Chapter Six

eager (adj): keen or ardent in desire or feeling; impatiently longing

After taking the horse back to the livery, Elizabeth rushed to her row house, hurrying down the lane, past the other row houses. Once inside, she crossed to the kitchen and grabbed a small basket from the shelf and filled it with sugar cookies from her cookie jar, gingerly placing the cookies on top of each other. She smiled to herself, pleased with her much improved baking skills. Then, she laid a small towel over the cookies and turned to head back to the door. However, she stopped short when her gaze fell on the dining table. A small envelope lay in the center of the table.

Her eyes were drawn to her name written on the front of the envelope. She set the basket down on the table and picked up the envelope. Her eyebrows lowered as she studied the writing. Suddenly, her mouth fell open and her eyes widened. She quickly turned the envelope over and opened it. Reaching inside, she slowly withdrew the note and read it silently. Her expression remain placid and she stood frozen in place for several seconds. The air rushed from her lungs all at once before she even realized she'd been holding her breath. Then, she whispered to herself, "Take a walk with me."

The sound of her own voice shook her out of her dazed inertia and she ran to the door. She flung it open and rushed through the doorway. However, her forward momentum was immediately halted as she found herself wrapped in strong arms. She looked up and found she was staring into very familiar eyes. "Jack," she breathed, almost inaudible. As her mind reeled, she felt her legs start to give way.

Feeling her body sway, Jack gave her a warm smile and pulled her into his embrace. Elizabeth buried her face into his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his neck. They held each other tightly in silence. After several moments, Jack pulled back and looked into her face. He saw her eyes, filled with questions and surprise, searching his face. Elizabeth's thoughts were still muddled as she struggled to process what was happening. Jack leaned in to kiss her. As his lips touched hers, she felt the fog in her brain clear and returned his kiss. Their kiss deepened as Jack caressed her shoulders. Elizabeth finally broke the kiss, breathless, and fell against his shoulder again.

Jack leaned his head against hers, still holding her close. Then, he felt her shoulders shaking and realized that she was crying. "Elizabeth?" he inquired as he rubbed her back, consoling her. "Are you okay?"

Elizabeth nodded into his shoulder but continued crying. After several moments, she lifted her head slightly and noticed that her tears were making wet spots on Jack's red serge jacket. "I'm sorry, Jack," she offered, her voice low and raw, as she tried to wipe away the wet spots.

"Shhhhh," he gently soothed, his thumbs making circles on her shoulders.

Elizabeth looked up at him and their eyes met again. Though tears still stained her cheeks, a wide smile filled her face. Jack returned her smile before they fell into each other, their lips meeting again.

Next door, at the Coulters' row house, Lee bounded down the stairs, "Sweetheart, what did you say was for dinner? Pot roast?" He reached the landing and looked into the kitchen, but saw no sign of Rosemary. "Roast…. chick…en?" he asked as he looked toward the living room. She wasn't there, either. He climbed down the last few stairs and glanced around. When he looked to his far left, he spotted the back of his beautiful wife. She was leaning over the desk, only her bright blue blouse and black and gray skirt visible, as she peered out the front window.

Lee shook is head and sighed as he crossed the room. He stopped just behind his oh-so-curious bride, inhaled deeply, and then bellowed, "Rosemary!"

Rosemary leapt into the air and fell backwards, knocking over the oil lamp as she grabbed the desk to right herself. "Lee!" she sharply rebuked him as she quickly set the oil lamp back upright. "You scared me half too death!"

"And you were snooping again," he observed. He shook his head. "You've got to stop doing that."

"But, Lee…" she interjected.

"Elizabeth deserves her privacy," he lectured. "Now, I know you're worried about her with Jack gone. And you think that you're being a good friend but…"

"LEE!" she interrupted again, much louder this time.

"What?" Lee asked, clearly frustrated with her.

"It's Jack," she told him, her voice filled with emotion. "Jack's home!"

Lee's mouth opened slightly, in surprise. "What? Jack's back?" He pressed past Rosemary and parted the curtains to peer outside himself.

"Yes!" she answered around a wide smile. "I thought I heard something so I went to check on Elizabeth. When I looked out, I was shocked to see Jack with her on her porch!"

Peering through the window, Lee saw Jack and Elizabeth kissing on the front porch of the row house next door. Rosemary pushed her head through the curtains next to him, their heads leaning together as they both watched the long separated couple's sweet reunion. After a couple seconds of watching them, Lee suddenly felt awkward and pressed back from the window. Rosemary remained in place, her nose pressed to the glass. Lee's mouth curled downward into a mild scowl as he pulled her away from the window.

"Oh! Lee!" she protested.

He snapped the curtains closed and stepped between the window and Rosemary. "Leave them be, Rosemary," he told her.

"But…but… Lee.." she sputtered, her voice pleading.

He shook his head. "After everything they've been through, they deserve some time alone. Give them some privacy," he insisted.

Rosemary's shoulders fell as her face softened, surrendering. "Oh, alright," she agreed.

Lee nodded. "Good," he said as headed toward the kitchen. "Now, what's for dinner?" He rubbed his hands together and stated, "I could eat a..."

"Oh no!" Rosemary suddenly exclaimed, her hand flying to her mouth.

"What?" Lee asked as he swiveled around to face her again.

"Jack's Welcome Home Party!" she answered. "We don't have any plans in place, yet! Oh, this is a disaster!"

Lee smiled, quite familiar with his wife's dramatic pronouncements. He took a step toward her and cupped her hands in his. "I'm sure it will be fine with Jack if the party is later. I imagine he probably just wants to spend some time with Elizabeth right now."

"You think so?" she asked. "I know he has to have been through so much. They both have. I just want to do what we can for them."

"I know," he told her, his voice low. "I know." His eyes danced as he pulled her into his embrace. "I think the best thing we can do for them right now is leave them alone." Holding her tight, his eyes met hers. "You know," he said, his voice teasing. "I think Jack has a pretty good idea there."

"What's that?" she asked, her voice soft and her eyes questioning.

Lee smiled. "This," he whispered just before his lips met hers.

Rosemary smiled around the kiss. "Oh, that," she mumbled into his lips.

"Pay attention, Mrs. Coulter," he whispered.

She laughed for just a moment before she closed her eyes and leaned in his kiss.

Back at the front porch of Elizabeth's row house, Jack and Elizabeth were still kissing. Jack slowly pulled back, but they continued to hold each other close. "You know," he told Elizabeth, their eyes locked, "Rosemary is probably peeking through her curtains watching us right now."

"Oh, I'm sure she is," she agreed with a laugh, glancing toward the Coulters' row house.

Jack laughed, too, and suddenly realized how long it had been since he'd genuinely enjoyed a moment like this. "Well, then maybe we better go inside," he said, pulling her attention back to him.

They walked through the door holding hands. As Jack shut the door behind them, he glanced around the room. "You know I really missed this place," he told her as his eyes met hers again. "I especially missed your Shepherd's Pie," he added, stifling a laugh.

Elizabeth shook her head and laughed. "I'll be happy to make you a Shepherd's Pie. And you should know my baking is getting much better, if I do say so myself." She glanced toward the kitchen and spotted the basket on the table. "Oh!" she cried as she swiveled back around to face Jack. "I'm supposed to be going to Abigail's for dinner."

Jack smiled. "Think it'd be okay if I came along?" he asked.

Elizabeth laughed and told him, "Of course!" She turned back and headed inside. "Anyway, I'm sure Rosemary will soon have the entire town alerted that you're back!"

"No doubt," he agreed.

They stood, gazing into each others' eyes, neither making a movie to leave.

"I guess I should grab that basket of cookies so we can head to Abigail's," Elizabeth said, though she made no move to do so.

"I guess you should," he agreed as he gently reached for her shoulders and pulled her towards him. "But I'm not quite ready to let you go."

Elizabeth's smile widened as she allowed him to pull her close. "I can tell you this, Jack Thornton," she said, her expression suddenly very intense.

Jack was taken back a bit by her sudden seriousness. "What's that?" he asked.

"I'm not letting you go, again," she told him, her arms tightening around his shoulders. "EVER!"

Jack smiled. "Yes, ma'am," he replied just before she leaned in and planted a heated kiss on his lips.

Chapter Notes: Well... I'm back! And Jack's back, too! I hate that it's taken so long to update the story but life got very, very busy for awhile. This reunion scene saw so many iterations, so many revisions! I cannot imagine the pressure the WCTH writers trying to write the actual reunion scene for us to watch on Christmas night. Can't wait! Anyway... back to the story at hand... I hope you enjoyed it. And I hope to update again soon. Thanks so much for reading, Hearties!

Disclaimer: Elizabeth Thatcher, Jack Thornton, Abigail Stanton, Bill Avery, Rosemary Leveaux, Leland Coulter, Frank Hogan, Clara Stanton, and the other good citizens of Hope Valley do not belong to me. The Hallmark Channel/Crown Media, Believe Pictures, and Motion Picture Corporation of America own these characters. I'm just playing with them for a little while and I promise to return them relatively unscathed! There will be a couple of new characters that are creations of my vivid imagination. Many thanks to Janette Oke, Michael Landon, Jr., Brian Bird, Brad Krevoy, and the entire cast and crew of When Calls the Heart, and, of course, all of the Hearties! Y'all rock!