A few days later, Nathan Grant awoke to a frigidly cold row house. Had he forgotten to fill the wood stove before bed last night? He groaned knowing how annoyed Allie would be as he pulled the old quilt over his head. What a way to start the morning.

Thing was, his frozen toes weren't the only reason for his grumpy demeanor. Nathan had spent the past few months battling a memory. A memory that in recent weeks liked to resurface in his sleep. They weren't nightmares, so to speak, but they weren't happy dreams either.

Just as he was about to drift back to sleep, an unwelcome scent filled his nostrils and jolted him out of bed and onto the cold floor. Tripping over yesterday's clothing in pursuit of the doorway.

"Allie?" He yelled out as he rushed across the hall to her room. "Allie! Fire! Allie!"

"Down here!" Allie yelled back, and even though there was no fear in her voice, Nathan leapt down the stairs swiftly towards the kitchen.

As he feared, the first floor of their little row house was cloudy from smoke. Allie was standing in her night clothes and boots by the open back door, trying to wave the smoke out. Her facial expression was one of extra annoyance.

"Are you alright? What happened?" Allie silently pointed towards their large cook stove, then continued what looked like an interpretive dance in front of the back door. Nathan grinned. "What are you doing exactly?"

"Doesn't matter. It isn't working." Allie let out a cough then closed the door. "The cold air keeps bringing the smoke back inside."

"Try opening the front door, as well. We can use the breeze to our advantage."

"Right!" She flung open the back door and then ran to open the front.

"And if that doesn't work you can keep doing that little dance of yours," he teased. "It's bound to work eventually."

"Not funny," she snickered with a shiver. As she walked back into the kitchen Nathan grabbed his red serge from the back of the chair and draped it over her shoulders. "Thanks. I was trying to make us breakfast."

"I saw." He smirked. "What was that exactly?"

"It was supposed to be pancakes but the batter was too runny and it spilled all over the top of the stove."

"I see."

"Then it started to cook on the burners and I just knew it would burn and smoke up the house if not worse so I took that pail of wash water from last night and tossed it on the stove to wash the batter away."

"Pouring water on a hot surface makes smoke and steam."

"Clearly." She waved her hands around, pointing out the obviousness of his statement. "Sorry, Uncle Nathan. I mean, Dad."

Even with the adoption, Allie still wasn't used to calling her uncle, "dad." Nathan had no preference as to what she called him as long as she knew he loved her with a fierce fatherly heart. She did know that.

"Okay, so I guess it's Abigails for breakfast this morning?" She nodded. "Go get dressed. Make sure to grab your school bag too."

"Alright, but one of us really needs to learn how to cook around here."

"I can cook!" She turned back on the stairs and shot him a look as if to say, "in your dreams." He just laughed. "I CAN cook, just not that well."

"You and me both, apparently." With that, she disappeared upstairs as Nathan began trying to clean the stove.

….

Lucas walked around the saloon, wiping tables and such, making sure all was right for the day. The hotel was fairly booked so it wouldn't be long before some guests wandered down for breakfast, a newly offered meal at the Queen of Hearts of the last month.

Clara had come to him and said they were struggling to keep up in the mornings between their regulars, newcomers, and the many travelers coming through the valley, suggesting that maybe Gustav would like to expand his repertoire. So far, it was a smashing success and both businesses were thriving.

The front doors opened with a loud creek. One of the waitresses, Felicia Smithers, walked in giving Lucas a tired smile.

"Morning Mr. Bouchard."

"Good Morning! And please, you and your husband have had me over for Sunday dinners three times now. You should call me Lucas."

Felicia and her husband Ben had moved to Hope Valley a few months back for a fresh start after eloping against her parent's wishes. Lee had hired Ben to work at the mill. Not wanting to sit at home alone during Ben's long days, Felicia marched into the saloon and told Lucas flat out, "I'm the best waitress you'll ever meet. You should hire me."

She was right. The young couple was quickly becoming a big part of the community in Hope Valley. They were kind hearted, outgoing individuals who loved to lend a helping hand. Ben had even offered to teach Lucas a thing or two about carpentry, a skill Lucas sorely lacked. The last time he tried to make repairs on his small cabin he nearly lost a finger.

"Sorry," the young woman said bashfully. "Back home in Rock Creek, everyone treats me like I'm just a little girl, but I'm 18!"

Lucas laughed. "You and Ben have proven your abilities time and time again since coming to Hope Valley. Trust yourself."

"Thanks."

The front door opened again and the first customers of the day waltzed in, causing Lucas to groan. Felicia sighed. Both then looked at each other, surprised by the others reaction.

"You know those men?" Lucas asked, referring to the two Pinkertons who'd just taken a seat at the table in the middle of the dining area.

Felicia nodded then whispered, "The scary looking one, Spurlock, I think, he was here last night with some other men. I didn't recognize most of them except for the odd man that's staying upstairs."

"Walden?"

She nodded again. "They were playing cards till we closed. I get the feeling they're used to a different kind of saloon than what we have here."

"Oh?"

"You know… the kind where the hotel isn't really a hotel and the women are…" her cheeks turned a dark shade of red. "You know the kind."

He did indeed. Suddenly the hair on the back of his neck prickled up and his whole body tensed.

"Did any of them give you any trouble?"

"Nothing I can't handle."

Lucas glanced over to see Spurlock smile at Felicia, then with a nod try to summon her over.

"You deserve to be treated with the utmost respect. I won't let this continue."

"I don't want to cause any trouble."

"You, my dear, are no trouble. Why don't you assist Gustav in the kitchen this morning? At least till they've had their breakfast and made their exit. I'll handle them."

"You sure?"

"Completely."

With a bright smile, the young woman headed to the back of the saloon.

Lucas made his way to the table where the two men sat. The man known as Spurlock gave him a nod.

"Good morning. What can I get you?"

Spurlock leaned back to look past Lucas toward the back.

"Will you be serving us this morning?"

"Yes. I will." His voice was polite but with a hint of sternness to it.

"Too bad. That young lady left a nice impression." The men both let out a short laugh.

"Mr. Spurlock, can I trust you and your associates to remember that this is a respectable establishment in a wonderful town? Not the Wild West."

"Indeed it is." The man narrowed his gaze. "Indeed it is. And the young lady? She someone to you?"

"And not that it should be your business but Mrs. Smithers happens to be a close friend. I see her like I would a younger sister, had I been so blessed."

"Misses, you say?"

Ah, so he did catch Lucas' not so subtle que.

"Yes. So," Lucas began, attempting to get back to the matter. "What can I get you?"

Elizabeth walked in with Little Jack at that moment, distracting Lucas. His face broke into a mesmerized grin and he watched. Her light blue coat hugged her form perfectly and her smile brightened as she gazed at him.

"Mr. Bouchard?" Spurlock said with a chuckle.

"I'm sorry?"

"She's lovely, too. I can see why my breakfast is no longer of any interest to you."

The other Pinkerton chuckled. "Maybe the girl, Felicia, was it? Maybe Felicia will be willing to serve customers."

Lucas shook himself back to reality.

"Mrs. Smithers," he emphasized her married name. "Will be tending to the kitchen. Today's special is garden omelets with a side of sausage and fruit. How does that sound?"

"Delicious. We'll take it."

"Alright then. Your food will be up shortly," Lucas told them before walking away, heading straight for Elizabeth. He wrapped a protective arm around her waist after hoisting Jack on his side, leading her away from the men.

"To what do I owe this honor?" He leaned in, giving her a soft and tender kiss on her cheek.

"And hello, young sir," Lucas said, bouncing the boy in his arms. "Are you having a good morning with Mommy?" Jack nodded.

"I know it's a lot to ask and if you can't or would rather not, it's alright...but Laura can't watch Jack this morning and neither can Robert or Rosemary..."

"I'd be happy to," he confirmed, giving her hand a squeeze.

She smiled and let go of his hand to caress his freshly trimmed beard. "Thank you so much."

"It's my pleasure, I assure you." He smiled down at Jack. "What should we do today?"

"Library! And Horses!"

"Sounds like a terrific agenda." He looked back at Elizabeth. "Do you need to head to the school now?"

"Unfortunately," she sighed. "I still have some preparations to take care of before the students arrive."

"Of course. Give me a second to check in with Gustav and Jack and I can walk you."

"I'd like that," she smiled.

Lucas kissed her cheek then placed Jack back with her. "Wait right here."

Without fully leaving the dining area, Lucas called into the kitchen to give the staff the Pinkerton's order. Gustav leaned out from the doorway of the kitchen to make eye contact with Lucas.

"I'll bring it out myself. Keep Felicia out of their gaze."

"Thank you. I'll be back shortly. With little Jack, as well."

"Oh! I'll get the cookie recipe out for later. You want to make some with him, no?"

Lucas smiled. "Sounds great. Thanks."

Without giving the men the slightest glance, Lucas walked over to Elizabeth and lifted Jack up on his hip again. "Shall we?"

Elizabeth waited till they were out and on their way to ask Lucas about what had seemed like an abrupt exit from the saloon.

"Those men are real trouble. I can't figure out how exactly but I know that much. They've apparently been giving my waitresses a hard time."

"Hard time how?" Elizabeth narrowed her gaze. "As if they don't like how they're doing their job?"

"No," he sighed. "As if they expect more from their job description." He raised an eyebrow as an exclamation.

"That's terrible! What are you going to do?"

"For starters, I plan to keep all the young women who work for me away from the Pinkertons. Second, I think I'll have to pay a visit to Nathan this afternoon. See what my options are. Other than that I think I need to be at the saloon in the evenings for a bit. My employees are my responsibility. I need to ensure their safety as well that they are treated with the utmost respect from our patrons."

"I understand. I'll miss you, but I would expect nothing less. Just know I've truly enjoyed our evening traditions."

"As have I." He smiled at her, thinking of their dinners together, reading with little Jack, and of course, those stolen kisses on the sofa. "With any luck this will be short lived."

"I hope so. For everyone's sake. These men have everyone on edge. I wish we knew what business they had here. Mr. Walden as well."

"Yes. I will feel much better when he and the Pinkertons are away from Hope Valley."

….

The school day was nearly half over as Elizabeth made her way around the classroom helping her students with their writing assignment.

Sitting a few rows back, next to the window, Anna Hayford had all about said goodbye to the day. She gazed out the window to the forest tree line to the east.

"Anna?" Emily whispered with a nudge. "Anna, you alright?"

"Huh?"

"You haven't done any of the assignments yet!"

"Oh, I guess not. I better get on that before Mrs. Thornton notices."

"Too late," Elizabeth whispered from behind, making the whole room of girls jump. She just giggled softly. "There's still time Anna, try and focus."

"Yes, ma'am."

Anna had always been an exceptional student. It was that reason that her grandmother urged her mother to send her to Union City for a preparatory program over the summer. One rich in the arts, mathematics, and the written word. Though truth be told, Anna's grandmother, a socialite, had much more planned than Anna's education.

When she wasn't immersed in her studies, her grandmother had Anna accompany her to one function after another. Dressed to the nines, she was introduced to more upper crust women and their sons than Anna could ever be expected to keep track of.

Anna's mother, like Elizabeth, had grown up in the fancy world. She had been bred to embrace her legacy until Anna's father, Edmond Hayford, swept her off her feet all the way down the aisle and to a life in Hope Valley. She was first, a coal miner's wife, and now the wife of a railroad manager. Still, grandma wanted more for her daughter and granddaughter. Anna's mother and father agreed to the program, more to appease the grandmother than anything else, but also because there was no harm in giving their daughter the opportunity.

For Anna, she got more than she ever imagined from the experience. Including a summer romance.

"Alright children," Elizabeth said from the front of the school house some time later. "Please bring your papers to the front and you may proceed outside of a brief recess before lunch."

Once the inside of the classroom was tidy and set for lunch and the rest of the day, Elizabeth grabbed her coat and headed outside to join the children.

She watched Anna and Emily walk arm in arm away from the school house. Something was on Anna's mind these days and it wasn't her books. As curious as Elizabeth was to know what it was, she'd let it be for now.

The girls settled on a log out of earshot from their schoolmates.

"Have you heard from him lately?" Emily asked.

"Nothing for the last two weeks. And his last letter had been penned a week before it made it to Hope Valley."

Emily wrapped her arm around her friend. "Are you worried?"

"Would that be a bit pathetic?"

"I don't think so! But then I've never had a romantic summer with a young Mountie before." They both giggled. "I can't wait to be older!"

"I'm only 9 months older than you."

"And yet I feel years away from where you are."

"Are you sure about that? I thought I noticed Jonathan Tucker staring at you at Sunday's church service last week."

"Jonathan? Really? He's… tall!"

Anna laughed. "Yes, he's tall and pretty cute too. I also heard him talking with Lee about how he's saving up to start his own ranch one day."

"Have you seen him smile? It's so dreamy. I'm sure I'm just a kid to him."

"I wouldn't bet on that. Time will tell!"

….

The sun set over the valley signaling the end of another day. The saloon was full of patrons looking to wind down after their work hours.

Lucas stood behind the bar, keeping a watchful eye of the place. He was dressed down in his suit pants, shirt sleeves rolled up, tie and vest, but no coat. He was starting to like dressing this way. Felt freeing.

The din of the saloon was much louder than usual. Lucas counted almost a dozen new faces. All of which seemed to be connected to whatever business the Pinkertons were in. There was one in particular that Lucas watched closely. A tall, muscular man with dark hair, a stubbled chin, and dark eyes. He did noticed at first, but the man seemed to bare a familiar resemblance to the head Pinkerton, Mr. Spurlock. Face, anyway. The lead Pinkerton was as bald as one could be, especially compared to the dark man. Could they be cousins, perhaps?

The front doors creaked open as Nathan, sans red serge, entered. He glanced around the busy room as he made his way to the bar. Without waiting to be asked, Lucas poured Nathan a pint of beer Nathan favored.

"For the off duty Mountie."

"Thanks, I could use it." Nathan took a big gulp of his drink and sighed. "Busy night?"

"And an uneventful one so far."

"Good to hear. I want you to know, I reached out to some friends of mine from Union City to try and see what I can learn about their business here. I'll let you know when I hear anything."

"I appreciate that. Anything I can do in the meantime?"

"Just keep an eye and ear out. If they give any more of your employees trouble I'd be happy to pay them a visit to remind them how we treat people around here."

"Hopefully it won't come to that. Seems that at least for now, they've heed my warnings."

Nathan nodded, taking another sip of his drink. "Allie asked me about her and Elizabeth going for a ride together soon. Are you okay with that?"

"Of course. I think Elizabeth and Allie bring a bit of light into each other's lives. Besides, I firmly believe that no one, especially a young girl like Allie, can never have too many people in their corner. "

"I agree. I just didn't want you to think I was… I don't know, trying to cause trouble. I'm happy for you both. Well, you three really."

"Thank you. To be clear, I've never doubted your character, Nathan. I'm not about to start that now."

"Good."

The two men clinked their glasses together in agreement. Nathan with his pint, Lucas with his tea cup.

The wooden clock in the wall read 8:30 in the night, and the patrons were showing no signs of turning in early. Thankfully, everyone was behaving themselves well enough that Lucas stepped out from behind the bar to play a few rounds of darts with Nathan and Mike.

"I'm glad there's no wager on this game," Mike said with a chuckle. "You'd have all my money in no time, Lucas."

"I don't know about that. You're certainly holding your own tonight. Perhaps due to all those rounds you've gone with Fiona."

Mike blushed. "She's really good, isn't she?"

"And smart and pretty?" Nathan teased.

"Well sure. She's all those things."

"So, are you thinking about taking your friendship a bit further?" Lucas asked, taking his shot.

"Yeah I don't know. I tried once. I got so tongue tied she thought I was having an allergic reaction to the dinner I ordered at the cafe." The men laughed. "She dragged me to the infirmary to see Faith. It was a disaster."

Lucas aimed for his final shot. Just before he sent the dart flying, two soft hands covered his eyes. The scent that came with made him smile.

"Guess who?"

"Hmmm, Molly?"

"Molly?" Elizabeth gasped. Lucas turned to face her laughing as she swatted his arm. "You think you're funny."

"I know I'm funny." He wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her in for a soft brief kiss. "To whom do I owe this surprise?"

They walked over to the bar for a little more privacy, leaving Mike and Nathan to their game.

"I missed you. Rosemary is at the house with Jack in case he wakes up. Is it okay that I'm here?"

"It's more than okay." He kissed her again. This time just a little longer. "Tea?"

"Yes please!"

"Be right back."

Lucas disappeared down to the far end of the bar where he kept the tea. Elizabeth turned to see hello to Mike and Nathan. Instead, she found herself running hard into a wall of a man that she hadn't seen or thought of since her first year in the valley.

"Good evening Miss," the man's deep voice vibrated through her. "Though I guess it's Mrs. now, isn't it?"

He hadn't changed too much. His face bore a couple scars she didn't remember and there was gray woven through his dark hair. Those eyes though, still as dark and menacing as she remembered.

"Spurlock…"