Arranging with Maggie to make sure Billy got lunch, Gabriel headed out right after breakfast the next morning. Wires from nearby towns indicated another snowstorm heading their way. The reports indicated that it shouldn't be too bad, and should be gone by the time Saturday dawned, but Gabriel still wanted to alert the ranches, and farms surrounding Brookfield of it. Having several scheduled vet calls to make, Chuck had offered to relay the message to the places in the area of those calls. Gabriel had also asked the school teacher to dismiss the children at lunch time, to make sure all of them were able to get home before the snowflakes started falling.

Riding back to Brookfield that afternoon, Gabriel made sure his route took him past the orphanage. As he approached from the kitchen side of the house, Gabriel spotted Lillian outside by the woodpile. Hearing the approaching hoof beats, Lillian looked up. Spotting him she placed the two pieces of wood she had picked up back on the pile as she turned to greet him.

"When I was a boy, getting the wood from the woodpile was always my job," Gabriel commented as he brought Apollo to a stop near Lillian.

Lillian smiled. "Tess sent one of the ranch hands over this afternoon to split some wood for us to make sure we had enough with the expected storm," she explained. "Christian and Vincent were out here helping him, so I figured I'd get my own wood this time."

"You are all set for the night then?" Gabriel asked.

"We will be fine. The plan is for all of us to spend the evening by the fire reading stories. Vincent and Christian wanted ghost stories but I convinced them that it wasn't a good choice with Ellie with us."

"Probably not," Gabriel agreed.

"I might read them a tame ghost story at bedtime," Lillian said.

"Hope that doesn't lead to a sleepless night for you."

"I know."

"How is Ellie doing?"

"Still very timid and withdrawn, but she is getting better. She's been asking me to sit with her until she falls asleep at night since your last visit."

"I am glad to hear it."

"Any word on family for her?"

Gabriel shook his head. "Not yet."

"We may have a placement for Sophia," Lillian said, a huge smile breaking out as she said the words. "We got a letter from Helen's grandfather. Apparently Helen has talked about Sophia so much that the gentleman is interested in adopting Sophia as well if she's willing. He hasn't said anything about it to Helen yet in case Sophia doesn't want to go."

"That's wonderful," Gabriel told her, genuinely happy for the girl. "When are you going to broach the subject with Sophia?"

"I want to wait until I can speak to her without the other children around. I just need to figure out how to orchestrate that."

"Good luck," Gabriel told her.

"Thank-you," Lillian said with a hint of amusement. "Can you stay for dinner?" Lillian asked.

"Not tonight," Gabriel told her. "Other than what time Maggie has been able to spend with him, Billy's been on his own today. I also only asked Maggie to get his lunch for him as I wanted her to head to her house before the snow came."

"What about coming in for a cup of coffee? I'm sure you're cold and Apollo probably wouldn't mind the shelter of the barn for a bit either."

Gabriel rubbed the black's neck as he asked, "what about it, Apollo? You want to warm up in the barn a bit before heading into town."

The horse tossed its head and gave a quick whinny.

"I'll take that as a yes," Gabriel said. He looked back down at Lillian. "I'll just get him settled in the barn and meet you inside."

"Good," Lillian said. "I'll have a cup of coffee waiting for you."

Turning Apollo toward the barn, Gabriel got the horse settled in a stall. He gave the horse a bit of feed to munch on while he was gone and then headed for the house. Passing by the woodpile, Gabriel picked up a few extra logs.

Stepping into the kitchen, Gabriel found Lillian and Eleanor working on dinner.

"Good afternoon, Gabriel," Eleanor said, glancing in his direction briefly.

"Good afternoon, Eleanor," Gabriel replied, as he placed the logs he had brought in on top of the others already in the wood box. With his hands free, Gabriel removed his heavy dark jacket, gloves, and hat.

"Let me take those for you," Lillian said, appearing at his side.

"Thank-you," Gabriel told her, surrendering his things to her.

"Have a seat at the island," Lillian told him as she made her way over to the desk in front of the window. She placed the items on top of the desk in a neat pile. "I have a mug of coffee there for you with just a tad of milk like you like it."

"Thank-you," Gabriel told her. He sat down on the stool as Lillian came over and went back to mixing the dough for the biscuits for dinner.

"How is your hand doing?" Eleanor asked from her spot at the stove.

"Maggie says it is healing well. As she's the expert, I'll take her word for it," Gabriel replied, lifting the coffee mug to his lips and taking a sip.

"Glad to hear it," Eleanor replied.

"Is this storm going to affect our plans with Maggie and Joe tomorrow evening?" Lillian asked as she worked, glancing over at Gabriel occasionally.

"It shouldn't," Gabriel told her. "By the morning the storm should have passed."

"Good. The kids plan on trying to make an even bigger snowman than the one out there already," Lillian said. "Which is the only reason Grace managed to coral them into working on their homework before dinner today."

"I thought it seemed kind of quiet," Gabriel commented.

Gabriel continued to chat with Lillian and Eleanor as he sipped his coffee. The warm liquid felt good after being out in the cold, just like it had at the other places he had accepted a cup throughout the day. However, there was something even more warming about being here at the orphanage than just the coffee. Part of him wished he could linger longer, but he knew it would be best to get back to the jail and the shelter it offered before the storm hit the town. With any luck he wouldn't be called to go out during it.

"Would you mind if I go say hello to the children before I leave?" Gabriel asked. Lillian was now placing the unbaked biscuits she was cutting from the dough onto baking sheets.

"They wouldn't forgive me if I told you no," Lillian replied. "I'm actually surprised they haven't found their way in here yet."

"Miss Grace wouldn't let us," Vincent called out from the next room, causing Gabriel, Lillian and Eleanor to laugh.

Getting to his feet, Gabriel made his way to the dining room. Grace was sitting in a chair by the steps, keeping an eye on both the kids at the table and little Ellie who was sitting at the window once again. Gabriel started to make his way around the table to give each child a little time. He was speaking with Vincent who was the closest when Ellie ran into the room having heard Gabriel's voice. The little girl made her way over to Gabriel and held her hands up to him. Gabriel didn't hesitate to pick the little girl up.

"How is Miss Ellie doing today?" Gabriel asked her.

"I miss my parents," Ellie answered.

"I know you do, sweetheart," Gabriel replied, smoothing her hair with one hand.

"Miss Lillian sits with me at night until I fall asleep. My mom always did that. It is easier to fall asleep now."

Gabriel glanced at Lillian who was standing in the doorway between the kitchen and the dinning room. He had heard a little gasp from Lillian at Ellie's statement, and Lillian now had one hand over her heart. Gabriel had a feeling Ellie hadn't shared the significance of the ritual before this.

"That is nice. I'm glad you are starting to feel comfortable here."

"Will I stay here?"

"I have people looking for other members of your family," Gabriel told her. "Do you remember names of any other family?" Gabriel asked. He had tried asking Ellie questions about family before but the little girl had not been ready to answer them then.

"There was an Aunt Veronica and Uncle Bill. We spent holidays with them before moving west," Ellie replied.

"Do you remember where they live?"

"It was a big place," the little girl supplied. "Lots of people and buildings."

Gabriel smiled. "Thank-you," he told her.

Ellie smiled and leaned her head against his shoulder.

With Ellie in his arm, Gabriel continued greeting the other children, finding out a little bit about what they were working on or about something that had happened at school. When he was done, he told Lillian that he needed to get going.

"I'll miss you," Ellie told him.

"That makes two of us," Lillian told her.

"Tell you what, Ellie," Gabriel said. "If you go back to that front window, I will wave to you as I ride past, okay."

Ellie nodded and Gabriel put her down on the ground. Ellie rushed toward the sitting room as four other pairs of eyes looked at Grace.

"Go ahead and join her," Grace relented, knowing the other children wanted to be involved. "But then you need to come back to your schoolwork."

"Yes, Miss Grace," came a chorus from the children as they got to their feet.

Gabriel headed into the kitchen to collect his things.

"Is what Ellie told you going to help at all?" Lillian asked as Gabriel put on his coat, and gloves.

"Maybe," Gabriel said. "I'll send the information to headquarters. We already knew her family had been living in Calgary for the last six months. They were renting a room there. The lady running the boarding house said Ellie's parents were looking for a permanent place to call home and had been making trips to check out places. That's why they were on that stage. She didn't know where they had lived before coming to Calgary though. Now, I think we need to send some inquiries to the cities out east. The first names will help narrow the search down some."

"It would be nice to reunite her with family," Lillian commented as she and Gabriel walked toward the side door. "Oh, and Grace told me you are going to walk her down the aisle at her wedding. Thank-you for that," Lillian told him.

"It's my pleasure," Gabriel replied. "To be honest, part of me always wondered if Grace liked me or not. She's always been polite to me, but also a little distant."

"Grace never had a positive male role model in her life," Lillian admitted. "I think that and your job may have made her nervous. Hopefully, that will change with time."

"I hope so too," Gabriel admitted.

"So the children get a wave from you," Lillian ventured. "What do I get?"

Gabriel didn't reply in words. Instead, with his hat in his left hand, Gabriel placed his right hand gently on the back of Lillian's head as he leaned toward her. Pressing his lips against hers, Gabriel let all his other cares drift away momentarily as he savored the feel of her lips against his. Lillian returned the kiss hungrily, as she linked her hands behind Gabriel's neck.

Finally pulling back, Gabriel looked into Lillian's eyes. "I'll see you tomorrow night," he told her quietly as he let his hand slide down to her back.

"I'm looking forward to it," Lillian told him, her arms still around Gabriel's neck.

"With the passion between you two we don't need the fire to keep it warm in here," Eleanor said, glancing over at the couple from her place at the stove.

Lillian's face turned red even as she ducked her head, her forehead resting on Gabriel's chest.

"That is one thing, I will not ever apologize for," Gabriel replied.

Placing a kiss on the top of Lillian's head, he gently moved her hands from around his neck. Holding her hands in one of his, he told her, "goodnight, Lillian."

"Goodnight, Gabriel," Lillian replied, meeting his gaze.

Gabriel gave Lillian's hands a gentle squeeze, before letting goes. "Good evening, Eleanor," he said, putting his hat on as he reached for the doorknob.

"Good evening, Gabriel," Eleanor replied, as the Mountie stepped through the door and back into the winter cold.