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Chapter 14

First Date

Nathan wasn't entirely sure that getting ready for their first official date with his whole family plus Jack (whom he had collected from Laura after Allie and Elizabeth were done with school) was one of Nathan's better ideas. Each person had a very different idea about what he should wear and had no problem voicing their opinions and displeasure at what he had been holding up.

Jack hadn't wanted to leave Nathan's arms and had cried hard when he had tried to pass him off. So, Nathan had taken him upstairs with him. Allie and Jack were sitting on a chair together and were frequently wrinkling their noses at what he was showing them. Nathan felt that Jack was more interested in just doing what Allie was doing.

Archie strolled up and into Nathan's bedroom.

"Alright, I'm here to get ya all out and let Nathan get dressed," Archie said to Jack and Allie as he pointed his finger over to the stairs. Nathan smiled in thanks.

Allie stood and carried Jack.

"Dad, you should wear the brown suit, but with a tie," Allie said as she left.

Nathan just shook his head.

"Just be yourself, Nathan," Archie said from the doorway before he shut it behind him.

Nathan got dressed much more quickly, putting on his brown suit without the tie. He then styled his hair, grabbed a box of mints, and walked downstairs. Allie was visibly disappointed in him not wearing the tie.

"I'm going to have issues breathing as it is," Nathan protested.

Allie thought about it and nodded in agreement.

"We plan to be back about 9:30," Nathan told his parents.

Ruth and Arachie both nodded. Jack was already happily in Ruth's arms.

"Have fun and be safe," Archie said.

"Good luck," Allie beamed.

Nathan grabbed the flowers he had gotten at the Mercantile. Then he put on his coat and walked towards Elizabeth's row house where she and the Coulters were waiting on him. Nathan knocked gently three times, before Lee answered it.

"The ladies aren't quite done yet," Lee said as he gestured Nathan to go inside.

Nathan smiled and walked inside.

He could hear Rosemary chattering away to Elizabeth.

"Nathan's here," Lee called out.

"Beauty takes time," Rosemary called back.

"It's a school night," Elizabeth said flatly.

"Well, you're the one who picked a Thursday," Rosemary argued back.

"I didn't expect to be leaving Hope Valley," Elizabeth pointed out.

Both women were at the top of the stairs. Elizabeth was wearing a new dress. It was simply elegant and in a baby's blue color. Nathan met her eyes.

"You look breathtaking," Nathan said breathlessly.

Elizabeth smiled.

"Thank you," she said softly.

Nathan held out her flowers.

She smiled and took them to sniff.

"These are beautiful," Elizabeth said.

Nathan smiled as she put them in water.

"Are you okay going all the way to Brookfield?" Nathan asked in a whisper as he helped her put on her coat.

"Absolutely. It's very creative for you to suggest it, as I've never been there. We won't be as watched and interrupted, and it's close enough to return on the same night," Elizabeth said.

Nathan just smiled as he held out his arm for Elizabeth while Lee held out his for Rosemary. They spent the car trip to Brookfield listening to Rosemary wax poetic about the small but helpful town. About Grace, Lillian, Chuck, Nurse Maggie, Joe and the other citizens who had been helpful with the fire and repairs.

"I'm sure they will love an update on Gabe, as well," Rosemary said as Lee was making the final turns into the town main street. This turned out to be true as many citizens of Brookfield were waiting on them to get out of the car.

"Welcome, Elizabeth!" Lillian said as she couldn't help hugging the woman, "and Constable Grant."

Nathan nodded.

"We're excited to see you both," Grace added.

"Constable Grant," Chuck said with a handshake.

Nathan returned it.

"No offense but any news on when Gabe is back?" Chuck asked. "This one obviously thinks that working here is beneath him."

"Gabe is finishing out an investigation. He should be checking in soon actually. But Gabe is definitely ready to take up his rocking chair," Nathan said.

Lillian smiled.

"He sure does love that chair," Lillian commented.

Everyone who knew Gabe all laughed in agreement.

"It's good to see all of you," Lillian said as Lee and Rosemary walked to the orphanage with them.

Nathan and Elizabeth walked into the hotel. Elizabeth looked around in happiness. Grace sat them at a semi-private table. She brought them menus and let them read over it.

"This is quite charming. I can see why Gabe likes it here," Elizabeth said as she was looking over the interior of the hotel restaurant.

Nathan smiled.

"That is exactly why I'm so sorry that my investigation is keeping him away. He loves Brookfield the way we love Hope Valley," Nathan whispered.

"He loves you more," Elizabeth said softly.

Nathan smiled gently.

"So what's good here?" Elizabeth asked as she looked at the menu.

"According to Gabe, everything," Nathan said as he looked down as well.

Elizabeth giggled.

"I've had only four meals here, but they were all good. Perhaps not as refined as some of the other places you've been," Nathan said.

"Fancy dinners are nice every once and awhile, but they can get tedious and nice, simple meals can be just as delicious," Elizabeth said. "Your mother makes the best food I've ever had."

"She is VERY good at cooking. So was Colleen," Nathan said. "Cooking has always been a struggle for me."

"Did they teach you?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes. Both tried many times. They stopped after I ruined Ma's iron stove," Nathan said.

"Is that why she's protective of it?" Elizabeth asked with humor.

Nathan nodded.

Elizabeth laughed.

Grace returned and they put in their orders. Nathan and Elizabeth both ate in happiness and had pleasant dinner conversations about their lives and getting to know each other without interruption.

After finishing at the hotel, they went on a walk around the town boardwalk. Nathan introduced her to Pearl, Joe and Maggie and they were all profusely gushing about how much they missed Gabe.

"The new guy has a bad attitude," Pearl complained as she watched the interim Mountie chain smoking cigars.

"To be fair, Pearl, Bookfield's form of excitement is when Ronnie puts up his ads," Joe said. "No one expected for Constable Kinslow to be gone this long."

"He has his orders, no matter how long they take," Pearl said defensively.

"We know that Gabe misses being here as well," Elizabeth said softly.

"It just burns me that the man is chain smoking all the time. And the man never uses an ashtray! He always puts it out on the rocker. I can't even begin to imagine Gabe's reaction when he sees what the man did to his favorite chair," Pearl said.

"He's doing WHAT!?" Nathan asked with anger and turned suddenly to watch the Mountie put out his cigar on the top of Gabe's chair.

Nathan and Elizabeth were both watching in shock, but Nathan's irritation was about where Pearl's was at.

"Excuse me, Constable, but that chair is the private property of the Constable you are filling in for," Nathan said loudly.

Everyone on the street immediately went silent.

The constable was giving Nathan a stare down, sizing him up. Seeing where his weak spots were and trying to figure out who this man he hadn't seen in this town before was.

The man took one last long puff of his cigar and deliberately put it out in the middle of Gabe's chair seat.

Nathan glared at him.

The man gave him a cocky look asking what Nathan was going to do about it.

Nathan just gave him one last long look.

"Name, rank, and long-term placement!" Nathan ordered as he stood as a superior officer.

The man just slouched.

"My name is Constable Nathan Grant of Hope Valley," Nathan said again. "Name, rank, and long-term placement. Now, answer my questions before I have you court martialed!"

"Constable Christopher Boyce of Calgary, sir," the young man stood up to attention but his body language said he wasn't happy with it.

"Why are you being so destructive to things that aren't your own?" Nathan asked.

"Kinslow hasn't come back for them. I assumed he was leaving them here," Boyce said.

"Yeah, to come back someday, which you well know," Nathan glared at him.

"Kinslow didn't label anything as his personally. I thought it was the Mountie's Office," Boyce tried again.

Nathan stepped closer.

"You've had a really long time to come up with what most people think would be a reasonable excuse, but you got caught by the wrong Mountie. You see, I made this chair for Gabe specifically so that he was more comfortable after his gunshot wound. His initials are on the back of the headrest," Nathan said as he pointed towards the spot on the back where G.A.K. was etched in.

The young constable only glared at him.

"You're under arrest for destruction of property," Nathan said calmly.

The entire town which now included the people at the orphanage all cheered.

"Elizabeth," Nathan said as he turned back towards her.

"You have to stay and watch and wait for a replacement or a prisoner transfer," Elizabeth said. "After everything Gabe has done for us, you, Hope Valley, this is a small sacrifice."

Nathan smiled at her in thanks.

"I will let the others know. Anything I need to say to Bill?" Elizabeth asked.

"Just apologize for me," Nathan replied.

Elizabeth nodded.

Elizabeth, Lee and Rosemary were all waving goodbye to Nathan as he was standing in the middle of the street.

"Well, how did things go while they lasted?" Rosemary asked.

"Well. We just talked a lot," Elizabeth said.

"I'm sorry it had to be cut short so abruptly," Lee said.

"I'm not. When I first met Gabe, he said that him and Nathan never asked questions when one needed a favor. They just do it. This is Nathan doing Gabe a favor," Elizabeth said.

Rosemary and Lee both nodded.

"And I'm glad we went. Gabe's chair would have been lit up in flames if we hadn't gone," Elizabeth pointed out.

"That's true," Rosemary agreed.

"How was your trip with Lillian and the orphans?" Elizabeth asked.

"They are such lambs! Very respectful and industrious. We got along quite well," Rosemary answered.

Lee nodded.

"It is kind of sad that we don't see them more often," Lee said. "It is fairly close.

The women gave grunts of acknowledgement.

"When are you going to tell Bill?" Rosemary asked as they pulled into Hope Valley.

"Tomorrow first thing, but right now I have to tell the Grants," Elizabeth said with a little fear.

"They know Nathan and Gabe. I'm sure they'll understand," Rosemary said.

"I'm more worried about having to tell Ruth. She's still on the fence about me," Elizabeth said.

"Well, it's not like you could have stayed with him. That would be highly inappropriate!" Rosemary said.

Lee nodded.

"I know that, but this can either be a very good thing or a very bad thing," Elizabeth said.

"Do you want us to come with you?" Lee asked with a yawn.

"No. I'm a big girl. But thanks for the support. If you don't see me tomorrow, you know where to look," Elizabeth said.

Lee and Rosemary pulled up beside the Grant rowhouse and let her out.

She walked up the stairs and knocked gently on the door.

Archie opened it with a look of surprise.

"Where's Nathan?" he asked when he saw her by herself.

"In Brookfield still. May I come in to explain?" Elizabeth asked.

Archie just nodded.

Ruth looked at them both in surprise and fear when she noticed that Nathan wasn't with her.

"Nathan is fine. But while we were in Brookfield, we learned that Gabe's replacement wasn't doing his job well, and he was also destroying Gabe's personal belongings," Elizabeth explained.

"What?" Archie asked in shock.

"He was using Gabe's rocking chair as an ashtray," Elizabeth said.

Ruth gasped.

"Nathan made that chair for Gabe," Ruth whispered. "Nathan wouldn't have let him get away with it. He chose to stay there."

Elizabeth nodded.

"I'm not sure exactly how long he will be there, but I wanted to let you know," Elizabeth said.

Archie nodded in thanks.

Elizabeth then picked up Jack, who had been put to bed on their sofa.

"How was he?" Elizabeth asked.

"Fine. He's a good boy," Archie said as he put on his coat to escort them both home.

"Thank you," Elizabeth said as they left.

"Did you enjoy yourself anyway?" Archie asked as they walked the distance between their houses.

"We did. It was nice to have mostly uninterrupted conversation," Elizabeth admitted softly.

Archie laughed.

"Well, I'm at least glad to hear it," Archie said with a wink as he dropped them off at her door.

"Goodnight, Archie," Elizabeth smiled.

Archie waved and walked back down the row.

The next morning before school, Elizabeth found herself in Bill's office explaining what had happened the night before.

"Nathan had to arrest Gabe's replacement?" Bill asked in horror.

Elizabeth nodded.

"Who the hell are they letting pass through training these days? It seems like men of integrity isn't a qualification anymore," Bill said with frustration.

Elizabeth nodded in agreement.

"I need to get to class. But I wanted you to know where Nathan is. He also apologized," Elizabeth said.

Bill nodded and then sat with his head between his hands.

"Bill? Are you alright?" Elizabeth asked.

"This case is stressing me out," Bill said honestly.

"You and me both. Have you heard from Gabe?" Elizabeth asked.

"He's supposed to check in today," Bill explained.

Elizabeth gave him a small smile of encouragement before leaving Bill to his thoughts.

Bill's phone rang just as Gabe was supposed to be checking in. He picked up the phone and held it to his ear.

"Gabe?" Bill said.

"Bill, Montrose and I have made some serious headway. We know who Croaker was relying on. Who he still is relying on," Gabe said.

"And?" Bill asked.

"It's Croaker and his roommate from training, but Hargraves is the one keeping it hush hush. And we have his signature on those papers," Gabe said.

"Well done!" Bill said.

Gabe hesitated on the phone.

"Where's Nathan?" he asked, having expected him to be in the room.

"In Brookfield," Bill said tersely.

"Why?" Gabe had a tone of horror at the idea.

"He took Elizabeth there for their date. He found your temp. using your chair as an ashtray," Bill said. "He arrested the man."

Gabe went silent.

"Gabe?" Bill said.

"Bill, you have to get him out of there," Gabe said softly and quickly.

"Why?" Bill asked.

"Because my temp is the friend of Croakers. I suspect that he was the one taking Sam's mining supplies," Gabe said with horror.

Bill started swearing heavily.

"I'm coming back right now," Gabe said.

Bill hung up. Then he ran towards the livery.

"Rosemary, phase two!" he shouted at her as he ran past.

Rosemary just nodded in agreement and gathered her staff to work. Bill was riding off on Hero with Newton following behind.