Nathan watched Elizabeth walk out and knew that Faith was correct. It was time to clear the air and clear up the misunderstanding that they were a couple. Her words to Lucas that he was not just some consolation prize proved that she would understand.

"I think you have something to do, something long overdue," Bill said. "Why don't I look after things for the afternoon, and you go talk to her,"

"Are you sure?" Nathan asked.

"Of course I am," Bill said. "Hero and I will even do the evening rounds. It's been too long since we have had any Mountie action. Now go!"

Nathan wasted no time and quickly went to catch up. She hadn't gotten far but appeared deep in thought. "Elizabeth?" Nathan said to catch her attention.

"Oh, Nathan, "Elizabeth said. "I'm sorry, I'm just thinking about Lucas and that he is working with people to reopen the mine."

"That surprises you about Lucas?" Nathan asked.

She chuckled mirthlessly," Oh no, that doesn't surprise me at all now that I see things the way they are and not …." She let the words drift off and then asked, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…." Again, she let the sentence drift, worried she could say the wrong thing that would ruin something.

"Was there something that you needed?" Elizabeth asked, biting her lip. He could now see that she was anxious, which led her to choose her words carefully. Bill was right. They needed to talk and clear the air.

"Actually, I wanted to know if we could go somewhere and talk privately?" Nathan asked.

"Um …. Well, I was about to take Sergeant for a run before I head home. I want to take advantage of Jack's being gone and get some things done around the house."

"Oh, where is Jack?" Nathan asked. "With everything happening, I hadn't seen him yet."

Elizabeth lit up. "He is staying the night with the Campbells on their farm. She chuckled. He begged to stay another night. I don't know who enjoys his time more, Jed or Jack."

"Do you mind if Newton and I tag along?" Nathan said. "Bill is covering for the rest of the afternoon. He said that he and Hero had been craving some Mountie action." They laughed over that, knowing how Bill was.

"Sure, but will that be all right with Faith? I don't want to cause any trouble between you and her." Elizabeth said. "I've caused enough for you as it is." She whispered to herself.

"She's fine with it. We had already discussed the two of us talking." Nathan said. Faith was right, and they needed to clear up the misunderstanding that they were still a couple.

Then I guess it would be fine Elizabeth said

"Great," Nathan said, "I'll go grab Newton, and we'll meet you and Sargent outside the livery."

"That sounds great," Elizabeth said as they parted. After saddling Sergeant, Elizabeth led him outside, where Nathan was waiting with Newton. As he watched Elizabeth mount, he could see Jack's influence as she used the Mountie technique that involved one fluid motion. He thought he remembered her saying that Sargent was also the horse she learned on. It was apparent that there was a deep bond between the woman and the Mountie horse. One that was similar to the one he had with Newton.

"Is there any particular place you like to ride?" Nathan asked, shaking himself out of his thoughts.

"Well, I planned on riding down to my land because there's a meadow there that Sergeant and I like to run through. That's where I go when I need to do some thinking, and it has been a while since I've been out there to check on things."

"I didn't know, but that's fine with me," Nathan said. Then noticing her hesitation, he asked, "What is it, Lizbeth?"

She sighed and said, "Well, my land is right next to Bill's, and I didn't know if you were aware of that?"

"Oh," Nathan said. He wasn't sure how he felt about going there. It dawned on him then what she was worried about. "You know what? It's fine; it was a while ago, and water under the bridge. If it's as pretty as what Bill's was, I can't wait to see it."

All right, well, let's go. They walked in companionable silence for a few minutes when he remembered there was something he wanted to ask.

"Elizabeth, I've been meaning to ask you," Nathan said nervously. "Would it be all right if Jack comes with Allie and me the next time we go fishing?"

"Oh, he would love that, Nathan," Elizabeth said with a huge smile. "He has missed his Mountie Nathan and his Allie very much," she chuckled. "He has something that he wants to show you and Uncle Bill too."

"Well, we have missed the little guy very much, too," Nathan grinned.

"Over the month we were gone, I started noticing that he is getting to an age where he will need more male influence. He spent a lot of time with his Uncle Tom and my father. I plan on talking with Lee and Bill, but if you would spend time with him too, that would be great because he could learn more about the Mounties." Seeing that nervous expression that came over Nathan's face, she said.

"Nathan, can I say something?

"OK. Sure, what is it?"

"I've learned over the last month that I need to face things head-on and not avoid difficult conversations. I can sense you are nervous about something. I have a feeling I know what this conversation is about. I want to assure you that, like I told Lucas, have no intention of using you as some consolation prize. I have way more respect for you than that though I know I haven't given you cause to believe I do."

Nathan stayed silent, feeling that maybe it was good that she was the one to lead the conversation for once.

"I would like you to be able to do things with Jack, and I know he'll be excited about fishing. But let me assure you that Jack and I are not a package deal in the sense that you feel that I would use him to further things with us."

"I appreciate that Elizabeth, and it was a concern that I had," Nathan admitted. "Though it was before you made your apology to Lucas."

Elizabeth nodded. "You referring to hearing that I broke things off?" Elizabeth asked, curious about it.

Nathan nodded. "I'm sorry, Elizabeth, it was just…." Nathan could find the words to finish the sentence but was unsure how to explain.

Elizabeth smiled and said softly, "I understand, Nathan, and I could see how you could draw that conclusion. But there is one thing that I would like to do, and I'm not sure how you feel about it.

Seeing her hesitation, he wondered, then he realized, "You're talking about wanting to repair things with you and Allie?"

Elizabeth nodded sadly. "I really miss her, Nathan, and I can't tell you how much I regret that I was so hurtful and inconsiderate with my interactions with her and you at the end."

"I'm glad that you brought it up. You were right that this was one of the things I wanted to talk to you about. You're right in that we have many things to work through. It is something that I want to do, and I know so does Allie. One of the biggest lessons learned from what happened between us was that we must do it through honesty." Nathan glanced over to gauge how she was taking his words.

Elizabeth just nodded with an encouraging smile. "I completely agree with you there, Nathan,"

"So, I want to clear up before we go any further that Faith and I are not together anymore. We went out on a few dates, and after we exchanged a couple of kisses, we quickly realized it wasn't working. So we mutually agreed to remain just friends."

"You do know that everyone thinks you're a couple, right?" Elizabeth said in amusement.

He nodded sheepishly and said, "We still go out to dinner and enjoy each other's company, so people think we are still together. We have never really cleared up what people think. In fact, between you and me, she has a bit of a crush on Gabe, and he seems to have one on her too." Nathan said as his eyes twinkled. Then his expression turned serious again.

"I also have to be honest that I had considered letting you continue to think that because I was afraid that you would get the wrong idea," Nathan said. Feeling uncomfortable, he quickly hurried on. "Elizabeth, I think we both know there are still strong feelings between us. But there are also huge issues, and I need to be upfront and say that my only goal at the moment is friendship. "I'm not sure I can get to where I can open myself up to you again. I'm not completely saying it could never happen, but I miss our friendship when I first came to Hope Valley. I want to work on that if you're willing."

Elizabeth smiled and said, "I would like that, Nathan. I agree with everything you said, and I miss our friendship too. I think that it is also a good place to start repairing what happened between us. With everything going on and the fierce battle looming, I would be grateful to have you in my corner as a friend." Elizabeth smiled softly, held her hand towards him, and said, "So, friends, Nathan?"

He reached over, took it, and said, "Friends, it is."

They had reached a beautiful meadow, and Sergeant became a little antsy, and Nathan saw a mischievous glint in Elizabeth's eye. "Well, what do you say we start this friendship with a race?"

"Oh?" Nathan smirked. "What did you have in mind?" his competitiveness engaged.

"She smiled mischievously, and her eyes dancing, said, "First one to make it across the meadow wins?"

"What do you say, Newton? Are you up for the challenge, boy?" Nathan asked, looking down at his trusty steed. As if an answer, Newton just shook his head.

Looking back over at Elizabeth, he said, "Challenge accepted. Do we go on 3?

"We go on 3," Elizabeth said, beginning to count down "1 ….2…. 3!" The horses took off across the meadow. Elizabeth and Nathan laughed like kids, ribbing each other as they raced. They reached the end and pulled the horses up, still laughing and comfortable with each other.

Ironically, both horses got there simultaneously, whether by the owner's skill or design.

Dismounting Elizabeth Led them to a nearby stream where the horses could drink. "So, what do you think of the property?"

"It's really beautiful up here, and it's similar to what Bill's looked like. This stream is the same that flows on Bills?"

"Yes, it does," Elizabeth said, reaching in her saddlebag to pull out the blanket that she kept there. "Jack bought this land for us to build our home on before he passed. I paid off the loan when I got the pension because I've never been able to part with it."

"It's beautiful here. Have you ever thought of building on it yourself?" Nathan asked.

"I briefly did but couldn't see living here without him. Now I'm just saving it for Jack when he's older as a legacy from his dad." Elizabeth said. Nathan helped her lay out the blanket, and they sat down to talk.

"That's a nice legacy for him and one meaningful to him," Nathan said.

"Thank you, Nathan. This is where I ran to that day," Elizabeth said, not looking at him. He didn't have to ask what she was talking about because he knew she referred to the day he told her he loved her.

"Nathan, back then, I lectured, criticized, and demanded of you, but I never listened to you," Elizabeth said, choked up. "I want to start repairing our friendship by doing so now."

So, they spent an hour talking about what happened, and when they were done, hearts were lighter, and the awkwardness was gone though it would take time for her to regain his trust completely as before.

"Elizabeth, can you tell me about Coal Valley and what happened?" Nathan asked.

"What do you want to know?" Elizabeth replied.

"The explosion, the mine conditions before, and the trial itself?"

"Well, I got here three months after it happened, and as you know, 47 men died during the explosion. Among them were the husbands of Molly, Cat, Florence, and Abigail though she also lost her only child Peter. It was Peter that had been married to Clara, unknown until the trial.

On my first day of teaching, I heard the most mournful whistle blow. Kids jumped up and began walking out, not caring about what I said. One of the children told me that it was the mine letting the widows know that more of the "daddies' had been found. They finally recovered the last of the men, eight in total, and of course, they found a piece of a broken wood plank with the words "Forgive me, pa" written on it in coal." Nathan reached over and captured her hand, knowing how painful it was for her.

"Patrick, Noah, Joseph, and Peter were among them. They apparently were the deepest in the mine, so that tells you how bad the collapse had been." Elizabeth said with a shudder.

"Jack had begun researching mine safety and contacted Bill, an Inspector familiar with mining. He also had a prior history with Henry." Elizabeth said pointedly. "One that only grew over time."

"That explains some of the tension I observed when I first arrived," Nathan said with a smirk.

"Bill had managed to gather the samples he needed, but before he could send them to be documented, he was ambushed one night by a couple of Pinkertons, and they were stolen. They never found out who it was, but Bill had his suspicions that it was a couple of the Pinkertons that worked for Henry. Abigail did manage to steal a file from Henry's office that helped show safety violations."

"Really?" Nathan said, surprised.

"Henry Gowan has truly turned 180 from who he was in the early days," Elizabeth said with a chuckle. "He's not someone you would ever pull something shady on. Anyway, it was a poor ventilation system which allowed the methane to build up and caused the explosion."