Chapter 24

Elizabeth looked over at her former fiancé and smiled. "I'm sorry it took me so long to come and see you. I needed some time to think about everything I learned about Jack and your friend. I have been doing a lot of reflecting." She told him as she took two letters out of her pocket and handed them to him.

"These belong to you. Thank you for letting me read them. If it wasn't for your friend, Jack and I might never have gotten the chance to marry. I wouldn't have my son. Lucas, I don't know if I can put into words everything that I am feeling, but I would like to try." She told him as she lowered her gaze for a moment.

"Elizabeth, I just hope that you are not angry with me about what you have learned? Lucas said anxiously.

"Why would I be angry with you?" She asked surprised that he was worried about that.

"Because my desire to find out the truth of what happened to my best friend ended up involving you. I never envisioned that it would include your late husband. I found out things that perhaps at least for you were better left unknown or forgotten. I hope you don't feel Matthew is responsible for Jack's death and by extension me as well…" Lucas said as he trailed off. He was terrified that everything they had rebuilt over the past four years was about to be torn down again, with no guarantee that it would survive another implosion.

"I don't blame anyone for what happened, especially not you. Lucas, you have been nothing but wonderful to me. The same cannot be said of me. Please do not think that I hold you or your friend responsible in anyway. Jack was always a Mountie first and foremost, everything and everyone came secondary to that, including me. A realization that I am now coming to terms with. You always put me first but I was just so stuck in the past that I couldn't see that. You told me once that I put Jack on a pedestal, the way I had thought you had once done with me. Although, I didn't believe I had done that with Jack at the time you told me that." She said with a soft laugh.

"I must say that I understand it now. I knew my husband well in life but apparently not in death. I'm afraid you were correct I elevated him to a place that no earthly man could measure up to. I thought I needed and wanted to be a Mountie's wife, not a businessman's wife. I used Nathan as a means to an end and hurt you both deeply. But you most of all." She paused as she gave him a knowing smile. "If only I had the perspective I have now, things might have turned out differently between us." She lowered her head as she said those words not wanting to see his reaction to them.

Seeking his gaze once again she raised her eyes to look at him. "Lucas, you loved me with everything you had and I threw it back in your face. You didn't deserve that. I let myself betray you and thought I was in love with Nathan because I was simply trying to recapture the life, I believed I was cheated out of. The truth is ten years after his death I am still broken and trying to find Jack in every man I meet. I'm doing it again right now with Alex Cottington." She said as a tear slipped down her cheek. Lucas gazed at her not sure what to say.

"Thankfully, despite everything that has happened between us, you have still loved and nurtured my son as if he were your own. I will always be so very grateful to you for that. At least my brokenness hasn't totally left my son adrift without a father figure. But I would, if possible, like to try and fix myself as well. I hope that someday I can find the love and happiness for myself that you have found with MaKayla." She told him earnestly.

"I want that for you as well, Elizabeth." Lucas said tenderly.

"My sister, Viola, has been ill and needs some help. I would like to go to England and visit her for the summer. I think maybe being away from Hope Valley is what I need right now. I spoke to Jack about it and he doesn't want to go. He asked if he could stay with you and MaKayla while I am away. I told him it would be several months and he still didn't want to go. I was hoping…." Elizabeth paused trying to control her emotions.

"You want Jack to stay with us for the summer?" Lucas asked tentatively hoping he was understanding her request.

"Yes. If you and MaKayla wouldn't mind. I know it might be an imposition with the new baby. I assume you will have to talk it over with MaKayla." She told him.

"When would you like to go to England?" Lucas asked.

"The end of May, after school lets out for the summer. I would be back in time for the start of the new school year in the fall." She told him unsure how he would feel about that.

"Elizabeth, I hope you know that in my heart and mind, Jack is my son just as much as Matthew and Caleb. He is always welcome here. If you feel you need to get away for a while, of course, Jack can stay with us. We would be offended if you asked anyone else. Although I'm not sure what Jack would think of all the chaos that is a pretty much a constant in our house on a daily basis, as you witnessed earlier today." Lucas said with a laugh.

"The truth is he would love it. The quiet in our home can be deafening sometimes." She said honestly.

"Just let me know when you have made your plans and we can discuss the logistics at that time." Lucas told her as the baby started to stir again. Lucas bent down to take him out of the cradle not wanting him to start crying uncontrollably again.

"Hey buddy. Daddy is here." He said lovingly to his son.

Elizabeth watched Lucas cradled his son in his arms and her heart broke a little more. He could have been holding their son; this could have been her life. One she would have loved…if only. She wondered if Lucas ever thought of what their life together could have been like. As she looked at him holding his son, she knew that he did not. He was truly deeply in love with his wife and no longer held those flights of fancy for her. She thought sadly.

Elizabeth drew herself from her musings. It did her no good to let her mind wander there. She had put herself on this path and it was now up to her to find her own way. "Well, I better be going. I have to pick Jack up from his friend's house. We will talk soon. Good luck. Hopefully MaKayla will be back soon." She told him as she got up to leave. "I'll see myself out." She told him.

"Sounds good. Thank you, Elizabeth." Lucas said as he moved the baby to his chest and Caleb snuggled in listening to his father's heartbeat. Elizabeth turned back to look at him one more time before she closed the door. He was focused on his son and didn't notice the tears flowing down her cheeks as she shut the door.

An hour later the twins were up again and the baby was crying. Lucas was about to call over to the Grant's as he was sure that the baby needed to nurse when MaKayla came through the front door.

MaKayla walked into the parlor and laughed at the mayhem that surrounded her. "Looks like I got here just in time." She said as she looked around the room which was covered in toys shrewd about.

"Mommy, Mommy. You're back." The twins said as they ran over to their mother. MaKayla gave them each a hug and then took the crying baby from Lucas.

"You my love, have something that I do not." He told her teasingly as she sat down and Caleb starting nursing immediately. "So, do we have a new Grant baby?" Lucas asked.

"Yes. It was an easy delivery and thankfully went quickly. Faith and Nathan have a beautiful baby girl. Mother and baby are doing wonderful, and Nathan is thrilled to have another little girl. Although poor Thomas is outnumbered with Allie, Lily and now the baby. The baby's name is Colleen Marie." MaKayla told him.

"After Nathan's sister. That was a nice gesture." Lucas told her. "I have some news of my own. Elizabeth stopped by this afternoon. She is planning a trip to England for the summer and wants Jack to stay with us while she is gone. I said that would fine." Lucas told her as the twins climbed into his lap.

"When is she leaving? How long will she be gone? Why is she going?" MaKayla asked all at once.

"Hmm, at the end of May. She will be probably be gone for at least three months. She needs some time away to figure out what she wants for her life." Lucas told her. He now wondered if perhaps he should have talked with her first before agreeing to the arrangement so readily.

"That is wonderful. We will all enjoy having Jack with us for an extended stay." She smiled brightly at Lucas and then turned her attention to the twins. "Won't it be nice to have your big brother with us all summer?" She asked the twins.

The twins clapped their hands in delight, anything involving Jack made them happy.

Lucas breathed a sigh of relief. He got up from the couch with a twin under each arm and leaned down to give his wife a gentle kiss as she nursed their son. "I love you MaKayla."

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Hope Springs, Alberta Canada

Tuesday, April 28, 1925

The Bouchard's were packing to head back to Capital City on the express overnight train. They had been in Hope Valley for three months now and Lucas really needed to get back to the Capital. Mrs. Cleveland was in charge of the twins, MaKayla had the baby and Lucas was working on a few things in his library.

Lucas was just finishing up a call when Henry entered the library. "Henry, good afternoon. Glad to see you. I just got off of a call with Chairman Reynolds. He wants to meet with us on Friday to go over some concerns he has with the new infrastructure bill we have before the legislature. We will have to go over it again before we meet with him." Lucas told him.

"No problem, Lucas. But if you don't mind, I do have a few personal matters I would like to speak to you about before we head back to the Capital." Henry said a little nervously.

Henry's nervousness caught Lucas's attention. "Sure, Henry. Is everything alright?" Lucas asked concerned. "You're not ill, are you?"

"No, no. Nothing like that. Everything is great. I just hope that you think so too." Henry told him. "I wanted to let you know that I have asked Margaret to marry me and she has accepted." Henry told him with a grin, deciding not to skirt around the news.

"Henry, that is fabulous news." Lucas said as he jumped up and went around his desk to give him a congratulatory hug. "MaKayla and I were wondering when the two of you would admit to us that you were a couple. I must say, I didn't think it had progressed to marriage just yet but that is wonderful. Did you think that MaKayla and I wouldn't approve?" Lucas asked surprised by Henry's nervousness.

"No, not that you wouldn't approve of our being in a relationship. Initially we were worried that if things didn't work out between us that one of us might have to leave your employ. And we wanted to make sure it was what we both wanted before we said anything. We did not wish to cause any unnecessary problems for you or MaKayla." Henry told him. "You've had more than enough of those these past few months."

"I see." Lucas said. "But now the two of you have decided to marry so everything worked out." He said with a smile but it quickly faded as another thought came to mind. "Henry, does this in any way mean that Margaret doesn't want to be our nanny anymore?" Lucas asked concerned.

"Absolutely not. She loves your children, and the two of you. She is very happy working for both of you." Henry told him.

"Then there isn't any problem. You know how we feel about you. And Margaret has become very dear to us as well. Lucas told him as Henry gave an embarrassed smile.

"I hope there wouldn't be any problems, but there are a few more things I need to discuss." Henry told him.

"Ok, I'm listening. Let me have it." Lucas said trying to keep his anxiety at bay.

"I wanted to discuss the cabin that you were planning to build for Margaret on your property. I was hoping you would sell me the land where you were going to build the cabin and I would like to build a house on it for Margaret and I. Not a big one but bigger than you were probably thinking of building." Henry told him.

Just then the two men heard a scream coming from the other room. They got up and ran out of the library only to find MaKayla and Margaret jumping up and down hugging. "What is going on?" Lucas asked unsure if it was something good or bad.

The woman broke apart. "Oh Lucas. Margaret and Henry are getting married. Isn't that wonderful." She said happily.

"Yes, it is. Henry was just telling me the happy news himself as well." Lucas told her with a grin.

"Did he tell you they would like to be married next month at the Governor's Mansion?" MaKayla said excited.

"No, we did not get that far in the conversation yet." Lucas told her looking at Henry who just shrugged his shoulders.

MaKayla went over and hugged Henry. "Lucas and I would be delighted to host your wedding at the Governor's mansion. This is so exciting. Our children are so lucky to have both of you in their lives as are Lucas and I." MaKayla said smiling happily.

Henry looked over at Lucas. "It's going to be a simply affair. It's just that we thought the mansion gardens would be a perfect place for a wedding." Henry told him sheepishly.

Lucas patted Henry on the shoulder. "We would be delighted to host your wedding, Henry. We can discuss all the logistics on the train back to Capital City." Lucas told the happy couple.

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Capital City, Alberta Canada

Thursday, May 28, 1925

Lucas, Declan and William arrived at the train station to pick up Elizabeth, Jack, along with Minnie and Joseph Canfield. Joseph would be performing Margaret and Henry's wedding ceremony on Saturday. Elizabeth was going to attend the wedding and then Henry, Margaret and Elizabeth would be taking a train the following day to New York to board the Leviathan June 3rd from New York Harbor to London. Henry and Margaret for their honeymoon trip and Elizabeth to visit with her sister for the summer. On Friday though, Lucas had a surprise for both Elizabeth and Jack. One he hoped they would both like.

Capital City, Alberta Canada

Friday, May 29, 1925

"Papa, where are we going?" Jack asked as he was not sure why he had to get dressed in a suit since the wedding wasn't until tomorrow.

"I'm taking you with me to the legislature today. I have a speech to make and I want you and your mother to be there when I do." Lucas told him as he fixed Jack's tie. Jack was growing up so fast. He lamented at that thought.

"Is this because you're the governor?" Jack asked.

"No, not exactly. I'm the one giving the speech because it's something that is important to me. It is something I want to do for you and your mother. You look very handsome and very grown up." Lucas told him as he tousled his hair. "Now, let's go downstairs and wait for your mother and Auntie MaKayla."

Lucas and Jack walked down the stairs and waited in the library for the women. "They sure do take a long time." Jack said bored. Lucas just chuckled at his son; he had no idea yet how many hours he would spend waiting for a woman. Finally, MaKayla and Elizabeth entered the library.

Lucas and Jack stood as the women came in. "Ladies, you both look very lovely this afternoon." Lucas told them as he walked over and gave MaKayla a kiss on the cheek.

"Lucas, are you going to tell us where we are going?" Elizabeth asked, as she was confused as to why everyone had to be dressed in their Sunday church clothes.

"You will see." Lucas said with a sparkle in his eye.

"I can see you have not lost your joy in surprising people." Elizabeth said with an ornery look sent the governor's way.

"I suppose I haven't." Lucas said with a chuckle as he winked at his wife. MaKayla knew exactly what they were doing this afternoon. "But this is something that I hope you will like." Just then Mrs. Cleveland walked into the library with Matthew in tow, who was also dressed in his Sunday finery.

"Why is Matthew in his church clothes? Is he coming with us?" Lucas asked, as he looked to his wife in confusion.

"I too like surprises, Governor Bouchard. You will just have to wait and see as well." She said with a cocky grin as she gave him a kiss on the cheek. Lucas just shook his head. This woman, he thought amused. What was she up to?