Chapter 3:

Abigail followed Theo down the hall. He closed the door behind them. She was a little anxious to go down with him after what had happened at the cafe. When she walked through the saloon door, some people looked at her with interest. Well, more than usual. There were some of her friends present that evening. There was Jesse playing poker with Henry and Carson. There was also Molly chatting at a table with Mrs. Maxwell. She had spotted them when she opened the saloon door, but she had not looked at them once. She did not like people talking about her and especially judging her. She did not want people looking at her.

Thus, she walked into the saloon with her head held high and walked over to Lucas to ask for Theo's room number. With the emotion, she had not managed to remember the number that her former friend had given her a few hours earlier.

Lucas, having heard of the event this afternoon in the cafe between Mr. Richardson and Mrs. Stanton, gave her the number. People in the saloon hardly talked about that since the customers of the café had come out of their lunch break.

So, when he saw Abigail come ashore, he saw people staring at her and studying her every move. Seeing her climbing the stairs fueled the rumors even more. Everyone was talking to their neighbor. The only one who seemed very calm was Henry. It seemed strangely closed. He did not speak, and he was looking towards the stairs where Abigail had disappeared. If Lucas did not know Henry, he would think he was jealous of Mr. Richardson. Lucas had only been in town for a short time, but he already knew that Henry had a long story in this town. He had cheated it, and he had ended up in prison. He knew it was thanks to Abigail that he was free. He had no knowledge of their long-term relationship, but from what he saw today, they were very close.

Henry seemed very attached to her. Abigail probably did not see it, but he was always keeping an eye on her. Every meeting, every service church on Sunday, he stood where he could see her. He ate every day at Abigail's cafe. Lucas was probably the only one who noticed. For anyone who had been there years before, what Lucas was describing would be an understatement. No one paid attention to their relationship because for them it was unthinkable. It could not even occur to them.

He saw Henry smile when he was with Mrs. Stanton. A real smile. And he was still looking at her tenderly. He wished that was the way Elizabeth looked at him.

When Abigail came downstairs, she was in Theo's presence. Eyes fell on them. Abigail was very uncomfortable with all those stares. She knew that Theo was someone who attracted attention by his physique. He was still so handsome. Even more than before. So, seeing Abigail, the town mayor, on Theo's arm walking through the saloon when he was still a stranger, was surprising.

Henry watched Abigail head for the saloon door with this Mr. Richardson. She was not comfortable. He could see it. He had learned to recognize her emotions. He knew he had a thing for her. Well, that was an understatement. He did not have a crush on her, he knew that very well. But he never managed to admit it. He never could. What's the point? She would never feel anything for him anyway. She was just nice to him. She loved everyone, saw the good in everything and anything. She was a woman of faith and second chances. She had seen in Henry what she had seen in Bill, Frank, Carson, or even Jesse.

He had tried to help her since they met. But he was still clumsy, and he was also very selfish despite everything. He had made her live hell with the trial, the coffee or even with the role of mayor of the city.

Abigail was an exceptional woman. He had always known it. Even when her husband was still alive. He hated Noah Stanton. He was smart, handsome, and had a perfect wife. The first time he had laid eyes on Abigail, years ago, he had immediately fallen under her spell. But, even as a crook and selfish man, he was not one to disrespect a woman, let alone if she was married. He had never dared say more than a few words to her when he ran into her in Coal Valley. But when her husband and son died, he was really worried about her. He did not know how to show it to her, but he still had homework. He was to, by order of the company, ask the widows to vacate the lodgings which they could not afford. He was not proud of that, but at the time, it seemed like he had no choice. The Pacific Northwest Mining Company had made him its puppet. He had to follow, otherwise he was the one who ended up in prison.

He did not want to kick the women out. But it was Abigail who wrung his heart. They did not talk much at that time either, but it was her who, through her mental strength, convinced the women to work in the mine to pay their rent. Henry could not believe it when the women showed up dressed in the clothes of their late husbands. Abigail had carried the women up, and he had watched her with admiration hidden behind a face of hate and resentment.

She had believed in him. No one had ever believed in him. Not even his ex-wife or Nora. But Abigail had seen something in him that he could not see himself. She had always given him a chance. Thanks to her, he was free today, far from prison.

Seeing her walking on this man's arm after the rumor he had heard today overwhelmed him with reality. When he had heard of a rumor that the mysterious individual from last night was in fact a close acquaintance of Abigail, he had not known how to react. People were saying that Mr. Richardson and Abigail seemed like more than friends and Henry felt strange. He could not describe how he felt about that. But he did not feel as good as when Abigail was single. In recent years, seeing her with a man made him feel different from himself. He felt like he was jealous. Why had he called Nora Avery to tell her that her husband was in Coal Valley with Abigail? Why had he told her to come? For himself? Because he had always had differences with Bill? Or because he did not want Bill near Abigail? Why had he fired Frank after a closed meeting instead of bringing the entire community together? Was it to protect the community? Or to protect Abigail? Was he doing all this out of jealousy?

In addition to being an exceptional woman, she was magnificent. The only one who did not know that she was a very beautiful woman was herself. So, seeing her with this man who looked as atypical as her… It was unbearable for Henry. He did not want it to be unbearable, but it was for him.

When Abigail and the man came out of the saloon Carson – with whom he was playing poker with Jesse – spoke:

"Who was that man with Abigail? I had never seen him in town before."

"Haven't you heard the rumors?" Jesse then asked, putting an ace on the table.

"I'm not very keen on that sort of thing, you know." Carson said.

"Well, usually me neither, but it was Clara who told me what happened at the cafe that afternoon."

Henry, though pretending not to be interested in the conversation, leaned a little closer to his friends to inquire.

"What happened then?" Carson asked interested.

"Theodore Richardson would have walked into the cafe. He was looking for Abigail apparently. And, when he saw her and she saw him, they rushed into each other's arms." Jesse paused briefly in his story to watch his card game. "And then they talked quickly, apparently. Clara told me they were going to go motorcycling, or something like that."

"Abigail rides a motorcycle?" Henry could not help asking in astonishment.

"Yes. Like what, we do not necessarily know everything about the people we know." Jesse replied to Henry's question. "Then, when Mr. Richardson left the establishment, Abigail was completely confused. She rushed from the cafe with her bag to her office when she was supposed to have finished her day's work. That's why she was in the cafe this afternoon."

There was a short moment of silence that Henry decided to break not wanting to think about it anymore.

"Do you play Carson?"

Note: So, so, I wanted to thank the person who left me a comment that made me extremely happy. It motivates me to write because I always have the impression that you don't understand anything when I write in English haha! Anyway, I'm glad you like the story.

Besides, I'm so happy because Henry mentioned Abigail in the last episode. I don't have the chance to see the episodes where I live but I heard about it. Are you as excited as me?