It had been close to six months since Henry left Hope Valley. While Abigail and Henry missed each other, both did not contact one another. Henry often called Hope Valley but would not speak when Abigail came on the line. Abigail sometimes suspected it was Henry who would call but would hang up if she did not hear anything on the other side.
Henry did not regret his decision to move to Hamilton. In fact, he liked that he could get lost in the crowd, however, sometimes, when walking alongside that crowd, he felt oddly lonely. Something inside of him told him that his loneliness could be driven away by only one person but he was in denial. He was convinced that he could not stop leading his life because he was away from her. She was only a human being and not God. She could possibly not deprive him of a normal life. So he decided to take one day at a time and be as strong and as independent as he could be, after all, he was lonely for the most part of his life and he got on just as well. Surely he could live without her presence in his life, but his heart knew what he needed: just her being there. He did not believe in her being his necessarily. He respects her too much for him to think of her as a possession. He needed her to be in his life in whatever capacity that she could be in, just seeing her face from time and again would do the trick. But why was he even thinking along those lines? She had a life of her own and in the way he left, she surely did not want him in her life anymore.
Mayor Stanton was at the top of her game. She was probably the best mayor Hope Valley had in while and she enjoyed serving the people. She was always compassionate and loving. The people of Hope Valley loved her, one person especially, Bill Avery. The sheriff could not imagine Hope Valley without her and he secretly wished to propose to her. A sheriff and the mayor made a handsome couple, he thought. Abigail was not dumb. She could tell Bill was up to something and she was not prepared for such a thing to happen. She was dealing with Henry leaving town in the most subtle way in order for the others to not pick that up or at least she thought so. She would take a walk into the woods alone, just to see his house and secretly to check if he was back. She would always be disappointed afterwards. There would be no Henry. On the upside, she was not a confused person anymore. However, she would have loved the confusion Henry brought into her life with his presence. She would sometimes stand on the porch outside and close her eyes, feeling the breeze and then she would imagine a smiling Henry, his beautiful dimples, approaching her and taking her into his strong arms and kissing her cheek and that always startled her back to life. She would be disappointed that it was a dream but was unsure of how she would have dealt with that had he been there in person. She would not show but she missed his mature self around her. There was always this calmness about him, this surety that he would always be there to protect her. Once in while she would ask herself why she would need him to protect her yet she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, and she always failed to answer to herself. She just needed him. She would imagine his smile at her every triumph when it came to Hope Valley. He always stood behind her whenever she was in trouble. Sometimes she longed to call out his name on one of the numerous blank phone calls she would receive but she would not acknowledge him. Why would she if he was not ready to do so to her? She needed him to man up to his feelings, otherwise, she was happy with the way things were.
"Abigail!" Bill called out that afternoon. She was in the café, arranging the tables for the evening meal.
"Hi Bill!" Abigail said brightly as Bill entered the café.
"How's the café?" He asked, trying to start a conversation.
"It is what it is…" She said as she waved her arms around to show him like a model would. Bill smiled at that.
"Great!" He said. "Ummm…I have been wanting to talk to you about something. Are you able to have dinner with me tonight?" he asked.
"Depends. Are you cooking?" she asked with a wide smile on her face.
"I will if you'd like me to." He said.
"Well, that's settled then. I will have dinner with you." She said.
"Good, I will see you tonight." He said and started to walk away but stopped suddenly. "Ummm…I have a request." He said.
"Sure…" She said, unsure of what he was going to ask.
"May I use your kitchen to cook for the evening?" he asked sheepishly and Abigail chuckled at that.
"Of course you may. I also MAY decide to help you." She said and smiled and he did too in reply.
"I will see you later then." He said and left. Abigail sighed as she saw the door close behind him. She had a faint idea what he was going to tell her but she decided not to give much thought to it until she was sure what he was going to tell her.
THAT EVENING
"And dinner is served…" Bill said proudly as he lay out steaks and mash potatoes on two plates. He removed his apron and put it aside.
"This does look amazing!" she commented as she sat on her side of the table, looking at her plate. She helped here and there but he did majority of the cooking. She took a bite of the steak and raised her eyebrows at him.
"This is really good, Bill! I am impressed!" she exclaimed.
"Why thank you Abigail. I am happy you liked it." He said proudly again. She took another bite and savored the flavor.
"You should be running the café. I can take over the sheriff's office!" Abigail suggested playfully.
"Oh well, I am not quite as good as you are!" Bill said modestly and Abigail waved off his comment.
Bill then went on to tell her how some mounties in Cape Fullerton made a major drug bust and how the drug dealers were caught red-handed. Abigail was slightly distracted by the story but was anxious about what he was going to tell her. A few odd moments of silence ensued and Abigail then cleared her throat.
"Sorry to be forward with this but…what did you want to talk about?" she asked, politely. Bill gently wiped his mouth with the napkin and gently put it on the table. He then cleared his throat.
"Abigail, I have been wanting to tell you something for some time now." He started and Abigail nodded, egging him on. "Look, I like you." He said and cleared his throat again. "I like you a lot." He said and Abigail's fear was confirmed. She leaned behind slightly. "I know that this is a lot for you to process. I just wanted to know if we can make a fresh start with US." He said.
"Ummm…Wow…this is…" she began to say, fumbling with words. As much as she had expected this, she had not thought about what she was going to tell him.
"I know…" he interrupted her thoughts. "I know that we got off to a wrong start the first time, and I am really sorry for that. But I feel like this would lead to something solid between us if you are willing to give it a try." He said politely. Abigail sighed visibly.
"Bill, I have already forgiven you for what happened previously. So that should not be an issue." She said as she clasped her hands and put them in front of her on the table. "And I would be lying if I said I had not expected this." She said and that caught Bill by surprise as his mouth went slightly ajar. He was a little embarrassed. "I am at a place in my life right now where things have finally settled down. However…" she was saying when she heard a soft knock on the door. Abigail looked at the door and then at Bill apologetically. "Sorry…please excuse me." She said and went over to open the door. She was relieved to see Elizabeth. "Hi Elizabeth." She said, smiling nervously.
"Hi. Ummm…do you have a minute? I would like to speak to you about Cody." She said and turned around to see Bill from the crack of the door. "Oh, am I interrupting something? We can talk tomorrow." She said apologetically.
"No…no…this is the right time!" Abigail said and pulled Elizabeth outside on to the porch, clearly relieved.
"Are you alright?" Elizabeth asked.
"Hmmm? Yeah, yes, I am alright." She said, relief written all over her face. Elizabeth furrowed her eyebrows at that. "What about Cody? Is he not performing well at school?" Abigail asked, her face turning from that of relief to concern in a second.
"Too well to the contrary, in fact, that is what I needed to talk to you about…" Elizabeth said excitedly and Abigail tilted her head to the side. "He wrote a paper on electricity and I sent it to this college out of town for their review." She said.
"Oh?! And?" Abigail asked, surprise all over her face.
"They have invited Cody to their college for a training for two weeks, and if they like his work, Cody will appear on their merit list and would have a possibility of getting a scholarship in future at the best engineering college in New York!" Elizabeth squealed in delight as Abigail's mouth flew open.
"Oh my Elizabeth! This is wonderful news!" Abigail said and hugged Elizabeth, who hugged her back happily. "This is amazing news! I am so proud of him!" She finished off.
"So are we!" Elizabeth said excitedly.
"Does Cody know?" Abigail asked and Elizabeth nodded.
"And he is so excited about it. He wanted to tell you this himself but I said I would speak to you personally on this." Elizabeth said, smiling. "There's one problem though…" she said gravely and Abigail's expression became grave too. "The training shall be in Hamilton College of Engineering…" She said and watched as Abigail sighed deeply at that. "In Hamilton…" Elizabeth said, concluding the obvious.
"Errm…well, that is not a problem…" Abigail said, recovering immediately. "Nothing will come in the way of Cody's future. If his training is in Hamilton, so be it. I will go with him." She said, her heart beating fast.
"Are you sure about this, Abigail?" Elizabeth asked sympathetically as she touched her arm slightly. Abigail nodded.
"I am." She said, her voice firm. She then looked at Elizabeth and smiled warmly. "Thank you so much Elizabeth, for everything." She said and hugged her again.
"You are most welcome!" she said and then looked at Bill who seemed like he was growing anxious. "I will let you get back to him. Goodnight." She said and left, a gentle smile on her face. Abigail watched her back as Elizabeth walked away.
Her heart was pounding and the only word in her mind was "Hamilton". She knew for sure she was not letting Cody go alone to Hamilton but she dreaded to think what was in store for her over there.
"Hi…" she called out as she entered the café, a whirl of thoughts in her head. "Sorry, that was Elizabeth." She said.
"Is everything OK? You look troubled." He observed.
"No, nothing important." Abigail shrugged it off.
"Sure?" he asked, looking concerned.
"Yes, all well." She replied firmly.
"OK good." He said. Abigail got out of her daze as she remembered the matter at hand.
"Ummm…Bill, I need to think things through about what you have said." She said and Bill nodded. "I have had a lot on my mind of late and this…I do not seem to have a clear head." She concluded.
"Is this about Henry?" he asked gently and that startled her greatly. Bill saw that. "I see things, and I see you. And I respect your feelings. I never wanted Henry to leave town, I just wanted what is best for you and I am very sorry that that came in the way of things that could have been for you…" He said and that reminded her of her conversation with Henry at his house. Her heart ached at that memory. Her eyes showed sorrow and that was not missed by Bill either. "It has been six months and I do not want to see this empty look in your eyes whenever you pass by the woods…" he said and she was startled yet again that he noticed that. "Again, I respect your feelings and will definitely respect your decision about this, but I just feel that you should move on with your life, even if it is not with me." He said and put his hand over hers. She held his hand there for a moment as she looked him in the eyes. Her eyes were shining from the tears that had started forming in them. Bill saw that. "I think I should get going." He said and got up. Abigail did too slowly. He leaned in to kiss Abigail on her cheek and she allowed him to. "You should feel no pressure whatsoever about this. I will still be there, either way." He said and she nodded. He started walking away.
"Thank you, Bill." She said as she walked to see him out. He smiled as he reached the door. He looked her in the eyes and then left. She locked the door behind her and slowly walked to her seat. She sat down and sighed. There was a lot on her mind. After a few minutes, she began to clear the table absentmindedly and went upstairs to her bedroom.
As she lay in her bed, Henry's image swirled in her mind. That evening, she went to bed worried, a little more than usual.
