I'm always floored by the kind comments. For those of you who remarked on Bill's interrogation of Elizabeth, I felt that was the only way Elizabeth would realize that seeing Nathan with someone else is something that would hurt her. Nathan isn't the type of person to play games to make someone jealous. He wouldn't be able to do that to her. So, this was how I could see that realization being played out. Sometime in the distant future, she would have to watch him be completely serious and focused on someone else. Thanks again, for your comments and patience.

Chapter 7

Missing Mountie

This she did by sending a message to Lucas to join her in the library at his earliest convenience. Lucas showed up mid-morning. He seemed torn between being hopeful and also apprehensive about where this conversation was going.

"I'm curious as to why you needed me right away," Lucas said with a smile.

Elizabeth tried to give him a calm smile in return, but it was forced.

"I think I know what this is about. You're asking me here to break up with me, aren't you?" Lucas said.

Elizabeth nodded.

"I've realized last night, after a long and painful night, that I haven't been fair to anyone in this situation, and I haven't been for a long time. And it got worse when I got too scared to admit my feelings to even myself. You've always been a good friend to me. Being a stable support, with a touch of adventure thrown in. I do find you attractive, anyone can see how handsome you are, and I had thought with time together, it would grow into love," Elizabeth explained as she looked into Lucas' eyes.

"But it hasn't, has it?" Lucas asked back.

Elizabeth shook her head in reply.

"I'm truly sorry, Lucas. You must know that I had no intention of hurting you," Elizabeth said. "I know that doesn't negate the fact that you are. But you also need to know that I've really only just realized this about myself last night. You're the first I've talked to about this, and you would have been even if Nathan and Allie were still here or back."

Lucas gave her a pain filled look back.

"You do realize that you may not get him back?" Lucas pointed out.

"I do. And he may not want to start a relationship after everything, but it would still be wrong for me to continue to be with you, when I know that I care for someone else that deeply."

Lucas nodded in agreement before he turned and left.

After Lucas left the library, Elizabeth sat down with pen and paper to write some letters.

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Grant,

I know that writing to you is crossing Nathan's boundaries, but I hope what I have to say will help ease some of your misgivings about why I am. I need to say how sorry I am over how badly I've treated Allie and Nathan, but also to the two of you.

I'm sorry for how much I hurt all of you. For you to both feel the need to come to Hope Valley suddenly, and I'm sorry for the bad impression I left of who I am with you. I'm not like the person you saw normally.

I'm not writing to Allie directly, unless I get the leave to do so. But please pass along that I'm sorry.

I know that a letter is a poor way to communicate these things. But with the uncertainty of Allie coming back, I wanted to send you a letter just in case. Please know that I would be very eager to see you all in Hope Valley again! So, that I can apologize in person, and so that you can know me better, and leave you with a better second impression than my first was.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Thornton

Elizabeth carefully sealed and stamped the letter. On the back side, she wrote "Please Read!" with the fear that Ruth might just throw it away or into a fire.

She then wrote another letter to Colleen. When she was finished she posted the one's to the Grants and walked to the cemetery where she ran into Constable Kinslow.

"Good afternoon, Elizabeth," he greeted from where he had been standing at the gate.

Elizabeth smiled and waved.

"We keep meeting like this," Elizabeth teased.

"Well, since you've given Colleen a spot…I'm using it when I can. Her death anniversary was yesterday," Gabe said with sadness.

Elizabeth looked at him in surprise.

"That's why Dylan was here and being belligerent. I'm glad it was me who found him, because Nathan would've hurt him," Gabe said.

Elizabeth nodded in agreement before saying, "It sounds like you also miss her."

Gabe nodded.

"It's hard not to care about someone who was as optimistic and as charming as Colleen was. When we met, it was my first holiday away from my family, and I was homesick. Colleen just swept me up into being an honorary Grant. She was another sister for me," Gabe admitted. "After that, she made sure to send me care packages, as well. Even after we went different places for a while."

"You seem to be very close to the Grants," Elizabeth remarked.

Gabe nodded again.

"I've never met Archie, but the rest have all been kind and generous," Gabe admitted.

"May I ask how you and Nathan got so close?" Elizabeth asked.

Gabe smiled and gave her a teasing look.

"That story would take a lifetime to finish because it is still ongoing. But just to give you an idea, I've had my own down moments, and Nathan has been an excellent listener to my frustrations and problems and hurts and losses and has helped talk me down a few ledges. We've both helped save each other's lives in more ways than just rescuing each other from harm as Mounties-although we've done that quite often."

Elizabeth looked at him as he was looking out at the town from the view.

"Is that why you're here?" Elizabeth asked.

Gabe nodded.

"Partially. Nathan did ask, but whomever is stationed in Brookfield is closest to Hope Valley. Headquarters would've asked me to check in anyway."

"Did they give you instructions to check in?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes, otherwise this would be considered leaving my post, and if something had happened in Brookfield I could be punished for it. But I've also been harassing headquarters to allow me to do so."

Elizabeth gave him a look.

"Look, the thing you have to know about our personal and professional relationships is that if one of us calls in a favor, we don't ask questions. We just do it."

"So, is this personal or professional for you?" she asked.

"With Nathan, it's always both," Gabe said.

On the day Ned's and Florence's wedding, Constable Kinslow went in place of Nathan and the church was packed.

During the reception, Kinslow handed Nathan's gift to the couple personally.

Ned and Florence opened the gift and found a nicely wood carved plaque. There was a quote surrounded by things that represented their interests and love story. The quote said, "Here's to you both, a beautiful pair/On the birthday of your love affair/Here's to the husband and here's to the wife/May yourselves be lovers for the rest of your life." Ned and Florence were both in shock about how beautiful it was.

"Where did Nathan hear this quote?" Florence asked in awe.

"Yeah. There are times where Nathan's Irish comes out quite strong. This is one of them," Gabe said with a light head shake.

Ned and Florence both laughed.

"This is going up in our Mercantile…" Ned said.

"Right above the door," Florence added.

They both walked away with beaming faces. The town was happily celebrating the happy couple. Ned and Florence were insisting on having a short honeymoon, just a weekend together.

On the day that Ned and Florence returned, the town was also surprised by the return of Archie, Ruth, and Allie. But Nathan was still missing.

Everyone was pleasantly surprised that they had returned. Allie was being given extra long hugs from her friends and the mothers of her friends. Lee drove Allie and Ruth to the Grant rowhouse in order for them to get settled again, while Archie hung around town.

Bill and Gabe could sense that something was wrong with them. Bill gestured for Archie to come into his office.

"We're worried about Nathan. He hasn't sent a message to check in in weeks. Headquarters is giving us the run-a-round, saying that he's probably not in a place where he can safely send a message to family. Which we bought as an explanation for a bit, but then this was in our newspaper," Archie pulled out a newspaper from Calgary. He pointed to the article beneath the cover page article. It said "Gang leader of the Olsen Gang Finally Behind Bars!" Bill and Gabe both grabbed it and read that article at the same time. Nathan wasn't mentioned once. Only a young, up and coming cadet, had single handedly tracked and found the man. They mentioned a brief scuffle where the young cadet had overpowered the man and brought him in to be arrested. There was a picture of the young man leading the Olsen gang leader in handcuffs on a horse.

Both Bill and Gabe got sinking feelings in their stomachs about this.

"That's Newton," they both said as they pointed to the horse the gang leader was sitting on.

Archie nodded in agreement.

"We noticed that too. We were expecting him to come back within a few days. He hasn't, and no one in headquarters is saying diddly," Archie growled.

"Does Allie know?" Bill asked.

"At first no, but Nicole asked her about why her dad's horse was the one in the picture. We had to explain to her," Archie said.

Bill and Gabe gave each other a look. Then both went into investigator mode.

"When was the last time you heard from Nathan?" Gabe asked as he took out a pencil and a pad.

"Three and a half weeks ago. He didn't say where he was just that he was safe," Archie said.

"And have the Mounties given you anything about his possible location?" Bill asked next.

Archie shook his head.

"We'll both put some pressure on our contacts about where Nathan is, and why they haven't said anything," Bill said as they stood up.

Archie thanked them and then left.

Bill immediately started calling people he knew and was putting pressure on them. Gabe went back to the Mountie Office to also call his own connections. Florence and Ned had a VERY busy day at the switchboard between their lawmen and the calls going back and forth.

"What do you think is wrong?" Florence finally said in frustration when they finally had lull in the calls while Bill and Gabe were reconvening in Bill's office.

"I have no idea. But what could make them both this worried?"

They shrugged but looked at the present Nathan had sent them.

"Unless…" Florence started out slowly.

"No. It can't be…" Ned said, trying to think of something else.

"What else would make them both that worried?" Florence said.

"I don't know. But getting bad news about Nathan Grant is not what this is about. Mark my words, Florence, it will be something else," Ned said.

Florence smiled kindly, but secretly had her doubts.

"What did you get?" Bill asked gruffly once Kinslow entered.

"Nathan was assigned to be partners with the young constable. But he claims that him and Nathan had argued and went on their separate paths," Gabe said.

"How did he get Newton, then?" Bill asked.

"He pretended to be losing the connection over a bad line and hung up when I asked him that question.

Bill growled in frustration.

"What about you?" Gabe asked.

"I've been able to recreate a timeline, somewhat. Nathan and his "partner" left Calgary and headed north. Headquarters confirmed they checked in here and here, a few days later," Bill pointed. Each location was getting more and more into rough territory. "They were still following the man's trail north. But that was the last time they checked in before the kid came back with the gang's leader. They also didn't have a good reason for believing his story at face value. Nathan still hasn't checked in with them. They think he's trying to be a hero again, which is why they haven't labeled him as missing yet."

Gabe looked at the territory map where Nathan was last seen and the areas around it.

"Around there?" Gabe said skeptically.

"And with Allie waiting for him?" Bill agreed.

"Nathan's been missing since he and the new kid separated," Gabe said.

"If that is actually what happened," Bill scoffed.

Gabe nodded in agreement.

"So, I will get my bags ready to go track him. We don't have time to waste. I will leave you with the kid's contact…." Gabe started to say before Bill interrupted.

"What makes you think that I won't be the one to track him?"

Gabe actually smiled back.

"I've known Nathan longer. I know how he tracks, and how he thinks. I'm younger and can handle being on a horse longer, and let's face it Bill, you're much more intimidating to a young cadet than I am. We both need to play to our strengths," Gabe explained.

Bill nodded at the deduction and flattery.

Gabe and Bill agreed to keep each other posted on the others progress. They would agree to talk at rendezvous times, and if either one missed the time, three times in a row the other would call an official missing person's case for the other and for Nathan. Bill walked towards town with Gabe. Both had such a serious mein that the citizens were getting quite worried. Gabe walked into the Mountie Office. Bill walked to the livery and surprised everyone when he came out with Apollo saddled and ready to ride at a moment's notice. Their concern and activity had made it around the Hope Valley gossip mill quite quickly. The people who were close enough had made their way into town. This included Ruth and Allie.

It was Allie who had the bravery to approach Bill and Gabe just as Gabe was finishing his packing.

"Uncle Gabe?" Allie asked tentatively.

Gabe stopped so that he could look Allie in the eye.

"We don't think you're being told the truth. We're trying to find the truth, and find him," Gabe said softly. "I won't come back without answers."

Allie nodded before leaning in to hug him. Gabe put his arms around her.

"Thank you for taking this seriously, Uncle Gabe," Allie said to his stomach.

Gabe just patted her head and put her into Ruth's arms.

"What's happened?" Rosemary asked with surprise.

"We think Nathan has been missing for about three weeks. There's enough suspicion in the information we've gathered that we suspect that something's not right. Kinslow is searching for Nathan. I'm going to be here to talk and contact our sources," Bill explained.

The citizens of Hope Valley took in a consecutive breath of horror.

"Be safe yourself Gabriel Kinslow," Ruth lectured.

"I try," Gabe said with a small smile.

Ruth just raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"I just don't always succeed," Gabe admitted.

"Stay away from dynamite might be your first lesson on safety," Ruth admonished him.

Gabe laughed. "Hey, in that situation I was away from it. Nathan, on the other hand, was lucky…"

"You're both running out of spare lives," Ruth commented.

Gabe just nodded in agreement as he mounted Apollo. He turned Apollo around and then led him out of the town.

He was about to get into a good gallop when he was surpassed by Elizabeth Thornton on Sergeant. She turned him around sharply before blocking Gabe's progress.

She looked like she had been sucker punched.

"Nathan's missing?" she asked desperately.

Gabe nodded.

"I'm sorry, Elizabeth, but he's been missing an alarming number of days, and I really need to get going," Gabe said trying to get her to unblock his path.

"I'm sorry, but I just wanted you to take this," she handed over a wrapped package. "I feel like something may be keeping him from coming back if he hasn't made contact. And I want him to know that Hope Valley is still his home."

Gabe took it and put it safely ensconced with the rest of the things packed.

She smiled gratefully and then let Gabe go.

She watched as he disappeared from view before turning back towards Hope Valley.