was better to let him sleep now.

"Hi Rosemary, how was he today?"

"A perfect angel as always. Do you still need to go to the merchantile?"

"Yes," Elizabeth said. "I am waiting for a delivery of fishing line for a project for class tomorrow."

"Fishing line?" Rosemary asked as they walked towards town.

"We are going to be doing a lesson about the telephone. Bill said that the town council agreed to have one installed so I wanted to show the kids how it works."

"You are such a great teacher Elizabeth. I would have never thought to do something like that. Let's go see if it arrived. And why don't you come over for dinner tonight? Lee and I would love to have you. We can get some things for dinner while we are there."

"That sounds great, Rosemary. Thank you."

Elizabeth and Rosemary walked into the mercantile, hearing a crash from the other room as they walked through the door. The sound woke Jack from his nap as he started a soft cry. Elizabeth picked him up and held him to her shoulder and Jack sent back to sleep almost immediately in the arms of his mother. As they all walked in a little further, Elizabeth saw Ned over to the side working on a box with a large amount of wires.

Rosemary asked, "Ned, are you alright? What are you doing over there?"

"Everything is fine Rosemary. I am setting up the new telephone. Bill said there is supposed to be a call tomorrow afternoon as a welcome of the telephone to Hope Valley."

"That's terrific!" Rosemary exclaimed. "Are you sure you can get it working by tomorrow?" Elizabeth and Rosemary both noticed all the wires that were not connected to anything. It didn't look like Ned had gotten very far in putting it together.

"It'll be ready," Ned replied. Elizabeth wasn't sure if he was confident or if that was him trying to convince himself. Elizabeth and Rosemary walked around the mercantile, deciding to leave Ned to his task. Rosemary had chosen a nice roast for dinner along with some potatoes and vegetables. Elizabeth walked over to the counter with Jack.

"Laura, did my order come in today?"

"No, Mrs. Thornton. It should be here tomorrow."

"Oh no, I needed the fishing line in the order for a project I am working on with school."

Laura replied, "I can bring it by the schoolhouse as soon as it comes in. Maybe you can do your project in the afternoon."

"That would be wonderful Laura, thank you. I'll see you tomorrow then!"

Rosemary paid for her purchases and the two of them made their way out of the mercantile. Elizabeth put Jack back into the buggy as soon as they started walking a little bit and she was sure he was asleep. She was hoping he would sleep for a couple more hours so she could help Rosemary with dinner and they could visit for a bit.