Second Chances for Nathan Chapter 5, Part 6, Page 26
Nathan and Jack got all the materials for the repairs of the house and barn. Nathan offered Jack a fair wage for his labor for the rest of the week. Luckily he was available. Emily had hired him to be her farmhand and he was a great help and hard worker. Jack had a wife and little baby and lived close by, so it worked out good for all. Emily hadn't realized how many repairs the house and barn needed, so she was relieved that Nathan was there to take care of them. Ever since he left as a Mountie, she had to count on Jack.
For years she had to fend for her family herself when Archie would gamble away their wages. So many times she bailed him out of jail, with promises she'd never have to do it again, only to be so disappointed when he failed over and over. Nathan had witnessed the fighting between them as a young boy and Emily didn't want him growing up thinking that was the way men behaved. It worried her that Nathan's sister married so young to a scoundrel of a man, just to get away. So finally, she had enough and packed Archie's bags, telling him to leave.
Nathan became the man of the house at a young age, but Emily couldn't have asked for a better son. As Nathan grew, he was such a devoted, brave young man and grew to be the opposite of his father. Reliable and trustworthy, it made perfect sense for him to pursue his dream of being a Mountie. It was a tough decision to leave his mother, but Emily made sure he knew that she wanted him to build a life of his own. One that he was happy doing and she was proud of him.
A knock on the door startled Emily from her rest. At first she thought it was Allie. Then the knock came again. "Hello, Mrs. Grant are you there?"
"Why yes, I'm sorry, I thought it was my granddaughter. How are you Mary Grace, please come in." she smiled and opened the door.
"Oh, I'm fine, I just came by to talk to your son, Nathan. He stopped in the music shop when he was in town earlier and wanted to buy some sheet music to use with his guitar. I couldn't find any that he liked, but after he left, I came across a few more song titles." she explained.
Emily eyed Mary Grace and thought to herself, I wonder if Nathan realized that Mary Grace was his sister's best friend's younger sister. Mary Grace was a lovely young lady with sparkling blue eyes, just like Nathan and long blonde hair flowing down her back. "How nice of you Mary Grace! I'm sure he'll be delighted. He should be outside somewhere. He's visiting for a week and found my poor home needs some tender loving care."
"I can leave them with you, I am on my way home. If he's not interested, then he can bring them back to the shop." Mary Grace started to leave, when Allie came bursting in.
"Oma, the veterinarian better come soon, Ella is not moving too well." Allie spotted Mary Grace and quickly said, "Oh sorry. Hello, I'm Allie."
"Hello Allie, I'm Mary Grace. You must be Mrs. Grant's granddaughter."
"Yes, I am." and she walked over to Emily with a hug.
"I grew up with your Mom and your Uncle Nathan," Mary Grace started to explain.
"No, he's my Dad. He took care of me when my mom passed," she said sadly, "but he just adopted me!" as her smile swept back across her face.
Emily spoke up just then and winked, "It's been a fast few years, but Allie is growing up to be a lovely young lady and very inquisitive, so she'll talk your ear off if we let her. Did you see your Dad out there Allie?"
"Yes, he's getting ready to come in. I hope he stopped at the veterinarian's office today. I'll tell him you're here." With that, Allie ran out the door.
"Can you wait a few minutes?" Emily laughed.
"Sure, my sister would've been thrilled to see Nathan. She's living in Montreal now with her family. I'll have to write her and let her know. How long are Allie and Nathan going to be here?" Mary Grace asked.
"Don't say anything yet, but Allie and I were talking about letting Allie stay longer when Nathan leaves for Hope Valley Monday morning. We want to feed him something that is his favorite and get him in a good mood." Emily laughed.
When Nathan walked in the door, his silhouette with his hair all tussled and his strong arms and broad shoulders took Mary Grace's breath away. A bit flustered, she quietly explained to Nathan that she had come across some sheet music that he might be interested in.
In return Nathan noticed how sky blue her eyes were with the daylight streaming in the doorway and the soft, almost golden curls that fell down across her shoulders and he swallowed hard. "That's so nice of you to stop over with these." he stammered.
"Oh, it was my pleasure" she grinned.
Emily spoke up, "Nathan do you realize who Mary Grace is?"
"She helped me at the music shop. Why?" he looked puzzled.
"Mary Grace is your sister's best friend's little sister," Emily explained, "but not so little anymore."
"I went off to music school, and also took vocal lessons. Now I am licensed to teach music" Mary Grace filled in.
"Wait, you're not 'Chickadee' are you?" Nathan asked.
"Why yes, I haven't been called that in a long time!" Mary Grace laughed.
"You always had a beautiful voice and sang a lot when we were kids." Nathan remembered out loud.
Emily spoke up and asked, "You are a lovely singer Mary Grace, it's heavenly. Are you singing at church Sunday?
"I am." she replied. It was fun remembering the past and sharing stories. Allie listened intently so she could hear more about her mother. Emily invited Mary Grace to come back and have dinner with them and she agreed to Nathan's pleasure. Emily couldn't hide her smile and neither could Allie.
"Well, I best be going. My folks will be waiting for me to have dinner tonight." Mary Grace said as she said goodbye.
"Why don't you come back over for dinner Saturday night, if that's a good time for you?" Emily quickly offered.
"Why that would be lovely. Can I bring anything?" she asked.
"Just yourself, darling. See you about 6:00. I'll have Nathan come by and walk you over." Emily assured.
"Goodbye." Allie called out.
"I'll look through the sheet music by then. Bye Chickadee." Nathan chuckled.