Chapter 51

Nathan and Steven spent Monday morning briefing each other on the previous week. Nathan told Steven what Jason had shared with him about Lucas. "I'm going to the Queen of Hearts this afternoon to see if he'll talk to me. He could very well shut me out given our history together."

"What's your history with Lucas?" Steven assumed there must be something between the two men. He sensed an underlying tension the first time he was in the same room with the two of them.

Secretly chastising himself Nathan realized he'd spoken without thinking which was unusual for him. Outside of Sarah, Allie and maybe Bill he spoke very little of his personal life. He didn't care to start with Steven so he gave him a vague explanation. "We just haven't always seen eye to eye on things concerning the town."

Steven knew Nathan was purposely avoiding answering the question so he let it drop. "Do you want me to go with you?"

"No, I think I have a better chance of getting him to talk if I'm alone." Nathan focused on some paperwork until lunch and made his way to the café for something to eat and hoping to find Bill. He found him back in the kitchen taking over for Minnie who was at the school. "Hey Bill, can I talk while you cook?" Bill nodded his agreement and Nathan gave him an update on his suspicions about Lucas. "It doesn't look like he's doing anything criminal but he definitely has legal issues. He's facing possible seizures of his properties and businesses if he doesn't get his tax bills paid."

Bill told Nathan it was too bad. "Lucas's problem is that he spent too much time trying to impress people and not enough time figuring out how to run his businesses. Everything always had to be over the top and that cost money and sounds like it was money he didn't have."

"I agree with you Bill, you know where I stand on the subject of Lucas Bouchard. I can't believe I actually encouraged Elizabeth to try and work things out with him. I'm glad she got out when she did. He probably would have tried to get at her family's money." Elizabeth had enough on her plate without having to deal with Lucas's financial issues.

Bill agreed with Nathan. He'd harbored ill feelings toward Lucas since he bought the saloon out from under him and Henry several years ago. Looking at the direction his life had gone, he realized owning the saloon probably wouldn't have been a good fit for him. Everything happens for a reason he told himself. Bill told Nathan to sit down in the kitchen and he served him up some beef stew and bread. Nathan told him he and Sarah had set a date for the wedding and that they were having it up at their new house. He asked Bill if he wanted to take a ride up and check out the progress with him. Bill said he would like that very much and they decided to head up in a couple of days. Nathan knew Archie had been supervising some work but wanted to see what progress had been made.

Minnie came in as Nathan was finishing his lunch. She greeted him warmly and told him Cooper had been practicing his Mountie salute ever since Nathan had helped him with it. "I'll have to stop by and see how he's doing. How are things at school? I keep hearing about the possibility of adding on to the building. Is that true?"

Minnie told Nathan that it was being discussed that two extra rooms would be added to the building so they could separate the students by ages. "It's being discussed that they'll build the additions during the summer and hopefully be ready by the first of next school year." Minnie went on to explain that it was planned that they would hire two more teachers including one credentialed to teach the blind.

"I thought Elizabeth was going to get credentialed. That will be quite a change to have two other teachers to work with. What does she have to say about it?" As a parent Nathan wondered what that would mean for Allie and the rest of the kids.

"I don't think Elizabeth is sure what it means for her. Mr. Landis tried to prepare her last fall for potential changes coming down the line but I don't think she accepted that it was really a possibility. I think the choice has been taken away from her." Minnie liked Elizabeth and knew she had the students' best interest at heart but she wasn't convinced she was prepared to deal with all the changes coming.

Nathan felt a little sorry for Elizabeth. He knew teaching was her passion and remembered when Allie first came to Hope Valley and how instrumental Elizabeth was in her acclimating to the new school and making friends. It was the first time that he'd realized how different she was from other teachers Allie had in other schools. As a parent he would support whatever he thought was best for his daughter. Allie was a very bright student and he wanted to make sure that she had every advantage in her education. It would be interesting to see what the next six months would hold for the Jack Thornton School.

Nathan spent more time at the café than he planned but realized he was procrastinating to avoid going to the Queen of Hearts to talk to Lucas. He couldn't put it off anymore. The saloon was empty when he arrived and he found Lucas in his office and asked if he could come in. Nathan looked around and couldn't help but compare Lucas's office to his own bare bones, Mountie grade office. Lucas's oversized mahogany desk was the focal point of the room. He had several bookcases along the wall but Nathan noticed he only saw a couple of books on them. The shelves were filled with trinkets and chotchkies that had likely been collected during Lucas's many travels. A very small settee sat in one corner of the room and looked like it would barely hold the weight of one person. A heavy rug covered the highly polished floor. Lucas sat behind his desk looking like a successful business man in his suit, vest and tie. His hair was perfectly in place and he was drinking a cup of tea." What can I help you with Nathan?" Nathan noticed Lucas didn't address him by his title which, Nathan thought, was an obvious way to discount his position. Nathan counteracted Lucas's dismissal of him by standing throughout their conversation. At over six feet tall and wearing the bright red uniform Nathan was a presence whether he was trying to be or not.

"Lucas, some information has come to my attention about the Queen of Hearts and Gowen Petroleum." Nathan kept his eyes on Lucas looking for any recognition of what he was talking about. He saw nothing. Either he had bad information or Lucas was smoother than he thought. "According to my sources you are behind on both property taxes as well as employment taxes. You're on the verge of having everything you own seized to pay off your debts. Is my information accurate?"

"How is any of this Mountie business?" Lucas's voice took on his usual condescending tone as though Nathan couldn't possibly understand anything about his situation.

"It's my business because when the orders come through to seize your property, my office will be responsible for nailing the notices on your front doors for the entire town to see. Listen, Lucas, as much as we have had our differences I would like to avoid having to carry out those orders if at all possible. Not for your sake, mind you, but for the people you employ and their families. Do they have any idea how bad things are?" Nathan could see Lucas slump just a bit in his chair as though the wind had been taken out of his sails.

In a whisper Nathan heard Lucas say "No one has any idea how bad it is." Nathan couldn't believe he heard Lucas admit his troubles.

Nathan asked Lucas how he'd gotten himself to this point. Lucas almost sounded relieved to finally have someone to talk to about his situation even if it was Nathan. He told him it all started when Henry turned over Gowen Petroleum to him to run. "I had no idea how to run an oil company, I still don't." Lucas told him they were in the red when he took over and never got out of it though he'd denied that to many including his employees. "I kept taking Queen of Hearts profits to keep the oil business afloat but it wasn't enough. I thought I could use the insurance money from the fire to bring all my debts current but that wasn't enough." He admitted that the only reason he stayed in the oil business was because Elizabeth had asked him to. "She has no idea what it takes to run a business but I wanted her to think I was the hero who was going to save it so I kept trying to make it successful. Then when she broke things off with me I lost interest in the business and quit trying. At least I kept paying everyone though I'm not sure I can do that much longer." It almost sounded to Nathan like Lucas was blaming Elizabeth for his troubles.

"So what is your plan now?" Nathan was curious to know how Lucas was going to resolve his situation.

Lucas went on to explain that one of the reasons he had been meeting with Tom Hastings was to discuss bankruptcy. "It's not his specialty but he has enough knowledge to advise me and he has other solicitors at his firm who can do the necessary filings. We're in the process now and hope to file early next week. That should give me time to try and resolve the tax issues."

"Why did you let things get so bad? Couldn't you have resolved this much earlier and avoided a lot of this mess?" Nathan asked.

Lucas didn't really feel like explaining himself to Nathan. "I'm not used to losing. I've always believed in shaping my own destiny and in the last few months my destiny has started crumbling around me. I guess I've run out of time."

By the end of their conversation Lucas looked like a shell of the man he was when Nathan walked into the office. "Nathan, if I could ask a favor?"

"What is it Lucas?" Nathan wasn't surprised he wanted a favor.

"If you hear that the seizure is imminent could you please give me notice? Also, I would appreciate it if we can keep this between the two of us." Lucas asked.

"I don't usually find out until I get the paperwork. Once it's received by our office we have no choice but to follow through with it. Sorry I can't help you with that but part of my job is to be discrete. I won't say anything to anyone outside of my office." Nathan left without another word.

Nathan returned to his office and gave Steven a run-down of his conversation with Lucas as well as a reminder to keep it quiet. The next few months were going to be rough for Lucas. He wondered if he would stay or run away which wouldn't surprise Nathan one bit.