Faith Carter pushed a blonde curl out of her face as she filled paperwork out. The infirmary was a bit chilly on that crisp, autumn day. She shivered as she pulled her coat further up her slender shoulders.

Faith Carter was a 31-year-old nurse, who had come to Hope Valley only to help an injured citizen - Lee Coulter. Despite her fiance's demands that she return to Union City, she decided to stay in Hope Valley. That had been the end of their engagement. Faith had felt a true connection with the town and its citizens. Her decision to stay in Hope Valley had been bittersweet at first. She loved Hope Valley, yet, missed her fiance. But after a little while, she was truly happy with her choice.

She had formed a few friendships since coming to Hope Valley. Jack Thornton was one of her best friends. He had encouraged her to follow her heart and not her fiance. Faith couldn't wait until Jack returned home from his 2-month assignment, training mounties. She enjoyed long talks with him. He always had incredible words of wisdom yet, at the same time, could be humorous.

Faith was still getting to know Jack's wife. Elizabeth Thatcher - now Thornton - had been icy when she first arrived in Hope Valley, but they were becoming better friends every day. She enjoyed Elizabeth's company immensely.

Her dearest friend, however, was her coworker, Dr. Carson Shepard. She remembered when he first arrived in Hope Valley. He had entered the infirmary, hunched over with a broken rib. He had been the mysterious hero. She had discovered he had acquired his injury from saving a little girl from death. And not too much longer later, he had saved her from the ungentlemanly Ray Wyatt. Later on, he had been hired at Abigail's cafe as a cook thanks to her references.

Carson hadn't really been a cook, however. He was actually a heartbroken doctor with the reputation of "the doctor who killed his wife." His true profession and story were revealed to the town when his sister-in-law found him. Her goal had been to ruin his life. But in the process, she helped Carson realize his calling and that he must face his fears.

Now Carson worked side-by-side with Faith every day for the past six months. When he first began working with her, he was sullen and quiet. But, after the countless hours spent opening up to Faith, he opened himself up to other people again.

Every day, they had long conversations that continued until another patient entered the infirmary. As soon as the patient would leave, their conversation would start up again.

Every day, they had grown closer and closer as friends. They got to know each other more and more, but there was still something sorrowful about him. She remembered when Rosemary meddled with them while they were still getting to know each other.

"Faith! Carson!" Rosemary burst into the infirmary one spring day.

Carson arose quickly. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh no, no!" Rosie quickly assured them. "I want to invite you both to a picnic with me and Lee."

"A picnic?" Faith asked.

"Yes! We could become better acquainted with each other," Rosemary insisted. She didn't wait for an answer. "Does tomorrow work?"

Faith gave Carson a long look. "It does for me."

"Me too," Carson said.

"Wonderful! I'll make sure to pack some sandwiches!" Rosemary exclaimed, clasping her hands together in excitement.

Faith smiled awkwardly.

"I'll see you both then," she said, practically running out.

Rosemary's excitement had made her a bit suspicious, but she had had no idea what was about to occur next. She squeezed her eyes shut as the flashback started again.

"What's this?" Carson asked.

Carson and Faith had reached the picnic area. A blanket and picnic basket awaited them, but there was no sign of Rosemary or Lee.

Faith opened the picnic basket to reveal sandwiches and a note. She proceeded to read the note aloud to Carson.

Hello you two! I couldn't make it. There was an emergency at the dress shop, and Lee didn't want to be without me. But I left you two a scrumptious array of sandwiches. Picnic away!

Faith groaned aloud. She knew there wasn't a single ounce of truth in the note. It had been a setup.

"I guess we shouldn't waste perfectly good food," Carson spoke up unexpectedly. He started unpacking the sandwiches.

"Alright," Faith agreed. She was still outraged at Rosemary for setting them up like that. The whole situation was awkward.

Carson handed her a sandwich. She accepted it gratefully.

"Faith?" Carson asked.

She swallowed her bite of sandwich. "Yes?"

"Can we be just friends?" Carson asked.

Faith was surprised by the question. That's exactly what she thought they were - just friends.

"Just friends," she agreed. He extended his hand to her to shake in agreement.

She opened her eyes as the flashback faded away. Was she destined to remain a victim of romantic mishaps? Peter hadn't respected her dreams and livelihood, making their relationship impossible. Ray Wyatt had seemed like a good man until he made rude, ungentlemanly advances. Then came Shane. He had been a good man, but their lives didn't fit and they resolved to remain friends.

And then, there was Carson. He was the crush who just hadn't gone away. And her simple crush on him turned into love as she got to know him. But they had a handshake agreement - only friends. Perhaps it was simply foolish to wonder if he ever felt anything for her and that their agreement was becoming impossible. Maybe she was just destined to be alone forever.

Perhaps that was why she was planning Carson's surprise birthday party. A foolish idea floated around in her head that maybe planning this party would make him realize that she cared about him and hopefully vice versa. She could only wait and see what would happen that night.