See? See? Elizabeth's mind taunted the question as she continued down the street towards the mercantile after her meeting with Florence and the startling news she had carried, Elizabeth's thoughts still muddled.

See? He was going away as they did, as they always would. It was the Mountie way. Perhaps sooner than expected, but did that matter? The outcome was the same, always the same. Elizabeth's emotions warred inside her, one of them triumphant. She had spared herself and remained untouched. The fragile fragments of her heart would not have to bear a painful parting anew. Not again, a truth. Never again, a vow.

Elizabeth lifted her skirts, climbing the mercantile stairs. She opened the door at the top, a bell's tinkle announcing her entrance. Barely inside, she spotted a bright flash of red surge and, startled by the unexpected, she gave a sharp intake of breath and turned to quickly leave.

"Oh Elizabeth!" Ned Yost, the town's friendly merchant, hailed her from his spot behind the counter, halting her exit as she turned back towards him, her hand still on the doorknob. "I've got those canned peaches you ordered. Just in the back, let me go get them," he helpfully informed her, sidling out from behind the counter and heading to the stockroom.

Elizabeth sighed, realizing there was no escape. She closed the door behind her, taking a few steps inside the room. She stood, looking high around her, pretending a keen interest in the store's wares.

Across the store, Constable Nathan Grant, perusing a neatly piled row of canned goods, shot Elizabeth a glance from under his lashes. Her stance invited no greeting so he made none. They were alone in the room, heightened sounds from the street outside magnified by the silence within.

How long did it take to find a few cans of peaches? Elizabeth fretted uncomfortably. It seemed like Ned Yost was taking a long time, or maybe it just seemed that way to her as she waited for the uncomfortable moments to pass, keenly aware of the room's sole other occupant. Had that stain always been there? she wondered inanely, her head tilted high as she squinted at the ceiling..

Finally, Elizabeth, purveyor and protector of words, could not stand the silence any longer and she lowered her head with a sigh.

"I'll miss Allie," she said, her statement directed at the blur of red surge.

Nathan Grant raised his head from the row of cans. Was she talking to him? Belatedly he realized of course she was, he was the only one there. "Pardon?" he said, not understanding.

"I'll miss Allie at school," Elizabeth elaborated.

"What?" Nathan replied, still not understanding.

"I'll miss Allie at school when you leave," Elizabeth said.

"Leave?" said Nathan.

Elizabeth sighed. His one word replies certainly weren't helping to advance the conversation. And then she realized. It was likely that Florence's news about his leaving came from unofficial rather than official sources and that the town's new Mountie mightn't have wanted his departure to be common knowledge just yet.

"Hope Valley is a small town, Constable," Elizabeth said as Nathan came up alongside her, laying his purchases on the store's counter. "News travels fast," she stated the implication, regarding him from the corner of her eyes.

"I see," Nathan replied, fishing in the pouch at his waist for some change, his mind working the information, quiet as he pieced it together, now realizing what most of the town must think.

When it became obvious no further response was forthcoming, Elizabeth turned to him fully. "Well?" she almost demanded, frustrated by his non-disclosure.

Nathan placed some coins on the counter and turned to Elizabeth, the first time they had been face-to-face in weeks.

"If you're referring to the transfer to Brumley, I turned it down," he informed her.

Elizabeth's mouth opened in a small gape of surprise. "But...but...can you do that?" she wondered. Could he do that? Weren't all transfers mandatory?

Nathan smiled at her confusion. "The assignment was an offer, Mrs. Thornton, not an order," he corrected her. At her look of incomprehension he clarified, "I'm the sole guardian of a minor child. The Force does make allowances. They're not totally heartless."

"I didn't mean that...I didn't mean...," Elizabeth faltered, feeling sheepish.

"Allie's doing really well here and I'm not going to take her away from that," he explained. Oh, maybe he would have taken the assignment in earlier days, when it was easier to move a small child, but he knew Allie was getting older and it was harder to uproot her from schools and friends. "And I like it here too," he confessed.

"But what about..." Elizabeth trailed off.

"What about what?"

"What about your dream?" Elizabeth wondered.

"What dream?"

"You know, the Mountie dream. Travel. Adventure..." she trailed off, waving her hand.

Nathan tilted his head and squinted at her. "Is that the Mountie dream?" he asked her. "And protecting a town isn't a Mountie dream?"

"No, no, I didn't say that!" Elizabeth replied. He was confusing her words, getting her muddled. She tried to work it out in her mind how one dream could be different from another. Jack had had the Mountie's wanderlust, she had known that from the start, and part of her had loved him for it, his call to duty and country. But she could not deny the partings had been difficult.

"Well, I"m glad you're staying," Elizabeth opined, then realizing how that must sound, she added, "for Allie's sake," and then realizing that too sounded a rudeness she bit her lip in confusion as Nathan merely stared silently back at her.

"Here are your peaches!" Ned Yost strode cheerfully back into the room, a jar of peaches in each hand. "Sorry it took so long, I had to dig around a bit for them," he chuckled at his own disorganization.

Gratefully Elizabeth loaded the cans into her basket and placed some change on the counter.

"Goodday," she nodded to Ned and Nathan, glad of an end to their conversation, both men watching her as she departed.

At the mercantile entrance, Elizabeth opened the door then backed up a little to admit a new arrival.

"Oh hello, Allie," Elizabeth said, stepping back to allow the child's entrance.

"Hello," Allie replied politely and quietly, not meeting her teacher's eyes.

Elizabeth stood a moment in the doorway as she watched Allie cross over to her uncle, her brow furrowed and perplexed. There was no denying Elizabeth Thornton had a way with children, a special gift almost in understanding them and something now niggled in Elizabeth's heart, a peculiar sense that something was amiss. She cast a final worried look at Allie before heading out of the store.

"Now don't go spending all your allowance on candy," Nathan Grant instructed his niece with a smile when she drew near him, as he finished his purchases at the counter.

"I won't," Allie replied, her thoughts elsewhere than on candy as she surveyed the jars of brightly coloured sweets. No, she wouldn't be buying candy or anything else today. She'd need all the money she had, and more. For if news of the town constable's transfer had discombobulated Elizabeth Thornton then they had done no less for Allie. And in her mind, it was decided. It was time. If she was to make her plan, she'd need all the money she had. And more.