Part Three: Intermezzo (the space between)

Elizabeth did not run back to town, but she came close. Jack was too far ahead for her to catch up unless he stopped, and he didn't. He didn't even turn around. She soon gave up calling after him; she didn't think he could even hear her. Jack had excellent hearing, but from the way he was striding, shoulders hunched and head down, he looked completely lost in his own head. At the moment, Elizabeth didn't think he would hear the stagecoach coming if it ran right over him.

She lost sight of him as he passed behind a row of buildings, and after a few minutes he reappeared, mounted and riding at a gallop, still heading away from her.

Well. This simply wouldn't do.

She quickened her pace until she arrived at the stables herself and began saddling a horse she was familiar with. It was her first time performing the task solo, but Jack had taught her well. When Abigail seemed to appear out of nowhere, Elizabeth gave a little start of surprise. Apparently Jack wasn't the only one lost in thought and not hearing their name called.

"Elizabeth, what happened? I just saw Jack ride out of town like the devil was at his heels."

Elizabeth checked the cinch on her saddle one last time and gave her friend an exasperated sigh as she fit her foot into the stirrup and threw her other leg over. "It's a long story. I'll tell you all about it later, but right now I have to catch Jack."

Abigail nodded and stepped out of the way. Something had shifted between Jack and Elizabeth ever since they had limped out of that mine shaft the week before. She could see it on their faces; in fact, the whole town could see it. She had even heard the lumberjacks in her café mention a betting pool over at the saloon. Men and women alike were laying odds on when Jack would propose, and none of the guesses were more than a month out.

Whatever had happened just now to send Jack running, she knew better than to interfere if her friend meant to give chase. Abigail considered chasing a vast improvement over misunderstanding and suffering in silence like they used to do. She pointed in the general direction he had taken. "He headed west. Do you know where he was going?"

Elizabeth nodded and turned her horse in the same direction with the careful, intentional movements of a new rider. "I think so. Well, wish me luck."

"With the horse or the man?"

Elizabeth gave a little chuckle. "Both. But the man has more reason to be spooked at the moment." With that, she tapped her heels and urged her horse into a walk, then a trot, and then a canter. Abigail heard a squeak of either alarm or exhilaration drift back on the breeze as the horse at last broke into a gallop, its mistress clinging on with grim determination as they chased Jack's trail into the afternoon sun.

Jack heard Elizabeth approaching long before he saw her. He tensed momentarily at the sound of a horse galloping straight for him, but then he heard the beast quickly slow and the sound of its rider cajoling and encouraging it to go "just a little further before you throw me off—please?" Despite the unrest in his mind and heart, Jack couldn't help but grin. As much as she claimed to know that you can't hold a two-way conversation with a horse, his Elizabeth kept trying.

His Elizabeth. He couldn't help it; that's what she was to him. Come what may, he knew that's what she would always be.

He knew without turning around that she had spotted him. He hadn't really been hiding from her, anyway. If he had, he wouldn't have galloped straight for the place where he had first told her she was the only one for him. If he wanted to hide, he wouldn't have come to the hill where they'd shared their first kiss, and where he saw her every time he closed his eyes. Maybe he had craved the reassurance of those friendly ghosts as he processed what he heard in the schoolhouse, but he wasn't really hiding.

As it was, the ghost Elizabeth was fading fast in the presence of the flesh and blood woman who had just dismounted nearby. Jack turned to face her. He tried to convince himself that this would not be the defining moment of his life, but he'd never been much good at lying.

Part Four: Recitative for Mountie and Teacher

Elizabeth walked toward him, reins in hand. She couldn't help thinking of Rip hiding in the mine shaft, scared by the thunder and waiting to be found. She had never once thought of Jack as afraid before, but in a flash of insight she realized that's what this was about. Not jealousy, not irritation or anger—fear. For her. Any fear or irritation she felt herself at having to chase after him evaporated (well, mostly), and she tied her mount near his and came to stand next to him. Side by side, they both looked out over the landscape stretched out beyond the hill.

"I thought we were going riding together," she began, her voice calm and even.

Jack continued to face the slowly setting sun. "Well, I did stop by the school, but you looked a little busy."

"Jack." She turned to face him and reached out to take his hands, and he let her. "I'm so sorry you had to see that; it must have been upsetting. I sent Charles away. I told him how I feel about you; how we feel about each other."

"Yeah, I heard that loud and clear. You stood up for us; I was proud of you. But he was pretty clear too." He finally met her eyes, and her intuition had been right. She didn't see anger there. Instead, he looked a little haunted.

She lifted one hand to gently stroke the side of his face, as if she could soothe away the unease. "Jack, what is it?"

"He was right about one thing, Elizabeth." He squeezed her other hand tightly before releasing it and half-turning away again. "I can't control where I'll be stationed, not forever. If we…if we pursue a life together, you could easily end up all alone in some wild place, maybe even…the way he described. Or hurting some other way." He wasn't willing to speak words like "married" and "pregnant" out loud, not with the ring still burning in his pocket and the question unasked. It felt like tempting fate.

She took hold of his shoulder and gently forced him to turn back toward her. "So what if you are reassigned? When I came to Coal Valley, I didn't know a soul. In that theoretical future world, I would have you. We'd have each other. There's no one I would rather face the world with." He took a breath to respond, but she braced her hands against his chest to halt his protest. "And don't say you might not be there for me. I know you, Jack. You'll move heaven and earth to be there when I need you."

He looked at her for a long moment and let the truth of it all settle in. As unlikely as it was, he had been issued a partner for this grand adventure after all, though not by the Mounties. If she was able to accept the reality of danger in his life, surely he could do the same for her. Of course, that wouldn't stop him from heading it off whenever he could.

He smiled a little and placed his hands on hers where they rested over his heart. "That I will do. And if heaven and earth won't budge, I'll find a bigger crowbar."

Elizabeth breathed a quiet sigh of relief to see her Jack acting like his old self again. She smiled back at him. "The question now is, are we willing to trust in our future together?"

"That is the question, isn't it?" Jack grinned and lifted one hand to wrap it gently around the place where her neck met the back of her head. He still didn't like the idea of yet another danger cluttering her already trouble-prone path, but it was time to accept that that was entirely out of his hands. "Any idea what the answer might be? Theoretically, of course."

She grinned back. "Yes, I have an idea. Theoretically."

Neither of them could say who leaned in first, but the next moment their arms were wrapped around each other and they were kissing, all fear and hesitation banished for the time being. In the back of his mind, Jack noted that this was their fourth real kiss, and each one had been better than the last. He also suspected that he would stop counting them soon. He and Elizabeth were both good with figures, but he felt a renewed hope that before long, the number would stretch beyond their ability to count.

Part Five: Chorus for Two Hearts, One Town, and a Sky Full of Stars

They got back to town as the sun was getting low. Main Street was filled with lumberjacks and millworkers coming off their shifts and heading to the saloon, or heading to Abigail's Café for more substantial fare. Women were running last-minute errands before dinner or heading to Abigail's as well, and children were squeezing in one more game of stickball or jacks before their parents called them home.

Jack and Elizabeth dismounted at the stable and brushed down their horses for the night, then began walking slowly through town, arm-in-arm. The ride back had passed in a comfortable silence, though that hadn't stopped them from gazing and grinning sideways at each other like lovesick fools. Jack was glad there had been no witnesses to that. He had never made a secret of his intentions toward Elizabeth, but he still had his manly pride to consider.

They headed for Abigail's by unspoken agreement. Halfway there, Jack broke their silence.

"I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed in your powers of observation today."

She gave him a curious look. "What do you mean?"

"You haven't asked me why I'm wearing my good suit for a ride in the country."

He was right. In all the commotion, it hadn't occurred to her. Now that he had pointed it out, she was suddenly, inexplicably nervous. She managed to keep her voice mostly even when she gamely asked, "Jack, why are you wearing a suit?"

"It was all part of the plan. Rip helped me choose it."

Elizabeth's brow wrinkled in equal parts confusion and amusement. "Your dog helped you get dressed?"

Jack nodded earnestly. "He was very helpful with the jacket. Sorry to say, you and I saw the backside of that plan a few hours ago. Now I'm just improvising."

"Well, I'm sure you'll rise to the occasion, with or without Rip's help."

Jack drew them both to a sudden halt in the the middle of the street just outside the café, forcing several people to swerve to avoid them. "I'm not sure I will."

She frowned in confusion. "What do you mean?"

He shook his head thoughtfully. "Nope, I don't think I will rise. In fact, I think I'll get a little lower." As he spoke the words, he sank to one knee in front of her, right there in the dirt and mud, right there in the street.

"Jack! What are you doing?" she exclaimed, though she knew perfectly well what he was doing, and she glanced around self-consciously. The scene had not gone unnoticed. Already a growing crowd was circling around them at a discreet distance (though well within earshot).

"I'm improvising." He reached into his pocket and drew out a small box, not so different from the one Charles had produced a few hours before, and yet nothing about this moment felt the same. Still, for the second time that day, Elizabeth Thatcher was about to receive an offer of marriage.

Jack opened the box and lifted out a very simple, very lovely ring. True, the stone was nowhere near the size and brilliance of the one Charles had offered. When Elizabeth looked at this ring, though, and at the fingers that held it, she thought of Hope Valley's new schoolhouse. She thought of the prize money Jack had given to help build it, and the hours he'd spent using those very fingers to make sure the building would be ready for her return. That's what she saw. Big or small, it was a lovely, perfect ring. She realized she couldn't even remember what Charles's ring had looked like.

He began to speak again, and the murmuring crowd hushed to listen. "I once told you that if the Mounties wanted me to have a wife, they would have issued me one." Quiet chuckling could be heard from the circle of witnesses, but as far as Jack was concerned, only one listener mattered. "It's still true that a wife is not standard issue, but now I think I know why. This life can be unpredictable, and challenging, and dangerous at times, whether you're a Mountie, a miner, or a school teacher. There's nothing standard issue about the kind of partner who will rise to meet the challenge with you. And there's nothing standard or ordinary about you. Elizabeth Thatcher, you are the bravest, smartest, most headstrong, beautiful woman I have ever met, and I love you more every day. Will you marry me?"

Not a single citizen of Hope Valley breathed. Instead, all eyes turned to the school teacher they had grown to accept, even to love as one of their own, and they waited for her answer. It wasn't long in coming.

"Jack Thornton, you are impossible." She smiled. "Impossibly brave, and honorable, and kind. I didn't like you much at first—" A doubtful snort rose from somewhere in the crowd, and she looked up briefly in defense. "I didn't! But now, I can't imagine life without you. I would be honored to be your wife."

The town's collective exhale quickly shaped into a cheer, and for the first time they saw their constable and teacher kiss, very thoroughly and enthusiastically, in public. A few wagging tongues commented to each other that the two must certainly have been practicing a great deal beforehand to kiss like that now. A few others slipped quietly over to the saloon to collect their winnings from the pool, vaguely promising to buy them a nice wedding present as a thank you. Most folks gathered in closer to congratulate the happy couple. The biggest hugs by far came from Abigail, who had watched it all unfold from the door of her café with happy tears in her eyes. She announced an impromptu celebration at the saloon with as much pie and cookies as she could manage on short notice.

Between the handshakes, back slaps, hugs, well wishes, ring admiring, and questions about their (nonexistent) wedding plans, Jack and Elizabeth didn't get the chance to eat much pie. They also didn't get a moment alone until hours later, when Jack grabbed his new fiancé's hand and pulled her out the back door.

Jack had chosen his moment well; in the din of celebration, no one noticed them leave. At least, if anyone did notice, they had mercy on the couple and let them steal a moment alone. Elizabeth followed his lead out the door, laughing without reserve. She couldn't remember ever being this happy before. They let the back door swing closed, and the noise inside the saloon quickly faded as they stepped into the now-deserted street. The sun had fully set while they celebrated, and the stars were now shining in earnest. They took a moment to enjoy the silence around and the beauty above. The night air was chilly, and when Elizabeth began to shiver Jack stepped close behind her and wrapped his arms around her. She leaned her head back against his shoulder, looked up at the sky, and sighed. There would be time for planning and details and—God help her—telling her family later. For tonight, she was perfectly at peace.

She breathed in the unique scent of the man who held her—one more thing she loved about him—and smiled. "So what now, Constable? Do we count the stars?"

"We could." Jack turned her in his arms, still holding her close. "I'd much rather start losing count of something else."

"Oh? And what might that be?"

In answer, he closed the last few inches between them and kissed her sweetly, then pulled back a hair's breadth. "Six."

A brief peck. "Seven."

Another. "Eight."

Elizabeth wrapped her arms around his neck. "Alright, I get it. Now stop counting and kiss me properly."

"At your service, ma'am." Jack was more than happy to oblige.

THE END

Thanks for reading! I have a few more "season 3" moments bouncing around in my head that I hope to write and post in the future, but first I have a few other stories to wrap up. See you next time!