Second Chances for Nathan CHAPTER 3, Part 7 Page 14
The next morning, Nathan let Allie sleep in as he went about his early morning rounds. When in town, he saw that Walden's car was still parked by the saloon, but it was quiet.
Ned Yost waved at Nathan as he was sweeping off the porch in front of the Mercantile.
"Good morning Ned," Nathan tipped his hat.
"Same to you. I hope it remains a good day" Ned replied.
Out of the door Flo came rushing and called out to Nathan. "Nathan, please tell me that this Walden fellow is not staying here and opening up his, his.." she couldn't think of a proper word to describe it.
"No, not if we can help it. I'll be meeting with Lee and Bill shortly. We are hoping to convince Walden to sell the saloon to them. They are very keen on purchasing it and already have some great ideas that should make the rest of the town very pleased. Hopefully, Walden will back down seeing that our ordinances are in place that will hinder the kind of establishment he wants to pursue." As Nathan continued on his rounds he knew Flo would definitely get the word out.
Nathan rode back home to check on Allie. He noticed Elizabeth was outside walking LJ. He almost turned around, but Elizabeth had already noticed him. As he approached, he waved at LJ and he greeted her with a nod, when she addressed him, "Nathan?"
Startled, he stopped, and asked, "Are you all right?"
"Well, I've been better," she answered softly. "I just want to ask you if you might possibly know anything about Lucas's whereabouts."
"No Elizabeth, I don't. Did you know he was selling the saloon and leaving?"
Elizabeth's face became sad and angry at the same time, "No, I most certainly did not. All I know is that Mr. Walden approached him about selling, but I didn't think, even in my wildest dreams, he'd take him up on it!" and with that she wiped away a tear from her eye.
Nathan noticed she was no longer wearing her wedding ring and that was a sign to him that she was truly anticipating moving on in her relationship with Lucas. With color draining from his face and swallowing hard, he barely spoke, "Sorry Elizabeth, but I wouldn't count on him returning."
It was then that Allie came running out to greet him. "Good morning!" she smiled. "Are you done with your rounds this morning? I want to go into town and check with Mrs. Yost to see if she needs me, so can I have a ride back with you?'
"Of course, hop on up here," he answered as he reached down for her to grab his hand.
With that, she jumped up and hugged his waist then they started back to town. Nathan let out a quiet exhale of relief to be leaving Elizabeth. Allie continued babbling with questions. "What happened last night? Are we still going to see grandmother? When can we leave?" her face was shining. Nathan was comforted with Allie next to him.
It turned out that Flo did need Allie's help. She and Ned had hurriedly closed the Mercantile early to eat some dinner and attend the town hall meeting last night so she needed to still clean up.
That freed up Nathan to meet with Bill and Lee, so they gathered together at Bill's office. They discussed with the folks yesterday evening, that Walden would have to comply with their ordinances or the business would be shut down. This had not set well with Walden and he threatened that 'they hadn't heard the last of him'.
Bill and Lee wanted to offer him a way out by buying the saloon from him for what he paid Lucas. However, they didn't know what that cost him. So, they knew they had to rely on Walden's word, which definitely put them in a quandary, unless Bill could get the transaction record.
"I'm going to make a call to the record office and check out any recent transactions."
Within a few minutes Bill knew the exact amount. He and Lee were on target.
"Hey Lee, I think we're in luck. We've got enough to buy out Walden with money to spare!"
So with that good news, off to the saloon they confidently strode over. Walden was there. The two men presented the offer to him.
At first he growled,"You think you can buy me off do you?"
"We have given you more than what you paid Lucas, so don't give us a hard time. You're coming out smelling like a rose and you know it." Bill warned.
Lee added, "You're not welcome here. Just sign our proposal and we'll all be happy."
Walden walked around looking at the saloon in silence as Lee and Bill watched.
"I want you both to know this place has great potential and it'll be such a shame not to turn this into the talk of the town. However, I accept your offer as being the wise entrepreneur that I am, can see that I will do much better taking my investment elsewhere."
Walden signed the contract, handed the keys to Bill, ignored his extended hand, turned his back, and walked out the door.