Things are progressing nicely for Nathan, Allie and Sarah! Hope you enjoy the next chapters. The next few weeks are crazy busy for me with my daughter's wedding reception at the end of June (the big wedding was cancelled twice due to Covid so now we're hosting a BBQ in the backyard – still lots of coordination involved). Also, my other daughter and her husband are coming from Switzerland for a visit – I haven't seen them in almost two years! Hopefully I'll get more writing done before the crazy hits! I usually need to write as soon as I get my ideas or I tend to forget them – haha!

As always, thank you for your continued support and kind words.

Chapter 22

Nathan was looking forward to a weekend at home with Allie. They'd made plans to go fishing on Saturday afternoon. It had been a few weeks since they'd had that time together and both of them missed it.

They rode their horses out to their favorite fishing spot up by Bill's land. Nathan had never told Allie that he'd almost bought the land to build a permanent homestead for the two of them. Once Elizabeth rejected him back in the spring he decided it wasn't the right time. He had faith in God's timing and His plan so Nathan was waiting patiently for God's direction. One of the messages Nathan was still listening for was the time to finally be able to tell Elizabeth he forgave her. He thought he was ready but every time he tried to imagine the conversation he decided he wasn't. Nathan continually went back to Joseph's words that forgiveness is a process and he needed to be patient with himself. As always his main concern was Allie and how she was affected by the situation. She'd been in agreement with Nathan when they set up the boundaries they wanted Elizabeth to follow but Nathan also knew that kids forgave much easier than adults so he didn't want his inability to move forward to deteriorate Allie's relationship with her teacher.

Allie and Nathan found their spot, got their hooks baited and lines cast. They often sat in silence each with their own thoughts but today the conversation flowed. They'd been apart for almost a week so there was a lot to catch up on. Nathan smiled as he listened to Allie talking at a rapid pace filling him in on everything he'd missed the week he was in Benson Hills. Allie's job at the café gave her a front row view to much of the Hope Valley Happenings. One of the big topics in town currently was the upcoming mayoral election. The fact that all of the candidates were friends made the election all the more interesting. Nathan and Allie talked about who they thought would be the best choice. Allie had very strong views about the election. "Dad, I think it would be cool to have another woman mayor. Think about it, one of the biggest issues we have is making sure all the new people in Hope Valley feel like part of the community. Of all the candidates, Miss Miller is the newest person in town so she understands better than anyone what it's like to move here and try to fit in."

Nathan listened intently to Allie's reasoning and had to admit she made a great point. Nathan was all too aware of the challenges of integrating people in a community. He'd seen it in other towns he lived in where new industry had built factories. He had to admit that Fiona was a great example of becoming part of the community. Nathan hadn't been in Hope Valley when Fiona came to set up the telephone system in town but her ability to sniff out the problems and make repairs was legendary and her personality had made her a town favorite very quickly. Fiona was a jump in with both feet kind of person. When her boss from the phone company insisted that her work in Hope Valley was finished and she needed to move on to the next project she had boldly resisted and finally quit her job in spite of having nothing else lined up. Her decision to become the town barber took everyone by surprise, especially the men who were hesitant to allow a woman to cut their hair. Nathan reached up and ran his fingers through his thick, black, wavy hair and had to admit Fiona had given him the best haircut he'd ever had. She'd even given Nathan and Allie some lessons on how to braid Allie's hair. Nathan had never imagined he'd be braiding a young girl's hair but it was important to him that Allie wasn't the girl who didn't have a mother to fix her hair before school. Nathan laughed that image of him in his red serge sitting in the barbershop getting hair braiding lessons.

"You know sweet girl, I have to agree with you. I will say, Fiona is a real go-getter and a great role model to all the young girls in the community. Maybe you and some of your friends should help her with her campaign. You could hand out flyers or put up posters."

Allie loved the idea of helping Fiona become mayor and decided she'd go see her on Monday to find out what she could do. Nathan and Allie continued talking about school and the upcoming holidays. Nathan finally decided he needed to broach the subject that had been weighing heavily on his mind.

"Allie, remember the conversation we had a while back about setting boundaries for Mrs. Thornton?" Allie nodded. "So when we did that we agreed we would talk about how it was going especially for you. You're the one who has to see Mrs. Thornton every day. I'm able to avoid her. I want you to tell me how it's going for you and I want you to be honest with me. Okay kid?"

Allie rolled the question around in her head a bit trying to think of what she should say. She wasn't sure if her dad would want to hear what she had to say. Nathan could tell Allie was trying to figure out how to start. "Just spit it out. I can tell you have things to say."

"Dad, I feel sorry for Mrs. Thornton. She seems sad these days. There really isn't an issue with the boundaries because she doesn't talk to any of us that much outside of our lessons. She's nice enough and everything and her lessons are still good but during recess and lunch she mostly stays at her desk."

Nathan knew that was unusual for Elizabeth but he also remembered what Sarah had told him after her conversation with Elizabeth. It sounded as though Elizabeth was struggling with many things. Several months ago Nathan would have sought out Elizabeth to offer his support. Now, even though he felt sorry for Elizabeth he no longer felt any inclination to help her figure out what was in her heart. If she was confused about her decisions it was for her to figure it out, not him. He would think that she'd be seeking out Lucas for support. Knowing that Lucas had been preoccupied with work Nathan imagined that he maybe hadn't been as present for Elizabeth as she needed.

"Allie, do you remember the sermon Pastor Joseph had a couple of weeks ago? He preached about forgiveness." Allie seemed to remember the topic but not necessarily what had been preached. "Pastor Joseph said forgiveness is more for the forgiver than the forgiven. Do you know what that means?"

"I think it means that when you forgive someone you feel better as much as the person you forgive."

"You're right. So I've been thinking that I might need to tell Mrs. Thornton that I forgive her for how she treated you and me."

"That's really kind of you dad. Are you ready to do that?"

Nathan thought what a grown up question that was coming from his 13 year old daughter. "I'm still working on it but I'm getting closer every day. Pastor Joseph promises I'll feel better once I do and I'm ready to feel better and for us to move on with our lives.

"Dad, do you like Miss Crawford?" Allie knew the answer to the question but wanted to hear it from Nathan.

"Yes, Allie, I like her very much."

"Do you like-like her?" Nathan laughed at his precocious daughter who'd taken to using that phrase to distinguish between what was friendship and what was something more serious.

"Allie, we're just getting to know each other but I do enjoy being with her very much and she seems to like spending time with us too."

"Yeah, I think so too. I think she likes you too." Allie was never shy about sharing her opinion.

"What makes you think that?"

"Well, for one thing I see how she looks at you when you're around each other. I also saw how happy she was that day at the café when you wanted to talk to her on the phone. She had a big smile on her face when Uncle Bill said you had called." Allie continued to list things she'd noticed.

"Wow sweet girl, you are quite observant aren't you?" Nathan wasn't surprised that Allie was paying attention. She'd made no secret of the fact that she wanted him to find someone to spend his life with.

Nathan and Allie had caught more than enough fish for the two of them for dinner. They talked about what they could do with the extras. Allie suggested they invite Sarah for dinner. Nathan told her even with three of them they had more than they could eat. Allie suggested inviting the Coulters too.

Nathan was a bit taken aback at that suggestion. He liked Lee and Rosemary very much but they hadn't socialized a lot with each other. "What made you think of them?"

"Mrs. Coulter was really kind to me the night that you got shot and Mr. Coulter comes into the café every Saturday and he's always really friendly and he leaves me a big tip."

Nathan laughed. "Well that sounds like a good reason to invite someone to dinner. If we're going to do that we need get going." They packed up their fishing equipment and made their way back to Hope Valley. On the way back to their house they stopped at Dottie's. Allie ran inside leaving Nathan on the street holding a string of freshly caught fish. She returned within minutes. "Miss Crawford said she would very much like to come for dinner. I told her 6:30."

They headed to the Coulter's and again Nathan stood on the road with the fish while Allie knocked on their door. Rosemary answered and Allie explained that they'd caught too many fish and asked if she and Mr. Coulter would like to come for dinner. Nathan could see a bit of surprise on Rosemary's face but she accepted Allie's offer and said she'd bring dessert.

Allie was looking quite proud of herself for organizing the dinner party. Nathan thought it should be an interesting evening.