A/N I really had a lot of fun with the next three chapters!
After the treatment he had been receiving from the other women he began to realize he was missing something important. Somehow, he had really offended the women and he couldn't figure out what he may have done. The only one he knew he had words with was Elizabeth. A few days later it was Allie who finally informed Nathan was wrong.
They had just finished dinner and were beginning the cleanup when Allie turned and looked at him for a moment. He just looked back at her with a brow raised in question.
"Uncle Nathan?"
"Yes Sweetheart?"
"Are you mad at Mrs. Thornton?"
"Why do you say that?" It was the last thing that he expected her to ask. This made him a little bothered that things weren't being handled on the professional level and he became suspicious.
"Well, she looks sad, and I noticed you don't say hi to her and she just goes into the school when you come. I never see you walk with her either when we are coming from church or when we head into town, and she is going the same direction as we used to. In fact, you don't look very happy either and I haven't seen you smile where it reflects in your eyes, and you haven't even told any of those horrible Dad jokes." She said with a laugh. "I can't believe I actually miss those, but I do because they tell me your happy."
"When I asked her what was wrong, she just said it was complicated and that I needed to talk with you that as my teacher it wouldn't be professional."
"Does she talk to you often that you went to her? Is this the first time or has it happened before?"
"I like talking to her. Sometimes we work on some difficult math problems. Did you know she loves Math just as much as I do? She's really good at playing chess too. I bet she could beat you Uncle Nathan. I had told her about what had happened at Fort Simpson with my other teacher, and I thought she was going to cry. She just hugged me, and she really gives nice hugs, and then Allie proceeded to tell him.
"Oh, Allie how awful that must have been for you and your uncle to have to deal with and go through. Plus, this wasn't the first time for you? That should never have happened, and I think your uncle showed great restraint because I'm not sure I could have. It explains a lot to me about your school records." 'It also means that II owe an apology to Nathan and I feel so bad for the things I said. But then he also said some pretty rude things.
"Then she told me that I shouldn't worry. That as grownup you need to fix things between yourselves and that both of you want to do what's best for me to get the best possible education. So, when are you going to fix this situation between you and Mrs. Thornton Uncle Nathan?"
"Allie, Mrs. Thornton is right and it's our situation to work on in our own time. Do you remember last week when you had that fight with Robert and Anna?"
"Yes." She answered a little hesitantly knowing where he was going with the conversation.
"Do you also remember I wanted to talk to the parents and Mrs. Thornton about that misunderstanding between the three of you?"
"Yes, I do Uncle Nathan." Suddenly realizing he wasn't going to discuss whatever was happening with him and her teacher.
"I told you I didn't want you to do anything, and I wanted to handle it all by myself."
"Exactly! Well, I want to do the same courtesy. So will you stop worrying and let me handle whatever is going on between Mrs. Thornton and I and focus on studying. Do you understand what I'm saying Allie?"
"Yes Sir."
He noticed that she looked like she wanted to say more but was unsure if she should. Finally, he could see in her eyes when she decided to say what was on her mind.
"Uncle Nathan I do understand what you're telling me, but I think there is something you should know."
"Oh, what would that be?"
"Well Cody, Emily and a few others said their moms are mad at something you said to Mrs., Thornton."
"Really? Did they say why the other mothers were mad?"
"No sir but something I noticed is the ones who are seem to be the ones who don't have fathers."
"Oh no! he said beginning to understand that he had indeed really messed things up. He could just imagine what they thought of him now and as he looked back at the last few weeks, he began to see that it was the widows that were upset. Finally, he understood what Bill's warning was all about. He thought back to the evening when Carson, Lee and Bill were standing on the boardwalk laughing as they looked in his direction.
They were discussing stubborn women, and the difference between single and married men. Well, he certainly wasn't a genius when it came to understanding women, but he knew the remarks that he made and accusations that she was trying to catch a man were downright stupid. Bill even tried to warn him and fix the problem before it got out of hand, but he told him essentially mind his own business.
"How am I supposed to fix this now?" he said out loud to himself. Then he knew he had to go see Abigail and Bill. They were the only ones that could help him fix the mess he made. He would worry about the situation with Elizabeth later.
The next morning after he dropped Allie off at school he immediately went to the mayor's office. Thankfully not only was Abigail there but she was alone so they could have an uninterrupted conversation.
"Good morning, Constable. What can I do for you?" she asked. He looked at her and if he didn't know better, he would swear she had a twinkle in her eye as if she was amused by everything that had been happening.
"Mayor Stanton can I please talk to you about a grave error I made that apparently offended a lot of important women in town?"
"Sure, why don't we sit down and discuss exactly what you did to offend the widows. Though to be honest I didn't think it would take this long before you came to me."
"Well, it took my niece to get me to realize what had happened and that was last night. I'm sorry but when it comes to ladies, I'm clueless, I guess. Mayor Stanton, I promise you I didn't mean that all women who were widows were desperate to find a man or resorted to trapping one. That was what I had said to Mrs. Thornton."
"So, you think Mrs. Thornton is out to trap you into marriage since she is a widow?"
"Yes, I mean wait I mean no. I hate that I get so tongue tied especially around Elizabeth Thornton. I've never had an issue before but when I talk about her, I just get so mad. I don't know whether to kiss her or…." He let the last part of the sentence unspoken as he looked in horror at the woman in front of him. He couldn't believe he had just told Abigail how he felt about Elizabeth.
"Mrs. Stanton, can I ask you to just forget the last part of the sentence?"
"Hmmm, Nathan I don't know because I don't like keeping secrets and personally the town would love to see the two of you together but let's just say I will try. But just so you know Nathan I think Mrs. Thornton is fighting that same battle you are. Also, Nathan please call me Abigail. I will handle things with the widows so don't worry. In fact, you may have just formed an alliance with them which let me say is a handy tool for matchmaking." She said with a laugh.
Nathan, I know what you have dealt with in the past and the situation with Hargraves isn't a picnic either, but Elizabeth will always go above and beyond for all her students. I haven't seen her so happy the smile reaches her eyes since Jack died, In fact we all despaired of her making it back from that deep despair. But I've seen how the four of you interact with each other and how happy you are. I don't know what is stopping you from pursuing those feelings it's obvious you have but she's worth it.
"Why didn't you confide in her about what Allie had been through with the other teachers in the past? Elizabeth would have certainly understood. Just to ease your mind also Elizabeth fretted about having you over for dinner when Allie wasn't going to be there. But we all told her you wouldn't misread it but be grateful that she went so far to learn about Allie. So she didn't have any kind of romantic intentions to trap you into marriage."
"I realize that now Abigail and I am stupid. How can I fix things with her because I don't want to live like this and have all the women mad at me?"
"I'm sorry is always a good place to start." She said before adding "Oh and for future issues? Wildflowers are her very favorite flowers." Abigail said with a smile and a wink.
"Thank you Abigail I really appreciate your advice and help in this." He said with a smile before leaving.
He went and ordered flowers for all the widows and one by one he visited them and personally said he was sorry and meant no offense. Finally, he was down to the very last widow, and he found a field of wildflowers to pick a bouquet for Elizabeth. He wasn't sure what he would say but he would start with I am sorry and see where that led to.
In the meantime, when he was coming up with a plan all the widows got together and admired each other's flowers and couldn't believe how sweet and romantic the constable was. They had totally forgiven him for what he said and even began making excuses for overreacting to what the poor constable didn't know. They began to make plans on how to help Constable Grant get Elizabeth to agree to a courtship. It didn't matter that he hadn't even spoken about it to them.
Nathan decided to approach her after school since Allie was going home with Opal and no one else would be around. It was Friday so she would have to help prepare the classroom for church services on Sunday. He walked up the stair and called out to so as not to startle her.
"Elizabeth?"
"Nathan. What a surprise. I wasn't expecting you. Did we have a conference I forgot about?"
"No, we didn't Elizabeth, but may I talk to you? I promise it won't take long and I don't want to let things go on another day."
"Sure, Nathan she said her eyes softening. I have to say I'm ready to put things right myself."
"They sat down in the front pew, and he suddenly realized he was holding flowers for her. "Here these are for you."
"Oh, Nathan how did you know I liked Wildflowers?"
"Well," he said a bit sheepishly, "Abigail told me they were your favorite."
"She smiled and placed a hand over his and said, "That's okay Nathan they still mean a lot."
"Nathan I also want to apologize for what happened at that conference and for the nasty and rude things I said and the accusations I made. Allie told me what happened at Fort Simpson. No wonder you thought of me the way you did."
"Yes, Allie told me she told you about it and I'm glad. I'll forgive you Elizabeth if you will forgive me for the rude and horrible assumptions that I made about you as a teacher."
"Yes, I will" they both said simultaneously with a grin.
"So, are you almost done Elizabeth because I would be happy to walk home with you.?"
"I would like that and yes, I am finished. Just let me get my things and we can go."
With things set right between the two, -peace reigned in the Valley at least for the time being.
