Hope for Tomorrow
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When Fiona was returning to Nichols and Dimes after the ladies finished meeting, she saw James Scholl in the window of the dentist office and waved. As soon as he noticed her, he ran out to catch her.
"Fiona, hello!" he called.
Fiona stopped on the boardwalk and turned around smiling, "Hello there James! It's good to see you." She was a bit surprised that he would come outside to see her and wondered what he wanted.
"Fiona, you look very nice!" he blurted out, and then looked around as if he should go back inside.
"Why thank you James. Do you like my new hairdo?" she asked.
"Oh," James wasn't really looking at her hairstyle, "yes, it's nice. Different, but nice. Everything you do with your hair is nice." By now James was embarrassed, as he usually was quite the gentleman, but for some reason Fiona caused him to be tongue-tied.
"Thank you, I'm glad you think it's nice," she answered good-naturedly.
"Anyways, I was wondering what you are doing Saturday?" he asked anxiously.
"This Saturday? Nothing in particular. Word about town has it that the Hopefuls are showing another moving picture so maybe I'll go to that. Why?" she smiled widely.
"Oh, well, I was thinking you might want to come with me when I sing Saturday night in Benson Hills. It's nice to have someone to be with when I'm off stage," James shrugged.
Fiona liked that idea, "It sounds fun. I would like that James!"
"You would? All right then, I'll pick you up about 5:00, so we can dine before I have to sing. Would that be all right with you?" James asked.
"It sounds lovely." Fiona's eyes twinkled as she smiled a slow deliberate smile.
When she walked inside Nichols and Dimes, she leaned against the door and let out a 'Whoop! I have a date with Dr. McDreamy!" she declared enthusiastically to Christy as she giggled.
"Fiona, lucky you! Where are you going?" Christy inquired.
"Does it matter? I've had my eye on him for a long time and now we're going on our second outing!" Fiona grabbed Christy and danced around the chair. Both of them were laughing heartily when Mike Hickam came in.
"Look at you two. What's got you both so excited?" Mike asked.
Fiona gave Christy a look to be quiet, so she was, then Fiona asked, "Just a good day, Mike, how can I help you?"
"I need a haircut. Do you have time for me?" Mike asked.
Fiona looked at Christy, "Can you take care of Mike, Christy, I have to run an errand."
At first Christy looked puzzled, but then quickly nodded, "Of course. Mike, please have a seat."
"Great, I'll be right back," Fiona waved as she walked out the door. With a big smile Fiona sprinted over to Dolly's Apparel.
"Hello dear!" Dollie was surprised. "I thought you were going to your shop when we left Minnie's."
"Yes, but I want to make sure you have something nice and new for me to wear to go out to Benson Hills for dinner!" Fiona was giddy.
Dottie watched Fiona for a minute and surmised that she was going on a date with Dr. Scholl that had her on cloud nine. "Hmm, is it who I think it is?"
"Yes! And I need a pretty dress or skirt and blouse, so what do you suggest?" Fiona asked hurriedly.
Over at the Hope Valley train station, Nathan was ready to pick up his new recruit, Andy Roberts. Watching who was boarding and who was exiting, he spotted a well-groomed young man. He seemed somewhat anxious as expected, so Nathan waved him over. Andy dropped his bag and saluted Nathan as soon as he saw him.
Nathan chuckled and saluted him in return then held his hand out for a handshake. "Andy Roberts I presume?"
"Sir, yes sir," Andy said eager to please.
"Welcome to Hope Valley! Looks like you've come at a good time, Andy," he said, "follow me."
When Nathan motioned for Andy to put his bag in the back of his automobile, Andy was very energetic as he hopped inside. As they drove to town, Nathan explained to Andy about Gunther's situation and that once he got Andy settled in the row house, he'd be picking up Gunther to join him.
"If you don't mind sir, I'd like to go with you when you go to the infirmary to get Gunther. He was an upperclassman when I first joined and I admire him," Andy explained.
"Sure, that's fine. Let's take you to the row house first and then we'll head over." Nathan confirmed.
Nathan showed Andy around and told him that he himself used to live there with his family until they moved into the new home they just built. "It's still ours, so I expect you both to respect this place and treat it well. I hope you feel welcome here."
Nathan and Andy drove back to town and Nathan quickly showed him where the NWMP office was. Then they went over to the infirmary. Nathan greeted Carson, "Good day Carson, how's Gunther doing?"
Carson smiled his greeting and told Nathan and Andy to come in. After quick introductions, Carson said, "Nice to meet you Andy! Gunther is ready to get out of here. He should be just fine now and he's chomping at the bit!"
As Nathan and Andy went around the corner where Gunther was waiting, tying his shoe, he looked up and saw Andy. Startled, he exclaimed, "YOU are Andy Roberts?"
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"Hello there Gunther!" Andy smiled.
Gunther was not shocked, just surprised, "I guess when I was told Andy Roberts was coming, I never thought it would be you. You go by two names?"
Andy laughed and Nathan stared at both of them trying to make sense out of the conversation. "Fill me in please," Nathan directed.
Gunther felt it was funny that he knew something Nathan didn't, for a change. "You see, Andy Roberts was known as Drew in training. I never heard him being referred to as Andy!"
Andy continued, "Yes, Drew is short for Andrew. My parents nicknamed me Drew so when I enlisted, I said my name was Drew. Now, I have to go by my real name, Andrew, but they wrote me down as Andy as we already had an Andrew in our class."
"So, now I have to call you Andy instead of Drew?" Gunther asked.
"Whatever they list you as, is what you will be known as, Andy," Nathan confirmed. "Let's go to the house and get you two settled in."
Dr. Carson, shook Gunther's hand and told him he was a good patient and he was glad he didn't suffer any consequences from being knocked out and roughed up.
"Nathan's right, you've got a hard head!" With that all three of them laughed.
"Thank you, Dr. Carson, and please tell Dr. Faith thank you again. I appreciate your care. It was more than I expected, that's for sure."
As the two got into Nathan's automobile, they started talking non-stop as if they hadn't seen each other in years instead of just a few months.
"You're in for a treat when you get to have some of Mrs. Grant's cooking. She's the best in town. At least for me she is," Gunther hooted.
Smiling to himself, he thought these two are going to have a great time together. As they walked into the row house, Gunther smiled, saying, "There's no place like home."
"And a mighty big welcome to ya!" Emily greeted them.
"Mrs. Grant, what are you doing here?" Gunther asked happily even though he suspected she'd be waiting.
"Are you disappointed?" she teased.
"Never! I smell some of your delicious cooking from the stove. Am I right?"
"Ya, ach du lieber, what else?" she joshed.
Archie was there too and asked, "Who is this young fellow?"
Gunther introduced Andy to both Emily and Archie. It was heartwarming for Andy to feel so welcome and meet Sargent Grant's parents and he felt relaxed.
"You two get yourselves cleaned up and sit down for a spell and eat. You must be starving Andy!" Emily grinned. "You too Gunther!"
The two young men were chatting away as Gunther was explaining to Andy about the Grant family. Nathan walked over and kissed his Ma on her forehead.
"How did I know you'd be here cooking? Thank you, Ma."
"Aw, it's nothing, you know I miss cooking and serving for Minnie at the Cafe, so this is my pleasure," she winked. "I think I will spoil these two with some homemade meals and desserts."
"Hey, Ma, don't spoil them too much, I've got to toughen them up," Nathan countered.
"Ya, ya! You can thank your sweetheart, Dee, for dropping us off this morning."
"I'm surprised she's still teaching, her back has been hurting and her ankles swelling quite a bit lately. I think I'll stop by school today and speak to Elizabeth about Mrs. Moretti filling in for Dee at school." Nathan was concerned though that Superintendent Malone might not approve. Hopefully, since he seemed keen on Elizabeth, she'd talk him into it, being only temporary.
When Andy and Gunther came back to the dining room the young men ate like they had bottomless stomachs. They shoveled the homemade bean soup in their mouths as slowly as they could stand it in order not to look rude, then grabbed the ham on rye sandwiches to gobble, again trying hard to restrain themselves. But, when the oatmeal raisin cookies were passed around, there was no holding back and in a few minutes the plate of cookies was empty! It pleased Emily to see them all eat so heartily. Even Archie finished and asked for seconds.
Nathan told his dad, "We're going to Clearwater for your follow up appointment with Dr. Fisher tomorrow. Hopefully, if you're healing well, you won't have to go back for awhile."
"Dr. Fisher?" Archie looked confused.
"Better tell him tomorrow, he won't remember anyways," Emily whispered to Nathan as she got up from the table.
"We'll clean up Mrs. Grant, don't you worry," Andy offered with Gunther helping.
"Thank you both! Now, when you get done today, make sure you join us for dinner out at our new home tonight, ya? In the meantime, you will find some homemade food in the cupboards and ice box."
"Thanks a lot Mrs. Grant," they grinned knowing they hit the jackpot.
"However," Emily cleared her throat, "if I find this place with anything out of order or dirt on the floor, or a mess of clothes anywhere besides your bedroom dressers, the food will dry up, ya?"
"Ya," the two nodded.
"All right men, let's get a move on," Nathan directed, "Back to the NWMP office." He looked at his Ma, "do you two want a ride home?"
"No, son, your precious Dee will be picking us up after school, that'll give me more time to cook," she winked.
"That reminds me. We're going to stop at the school first men, I have to check with Mrs. Thornton. Ready?"
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Dee was teaching and smiled warmly when she saw Nathan. He returned the smile and blew her a kiss. He walked past the children who were gathered around Dee listening intently making faces with their mouths trying to mimic Dee as she explained different sounds. They looked up at their Mountie and waved, but not wanting to distract them he just smiled and walked straight to Elizabeth sitting at the desk in the back office.
Elizabeth was surprised to see Nathan at the school. Startled, she squeaked, "Oh Nathan, I didn't expect to see you here!"
Nathan laughed. "I didn't want to forget, so before I do, I want to make sure that you are aware that Dee needs a maternity leave. I don't know if she's said anything, but she's very uncomfortable and needs to be off her swollen feet."
"You know, I thought she was rubbing her back and putting her feet up when I would catch her back here in the office. She nary said a word, although I remember those last months of pregnancy and I agree, she definitely needs a leave."
Nathan nodded in agreement, "It's like pulling teeth to get her to rest, although she had mentioned that perhaps Mrs. Moretti could replace her."
"I know, that would be a nice solution, but two things might be a hindrance. First, Mrs. Moretti home schools her children, so she probably can't take the time to help here. Second, even if she would, she is not a licensed professional, and I would have to ask Mr. Malone if he would approve, even temporarily. That means, if not, then the children would go without music, which they love so dearly," Elizabeth let out a long sigh.
"What about the music teacher in Brookfield? Dee had to teach both there and here in the beginning of last year. Perhaps, she might help," Nathan suggested.
"Nathan, let me think on it and in the meantime, I'll talk with Mr. Malone tonight," Elizabeth said.
"Tonight? That's fast."
Elizabeth looked down and blushing, lifted her face back up smiled and informed Nathan that they were dining together at Billees tonight, escorted by Jack, of course.
"All right then, thanks Elizabeth," Nathan started to leave, then turned around, saying, "Have fun!"
Trevor was over at his gasoline station setting up the place. He was getting excited about opening a new business in town and was humming away as he set up his toolbox on the worktable. He had selected a few items he had Kevin order for him from the Hardware and Garden shop that he was waiting on, jack stands, a creeper, and automobile jacks for his work. But, right now he was proudly shining his hand tools, the wrenches, sockets, screwdrivers and more. Kevin ordered the tires, batteries, and oil too so Trevor could offer these supplies to his customers. He was hoping most of his orders would arrive that week.
His gasoline station was a small building with gas pumps in front. He offered simple services - lube jobs and tire patching crankcase service, tire installation, and free road maps, air, and water to motorists. His gasoline supplier had just left so his filling pump was full and ready to use.
Trevor went outside and waited for his first customer. As if he put in a special request to the man upstairs, Lisa drove up and parked by the pump.
"Hello there Trevor! Good morning!" Lisa cheerfully greeted Trevor.
"Lisa! You are my first customer! I'm a lucky dog! Would you like me to fill your tank up?"
Lisa gave Trevor a dazzling smile, "Uh-huh. Dad gave me $5.00 to get gasoline."
"I'll be happy to," Trevor said. "What are you doing in town pretty lady?"
"Thank you," Lisa giggled, "Actually, I'm applying for a job with Dr. Scholl as a receptionist. I hope my clerical experience in the service will qualify me."
Trevor was busy pumping the gasoline and offered to wipe her windows too. "I say he'd be a fool not to hire you."
"Trevor, I can't believe you own this filling station. You know so much about mechanical stuff, I'm sure you are going to do swell!"
Trevor grinned when she flashed her big smile at him. "Well, good luck Lisa! I bet you'll be working for Dr. Scholl in no time."
"Here's the money. Thanks, see you later?" Lisa said flirting with Trevor.
"You can count on it!" he said as he pushed his rag into his back pocket and watched her pull away. Now, that sure made my day he thought.
Nathan, Gunther, and Andy walked in to the NWMP office and Gunther gave Andy the low down on where everything was and what duties they had. "Later on, today, we'll do rounds on horses. It's easier to get around the country to check on the farmers and ranchers. Besides, Nathan loves his horse, Newton. He's his buddy and he loves riding him. I'm sure he has a horse for you."
The three of them sat around the desk and discussed common scenarios and Nathan quizzed Andy about what ifs. "What would you do if..." Nathan found that discussing options before the crisis happens was the best way to learn. They also went over their firearms and which to use when. The reviews were helpful and Nathan felt good about the two of them. Although Gunther was a year ahead of him, Andy was right there quick-thinking and ready.
Taking a break, Nathan asked Andy about his background. "Where are you from Andy?"
"I'm from a farm community outside of Edmonton. I know my dad wanted me to run the farm someday, but I always was wishing to go out and do something more adventuresome so I decided to join the Mounties!"
"Well, it adventuresome, but it can be dangerous too. I'll fill you two in on a few true stories, so it might change your perspective. Anyways, there are a lot more good rewarding times too. You'll see how great the people are here in Hope Valley. They'll be your home away from home, soon you'll feel like your part of one big family!