Chapter Fifty-Three
The Queen of Hearts was all lit up with extra String Lighting hung from the ceilings. Lucas had gone all out for the night's Celebration because he was introducing the woman he loved to the people of Hope Valley. He had even brought in fresh Flowers Arrangements for the Tables and had placed them on top of his White Linen Tablecloths for maximal effect.
Lucas stood proudly with her at the front door of the Saloon, personally welcoming each and every person, making sure to introduce them to his beautiful Fiancee, Sophie, as they came through the door.
Sophie was dressed to the nines, surrounded by a cloud of pink, much fancier than anyone else, but she was obviously comfortable in her own skin and her choice of dressier attire. A huge Marquis shaped Diamond Solitaire, flanked by two Baguette Diamonds brightly glistened on her left-hand ring finger. Of course, Sophie matched Lucas perfectly, as he himself chose to always dress more formally than those around him, and he was even wearing a pink cravat tonight with his dark pinstriped suit, so there could be no doubt they were together. The couple looked rather formal, but very happy indeed. And at least for tonight, Lucas was back to his gracious self, who could now put more than two syllables together!
Aaron and Felicity got there early, and everyone was instantly coming up to meet Felicity. She was wearing a dress of soft lavender checks with darker lavender, almost purple, trim. A handmade purple shawl was thrown casually around her shoulders. Her outfit complemented her dark hair perfectly. Most people already knew Aaron, as they had either seen him in town or on rounds, and they liked him a lot. Even though he was Scandinavian, the townspeople saw him as one of them. They loved the fact this big, strong man was there to help Nathan and Bill protect them, and they were thrilled Aaron had been raised on a farm and appreciated the importance of working the land. He understood them. Felicity was beautiful, yet she seemed so down to earth, and everyone found her to be charming. She drew people into conversation easily, immediately making them feel comfortable, and she seemed genuinely concerned with getting to know them, focusing on their interests, instead of hers.
It was clear, Felicity never met a stranger, because she'd make sure you were her friend before you could ever be labeled as such!
The Williams Family arrived, full of excitement and anxious to meet everyone. Trevon was thrilled that Taleisha had thankfully changed her mind from her flat out refusal to attend the Event, to being super excited about coming! He knew that somehow Nathan had made that change take place, and he was very grateful for it. The children had already found classmates to pair off with, and Trevon and Taleisha were so happy their children had found friends so quickly. Taleisha wore one of the beautiful handmade dresses she had made herself in a blue print with lace detail on the bodice, around the sleeves, and around the skirt edge. She had dressed the children in coordinating navy outfits, and she had tied back Laila's hair with a blue and white lace ribbon. Both children looked adorable!
Lee and Rosemary arrived shortly after with Frederic. Rosemary looked resplendent in a new red and navy tartan dress (she didn't want to admit it to Elizabeth, but she had to let out the waist on the pattern for it to fit) and Frederic was wearing a blue and white patterned shirt with a navy bow tie, as well as navy trousers with the cutest little suspenders. He looked precious and he was so excited to be attending such a big Party! But he was already looking for Allie and Little Jack. Lee and Rosemary went straight to talk to Trevon and Taleisha.
"Wonderful to see you two! It's so nice to have a couple to talk to we know!" said Trevon as the men shook hands and the women hugged.
When Nathan and Elizabeth arrived with Allie and Little Jack, Allie immediately took Little Jack to Frederic and Tyrone, who had already found each other. The Grants and the Thorntons were all wearing varying shades of blue with white. Elizabeth wore a lacy white blouse with a blue and white patterned full skirt trimmed in the same lace. Allie wore a white winter frock trimmed in blue with a blue cardigan sweater and a blue bow tied around her ponytail. Little Jack wore a blue and white plaid sweater over blue wool shorts and knee socks. Nathan also wore a light pullover sweater his Mother had knitted in blue, over a white shirt and tie, under his navy suit jacket.
Nathan gallantly introduced Elizabeth to Sophie, and although Lucas looked a little awkward at first, the women got on fine.
"Lovely to meet you, Sophie! And I see congratulations are in order for you both. Your ring is beautiful! We'll have to get together soon to discuss your Wedding plans!"
"Oh, Elizabeth, I can hardly wait. We've been apart for so long. We just want to be together. But we do want the Wedding to be beautiful and just one big party for everyone! We want to make sure we do everything the right way this time. And I do want to say, we appreciate so very much what you and Nathan are doing for us."
There was no doubt of the sincerity in Sophie's voice, and there was no doubt of her love for Lucas. She was literally glowing with excitement and anticipation of the real Wedding they were about to have.
Elizabeth could see Nathan had been right. Sophie seemed genuinely nice, as well as authentic, and Elizabeth was very glad to see that.
'Sophie is exactly what Lucas needs,' mused Elizabeth silently.
As Nathan and Elizabeth walked away, Nathan whispered to Elizabeth, "You handled that beautifully, Darling! Was it hard for you to see the ring?"
Elizabeth smiled and reached to kiss Nathan on his cheek, "Darling I said the ring was beautiful to be kind, and many people would think it's beautiful. But many people would also think it's quite ostentatious. It's just not my personal taste at all. Not a ring I would ever wear. So no, it was not hard in the slightest. Frankly, I'm just relieved it's no longer our worry! But glad Sophie seems quite happy with it."
They smiled at each other, and Nathan raised her hand to his lips and kissed her ring finger, putting closure on the ring saga which they had so unwittingly been placed in the middle of by Lucas. Both were relieved that particular ring was now exactly where it belonged and that the possibility of Elizabeth being confronted with it, was no longer something they had to worry about.
Others kept filing in and the place was filling up before everyone's eyes.
The Serving Tables of Food had been placed along the back wall, and they were overladen with all kinds of Dishes, including all kinds of Meats, Vegetables, Salads, and Desserts. The Beverages had been set up on the Bar, with a lower Beverage Table close by for the children to grab their Drinks from. The Dining Tables had been placed around the edges of the Saloon, so that left a significant amount of space in the center for dancing. But for now, the children were using that area as a play area.
A mixture of wonderful aromas was wafting throughout the Saloon from the massive display of Food, enticing everyone to prepare for a wonderful Feast!
Bill and Nathaniel were the final two to walk through the doors, both looking relaxed and ready for the Party!
Leave it to Bill, the Emcee of the evening to be the last to arrive, but he strode straight to the Dance Floor in the middle of the children, laid a box on the bar, took the microphone, and opened the evening with a warm welcome.
Nathaniel went to stand with Nathan and Elizabeth.
"Welcome everyone! We've gathered here tonight to celebrate you, the great people of Hope Valley! And tonight's extra special because we have seven brand new citizens to celebrate along with two more you may already be familiar with! I'm the lucky guy who gets to introduce them all to you! And if you know me, that's not all we're going to do tonight. You can't have a Party without a few surprises. So, get ready Hope Valley! We're going to have some fun!"
There were murmurs of excitement sweeping throughout the crowd, wondering what in the world their Judge had in store for them.
Usually, they came, ate till they were full, chatted, and went home. But, apparently, tonight was going to be different. And if Judge Avery said there were going to be surprises, people were pretty sure it was going to be a real fun evening! You never knew what that man was up to!
"We're going to start with the introductions of our new townsfolk in the order of their arrival to our fair city. Will the Coulters come Center Stage and join me, please?"
Lee and Rosemary proudly brought their son to stand by his Uncle.
"Frederic Welsh Coulter, you get the honor of being our first new Citizen!" Bill grabbed the little boy up in his arms. Now, this is a very special introduction, indeed, because this handsome fella here is also my brand new Nephew. And I couldn't be prouder. Why he actually assisted me as the Judge in his own adoption ceremony! So, I've got to watch out. I'm afraid he just might come after my job!" and Bill pointed to Frederic as he just laughed at his funny Uncle. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I officially present to you Master Frederic Welsh Coulter, the son of Lee and Rosemary Coulter, his new proud parents!"
Rosemary and Lee were positively beaming.
"Frederic, do you have anything you want to say? I don't know, any secrets you want to tell us?"
"Yes! A secret!"
"What is it, Son?"
"But I only know one secret..."
"That's okay, one is plenty enough!"
Frederic reached over and put his sweet little mouth almost on the microphone his Uncle was holding and spoke loudly into it, not realizing the microphone would make him sound ten times louder, "I'm having a baby brother or maybe a baby sister!"
Everyone started laughing and clapping at the same time, and Frederic just beamed, looking around at the crowd, happy he had made them happy!
"You what?" Bill was astounded. Rosemary and Lee just stared at each other with widened eyes, not knowing what to do. In fact, they were as astounded as Frederic's Uncle Bill!
"I guess he doesn't know what a secret is," whispered Rosemary. "Lee, you should have been more clear!"
"Well, it's too late now. We might as well relax and go with the flow…"
By now, everyone was clapping and cheering.
"Cigars, tomorrow, Men! Not exactly how we had planned to share our news, but as they say out of the mouths of babes. Our Son is absolutely right, he's getting a little brother or sister soon! I can tell you, Rosemary, Frederic, and I are all three over the moon!"
Everyone absolutely converged on the new little Family, thrilled that they finally had a Son and nonplussed that they were also expecting a Baby at the very same time. Lee and Rosemary had waited so long, and the townspeople were absolutely thrilled for them to now be a Family with another one on the way!
Handshakes, hugs, kisses, and even crying.
This was the best news ever and the night was just starting! But no one was more thrilled than Allie and she ran to take Rosemary's hand and wouldn't let go!
"I was worried you were sick, Auntie Rosie! But we're having a Baby! Auntie Rosie, a Baby! A Baby Cousin! Can I babysit? Please? I know it's going to be a little girl!"
"You do? Absolutely, you can babysit, Love!" and Rosemary bent to kiss Allie on the top of her head.
Bill was so flabbergasted with this unexpected news, he wasn't quite sure how to continue.
"Well, who knew? I don't think there's any way we're going to top that opening! Great job, Frederic! And I guess I should say great job, Lee and Rosemary!"
Lee and Rosemary blushed profusely as the crowd erupted, and their tattletale son scampered off, innocently, to be with his friends.
"The next introduction is a beautiful Family who we are so proud to welcome to Hope Valley. Williams Family, come on up and stand with me! It is my pleasure to introduce Trevon, Taleisha, beautiful Laila, and her little brother, Tyrone. Let's give them a warm Hope Valley welcome."
Everyone clapped and there were shouts of "Welcome!" "Glad you're here!"
"Trevon is a Class A Mechanic and he has opened a full-service gas station for our fair town, which is a good thing since apparently we have a driving Mountie now!"
Everyone laughed. They all had seen Lee giving Nathan lessons! And several had seen him driving with Elizabeth riding along in Lee's car.
An embarrassed Nathan gave a little wave.
"Lee tells me Trevon has already been indispensable to him, just keeping all his equipment up and working, so Trevon don't get any ideas about leaving us, because that's just not going to happen! You're here to stay! And then there's Trevon's beautiful wife Taleisha, and though I've only had the pleasure of meeting her once, you can just tell they don't come any nicer. Talented too. A seamstress with the best of them! Now, she says she can cook, but I haven't had the pleasure to know if that's true, yet she has already challenged me to a cook-off! So, Taleisha, in front of witnesses, challenge accepted. The problem is if you win, you're coming to work with me!"
Everyone laughed. One shouted out, "Taleisha, that's one you don't want to win. Cooking with the Judge can be downright painful if you catch our drift!"
"Taleisha, don't listen to them! They don't know what they're talking about! I'm a big old teddy bear in the kitchen, aren't I Nathan?"
"I wouldn't exactly say that Judge, but Taleisha, I think you can handle him! Go get him!"
And everyone shouted, "Go get him!"
Taleisha just laughed, "We'll see Judge! In fact, why don't we use our cook-off to raise money for the town?"
"Now that's a great idea! Consider it done!"
Everybody was excited, Judge Bill Avery just might have met his cooking match, and they'd all like to be there to see that!
"Now I had a little chat with Laila yesterday, and let me just tell you, you all are in for a treat tonight. This girl is not only musical, you could also say she has the voice of an angel, and she can make a piano literally talk! She's going to play a few pieces for us later on tonight, so you all are in for a real treat!" Bill gave Laila a hug.
"Now, that brings me to my boy, Tyrone. It just so happens Tyrone wants to be a Mountie, just like me…" and Bill pointed proudly to himself!
"Just like Contable Gwant," whispered Tyrone, but Bill's microphone had picked up every word.
And everybody howled in laughter!
"Just like Constable Grant? Well, Son, he's not the only Mountie in town! I was a Mountie before he was a glimmer in his Mother's eyes!"
"You were?"
"Yes, and I can just take you under my wing and show you a real thing or two!"
"But, where's your red suit?"
"Well, that was retired a long time ago. I think I wore it out chasing down all those bad guys," Bill explained.
"Did you 'tire with it?"
And that brought the house down!
"Maybe, I should have," scowled Bill covering little Tyrone's mouth. "You're as bad as Frederic!"
Tyrone just laughed at this man who was trying so hard to be gruff, but this little guy saw right through him!
Bill laughed as he scooted Tyrone off his makeshift 'Center Stage!'
'Ladies and Gentlemen, the Williams Family!"
People were already coming up to them, welcoming them and it did Nathan's heart good.
"Next, we have a real surprise for you! First, we want to say a huge Thank You to our own Lucas Bouchard for so graciously loaning us the Queen of Hearts for tonight's Festivities. But he may have had ulterior motives… Sophie, can you and Lucas come up and stand with me?"
Bill took Sophie's hand and helped her over to stand close to him. Lucas proudly stood behind her with his arm wrapped lightly around her waist.
"I was privileged just a couple of days ago to meet the Stagecoach to gather some papers, but instead this beautiful creature disembarked. Sophie, we are delighted to have you join us in Hope Valley! But as delighted as we are, that pales in comparison with Mr. Bouchard's delight! It is my distinct pleasure tonight to announce an Engagement between Miss Sophie Johnston and Mr. Lucas Bouchard, who will be getting married this Christmas Eve right here at the Queen of Hearts, and everyone is invited!"
For an instant, there was silence, as this was quite a shock, but gradually everyone started clapping and shouting their congratulations. Some made their way to the Center Stage to welcome Sophie and congratulate Lucas, offering hugs, and hearty congratulations all around to both of them.
"But, there's more, and Gentlemen you might want to hold on to your wallets because our beautiful Sophie is a fine Milliner and she is going to open her very own Millinery Shoppe right here in Hope Valley. The money loss is going to be worth it men because our women are going to be wearing hats again! And we all know there's nothing more beautiful than a woman in a hat!"
There was a buzz of excitement throughout the room, especially the female contingent. All the women adored hats, but it was too far to go out of town to get them. They were absolutely ready for their own Hope Valley Milliner! And they would put her work for sure!
"Constable Latham, Felicity can you come stand with me?"
Bill helped Felicity to his 'Stage' of sorts and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Now, most of you know Nathan's and my Colleague, Constable Aaron Latham. Well, Nathan and I have been so busy fighting criminals and such, that Headquarters has assigned our new Constable to serve permanently in Hope Valley with us. So, he's officially one of ours now! And I'm here to tell you he's one of the very best we've ever worked with! You all are in mighty good hands with Aaron on the job. Nathan and I couldn't be prouder or happier! So, let's show him a huge Hope Valley welcome."
Everyone stood and gave Aaron a standing ovation, and Felicity proudly reached to kiss him on his cheek.
"Now for the most important part, I want to introduce you to his soon to be better half. I had the pleasure of having lunch with this lovely lady yesterday and she's something else, a combination of beauty and brains. Everyone, this is Felicity Fournier, soon to be Latham! Now, this couple will be engaged as well, that is as soon as this Mountie can get enough time off to find a ring! Still no date for a Wedding, but believe me, I'll be prodding that right along! So, it won't be long, I can assure you of that!"
Everybody laughed hysterically because they all knew when Bill set his mind to something, you might as well just get it done!
"You might as well just go on and marry her now if the Judge is on the case!" someone yelled out. And that brought another round of laughter.
"But Felicity has other news that's going to interest every single person in this room, young and old. And it's big! Some time back, Mr. Bouchard was kind enough to give us a building for our Library, and we are so grateful for that. It's taught us all one thing: Hope Valley loves to read. Well, Felicity comes from a Family of Booksellers and she is opening 'The Hope Valley Book Shelf,' which will be filled with all the latest books galore for everyone to purchase and take home. Let's all make sure we support her by buying and reading! Let's make it our mission to keep this new shop open for a very long time to come. I say till it has to expand even larger than what it will originally be and that's going to be pretty big! In fact, the brand new building will be built on the big corner lot, down from the Mercantile and Café."
And that announcement got a rousing round of applause!
Bill reached to kiss Felicity and shake Aaron's hand, while the entire crowd kept applauding and yelling out Congratulations! Many came up to introduce themselves and offer congratulations for their coming engagement, welcoming both Aaron and Felicity, as well as expressing their excitement about their new Bookstore!
Hope Valley's very own Bookstore, it was really hard for everyone to take it in that this was really happening and would soon be a reality. But, boy were they excited!
Somehow it was a marker of sorts, Hope Valley was truly growing and the townspeople couldn't be more thrilled!
"One last Gentleman to introduce or in some cases re-introduce you to, because you're going to be seeing a lot more of him around town, mostly in my Office, I might add. Nathaniel, come up, so I can formally let everyone know you're one of us now!"
Nathaniel cut a striking figure as he walked to the center of the room and stood by his old friend Bill. It was very easy to see how he would have a very commanding presence in any courtroom.
"Now, Nathaniel and I go way back. And I'm here to tell you, you won't find a better man anywhere or a better attorney! In fact, although he won't admit it, he's the top criminal lawyer in the country! Well, to be accurate, I should say two countries. He started his practice in New York City and later moved here with his beautiful Elizabeth and children. I had the distinct privilege of knowing them all. Sadly, Elizabeth had to leave us a couple of years back. She was an Angel on Earth and is now an Angel in Heaven! God bless her Soul! Their children are grown and have returned back to the East Coast, but Nathaniel believes in us and he's staying here with us, where he belongs! And we're truly blessed to have him working out of our little town. But more than that, this man is my friend, my family and I'm thrilled to have him here by my side! So, let's all give Nathaniel a huge welcome and make him feel right at home!"
Immediately, Nathaniel was deluged with welcomes and well wishes, accompanying lots of hugs and handshakes. Most of the people knew him but hadn't seen him for some time, so it was a happy reunion, for sure!
"At this time, I'd like to ask all our special guests tonight to come back up to the front one last time."
It took a few minutes for everyone to find their way through the crowd, but they all soon stood with Bill in the center of the room, on his makeshift Stage.
He had taken his box off the bar, and one by one, he placed a Hope Valley medal hung on a red and white ribbon, around each person's neck, and then stated collectively, "You are now officially Hope Valley Citizens, a hearty Congratulations to all and a huge Welcome from all of us to each of you!"
Hope Valley was definitely growing by leaps and bounds, in all sorts of wonderful ways…