Chapter 19:

Abigail had finally managed to get out of her office at the end of the day. She was so behind on her files that she had to spend all day there. She had not really been very serious lately with everything that had happened in her life. And above all, her relationship with Henry prevented her from really concentrating. Every time she tried to think of land and citizen property, she somehow managed to think of Henry. He was so kind to her, and he looked at her with so much love that sometimes she felt like she was dreaming. She was afraid of waking up one fine day and realizing that she was only having a nice dream.

When Abigail finally got to the main street to go back to the cafe, she noticed that people seemed to be strangely avoiding her. They seemed to glare at her as they walked past her. Usually she received greetings, nods, smiles and respectful and sometimes admiring glances from her citizens. But today something was wrong.

When she finally arrived in the café – having felt that the street had lengthened under the eyes of the others – she found it completely empty. Not a single customer was present.

She hung up her coat and looked around, not finding Clara either.

"Clara?" she called in a confused voice.

She suddenly saw Elizabeth emerge from the cafe counter to the left of the door that separated the kitchen from the room where the tables were.

"Elizabeth?"

"Abigail…" the young teacher grimaced as she approached her friend.

"What is happening? Where is Clara? And why are there no customers? I had the impression that the citizens in the street were staring at me…" Cody's mother began to panic.

"Abigail. Abigail calm down." Elizabeth pushed her hands on Abigail's forearms.

The mayor of Hope Valley looked her in the eyes as her friend seemed reluctant to speak to her in embarrassment. Then suddenly, everything became clear. How could she not have thought of that before?

"They know..." Abigail turned white.

She took a chair by the kitchen table and sat staring at the floor, stunned.

"They know about Henry and me."

Elizabeth in turn took a chair and sat down slowly next to her best friend.

"I'm sorry, Abigail." said the latter sadly.

Abigail did not know what to say anymore. She had tears streaming down her face.

"How… how did they know?"

"It's..." Elizabeth hesitated.

"It's what?" Cody's mother insisted.

"I 'learned' it from Mrs. Pendrick. But she told me that… that it was Florence telling anyone who would listen that she saw you and Henry kissing last night."

Abigail lifted her head to look at her friend.

"Florence…" Abigail was seeing red. "It was Florence who told everyone Henry and I were together?!"

Abigail stood up abruptly and headed for the door.

"Abigail! Calm down! Where are you going?" Elizabeth stood up in turn to hold her friend by the arm.

"I'm going to settle her score with this shrew!" Abigail blurted out in a rage.

Elizabeth looked at her dumbfounded friend. She was about to tell her that she was acting out of anger and that she would regret it when the door flew open.

"Abigail!"

Cody's mother turned around and saw Henry who seemed to be fidgeting.

"Henry!" she exclaimed before hugging him.

A hug that Henry returned firmly.

"Abigail! I think everyone knows about us."

"Yes, I know." Abigail looked down.

"I'm going to leave you..." Elizabeth said softly, thinking that Henry's presence would calm Abigail down.

When the door closed behind Elizabeth, Abigail continued:

"I have had an idea. We should take our distance for a while."

Henry took a step back.

"Only for a few days. This way the citizens will think it was just a stupid fake rumor." Abigail explained, looking at Henry who had an unreadable expression on his face.

"Are you ashamed of me that much?" Henry asked with a heavy heart.

"No…no, Henry…" Abigail approached Henry, but he backed away again, waving his hand to signal her not to come any closer.

"You know what? You are right. We would do well to distance ourselves. But not for just a few days." Henry turned and headed for the customers' door.

"Henry! No! Wait." Abigail cried out unable to move from where she was or catch up to him.

"Henry! You can't do this to me. If you hadn't done all its horrors to the citizens of our city, we wouldn't be here! You have no idea how people looked at me today! They think I'm unconscious!" Abigail snapped; her cheeks flushed with anger.

"Yes okay. I understand." Henry said sarcastically, his cheeks as red as Abigail's. "I think it's not just a break that we're both going to take."

Henry came back to Abigail before declaring:

"In the end, nothing changed Abigail. No matter how long we stay together or not you will always have the same opinion of me. Why are you pretending to love me? Is it to give you a clear conscience? So that you can tell yourself once in your bed at night that you have helped some poor, lost, criminal soul? Well, I'll tell you one thing Abigail: your pity, I don't want it."

Henry watched Abigail cry watching him as he let his anger explode, completely offended by the words of the one he loved more than anything.

"I was right a few years ago. You refuse to admit that you feel morally superior to everyone around you. And you can't stand people not liking you. You want me to love you, but not at the cost of the citizens turning away from you." Henry finished.

He continued to stare at the woman in front of him who said nothing and just stared at him with teary eyes.

"So, I think it's over for real if that's what you think of me." Abigail said in a shaky voice.

Henry nodded for a few moments before turning around sharply and heading for the exit of the cafe. He felt too close to cry for the first time since he was a child. He could not afford such a thing. He left the cafe and quickly headed home, not even noticing the disapproving looks from the other citizens.

Note: Looks like it's going wrong. Will they be able to reconcile? It seems complicated.