The following morning, Nathan and Ally headed back to Hope Valley. Eleanor made sure they had plenty of sandwiches for the ride home. Chuck and Gabriel had both come out to the orphanage to see them off. Making sure that Ally was out of earshot, Chuck confirmed the plans made the day before for him to bring Midnight to Hope Valley at the end of the week. Though Nathan knew it was going to be tricky, he hoped to keep the horse a secret from Ally until Christmas.

The trip to Hope Valley was uneventful and quiet, except for Ally's chatter. Nathan didn't mind listening to the girl talk at all. It actually made the trip past quicker, even though he supplied very little to the conversation.

When the reached their little town, school was still in session. As he drove the wagon through town toward the little row of houses, he and Ally were greeted by several of their neighbors. It was nice to be welcomed home by friendly faces, though there was one person in particular that Nathan couldn't wait to see. Unfortunately that had to wait until school let out.

Reaching the house, Nathan brought the horses to a stop. He'd need to return the borrowed wagon and take care of the horse, but first he wanted to get a fire going in the stove. Despite the blankets, he had no doubt his niece was as cold as he felt. Getting down from the wagon, Nathan helped Ally down. Together, the two headed for the house. Though the house would be cold from standing vacant for the last few days, both were looking forward to the warmth of a fire.

The first thing Nathan noticed walking into his home was that it wasn't cold. The second thing he noticed was Lucas sitting at the table.

Having heard the door open, Lucas looked in that direction. Despite hiding it quickly, Lucas didn't miss the brief expression of surprised that crossed his face as Nathan closed the door behind him and his niece.

"I know, I'm probably the last person you expected to see upon coming home, but I thought coming home to a warm house would be preferable to the alternative," Lucas said, getting to his feet.

"It sure is," Ally commented, hurrying to stand in front of the stove. She started to remove her hat, scarf and mittens, tossing each of them on the table. Nathan chose to let the action go until Ally had a chance to warm up.

"Thank-you, Lucas," Nathan replied. "I appreciate the warm house after the long trip."

"I can't take all the credit," Lucas admitted. "Elizabeth mentioned the idea yesterday after church. She was actually thinking about letting the kids go home early so she could come start the fire herself. I told her I would do it."

"Well, I thank-you both," Nathan told him, as he closed the distance between them. Having removed his gloves, Nathan held his right hand out to the saloon owner.

"You're welcome," Lucas replied shaking Nathan's hand. "And now that someone is here to watch the fire, I'm going to head back into town and check in with my employees," Lucas said, reaching for his own coat.

After donning coat and gloves, Lucas headed for the door.

Though he knew he had to go back out in the cold to get the bags and care for the horses, Nathan moved a little closer to the stove, though he didn't remove his coat, hat or gloves. Though they would be okay for a few more minutes, the horses still needed to be taken care of and the bags were still out in the wagon.

"It's nice to be home, though as soon as I warm up I want to write to both grandma and grandpa and tell them about the trip to Brookfield. Thanks for taking me."

"You're welcome," Nathan replied, glad he had included Ally in the trip instead of just making the trip himself. "Just don't forget you're going to have schoolwork to do this evening as well. I'll get the assignments from Mrs. Thornton at the end of the school day."

"I know," Ally replied. "That's why I want to write the letters now," she informed him as there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Nathan called, wondering who would be stopping by and hoping it wasn't Bill with some official business.

The door open and Jesse stepped into the little home. In his hands he had both the bags from the wagon.

"Welcome home," Jesse said, meeting Nathan's gaze. "Where would you like these bags?"

"Just set them there by the door. I'll take care of them. Thanks for bringing them in."

Jesse placed the bags on the floor as he replied, "no problem. Also, you can take off the coat and warm up after your trip," the young man continued. "Lee sent me to take care of the horses and the wagon."

"Thank-you both," Nathan replied, without any protest. He had come to learn that helping each other out was just what the people of Hope Valley did.

"You're welcome," Jesse said. "Clara also wanted me to invite you and Ally to supper with us tonight at six o'clock. Elizabeth is already coming. The ladies arranged it yesterday."

"We'll be there. Thank-you," Nathan replied.

With a wave good-bye, Jesse went back outside. Nathan stood staring at the door until Ally spoke up beside him.

"Are you okay, Uncle Nathan?" the preteen asked, going back to the old address in her concern.

Coming out of his thoughts, Nathan looked down at Ally, who was wearing a concerned and quizzical expression.

"I'm fine," Nathan assured her. "I was just thinking about how nice it is to be welcomed home."

"Aren't you glad we stayed in Hope Valley?" Ally asked looking up at him.

"I am," Nathan told her. "Why don't you start on your letters and I'll put on some hot chocolate for both of us."

"That sounds great," Ally replied excitedly.

Picking up her coat and other winter garments, Ally put them in their proper place. As Nathan took off his own coat, hat and gloves, Ally retrieved some paper and the pen from the desk and moved back to the table to take advantage of the warmth from the stove.


About an hour later, Nathan left Ally finishing her letter to her grandmother as he headed toward the schoolhouse. School had left out about ten minutes earlier and Nathan was hoping that Elizabeth would be about ready to leave when he got there. As he walked into the school house, Nathan spotted Elizabeth at the front of the room erasing what appeared to be a math lesson from the board.

Elizabeth glanced back over her shoulder at his entrance.

"See, that's the problem when you're such a good teacher that no one misbehaves - you don't have anyone to erase the boards for you at the end of the day."

Elizabeth chuckled. "Speaking from experience, Constable Grant?" she asked as she went back to her task.

"Me? No I was too shy to cause trouble at school. My sister on the other hand had to stay after school to erase the chalkboards on occasion," Nathan told her, putting his hands in his pants pocket as he walked forward.

"So, your sister was the troublemaker, huh?"

"I wouldn't refer to her as a troublemaker. She never set out to cause trouble. However, she had too much energy and sometimes that energy wasn't channeled properly."

Elizabeth erased the last math problem from the board. Placing the eraser on the ledge, she turned to meet Nathan's gaze. "Then Ally must take after her mother," she commented.

"I hope that's not your way of telling me she's causing trouble in class again," Nathan replied.

Elizabeth shook her head. "It wasn't. Yeah, I've had to make a few reprimands here and there for talking or note passing but that's just her being a child. None of the children are model students all the time. Even Bridget and Ivy are coming out of their shells. Little Ivy was drawing rather then doing her work this afternoon. I had to take her crayons away, though I felt bad when I saw what she was making. It was a get well card for her brother. Still, it was not the appropriate thing to be doing when she was suppose to be working on learning the alphabet."

"Maybe she was learning her colors instead," Nathan suggested.

"I'm not so sure you were such the angel at school that you claim to be, Nathan Grant."

Nathan shrugged. "Maybe I'm making up for miss opportunities as a kid," he countered.

Elizabeth chuckled. "Uh-huh," she murmured. "Are you here for Ally's assignments for the day?" Elizabeth asked.

Nathan nodded. "That and to walk the teacher home if she's ready," he told her.

"I am," Elizabeth said, stepping to her desk.

First, she gave Nathan the packet of assignments she had made up for Ally. After that, she gathered her belongings and bundled up against the cold. Surrendering her basket to Nathan when he offered to carry it, Elizabeth looped her arm through Nathan's free arm. Side by side, they made their way out of the schoolhouse.

"So how was the trip to Brookfield?" Elizabeth asked as Nathan started to lead them in the direction that would take them the long way around the lake.

Nathan paused before replying. The ring he intended to give to Elizabeth soon was tucked safely in the top drawer of his dresser. It was a detail of the trip that he wanted to make sure he didn't give away.

"Well, the children loved the ornaments and cards from your school kids. Ally is looking forward to school tomorrow so she can relate that part of the trip to her classmates."

Elizabeth smiled. "I'm glad they enjoyed the treat and I'm also glad one of the kids were able to give them to the orphans. It makes it that much more special. Perhaps I'll just give her the opportunity to tell the class about it first thing in the morning. It might limit disruptions," Elizabeth mused thinking that Ally wouldn't be the only one excited about discussing the topic.

"Good luck," Nathan replied. "After this past weekend I have even more respect for you as a teacher."

"Was staying at the Orphanage worse than the sleep over?" Elizabeth asked innocently, recalling Lee's comment about how tiring being around that many children was.

"Not quite, but it was close," Nathan told her. "At least this weekend I could escape when it got too bad."

Elizabeth laughed at the answer. Remembering his uneasiness with the festival crowds last Christmas and his reaction to Ally's first sleep over, she had no problem imagining the scene in Brookfield.

"I was also able to get Ally's Christmas present while I was there. I bought a horse off Tess Stewart while I was there. Mrs. Stewart's son, Chuck, is bringing the mare to Hope Valley at the end of the week. Then I just need to manage to keep it quiet until Christmas day."

"She's going to love that gift," Elizabeth replied.

"I just need to pick out a charm for her bracelet at this point," Nathan replied. Having started the bracelet last year, he didn't want to skip a year, despite already having one big gift for Ally this year.

"Would you mind if I bought the charm for her bracelet this year?" Elizabeth asked, not sure how Nathan would feel about the idea. After all, the charm bracelet had a special meaning to them both.

Nathan didn't hesitate in his answer. "I think Ally would like that," he told Elizabeth, liking the idea. It would even be more special if he went through with his plan of asking Elizabeth to marry him before Christmas. "She also wanted me to ask you to come with us to pick out a tree again this year," Nathan continued. "I was thinking we could get trees for both houses in one trip."

"I would appreciate the help," Elizabeth replied. "Bill helped me put the tree up last year and then I decorated it alone, which wasn't much fun. Eventually Little Jack will be a part of that but he's still a little too young to be too much help."

"Well, then we can decorate the trees together as well. Ally will love the idea of decorating two trees."

"That sounds like a good plan," Elizabeth told him. "Having you and Ally to share things with this year will make things feel a little less bittersweet this year, I think," she confessed. "My first Christmas without Jack wasn't bad. Despite the sadness leading up to it, Little Jack's birth on Christmas Eve made it special. I felt so much joy holding our son that it was hard to feel sad. Last year was a little harder, despite having friends around me. Then there was the prospect of you and Ally possibly leaving Hope Valley."

"Well, that is one thing you don't need to worry about this year," Nathan told her. "Both Ally and I are happy here. Hope Valley feels like home."

"I'm glad you turned down that promotion, Nathan. I may not have not been able to recognize or accept it then, but I was already falling in love with you. I just wasn't quite ready to move on then. I wanted to tell you not to go, but I didn't feel like it was my place to, especially after you said there was nothing holding you here."

"To be honest, I thought you would choose Lucas back then. There was the dance at Founder's Day and then when I was about to tell you I was turning down the promotion on Christmas Eve, I saw you talking with Lucas."

"That's what Ally meant by when she asked me if you had told me yet," Elizabeth said, recalling the young girl's reaction. "While I won't deny that I have felt flattered by some of Lucas' gestures, I've only ever saw him as a friend. He reminds me too much of the boys I grew up with back in Hamilton. I couldn't see me spending my life with a man like that back then, and I still can't. Some people may think I gave up a lot when I came west to teach, but I honestly think I gained more than I gave up. Though a taste of high society now and then is a nice treat," Elizabeth admitted, remembering her trip to the book reading with Lucas.

Nathan nodded his acknowledgement to Elizabeth's confession, happy to hear that she was happy with a simpler way of life. He had no desire to live in a city again himself.

As they approached Elizabeth's house, both felt their time together had past too quickly. Standing on the front steps, Nathan handed Elizabeth her basket before leaning in for a kiss. Pressing his lips against hers, Nathan savored the taste and the feeling, letting Elizabeth be the one to pull away.

"You're joining us for dinner at the Flynn's tonight, aren't you?" Elizabeth said, as she took a step back from Nathan.

"We are," Nathan replied. "Would you like to walk into town together?"

"I would," Elizabeth replied, without any hesitation. "Perhaps we can make plans for getting the trees then?"

"Okay," Nathan replied, knowing that Ally would enjoy having the tree up earlier this year. "I'll see you in a little while then," Nathan said, before turning away and heading toward his own little home.