Hope Leads the Heart
Chapter I Past, Present and the Birth of the Double M
While the war itself had ended a few years ago, and the flu epidemic had waned, normalcy was just returning to Hope Valley. Its' citizens had sacrificed greatly for the war effort, sent some of its' sons into harm's way in Europe, and survived all the challenges of supply shortages and rationing at home in western Canada. Many had succumbed to the flu epidemic that spread like wildfire so soon after the Treaty of Versailles and it challenged a weary Hope Valley populace to the core. The townspeople of this tight-knit community had endured these extraordinary global challenges with faith, hope, and a resilient spirit.
It was a warm summer day in the country, and Nathan could not remember a time when he had felt so weary and yet so uplifted at the same time. As he sought the comfort of his favorite chair, he paused for a moment to take in the surroundings. He couldn't contain a smile at what he saw. The setting sun was creeping downward over the peaceful landscape, painting the sky in amber and rose hues. A few ranch hands accompanied by his partner, Bill Avery, were headed toward the stables to settle their horses for the night. Through the front window of the house, in the distance, he could see a few head of cattle (HIS cattle) scattered across the grassy knoll. Double M would soon be branded on each one.
As he took inventory of the large room and settled in his chair, Nathan was comfortably content. Most of the boxes of their belongings had found a place in their new home and the furniture was arranged to his satisfaction. The 4-bedroom ranch house had plenty of growing room and space for its' occupants: Bill, Nathan, and the niece he had adopted, Allie. The kitchen area provided plenty of the work space that Bill had insisted upon, as well as a new stove, ice box, cupboards, a myriad of utensils, and shelves stocked with pantry items. Allie had already gathered a bouquet of wild flowers and set them in a vase in the center of the long table. She hung blue and white curtains around the large back window, too, and her special touches had given the place a soothing, homey appeal.
"A woman's touch," Nathan said to himself, as he removed his boots and sat down in his chair. It was difficult for him to comprehend, but Allie was, indeed, becoming a young woman of grace and beauty.
His mood changed and a tremendous sense of longing and loneliness suddenly enveloped him. He thought of how much he needed, wanted the comfort of a woman's love in his life, but a happy marriage and loving commitment had eluded him. Sometimes Nathan wondered if he had the attributes that women found attractive and appealing in a man. Elizabeth Thornton, Allie's widowed teacher from Hope Valley, certainly hadn't thought so. For a brief moment, he allowed himself to think about shattered dreams. He had envisioned, longed for, a life with Elizabeth at his side in the home they would make with her son, Jack, and Allie.
Settling back into the chair, Nathan's eyes fixed on the raised hearth stone fireplace. Two huge bookcases filled with books flanked each side. He smiled as he gazed at the wide array of volumes in the home library and noted Bill's territory law books, Allie's favorite stories and schoolbooks, and his own favorites, too. His gaze settled on an advanced Mathematics book of Allie's and Nathan was immediately drawn back into his thoughts of Elizabeth. It was she who had noted Allie's talents in Math. and encouraged Allie's pursuits of higher learning in that subject.
His thoughts soon drifted back to an afternoon in the Hope Valley Mountie office and jail, when Elizabeth told him she wasn't in love with him; when she told him she was only seeing her late husband, Mountie Jack, in him; when she told him to tell Allie she would always find him "impeccable". Today, two years later, even the memory of that scene shattered him and made his eyes mist. It had shattered Allie, too. So much had happened in the two years that followed!
"Love IS worth fighting for," Nathan muttered. "You'll never know how much I loved you, and little Jack. I tried to show you that love every day."
The eye mist subsided but was replaced by thoughts he had never had the opportunity to share with Elizabeth. Thoughts of his first assignment to Coal Valley so many years ago as a young Mountie, when his sister, Colleen, fell upon hard times. He shook his head, trying to push them back to a place in his head where he would be able to retrieve them at another time, another place. If he could have shared what happened with Elizabeth, would it have made a difference?
Soon after that gut-wrenching afternoon with Elizabeth in the jail, the Mounties charged Nathan with a difficult and intense investigation. He was to look into mysterious land acquisitions and new businesses that had sprung up in and around Hope Valley and that had brought a cast of ruthless, questionable businessmen to the town. It wasn't long before Nathan discovered that the trail of wrong-doing led right to the saloon door of Lucas Bouchard, Elizabeth's suitor, who was buried in gambling debt and questionable business schemes. With Bill Avery's support and investigative skills, the two men uncovered enough evidence of illegal deals and money laundering to have Bouchard, his mistress, Mei Sou, and a ruthless henchman named Spurlock, convicted and imprisoned for many years. Nathan would never forget the silent look of hurt in Elizabeth's eyes the day she learned about Mei Sou. Hurt quickly evolved into humiliation and despair as she discovered Bouchard's dark side, realizing how close she had come to marrying him and exposing her son to his evil. Immediately after the trial, Elizabeth and little Jack fled Hope Valley in disgrace, seeking solace and shelter with her family in Hamilton. After the success of that investigation and conviction, Nathan was promoted to Inspector.
Hope Valley's citizens had been blessed with the crime-fighting skills of Nathan and Bill Avery for many years. The two men had brought countless criminals to justice and had done their best work on the Spurlock-Bouchard case. With the personal satisfaction that conviction brought, Bill decided there was only one more "case" he wanted to work on, and that was the case of the cattle and horse ranch he had dreamed of having some day. He sold the café in town, purchased a ranch adjacent to some property he owned on the outskirts of Hope Valley, and retired from the Mounties.
Knowing that Nathan had wanted to provide Allie with a home outside of town and had shown an interest in his property at one time, Bill invited Nathan to become his partner. The prospect of balancing his work with the Mounties with a small cattle and horse ranch that Bill would oversee was an exciting opportunity that Nathan could not overlook. He knew that Bill adored Allie and she loved spending time with her "Uncle Bill". The two bachelors had become very close over the years, almost like a father and son, and their bond filled a void in Nathan's life. Selling their Hope Valley rowhouse quickly, Nathan and Allie joined Bill in the large house of the new Double M ranch.
"Well, I guess in some ways I have to thank Bouchard and Spurlock for my good fortune," Nathan mused. "If it wasn't for all their misdeeds, Bill may not have retired and I would not have received my promotion." Nathan couldn't help smirking, "And then there is that shiny car parked next to the stables. I hope Newton won't be too jealous seeing me ride around in that thing!"
Nathan had purchased Bouchard's car at the government auction of Bouchard's assets. The auction proceeds were used to pay off all of Bouchard's debtors and Nathan felt a small sense of satisfaction in knowing that Bouchard was indirectly making restitution. For, as fate would have it, Bouchard never extended much effort to contemplate his wrongs or reform himself. The Hope Valley community, who had suffered so much under Bouchard's transgressions, was shocked to learn that he served only six weeks of his prison sentence. Just one week prior to the move to the Double M, Nathan learned that Bouchard was killed in an attempted prison breakout.
"Always running, always running from something or someone. He was an arrogant dandy, and not much of a man," Nathan muttered to himself. "Too bad he didn't spend less time with his wheeling and dealing and more time reading some of those good books in that library he donated. How was Elizabeth so easily fooled?"
Lost in his reverie, he hadn't heard the footsteps outside and he was suddenly separated from his musings when Bill and Allie burst through the front door.