"Well, then, I'll just take her with me to Airdrie," Rebecca said, her voice rising.
Nathan looked down at the tablecloth and exhaled. "We can't run from this, Mom."
"Nathan! Just stop being a blasted Mountie for one minute, would you?" Rebecca said, finally letting go into her temper. "This is Allie we're talking about. We're talking about losing Allie…" As anger gave way to tears, Nathan reached across the kitchen table and put his hand over hers. He was having a hard enough time holding his own emotions in check and right now he really needed his mother to be strong.
Nathan was glad they were alone in the row house. Elizabeth had taken Allie down to the Mercantile to buy the ingredients for sugar cookies so that Rebecca and Nathan could talk freely.
Rebecca's reaction didn't surprise Nathan. She had never liked Caleb and hadn't kept it a secret, certainly not to Caleb. The fact that he was coming to Hope Valley at the same time Rebecca was visiting was worrying Nathan deeply. If any reconciliation was going to be reached, Rebecca would need to keep her natural outspokenness in check.
"Mom, I need you to calm down." Nathan heard his own voice break and so did Rebecca. She looked up at him with tears swimming in her eyes and he could see her visibly take hold of herself. She breathed deeply and squeezed Nathan's hand.
"I'm being indulgent. I'm sorry." She reached her long arm across the table and put her hand on her son's cheek. "I know that however hard this is for me, it's harder for you. I am sorry, Nathan."
Nathan put his hand over hers on his cheek and gave her a weak smile. "I know what you're feeling, and I need to give you the choice. Do you want to be a part of this, or would you rather go before he gets here?"
"I'm not going anywh…." Rebecca started forcefully, and then stopped herself. She took another deep breath and said quietly, "I would prefer to stay."
Nathan smiled. "Then you need to keep your temper under control." He nodded to her. "I do, too."
Nathan reached into the inner pocket of his serge jacket and pulled out Caleb's letter. He handed it to his mother and she read it slowly and then read it again. She looked outwardly calm, but Nathan knew his mother well. Finally, she put down the letter and sighed deeply.
"He sounds different," she said simply.
Nathan nodded. "Exactly what I said to Elizabeth. I told her he sounded like he wanted to try to be a father."
Rebecca looked into Nathan's eyes across the table. Hers held inexpressible sorrow. "Now he decides to grow a conscience. Why couldn't he have been this way with Colleen?" she said softly.
Nathan raised his eyebrows and answered just as quietly. "Maybe he was. There had to be a reason that she loved him so much."
They both simply looked at each other for a long moment. So many memories were flooding through their minds that it seemed as if Colleen was right there with them at the table.
Rebecca sat up straighter. "Water under the bridge," she said matter-of-factly. "What do we do now?"
"We can't keep him from seeing her." As Rebecca began to protest, Nathan said, "It will happen under very controlled circumstances. And I won't be doing it for him. It will be for Allie, because I can't keep her from her father. Not only do I not have the right, but someday, when she's older and asks me, I wouldn't know what to say." Seeing the look on his mother's face, he said, "Elizabeth and I will be there the entire time. Allie feels safe with us." He gave her a crooked smile to soften the blow of his next sentence. "And if you think you can hold your tongue, you can be there too."
Rebecca raised a warning eyebrow and snapped, "I'm still your mother, Nathan. You'll do well to keep a civil tongue in your own head." But she smiled back as she exhaled and patted his hand. "And you're right to be cautious. I promise you I'll be on my best behavior. I know this is too important."
Nathan turned his hand over and squeezed hers. "Thanks, Mom." Then he shook his head. "Caleb. Coming here. Can't say I like him being here in Hope Valley…" Nathan stopped himself and reached over quickly to pick up the letter that his mother had just read. He scanned it intently again.
"Benson Hills. That's where the train stops. All I need to do is find out the train schedule from Dawson City and…" Nathan was buttoning up his jacket and standing, his mind racing.
"Nathan, what are you doing?" Rebecca looked up at him, frowning.
"I'm going to Benson Hills to meet the train. We can have it out there, far from Allie and far from the people of this town." Nathan threaded his strap through his epaulet and then clasped it to his belt.
Rebecca narrowed her eyes. "Have it out? What happened to hold your temper, Mom?"
Nathan sat back down next to her on the bench. "I don't trust him. I want to see him again and get a feel for how much he's really changed. And I want to do it away from Allie and away from this town." Then Rebecca saw some real pain in her son's eyes as he said, "I'm supposed to enforce law and order in Hope Valley and people count on me to do that. That means keeping Caleb away just long enough to find out who he is now."
Nathan raised an eyebrow and smiled at his mother again. "I'll ride Newton out, and then we can hire a horse from Benson Hills for Caleb. He'll have to ride back with me. And as I recall, Caleb wasn't the best on horseback." He raised his chin. "And it's hard for a man to outright lie on a horse. Horses bring out honesty in people."
Rebecca smiled her identical crooked smile back at her son. "Don't accidentally kill him, you hear?" Then she narrowed her eyes slightly. "Leave that pleasure to me."
Nathan laughed. "No one is killing anyone." He stood and made his way toward the door. "I want to tell Elizabeth. I'll go help them bring back the things from the Mercantile and maybe you can keep Allie busy with the cookies?"
Rebecca nodded. She stood and went toward him. "Nathan," she said, stopping him at the door. Putting her arms around him, she held him for a moment. "You take care of yourself. A sorry snake is still a snake."
Nathan smiled and hugged her back. "I'll remember that, Mom."
"And I heard Julie scream, so I ran down the hall in my robe. And Mr. and Mrs. Thatcher were standing there in the doorway with their mouths open looking at Julie sitting on the bed between Elizabeth and Nathan. Then Mrs. Thatcher looked at me and said, 'And who are you?'"
Clara's spot-on rendition of Grace Thatcher made Hickam lean forward and double over, he was laughing so hard. "Oh, gosh, what did Nathan do?" he asked, wiping a tear from his cheek.
"He let go of Julie and fell back on the pillows and pulled the covers over his head," Clara said, laughing again at the memory of it.
"Well, that's sure one way of meeting your new in-laws," Mike said, catching his breath.
"It all turned out fine in the end," Clara said, "But it was a good thing they were both wearing their wedding rings."
Hickam and Clara were sitting in the back pew of the empty church. They'd walked all through Hope Valley and Clara had already been introduced to so many people that she had no idea what anyone's name was anymore.
What she did know is that she loved this little town deeply already. She thought it didn't hurt that she'd been with Michael and that he was so well liked.
She'd been calling him Michael all afternoon, because she thought it fit him better than the nickname she heard most people use. Those who didn't call him Mike simply called him by his last name. Clara thought he deserved to be called Michael.
And it may have been that she was with him when she met all these new people, but Clara had a feeling that even without him there, people would still be welcoming her with open arms. And they didn't even know about Peter yet. To them, she was just a stranger who had come to town.
For a moment, Clara and Hickam sat looking forward, enjoying the silence of the church and each other's company. If they had shared their thoughts, they would realize that neither of them had ever felt this easy so quickly with another person.
"I like laughing in church," Mike suddenly said.
Clara turned to him and smiled. "I do too," she said. "And this feels like a church you can laugh in."
"I remember growing up, my brothers and I were taught that we needed to show reverence in church. That it was a sacred place that needed to be respected." He turned to her, nodding. "I agree with that too, but… I think God likes it when we laugh here."
Clara blinked and just looked at him for a moment. She had learned today that Michael Hickam was not only a very nice person, but he was also a very deep thinker. She had a feeling that not many in Hope Valley knew that about him.
"Sometimes it's hard to move past the things our parents teach us. And to realize that they're not always right," Clara said.
Mike nodded, and before thinking, he said, "And we won't be right with our children when we're parents." He'd meant it as a general statement, but as he looked into Clara's almond eyes, what he'd said suddenly took on an intensely personal meaning.
The blush that transformed his entire face made Clara smile. It almost made her laugh but she didn't want to hurt his feelings.
"I… meant… I… oh..." he stammered, his eyes wide.
Clara reached over and put her hand over his to calm him down. "I know what you meant, Michael."
Both of them looked down at her hand over his, and now it was Clara's turn to blush. She pulled back her hand as if she'd been burned, which from the feeling in her fingers it appeared she had. "I'm sorry… that was…"
Mike smiled at her. "It's fine," he said. Then he looked forward to the blackboard, unable to gaze into her eyes again. "I liked it."
Now they both needed a little breather, though their hearts were hammering in their chests. Clara found herself focusing on the words that had been left on the blackboard by Charlotte before she had summarily left town. It was a quote from Mark Twain: "If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything."
Clara smiled. "So this is also Elizabeth's school room? How did that come about?"
Mike exhaled, glad that Clara had landed on safer ground. "She used to teach in the Saloon." He smiled and looked over at Clara, getting just the reaction he hoped for. Clara's eyebrows were raised and she had a look of surprise.
Laughing softly, Mike said, "It was the only space big enough for all the kids. Obviously there was no drinking while school was in session. Then the church burned down."
Clara looked alarmed. "Not with anyone inside, I hope."
Mike shook his head. "It's pretty complicated. I'll tell you all about it sometime. But Nathan and the town rebuilt the church and made it a school room too."
"The town?" Clara said, a slight frown on her face.
"Yes, all of us." He looked at her, his face open, and Clara could see the deep pride that went with that statement.
"I'm going to love it here," Clara said simply. They gazed at each other, allowing the word love to hang heavily in the air between them. The sun was setting outside, and the church was getting chilled. Clara shivered a little, but she didn't think it was from the cold.
"We either have to light the stoves in here, or I need to get you back home," Mike said quietly.
Clara took a deep breath. "I've enjoyed this afternoon very much."
Mike stood and put out his hand to help her up. "Then... we should do it again," he said, amazed at his own bravery.
Clara gave him a dazzling smile. "I'd like that," she said.
They walked out into the approaching twilight and Mike closed the doors firmly behind him.
"No locks," Clara said.
Mike nodded. "We think the church should always be open for whoever needs it. And whenever they need it."
Clara tried to imagine a door in Cape Fullerton that didn't have a lock on it.
Yes, she was definitely going to love living here.
Caleb watched the sun set outside the window and felt the cool of the glass under his cheek. It wouldn't do for him to stay awake for two nights before seeing Nathan Grant again. He needed to be at his best.
But sleeping on a train sitting up, with every dollar you had to your name strapped to your chest under your shirt, was not the most comfortable thing in the world. He wrapped his winter coat around himself like a blanket and leaned further toward the window.
Trains were notorious for thieves who would wait until passengers were asleep and rifle through their bags or go through their pockets. Caleb couldn't have managed a gold claim without being very good with a pistol, and at this moment he held his favorite in his hand under the coat. Not cocked, but he knew how fast he could accomplish that, and it was already pointed in the right direction, toward the aisle.
Reluctantly, he closed his eyes and let the motion of the train lull him into a fitful sleep.
Three cars back, Fred Burnham tried to do the same. He also needed his sleep in order to be at his best for what was coming.
The one thing he knew he had was the element of surprise. The only time Caleb Butler had ever seen him was during that card game, and Caleb had been drinking. The whole time they were in Dawson City, Fred had kept himself out of sight and under a slouch hat and dirty clothes. No one ever looked at people down on their luck, and in Dawson there were five on every corner.
But Fred was beginning to think he wanted Caleb to see him before he died. He wanted to look him in the eyes and have him know that he had cheated at cards with the wrong man.
Fred decided to play it by ear once he was in Caleb's hotel room. Just before he nodded off, Fred thought that playing out the various scenarios of murdering a man in his bed was so much better than counting sheep.
