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Chapter 66

The rest of the week went very well for all the Thorntons. School had a great beginning for Elizabeth and all the students. It didn't take Elizabeth too long to figure out where each student was with their abilities. After all, she had them all the previous year. They were a good group of students and Elizabeth was grateful for them.

She held off on the math workbook for JJ. While she did want to challenge him, the textbook that her professor sent for her was part high school and part college level. It was designed just for gifted individuals. She thought it was a little too advanced for him. After speaking to Jack about it, she decided to wait until the end of the week before deciding to allow him to attempt the math problems. When she glanced at the textbook, she quickly realized it was way about her abilities. By the end of the week, she was thinking he needed to be challenged. She wasn't sold on it yet but was leaning in that direction of allowing JJ to attempt it.

Jack spent that week each day at the new home. He would walk his family to school and then head off to the home site. He loved working at the home. First, he loved that his hands helped build their home. It gave him a feeling that he was providing for his family. Secondly, he was excited about getting to know some of the other men that were volunteering. They would talk while working or when they took breaks. He was able to get to know them better.

The phone calls with Jerry were beginning to dwindle down to about three a week. Elziabeth realized that she needed to be more present in those phone conversations. She has been slacking in that area. She knew with the pregnancy that her participation may naturally dwindle.

…

After school, Elizabeth needed to make a trip to the mercantile for some items for dinner. With the weekend coming up and with JJ's appetite, they needed some groceries. Instead of running off to play with Emily or the other fellas, he decided to stay with his mommy. Elizabeth didn't understand why he did that, but she loved being with him. He was a bright light in her world.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Thornton."

"Good afternoon, Mr. Yost."

"Hey young man. I have a letter for you."

Elizabeth smiled knowing who the letter was from. Her father had come to write to him every week. She was grateful he fulfilled that promise to her little boy. JJ was slowly warming up to her father. He was still hesitant, but the letters were going a long way in winning JJ over. She just wished her father wouldn't share so many stories about her youth.

"Great." JJ excitedly exclaimed. He ran up to the counter and accepted the letter in Ned's outstretched hand. He walked to the corner and sat in a chair. He opened the envelope and pulled out the letter.

My Dearest Little Man –

I hope you are doing well. Things here are well. One thing I have learned about this place is that nothing changes here. The classes I teach are going well and a nice change of pace. I have formed some nice friendships through it.

Gracie has told me so much about you. When I get out of here, I'm hoping Gracie and I can visit you, my Bethie, and Jack. I know it won't be for a while, but I am looking forward to it.

Now, when your mother was eight, she decided that she didn't want to go to a class. It was a class that was beginning to teach young ladies how to become a proper young lady. She excelled in learning anything she put her mind to, but she didn't like the classes. So, she decided to pretend to be sick. She convinced us that her tummy was hurting and that she shouldn't go. She didn't want to make anyone else sick.

So, we sent her to her room with some tea that was supposed to help with upset tummies. Gracie went to check on her about an hour later. Instead of knocking on the door because she didn't want to wake Bethie up if she was sleeping, Gracie slowly opened the door. Grace was shocked at the sight before her. Instead of being in bed, Bethie was dancing in the center of her room. She had some music record playing on the phonograph and just dancing as hard as she could. Needless to say, Gracie was frustrated with our middle daughter.

We had to pay for her class she missed, but we were also upset because she lied to us. So, she was grounded from reading for one week until her next class. She never missed a day of class after that.

I should allow you to get back to your day. I hope you will write soon.

Oh…on the second sheet of paper is a math problem. There is a young man who began coming to my class who is intelligent in math. Your mommy has told me how good you are in math. The young man here is a math genius who got caught up with someone who persuaded him to do something bad. He is serving two years. He is taking my class in hoping to have a path to stay out of here when he gets out. He needs to have job potential when he does. Anyways, he gave me this math problem for you. He seriously doubts you can solve it. He said it took him a month. Good luck in solving it.

Your Hopeful Grandpa

Elizabeth watched her son read the letter as she was looking over the shelves for the items she needed. She noticed his smile and was wondering, and worried, about what little tidbit of information her father had written about. She warned her father not to do that, but he would always write back and said it was his grandfatherly duty. In all their letters, her father never asked about the company. She was impressed with that. William knew he was pushing by signing the letter that way, but he just couldn't help it. In his heart, he was that boy's grandfather.

She noticed the letter had two pages when JJ enthusiastically pulled the second page out. That was usual. Her father only wrote one page. That's all they were allowed. She wanted to know what he was doing, but she didn't want to come across as being too nosey.

She intently watched her boy look over the second page. He was intently scanning over the paper. It had all of his attention. That was usual for her son. Typically, he would scan something quickly and then he lost interest. This page was holding his attention.

"So, what do you have?" She couldn't hold out any longer.

"Mommy, may I miss school on Monday?"

"No you may not."

"Even if I just don't want to go?"

"JJ…it's not ok to miss school because you don't want to go." Her voice was indignant.

"Even if I don't like it and want to dance in the middle of my room?"

Elizabeth stared at her son for a moment. He has never shown any interest in dancing to music before.

"You are not allowed to miss school." She stated and turned to ask Mr. Yost for something. After taking one step she abruptly stopped and turned around. "Wait…what did father tell you?"

…

Frank and Abagail were enjoying a few minutes of downtime. The lunch rush was over and so was the clean up afterward. Frank just came back from checking on a couple of farmers on the outskirts of town. They had missed church the previous Sunday. When he checked on them on Tuesday, they were sick. They were beginning to feel better, but they were still recovering. Abagail made them some soup and sandwiches which Frank delivered. They were grateful for the food.

"How were the Warrens?"

"They were better but still recovering. Hey, let me ask you…what do you think about what you and Elizabeth spoke about the other day?"

"After thinking about it, I'm going to offer small loans for people to expand their farms or small businesses. The loans will have a small interest rate."

"So each family will be stronger in whatever way they do best?"

"Yes. Not everyone will be able to get the loan, but it will be at one percent interest rate."

"That's not much."

"No. I don't want it to be. The town will reap the benefits when their small businesses and farms are doing well. We'll get that money back then."

"What about the café?"

"I'm not taking a loan. I don't think that would be right or look right with me being the mayor."

"But you are a small business owner."

"And the mayor. With how Gowen did things, I want the office to be as transparent as possible."

"That makes sense."

"Plus, we are doing really well. I don't need a loan. We may need to purchase a new cooking stove and a few more dishes, but nothing major outside of the stove."

"I'll check with a friend of mine. He makes stoves in his blacksmithing shop. I'll telegram him later."

"Thanks." She settled in beside her husband.

"After we close the café tonight, why don't we go for a walk?"

"That sounds lovely Frank."

…

Corporal Reed was riding in search of a bank robber who the mounties believed were on the run through this portion of Alberta. He hasn't seen any evidence of him since he left Buxton. He thought he may be going in the other direction, but he was following his orders to the best of his ability. He thought he would stop off in Hope Valley for a meal at Abagail's and maybe a night's sleep behind the jail. He has heard word that Jack has retired from the Mounties and was assuming the role as sheriff in Hope Valley but he wasn't sure if the news were true. He enjoyed getting to know Jack when he was one of the mounties in Hope Valley helping with the prisoner exchange.

As his horse finished the last ten yards climbing the hill, he stopped the horse to catch his breath. He looked around the sights for a few moments. Then he felt a sharp pain in his left arm and then he heard the gun shot. He ducked as his horse reared up. Instinctively, the horse made a quick getaway to the closest group trees. He was doing what he was trained to do. He knew his rider was hurt.

Reed stayed low in the saddle. Once under the shadows of a large oak tree, he patted his horse's neck and told him thank you. The horse nodded his head. Both were looking out over the landscape to see if they could find anyone. He didn't know if the shot was intended for him or if it was a stray bullet from a hunter or someone shooting target practice. He stayed low on his horse as his horse remained under the tree. Both were covered well. They couldn't see any movement, nor did they hear anything. After several minutes, he sat up and examined his left arm. It was bleeding, but it was just a grazing injury. It hurt worse than it actually was. He took out a handkerchief and tied it tightly around the injury. He kept a close eye on his horse. He was still intently looking over the landscape. The horses ears was working forward and backward trying to listen to everything.

They sat under the tree for twenty minutes without seeing anything out of the ordinary. Instead of riding in the open, they made their way around the edge of the tree line so they could remain under some sort of cover.

…

Jack walked into town from the home site. Elizabeth was standing outside of the mercantile talking with Cat Mongomery. He didn't see his little boy. Elizabeth noticed Jack walking in her direction. Her smile grew at his appearance.

"Well, good afternoon."

"Hello beautiful." His dimpled smile was intoxication. "Good afternoon, Ms. Mongomery."

"Mr. Thornton." Cat nodded her head. Then she turned her attention toward Elizabeth and told her goodbye. Jack kissed Elizabeth gently on the lips after Cat walked away.

"Hey…" He flirted kissing her again.

"What's got into you?" She gasped at his forwardness on the front porch of the mercantile.

"I missed you." He wiggled his eyes. "What are you doing?"

"Picking up items for dinner. JJ had a letter from father. He added a math problem from someone in his class. JJ has been sitting in the corner working on it for the last thirty minutes."

Elizabeth went into detail about the letter and JJ's attentiveness on working on the problem. Through her whole explanation, Jack wouldn't let go of her hand. He was rubbing her forearm with his other hand. He kept making loving eyes at her. It was beginning to work on her.

"Hey, I have a thought." He stated as he inched a little closer to her. He moved his right hand from her arm and laid it gently on her waist. He slowly inched it to the small of her back.

"I think I know what you're thinking…"

"It's been a busy week. We haven't had any time together." His voice was low and deep.

"Yeah…"

"Why don't we get food together and have a picnic."

"Isn't it a little late for that? It's almost dinner time."

"It is getting later in the day, but we have plenty of daylight left. Plus…" He scooted a little closer. "I've missed you."

"You've said that already." Elizabeth gasped at his closeness. She moved ever so slightly in his direction.

"What if…" He began as he moved his lips closer to her ear. He knew she loved when he paid attention to that part of her body. He smiled when she moved her ear a little closer. Jack reached up with his left hand and moved a little bit of her hair off her shoulder and placed it over her shoulder. Elizabeth shivered at his actions. She didn't know what that simple act meant so much to her, but it moved her each time he did that. He whispered in her ear making sure she could feel his breath on her ear. "…we make a picnic and take it to our new home. We can have our first family dinner there?"

Elizabeth leaned into Jack until she was touching him. "That sounds perfect…then maybe we can send JJ to bed early." She raised her head and kissed the spot just below his ear. She knew he liked her attention there.

Without saying a word, Jack took her hand and pulled her to the side of the mercantile. He gently, but passionately, pushed her back against the side wall and immediately followed her as he crashed his lips onto her lips. After several seconds, he moved to her chin and then to her neck. Elizabeth shuttered and inhaled a deep breath. This only drove Jack deeper. He has missed his wife over the last week. They have been busy and tired at the end of the day. When they weren't, her tummy wasn't cooperating.

Elizabeth was enjoying the attention from her husband. She tightened her hold on his hair and pulled him closer as he made his way to her ear. When he captured her ear with his lips, she moaned. The moan drove him deeper as he felt her throat vibrate.

"Elizabeth…" He huskily stated.

"Jack…" Her voice was full of desire and want.

"Constable! Constable!"

Jack and Elizabeth halted their attack on each other when they heard a voice calling out. It was evident that the voice was concerned.

"Constable Thronton! Constable Thornton!"

Jack grumbled something under his breath. If Elizabeth wasn't so frustrated with the loss of Jack's attention, she would have smiled at his frustration.

"I better see what they want…" His voice trailed off as he laid his forehead on her shoulder.

"Jack, I don't think my legs are working."

Jack smiled. He didn't understand how he had that effect on her, but he was grateful he did. He loved that woman with all of his heart.

"Come on Bella…" Jack took her by her hand. Before helping her stand from the wall, his eyes connected and told her everything he wanted to tell her. Her eyes did the exact same thing. "Tonight…you're mine." His deep, sultry tone in his voice making her legs grow weak again.

…

Lee looked over his desk at all the paperwork. His leg was feeling better, but he was still cautious with it. He was trying to keep his world to Rosemary and to Faith. The expansion looked promising. His contract with Thatcher Shipping was solid and the potential new prospect with them looked even better. He decided to expand the mill by two saw blades. He would have to hire a few more men, but that was easily covered with the new business. He was pleased with everything moving forward.

He and Rosemary were doing well too. They were planning their wedding and everything Rosemary was planning was way over the top. They had a couple of conversations to rein her in a little. While it may have helped, it certainly hasn't changed her whole mindset. Even with all her craziness, Lee was in love with her. Their relationship may have been over the top for anyone else. However, it just worked between the two of them.

"Mr. Coulter, if you will sign this, we can turn this into the mayor's office. I can drop it off on my way into town." Mr. Hickam handed the papers to Lee.

"Is this the papers for the expansion?"

"It is. I have one for one blade and another paper for two blades. You just need to decide."

"Let's go with the two saw blades. I think the new business will occupy one blade just itself. If we pick up any other business, we will already be behind. The second blade will be for any future business."

"That's a great ideal."

"When Jack's and Elizabeth's house is finished, let's go ahead and built the two sheds for the new blades. Let's just jump on this and have it waiting for it."

"Perfect."

…

"Mr. Simpson. Thank you for coming and seeing me today."

"Sure Mrs. Mayor."

"Mrs. Mayor…you've been talking to Jack, haven't you?"

"Yes, Mrs. Mayor. And Pastor Frank and Mr. Coulter." Mr. Simpson smirked.

"Mr. Simpson, I've heard rumors that you were once interested in making and selling furniture."

"I was at one time."

"And now?"

"I'm not too sure. That was a couple of years ago. I could never afford the start up."

"You make those two tables for me and eight chairs. Those are the only two pieces of furniture in the café that doesn't wobble."

"I'll stop by tomorrow and look at the others to see if I can fix the others."

"Thanks, but I would like to talk to you about your potential business. You make beautiful furniture of great quality. Let me ask, was it the money that kept you from opening it?"

"It was."

"What if the town can help you with a small loan at one percent interest to be paid back in two years? Would that allow you to start your business?"

"The town has that type of money for everyone?"

"Not for everyone. Only for people who have a realistic vision of a business or to enlarge their farms. Not everyone will be eligible for this. Henry Gowen stole some money from the town over the years. With the help of the mounties, we were able to recover most of it. The town council would like for it to go towards helping individual families to help make the town stronger. There will be a spur line that will be coming soon. You would be able to ship your furniture using that."

"That might work." He thought tapping his chin. "Why just one percent?"

"The town will make a little bit of money, but where we will profit is when a new business opens. It will help the town to become stronger. We also won't become the next big city. We would like to remain true to what Hope Valley really is."

"May I have a day or two to think it over?"

"Absolutely. Take as much time as you want."

"Thanks Mrs. Mayor."

…

Jack and Elizabeth stepped onto the main porch of the mercantile when they saw a red serge go by quickly heading toward the jail.

"That doesn't look good." Jack stated.

"I'll get JJ and we'll be at home. See you soon."

"I love you, Elizabeth."

"Come back to me as soon as you can. We need you." She nodded toward the mercantile and placed her hand over her stomach.

"I need you three."

"I love you, Jack."

Elizabeth walked into the mercantile and saw JJ still sitting in the chair.

"Come on my little man, we need to head home."

JJ didn't even look up. He has been working on the math problem for a while. He was making progress on it. It was challenging and he enjoyed that. This was the first time he had been challenged with a math problem in a long time.

"In a minute, mommy."

"JJ…we need to go home. You may work on the problem when we are home after you finish your chores."

He looked up about to argue until he saw her face.

"Fine." He bemoaned as he stood up holding onto the piece of paper and a pencil.

"I'm sorry, young man." Her hand quickly went to her lip. Her mommy tone was very evident in her voice.

"I'm sorry mommy." He quickly apologized. "This is a hard problem…I guess I just got lost in it."

"That's fine young man. Thank you for apologizing."

…

Jack walked toward the jail. He saw the red serge rider pull his horse to a stop at the tie off bar in front of the jail. When the rider jumped off his horse, Jack saw him reach for his left arm. Jack knew the man must be injured somehow.

"Good afternoon, I'm Sargeant Thronton. What may I do for you?"

The young man, about Jack's age, turned around and lifted his head.

"Reed." Jack stated when he recognized the man who helped him weeks ago during the sawmill incident. "What's wrong? Are you alright?"

"Are you busy?"

"What's up?"

"I was shot, and I wanted to see if you'll go back with me to see what happened."

"What happened?"

Reed spent a couple of minutes telling Jack a quick synopsis of what happened. This gave his horse time to drink water.

"Alright, if you waited twenty to thirty minutes and didn't see anything, chances are they won't be there now. Let's go see Nurse Carter and make sure that doesn't get infected." He nodded to Reed's left arm. "Then I'll saddle up Spartan and we'll go take a gool look."

"Is that the same nurse from week's ago?" Reed asked with a little bit of shyness in his voice.

Jack glanced at him for a moment when he thought he noticed a difference in his tone. He saw the slight color of red on his cheeks and he didn't think it was from his wound or his riding.

"It is. She's a great nurse and a better person. Let's get that taken care of and then we'll head out."

"Are you working today?" Reed asked as he began to follow Jack to the infirmary.

"Actually, I'm on leave until next week."

"Jack, I'm sorry to interrupt your leave."

"That's ok. When my leave is up, I'm out as a mountie. I didn't reenlist."

"I heard rumors of that, but I didn't believe it."

"I decided not to reenlist for various reason."

"What are you going to do?"

"When my time with the mounties comes to an end, I will be the sheriff here in Hope Valley. Do you remember what we talked about the day you escorted the prisoners out of town?" Jack asked as they stepped on the front porch of the infirmary?"

"I do…it was all hypothetical."

"It was at that time, but it's not now. I would like to further the discussion with you at some time."

"Sure thing Jack. Let's get this all sorted out first."

"No problem." Jack stated as he opened the door.

"Faith are you busy?"

"No Jack. Is everything ok?" She asked as she looked up from her desk.

"Corporal Reed here got himself hurt. Would you please look at him?"

"Sure. Corporal, have a seat." Faith nodded toward the examination bed.

"Reed, when you are finished, I'll be at the livery saddling Sargeant."

"Wait, I thought…"

"I'll meet you there. This shouldn't take long." Jack gave Reed a smirk.

After Jack left the infirmary, Faith turned her attention toward the injured constable.

"Now, let's take this shirt off so I can get a better look at that arm. Where you injured anywhere else?"

"No ma'am." Reed stuttered out. His face turned a slight pink color. He slowly unbuttoned his serge and gently took it off. He looked in Faith's direction. He only had on his henley. It was a little bloody on his left arm. She nodded toward him to indicate for him to take it off. He inhaled a quick breath and, with his good arm, reached for the bottom of his henley.

Reed had never courted anyone before. He was a lot like Jack. He just didn't believe that a mountie should marry. It only complicated everything. If the mounties wanted him to have a wife, they would have issued him one. He was taught that in the academy. So, this strange feeling he was experiencing was foreign to him. He couldn't understand why he was struggling with such a simple task of taking off his shirt.

Faith had her back turned to the mountie. After a quick look before Reed took off his shirt, she didn't think it was too bad. She assumed she needed to clean him and the wound up a little and make sure there wasn't any infection in it. After that, it was as simple as bandaging the wound. Then she would send this mountie on his way. That was until she turned around after he took off his shirt. As a medical professional, she has seen countless men with their shirts off. It has happened so often that she doesn't even notice anymore. She couldn't understand why she inhaled a quick breath of air and was speechless when Reed was sitting there shirtless.

She remembered the time when Jack was shot in the shoulder when she asked him to take off his shirt in the upper bedroom of Abagail's. She had paused to steal a glance of Jack. Now she was doing the same thing with Reed. This was the same feeling and it surprised her. She buried those feelings for Jack since they had their discussion of their friendship. Jack had said that he wasn't ready for a relationship. At that moment, she knew he only had eyes for Elizabeth. They had fallen into a good friendship without those feelings rising again.

Reed's serge did an excellent job of hiding what was underneath it. Reed wasn't a huge muscle man, but like Jack, he had well defined muscles. She looked down quickly. She didn't want to get caught staring. Stop it Faith…you are a medical professional! She reprimanded herself before looking up to his arm. She refused to look into Reed's face.

If Reed was able to look up, he would have seen the color of Faith's face changing. He just couldn't look up. He was too embarrassed sitting in front of this beautiful woman without a shirt on. He was also trying to figure out this strange feeling. Since becoming a mountie, he hasn't had this odd feeling. Then it struck him. He had this feeling when he was fourteen in school with Amy. He liked her. He always felt warm around her. His hands would become instantly sweaty and his ability to think was absent. That was exactly what he was feeling at the moment sitting in a small infirmary.

"Now Constable Reed, let me look at that arm."

"Please call me Sam." He was surprised by his words. He didn't think he had the ability to speak.

"Very well, Sam. Please call me Faith. Now, let me take a look at that wound."

…

Jack walked into the livery and up to Sargeant's stall. "Hey boy…"

Sargeant's ears perked up. It has been a few days since their last ride. Jack could easily see that this favorite horse was ready for some fresh air. Jack quickly brushed him and then began to put the saddle on him. Sargeant was standing just like he has been trained for years. Jack once again thanked heaven for the ability to keep Sargeant after his leaving the mounties. He really was a great horse.

Jack led his horse around the corner of the building and towards Sam's horse that was still tied to the hitching post at the jail. Before he tied his horse off, he saw the door of the infirmary open. Reed stepped out onto the sidewalk buttoning up his red serge. Jack smiled at the color of Reed's cheeks and the look on his face. He thought the mountie was smitten.

"How's the arm?" Jack asked as Reed approached.

"It's ok. Faith cleaned it out and then bandaged it."

"Faith?" Smirked Jack.

"She told me to call her by her name.

Jack smirked in his direction. Reed wouldn't look in Jack's direction.

"She's a great nurse and even better woman. You would be lucky to have her attention."

Reed continued to look at the ground. Jack smiled at his awkwardness and decided to cut him some slack.

As he settled in the saddle, Jack asked. "Tell me again what happened."

Reed slowly sat in the saddle and adjusted himself. He turned his horse to go back the way he had come from just a few minutes ago. Jack followed and listened to the whole story again as they made their way to the spot.

…

Jack stood under the tree where Reed's horse took him to get away from the danger. He looked over the field and surrounding areas. "You have a smart horse. This was the best location to go."

"He's well trained. He has saved my backside more times than I can count."

"I hear you." Jack stated as he patted Sargeant's neck.

"So, what's around here?"

"Not too much. Just open field to the west. Some cabins to the north but they're too far away to have caused this. You came from the east. There are some patches of trees to the south, some of them are pretty dense but not cabins for a while."

"Do you think it was a stray bullet?"

"You were here, what do you think?"

"Jack, my gut tells me it wasn't a stray bullet."

"I agree with your gut. A stray bullet doesn't make sense. This isn't prime hunting grounds. If it was someone target shooting or practicing, you would have heard more than one shot."

"I agree."

"Have you made any enemies lately?"

"No, not lately but you know the job."

"True." Jack looked to the south. From what you stated, it had to come from there."

"I think so, but it could have come from the north too."

"That's the problem with a grazing wound like that…one can't get a sense of the direction of the bullet."

They walked around the area a little longer looking for any signs of anyone. They didn't see anything or any pieces of evidence. Jack stood in the center of the field where Reed was injured and turned slowly looking in every direction. Nothing made sense to either of them. This was an isolated area outside of Hope Valley. No way could it have been a deliberate attack on Reed. He hasn't noticed anyone following him. No one would have known he was out this way. For hours he hadn't seen any signs of the bank robbers. He felt they weren't heading in this direction. It had to be something else. They just didn't know what.

"Let's get you back to the mercantile. You need to wire this into headquarters."

"Yeah." Reed sounded a little frustrated since they couldn't find anything to go on.

"Are you ok staying in the jail. There's that room in the back. I had a lot of good nights sleeping in that room.

"It isn't full of prisoners again, is it?" Reed playfully smirked.

"No…thank goodness."