A few days later, Elizabeth was spending the day cleaning out her row house. She was scrubbing floors and dusting as well as doing laundry. After she brought in the clean laundry, she hung the rugs outside. Rosemary saw Elizabeth working in the backyard and offered to take Jack for the day. She said Elizabeth could come get him later and come over for dinner. Rosemary took Jack with her to town with the promise of ice cream.
Elizabeth was outside in the backyard beating the carpets to clean them. Nathan rode by the house after his rounds and heard a noise from the backyard. He was standing right outside her door, about to knock when he heard it again. He walked down the steps and walked around the side of her row house. Elizabeth was standing with her hair pulled back in a ponytail with pieces falling out of the sides. She stood in front of one of the carpets with her hands on her hips. It looked like she had been busy all day and Nathan thought she looked beautiful.
Nathan walked towards her and she heard one of his steps. She turned with a look of annoyance on her face, but it instantly changed when she saw who it was. The red serge had once been something that had kept her from Nathan, but now she appreciated how good he looked as he walked closer to her with his hat in his hands. "Hi, I wasn't expecting you today. Is everything ok?"
"Wonderful actually. I finished my rounds early today and I wondered if you wanted to go on a picnic with me this afternoon."
"A picnic? Really?"
"Yes, unless you are too busy," Nathan said.
"No, nothing here that can't wait. I'd love to go."
"Perfect. I will go home and change and then I can go get Sergeant sattled. I'll be back in about a hour." Nathan leaned over and gave her a kiss and put his hat back on his head. He tipped it towards her as he walked away which made Elizabeth giggle. Elizabeth hoped their relationship would always be like this. She would do everything she could to make sure of it.
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Nathan and Elizabeth rode out to their land. The purchase had been finalized so it was truly theirs and they could begin to make plans. Nathan had talked to Lee about purchasing the lumber and Lee agreed to use the trees from their land which would help with the cost. Nathan had arrived at Elizabeth's house with a few plans that he had drawn up which he wanted to talk to Elizabeth about.
Nathan set out a blanket from the back of his saddle and helped Elizabeth sit down with him. He had brought a large tube with the plans in it. Elizabeth had seemed curious when he arrived for their ride but she knew he would tell her when the time was right.
"Elizabeth, I want this house here to be what both of us want. I have been thinking of our home since I first saw this land and planned to propose. I drew up some plans for us to start but I want to plan it with you. These plans are just a starting point. We can make any changes and add anything you want."
Nathan pulled the plans out. It was a two story house with a large porch on the front. Elizabeth looked at each room and she could see them living there. Tears started to fall from her eyes as she smiled and kept looking at the plans in front of her. Nathan reached out and wiped a tear from her cheek. "I didn't mean to make you cry," Nathan said.
"They are happy tears. Wonderfully happy tears. This is our home Nathan. Our future."
Nathan stood up and held out his hand to Elizabeth. She stood up and Nathan led her to a cleared area near the stream. Elizabeth saw rows of rocks spread out on the ground. The rocks covered a large area. They looked to be in a pattern but Elizabeth couldn't make it out. Nathan led her to the edge of one of the rows of rocks and turned her to face the stream where the two of them could hear the waterfall in the distance.
"Do you know where we are Elizabeth?"
"On our land," Elizabeth turned her head and looked over her shoulder with a smile.
"Yes, our land. But more importantly, this is where I thought we could put our porch. This could be our view sitting in chairs or a swing at night. If that's what you want."
Elizabeth turned and wrapped her arms around Nathan, pulling him close. "Yes Nathan. Right here. I want to spend the first night in our home looking out at this view with you. I can't wait to be married but I also can't wait to be here on this land."
"I tried to lay out the rocks to show you where the rooms would be for our home. Do you want to see?"
"Yes please."
Nathan led Elizabeth around showing her the large family room, the kitchen, a room for a library/study, and their bedroom at the back of the house. The other bedrooms would be on the second floor. Elizabeth loved all of it and she only wanted to make a few changes with an extra window or moving a door. She also asked if they could have a porch outside of their bedroom to watch sunsets and sunrises together. Nathan would do everything to make all of her dreams come true.