Author's Note: I wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone who has been sending reviews on my story. I can't tell you how much I appreciate hearing your feedback. I'm sorry for the delay in posting this chapter. The last couple weeks have been very busy. Hopefully I can get the next one up quicker. - FicFanChick

Chapter 26: Love Changes Everything

William Thatcher followed as Jack and Elizabeth, walking arm-in-arm, led their friends and family the short distance from town limits to their newly acquired land. Beside them walked Lee and Rosemary and Julie and Tom. The three couples were laughing and talking animatedly together.

William winced slightly at the thought of Tom and Julie being a 'couple'. While he had relented enough to accept Jack into the family he wasn't sure if he was ready to do the same with Jack's younger brother. The younger man's track record to date hadn't been very good and William would therefore have preferred to keep his youngest daughter as far away from Tom Thornton as possible. He probably would have been successful too if it hadn't have been for Jack and Elizabeth's wedding. Now how could he possibly keep the two young people from running into each other, after all Hope Valley was only so big. He would just have to make sure they didn't see enough of each other to develop an attachment that couldn't be severed once Jack and Elizabeth's wedding was over.

As he continued to follow the younger group with his wife on one arm and his sister on the other, William found himself marvelling at the beauty of the scenery around them. He had to admit that before he had arrived in the quaint town he had always pictured Hope Valley as a far harsher and much less civilized town than what he had found. Even though he had made frequent trips to Cape Fullerton over the years he had never ventured outside its boundaries. He had always suspected that Elizabeth was sugar-coating her descriptions of the town in order to ease their worries, but apparently he had been wrong. When he had arrived in Hope Valley he had been pleasantly surprised to find find a town with a wide variety of businesses and a community that was as close-knit as a family. The town certainly had a charm about it that he hadn't expected. Of course, it had none of the luxuries of Hamilton; It didn't even have running water. There were several other amenities missing: theatres, a choice of restaurants, even a dress shop. But none of that seemed to matter to Elizabeth. She seemed perfectly at home in the rustic community - even more so than she ever did in Hamilton.

Is it possible that he was the one who really didn't know his daughter? He had always taken her desire to teach and to escape her wealthy upbringing as a form of rebellion; something that she would eventually get out of her system. Even though Elizabeth had never outrightly expressed disdain for their way of life as Julie had, it was obviously that a life of luxury was not enough for her.

"Money can't buy happiness," he murmured to himself. That was certainly true of his middle daughter. She had found her happiness here in a small town, far away from the glamour and luxuries of the city and in the arms of a Mountie of simple beginnings. Watching her as she talked with Jack, Lee, Rosemary, Julie and Tom it was clear that she was in her glory. She had friends who accepted her for who she was - Elizabeth Thatcher, schoolteacher - not Elizabeth Thatcher, wealthy heiress and daughter of shipping tycoon William Thatcher. This was the life she had always wanted for herself; An opportunity to work and give of herself to others. He felt as if he was seeing her truly for the first time.

"Here we are," Jack suddenly announced, pride evident in his tone as he gestured to the land around them.

William took in the beautiful vista before him: the pond, the hills, the trees. He noticed that a rather good size building site was marked off showing where various rooms were being proposed. Jack eagerly told them what each one was including where the two porches were going to be: One to enjoy the sunrises and the other to enjoy the sunsets.

"There's a lot of rooms, buddy," Lee commented as he surveyed the site.

"Our family is going to grow," Jack said with a grin as he looked at Elizabeth.

"Obviously by a lot," Rosemary teased Elizabeth who William noticed blushed slightly in response. "But then Jack always did want a big family."

"And I can't wait to meet each and every one of my grandchildren," Charlotte commented as she joined Rosemary and Elizabeth. Putting her arm around Elizabeth's shoulders she addressed her son saying, "I hope you're planning on putting a guest room in this house of yours."

"Of course," Jack replied eagerly. Then addressing the members of both families he added, "And anyone of you are welcome to come and stay with us."

Suddenly William found himself picturing sitting on one of the porches and watching his grandchildren running through the grass, playing games and laughing heartily. The image tugged at his heart and he couldn't help smiling softly.

"It sounds like a beautiful house, Jack," Julie told him eagerly as she clasped her hands together in front of her. "Some day I hope I have a house just like this."

"Really, Julie," Viola huffed in obvious disgust. "Surely you wouldn't be happy with such a rustic home. I doubt they'll even have running water. I can't imagine any true gentleman expecting their wife to be happy in such a place, am I right darling?" She looked at Sir Lionel for support.

Poor Sir Lionel looked as if he wished to be left out of the discussion but mumbled something that seemed to appease Viola.

William frowned slightly when he noticed that Viola's comment and Sir Lionel's subsequent agreement had dimmed some of the excitement in Jack's eyes.

"Now, you listen here Miss Prissy…" Jack's mother began to say but was cut off by Elizabeth who pulled away from her and moved to stand at her fiancé's side.

Shooting daggers at her sister Elizabeth said in a calm but cool tone, her hand gripping Jack's tightly. "Viola, you may insist that your husband provide you a castle with a moat in some big city in England but I happen to love the house Jack is building. I think it will be a beautiful house and one that means far more to me than any fancy mansion back in Hamilton because Jack designed it himself for us. He put a lot of time and thought into what it should look like and I am looking forward to living in it for the rest of my life and filling it with children and wonderful memories."

Wrapping her arms around Jack's waist she gazed up at him lovingly. "Jack is the greatest man I have ever met; a true gentleman if ever there was on."

Jack gave her a soft smile as he pulled her closer to him.

"Everything I ever wanted is right here." Elizabeth concluded, leaning up to give Jack a quick kiss.

"Well said, darling'," Charlotte said as she clapped in approval. Then stepping closer to the couple she reached out and pulled Elizabeth to her in an enthusiastic hug. "I knew you were a perfect match for my son."

Elizabeth hugged her in return, looking at Jack over his mother's shoulder. Jack looked at her with such love that William found himself looking away, as if he were intruding on a moment meant for just them.

At that moment William truly realized the depth of their love and devotion to each other. It was reflected in their eyes and their smiles as they looked at each other. The connection seemed almost tangible. How had he missed it before? Had it been there when they had been in Hamilton or was this a new development? He thought back to the few times he had seen Jack and Elizabeth together in Hamilton: That first meeting outside the house when Elizabeth had first introduced him to Jack; the dinner party that Elizabeth had insisted that Jack attend; the few times Jack had been by to see or pick up Elizabeth after Julie and Tom had had that car accident. There had definitely been something between them then but there had also been a lot of uncertainty and tension. William had to admit to trying to play on that uncertainty as much as he could. But now it seemed to be gone. In its place had blossomed an attachment that was clearly very strong.

"I think I had better have a word with my niece," Agatha suddenly said as she disengaged herself from William's arm breaking him out of his thoughts.

"Which one?" Grace asked with a slight frown.

"The one with her snotty little nose raised a little too high into the air for her own good," Agatha replied surprising William by her candour.

As Agatha moved off to speak to Viola Grace looked after her thoughtfully. After a moment she asked, "Is that how we sound, William?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, not quite sure what she was referring to.

"Do we sound as pretentious as Viola when we talk about people who aren't as fortunate as us?" she clarified. "Do we sound like, as your sister so delicately said, someone who has their 'snotty little nose raised a little too high into the air'? Is that how we sounded to Elizabeth when she tried introducing us to Jack in Hamilton?"

William flinched slightly at the description but if he was being honest it did fit. "Yes, I'm afraid we did."

"No wonder he high-tailed it back to Hope Valley on the next train," she said sadly. "He probably spent the next few weeks wondering if he would ever see Elizabeth again or if we'd some how manage to keep her in Hamilton. I'm sure he's glad we didn't have that much sway over her; definitely not as much as he has anyway."

"I was just thinking about that," William said to her. "Is it just me or do Jack and Elizabeth seem much less uncertain about themselves and their relationship now than when they were in Hamilton."

"Oh, they are definitely more confident in their relationship now than they were before," Grace agreed.

"I suppose an engagement will do that," he commented as he watched Elizabeth and Jack as they talked with the others. He noticed that Agatha had Viola off to one side and was talking to her earnestly.

"Actually, according to Abigail it happened before the engagement," Grace told him.

He gave her a look of surprise. "When were you talking to Abigail about it?"

"This morning after you and Charles went to look over the sawmill,"Grace told him. "Julie and Agatha were sleeping in so I decided to have a chat with Abigail. I wanted to find out everything she knew about Jack and Elizabeth's relationship - one mother to another."

"And what did you learn?" William asked curiously.

"Quite a bit, actually," his wife informed him. "Abigail said that she's watched their romance unfold right from the day they met. Apparently the sparks were definitely flying right from the beginning, but not in a good way. I guess at first Jack was quite put out about being assigned here to babysit Elizabeth, at your request I might remind you."

"Well, when I asked for a Mountie to be assigned to the area I certainly never figured that he and Elizabeth would fall in love with each other," William protested.

"Well, from what Abigail said that certainly wasn't their plan either. Jack had apparently told Elizabeth right from the start that he wasn't interested in marriage and that if the Mounties had wanted him to have a wife they would have issued him one."

William's eyebrows raised in shock. "He actually said that?"

Grace nodded, her eyes dancing in amusement. "Repeatedly from what I hear."

William couldn't help laughing slightly. "No wonder Elizabeth got her back up."

"I guess what really angered her, besides the fact that Jack originally said that she was a spoiled princess who didn't belong in a wilderness town…"

"Wait a minute," William interrupted her his eyes widening in disbelief. "He actually told her that?"

Grace nodded again. "He did."

William chuckled again. "That boy has a bad habit of putting his foot in his mouth, doesn't he?"

"He certainly does," she agreed. "But according to Abigail what really got Elizabeth's dander up was the fact that even though he told her that he wasn't interested in getting married he wouldn't stop interfering in her love life; he apparently kept acting like a jealous suitor if anyone else showed a romantic interest in her."

William looked over to where Jack and Elizabeth were still talking with the others, Elizabeth's arm was linked through Jack's as she spoke eagerly to Rosemary and Julie. Jack was watching her with a gentle smile on his lips. "No doubt he probably was. I'm beginning to understand that there relationship was inevitable; even they couldn't fight it."

"Abigail said it was rather amusing to watch the two of them dancing around each other," Grace added with a hint of amusement in her tone. "Apparently she played romance counselor to both of them."

"They're lucky to have had her," he remarked as he continued to watch the engaged couple for several minutes thinking back to when he was in their position with Grace. He had been fortunate to have Agatha to go to for advise while they were courting since there were many times he needed sound counsel on how to proceed. Just like Jack, he had been deeply in love with Grace but not always graceful about expressing it. Now, all these years later, he loved her even more than he did then.

Turning his attention back to his wife he took her hand and placed a kiss on the back of it. "Have I told you lately how much I love you?"

A soft smile pulled on her lips. "Not very lately."

"Well, then I need to rectify that oversight immediately," he told her as he gave her hand a squeeze. "Grace Thatcher I love you very much and I cannot imagine my life without you or our three beautiful daughters. I want to thank you for sticking by me for all these years, even when I've shown less than good judgement."

Turning to look at him she placed her free hand on his chest over his heart. "I love you too, William and I love our life and even though we've managed to raise three daughters who couldn't be more different from each other I wouldn't change a single thing."

William smiled at her and leaned down to give her a quick kiss on the lips, his heart feeling as if it were going to burst with happiness. When they pulled away Grace smiled up at him before slipping her arm around his waist and pulling him against her side.

Looking back towards the group he found that Agatha and Viola were now standing with Jack, Elizabeth and Sir Lionel. As they watched Viola extended her hand to Jack.

"It looks as if your sister has gotten through to our snobbish daughter," Grace observed with a hint of amusement in her tone.

"Let us hope so," William smiled at the scene before him. Just then Julie and Tom joined them. Tom clasped his older brother on the back while Julie hugged Elizabeth.

"They look like one big happy family," his wife remarked contentedly.

William's eyes landed on Tom who was whispering something in Julie's ear causing her to laugh. A frown pulled at his eyebrows as he said, "I'm still not sure about that."

Coming Soon:

Chapter 27: As Any Fool Can See.

Bill and Nora finally have a heart to heart. Will Bill finally break down the wall that he's built up or will it be the end for them? Can Bill finally convince Jack that he is innocent of the charges? Stayed tuned to find out ;)