In this chapter, we see Nathan in charge of the Fort Clay conversation, and while his timing is also off, it felt necessary.

Chapter 5

Mrs. Thornton, I Need to Tell You Something About Fort Clay

Nathan found the returned journal with a note in Elizabeth's neat script.

'Your mother dropped this. Seemed too important to leave anywhere else.'

Nathan sighed as he nodded. He was angry with his mother for lecturing Elizabeth so harshly, but Ruth couldn't be shamed or persuaded to apologize to Elizabeth for her unkindness. Nathan had just sent Rosemary after her because he knew she needed a friend, but he couldn't be the one to be there. Allie, Archie, and Ruth were all going back to Calgary in the morning. Allie would spend at least two weeks there, maybe longer depending on how Allie liked it, or missed Hope Valley.

The next morning as they were saying good-bye, Allie didn't leave the tight embrace of Nathan's arms until she had to.

"Be good for them, please," Nathan said into the top of her hair.

Allie nodded.

"Mind them," Nathan said.

Allie nodded.

"Help them with whatever they need," Nathan added.

Allie nodded again as she pulled away.

"I love you, Dad," Allie said.

"I love you too, my girl," Nathan said as he kissed the top of her head one last time.

The last call was made, and Allie got on the train.

The Grants were all waving Nathan good-bye.

"Did you ever think you would see the three of them together like that?" Bill asked as he came out of the waiting house.

"No. I didn't think that I would trust Archie with Allie without my supervision, either," Nathan said.

"What a difference a year makes," Bill said teasingly.

"In more ways than one," Nathan said as he looked down. His pain came through again.

"Nathan, are you any closer to a decision?" Bill asked.

Nathan shrugged.

"Every time I think that I've gotten to a better place, I see Elizabeth and Lucas on their grand dates around the town, and it wrenches me every time. I thought I could get to a better place by now, but I don't know if I ever will," Nathan admitted.

"It's hard to see them all over the place, even for me," Bill whispered.

Nathan looked at him in surprise.

"I've always been on your side of this stupid push and pull. When I see them around, it feels like Elizabeth is trying too hard to show that she's moving on, but she hasn't, and most of us know it," Bill said.

Nathan looked at him in surprise.

"And while Bouchard can have his redeeming qualities, he's not the right fit for Elizabeth, and everyone BUT those two seem to know that," Bill said in frustration.

Bill and Nathan walked in silence as they returned to town. Both walking to their separate offices.

"Did everyone get off alright?" Lucas asked as Nathan stood on the boardwalk.

Nathan raised an eyebrow at him, but nodded just once.

Elizabeth came walking from the livery, having just ridden Sergeant.

She looked between the two of them

"When do you expect Allie back?" Elizabeth asked nervously.

"All you need to know is that she's supposed to be back before school starts, Mrs. Thornton. I'll inform you if that changes," Nathan said tersely as he walked back into the office and shut the door behind him.

Nathan went about his day as normally as possible, but not having Allie around, even with her annoying noises, or 10,000 incessant questions, was hard on him. He missed her terribly already, and it had only been a day. They had promised to call when they arrived at Ruth's apartment. This put Nathan in his office later than normal, but Nathan felt it was worth it.

When the phone did ring, Nathan had picked it up faster than he had ever picked it up in his life

"Nathan, I have Allie for you," Florence said, not at all the speech for the phone company, but he knew it to be because Florence was being kind to his nerves.

"Thank you, Florence," Nathan said and heard her connect the line.

"Dad!" Allie's voice came over loud and clear.

"Allie, how was the trip?" Nathan said in relief.

"Long and boring," Allie sighed heavily. "But we're here without any problems. Grandma and Grandpa are putting things away. They let me talk first."

Nathan smiled over the phone.

They chatted about the train and her expectations for her vacation.

"Dad, you'll promise to be in the Mountie Office every night to talk!" Allie said at the end.

"Nothing can keep me away," Nathan promised.

He could hear Allie's relief.

"I love you, Dad," Allie said.

"Love you, too," Nathan said just before they hung up.

And so it was that this happened for a week. Nathan was sitting at his office phone at exactly 8 p.m. every night. He would talk to Ruth or Archie about how they thought she was doing (okay, she misses you more than anything!) then he would talk a long time with Allie. Being the social butterfly that she was, Allie had met and made friends with all of the children on the first three levels of Ruth's apartment. She seemed to be doing better, but she also missed him and Hope Valley a fair bit as well.

It was the following Monday, when he got a call from Mountie Headquarters about needing to track a rather high risk killer, who had escaped from a prison. Nathan sat at his desk as he thought about this assignment. He would need to leave ASAP, and he had no idea when he would be done. But this could easily take longer than the rest of the summer.

Allie hadn't said if she wanted to leave Hope Valley yet. But Nathan wouldn't be around to process any of her school paperwork if she did.

'Might as well get it before and have it. Just in case,' Nathan thought as he started to think about what he needed to do before leaving. Nathan went about getting ready and packed for a long mission away.

He then approached the Montgomery's row house. Cat was in the backyard with Mrs. Weise.

"Hello, Nathan! Come on back," Cat said as she waved him to the back where they were hanging up laundry.

Nathan tipped his hat and walked back.

"Hello, ladies," Nathan greeted.

"How's Allie? The girls miss having her around," Mrs. Weise said.

"To be honest, we all miss having her around. She's become an extension of our family. Both of you have," Cat said.

Nathan nodded and smiled in thanks.

"She's happily distracted, and has made some friends already," Nathan answered. "But she also misses Opal and Emily quite a lot. She asks about all of her friends here everyday."

"What can we do for you?" Cat asked as she used a clip to hang one end of a towel.

Nathan smiled. He had always appreciated Cat Montgomery's no nonsense way of doing things.

"I have a mission that is taking me out of town for a while. I'm closing up the house, but will you just keep an eye on it until I get back. There are things in there that would destroy Allie if she lost it," Nathan asked.

Both women nodded in agreement.

"Of course. We'll make sure to air things out every now and then. Take a walk through it," Cat said.

"Thanks," Nathan said with a smile as he turned back towards the lane.

"Stay safe, Nathan," Cat said in good-bye.

Nathan nodded in acknowledgement.

"Have you seen Robert today?" Nathan asked as he remembered his last task. He hadn't seen Robert in a few days.

"Richard took him camping. He'll be away for the week," Cat said with a smile.

Nathan's look must have shown on his face.

"Is there something we can do for you with Robert?" Mrs. Weise asked.

Nathan shook his head.

"No, I've got a plan B with this," Nathan said.

This was how he found himself walking into the church after having told Elizabeth to meet him there. Elizabeth was standing in front of her desk looking at the chalkboard behind her desk. She had her back towards Nathan.

Nathan coughed quietly in order to notify her of his presence.

She jumped and turned around.

"Nn...Constable?" Elizabeth asked in question.

She had started to use his informal address until Nathan had given her a look.

"I have a tracking mission. It could take a few days, or it could take weeks. But it's likely I won't be back until the beginning of the school year," Nathan explained.

Elizabeth nodded, "I will be eagerly awaiting Allie's return at the beginning of the year, then."

Nathan paused.

"I wrote a letter of recommendation for Robert," Nathan said as he pulled out a file with several copies of the letter. "I would give them to him myself, but he's away this week with his father. I thought that since you're supposed to help with career things…"

Elizabeth took them with a small smile.

"I will make sure he gets them," Elizabeth said.

Nathan paused to calm his own nerves.

"I'm sure you're aware that Allie is staying with my parents in Calgary as a way to rebound and rejuvenate from everything that happened here. This is supposed to be a time for Allie to decide if she wants to stay in Hope Valley, or if she wants to move. At this moment, I can't say for certain if she wants to stay or go somewhere else. But if she does decide to move while I'm on this mission, it will make things harder for her schooling later on. I need a copy of her official records. I'll be stopping by my mother's on my way so that if she decides she wants to move, they can get her into school without any problems," Nathan said.

Elizabeth was looking at him with wide, hurt eyes.

"You're leaving?" Elizabeth said.

"If Allie decides she wants to, yes. I will always do my best by her," Nathan said firmly. Nathan felt that that should be obvious to her by now.

Elizabeth was blinking back tears.

"I will get you the copy of her records. Where and when do you want to get them?" Elizabeth asked.

"The Mountie Office as soon as you're done, please?" Nathan asked.

Elizabeth nodded.

"Thank-you, Mrs. Thornton," Nathan said in good-bye and walked away to finish his tasks around town.

"You're leaving?" Bill asked in shock when Nathan had shown up in his office.

"Temporarily, for me at least. But I don't know how long I will be. I have no idea if headquarters will send someone to check in or fill in while I'm gone. But if anything pops up, Constable Gabriel Kinslow in Brookfield is closest and owes me a few favors," Nathan said.

"Sounds like there's a few stories in there?" Bill said with an eyebrow raise.

"Just remind him that dynamite was involved once," Nathan said.

Bill just looked at him longer and shook his head.

"Dynamite, hmmmm…" Bill said. "Getting information out of you is a ridiculous process."

"Gabe will happily tell you everything and make me look bad in the process," Nathan said.

"I like him already," Bill said with a wide smile.

Nathan just laughed.

"Good luck, Nathan! And be safe," Bill shook his hand as they stepped out of Bill's office and onto the street.

"Thanks, Bill," Nathan said.

Nathan walked back into the Mountie Office where he began his last few things before he would need to leave. He called his parents and let them know of his mission and him stopping by before beginning it. They were worried, but let him know that they would inform Allie.

Nathan then went about completing any paperwork.

Elizabeth Thornton knocked softly on the door and entered. Nathan looked up at her, and saw that she was as unsure about where they stood as he was.

"Hello," Elizabeth said.

Nathan stood up.

"I have Allie's transcripts," Elizabeth said as she lifted the file in her hands.

Nathan took them from her and flipped through it carefully.

"Thank you, Mrs. Thornton," Nathan said as he turned and set the file on his work table.

Elizabeth looked like she was struggling with whether or not she should say something.

"Constable, can we talk?" Elizabeth asked.

They both knew it wouldn't be about her role as teacher.

Nathan sighed, but he also knew that he wasn't going to be around for this to be spoken of on both sides. Nathan nodded in agreement.

Elizabeth smiled in relief as she sat down in the chair across from his.

Nathan gave her a look for her to start.

"I know that I should have handled this differently, but you have to know that I never meant to hurt anyone," Elizabeth said.

"And in that you've failed spectacularly," Nathan said tensely.

Elizabeth looked surprised at his level of hurt and anger.

"Intent matters, but that doesn't negate the reactions of the others involved," Nathan said firmly. "You were the one to welcome us to Hope Valley first. You were the one to care first. I don't know what changed for you, but you've hurt us. You hurt Allie. You hurt me."

Elizabeth looked like she was struggling to hold back tears.

"I still care," she said with pain and desperation in her voice.

"Your actions say otherwise," Nathan gave her a look.

Elizabeth nodded.

They sat in awkward silence for a long few minutes.

Nathan was getting more annoyed the longer she stayed quiet.

"Anything else?" Nathan asked.

"Be safe, Constable," Elizabeth said.

Nathan couldn't believe that she still hadn't said the words "I'm sorry." He knew that this was not the proper time or place to say something, but since he was leaving with the potential for not coming back, he figured it may be his last chance.

"Mrs. Thornton, before we part, I need to tell you something about Fort Clay."

Elizabeth stopped and looked at him with surprise across from his desk.

"What's that?" Elizabeth asked breathlessly.

Nathan looked down before meeting her eyes.

"At Fort Clay, I was being disciplined for disobeying orders. I was supposed to be leading the training recruits that Jack Thorton was leading," Nathan said.

Elizabeth sucked in a painful breath.

"Why haven't you said something before?" she asked in a whisper.

Nathan was still looking her in the eye.

"It never seemed like the right time," Nathan said.

"And this is?" Elizabeth asked back.

"I may not be coming back," Nathan shrugged. Their eyes met across the desk.

She gave him an exasperated look back.

"I figure you can take the time to come to terms with it while I'm away," Nathan said.

"You're telling me right before you leave? You've given me no time to process this! What if I have questions?" Elizabeth said in outrage.

Nathan gave her a glare in return.

"I could've left without telling you anything at all," Nathan pointed out.

Elizabeth stopped her glare.

"I've given you more respect in having an uncomfortable discussion about something I'm not proud of, than you have given me with recent encounters," Nathan added.

Elizabeth flinched.

"And you know me well enough for you to infer any of my answers to your questions," Nathan ended.

They both stood.

"Be safe," Elizabeth said as she turned to walk out onto the boardwalk.

Nathan watched her walk to the lane back to her house. Then he turned back inside and finished the last of his preparations. Once he was ready, Nathan mounted Newton and took off down the road. Bill waved good-bye from outside his office.