"I asked my father to come down for Ally's birthday," Nathan commented as he and Gabe brushed down Newton and Apollo at the livery that evening.
"Is he coming?" Gabe asked, holding back from saying any of the other comments that came to mind. He knew that Nathan's relationship with his father was complicated, even more so than his own, and the last thing he wanted to do was make it any harder. He thought it was good for both Nathan and Archie Grant, and Ally as well, that they try to mend the relationship. Of course, that all hinged on Archie actually sticking to his changed ways.
"He said he would. He seemed quite confident he could get the time off and his boss sounds like a reasonable man, so he probably could," Nathan commented.
"Are you taking your father's word for that?" Gabe ventured.
"Not exactly," Nathan admitted. "I may have called his boss myself to check up on him."
"Of course you did," Gabe replied, really not all that surprised at all. If he were honest, he'd probably do the same thing in Nathan's position.
"I know Elizabeth believes that people can change and perhaps that's true in some cases, but I refuse to believe anything blindly. Especially not if it is going to affect Ally. I know my father claims that the lying, gambling, and stealing is a thing of the past but I've also heard him say that on more than one occasion."
"I get it, Nathan," Gabe said. "Your father betrayed a trust when you were young. That has a lasting impact on any child. I see it with the orphans Lillian looks after. They're mistrusting of people and in some cases, in just the world around them. It takes time and patience to get past that," Gabe stopped stroking Apollo's back with the brush, and looked over the horse's back at Nathan. His friend was looking back over his shoulder at him at this point.
"When it comes down to it though, remember that you did at least investigate his claims about the necklace," Gabe continued. "If you hadn't, the Mounties in Buxton might have just accepted the easy answer and your father would be in jail for something that he didn't do. You kept that from happening despite the past, and no one could ask any more of you. Not even your father and he's probably smart enough to know that. I wouldn't be surprised if your father hadn't anticipated you calling his boss to check up on him."
"You may be right," Nathan said, turning his back on Newton so that he could face his friend. "His boss wasn't reluctant at all to share information with me. Almost like he had been given permission to do so."
Gabe smiled. "He probably had been. What your father did to your family was horrible but just because most criminals never change that doesn't mean that it doesn't happen on occasion. It's okay to protect yourself and Ally. It's okay to be skeptical. Just don't close yourself off to the possibility of the kind of relationship you could have your father. You extended the invitation, just wait and see what happens. If you don't feel comfortable telling Ally about it now, then don't. If her grandfather's appearance is a surprise to her, I don't think she'll mind. Just make sure you and your father are on the same page, so he doesn't accidently mention something in a letter."
"I already told him I wasn't saying anything to Ally about the possibility of him coming," Nathan admitted. "That I didn't want her birthday ruined if something came up and he couldn't make it. He said he understood."
"Things will work out okay, then," Gabe replied, returning to Apollo's grooming.
Nathan nodded, his friend's words giving him confidence in the choice he had made. He returned to his own task.
"Speaking of Lillian, how are things going?" Nathan asked.
"Well, she has forgiven me for me just asking Sam to guard her instead of telling her what was going on. Unfortunately, that also means she's forgiven Sam as well, and he's been staying at the cottage helping out with maintenance tasks at the orphanage."
"Well, you can hardly fault Lillian and Grace for wanting a man nearby to fix things when they break."
"I know," Gabe conceded. "I just wish that said guy didn't have an interest in Lillian."
"It's not like you've actually started courting her," Nathan said. "Until you made your intentions clear to Lillian, you can't fault someone else for showing an interest."
Gabe chuckled. "That's good, coming from you. I seem to remember quite a bit of complaining about a certain saloon owner showing interest in a certain schoolteacher."
"Exactly," Nathan replied without missing a beat. "I'm sharing the knowledge acquired through experience, with you."
"Nice try," Gabe told him. "However, you do make a valid point. Perhaps when I get back to Brookfield, I'll ask Lillian out. Assuming of course, Sam has taken advantage of my absence."
"Great, now I feel bad for keeping you here."
"Well, I'm not even thinking of going anywhere until I'm sure everything with the O'rourke case is wrapped up. If Lillian and I are meant to be, then we'll figure it out when I get back to Brookfield. If she's with Sam when I get back, then it wasn't meant to be."
Nathan snorted. "Somehow I don't see you accepting defeat that easily."
Gabe smiled. "Not unless I see a ring on her finger," he admitted.
Elizabeth glanced up at her son who was sitting in Nathan's lap. She watched as Nathan neatly printed some of the information on one of the party invitations Ally had designed. Little Jack watched the pen in fascination. Just when the little boy reached for the pen, Nathan moved it from the paper as if anticipating the action. Then, instead of trying to get control of the pen back, Nathan directed the pen toward a piece of scrap paper, letting Little Jack make squiggles on it for a bit before returning to his task.
"You make that look so easy," Elizabeth commented, gaining Nathan's attention. When he looked up at her, she continued. "I usually find I don't get much grading done when Little Jack's in my lap."
"I've had practice," Nathan told her. "A happy toddler is much easier to work around than a screaming four or five-year-old," he continued, glancing over at his niece.
"Uncle Nathan!" Ally exclaimed, knowing that it was herself her uncle was referring to.
Though a smile came to her face, Elizabeth smothered the laughter that wanted to bubble out. She remembered how it felt to be Ally's age and her mother telling not so flattering stories about her when she was a child.
"What?" Nathan said, trying to sound innocent. "You were not the easiest child at times," he told her. "That doesn't mean I don't love you though."
Ally smiled as she ducked her head, returning to decorating the front of the invitations for her party.
"You're doing a wonderful job with those, Ally," Elizabeth said, looking across the table at the work the door was doing. Beside her, Nathan had gotten the pen back from Little Jack and was back to printing the information in the invitation in front of him.
"Thank-you," Ally replied.
"I think I got the food figured out," Elizabeth commented, looking down at her list. "I just need to touch base with a few people to double check things. Ally and I can talk about what games she wants to have tomorrow night."
"That'll be fun!" Ally piped in.
"How are the invitations coming?"
"I'm about halfway through with the decorating," Ally replied.
"When I get the pen back, I'll be able to finish this one, which I think is number four," Nathan commented as Little Jack added to his collection of squiggles.
"How about I help with the printing then," Elizabeth volunteered, reaching for one of the blank invitations.
Later that night, Elizabeth laid her sleepy son down in his crib. Looking up at her, Little Jack rubbed his eyes.
"Goodnight my sweet boy," Elizabeth said softly before slipping from the room. She hoped he would fall asleep. If he didn't, she knew she would be back in the room, possibly trying to rock the little boy to sleep. She just hoped he didn't keep Ally awake tonight.
As she stepped out into the hallway, Ally was coming up the steps.
"I put fresh sheets on the bed in the guest room," Elizabeth told her. "If you need anything just let me know."
"Thanks, Mrs. Thornton," Ally said, heading to the room she had stayed in on the last occasion she had stayed with her schoolteacher.
"You're welcome," Elizabeth replied, heading downstairs.
Stepping from the steps, Elizabeth spotted Nathan by the door, already in his jacket.
"I appreciate you keeping an eye on her for a couple of days," Nathan said as Elizabeth made her way toward him.
"It's no problem," Elizabeth assured him. "I enjoy having her around. So was she difficult when she was little?"
"Ally was a sweet little girl from the day she was born," Nathan replied. "At least up until Colleen passed away. When I first started to care for her, she cried a lot and was clingy. If I wasn't holding her, then she was right by my side if I was in sight. I had no choice but to learn to do things around her. Given that she was missing her mother, and didn't really understand was going on, it was to be expected."
"For the first few months, I kept my post in Calgary, which helped because my mother was with Ally when I was at work. I wasn't sure what I was going to do when I was reassigned. While I was happy to be able to escape the city again, I was losing my mother's support with Ally. Thankfully, Gabe took a furlough to help me get settled at the next posting. There was also a sweet older lady who lived next door to the house the community had built for the Mountie stationed in the town. She helped me out a lot with Ally until she started school. And that's probably more information than you bargained for," Nathan said, realizing he had been talking for a while.
"Not at all," Elizabeth replied. "After all, I did ask. Those early years must have been tough for both you and Ally," she said, her heart aching for the little girl who must've been missing both parents at that time. She wasn't sure what was worse for a child, knowing and losing a parent, or never knowing a parent in the first place.
"It was but we got through it with the help of those around us. Sometimes, just getting through things is the best you can hope for," Nathan commented. "Then other times, you get to enjoy life. You're helping us do the latter right now."
Elizabeth ducked her head. "You're welcome," she told him.
"I should probably head home," Nathan commented. "I've got an early morning."
Elizabeth nodded. "Be safe," she said.
"It's just a trial. I'll go, testify, and be home before you know it."
Elizabeth nodded, unable to say anything else. She knew Nathan had a point. They wouldn't even be transferring a prisoner like last week.
Then again, Jack had simply been training Mounties when he had died. Just because a situation didn't seem dangerous, didn't mean that there weren't dangers lurking in the shadows.
"Would it help if I called when we reached Buxton?" Nathan asked, seeing the worry still etching Elizabeth's features. "I know you'll be teaching, but maybe someone could bring a message to you," he suggested.
"I think I'd like that," Elizabeth admitted, knowing that she would be worried the whole time about what may have happened she didn't hear from him. "And Lee and Rosemary told me I was welcome to go over to their house and use the phone if I needed to while they were gone. Perhaps you could call tomorrow evening and both Ally and I could talk to you."
"I would be happy to," Nathan told her.
"You probably think I'm being silly."
"No, I don't think that at all," Nathan told her, reaching out to place his hands on her upper arms as he looked down at her. "Losing someone is always hard, but more so when they still seem too young. It makes us more aware of how fragile life really is. I will do anything I am able to make this easier on you. All you have to do is ask?"
"Thank-you," Elizabeth said, looking up at him. She couldn't figure out how she could be so lucky as to be loved by two men as special as Jack and Nathan.
"Goodnight, Elizabeth," Nathan said softly before leaning in close and kissing her on the temple.
Elizabeth felt her breath catch. As hard as it had been for Nathan to admit hiss feelings for her in the first place, she figured it would take forever for him to get around to finding the nerve to kiss her, in any fashion.
"Goodnight," Elizabeth murmured when she realized Nathan had opened the door and was stepping out into the cold night.
As the door closed behind Nathan, Elizabeth's hand found its way to the temple that Nathan had kissed. She could still feel the soft touch of his lips on her skin and she found herself wondering what they would feel like on her lips.
With any luck, it wouldn't be long before she found that out as well.
Realizing that she was staring at the door in a daze, Elizabeth gave herself a mental shake and turned from the door. She still had some grading to work on before retiring, but first, she wanted to check on her house guest.
Returning upstairs, Elizabeth made her way to the spare bedroom. She knocked on the door and got an immediate reply from the room's current occupant. Pushing the door open, she found Ally already in bed, though the lamp was still lit. In her hands, Ally held a book.
"What are you reading?" Elizabeth asked, stepping into the room.
"Alice in Wonderland, again. There is something comforting about reading it, although I've read in a number of times before."
"Everyone should have one of those stories," Elizabeth replied. "Just make sure you don't stay up too late reading."
"I won't," Ally replied. "I'll turn the light out when I finish the chapter."
"Okay," Elizabeth said. "Your uncle and I were talking. He's going to call us tomorrow evening from Buxton, so you'll get to talk to him."
"That'll be nice," Ally said, a smile coming to her face.
"It will give us both something to look forward to," Elizabeth agreed. "You also have the invitations for your party to pass out tomorrow. Perhaps Opal, Emily and Anna can help you decide on a few party games. Before you know it, your uncle will be home."
Ally nodded. After hesitating a moment she asked, "Mrs. Thornton, can I ask you a personal question?"
"You may," Elizabeth said, wondering what was on the girl's mind and hoping that she would be able to answer it.
"When your husband left for the assignment that he didn't come home from, did you think that was going to be the last time you would see him?"
"No, it didn't cross my mind at all actually," Elizabeth admitted, as she sat down on the edge of Ally's bed. "I don't know if it was because he had just recently come home from the Northern Territories and I thought the danger was past or because I was so happy because we just got married. Whatever it was, I came back to Hope Valley believing that at the end of the training session Jack would be coming home to me and then he didn't."
"I worry every time Uncle Nathan drops me off at school or leaves that he might not come home," Ally admitted quietly. "I already lost my mom, and she didn't have a dangerous job and my father left me. I couldn't imagine losing Uncle Nathan too."
"Oh, Ally," Elizabeth murmured sympathetically as she reached out to pull the girl into a hug. She wanted to say something to chase Ally's fears away, but this wasn't like a child's fear of the dark or monsters under the bed. Ally's fear could very well become reality and Elizabeth wasn't about to try to brush that away. The girl had already lost quite a bit in her young life. Elizabeth couldn't imagine her losing even more but knew that it could happen.
"Would you like to say a prayer for your Uncle together before you go to sleep?" Elizabeth asked as she held Ally close to her.
Elizabeth felt Ally nod in response. Keeping her arms around Ally, Elizabeth began speaking a prayer for Nathan, and the two accompanying him, that they would be safe in their travels and return home to the people who cared about them.