Nathan was safe. The Mountie in the wagon wasn't him. He was there, walking towards her with an unreadable look on his face, but he was looking directly at her nonetheless. She didn't think much before propelling her feet forwards and holding him tightly. He returned the gesture, in need of comfort right now.

The town was in a state of shock. Almost everyone had come out of their home or workplace in order to see if their Mountie had indeed been shot. Upon realising it wasn't Constable Grant, both relief and sadness fell upon them. Relief in knowing that this town would not lose another great Mountie and Allie would not lose the only family she had left, and a sadness in knowing that another town and family had.

After a few moments, the town took in the sight of their school teacher clinging to Constable Grant, and no one could say a thing. In any other circumstance this would have been scandalous gossip that spread rapidly through the streets of Hope Valley, but they knew that in this moment it wasn't a frivolous action. Although most people still did not feel close to Nathan Grant, they knew Elizabeth very well. They had seen the looks between the pair, and known that both of them were being cautious with their feelings, given both of their pasts and situations.

"Uncle Nathan!" Allie's cry broke the pair out of their embrace and within seconds Allie had replaced Elizabeth in her uncle's arms. He held tightly to her and picked her up from the floor. One hand held her head to his shoulder and the other gripped her to him as she sobbed.

"Robert...Robert said their was a Mountie in a wagon...and someone said gunshot...and I...I thought it was you!" She managed to get her sentence out between short gasps for breath.

"Shhhh." He sootheed her as best he could. "I'm okay." He put his neice back on the ground and kneeling to her level. He gently moved the hair that had become stuck to her face from the tears behind the girl's ears as she caught her breath. "Everything's okay Allie." He told her reassuringly, and in that moment he became Nathan Grant the Mountie again.

He stood with his arm around Allie and gently touched Elizabeth's arm. She seemed to be in a daze once more as she looked over his body, most likely for injuries. He tried to catch her eyes with his own and said, "Elizabeth, I need you to take Allie and the other children over to the schoolhouse and keep them there until all of this is dealt with, okay?" He spoke gently and tears threatened to fall from her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she pulled herself together and snapped out of it. She didn't say anything, but she nodded up at him and he gave a nod back in gratitude.

"I'll come get you in a little bit Allie, stay with Mrs Thornton until then, got it?" He looked down at his neice who seemed to be doing much better than a few minutes ago. "Got it." She replied.

Fiona and Clara came to escort the stunned schoolteacher and the young girl over to the church and Nathan gave them a thankful look. Nathan then cleared his throat and approached Bill and Carson who seemed to be discussing what to do with the young Mountie and the prisoners. The other arresting officer was pulling them back on Bill's horse, attached to his own.

"Go back to work people." Bill called out. "You're safe." The townspeople started to slowly clearly but before Lucas headed back into the saloon, Nathan caught his eyes. They shared a look that neither understood, but Nathan could tell that the businessman was hurt.

The men in red serges, the doctor and the judge did exactly what they were trained to do, there was no time to breakdown or cry. They had to deal with the situation. After a quick discussion, it was decided that Carson would keep the body at the infirmary until the hospital a few towns over could send transport. Bill would call the Mountie office back in Buxton to inform them of the sad news. Nathan's fellow comrade would take the criminals to the jail and send a wire for another wagon, and Nathan would set about writing up the incident report.

A couple of hours later, Nathan was taking a moment to sit outside his office and go over the events of the day. A hand holding a cup of what looked to be strong whiskey appeared in front of Nathan's face. He looked up to find Bill.

"You know what I am about to say, don't you?" Nathan took the glass and let Bill take a seat next to him. Nathan nodded solemnly. Bill was going to tell him that there was nothing he could have done, and not to blame himself. Unfortunately, this was not the first time that a Mountie had been lost on his watch, and although it didn't get any easier, he knew how to handle it.

"The same goes for you." Nathan replied, to which Bill raised his glass slightly in agreement.

"It was quite a day today, wasn't it?" Bill said.

"It was."

"Look, I don't get involved often you know that." Bill started to which Nathan smirked slightly. Bill didn't miss that and rolled his eyes before continuing. "You two need to talk." Nathan knew he was right. "I know that you're not much of a talker Nathan, but you both deserve to know where you stand." Bill finished before standing up and heading back to the Judge's office.

After a few more minutes, Nathan stood and checked if Constable Miller could stay overnight in the jail, which thankfully he could. Then he set off towards the schoolhouse.

As he arrived he could faintly hear the sound of singing and he quickly realised that it was Elizabeth's voice. He slowly opened the door a little to find the children and their teacher sitting on the floor in a circle as she sang to them. The pews had been pushed to either side of the room and Allie sat holding Elizabeth's hand tightly. Alot of the children had their eyes closed and as she finished the song they bowed their heads in prayer. Nathan took this time to sneak in and stand at the back of the room.

"Mountie Nathan!" Opal called out upon opening her eyes and seeing the red jacket, she pointed at him excitedly and turned to Allie who was up and in her uncle's arms one more time. "God answered my prayer Mrs Thornton!" Yelled Opal.

Elizabeth smiled and gladly hugged the small girl before saying, "Alright children, you may go home. I'll see you tomorrow." Elizabeth told them softly. A few of the children took a minute to hug their teacher before leaving.

"Allie, can you go over to Opal's house and wait there for me? Then we'll go fishing." He asked her.

"Sure. I am glad you're okay Uncle Nathan." She said before waving goodbye to her teacher and heading out the door.

Elizabeth began to erase the board behind her, not sure how to start this conversation. Nathan watched her for a second, he could tell that she was nervous and was looking for something to keep her busy.

"Elizabeth." He said her name warmly.

"Hmm." She replied, not wanting to turn around as she kept erasing, knowing there was nothing on the board anymore.

Knowing that she wouldn't come to him, he approached her and took the eraser from her hand. She paused for a second, not knowing what to do but again, she gathered herself together. She wiped her hands on her skirt and turned to him with a strong look on her face.

"Nathan." She said his name and he caught her wavering in her confidence. "Are you okay?" Her eyes were searching his body again for injuries.

"I think I should be asking you that question." Nathan lead her to one of the pews, off to the side of the classroom and they sat down together. Elizabeth cleared her throat and placed her hands in her lap as she played with them nervously.

He took one of her hands in his own. "Elizabeth, I know that it must have been hard for you today, thinking that I was gone." He stuttered for a second before carrying on. "It must have brought back so many unpleasant memories for you, and I apologise for that."

Elizabeth looked up at him suddenly, both a mixture of alarmed and confused. "Nathan..." Tears threatened to fall. "I wasn't thinking of Jack for a second if that's what you think. Do you want to know what I was thinking of?"

Nathan nodded. "Please."

"I was thinking that I should have said 'yes' to dinner." She told him, almost shyly.

"Well, as much as I'd love that.. I...I don't know if today is the right day to be making decisions. Let's time to think about it?" He offered, kindly. He didn't want Elizabeth to be pushed into his arms by fear of losing him. He knew the pain of loss, especially losing a Mountie you care about. She had to be sure she could be with another Mountie before they could progress any further.

"That makes sense." Elizabeth whispered, looking down at her hands again. Nathan thought that she looked hurt and quickly tried to remedy the situation

"I didn't mean...what I mean is...Elizabeth." He brought her chin up to look at him once more and after a brief pause pressed his lips to her forehead for a moment. "Elizabeth, you're very important to me, and I hope you know how much I care about you." Nathan had never expressed his feelings as clearly as that to her before and she took a second to take it in. This is what she had been waiting for, for months. "I just don't want to make you uncomfortable or push you into anything. I am happy waiting for you to figure everything out." His eyes didn't move from hers, and this was the most confident she had heard him speak.

"Thank you Nathan." She spoke softly, searching his eyes at the same time. "And just so we're clear, you're very important to me too." She smiled at him.

He smiled back and rubbed his thumb across the hand he had been holding. "Should I help you put the pews back and then I'll walk you home and get Allie?" He stood and pulled her up with him.

"That would be nice." She agreed happily. As he was turning to walk over to the pews on the other side of the room she spoke again. "And Nathan." He turned his head. "I'm sorry about what you went through today, I'm here to talk if you need it." A sadness crossed his face before he nodded gently and they continued with their task.

Allie walked happily next to her uncle, with her arm through his. None of them were talking, but a comfortable silence fell over them as they walked along the row houses. "See you tomorrow Allie, you were very brave today." Elizabeth briefly hugged the girl as they arrived at her porch. "Have a lovely time." She looked up at Nathan who simply nodded, squeezed her hand and said "You were brave too today."