AN: Hello folks! No I didn't forget about the update today, I simply ended up working about and hour and a half later than was originally planned. However, here is your update for today!
Bill stood at the counter of the kitchen in the apartment above his office cutting up the ingredients for the dinner he was preparing. He was hoping that Abigail would not consider the roast he was preparing as too ordinary. It was however, one of his best dishes. It was also one that he had done so many times he was confident that he would not mess it up - even if he was a bundle of nerves. He had often heard people speak of feeling like they had butterflies in their stomach. He had never understood that expression before.
He understood it all to well today.
This was his second chance with Abigail. Bill knew that you did not get many second chances in life. He also knew that Abigail would not give him a third. If he messed things up this time, then that was it. She had made that clear last night.
Bill did not want to mess things up.
"The table is set," Clara said, as she breezed into the room. "I also put a couple of vases of fake flowers up around the room to soften the place up. It definitely does not look like a bachelor's dining room right now."
"Thank you, Clara," Bill said. He placed the knife down on the cutting board and turned to her. "I may be a good cook but interior design is not my forte."
Clara snorted. "That is for sure," she commented with a smile. "Your dining room is acceptable for a dinner date though now," she assured him.
"I appreciate it," Bill told her, leaning in and giving her a fatherly kiss on the cheek.
"I almost feel like I am a child who is helping to get her divorced parents back together," Clara commented with an amused look on her face.
"Well, at least I know you like me," Bill commented. "I am a little worried about how Cody might react. Becky is doing well out on her own, but any relationship with Abigail is going to affect Cody."
"I think that as long as you make Abigail happy, Cody is going to be okay with what happens. I have noticed since they came back to Hope Valley that Cody is very protective of Abigail."
"Just like a good son should be of his mother," Bill replied.
"You are going to change your shirt before your dinner, right?" Clara asked.
"I was planning too, yes," Bill told her. "I am also going to put on a tie. Do you think I need a suit jacket?"
"I do not think the suit jacket will be necessary," Clara told him. Reaching out she plucked a stray carrot peeling from his shirt. "I suggest leaving the food either in the kitchen or on the plates though," she teased gently.
"Thanks for the advice," Bill said wryly.
"Is there anything else I can help you with?" Clara asked.
"No. I think I have everything else under control. You have been a big help already, Clara. Thank you."
"You are welcome," Clara said. "Now, I will head back to the café and make sure that Abigail is not stressing out over her appearance tonight."
"She'll look beautiful no matter what she wears," Bill commented, even as he returned back to his dinner preparations.
"I am sure you would think so. However, my goal is to make sure she feels beautiful when she comes over here. Good evening, Bill."
"Good evening, Clara," Bill replied, already back to cutting things up for the roast.
An hour later, Clara was standing behind Abigail as she stood in front of her mirror. Abigail had chosen a dark red dress. The dress had a drop waist, from which a layer of chiffon a shade lighter than the rest of the material draped over the skirt. A vine of small white flowers found its way from shoulder to shoulder. As the dress buttoned up the back, Clara had buttoned it for her mother-in-law before starting to work on her hair style.
Though Clara planned on leaving Abigail's hair down, she was currently fastening the combs that Bill had given her the day before to pull back the sides.
"Are you sure the combs are not to fancy for this particular dress?" Abigail asked nervously.
"Your dress looks lovely. The emerald is a lovely accent for the red of the dress. Besides," Clara said as she fastened the second comb in Abigail's hair and resting her hands on the older woman's shoulders. "I think you need to wear the combs that Bill gave you tonight. It will mean a lot to him."
Abigail nodded even as she wrung her hands together. "This is ridiculous, Clara. I am a grown woman, not some young maiden. I should not be feeling butterflies at my age. Butterflies for Bill Avery no less. I've known Bill for almost nine years now!"
Clara gave Abigail's shoulders a gentle squeeze. "I do not think the butterflies care how old you are. You love Bill. You want tonight to go well. That is why you are feeling the butterflies and there is nothing wrong with feeling that way. If he wasn't so old I would have probably been attracted to him myself."
Abigail reached up and placed her hands on top of the hands that rested on her shoulders. "Thank you, Clara," she said as she gazed at their reflections in the mirror. Abigail took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I am ready for this," she stated. Abigail knew she was trying to convince herself of it more than Clara.
"You are," Clara echoed. "Do you want to wear any jewelry?"
Abigail hesitated, thinking the question over. She finally decided to leave it as it was, which were simple little pearls in her ears. Pearls that Noah had given her for their fifth anniversary.
"No. I will save jewelry for if there is a second date and he takes me out to dinner."
Clara laughed. "I have a feeling there will be a second date if Bill has anything to say about it," she said as she moved to retrieve the heavy cloak that Abigail planned on using tonight.
Abigail put the cloak on and then both women headed down the steps. Cody was waiting at the bottom of the steps. Though he had his winter coat on, Abigail noticed her son was wearing his dress slacks and dress shoes. Cody held his arm out to her as she reached the bottom of the steps.
"May I escort you to dinner, Mom?" Cody asked politely.
Abigail smiled, touched by the gesture. "You most certainly may," she replied, stepping from the last step and slipping her arm through Cody's.
Mother and son left the café and headed down the street toward the Office of the Judge. They had not gone far when Abigail decided to ask Cody directly how he was feeling about all of this.
"How do you feel about me seeing Judge Avery, Cody?"
Cody did not answer right away. Abigail was about to prompt her son when he finally spoke. "I like Judge Avery. He's always been nice enough to us children, so if you enjoy spending time with him, then I am okay with that."
Abigail smiled. "Good," she replied. "You know no one will ever take your place in my life right?"
Cody smiled. "I do," he told his mother. "However, after you and Judge Avery have a few occasions to spend time together, do you think the three of us could go out to dinner some time?"
Abigail chuckled. Though it didn't happen much, Cody had enjoyed going out to eat on occasion. "I am sure Judge Avery would be agreeable to that," she told him.
Mother and son continued the walk in silence after that. Reaching the office, they made their way to the steps in the back that led up to the apartment above the office. Standing on the landing before the door, Cody knocked on the door. It was not long before Bill was answering the door.
"Hello, Abigail," Bill said. Letting his gaze fall to her young escort, "Hello, Cody," he added.
"Hello, sir," Cody replied. "You do plan to escort my mother home after the date, don't you sir?"
Abigail bit her lower lip to keep from laughing, though she found her son's question quite endearing.
Though Bill worse a slight smile, his tone was serious as he answered the boy's question. "I most certainly will," he told Cody. "Is there a certain time that I should have her home by?"
"No, sir. Whenever she would like to come home, is fine."
"Very, well," Bill replied. He extended a hand to Abigail. "Would you like to come inside out of the cold?"
Abigail nodded in reply. Slipping her arm from Cody's, she leaned down and kissed her son's cheek. "Be careful going home," she told him.
"I will. Have fun tonight, Mom," Cody told her before heading down the steps.
Abigail took the hand that Bill held out to her and stepped into the apartment. The aroma of dinner immediately reached her nose.
"That smells wonderful," Abigail commented, as she removed her cloak.
"I hope you think it tastes good as well," Bill told her as he took the cloak from her. Bill hung it up and turned and got his first good look at Abigail's dress. "You look lovely," Bill told her.
Abigail felt the heat rise in her cheeks, and her heart skip a beat at the compliment. "Thank you," Abigail replied. "You look very nice yourself, Bill."
"Shall we sit down to dinner?" Bill suggested, extending a hand out to her.
Abigail placed her hand in his. Between the butterflies in her stomach and the pounding of her heart, she felt like a school girl again. She had forgotten what this felt like. As she let Bill lead her to the table, Abigail tried to get control of her emotions.
However, as Bill pulled out a chair at the table for her, Abigail noticed two roses placed next to the silver, domed cover keeping the plate of food warm. The two roses were perfect in their simplicity and somehow were more touching than a full bouquet of roses would have been.
Bill felt relief that the night went smoothly. Even the conversation had flowed easily as they enjoyed their meal. It made Bill wonder why he had not gotten up the neve to ask her out to dinner long before this.
"Thank you for giving me a second chance, Abigail," Bill said sincerely as he walked her home later that night. He had his hand around her shoulder's, and Abigail's arm was around his waist.
"I asked you for honesty, so I think it is only fair that I am honest with you. I have wanted to give you a second chance for a while," Abigail said. "Since before I left Hope Valley, actually, but I was convinced you had moved on. Especially when Elizabeth wrote and told me that Molly was showing interest in you."
Bill laughed. "I will admit that I found the attention flattering. However, while Molly is easy to hold a conversation with, there was no spark there, for either one of us." Bill paused. "I wish now I had asked for a second chance before this. There are a lot of moments that we missed that we cannot get back."
"I think I would rather focus on the moments that lie ahead of us now," Abigail told him.
"That works too," Bill replied, as Abigail leaned her head against him.
"I think when we love someone, finding a way to give them another chance, no matter how badly they hurt us, stems from that emotion. It is not just the good in that person that we love but we love their flaws and imperfections."
"I guess I have the easier time when it comes to that," Bill commented. "I am full of flaws and imperfections. You may have a hard time looking past them."
Abigail swatted at him playfully. "Do not sell yourself short, Bill Avery. You have a lot of redeeming qualities even if you do try to hide them under a bunch of gruffness. Do not think I have not noticed all you have been doing for Nathan and Ally these last few weeks."
"Yeah, well despite the fact that I put him in jail on his first night in town, Nathan has become very special to me."
Abigail laughed. "There is a sentence I will probably never hear again," she commented.
Bill shrugged. "What can I say? I gained respect for him when he started putting together the pieces of the stage coach robbery together. However, the moment Ally walked into the office looking for her Uncle Nathan, I knew there was more to the man than I was seeing. Not many young, single, Mounties are going to take on the challenge of trying to raise a young girl on their own and still do that job. I suppose even the being 'sort of nice' comment was probably a generous description of how I treated him when he first came to town."
"You did throw him in jail for basically doing his job," Abigail said.
"You were not even in Hope Valley at the time and you are not going to let me live that down are you?"
"Maybe some day," Abigail told him lightly.
Bill shook his head. Though to be honest it wasn't one of his finest moments.
"Anyway," Bill said, changing the subject, "These last couple of years, Nathan has started to seem kind of like a son to me. He had a hard life before coming to Hope Valley and things have not exactly been easy for him since coming either. Anything I can do to make things a little easier for him, then I will gladly do it."
They had reached the café by now, and standing outside the door, Abigail shifted so that she was facing Bill. She now had both arms around his waist, and she felt Bill's hands on the small of her back.
"Are you getting soft in your old age, Bill Avery?" Abigail asked, a huge smile on her face.
Bill shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe I am just realizing that I do not want to be alone in my old age after all," he replied.
"I do not think you need to worry about that," Abigail told him. "Especially, not if I have say in it."
"I will most certainly let you have a say in it," Bill told her leaning in, and stealing a kiss good night.
As he pressed his lips against hers, Bill felt Abigail return the kiss almost immediately. He pulled her closer against him as he deepened the kiss.
Both were out of breath when they finally did break away. Still holding one another tightly, Abigail rested her head on Bill's chest. Bill then laid his cheek against the top of her head. Neither of them felt the cold of the night as they stood there on the boardwalk outside of the café.
"Could you and Cody join me for dinner tomorrow night?" Bill asked. "We could eat here at the café, as I do not think taking Cody to the saloon to eat would be appropriate."
"I would like that," Abigail said. "And Cody has already expressed a desire for the three of us to have dinner together, though I think he probably had somewhere else other than the café in mind when he said out to eat."
"Well, perhaps we could make plans to go to Benson Hills for dinner sometime. However, I do not want to wait that long to see you again."
"You see me every day, Bill," Abigail gently reminded him.
"You know what I mean," Bill replied.
Abigail laughed softly, lifting her head so she could look up at him. "I do," she told him softly. "Now that I got my second chance, I want more than ever for Elizabeth to find the courage to take a chance at finding her second chance," she confessed.
"Well, I think she is going to have to take matters into her own hands if she wants another chance with a certain Mountie."
Abigail looked up at him. "You do not think Nathan still loves her?"
Bill shook his head. "I know for a fact that Nathan never stopped loving her. I also know that she already broke his and Ally's heart once. While Nathan might risk his own heart again, he will not risk Ally's again. If anyone is going to take a leap this time, it is going to have to be Elizabeth. The two of them would be good for one another. Ally and Little Jack would benefit from having them both as parents. I also do not want to see Nathan get his heart broken again."
"And what about Elizabeth?"
"Elizabeth is still guarding her heart. I think she just needs to find the courage to give it to someone again and she could be very happy," Bill said. He gazed down into Abigail's eyes. "I realize that is not easy to do, but I have recently learned how pleasant it can be."
Abigail's cheeks turned redder at the comment. Bill placed a short kiss on her lips before pulling back and speaking again.
"I should probably let you go inside before Cody comes looking for you," Bill commented.
Abigail laughed. "Good night, Bill. Thank you for the wonderful dinner."
"Thank you for sharing it with me," Bill told her, finally releasing her.
Reaching out, he opened the door for her. With a final exchange of good-byes, Abigail went inside and Bill started the walk back to his apartment alone.