"Of course you'll stay here," Abigail said, holding Clara's hand.
"I don't want to impose," Clara said, still reeling from her deep relief at Abigail's welcome and the warmth she was feeling.
"Nonsense," Abigail said. "Charlotte just left yesterday and there's an empty bedroom upstairs. "Where are you going to sleep at Nathan and Elizabeth's?"
Clara looked at Elizabeth, who was just putting the last basted ham back into the oven. She raised her eyebrows apologetically and said, "On the couch downstairs, I'm afraid. As it is, Rebecca is now with Allie in her room. Once our house is built, we'll have lots of room, but right now, it's pretty cramped."
"That settles it," Abigail said. "Bill and Nathan can bring your things down when they finish their work this afternoon."
Elizabeth came and sat down with them. She hadn't touched her coffee and of course now it was completely cold. "I think I'll get tea instead, Abigail," she said casually, picking up the cup. Abigail was so consumed with Clara that she didn't even notice.
Elizabeth was getting used to the morning sickness and had learned that fresh air and tea worked best to keep it at bay. She and Nathan had agreed that they would keep her condition just between them until she was a little further along. Finding out about Rosemary had only firmed their resolve on that decision.
Everyone now knew that Rosemary wasn't having a baby after all. News travels fast in a small town like Hope Valley, and especially fast when someone like Rosemary wants people to know something, but doesn't want to have to talk about it. Abigail and Bill told a few specific people and that was all it took. And that was exactly the way Rosemary wanted it.
Rebecca had told Nathan and Elizabeth at the table after breakfast while Allie played at her dollhouse. The news had sent a cold chill down Elizabeth's back, and she'd looked at Nathan next to her and had seen the same look she imagined she was wearing. Nathan reached under the table and squeezed her hand, and they both knew they'd made the right decision.
Right now, the two of them were the only ones who knew. And it would stay that way until they felt it was safe. In a month, Elizabeth would see Dr. Sommersby to confirm, and they would all decide when to share the news.
Now, as Elizabeth sipped her tea, she looked over to the sofa where Abigail and Clara were deep in conversation. Not only did she feel the need for some fresh air, but Elizabeth knew the two women had so much to talk about. At a break in the conversation, she walked over and touched Abigail's arm. "I think I'll go see Rosemary. Is she still at Lee's?"
Abigail looked up and smiled. "Yes, I'm sure she is. She never leaves unless I give her a chance to come back here and change. They've rolled in a bed for her." Abigail squeezed Clara's hand to let her know she would be right back, and she stood to walk Elizabeth to the door.
"Thank you for bringing Clara to me," Abigail said, her eyes shining. "What a gift she is."
"Clara was afraid you'd be upset with them for not telling you they'd gotten married," Elizabeth said, squeezing her hand. "I told her I didn't think that would be the case."
Abigail took a deep breath. "Of course, I would have loved to have known. To have been there." Her eyes grew wistful. "But I won't be greedy. She says that Peter brought you and Nathan to her, and I believe that, too. I'm so grateful."
Elizabeth wrapped her in a hug and they held that way for a moment. Then, remembering something, Elizabeth stepped back. "I have your wedding dress, Abigail, but I need to tell you something."
"How many buttons did you lose?" Abigail said, laughing softly.
Elizabeth's cheeks went pink and she laughed. "We found them all, but I may not have sewn them back on perfectly. I just felt I should tell you."
Abigail squeezed her arm. "I would have been disappointed to hear anything less," she said. "I love that you wore it, Elizabeth."
"It made the day even more special." Smiling, Elizabeth said, "I'll see if Rosemary wants a break. I can sit with Lee for a bit."
"I don't know if Rebecca told you everything," Abigail said softly, "But Rosemary and Lee seem to have... found each other." She smiled and put her arm through Elizabeth's. "In fact, I think they're both head over heels."
Elizabeth laughed softly. "I think some of us have seen that coming for a while." She turned to Abigail and looked seriously at her. "How do you feel about it?"
"I'm happy for her. Honestly. And I've told her that people aren't meant to be alone." Abigail looked back toward the kitchen and lowered her voice even further. "Do you think I would wish a long, solitary life on that beautiful sweet girl in there, just because she was married to Peter? What a terrible waste that would be."
Elizabeth raised an eyebrow and was silent, but the corners of her mouth were beginning to turn. "It's a good thing you feel that way. Because I think Mike Hickam is half in love with her already."
Her eyes going wide, Abigail said, "Hickam? Does Clara know?"
Taking a deep breath, Elizabeth nodded and said, "I don't think she minds..." Holding Abigail's hand, Elizabeth said, "I'm only telling you this because I know this is all new to you, having a daughter-in-law. I wanted you to have a chance to process it a little. Clara wants to start a life here. Are you going to be okay with watching her fall in love? Get married and start a family?"
For a long moment, Abigail simply stared, but Elizabeth could see her mind working. Finally, Abigail said, "Yes. Because Peter would want that." Then Abigail surprised herself by saying, "And Noah would want it for me."
Now it was Elizabeth's turn to raise her eyebrows with wide eyes. She smiled and said, "Bill?"
Abigail had the good manners to blush a little and Elizabeth laughed. "Oh heavens. We may have to rename this town Love Valley!"
Nathan had two priorities now that they were back in Hope Valley. To build their home out on the meadow, and to find Allie's father.
The last he'd heard of Caleb Butler, he had moved up north to the Yukon Territory and then on to Alaska in some get-rich-quick scheme, mining gold on a piece of land he'd won in a card game.
Caleb had never spoken to Nathan after Colleen died. They'd hardly spoken while she was alive, but Nathan had done everything he could to reach him. At first it was because Caleb was Colleen's husband and needed to be notified of her death. But then, as time went on, Nathan wanted to see if he could get Caleb to sign away his rights to Allie so Nathan could become her guardian. When he couldn't find him and it seemed clear that Caleb wasn't coming back, Nathan had reported him as a missing person, and in that way was able to become Allie's formal and legal guardian.
But Nathan knew that would mean nothing if her father returned and wanted his daughter back. As long as Caleb could show that he was fit to be Allie's father, he would win every time. And that fitness wasn't determined by Nathan, who had pretty clear ideas on the matter. It was taken in front of a judge. A stranger.
Nathan leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.
He had a box on the top shelf of his closet at home that contained every fruitless search, every dead-end lead, and all the paperwork he could find on Caleb Butler. He'd also kept photos that had belonged to Colleen, birthday notes, letters they'd written to each other, anything that he thought a teenage or older Allie would ultimately want. Nathan knew that no matter how long he had Allie, one day she would want to know about her parents. He wanted to be ready for that day.
There was something else in that box that wasn't for Allie. It was being kept safe for Nathan. It was the gift that Colleen had purchased as an early birthday present for him; the one she was carrying in the bag on the day she died. The package that she dropped accidentally while struggling with a restless Allie. In his grief and guilt in the dark days right after she died, Nathan had shortened the description of this gift to the package that killed her.
It had been handed to him by the nurse at the hospital with Colleen's other things, and he'd put it in the box along with what had survived of the contents of her purse. He could see that the gift was a book, and he couldn't miss the bloodstains that had seeped between the first pages; the stickiness of the blood acted like glue, as the bright red turned finally to brown.
Nathan hadn't been able to work up the nerve to tear away the ragged brown paper that covered it for more than a month. When he finally did, he could see that it was A Room With A View. Colleen had loved that book, and had told Nathan that she identified strongly with Lucy Honeychurch in that she, too, had fallen in love with an unsuitable man, socially and temperamentally. She also liked that it was a passionate exploration of a woman who couldn't conform to social convention.
Nathan had never been able to open it. He'd seriously considered just throwing it away, but every time he'd been close he'd reminded himself that it was the last gift he'd gotten from Colleen. She'd meant him to read it and someday he would.
Nathan opened his eyes and leaned forward onto his desk. He took a deep breath and stood, taking his hat from the peg. He thought he'd go see if Ned had a wire back from the Dawson City Mountie Headquarters about what they'd learned. The city had been founded in the early days of the Klondike Gold Rush and had more thorough records of gold claims and their owners than even the Fairbanks Land Office in Alaska. If Caleb could be found, they would find him.
Nathan had only walked a short way down the street when he saw Elizabeth coming toward him, probably from Abigail's. They both began to smile as they came closer, and they met almost exactly at the Mercantile.
"Hello, Mrs. Grant," Nathan said with his crooked smile. They hadn't been married long enough yet for him to tire of how that sounded.
"Good morning, Constable," Elizabeth said sweetly, looking at him from under her lashes.
They moved closer and Nathan took her hand and held it in a fold of her skirt. Pulling her slightly closer, he said softly, "I got spoiled, seeing you all day long in Hamilton and on the train." He wanted so badly to kiss her that he thought he might just do it here in the street. They were married, after all.
"Nathan! Elizabeth!" Cat Montgomery's voice caused them both to move reluctantly apart as they turned to greet her.
Emily waved to them. "Is Allie home?" she called out.
As they all walked toward each other, Nathan said, "She should be. She and her grandma are starting a vegetable garden."
Cat frowned a little. "But you're building a new house," she said, ever practical.
Elizabeth smiled and hugged her. "We won't be in it for a little while. They're starting all the seeds indoors, and Rebecca thinks we can get in a quick harvest before we move."
Cat took Elizabeth's hand and looked at her rings. She tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. "I know why you did it, but shame on you both for denying us a wedding. Don't suppose you'd be willing to get married again, just so we can all join in?"
Nathan laughed. "I told Elizabeth that I'm never getting married again, but I guess if it's to her again, I could manage it." He turned and looked at Elizabeth and Cat smiled and shook her head. Still so completely in love they hardly know we exist.
"Well, you two think about it. The least we can do is put together a party to celebrate." She leaned over and gave Nathan a hug. "Anyway, congratulations. We're all so happy for you." She took Emily's hand and started toward the row houses. "We'll go see if Rebecca and Allie need any help."
Elizabeth and Nathan watched them walk up the path, and after taking a quick look around, Nathan inclined his head toward the Library. Elizabeth nodded.
Like a couple of teenagers, they walked in very conspicuous fashion up to the boardwalk and through the door. There was no one inside, and Elizabeth remembered that she had no idea where the children stood with their lessons at this point. Charlotte had left so quickly, she hadn't been able to find out; but clearly none of the students were working on reports in the Library.
Nathan raised an eyebrow and reached behind him to lock the door. He barely had a chance to get his hat off before Elizabeth had pressed him up against the door and had her lips firmly on his. He reached one hand up through her hair and finally he just dropped his hat to free up the other hand. Not protocol to let a campaign hat hit the floor, but the ones who make the rules don't have this woman in their arms, he thought, pulling her closer. "I can… never… get enough of you…" he said, his lips on hers.
Elizabeth laughed softly against his cheek. "You may not feel that way when I'm big as a house," she said.
Nathan moved his lips down to her neck and buried his face in her curls. "It won't matter," he said, his voice low.
"You say that now…" Elizabeth put her hands on either side of his face and gently pulled him up so that she could kiss him again. She wondered how she had survived all that time at the beginning, being with him and not kissing him. Right now Elizabeth couldn't tell where she ended and Nathan began. Their bodies were molded so completely to each other up against the door, their breath each other's breath, deeply entwined in a way that, were they at home alone, both knew where it would lead.
Nathan must have been reading her mind, because he moved his lips from hers and whispered, "I need to take you home…"
Elizabeth laughed softly against his chest. "And we'll just wander upstairs past your mother, our neighbor, and two little girls, and close the door?"
Nathan laughed too, holding her tightly. "We need a bigger house," he said.
"You need to build it," Elizabeth said, looking up at him with her eyes twinkling.
Nathan raised an eyebrow. "I mean to. Very soon."
Elizabeth stepped back and took a deep breath. She smoothed her skirt and tucked in her blouse where it had come free of the waistband as she gazed back at her tall, handsome husband, resplendent in his red serge, but with his hair quite a bit more disheveled than it was when they had first entered the Library.
Elizabeth reached up and tenderly ran her fingers through his hair. Nathan didn't move; he simply gazed at her. Her cheeks were brightly pink and her eyes were dancing, her lips slightly parted and her breath not yet completely calmed.
"You are so beautiful…" he said, leaning down to touch his lips lightly to her warm cheek.
Elizabeth closed her eyes and sighed. "Oh, please don't start that again," she said. "We'll never leave this Library."
"Fine with me…"
The doorknob rattled and they both went perfectly still with eyes wide.
"Must be closed today," they heard from the other side of the door. "You shouldn't have left your report to the last minute, Emma. I hear Miss Thatcher… Mrs. Grant, will be back in school on Monday. She won't be…" The voice traveled away and Elizabeth's eyes stayed wide.
"She won't be… what?" Elizabeth said, again combing back the curl at Nathan's forehead with her fingers. She leaned down and picked up his hat from the floor, making a show of dusting it off.
Nathan gave her a crooked smile. "She won't be… pleased, I think. You must be quite the task master at school, Mrs. Grant."
Elizabeth arched one eyebrow ominously. "And at home, as you'll find out soon enough, Constable Grant."
She placed his hat on his head and straightened his serge jacket. "There! Now we can be seen in public again." Elizabeth reached around him and opened the door, only to jump back from Ned, standing with his hand ready to knock.
"Oh! Ned…" Elizabeth said in surprise.
"Sorry," Ned said, looking a little alarmed. "I saw you come in here, I assumed you were um… organizing books?"
Nathan nodded, trying to look serious, but being given away by the right corner of his mouth, threatening upward. "Yes, exactly what we were doing, Ned."
Reaching in his apron pocket, Ned pulled out a wire. "Thought you might like to see this right away," he said, narrowing his eyes slightly at Nathan. "It seems important."
Nathan raised his eyebrows and took the envelope. "Thanks, Ned. I was just coming to see if this had arrived."
"Well, I'll… um… leave you to it," Ned said awkwardly. He turned and was on his way back across the street.
Nathan closed the door and opened the envelope.
"What is it?" Elizabeth said.
Scanning the page, Nathan exhaled. "From Dawson City. They found Caleb and gave him my letter."
"Oh, Nathan!" Elizabeth said. "That's good, isn't it? Maybe he'll sign the papers?"
Nathan dropped the wire to his side and leaned back against the door, closing his eyes.
"What have I done?" he said softly, almost to himself.
"Nathan…?" Elizabeth said softly, reaching her hand up to his cheek.
Nathan opened his eyes and sighed. "He's on his way here. He wants to see Allie."
