"I wonder..." Julie said playfully, "...where you are taking me?" She adjusted the voluminous skirt of her gown in the front seat of Lucas' car.
He looked over at her and smiled. "I don't suppose you'd believe me if I said La Scala?"
Julie laughed. "Considering it would take us more than two weeks to get there, you might have warned me I should pack a bag..."
Lucas smiled. "Well, then, you'll just have to be patient, won't you?"
"Oh," Julie pouted.
"I know that patience is not your strong suit, Julie," he said lightly. "The good news is you won't have to wait too long to find out."
They were in the town now, just driving past the saloon. As they drove in front of the newspaper office next door, Lucas pulled the car over and parked it, shutting off the engine.
Julie frowned and tilted her head. "We're going to the Queen of Hearts?" She was hoping there was no disappointment in her voice, but they had spent so much time at those round wooden tables.
Lucas turned to her and said, "Tell me exactly what you're thinking right now. Don't worry about how it might make me feel about our date. Be honest."
Julie turned in her seat. "Honestly? I was hoping, with what you asked me to wear, that we might be going somewhere other than the saloon." She frowned. "Not that I don't love the saloon, but at this hour there will be men at the bar drinking whiskey, and others loudly playing darts, and then there's the piano, the bright lights..."
Lucas smiled. "All very true. And what if I told you that we were going to Abigail's?" he said evenly.
Laughing, Julie said, "I'd tell you I'm just a teensy bit overdressed."
Raising his eyebrows, Lucas said, "So would you agree that there's something missing in Hope Valley?"
She smiled at him from under her lashes and said, "What's up your sleeve, Lucas Bouchard?" Julie looked around, suspicious. When she looked in the newspaper building's windows, she could see the flickering of candles. Many candles.
Julie turned back to Lucas and raised one eyebrow. "I think..." she said, whispering, "Either we should alert the volunteer fire department, or there seems to be something going on at the Hope Valley Gazette," Julie said, smiling.
Lucas peered around her and shrugged. "Perhaps we should take a look?"
Laughing, Julie said, "Perhaps we should."
Lucas got out of the car and walked around. He opened her door and put his hand out formally for her. "Miss Thatcher," he said, bowing.
Julie turned and took his hand, managing her skirts, her fan and her small purse expertly from long practice. They stepped up to the boardwalk and Lucas turned a key in the door to the Gazette office. Then he opened it and ushered Julie in.
Gasping softly, Julie could see that there were, indeed, many candles. If not already on fire, the room had certainly been put in the category of a fire hazard. But that wasn't the only change in the office. All the desks were cleared of their usual paper clutter and they'd been pushed to the edges of the room. In the center was one lovely small table with a snow white tablecloth, elegant place settings, fresh flowers, crisp white napkins in the shape of fans the way Julie had taught Gustav, and a small sign that read in gold letters on a white background: Reserved.
There was soft music coming from somewhere, and Julie looked around. Of course it was invisible, as it was in the finest restaurants, but Julie detected the voice of Francesco Tamagno, the tenor she'd seen perform Otello.
Julie turned to Lucas, her eyes wide. "Impressive," she said simply.
Smiling back at her, Lucas said softly, "That was the intention."
Lucas took her arm and walked her to the table. He stood behind her and removed her warm cloak, then turned and handed it to Landon, a young waiter Julie knew from the saloon. Except that tonight, instead of his usual casual clothes, Landon was wearing a tuxedo. Julie waved to him and nodded, whispering, "Looking very dapper, Landon," and he beamed back at her.
Pulling out her chair, Lucas seated her and walked around to the other side of the table and sat, after handing his own coat to Landon.
Julie said, "I see what's going on here, Lucas. And yes, this is what's missing in Hope Valley. An elegant restaurant with fine dining and amenities of the type we've talked about." She looked around at the desks and the maps and framed newspapers on the walls. "But the ambiance could use a little work," she said, raising an eyebrow.
Lucas looked around too and then gazed at her. "I agree wholeheartedly. But I'll leave the ambiance up to you."
Julie's smile disappeared and she looked at him intently. "What are you saying?"
Before he answered, Lucas looked over at Landon, who was standing the proper distance from the table, waiting for his cue. As Lucas nodded, he brought over a silver bucket of ice on a stand with a bottle of champagne in it. He proceeded to open it and pour out two flutes for them. Then he backed away quietly.
Lucas raised his glass. "Miss Julie Thatcher, before our date begins in earnest, I would like to make a business proposition."
Julie raised her glass as well and waited in rapt anticipation.
Lucas continued. "The Gazette was running out of space and they've moved down the street to a larger building. I've purchased this one and hope to join it to our kitchen at the saloon. I would like it to be a place where the people of Hope Valley can have special evenings, like this one..." he said, smiling warmly at Julie and making her heart flutter, "...where romance can blossom in an elegant setting, where anniversaries and weddings can be celebrated, and where we can serve Gustav's finest cuisine."
Julie's cheeks were coloring, to her great dismay. She still held her champagne flute in front of her, but she picked up her fan and proceeded to give herself a little air.
Lucas smiled broadly, seeing the effect his speech was having on her. He thought her blush in the candlelight made her even more beautiful.
He leaned forward and said softly. "And I'd like you to run it for me, at a mutually agreed-upon salary, with no interference and absolute trust that your instincts and experience will create a setting, a menu and an ambiance," he said, looking around, "that will charm the people of this town." He touched his glass to hers. "As you have charmed me."
Julie's breath caught in her throat and the fan in her hand picked up speed. She wasn't often speechless, but the combination of the professional offer and the highly personal gaze of his eyes in the candlelight had set her back on her very elegant heels.
Lucas smiled, his eyes sparkling. "Do you need a moment?" he said, looking like he might be on the verge of a chuckle.
Sitting up tall in her chair, Julie pulled herself together. She put down her fan and simply let the blush bloom in her cheeks. Her smile was radiant as she looked over her champagne glass at Lucas and said, "As long as I can invest and share in a percentage of the profits, I accept."
Lucas smiled and raised an eyebrow. He thought for a moment, then took a deep breath and nodded.
She put out her hand to shake his on the business proposition, but he took it in his own and kissed it softly instead. He kept his lips there and looked up at her from under his dark brows, and they held each other's eyes for a few moments.
Julie tilted her head slightly, refusing to be bested in this little contest, and Lucas blinked first, laughing.
He let go of her hand and said softly, "You're going to be a lot of trouble, aren't you?"
Julie smiled radiantly at him and unfolded her napkin, putting it in her lap. "Yes, I expect I will."
Nathan was in the mood for a walk and he missed Elizabeth, so he called Rosemary's and told her he would come to the row houses and walk Elizabeth home. Archie and Allie were having so much fun with Jack that they practically pushed him out the door.
Elizabeth and Rosemary had made a plan to talk tomorrow and Elizabeth said she would be happy to go out with her in the wagon to Brookfield to meet the little girl she and Lee might foster. Rosemary would talk to Lee and they would let her know their decision.
Elizabeth told Nathan all about it as they walked. Lately, he had taken to putting his arm around her waist more than usual, as if he could hold his child as well as hold her. She'd caught him just today, gazing at her with wonder in his eyes, the way he might look at a great painting or a sculpture.
She'd laughed and taken his face in her hands, saying, "You're making me self-conscious! Women have babies all the time. You know this happens every day, right?"
He'd kissed her and said softly, "It doesn't happen every day to me."
As they walked through the town on their way home, Elizabeth looked over and saw Lucas' car parked outside the Gazette. She frowned and said, "Oh." She was hoping this evening wouldn't be a disappointment for her sister after all the preparations she'd made to look perfect.
Nathan followed her eyes, but the Mountie in him didn't care about the car, he worried about what looked like a fire inside the newspaper offices.
"Stay here," he said quickly, and started running. Of course, Elizabeth had no intention of staying anywhere, and she followed him.
By the time she reached him, Nathan was standing outside the window shaking his head and laughing softly. He stood to the side, although with the light inside and what he was seeing, he doubted the couple at the table was at all concerned with what was going on anywhere else.
Elizabeth came around Nathan and peered in. Amid what looked like a thousand candles, Lucas was holding Julie's hand to his lips. Elizabeth felt like a voyeur, but she couldn't tear her eyes away. The juxtaposition of the elegant little table and the couple sitting there, in among all the candles, and the leftover newspaper desks made for a sight that one doesn't see every day.
Nathan smiled at her. "I'm actually looking forward to the story that goes with this picture," he said. "I heard rumblings that the Gazette was moving to a larger space. You think Lucas..."
"...is borrowing it, or buying it?" Elizabeth said softly. She looked up at Nathan. "Just to give Julie this dinner?"
Nathan gently took her arm and moved her away from the window. "I'm sure you'll hear all about it in the morning," he said. He raised his eyebrow, "And then you can tell me."
Up in her row house, Rosemary expected Lee any minute. She would usually be making preparations for him to come home from a long day. He'd finished the sawmill work earlier, and then had started handling arrangements for their new home out on the meadow. She liked to greet him at the door and show how much she appreciated all he was doing, but she couldn't seem to get herself up off the sofa.
She was staring into the fire, and to all outward appearances, Rosemary was calm. But her mind and her heart were racing.
Funny how you can want something so desperately, and then, when it's within your grasp, it's terrifying, she thought.
Rosemary wasn't just afraid on the most obvious level; that the child might be taken away from her after a time. She was realizing that occasional babysitting for Jack couldn't tell her what kind of mother she would be. What if I'm terrible at it? What if it's too much for me? What if...?
The key turned in the door and Lee walked in. "Sweetheart?" he said, peering into the darkness. He saw her on the sofa and put down his briefcase, took off his coat and sat next to her. "What are you doing in the dark?"
"What if I can't do it, Lee?" she said, close to tears and leaning over onto his shoulder.
"Do what, Rosie?" he said softly.
"Be a mother. It takes so much patience and I don't know how much I have," she said.
Lee smiled and put his arms around her. He brushed the hair back from her face and tilted her head up so he could look at her. "Listen to me. You have plenty of patience. You put up with me, don't you?" he said, kissing her.
She frowned, "That's different. What about in the middle of the night, when she cries and I don't know why? Lillian said she wakes up to be fed and then has trouble getting back to sleep, the poor thing."
Lee laughed softly and said, "We'll figure it out together. And we have Elizabeth, and Molly, and the Andersons, and Carson and Faith, and so many others to ask."
Rosemary sat up and looked at him. "So, do you think it's a good idea? Should we tell Lillian yes?"
Lee exhaled. "I can't pretend it's not a big step, Rosie. And I worry about you if they find her mother and take her back." He ran his thumb across her cheek tenderly. "But you'll be such a good mother, and you have so much love to give a child. We both do."
A smile gradually brightened Rosemary's face. "I think we should do it. And if they do find her mother, we should be happy about that, shouldn't we? And then we'll just try again."
Lee took her hands in his. "Oh, Rosie. I love you so much, sweetheart." He nodded, smiling. "Yes. Let's say yes to Lillian."
"Really?" Rosemary hugged him tightly and snuggled back down, looking at the fire.
"Lillian said that she would let us give her a name," Rosemary said softly. "That's kind of a big responsibility, isn't it?"
Lee put his arm around her shoulder and said, "What about my mother's name? Violet?"
Rosemary popped back up and looked him in the eye, smiling. "Lee Coulter," she said affectionately. "You've been thinking about this!"
He shrugged and smiled, "Maybe a little." He looked at her and nodded. "Maybe a lot."
Her eyes softened and Rosemary said, "You'll make a wonderful father, you know?"
Lee sighed. "I hope so, Rosie. I want to be."
"You will be." Rosemary gently touched her lips to his. "And I love the name Violet. I always have."
Lee said, "We'll go tomorrow. I'll take the day off. And tomorrow night..."
They both laughed and said together, "No sleep."
