ELIZABETH AND NATHAN: SHARED JOURNEY OF LOVE AND HEALING
CHAPTER 28 UNION CITY PART 3
"Beth, sweetheart, what do you want from us? I'm assuming that you want me to interfere. So, what is it you want me to do?"
"Honestly, Uncle Wynn, Henry, what can be done?"
"I think I need to look at the records of Jack and Nathan to see what is written in there. May I have your permission to do that? Since he is deceased, Jack's records are sealed and can only opened upon request of certain individuals. As Jack's widow, I can use your permission to access them. Nathan's, on the other hand, I can do because he is still active."
"Yes, Uncle Wynn, please do whatever you can."
"OK, sweetheart, I will. Can you stay the weekend?"
"Yes, I can because Rosemary and I have to go shopping tomorrow. The premise of our being here was a ladies weekend of shopping. If I don't come back with something, it will be suspicious. I know it will be a chore though," she sighed for effect before adding "and a great sacrifice, but if I have to…." She didn't finish her sentence because her uncle and cousin were starting to laugh, and she joined in.
"Well, I think your aunt and Amber would be more than happy to help. Henry and I will head into the office tomorrow after breakfast and get started. Elizabeth, once I start doing this, it could come to light that I am your uncle. You know that, right? I only say this because I know you have wanted to keep our connection a secret in the past. I understood those reasons because you didn't want Jack thinking he got a promotion because of me. You also didn't want others to think that as well. Does Judge Avery or Nathan know why you're here?"
"Yes, they know all about why I am here and who I'm asking for help. I think it's time we stop hiding anyway and I would love you someday to visit me in Hope Valley. I think you would love it and you'll adore my son."
"Well, you may get your wish because depending upon what I find I may be joining you for that Inquiry. I feel that we will find things on Hargraves that will result in his being arrested. It must be handled very delicately because I suspect we will find other Mounties are involved."
"Oh, Beth, you said you only recently got Jack's pension?" Her cousin asked.
"Yes, when Nathan arrived, he brought it with him. He had done some research and realized it still had not been paid out. So, he went to someone as he was requesting to be posted in Hope Valley to let them know. I don't know who it was, but maybe you can find out."
"Oh, there's a lot of things I'm going to investigate, have no fear, sweetheart. Now I think we had better join your Aunt Elizabeth and the other ladies because I'm sure it's almost dinnertime. You're Aunt Elizabeth will be eagerly awaiting to visit with you. I think she will barge in here if we keep her waiting much longer."
"Thank you, Uncle Wynn," she said, hugging him as they stood. Then she went over to her cousin Henry and repeated the hug. "I just love you both so much, and I'm so glad I have you." she added as she looked back at her uncle.
"Don't worry, sweetheart, and we all love you as well! I promise we will get to the bottom of it."
Quickly before Henry let her go, he said. "Beth? I'm wondering about your obvious dislike for Chief Superintendent Collins, or Collins as you call him."
"Oh, you picked up on that?"
"Well, it wasn't hard." He said chuckling. "I'm guessing it involves Jack, but also the Fort Clay situation?"
"Well, yes that's certainly a big part of it." Elizabeth answered but didn't explain further.
"Rest assured Beth we will look into all of it and figure everything out honey." her uncle reiterated hugging her before opening the door and walking out.
As they left the study, she was immediately embraced by her Aunt Elizabeth.
"I was about to storm in there if you would have taken much longer to come out. Especially with the laughing I heard coming from within as we came back down the stairs.
"Sorry, dear, but Beth had quite the story."
"Yes I know because her friend Rosemary filled us in on everything." She pulled back and looked at her niece in amusement.
Elizabeth looked over at Rosemary and said, "Uncle Wynn and Henry will look into everything at HQ, including Collins. Uncle Wynn, did I tell you Rosemary's father, was a Mountie."
"Oh really?" he asked amused by her stalling tactic. But he knew his wife wasn't going to let anything go without an explanation.
"Yes, his name was Alan Leveaux, Mr. Delaney!"
"Nope, None of that. Just call me Wynn or Uncle Wynn since Beth considers you a sister, Rosemary. So whichever way you choose will be fine but drop the mister."
Rosemary continued. "Thank you, Wynn, our fathers served together, so Jack and I were raised together as well." They saw Rosemary and Elizabeth exchange a look and grin. Her family knew there was more to the story about their relationship.
"Rosemary helped me learn how to shoot and has been my rock through everything." said Elizabeth putting her arm around her dear friend. "I'd be so lost without her."
"I'm glad you're so close Beth and hope you don't mind, but you'll have to share a room. Our other rooms are being renovated, and they are quite the mess right now." Amber said.
"No, that's fine." She said with a smile.
"Elizabeth Grace Thatcher Thornton don't think I don't know what you're trying to do. Because I won't just let the recent predicament you found yourself in go unnoticed and without an explanation. Arrested Beth? Really? I shudder to even think of what your father would say. I'm pretty sure your mother would have fainted dead away from the shock. I'm assuming he doesn't know anything about what's currently going on?"
"I know Aunt Elizabeth, and no, he doesn't know anything because it happened so fast. I haven't made up my mind yet whether I want to tell him or not. But you know Aunt Agatha would love every "delicious" moment, as she would say, and Julie too. I think Viola would be like mother and faint.
"Undoubtedly your right and Agatha would love it."
"Maybe I will wait until the next time I'm in Hamilton while we are at dinner." Elizabeth said with a laugh and her aunt told her that it would certainly make interesting dinner conversation as she laughed too.
Oh, Elizabeth," Rosemary said, "I've already explained the premise to your aunt and Amber. They are excited to go with us tomorrow and help collect evidence." She said, and all the women laughed while the men grimaced.
"Hopefully, we will have some news by the time you get back." Henry said. "Why don't you ladies go catch up, Mom, since Dad and I have had the chance to catch up with her already."
"Let's go help you get settled in your rooms before dinner. Dinner will be served soon, and I think your uncle and cousin have some discussions they need to have. Shall we? Besides, I want to hear about your handsome new Mountie Rosemary told us about." Her aunt led her away as she talked, not giving Elizabeth a chance to say anything.
The men watched the ladies walk away for a minute, and then Henry heard his father sigh and say, "Shall we, Henry?"
"I guess we should because it's a lot to unpack," Henry said as they turned and walked back into the study and shut the door once again. They sat down in the chairs before the fireplace.
"So, what do you think, Dad?"
"It's too early to say much, except there's something off in this situation. Neither of these men would have ever showboated, and Jack would never have put others at risk like he was accused of. Nor would he have wanted to get things over with to get back to his honeymoon or whatever nonsense that article said. They are or in Jack's case were two of the most honorable Mounties I've ever had the pleasure to come across. I've met them both though Jack didn't know who I was concerning Beth. When I met Grant, I didn't know that he would potentially be family to me."
"I'm curious to see what's in their records because I can't imagine they would either. I'm interested about Nathan's with Hargraves involved." Henry said.
"Yes, I am too, though I already know what's in them, at least up to Fort Clay for Jack and Nathan to his posting to Hope Valley. But it will be interesting to see if anything's changed since I last checked them."
His son looked over at him curiously. "Even if your Uncle William hadn't asked me, I would have looked into anyone being posted where Beth is. Jack Thornton and Nathan Grant were handpicked to be there, although as you heard, Nathan thinks he requested that posting but we approved him."
"We, Father?"
"Yes, we Henry. I'm talking about Sam Collins, Patrick O'Reilly, and myself but that doesn't leave this room."
"We all have kept an eye on Beth for a while along with Bill Avery. It was just me when she got to Coal Valley, then Patrick was there as well for a short time as Jack's replacement. You should ask your cousin after dinner about her early days. Now there's some funny stuff, especially since some of it involved your cousin Julie."
"Oh really? I think I will."
"Anyway, the three of us are the ones who approve anyone who gets that posting if Beth is there and young Jack, of course. We initially took a while to find a replacement to allow the town to heal before posting another Mountie in that office. With Bill Avery as the sheriff, we knew that Hope Valley would be safe. It was also a good thing because we had a few men who requested that post. But when we investigated their records and background, we weren't impressed. We even spoke to some of their superiors, and their motives became suspect. There was one candidate that Sam didn't even need to investigate because he knew that they had ulterior motives."
"Speaking of Chief Superintendent Collins, why didn't you tell Beth about his part in protecting her and why, if he approved Nathan, is he part of the Inquiry?"
"He made me promise not to mention what he has been doing to watch over her! I have to agree with Sam that she is bitter after hearing how she speaks his name. Apparently, Bill Avery wrote him that she felt that Sam was responsible for Jack going to the Northern Territories and Fort Clay. Then he never wrote personally to offer his condolences and didn't attend his funeral unlike what he did when someone close to Jack was killed. Ironically in a situation very much like Grant and Jack. It would appear Bill is right, and that's only been reinforced by what Hargraves said. But I also suspect that in some way he himself feels responsible so has stayed away out of consideration and not wanting to face her. But with this Inquiry Hargraves is forcing his hand on that."
"I have to agree with you, Dad, but what will you do?
"I'm not sure, but I think a visit to Sam Collins is in order after dinner. Sam had mentioned in passing that he had an Inquiry on Monday to attend. I didn't ask for details, and he didn't offer any. But now he has some explaining to do. However, I trust that he is not against Grant. As for your cousin right now, I think the focus needs to be on clearing Jack and Nathan's records and putting Hargraves behind bars. Then we will address the other issue because it's not good to hold onto all that bitterness."
"I don't think Sam would have anticipated that Hargraves would have personally approached Beth as he did. In my opinion, he needs to be made aware of how bold Andrew Hargraves has gotten. I think something has to be done about him especially given that it was at Jack's grave he told her everything and gave her that article. He was being deliberately cruel, and I have to say I don't like it all. It's why when Beth returns, we will be with her."
