Author's Note: This chapter was originally part of a much longer chapter which was broken up so that my readers won't get reader's fatigue. The second part should be issued tomorrow.

The wheels of the coach rounded the corner past the Mercantile and came to a stop in front of Hope Valley's Stagecoach office at around nine o'clock that evening, around the same time Allie's party was breaking up at the Queen of the Valley. Lucas exited the carriage first and held out his arm to assist Elizabeth and Emily. They disembarked. He then lifted the two boys, passing a tired Jack to his mother and setting Buford down on the ground so he could meet with his parents, who were approaching from the other coach.

"Thank you for watching him." Cyrus's wife said appreciatively, prodding Cy with her elbow to do the same.

"Yeah. Thanks," the Tennessean sniffed.

"And, what else do you have to say?" Maggie demanded, raising her eyebrows toward her husband.

"I'm um…sorry for being such a jacka…." Cyrus flinched as Maggie smacked him hard in the back of the head, and Elizabeth covered Jack's ears.

"Ouch! What'd you do that for?"

"For not watchin' your language!"

"Only repeatin' what you said," Cy responded as she smacked him again. "Hey, you don't have to hit me!"

"When I said it, you deserved it." Maggie narrowed her eyes. "I see one talkin' to ain't gonna cover it. Lucas, where's your hotel? It's going to be a long night."

Lucas hesitated for a split second until he felt the back of Elizabeth's hand lightly slap him in the side.

"Back there." He said compliantly. "The Concierge sits upfront. His name is Rory. If he's not there, ring the bell. Someone will get him."

"Thank you, Lucas. Now there's a gentleman! I swear, I married the biggest horse's patootie there ever was!" she grumbled, even as she grabbed her luggage with one hand and her son's hand with the other. "Come on, Cy! Get a move on!"

"Leave those," Lucas said over the luggage. "Tell Rory that Mr. Bouchard has requested he send someone over to pick them up for you. Your hands are full enough."

Maggie smiled. "Thanks, Lucas. Much obliged." The three remaining riders watched as Maggie lectured Cyrus all the way to the hotel.

"Well, I suppose I need to be heading to the hotel as well," Emily said with a slight smile. "I'm hoping for an early start so that I can see… I can see… Nathan!" Emily spotted the Mountie as he and Allie crossed the street and the biggest smile appeared on her face.

Nathan and Allie turned their heads, and the Mountie's face broke into a smile. "Emily?!"

Emily ran, flinging her arms around her beau as she met him in the middle of the street, where they gave each other a sweet kiss. Lucas and Elizabeth watched as the couple brought Allie into the huddle.

"Well, that's very sweet," Lucas said, after a few seconds of enjoying the sweet moment.

"Yes." Elizabeth said, "Very sweet. That used to be us, once."

"Oh, boy." Lucas furrowed his brow, then watched as Elizabeth turned and walked toward her luggage. He rolled his eyes, catching up with her and reaching for her bags first.

"Allow me," he said.

"That's quite alright, Lucas. I can manage them myself."

"You have Jack to take care of, and my car is just across the street," Lucas responded.

"I'd rather walk." She said, reaching for the bag.

Lucas moved his arm in front of her and stopped her. "Okay. We can do that. A nice evening stroll sounds good after riding all day."

She stopped and touched his arm. "We can manage on our own."

Lucas frowned. "Absolutely, not! You're not walking back to your rowhouse by yourself at nine o'clock at night. I'm going with you."

"I used to do it all the time." She replied."We'll be perfectly fine."

"That was before when we knew everyone in town." He said. "And even then, I never did like the thought of a beautiful young lady such as yourself walking out at night alone. I'm not going to allow you to do it now."

"Pardon me?" Elizabeth said, raising her brows and crossing her arms.

"You heard me," Lucas replied, undeterred. "And you can stay mad at me all you want, but I'm going to win this one. I will walk you home and see to it that you're safe. Now, let me put Annabelle in the corner and grab your things. I'll pick my luggage up when I return. Do you have everything?"

Elizabeth appeared annoyed, but part of her couldn't help but enjoy Lucas's protectiveness over her. After three years as a single mother, it felt nice not to be alone, and despite being perturbed by his actions earlier in the day, she adored him for wanting to take care of her and Jack. It felt very nice and natural to have him there at their side. He belonged with them.

"Why are you here? I thought you were still in Baltimore?" Nathan asked after picking Emily's bags. The three of them walked back to the hotel.

"Cy got released early." She said. "I came here to surprise you. You got everything turned around with the Mounties, didn't you?"

Nathan grimaced, and Emily's lips parted.

"What? What's wrong?" she said.

He took a deep breath. "I tried. The man who signs the orders is on a ship to London and won't be back for three months. They told me that if I didn't go, well, I'd lose my job."

"No! How long do you have?" Emily asked. "Maybe we could call someone else."

"They want me to report for duty on Monday." He replied. "Allie and I leave tomorrow morning at eleven."

"Nathan! That's just awful!" she said, tears beginning to moisten her eyes. "I came all this way with Cyrus and to…well…to be with you. And you're not even going to be here?!"

"I'm still going to try to get it reversed," Nathan said. "I mean, I'm not giving up. The administrator, Deputy Commissioner Fletcher Boyle, he should be landing in London in another four days. I'm hoping once he's there, we can contact him and get this mess straightened out."

"But that's at least four days from now, not to mention your own travel time to Montreal. I'm only here for a few weeks with Cyrus myself." She replied.

"But, maybe you could join us after that?" Allie suggested.

"I don't think that Carson will have things set up that quickly." She replied. "He's still getting the licenses straightened out for us to work. He doesn't expect to be fully ready to work for a few weeks – and even then, it's going to be months to get the work started. Nathan, what are we going to do?"

"We'll figure something out," Nathan replied.

A brilliant moon bathed the landscape outside Elizabeth's rowhouse as she, Lucas, and Jack arrived at her porch. Lucas looked at his fiancée as the pre-twilight rays illuminated her soft, delicate features and brilliant blue eyes. For a moment, her beauty utterly entranced him. He was speechless.

"Would you hold Jack for a moment?" she asked, breaking the spell.

Lucas set Elizabeth's bags down on the ground and took the sleeping boy from her arms, cradling him against his chest while she fished through her handbag for her keys. In that flash of a moment, Lucas felt they were a family, the love of his life and a boy whom he loved as his own flesh and blood. What silliness to argue trivial matters. They were getting married! They should enjoy this moment. He would apologize.

Opening his mouth, he was stopped when Elizabeth turned around and extended her hands to take her son. She refused to make eye contact.

"Thank you for walking us home, Lucas. You should head home now. It's late," she said.

Lucas looked at her solemnly as he passed her son into her arms. "I can carry your bags inside," he said, brushing her hand with his as they made the transfer.

"That won't be necessary." She replied quietly. "Thank you."

He stepped up on the porch and touched her arm. "Please try to get some sleep. It's been a long day. I'm sure we're all just tired."

"It has been a long day." She replied.

He leaned in to kiss her, and she slightly turned her head so that his lips landed on her cheek. It hurt him to his core. He cleared his throat then stepped back.

"Well, goodnight," he said, stepping down to the ground and placing Elizabeth's bags on the porch.

"Goodnight, Lucas," Elizabeth said, her eyes looking sadly toward him but resolved to end it this way.

Lucas nodded, then lowered his eyes. Then, he turned and walked away.

Even as she watched his lonely figure disappear into the night, Elizabeth longed to run after him and be the one to reach out. But he honestly had scared her, and he had spoken to her accusatorily over his business. The overtures should come from him this time, on that she was firm.

When Lucas arrived home, it was already ten-thirty, and the only thing he wanted to do was to crawl into bed, bury his head under the covers, and forget this terrible day had ever happened. As a child, he had been naturally averse to conflict, and he tried to escape it whenever possible as an adult. Still, he wasn't so naïve as to believe it could be completely avoided.

But, this! The continuance of this disagreement that he and Elizabeth were having made no sense to him whatsoever. He knew she was upset over what he did, and he was sorry for that. After everything they had gone through over the past year, it was understandable that she would worry about his safety. And, he didn't mean to scare her. But he had explained that the train was moving slowly and that there was no real danger. So why couldn't she accept his word? Why was she still angry with him? Why was she shutting him out? Why did she deflect his affection? Why had she shunned him?

It felt all too familiar.

"Good grief! I'm marrying my mother!" he huffed, snatching up Annabelle's kennel and slamming his car door shut. He walked a few steps, stopped, closed his eyes, and shook that thought out of his mind.

"No, Lucas. Elizabeth is not Helen Bouchard. Stop being so dramatic." He said out loud, chiding himself as he carried Annabelle up onto the porch and unlocked his front door.

It was true that Elizabeth was intelligent, independent, strong, and had conviction like his mother, but she was also, by her nature, nurturing and warm. Her smile ignited his heart every time he saw it, and he couldn't help but marvel at how she was, in more ways than he could count, the perfect woman for him. God had created her in such a way that she filled voids in his heart that he didn't even know he had. She fit him like no other human being. God made her with every quality that he could have ever asked for in a woman, and then, miracle of miracles, He gave her to him. In his omnipotence, He knew Lucas needed Elizabeth – which must mean that the small matter of them arguing over such trivialities must have some purpose or lesson to it. He just needed to be patient while he figured out what it was. He took an aspirin and prepared for bed.

Morning broke over Hope Valley, and Elizabeth arose early, moving into the kitchen to start breakfast for her and Jack. She had gotten very little sleep and felt so sad that she and Lucas had ended their trip at odds with one another. Had she been too hard on him? Turning on the tea kettle, she started toward the door to see if the latest edition of The Valley Voice had been delivered to her doorstep but was diverted by a ringing phone. Lucas! she thought excitedly as she rushed to answer it.

"Hello?" she said, a lilt in her voice.

"Hello, Mrs. Thornton. This is Ellen Weise, Opal's mother."

It took a second for Elizabeth to recalibrate her thoughts, but within a few seconds, she had recovered. "Um…Hello, Mrs. Weise. How are you? Is everything okay with Opal?" she asked, concerned over the early morning call.

"In truth, no. Not really." Ellen replied. "I was getting her up this morning to get her ready for school, and she says she doesn't want to go. She says it's too sad for her with Allie leaving, and I was wondering if you could stop by the house on your way to work and walk with her to school."

"Wait. Allie's still leaving?" Elizabeth asked. "When?"

"Today. Constable Grant wasn't able to get those orders overturned, so they're leaving this morning at eleven."

"Oh, no! I hadn't heard. Lucas and I were visiting my parents." She said.

"Yes. I heard you two were gone. I hope you had a good time. Now, about Opal…."

"Yes, of course. I can stop by on my way to drop Jack off with Laura."

"That's wonderful, Mrs. Thornton." Mrs. Weise replied. "You're so good with her, and she looks up to you. Perhaps you can cheer her up."

Elizabeth sighed. "I'll try. I'll be by in about an hour?"

"Thank you, Mrs. Thorton. It's much appreciated. She'll be ready."

Elizabeth hung up the line and quickly finished making a light breakfast for herself and her son, getting him up and getting them dressed within fifty minutes. All the while, she had Lucas continually on her mind, hating the fact that they were quarreling and criticizing herself for her poor approach to solving the discord between them. Even so, she knew she wasn't entirely wrong. Lucas may have done what he did on impulse, but he needed to understand how and why it affected her. And, of course, there was also the matter of him telling her to stay out of his business affairs. The way he'd said this hurt her feelings, and for that, she felt he owed her an apology. She'd go to see him at lunchtime and try to talk it out.

"Okay, Jack. You ready to go to Laura's?" she asked, picking up a heavy tote bag full of books with one hand and taking her son's hand with the other as they walked toward the door.

"Yes, mama." He replied. "I there all day?"

"You will be there only until Robert can swing by. He'll pick you up around lunchtime, and then…." Elizabeth opened the door and sharply inhaled. Sitting on her porch leaning against a post with a bouquet of flowers in his right hand was Lucas, who, having gotten no more rest than she had the night before, was now sound asleep. Before she could awaken him gently, Jack squealed and charged after him.

"Wookus!" the little boy said, so suddenly and loudly that Lucas reflexively tossed the bouquet in the air as the little boy ran into his arms. In the same instant, Elizabeth caught the flying flowers in her arms, and the two lovebirds locked eyes. Elizabeth bit her lower lip and smiled.

"Looks like I'm next," she shrugged, slowly turning around and locking her door.

Lucas smiled and stood with his feet on the ground, setting Jack back on the porch.

"Wookus go to school with mama?" Jack asked.

Elizabeth looked at her son. "Remember Jack, it's Loo-kiss" she said, trying to teach her son how to enunciate Bouchard's name correctly. "And no, he won't be coming to school with me. He has to work."

"Work?" Jack asked.

"Yes, young man," Lucas said to the wide-eyed boy. "I work at the big restaurant in town, among other places. But, I must confess that I was hoping I could walk your mother to school this morning."

"That good. I goin' to Laura's," Jack said with a smile before skipping two steps to jump off the porch and running across the street to play in the grass.

"You be careful, Jack," Lucas warned. He turned to Elizabeth. "We need to teach him to watch for traffic."

"Yes, we do." Elizabeth smiled, touched by the fatherly instincts Lucas was already showing. She took him by the arm, and they crossed the street to join her son.

"You didn't sleep on my porch all night, did you?" she asked, looking at his fatigued appearance as they walked.

"No. I didn't," Lucas replied. "Please, allow me." He said, taking the bookbag from her arms and carrying it for her. "I'm afraid that sleep eluded me last night, so I got up around four-thirty and thought I would come and wait for you to wake up. It would appear that your front porch is more comfortable than my bed."

"I see," she replied, watching Jack pick his own bouquet of dandelions and wild violets from the grass as they walked along. "That still doesn't explain why you came down here. Surely it wasn't just to walk me to school."

"To the contrary. That was precisely the reason. I wanted to see you, so I parked my car at Yost's when I purchased the flowers and thought I might accompany you. Of course, that is - if you still like me." He stopped and smiled, waiting for her to react. Her lips curled into a slight smile.

She smelled the flowers and smiled. "Oh, I like you," she admitted. "And, the flowers are very nice. Thank you."

"But you're still angry with me?" Lucas asked.

"Angry is not the right word," she replied as they continued to walk. "But you did say and do some things yesterday that were hurtful, which I'd like to discuss when we get time."

"Okay. We can do that." He replied. "How about now?"

"Now is not a good time. I have a student in distress whom I'm walking to school," Elizabeth added.

"Anything serious?"

"Just a sad little girl. Allie and Nathan are leaving town today, and Opal is having a hard time of it."

"They're leaving town?" he asked. "But, I thought…."

"I know. There's been some sort of mixup. The Grants are going to Montreal, and Emily is staying here. They leave on the morning coach."

"Well, that's unfortunate." Lucas furrowed his brow. "I'm sorry to hear that. Emily was so looking forward to their time together," he said as they arrived at Opal's.

"Yes, she was. I have to go now." She said, reaching for her book bag. "Thank you for carrying those. Maybe I can meet you for lunch, and we can talk?"

"In my office?" he asked.

"I'm still allowed there?" Elizabeth asked, raising her brow.

"Of course." He said softly. "You're allowed anywhere that I am. I'll see you shortly after the recess bell?"

"Sure," she replied. "I'll get Minnie to stay with the children for singing practice after recess, so we'll have a few minutes."

Bouchard did not attempt to kiss her lips. Instead, he took her free hand and raised it to his mouth. "I'll be looking forward to it every moment," Lucas said as he smiled a dimpled smile. He turned and walked away, leaving Elizabeth longing for more.