Chapter 11:

Several days had passed since her date with Theo and her discussion with Henry. Since Henry had kissed her. For a moment she thought she was dreaming, he had told her that he loved her, that he was in love with her. That he had been since he had seen her for the first time. How was that even possible? She would like to know everything. Let him tell her everything. She constantly wanted to be with him. Unfortunately, now, that was not possible. She needed to talk to Theo. And she did not know how the townspeople would react. Would this impact her work? Her place as mayor? Would Cody suffer from this relationship?

Despite his development, the townspeople still did not trust Henry. Some were his friends. He had grown very close to Carson and Lee, for example. He had been able to put his differences aside with Jesse since the trial that had been held because of the discovery of oil deposits in the lands of Hope Valley.

How would her friends react when they learned that she and Henry were madly in love? Madly in love… Abigail surprised herself by expressing such a thought. But it was no less real. She had been madly in love with Henry for a while now. But she had never admitted it to herself, of course.

She had seen Henry since their discussion. He had come to eat at the café, she had met him in the street and at the mercantile. Each time, he greeted her with a more focused look than usual. Before, his gaze was away from her but now he was looking at her with a slight smile and Abigail was blushing.

She had met him at the saloon to discuss the layout of the city with the merchants, including Henry. She had tried not to look at him. She was afraid of melting if she met his gaze. She was the mayor, she had to save face.

But in the meantime, there had been Theo. Every morning he came to pick her up at the café to accompany her to her office. Then, he would go for a walk and paint the mountains of Hope Valley the rest of the day for his next exhibition. Abigail was heartbroken. She had loved Theo when they were young, but that was over. She had to tell him, but she could not bring herself to do it. She could see that he loved her. She did not want to hurt him.

That morning, Abigail headed straight for her office after having breakfast. She had things to do that could not wait until the afternoon. When she opened the door, Henry was waiting for her, sitting on the desk.

"Henry?" Abigail closed the door behind her. "What are you doing here?"

Henry stood up and walked over to Abigail to pull her into a hug.

"I can't stand seeing you anymore without being able to be close to you."

"Henry…" Abigail sighed happily.

She in turn hugs Henry. He kissed the side of her head and looked into her eyes.

"If you're trying to find out if I spoke to Theo, I don't…"

"No, Abigail. I'm not rushing you, do it when it suits you and when you feel it. I'm not here to talk to you about that. Just to be with you." smiled Henry.

Abigail felt her heart melt at her words. Henry was completely adorable with her.

"I am afraid of hurting Theo." the town mayor confessed to Henry.

"I know. It will hurt him but try not to give him too much hope."

"Yes, you are right."

Abigail looked Henry in the eyes, then she looked at his mouth and stepped forward a tiny bit. Then she pulled back and looked down. Henry immediately saw what Abigail wanted but decided to tease her a little.

"What is happening?"

Abigail looked up.

"Nothing."

"You are sure?"

"Yes..." Abigail hesitated. "Yes of course."

"Ha… Too bad."

Abigail made a surprised face which amused Henry. He then slowly approached and kissed her. Abigail, satisfied, took her face directly in her hands. They kissed passionately for the first time. They had only kissed very softly and delicately so far. And now he was kissing her like a god, stroking her neck.

Suddenly, the office door opened to let Bill and Elizabeth in. The couple jumped as they pulled apart. Then there was an extremely awkward moment of silence. Elizabeth was completely in shock. She even thought she had dreamed. She had just seen Henry and Abigail in a passionate embrace. She was frozen in place watching them, while Abigail and Henry were also paralyzed watching the two intruders who had just arrived.

Bill saw red. Completely red. Seeing Henry Gowen, THE Henry Gowen, kiss Abigail drove him crazy. He might have paid what he owed for all his crimes, but Bill could not bring himself to see him as anything other than a criminal. He had hurt Abigail so much. When he arrived in Hope Valley, the widow was completely devastated. Elizabeth was her only pillar at the time. However, Gowen continued to put obstacles in her way. So, seeing him now so close to Abigail and holding her arm right now after catching them kissing drove him crazy.

Bill approached Henry and as though stuck on an automatic button, punched Henry in the face, causing him to collapse to the ground. Abigail and Elizabeth cried out in surprise at Bill's gesture, who backed away, immediately regretting what he had just done. But he also felt immense satisfaction at the image of Henry on the ground holding the right side of his face. But, as Elizabeth walked towards Henry, Bill lost his satisfaction when he saw Abigail kneel quickly beside Henry. He saw a tear roll down the café owner's face as she cupped Henry's face in her hands.

"Henry! Henry! Are you okay?! Abigail panicked.

Henry smiled weakly.

"It's okay…it's okay Abigail." Henry caressed Abigail's cheek feverishly, then her hand.

Abigail turned back to Bill.

"But what possessed you!" exclaimed Abigail mad with rage.

The town mayor turned to Henry and gently kissed his face, as his cheek bled.

"We'll take you to the infirmary, Henry, okay?"

Abigail started to get up to pull Henry up with her when the latter stopped her.

"No…no I'll be fine. It'll be fine Abigail, don't worry…"

"Yes… Yes…"

"I'm going to get Carson." the teacher suddenly declared, anxious not to stay longer in the tense room.

Abigail got up after a moment and walked over to Bill.

"You are completely ill. Why did you do this?"

Bill still was no gritting his teeth. He was brooding right now. He did not answer Abigail's question.

Elizabeth walked in with Carson and Faith, exhausted from their run from the infirmary to the mayor's office.

Carson was holding his briefcase in his hands as he walked into the office with Faith. He saw Henry on the ground with a bleeding cheek and went straight into doctor mode. Henry had become his friend over the past few months. They spent quite a bit of time together playing cards in the saloon with Jesse. Henry had changed, he had become kind and pleasant, although still a little shy, self-effacing, and sarcastic.

"What happened?" asked Faith, observing the scene: Abigail and Bill standing face to face and Henry on the ground with his cheek bleeding.

"He… er…" Elizabeth hesitated.

"I hit him." Bill suddenly declared, still cold.

Carson – who had lifted Henry to the couch in the office – and Faith turned to the town sheriff, utterly surprised.

"Why did you do that?!" Carson asked in utter incomprehension, while Henry was still holding his cheek straight with his hair hanging forward.

"Because he was kissing Abigail."

Everyone in the room suddenly looked up at each other. Carson and Faith were caught off guard and looked between Bill, Elizabeth, Abigail, and Henry, but said nothing.

After a while, while Faith was cleaning Henry's wound and Carson was preparing the needle and thread to stitch up the wound, Bill exited the room. He did not want to stay, he had no business there, even though he had hurt Henry. Elizabeth went out to follow Bill.

"You're going to have to sew it up, Henry, it's going to hurt a little bit. Do you want painkillers?" Carson asked.

"No, no, thank you."

Abigail finally walked over to Henry. At first, she did not dare in view of the presence of Faith and Carson. But, ultimately, after Bill's revelation, why would she stay away? There was no reason.

She walked around the sofa and stood behind Henry. She gently stroked his hair and he tried to turn his head towards her, despite his hurt. He tried to smile at her and he held out his hand to take his love's.

Faith and Carson looked at each other, still surprised, but did not say a word. Carson began stitching up Henry's wound while Faith held the compresses.

Note: It's getting hot for Abigail haha! What could Bill do after that? Thank you for the last review I received! :)