And now there were two Mounties in Hope Valley.
The little procession of Nathan and Elizabeth leading Bear and Sergeant, with Allie on Bear, Rosemary walking with them, and Nathan carrying Jack on his shoulders, was pretty hard to miss.
As they walked from the pond, Rosemary was expressing all the frustration she'd felt for the last two weeks, and Nathan was listening patiently. He was so glad to be back that he was actually enjoying it.
"I think," Rosemary said heatedly, "You should march into the Mountie office and relieve that little toad of his duties right this minute."
Nathan smiled at her. "I appreciate the vote of confidence, Rosemary, I really do," he said, "but I have to get cleared by Carson before Headquarters will pull Constable Covington."
Rosemary brightened. "We could go there now!" she said, turning toward the Infirmary.
Elizabeth laughed. "Let's let Nathan take a breath, Rosemary," she said. "He's been traveling since very early this morning."
Now they were in town, and seemed to be attracting attention. One man, then a woman, came up and shook Nathan's hand, welcoming him back to Hope Valley and congratulating him on his engagement. He looked at Elizabeth and smiled, remembering her letter. She laughed softly and said, "I told you, you'll be shaking a lot of hands."
As they walked past Abigail's, Clara and Jesse were just coming out. Both came straight for them.
Clara asked Elizabeth, "Were you surprised?" Nathan turned to Rosemary and raised an eyebrow, and Rosemary said quickly, "She was sworn to secrecy! I had to tell someone! It was too sweet!"
Elizabeth hugged Clara, laughing. "I thought I was seeing things. I was completely surprised!"
Jesse shook Nathan's hand and said, "Welcome to the land of the engaged, Nathan. You have no idea what is in store for you." He smiled at Clara who tilted her head at him. Jesse quickly said, "And it's all good!"
Fiona came out of the saloon with Lucas close behind her. "Nathan!" she said happily, walking quickly toward them. The crowd was growing and they were taking up a good portion of the street.
Allie laughed and said, "Uncle Nathan, I can take Bear to the livery if you want?" She turned to Elizabeth, "You think Sergeant would let me lead him?" Before she could answer, Jesse said, "I'll take him, Allie. We can go together." He kissed Clara on the cheek and said, "I'll be right back."
Fiona was hugging Elizabeth. She whispered, "You must be so happy he's home. Did you know he was coming?"
Elizabeth nodded, "I am, Fiona. And no, he surprised me out at the pond!"
Lucas shook Nathan's hand. "Congratulations, Nathan. I know you'll be very happy together." There was just the slightest bit of wistfulness in his eyes. At the very beginning, there had been a time when he'd thought Elizabeth might have chosen him, but it had been clear for a long time that her choice was Nathan. Lucas knew now that it was a good match and he was happy for them.
Nathan said, "Thank you, Lucas." Jack was getting restless on his shoulders, and he pulled him down into his arms. He rested easily on his hip and Nathan was able to put his campaign hat back on his head.
The impromptu celebration continued as Ned Yost and Florence came out of the Mercantile. Then Molly who had been shopping, and Bill Avery from his office. Carson, Faith, Hickam, and Lee joined in. Kisses and hand-shaking were shared all around and it began to look like a party in the middle of the street, with Nathan in full uniform standing proudly in the center, and Elizabeth incandescently happy next to him.
Even Henry Gowen stopped his car and shook Nathan's hand.
Gradually, they began to notice that there was one person not taking part in the celebration. Acting Constable Stuart Covington was standing outside the Mountie office with his hand resting on his sidearm, looking at them with narrowed eyes.
He called out loudly, "You'll all need to move on. You're blocking the street."
Nathan looked up from shaking Henry's hand. He handed Jack to Elizabeth and straightened to his full height, adjusting his hat slightly and taking a few steps forward. His eyes were also narrowed, and the group grew quiet, looking from one to the other in some anticipation.
"I don't think so," Nathan said. His voice was strong and deep and had all of the authority of his uniform behind it. "I think we're all fine right where we are."
Constable Covington stared at Nathan for a moment, deciding what to do. Then he got a cold look in his eyes and reached into the pouch on his belt and pulled out his citation book.
Nathan smiled at him, but the whole town knew this was not a smile you wanted to see from Constable Nathan Grant.
"Not today, Constable," Nathan said firmly, raising his chin. "In fact, it may be time for you to move on."
As the entire town burst into spontaneous applause, Elizabeth threw her arms around Nathan and kissed him.
Acting Constable Stuart Covington exhaled sharply and stormed back into the Mountie office, slamming the door as he went.
Nathan laughed softly and said into Elizabeth's ear, "I may pay for that."
She hugged him tighter. "You won't be alone in doing it, Nathan. You'll have the whole town behind you."
Now Nathan received slaps on the back, a heartfelt hug from Rosemary, and plenty of exclamations of "Good man, Nathan!"
And then Lucas called out loudly, "Family Time in the saloon!" and everyone started making their way there.
Lucas was aware that Hope Valley had a bit of a dilemma. Abigail's was the family café, but it wasn't very large. The saloon had alcohol and gambling, but it could hold a large number of the townspeople. Lucas had kindly solved the problem by creating what he called "Family Time." The alcohol went behind the bar, the cards disappeared and tables were pushed together. Tea, hot chocolate, popcorn and cookies were brought over from Abigail's and Bill and Lucas shared in the profits when things were sold.
Movie nights, Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners, town meetings, weddings, dances – really anytime there would be families and children present, became Family Time. But these were planned events.
What Lucas had done with Nathan and Elizabeth on this day, primarily because of Jack and Allie, was very much out of the ordinary. It served to underscore what an integral part of the Hope Valley community their little family had become.
The town was celebrating three things in particular: Nathan and Elizabeth's engagement, Nathan's return to Hope Valley, and the imminent departure of Constable Covington. It became a time to share stories about all three, and also a time to congratulate the happy couple, together again after Nathan's harrowing ordeal and his time in Airdrie.
And in the middle of it all, Nathan and Elizabeth couldn't stop looking at each other. From the time Elizabeth looked up on the dock, they'd had no time alone together, and although they loved how they felt in the town's celebration, they were both also looking forward to a time later in the evening when it could just be the two of them.
Little by little, people said goodbye, shook Nathan's hand again, kissed Elizabeth on the cheek again, and made their way home for their own family dinners.
Carson and Faith were some of the last to go, and as they said goodbye, Carson said, "If you're not too tired, can you stop off at the Infirmary and let me take a look at that leg? You seem to be getting around pretty well on it. No pain?"
Nathan nodded. "No pain. It feels strong. And actually, I need your approval so that I can take up my duties again." He smiled. "I may have burned a bridge with Constable Covington today."
Carson and Faith both laughed. Faith said, "We're all glad you did! He was planning to go through the Infirmary this week to make sure we were in 'regulatory medical compliance,' whatever that means. Who knows what he would have found?"
Nathan raised an eyebrow. "So it would be a benefit to you if I came back to work?" He smiled at them.
Carson nodded and said, "Well, the good news is that you can now ride a horse."
Elizabeth had been determined not to make a sound, but she stifled a laugh and it somehow turned into a snort.
Nathan looked sideways at her, "Smooth," he said softly.
"Sorry," Elizabeth said, blushing a bit.
Carson laughed. "It's okay, I really didn't think you'd last that long anyway. It doesn't hurt when you ride?"
Nathan raised an eyebrow. "Only the horse." He reached down and knocked on the cast. "How long does this have to stay on?"
"It should stay on another three weeks, but you seem to have bounced back pretty quickly. Let me take a look at it when you come to the Infirmary, and we'll see about getting you cleared to work."
There were more people waiting in line to say goodbye, so Carson and Faith hugged them and headed toward the door.
Finally it was just Nathan, Elizabeth and a few others, in addition to Clara, Jesse and Lucas cleaning up. Rosemary was holding Jack and sitting with Allie and a few of her friends.
Elizabeth squeezed Nathan's hand while he was saying goodbye to Bill Avery. "I'll ask Rosemary if she can take the children home." She leaned up and kissed Bill warmly on the cheek. "Thanks for coming."
Bill hugged Elizabeth and said, "I wouldn't have missed it." He clapped his hand on Nathan's back. "We're pretty glad to see this guy up and around again."
Nathan laughed. "That wouldn't have anything to do with the number of cases coming through your court from your Acting Constable, would it?"
Bill groaned. "My arm is getting tired from slamming the gavel down on my desk and saying 'Case dismissed.'" He rolled his eyes. "Honestly, Covington is the silliest Mountie I've ever met. And I've met a lot of them. I'll put him on the stage myself."
Elizabeth laughed. "I'll see you later," she said to Bill.
As she walked away, Nathan said seriously, "Bill, we'd like to talk to you sometime soon. About how we could adopt Allie once we're married."
Bill grinned. "Oh, that's great, Nathan. And it's a pretty simple process." He puffed up a little. "I do believe it's unilaterally up to the Judge in town." Smiling and nodding, he added, "And that would be me."
Elizabeth sat down next to Rosemary and Allie. She gave Jack a kiss on the cheek.
"Rosemary," Elizabeth said, "I hate to ask you for yet another favor, but would you mind taking Allie and Jack home? We need to get Carson's approval for Nathan to go back to work."
Rosemary waved her hand in the air and said, "My dear, I would do anything to make that happen as fast as possible." She laughed and said, "Wasn't Nathan magnificent? He reminded me of an actor I worked with once in a play in New York City, what was the name of that play...? These two actors facing each other, staring each other down..."
Elizabeth sighed a little. "He was magnificent, wasn't he?"
Rosemary took Elizabeth's hand. "It's very good to see the two of you together again." Rosemary looked at Jack and then Allie. "The four of you."
"I'm very happy, Rosemary," Elizabeth said.
"That's very obvious, Elizabeth," Rosemary said, with tears coming to her eyes.
"Thank you for what you did today. It was a wonderful surprise."
Rosemary shook her head, "Lee and I loved doing it. And I know you've told me a bit about Nathan's letters, and you've told me about your time in Airdrie, but honestly I never would have pegged Nathan to be such a romantic!"
Elizabeth nodded, her eyes going soft, "Still waters, Rosemary."
Moving closer, Rosemary whispered, "So when do we start our planning? I think I've been very patient!"
Elizabeth laughed. "Yes, you have. And Nathan and I will have a chance to talk about it soon. We have some ideas, and I just want to confirm that we both feel the same way about it. Then we'll have you and Lee over to dinner and we'll tell you everything."
Rosemary clapped her hands. "Oh, goody, another wedding to plan!"
Elizabeth hugged her. "And you're sure you don't mind taking Allie and Jack up to the house? We won't be long."
"Of course I don't! Take your time." Then she whispered, "As much as you need. Take a walk with that heroic man of yours."
Nathan came up to them and put his hand on Elizabeth's shoulder. "I want to go say thank you to Lucas." He looked at Rosemary. "And to you. It was perfect."
Rosemary giggled, "I haven't told you. When your letter arrived, both Ned and Florence were in the Mercantile. They recognized the return address and were very curious about why you would be writing me a letter. I loved your idea so much that I may have overreacted just a teensy bit as I was reading it, and I had to make something up. I can't even remember what I said!"
Nathan nodded and laughed. "Well, that explains why Florence came up to me and said, 'Now it makes perfect sense.' I had no idea what she was talking about."
Sighing again, Elizabeth stood and put her arm around Nathan's waist. "I will never forget how it felt to look up and see you there. I thought I had lost my mind or was delirious from missing you."
Nathan pulled her close. "I couldn't wait another day." They looked at each other for a long moment and then realized that they weren't alone. They both looked back at Rosemary and she was sighing too.
"Go. Go!" she said. "Lee is getting dinner started. We'll all be at our house." She winked at Elizabeth. "Whenever you get back."
"Thank you, Rosemary. You are such a good friend," Elizabeth said.
"Best friend," Rosemary said, a little choked up. "Bye, you two!"
Nathan and Elizabeth stopped off to give Lucas a heartfelt thank you. "I think we all enjoyed it," Lucas said. "It was a good day for a party." He nodded to Nathan. "And very glad to have you back as our Constable. I was being told I was close to losing my liquor license, and it may have come to blows," he said, smiling.
Nathan nodded. "Your liquor license is safe, Lucas. I think I have a lot of reporting to do to Headquarters on how Covington handled his duties here. We'll make sure it all gets turned around."
"Thank you, Nathan," Lucas said, shaking his hand. He looked at both Elizabeth and Nathan. "And again, congratulations to both of you."
Finally, Nathan and Elizabeth walked out into the street just as the sun was setting. Alone.
Elizabeth looked out to the west. "Another sunset. Where's a porch swing when you need one?" she said softly, looking up at him.
Nathan stopped in the middle of the street. "I don't care who sees us," he said, finally moving that tendril of hair from her face, gently.
Elizabeth closed her eyes and sighed. "I love it so much when you do that," she said, as if she were dreaming.
"I love you," Nathan said, and bent to kiss her tenderly. She put her arms around his neck, feeling his warmth, his strength, and the rightness of being here in Hope Valley in his arms. All the longing she'd felt in the last two weeks, wanting so much to do this, just melted away.
"And I love you," Elizabeth said.
There were still a few people here and there, walking the streets of Hope Valley. As they watched the gold and pink of the sky change the colors of his red serge tunic and her white blouse and lilac skirt, they smiled.
It was a breathtaking picture; the Mountie and the schoolteacher, so deeply in love.
And they were both home.
