Chapter Ninety-Seven: The Wedding Caper Part I (The Faux Pas)
Since most of the Town's proud excursion to Regina in support of Nathan, and also to receive their own Awards, the rest of January had literally flown by for all the Inhabitants of Hope Valley.
It seemed the New Year had brought a renewed vigor to all the Town's Businesses, possibly because of the excitement over opening Sophie's new Milliner's Shoppe, which was receiving rave reviews by all the Ladies in the Town, along with the anticipation of adding both Felicity's Bookstore, and now the Academy for Inspectors.
Hope Valley was growing by leaps and bounds and that was a great source of Pride for all its Citizens.
Elizabeth, however, suspected that in addition to Pride, it was something else. Something quite different, for although it was subtle, and perhaps it could have just been based on her own current personal experience, there was a definite feeling of love in the air!
Lucas and Sophie had just gotten married at Christmas, Nathan and Elizabeth were now officially engaged, Bill and Adeline were getting married this Valentine's Eve, Aaron and Felicity were getting married in May, followed by Nathan and Elizabeth in June, and then there were the pregnancies.
Clara and Jessie were expecting and due in March, and Rosemary and Lee were definitely expecting their little Violet, but at this point, only God knew when that little Bundle of Joy would make her much-anticipated arrival! The Child was obviously following her own Mother's footsteps in the womb, making her Grand Entrance to the World a complete Surprise, in her own Time and her own Way.
February was finally here, with only a week left till Adeline's and Bill's Wedding on the Eve of the most celebrated Day of Love, Saint Valentine's Day!
Also, the Citizenry of Hope Valley had grown by at least eight, even if it was a temporary arrangement for most of that number.
Six rugged Men, gathered from surrounding towns, were based here until Spring, working on the Road between Hope Valley and Benson Hills, which was in serious need of being re-pathed. They were also tasked with removing the overgrowth of brush along the way, that had taken over several spots along the road, as well as clearing the entire path of minor debris that had taken root as seedlings along the way.
Automobile traffic was increasing, and there were times depending on the weather, that the roadway was barely passable.
Lucas was glad to have the extra Business as they were staying at The Queen of Hearts for the duration of their stay in Hope Valley. Sophie had even taken the extra step of instructing Gustav to see that the Men had packed lunches every day to take with them, which was much appreciated.
Lucas also had two other Boarders, an elderly Couple who all the Ladies in town had fallen in love with! Sophie had gone out of her way to make them feel at Home at The Queen of Hearts, and most of the Women of Hope Valley had done the same, going out of their way to make them feel comfortable in their little Town!
Adeline in particular.
She just had a soft spot for the sweet Couple as they were both so adorable together and reminded her of an Aunt and Uncle who had helped raise her when her Mother had had to work to support her as a Child. Her Aunt had their same Southern Drawl and hearing the Couple brought back wonderful memories from her Childhood.
"What can I get you for Lunch, today Mr. and Mrs. Taggard? We have a really nice special, Chicken Pot Pie, that's pretty scrumptious if I do say so myself!"
"Sounds lovely, Dear. Oscar, what would you like, Sweethart?"
"Eh?"
"Oscar! Did you leave out your Hearing Aid again? CHICK'N POT PIE!" exclaimed Mrs. Taggard very loudly.
"OH! Yes, Chick'n Pot Pie! Hits the spot for this old Man every single time, Trudie. Chick'n Pot Pie it is. Oh, and some of that Apple Ci-der that's so good!"
Adeline smiled at the way Mr. Taggard drew out the word Ci-der! Just like her Uncle had!
"Two Chicken Pot Pies, Apple Cider for the Gentlemen, and Mrs. Taggard, I know you prefer Iced Tea with Lemon, right?"
"Perfect, Dear! Thank you! Oh, but can you make that an Orange Slice? We Southerners do love our Oranges! But Sugar, we do have a favor to ask of you. Oscar and I have talked about this. We don't mean to be forward, but please call us Oscar and Trudie. No one ever uses our first names, except 'in us, and we just a-dore you! You see you remind us of our Niece, who we haven't seen for the longest time."
"Oh, I couldn't do that!" but Adeline realized again how much she loved listening to Mrs. Taggard's slow, sweet Southern drawl.
"Well, Honey, if you're not comfort'ble with that, then just call us Uncle Oscar and Auntie Trudie, just like my sweet Niece did. It…it would just mean the world to us! Oh, come on, humor a couple of old Folks!"
"Are you sure, I mean I must be a lot older than your Niece…"
"No, spectin' you'd be bout the same age. It would just help us feel so much more at Home he-re in Hope Valley. You know, we're thinkin' bout makin' this our perm'nent Home. And this will just make it feel like we have Family he-re!"
"Did you say, Niece? Now, Trudie, you know Hester Lou died more than twenty years ago, we aren't gonna see her again on this side. You're just gonna have to accept it, Honey! The Good Lord knows what He's doin'!"
"I'm so very sorry for your loss. Well, then Auntie Trudie and Uncle Oscar it is! And I'm honored! Let me go get this Order in so you two can eat before you die of starvation! That wouldn't be good advertisement at all for our little Café, now would it? And certainly not the way you treat a brand new Auntie and Uncle!"
Bill was watching from the Kitchen Doorway, "Darlin', I finished the last of the Chicken Pot Pies! What was that all about?"
"Two lonely old people who lost their Niece more than twenty years ago!"
"Must have been some Niece if they're still grieving!"
"William Avery Spencer, be nice!"
"I'm always nice, Darlin'! But right now, got to go check on my Boys!" and he reached to kiss Adeline goodbye.
"Just think, Thursday Night and we're going to be Mr. and Mrs. or Judge and Mrs. or whatever it is!" he whispered to his Love.
"Silly, it's just you and me! Together!" she grinned and kissed him once more before handing the Taggards' order to Clara. "And Bill, I can't wait!"
"Neither can I, Sweetheart!" as he turned to blow Adeline one last kiss.
"Mr. and Mrs. Taggard, you two have a real nice day!" called Bill as he walked toward the door of his Café.
And with that, the Judge closed the door behind him, not sure why he was feeling so odd.
'The Wedding is real and it's about to be here. Just three more nights. Some last-minute nerves are to be expected, right?'
But Bill wasn't at all sure exactly what it was he was feeling.
This Wedding stuff was all new to him at this stage.
The one Marriage he had experienced had been so long ago, he could barely remember the actual ceremony or the preparation for it or the feelings all that had incurred.
Maybe whatever this was, was normal. Yep, he'd go with that. Normal nerves.
The Sun's Golden Rays were starting to melt the drifts of Snow that had fallen throughout the Night, causing little trickles of icy water to float down to the Main Road.
Bill took a moment to look out over the Town, his Town.
Hope Valley was changing, he was changing. But, finally, he was ready for both.
He hadn't even realized what he had been missing till Adeline had come back into his Life.
Why in the World had they waited so long!
Was it his fear of change?
'Change can be good. Especially when it's with Addie!' he thought.
Bill suddenly knew his life was going to be everything he ever wanted it to be, with her by his side. He remembered loving, but never like this. She understood him in a way he had never been understood before, and she accepted him just like he was.
'A Man can't ask for more than that,' he contemplated. "And so beautiful, too!"
Yes, Bill had finally won the Lottery of Love, and he was not going to take that lightly.
No, Sir! or No, Ma'am! as the case might be!
He vowed right then and there to do whatever it would take to make Adeline as happy as she could possibly be. Happier than she ever thought she could be…that was his new Job.
Lost in his thoughts, he hadn't realized he had crossed Main Street and already had his hand on the Door of the Mountie Office.
"Bill, you okay?" asked Nathan as he looked up from his Desk.
"Me, oh, sure. Just thinking…"
"You ready for Thursday night? You know as Best Man, I'm supposed to be offering Support, but you don't seem to need any of that," noted Nathan. "Or do you?"
"Where's Aaron?"
"He ran over to the Mercantile. Ned wanted to talk to him and couldn't leave the store."
"Truth? I'm not sure, Nathan. I guess it's just a lot to take in. I'm happy, happier than I've ever been. But it's a change. Maybe I'm just preoccupied. Just some sort of feeling I can't shake."
"What kind of feeling, Bill?"
"Believe me, I'd tell you if I knew. You think we could do some riding this afternoon?"
Bill laughed in spite of his mood, but Nathan knew it was a nervous laugh.
"Maybe ride it out?" he added tentatively.
"Of course, Bill. Just come by here when you're ready. I've got a stack of paperwork to go through, so I'm stuck here for a while."
"Have you had Lunch?"
"No, but I wasn't planning to. Wait, do you want to have Lunch?"
"Yeah! I think so – maybe do me some good. Guess I just need to get my hands dirty with something. Caseload is light at the Office, and to tell you the truth, I'm kind of bored."
Nathan was already getting his Stetson.
"Let's go to the Saloon. You need a break from the Café! Besides Lucas yelled across the Street this morning that he needed to come by the Office later. So, let's kill two birds with one stone! Although, I guess it's really Aaron he needs to be talking to now."
"Aw, don't worry about all that. After all, Harold did say we're still a team! Hey, where's your new Uniform?"
"Let's not go there, quite yet," winked Nathan.
The Queen of Hearts was bustling with their Lunch crowd as Bill and Nathan entered to find a Table.
Bill selected the one furthest away in the back corner so they could talk privately, what about, he wasn't sure. Maybe he just needed to relax and let Nathan help him chill out! Get over these nerves or whatever they were.
"Judge, Chief Inspector, I have two Specials today: Shepherd's Pie and Fish Almondine! What be your pleasure?" asked a very proud Gustav, always enjoying his run-ins with the Judge.
"Give me the Pie!" ordered Bill, none too charitably.
"And I'll have the Fish! With Iced Tea, please," smiled Nathan.
"No Tea, make that two Beers," interjected a nervous Bill.
Gustav raised his eyebrows, made a quirky face, and left to fill their Orders, as he always personally filled the Judge's Food Orders, always wanting to put his best foot forward with his Competition.
But before Bill and Nathan could talk, Lucas came up behind Gustav and joined them.
"Sorry to interrupt, but I need your help."
"Of course, what can we do for you, Lucas?" asked Nathan.
"This morning, I had some Cash taken. It's all my fault and I feel silly for even mentioning it. I set the Cash Box down and turned to answer Gustav about something in the Kitchen. Without thinking, I left the Box open, right there on the Counter. It was such a stupid thing to do. But it was before we had officially opened. Anyway, when I got back from the Kitchen, all the Money was gone."
"How much Money?" asked Nathan.
"About Forty Dollars. It was just a bit left over from last night, along with some Petty Cash we keep on hand."
"Who was in the Saloon?" asked Bill.
"That's just it – no one."
"Well, someone was. Who would have had access? You said it was before you opened."
"Nathan, the only people who could have had access were from upstairs. I hadn't even unlocked the Front Door yet."
"Can you give us a list?"
"Sure, will make you one before you leave. I'd better get back to it. Enjoy your Lunch, Gentlemen! Oh, and it's on me today. Thanks for listening."
"I knew it was too good to be true."
"What, Bill?"
"Peace and quiet the week of my Wedding!"
"Bill, Aaron and I can handle all this."
"I know you can, but you know I can't just sit back. We'll just do it together like we always do! Hey, there's Aaron!"
Bill waved him over as he and Nathan scooted to make room for him.
"Glad I caught you two. Starved, too. What have they got?"
"Specials are Shepherd's Pie and Fish something or other!" muttered Bill with a scowly face.
"Fish Almondine," clarified Nathan. "What was up with Ned?"
"He's had a few things taken. Mostly little things, but they're adding up, and he really has no idea when they've been taken or who has taken them. I have a list of the items."
"Let me see that…Silk Scarf, Buttons, Yarn, Silver Hairbrush. Why this is a Woman!" exclaimed Bill.
"Well, you might want to wait till you see the second list…"
Bill grabbed it, "Pliers, Leather Tool Wrap, Pocket Knife, Spool of String…okay maybe not a Woman. But they're all little inexpensive things, except that Silk Scarf, Silver Hairbrush, Leather Tool Wrap, and Pocket Knife! Who'd want this conglomeration of things?"
"I don't know and Ned doesn't have a clue who's taken any of it! He hasn't noticed the things missing until after the fact."
"How has he noticed them missing then," asked Nathan.
"Mostly when he goes to straighten the shelves, then he checks what he suspects is missing against his sales for the Day. So, basically a reverse process of elimination."
"Makes sense. Actually, pretty smart to track it that way," surmised Nathan.
They stopped talking as Gustav served their food, then took Aaron's order for the Fish.
At the same time, Lucas brought them his list of current Boarders.
"Thanks for checking this. But please excuse me. It appears I'm needed again, back in the Kitchen."
Bill and Nathan quickly briefed Aaron on Lucas's missing Money, and all three looked at his list.
"Tim Scull. That name rings a bell, but I can't remember the particulars," said Nathan. "I know it wasn't very serious, a few misdemeanors, but I believe they did involve some Petty Theft. Just not sure."
"If you don't remember, we're not going to. Aaron, why don't you run a Background Check?" suggested Bill.
"Will do," promised Aaron.
Suddenly, Ned Yost came rushing through the Door of the Saloon and Gustav pointed him in their direction.
"Constable! I thought I should tell you. Half of the merchandise has been returned."
"Who returned it, Ned?" asked Bill.
"It's the oddest thing. Poor Mr. Taggard. He shuffled into the store by himself and he was so apologetic, but not at all embarrassed. I think he's been doing this for quite some time, poor Man."
"Doing what for quite some time?" asked Aaron.
"Apparently Mrs. Taggard is a kleptomaniac. It's some sort of bizarre disease. She takes things without realizing it and she had taken the items he returned. He realized it when he saw them in their Room. And left her at the Café after their Lunch so he could come to return them to me. I feel bad even saying anything, and I did ask him about the other items, but he knew nothing about those. I just felt so sorry for him having had to put up with all that for all these years."
"Ned, which items did he return?" asked Nathan.
"The Silk Scarf, Buttons, Yarn, Silver Hairbrush."
"So, it was a Woman," mused Bill. "Now, we've just got to figure out who took the items on that second list. One would assume a Man."
"But, never make assumptions," reminded Nathan.
"Nathan's right. Thanks, Ned for letting us know so quickly. That's a big help," said Bill.
"And please let us know if anything else comes up," instructed Aaron. "Come by the Office any time. I'll also drop by the Mercantile a few more times each day."
Ned nodded, and turned to get back to his work at the Mercantile, as the Men pondered what they had…
"Well, all this happens, after our new people came to town, so that gives us a good start. How do you want to divide and conquer?" asked Nathan.
"Aaron and I will divvy up the new Men. You take the Taggards."
"Done!" confirmed Nathan.
"Sorry, Nathan, we've given you the boring end of the stick!" apologized Aaron.
Nathan laughed, "You just never know! We shall see…"
The Law Men of Hope Valley spent the rest of Monday and all of Tuesday, surveilling their assigned Suspects.
Bill and Aaron even went so far as to ride out on Horseback and secretly observe the Men working on the Road to Benson Hills. They also both visited the Saloon Monday Night for a game of Cards, while secretly surveilling the Men there, in their off-hours, as well.
Bill was taking precious time away from his soon to be Bride, who was none too happy about the situation.
"I suppose I'll just have to get used to it! But, Bill this is our Wedding Week!" she had said, sadly looking like she was needing them to be together if for no other reason than moral support. "There's an awful lot to do for the Wedding still, and we've both got to pack for our Honeymoon! Don't you forget that, Honey!"
Nathan had it a bit tougher than Bill and Aaron, as his targets were in Town, and because of all the people out and about, it was much harder to observe them without being seen, but observe he did.
In the meantime, Mrs. Taggard had taken a Hat from Sophie's Milliner's Shoppe, but Mr. Taggard had promptly returned it even before Sophie had realized it was missing. Rosemary had also noticed a missing Broach, but Mr. Taggard returned that, too, before the end of Day.
Poor Ned again had to report a missing Embroidery Kit, but that also was returned by Mr. Taggard the next Day.
Nathan had also spent some time while surveilling, studying up on Kleptomania. He had even talked to Carson about the Disease, trying to understand it from all angles.
The thing that puzzled him, was that no one had ever seen Mrs. Taggard take the item, which was why he was following her very closely.
For some odd reason, he felt he needed to see her in the actual act of removing an item.
How did she do it? Where did she place it? How did she get it back to her Room at the Queen of Hearts unseen? How did Mr. Taggard not know till they returned back to their Room? Or did he know as soon as it happened?
The more Nathan thought about the situation, the more questions he had.
After observing her closely in every single Shop they visited, for they were always together, except when Mr. Taggard 'returned the stolen items,' Nathan had seen nothing unusual.
And then it hit him.
The next time he was going to watch Mr. Taggard just as closely as he had been watching Mrs. Taggard.
Sure enough, the Taggards next visited the Mercantile.
But this time, Nathan entered through the Back Door and stayed hidden in the Stockroom, where he could observe through a small Mirrored Glass.
This time, he was determined to watch both of the Taggards equally.
They had been there for about ten minutes, looking through some pieces of Clothing together.
Nathan noticed that Ned kept glancing over at Mrs. Taggard.
Which Nathan knew was a normal reaction, given what Ned knew.
But the last thing Nathan wanted to do was for either of them to spook the Couple.
And then he saw it – it wasn't Mrs. Taggard at all.
While she was looking at Fabric and Ned came to help her, Mr. Taggard started shuffling to the Counter Ned had just left, but then he quickened his step a bit, and reached into the open Cash Drawer, pocketing quite a few Bills.
He looked up, glanced around, then shuffled back to Ned and Mrs. Taggard.
Nathan had previously asked Ned to purposely leave the Cash Drawer open when the Taggards came into the Mercantile, and now, his hunch had paid off.
Nathan knew he had grounds and even a responsibility to arrest them right then, but every instinct he had told him this was much bigger than what he was observing.
No, he would wait.
There was much more to this…and if he arrested the elderly Couple now, he would likely never know.
So, he watched as the Taggards slowly started to leave, and then he quickly moved out the back of the Mercantile around to the front, staying hidden as best he could between the Buildings.
And just as he thought, the Taggards weren't about to go Home, they had more 'Business' to conduct.
But who was going to be the unlucky recipient of their 'Shopping' next?
Back they headed to the Café, but Nathan noticed something he thought was very odd.
Mrs. Taggard, who always had the sweetness of a Grandmother on her Face, turned to Mr. Taggard, and pointed her finger in his Face, scowling like nothing he had ever seen, and Nathan could clearly hear her now-familiar Southern Drawl, which was none too happy in tone.
'So not exactly the perfectly adoring Couple everyone thinks they are,' he thought. 'And just maybe not the sweet Couple everyone thinks they are.'
And what was that?
Nathan noticed something that stood out to him and made a mental note to come back to it later.
Here they were going back to the Café, where they had just eaten lunch a few hours ago, as Lunch at the Café had become a daily ritual, along with Dinner at The Queen of Hearts.
"Nathan, what are you up to?"
"Bill!" he chastised in a whisper and motioned him away.
But his cover was blown, so he started walking with Bill, after allowing the Taggards to get through the Front Door of the Café, so he could hold Bill back to brief him.
He finished with, "We have more than enough grounds to arrest them both, but the case against him is stronger. We need to catch her in the act. The only problem is, I don't want to arrest them yet. I just have a feeling this is bigger than what we're seeing. I say we hold off. They're not going anywhere."
"You take a break. I'm going to the Café anyway. I'll take it from here. Aaron's covering the Saloon tonight. No arrests, got it!"
Nathan went to check on Allie, and Bill walked on into the Café, which was rather empty as it normally was between meals.
He nodded to the Taggards as he passed their table, as they were his only Guests.
While Bill stood in the Kitchen Doorway talking to Clara, Adeline walked in, waved at him, and hung her coat on the Coat Rack by the Door.
Then she noticed the Taggards and immediately went by their Table to speak to them.
"How are you doing Uncle Oscar and Auntie Trudie? Good to see you again. Are you being well taken care of?"
"Oh, yes, Sugar, everythin's wonderful. Just havin' some Iced Tea. You know us Southerners. Gotta have our Iced Tea and lots of it! But do you happen to have any Crumpets?" asked Trudie, full of love and excitement for her new substitute Niece.
"No, we do not, but let me run back to the Kitchen and see what we do have," she smiled and continued to the Kitchen to see what she could scrounge up instead of Crumpets!
What she didn't see, was that her Uncle Oscar shuffled, very quickly, to the Coat Rack and swiftly took her Broach off her Coat, pocketing it and hi-tailing it back to his Seat, as fast as a shuffle would let him that is.
While at the same time, her Aunt Trudie moved to the front counter and reached into the Cash Register, then took as much as she could grab, scurrying as fast as she could back to her seat!
Adeline didn't see, as she was busy trying her best to find that Crumpet replacement for her sweet friends.
But the Judge did, and although he had agreed to wait, something snapped, and he marched himself out in his capacity as Sheriff, instead of Judge.
"Mr. Oscar Taggard, Mrs. Trudie Taggard, you both are under arrest for Theft and Grand Larceny! You have the Right…" and he continued calmly, but icily reading them their Rights.
The scene that ensued was dramatic to say the least, if you can imagine the sweetest elderly Couple ever, who had just adopted the Sheriff's Fiancee and soon to be Wife as their very own Niece, and said Niece rushing out of the kitchen to see her beloved new Friends being arrested by her very own Fiance, well, it was not a pretty picture.
"My Dear, whatever is he talkin' about? We've been sitting he-re drinkin' our Iced Tea. There's some horrible mistake! Sugar, do somethin', please! Help us. Oh Lord help us!" exclaimed Trudie.
"WHAT, TRUDIE?" asked Oscar, very loudly.
"WE'RE BEING ARRESTED!"
"William Spencer Avery, what have you done? These precious sweet Guests in our Café and you arrest them? Have you lost your ever-loving mind?"
"No, I have not! I'm doing my Job!" retorted Bill without directly looking at Adeline, as he was staring his Detainees down with looks of steel.
"Well undo your Job. Unarrest these sweet people right now, or I…I…I…I just can't do this. We are no longer engaged Bill Spencer, and I'm keeping my Emerald for all this mess you're putting me and this precious Couple through!"
"But Adeline, this precious Couple stole our Money and your Mother's Broach, which happens to be your favorite one!"
"My Mother's Broach? Really! You didn't. No, they didn't! I'm done. If you ever want to see me again, unarrest them right now, or else, I am never having anything to do with you ever again. I can't even stand to look at you! And yes! The Wedding is off!"
And with that Adeline grabbed her Broachless Coat and walked through the Front Door, slamming it with gusto behind her.
Bill was left in shock, along with Oscar and Trudie, but the Lawman took over, and he drew his Gun to escort his Suspects, who were actually a bit more than that, not that it mattered to Adeline, to Jail.
Out on the Street, Adeline realized she had no place to go.
She couldn't go Home, because Bill would eventually follow her there.
She looked at the time.
"School's out," so she headed to Elizabeth's.
She cried the whole Walk there.
"And I don't even cry that much!" she bawled.
When she finally reached Elizabeth's, she was truly beside herself.
She couldn't even knock on the Door, but Nathan and Allie were there and they heard her crying.
Elizabeth came running from the Kitchen.
"Adeline!" whispered Nathan.
A literal pain shot through him to see her like this, and he really didn't want the Children to see her this upset at all.
"Allie, get Little Jack and go next door to the Coulters, right now, Sweetheart. Auntie AJ's going to be okay," although Nathan was none too sure about that.
Adeline just fell into his arms as Elizabeth helped Allie get Little Jack's coat on him.
Then Elizabeth watched as Allie walked him to the Coulters, and Rosemary came to the door and let them in.
She ran back into her Living Room, where Nathan was holding Adeline, shaking his head to let her know he had no idea what this was about.
"Adeline, Sweetheart, what has happened?" asked a very worried Elizabeth.
Nathan helped Adeline, who was still violently shaking, down to the Settee and Elizabeth knelt in front of her taking both her hands into her own.
"Adeline, tell us what's wrong, so we can help you…please, Adeline!" begged Elizabeth. "Please tell us!"
"B..Bill…" and she started sobbing all over again.
"What did Bill do, Adeline?" asked a very empathetic Nathan.
And it was that empathy that helped Adeline get herself a bit more together.
"He…he arrested….he arrested…" but she just couldn't get it out.
"Oh, no! He arrested the Taggards, didn't he?" asked Nathan.
She nodded yes.
"I'll have to go. But Adeline, there are reasons he made the Arrests, although I asked him to wait. Let me go talk to him and see what's happened. You stay here with Elizabeth. Everything's going to be alright, I promise. Somehow, we're going to fix this."
Nathan bent to kiss Elizabeth goodbye and he also bent to kiss Adeline on the cheek.
"Don't worry, Adeline. We'll straighten everything out. But you need to know I don't think the Taggards are exactly the innocent Couple they appear to be. Just try not to be too hard on Bill, till we figure all this out."
"I won't…I won't have anything…to do with him…till he fixes this mess! He can just unarrest them!"
Nathan and Elizabeth exchanged a look of utter helplessness and understanding of just how serious this situation was, as Adeline continued to sob in Elizabeth's arms.
What in the World could they possibly do to help fix this…