Bill Avery pulled up a chair and sat down at the table in the saloon. "Enjoying your dinner, Mr... ?"

Caleb looked up and narrowed his eyes slightly. "Who wants to know?"

Bill raised his eyebrows and smiled. "I do." He put out his hand. "Bill Avery, Acting Constable of Hope Valley."

Caleb took another bite of his steak. "Sorry, didn't recognize you out of uniform," he said, looking Bill up and down. "Am I breaking any laws, Constable?"

Exhaling, Bill decided he already didn't like the smart mouth on this stranger. He laughed softly, "Not yet."

Chewing loudly, Caleb said, "But you expect I will?"

Nodding and still smiling, Bill said, "Oh, I'm counting on it."

Caleb stared at him for a moment and then, just for the sake of being able to finish his dinner in peace, he put out his hand and said, "Cal Baker from Edmonton. Just passing through, Acting Constable."

Bill shook his hand. "And if that's the case, Mr. Baker, then we should have no argument with each other. Are you going by train or by stage tomorrow?"

Caleb took a deep breath and paused. "I'm finding that this town has restorative properties, Mr. Avery. I may need to stay a few days to take them all in."

"Actually, Mr. Baker, I should clear this up right now," Bill said. "I'm not Mr. Avery. You have two choices in addressing me. One is Acting Constable, and the other is Your Honor. As in Judge Avery."

Now Caleb put down his fork and knife and turned to face Bill. "Judge. Now I do recall hearing earlier that you were the Constable and the Judge. Small towns, right?" he said, wiping his mouth. "Well, that is a coincidence. I might be needing a Judge's services sometime soon."

"In what capacity, Mr. Baker?" Bill asked, intrigued.

"Well, sir, I have a daughter, and I've not been in a position to care for her for a while, but now I am. I've come to rejoin with my sweet little girl, but I'm not certain those who have her will be willing to give her up. I need to know if a blood father with a desire to cherish a daughter has rights over a legal guardian appointed by the cold arm of the court." He saw Bill's eyes narrow further and said quickly, "No offense meant, of course."

"None taken, I'm sure." Bill paused, his mind speeding through everyone in town. And no matter how he tried not to, he kept coming back to Allie. He knew that Nathan's sister had died and that Nathan had been appointed Allie's legal guardian. He also knew the law. Unless he could prove beyond a doubt that this man was not fit to be Allie's father, he would have no choice in the matter. Blood would always win. And if what he was saying was true, this Cal Baker was closer to Allie in blood than Nathan.

Bill said calmly, "And what is your daughter's name, Mr. Baker?"

"Alice Rebecca Butler. And I apologize for the subterfuge, but one can never be too careful these days. My name is Caleb Butler, and I'm Allie's father. I was married to Nathan Grant's sister when she died, God rest her soul."

Narrowing his eyes, Bill said, "So that explains why you were talking to our schoolteacher as she walked home from the school with Allie this afternoon."

Smiling, Caleb said, "Ah, yes, Mrs. Thornton. Lovely woman." Then he frowned and said, "Is that against the law?"

Bill leaned back in his chair. "No, it's not," he said softly.

Bill was thinking fast. He cared for Allie. The whole town did. This could turn out very badly, and he would be the one to decide.

Looking up at Caleb, Bill said, "Did you tell Allie and Mrs. Thornton what you're telling me?"

Caleb went back to his dinner, but his sarcastic tone was gone. He needed Bill Avery in his pocket, and you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. "No, that didn't feel right. I'm sure this won't be easy for all of them. I thought I'd wait until Nathan got back and talk with him first."

Bill exhaled sharply. They're getting married in a couple of weeks. The paperwork is already in place, ready to sign to make Allie legally their daughter. And as happy as Elizabeth and Nathan are about it, Allie will be over the moon.

At first Bill felt nothing but sadness, and then he got angry. Hasn't Elizabeth gone through enough? Hasn't Nathan? Hasn't Allie?

Bill rose from his seat. "Well, you enjoy the rest of your dinner, Mr. Butler." He raised an eyebrow. "I imagine I'll be hearing from you."

Caleb looked up, grinning. "That you will, Judge Avery. That you will."

As he walked out the door, Bill was preparing the request in his head for the Edmonton Mountie office and Mountie Headquarters in Buxton for any information on one Caleb Butler. If Butler had so much as an overdue library book, Bill would know by tomorrow afternoon.

Up in her row house, Elizabeth poured another cup of tea for Rosemary. It was very late and Jack and Allie were already asleep upstairs. The house was filled with the delicious aroma of freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies and they were each enjoying one while they went over the final plans for the wedding in Airdrie and the reception in Hope Valley.

Rosemary spread out her drawings. "This is the dress you'll wear to get married, and this one is the one for the party here." She looked up expectantly, watching Elizabeth's eyes carefully.

"Oh, Rosemary," Elizabeth said, sighing. "They're perfect. Exactly what we talked about."

Rosemary put her hand on her chest, "Good, because Clara and Dottie have them halfway finished! We're sewing baby pearls on the bodice of your wedding dress. Here, and here. It will be stunning!"

"I love them both," Elizabeth said. "And Allie's dresses?"

Rosemary pulled out two more drawings and turned them around for Elizabeth to see. "These are each in Allie's favorite peach color. Chiffon for the wedding to match yours, and then this soft cotton for the party."

Reaching over to hug Rosemary, Elizabeth said, "They're all so beautiful. What do brides do when their best friends aren't fabulous dress designers?"

Rosemary fluttered her eyelashes happily as she hugged Elizabeth. "Oh, I suppose they make do!"

Elizabeth took another sip of her tea. "And you and Lee are really coming to Airdrie? You don't mind the trip?"

Rosemary waved her hand in the air, "Not at all. We can't wait to see this ranch you've talked so much about. And the pergola sounds like something out of a fairy tale!" Rosemary had another bite of her cookie. "And from everything you've told me about Rebecca, I have to meet her. What better time than a wedding!"

Elizabeth looked again at the note Nathan had sent by coach from Brookfield. It was written quickly, very different from his letters, but still clearly in Nathan's strong and even handwriting. Dearest Angel, Here safely, meeting with Gabe, riding out tomorrow. Will sleep rough tomorrow night & will see you Thurs. Love to A & J & most of all to you, my beloved E., Nathan

Rosemary put her hand over Elizabeth's on the table. "He'll be home soon," she said softly.

Elizabeth smiled up at her. "I know." She nodded. "I really do."

"You're different, Elizabeth. Than you were when Jack would go away," Rosemary said.

Elizabeth said, "I can't explain it, but I can so clearly see us growing old together in that house by the pond. I can see Allie and Jack growing up and having children of their own, and more children for us..." Elizabeth stopped and looked at Rosemary quickly, a question in her eyes.

Rosemary shook her head, "No, Elizabeth, please don't do that. I'm just fine. If Lee and I are meant to have children, it will happen. And if it doesn't, there are plenty of children who need homes and the kind of love we could give them." She took Elizabeth's hands across the table. "I haven't told anyone this, but when we were in Brookfield last month, we talked with Lillian and Grace. We told them if they heard of a young child, or siblings..."

Elizabeth brightened. "Rosemary! How wonderful."

"Lillian said that if the time is right, we'll all know it."

"And you will," Elizabeth said, squeezing her hand.

Taking a deep breath, Rosemary said, "And I can't believe you're getting a house before I am!" She laughed, "You know, Lee promised me one a long time ago. I must admit having you next door has made it hard to imagine leaving the row houses, so I've told him I wanted to wait. But now, we're talking about it again..."

Raising her eyebrows, Elizabeth said, "There's a lot of land out there, Rosemary. And we got a good price from Henry for our two acres." She smiled hopefully. "We could still be neighbors, just not so we can see each other's laundry drying!" Elizabeth laughed. "Much as I love seeing your head pop over the top of the fence."

Rosemary looked at her. "You wouldn't mind?"

Elizabeth frowned, "Mind? Why would I mind? We love living next door to you and Lee. I would like nothing better than for our children, yours and ours..." She said, looking firmly at Rosemary, "...to grow up together. For you to be able to just walk over for tea, for Jack to run to your house to see you whenever he wants..."

Rosemary said, "Really?" And then she laughed, "Well, that's good, because we're already looking a little. There's a spot to the right of your land, closer to town but still with a good view of the church and the pond, and the sunset," Rosemary said softly.

Elizabeth looked at her happily. "I know exactly where you mean! We thought of that spot too, but I wanted to be a little closer to the school. That would be perfect!" Elizabeth smiled. "I tell you what, when Nathan gets back we'll take our dinner out to the porch one night, and Lee and Nathan can go walk off where you want to be."

Rosemary's eyes glistened. "Oh, Elizabeth. It's all falling in to place, isn't it? Lee and I are so happy together, and I'm ecstatic for you and Nathan and the children." She lowered her voice to a whisper, "And the papers for Allie?"

Elizabeth whispered too. "All set. Bill has them completely drawn up. Right after we're married we'll give them to her. Then we'll sign them, and she'll be ours."

"And she has no idea?" Rosemary asked.

"None," Elizabeth said, smiling. "She asked us when we first started planning if it could happen after we're married, and we told her we would talk about it when we got back to Hope Valley. She doesn't know it will be minutes after we're married."

Rosemary sighed. "I'm so grateful we'll be there to see her face." She smiled and whispered. "This is my favorite kind of story. You take sadness and transform it into the best kind of happiness. With love."

Caleb Butler was surprised to find that a town the size of Hope Valley, with only one drinking establishment, had a library of its own. And even more surprised that the door was always unlocked. Small town saps, so trusting.

Right now he was sitting at a table with a reference book open, making sure that he was correct in assuming that the closest blood relative would win out in a custody case. There were plenty of precedents already on the books.

He looked up at the plaque on the wall directly in front of him. Always do what you are afraid to do. Ralph Waldo Emerson. Caleb knew exactly whose hands had fashioned that wooden plaque. Nathan was always quoting some book or another, and he'd spent hours in the shed working on lettering wood for the ranch.

Caleb laughed under his breath. Emerson had it wrong, he thought. When you've been as poor as I've been, you're not afraid of anything. I'm so far down that there's nowhere to go but up.

Now, finally, he'd hit pay dirt. Caleb had no desire to raise his daughter, and even when he'd walked with her from the school, he'd felt nothing. When he looked at Allie, he saw dollar signs, and that was all. Lots and lots of dollar signs.

But that little girl seemed to have made an impression on this backwoods town. He could even see a glimmer of it in Bill Avery. Caleb thought they might fight pretty hard to keep her here.

Reaching in his pocket, Caleb read again, "You are ordered to report for duty at the Headquarters of the Edmonton Depot Battalion in one week..." According to the date on the letter, Caleb had two days of freedom left before his name was branded as a military offender. It was cutting it pretty close, but as long as Nathan got back tomorrow as planned, there would be time for Caleb to convince him that he had a right to Allie and meant to take her. Then it would just be a matter of negotiation.

And Caleb knew that he could negotiate without emotion, while Nathan and that pretty schoolteacher with the rich family couldn't.

Then it would be off to Vancouver, or maybe even Portland and a new life. With money.

Caleb looked back up at the plaque. You always used to win, Nathan. But I'm not afraid of anything now, and you have a lot to lose. This time, I win.