At the café, Abigail and Julie looked at each other in silence for a moment. "Well, that was definitely an interesting turn of events," Julie commented slyly, her eyes full of mirth.

"It certainly was," Abigail replied with a chuckle. "And I think it definitely woke Elizabeth up, but I don't like that she was blindsided like that. I wasn't expecting Bethany to be here, and certainly never expected her to be so bold."

"Did you see the look in my sister's eyes when your niece spoke of the handsome Constable Grant?" Julie giggled. "That was jealousy if I ever saw it, and I thought she was going to stake her claim to him right then and there."

"I did. She had a similar look when she thought Rosemary and Faith were getting too close to Jack, though, in her defense, she did have some reason to be wary of Rosemary," Abigail recalled, laughing. Then she sobered. "I can foresee some problems arising, though."

"What kind of problems?" Tom asked as he and Bill came in the side door of the café, helping themselves to coffee before joining them at the table.

"Bethany was here, commenting about how our handsome Constable Grant is remarkably unattached. She made it known she intends to change that," Abigail explained.

"Are you worried about your niece possibly getting hurt?" Julie asked, her concern clear as she leaned into Tom's side.

"I am. We all know Nathan is still in love with Elizabeth. I'm not sure whether to say something or just wait to see if the issue resolves on its own," Abigail explained.

"I suggest waiting a day or two. No sense in making a big fuss over something that could potentially embarrass her. If you like, I could nonchalantly drop a few hints, just in conversation. We are of similar age, so it might be easier coming from me," Julie offered.

"Thank you," Abigail answered with a smile, "I appreciate that."

"Well, from what I've seen over the last few days and heard in the saloon, Bethany isn't the only one becoming more aware of Nathan," Tom interjected with a smirk.

"I've noticed a lot more foot traffic yesterday and today in front of the Mountie office, all of the female variety myself," Bill added. "The funny thing is, Nathan has no idea that he's captured their interest."

"Well, Elizabeth had a look in her eyes that clearly said "MINE!" when Bethany made her little announcement," Julie warned. "When she heard him give Bethany permission to use his name, she all but ran out of here consumed with jealousy."

"I'm not worried about either of them," Bill shrugged. "If you had seen his reaction when he met Elizabeth Thatcher earlier, you wouldn't be either. When she left my office, it was all he could do to carry on a sensible conversation he was so smitten!"

"It is nice to see our old Elizabeth back," Abigail said, her eyes welling up. "I was beginning to think she was gone for good."

Bill leaned over and gave her a comforting hug. "Me too, but she is definitely back, and I can't wait to see her take down of the Bouchards. I told Nathan that Helen has really stirred things up now. I would send her a 'thank you' gift if I didn't dislike her so much," Bill chuckled. "I think as far as Hope Valley's single ladies and Nathan, the issue will take care of itself. They will back off once they see how captivated he still is and that she is finally reciprocating those feelings."

"I agree with Bill," Tom chimed in. "The only reason they started noticing him was because Elizabeth was with Lucas. Now that that's not the case…"

"The thing I am worried about is whether he will ever trust her enough to open his heart and to give her another chance," Bill added, this time a bit sadly.

"Have they spoken about her keeping Lucas' threats a secret in order to protect him? To protect all of us?" Abigail asked.

"Not that I am aware of," Bill replied. "I don't think Elizabeth has had the opportunity."

"She's not going to approach Nathan about it," Julie pointed out, frustration evident. "She thinks that after all she's put him through, it should be up to him to decide when he is ready to have that conversation."

"I may need to mention that, or they might never get around to it," Bill muttered. "It is good to see she is finally considering his feelings."

"Perhaps we should take a more direct approach," Julie suggested, her face breaking out in a mischievous grin. "We would have to be subtle about it."

"Julie, subtlety has never been your strong suit," Tom teased. "She will see you coming a mile away."

Abigail picked up on Julie's idea, making a suggestion of her own. "Bill, I've been thinking. It has been far too long since we had a baseball game here in Hope Valley," she mused. "Do you remember how much fun we had when Jack and Elizabeth coached teams against each other?"

Bill caught on right away, nodding slyly. "You know, Abigail, I think you're right, and this town could use some levity." He turned to face Tom. "I need you to challenge Elizabeth to a game."

"What will that do?" Tom asked, thoroughly confused. He remembered his brother mentioning something about preparing for a baseball game, but he had forgotten about Elizabeth being the opposing coach.

"If we have a game, we need an umpire. Elizabeth was, shall we say, less than thrilled about Jack appointing me to the position. Nathan is a huge baseball fan, so I can rope him into helping for this game. The more time he spends with the improved Elizabeth, the better he will get to know her. Hopefully, it will help him see past her recent misdeeds and want to fix things between them."

"I think I like this plan," Tom beamed. "Julie, why don't you and I head to Elizabeth's; I have a challenge to issue."

Colleen smiled as she listened to their plan, in full agreement that it would have a huge impact on her brother.

MEANWHILE, IN THE SALOON

Leaving the café behind, Colleen joined Jack in watching Helen Bouchard stomp around her room, satisfied smiles on their faces. "She looks like she wants to throttle someone right now," he said dryly.

"She certainly does, and I'm sure she is picturing our lovely Elizabeth," Colleen retorted, chuckling. "You stay here and keep an eye on things. I'll go see how Elizabeth is doing."

Helen was the angriest she had ever been. How dare that girl speak to me that way, as if she is better than a Bouchard she silently fumed.

She found Lucas in his office and her irritation turned to her son. His jacket was off, tie askew, feet up on his desk, and holding another one of those silly teacups.

Jack followed her in and looked at the other man in disgust. He could plainly see Helen's disdain for her son's sloppy appearance.

"How did the meeting go, Mother?" Lucas said, not bothering to move from his current position.

Walking over, she shoved his feet off the desk before answering. "We'll discuss that in a minute. Right now," Helen huffed, picking up his discarded jacket and throwing it at him before continuing. "I want to know why you sit here in your place of business, where anyone can come in, looking so slovenly. And for heaven's sake, what is your obsession with drinking tea all the time?"

Jack snickered. "Finally, someone asks the question we all want to know!"

"It tastes better than coffee, doesn't give my breath a foul odor, and it looks charming to drink out of a teacup," Lucas retorted matter-of-factly.

Helen just rolled her eyes. "Well, as you apparently can't manage to charm Elizabeth Thornton, I really don't think it matters what you drink."

"Mother!" Lucas protested as his voice took on a whiny tone. "It's not my fault she's obsessed with Mounties."

"It's never your fault about anything, Lucas," she scowled. "It doesn't matter anyway because the plan has changed."

"What do you mean?" Lucas asked curiously.

Jack perked up, listening intently.

"Precisely what I said. The… plan… has… changed," Helen replied, each word annunciated and colder than the last. "That little mouse thinks she can best me. She actually believes that she has more influential people than we do."

"We could make it work, Mother," Lucas tried to soothe her. "We still have the book deal to hold over her head."

"Apparently not," Helen retorted. "She doesn't care about it. In fact, she said she would rather it go unpublished than have me be a part of the process. She even went so far as to say that any company that would work with me was not one she wishes to do business with."

"But Mother, she is supposed to be our way into Hamilton Society!" Lucas whined.

"Not anymore," his mother hissed. "At this point, all I want to do is to take away everything that matters to her, starting with her professional credentials. By the time I'm finished, she won't be able to teach anywhere, and that Mountie she is so obsessed with won't want anything to do with her."

"There is an attractive young woman already catching his eye," Lucas pointed out with a smirk. "She is rather beautiful. She is Abigail Stanton's niece and the town's new nurse. From what Gustav said, she seems to be very interested in our Constable Grant."

"Contact Landis and tell him we need to move forward with Plan B," Helen instructed. "I'm going to deal with the publisher problem before she actually decides to call them herself."

Landis Jack seethed to himself. He remembered all too well how much trouble the man had caused for Elizabeth a few years ago with those trumped-up charges of misconduct, and again with Angela Canfield. He knew Elizabeth's friend had offered the support to get the accusations of misconduct thrown away, and Landis himself had come to observe Elizabeth and her students in the classroom to ensure that Angela's handicap didn't interfere with their education. He seemed to be a decent man, if a little to rigid in his sense of rules. He could only hope that sense of decency prevailed in the face of the Bouchard's money and influence.

Nathan went over everything that had happened between him and Elizabeth in the past few weeks. Then he recalled how she looked today when she came to Bill's office. She was a completely different woman. The Elizabeth he saw this afternoon was a spitfire, but still had the same traits as the Lizbeth he knew before the prisoner transport fiasco. He thought he'd been in love before, but this new Elizabeth was something else entirely. Even now, he couldn't stop thinking about her and the way her eyes glowed. He knew there were things they needed to discuss, but he wasn't ready to open those wounds again yet. The apprehension in his heart still held him back.

On top of his confused feelings for Elizabeth, there was the matter of the new nurse, Abigail's niece, Bethany. The young woman had ambushed him outside the café this afternoon, all but jumping out the side door as though she had been waiting to pounce on him. In his distraction over Elizabeth, he hadn't been prepared, and stumbled through a polite greeting. When Beth asked if she could use his name instead of "Constable", he couldn't think of a reason to refuse. She seemed like a very nice young woman, but he sensed there was more to her interest than just friendship, and he was in no position to offer any woman his heart right now.