Abigail had been thrilled to spend the morning with Little Jack but now she was heading off for lunch with Henry. She didn't really know where the two of them stood. They hadn't seen each other since she had left but they had written regularly. He filled her in on the news of Hope Valley and she told him about Cody and her mother. Abigail knew her relationship with Henry was becoming more than a friendship and that thought scared her. She hadn't courted anyone since Frank had left, and even her romance with him hadn't been very serious. Abigail thought about what she had said to Elizabeth this morning. Was she ready to let go of Noah and give her heart to another man? Her thoughts were cut short when she arrived at her cafe and saw Henry waiting for her on the steps. "Hello Abigail," he greeted her.

"It's nice to see you again Henry. Shall we go inside and eat?"

They decided to eat lunch in the back so that they could have more privacy. "Clara, would you please bring us today's special?"

"Of course Abigail. It will be ready in a few minutes."

They made small talk while waiting for their food. Once they started eating and Clara had left them alone Henry finally brought up a conversation he should have started years ago. "Abigail. I didn't know how to tell you this in a letter but Bill and Elizabeth found a message I wrote a long time ago." He took the folded piece of paper out of his pocket and pushed it towards her. She slowly opened it having no idea where this was going.

When she finished reading she folded it back up and handed it to him. "Henry, this doesn't surprise me. If I thought that you were at all at fault in my husband and son's deaths you would be in prison right now, not sitting with me in my cafe."

Henry was in disbelief, "but it was my fault. If I had stood up to the mining company and demanded that the working conditions were unsafe, all of those men would still be alive." Henry had never talked about his guilt with anyone. He realized now that those feelings had been weighing him down.

"Henry, it was not your fault. They knew the dangers of working in the mine. You were trying to keep your job just like Noah and Peter were trying to keep theirs. The blame lies entirely with the Pacific Northwest Mining Company, not you. Nobody blames you, especially not me."

By now Abigail and Henry both had tears in their eyes. It was Abigail who got out of her seat and pulled Henry into a hug. Now that she knew the full truth of what happened all those years ago she could finally let go of her late husband and open her heart to another man.

Robert and Cody were so happy to be together again. Cody was looking forward to reconnecting with old friends and meeting new kids at school on Monday, but right now, he was walking down main street with his best friend.

"Look, there's Opal and Allie!" Robert pointed out to him.

"Cody! I'm so glad you're back." Opal said while running to give him a hug. "I haven't seen you in forever."

"It's wonderful to see you again! I've missed everyone so much."

"Cody, this is Allie. She's Constable Grant's niece." Robert introduced them, gesturing towards the other girl.

"It's nice to meet you Allie. Do you live here or are you just visiting?" He asked curiously. He felt disconnected after being away from Hope Valley for so long.

"I live here with my uncle. He's been my legal guardian since my Mom died when I was little."

"I'm sorry about you Mom." Cody said sincerely. "Both of my parents passed away too but Miss Abigail adopted my sister Becky and I a few years ago. I love my Mom but it's weird not to have any other family now that Becky's off at school."

"I feel the same way! I've heard so much about your Mom but I haven't met her yet." Allie replied, happy to have finally found someone who understands how hard it is to lose a parent.

"She's the best. Robert was about to show me the library. Do you and Opal want to join us?"

The girls readily agreed and the little group headed over to the building.

Lucas was still reeling from the conversation with Elizabeth earlier in the morning. However, instead of being upset, he felt relieved. Had he ever had a chance with her? Now looking back on it he got so riled up on making it a competition that he didn't even know what he felt for her. There was no way he was ready to be a parent yet. While he and Elizabeth shared a few interests, they were at very different places in life. A romantic relationship between them never would have worked. Now that he knew Elizabeth wasn't the right woman for him he wondered who was. He would have to wait and see.

"Mr. Bouchard?" Lucas snapped out of his thoughts as he heard Robert call his name.

"Hello everyone," Lucas responded, seeing the group of children. "Can I help you?"

"We just wanted to show Cody the library. It wasn't here when he left. What's that smell?" Robert questioned.

"They're special scented candles. I find that they help me to concentrate." He said getting up from his chair in the corner of the room. I have to go check on something in the saloon, I'll be back in a few minutes." Without stopping to blow out the candles he walked across the street hoping to grab a cup of tea and head back to the library once the children had left.

"Do you have a book to bring to school on Monday?" Allie asks, looking over at Cody, "Mrs. Thornton usually lets us read in the mornings for a little while."

"No, I finished my book on the train. Any suggestions?" He asked, looking over at the group.

"You'll love this one!" Opal said as she ran to the corner Lucas had been sitting in. Reaching above her head she had her fingers on a book but before she could grab it, it had fallen down and landed on a candle.

"Opal!" The kids screamed as the book went up in flames and quickly spread to all the paper around it. Opal tried to get out but she couldn't see through the smoke.

"Is something burning?" Abigail asked Henry after they broke apart. Henry glanced towards the oven but instead of seeing food burning he saw smoke coming out of the library.

"I think the library's on fire. Let's go!" Henry panicked.

As they rushed out of the cafe they saw Allie running out of the library screaming for help with Robert and Cody following. "Cody!" Abigail screamed as she ran towards her son. "Are you okay?"

Cody nodded and threw himself into his mother's open arms. Robert did the same as he saw his mother coming out of the mercantile.

Elizabeth, carrying Little Jack, quickly found her way over to Abigail and Cody. Allie ran into her arms, desperate for some comfort from Elizabeth. Before her teacher could speak they saw Nathan dart into the burning library. Terrified they held on to each other until Nathan came out carrying Opal. He passed her to Carson and looked over at Allie, Elizabeth, and Little Jack, seeing the family he so desperately wanted. He rushed over and joined their hug, wrapping one arm around Allie while reaching his other hand out to squeeze Elizabeth's. "Na'tan okay?" Little Jack asked. Elizabeth looked at Nathan.

"Yes Jack. I'm okay." He told the little boy, reaching over to take him from Elizabeth as they watched the town quickly put out the fire.