AN: Just a little silly something from someone who doesn't care for Valentine's Day. Hope you get a laugh!
Disclaimer: The characters and places are the property of Crown Media and whoever else has the rights.
Finishing the note containing the details of a game involving the men Nathan was currently investigating, Lucas sealed the envelope. The two men were business contacts for him, representing the distributor he got his coffee beans from. Apparently the men were also suspects in a smuggling operation. What they were smuggling, he didn't know nor did he want to know. All he got from them were coffee beans. Not that Judge Avery or Constable Grant believed him when he said that. The judge had been suspicious of him from the moment he came to Hope Valley. Constable Grant's stance was that if Lucas was not in league with the men then he should have no problem helping with the investigation.
Then there was that talk about an obstructing an investigation charge. Lucas had no doubt that Judge Avery would be happy to uphold the charge if the Mountie went that route.
Lucas had decided not to take a chance. If Constable Grant wanted to know about any activities the men were involved in while in Hope Valley, then Lucas would provide that information, though he would prefer that the men just left town. However, he couldn't suggest that to the men without raising suspicion. If these guys were smugglers, then Lucas didn't want them thinking he knew about the side activity.
With that taken care of, Lucas set about writing another note. This one was of a more personal nature. After trying hard to win the affection of one Elizabeth Thornton and failing to do so, another member of the fairer sex had caught his attention. Perhaps Fiona would have done so sooner if he hadn't been so intrigued by Elizabeth. Like Abigail, the school teacher had proven that she was not afraid to stand up to him. Use to more submissive women, Elizabeth had caught his interest. She was like an untamed wild mustang. Lucas had always wanted to attempt to tame a mustang, but he had no knowledge of how to even begin. Charming women was something he was familiar with.
Except that his charms had not been enough with Elizabeth. That had become all too clear at the combined bachelor and bachelorette party for Ned and Florence. He doubted that any woman at that party would have mistaken his smooth hands for Nathan's hands. Nor had he missed the distance that Elizabeth had kept during the ceremony or the fact that she had escaped the reception to go outside with Nathan. It had been clear to him then that Elizabeth had been using him so that she wouldn't need to deal with her feelings for Nathan. Once he had made the realization, he also discovered that figuring out he was being used had not really bothered him because his intentions toward Elizabeth were not much nobler. His initial attraction to her as a challenge and somewhere along the line became a way to prove that he was better than Nathan.
Well, he was still better than the Mountie in some aspects, apparently just not in Elizabeth's eyes. He didn't know if she had plans with Nathan tomorrow, nor did he want to know. He was hoping he could convince Fiona to have a Valentine's Day dinner with him. Perhaps even move their relationship status to officially courting.
Robert came in with the mail then. The teen left Lucas' mail with him and though not properly posted, Lucas asked the lad to deliver his two notes.
"Don't mix them up," Lucas called out as Robert left the saloon.
"I won't Mr. Bouchard," Robert replied.
Robert glanced at the two envelopes in his hands. He had gone right from the Queen of Hearts to the Mounted Police office. Though it was currently empty and Robert would hold the official mail, the lad figured leaving Lucas' note would be okay. The problem was, he couldn't remember which hand he had which note in now.
Finally deciding that the note for Constable Grant was in his right hand, Robert put that note on the Mountie's desk. With that settled, he would go see if Miss Miller was in the barber shop. As he went to walk out the door though, Robert cast one last glance at the note on the desk.
Constable Grant's note had been in his right hand, right?
Robert shrugged his shoulders. He wasn't going to open the envelopes that was for sure. Certainly Mr. Bouchard had addressed the notes to their recipient even though he hadn't written names on the envelope.
Turning his back on the first note, Robert headed for the Barber shop.
Nathan reread the note from Lucas.
Would you meet me at the Queen of Hearts at 7 p.m. on Valentine's Day? I am closing down for a special night just for the two of us. Love Lucas.
There had to be some kind of mistake though what that mistake was, he wasn't sure. He certainly wasn't meeting Lucas tomorrow night for dinner. The only person he wanted to have dinner with on Valentine's Day was Elizabeth, though he had a special lunch surprise for Allie tomorrow. He planned on picking her up at the schoolhouse and taking her for lunch at the café for Valentine's day. Minnie had promised to have a meal waiting for them and had made two small heart-shaped red velvet mini-cakes for a dessert. Though he was having a proper dinner date on the holiday, Nathan wanted to be sure that Allie knew she was just as special as ever.
Heaving a sigh, Nathan headed back to the door, grabbing his Stetson from the hooks as he passed by.
Walking into the Queen of Hearts, Nathan spotted Lucas behind the bar stocking the shelves behind it. Strolling up to the bar, Nathan put the note, still out of its envelope down on the bar.
"Either you were drunk when you wrote this or this note wasn't for me."
Lucas turned at the statement. "What are you talking about?" the man asked, looking annoyed.
Nathan tapped the note, as someone else entered the Queen of Hearts. As Lucas picked up the note, the Mountie glanced over his shoulder to see Fiona stride into the saloon. Turning back to Lucas, he saw that the color had drained from the man's face. Nathan bit back a chuckle at Lucas' discomfiture. The saloon owner opened his mouth but before he could say anything, Fiona came up beside Nathan. Reaching across the bar, she slapped Lucas' cheek before telling him, "if this is how you ask a girl to dinner it is no wonder Elizabeth wanted nothing to do with you." Turning on her heel, Fiona strode from the saloon.
Nathan looked from the retreating woman to a still stunned Lucas. "Would you like me to arrest her for battery?"
Lucas glared at him.
"I guess not," Nathan commented, a smirk coming to his face. He knew he shouldn't find the incident amusing but he did. There had been more than one occasion that he had felt the urge to hit Bouchard. Seeing someone else do so did have a certain amount of satisfaction to it.
"That note is for you," Lucas said, pointing to the paper that Fiona had left.
Nathan picked it up and read.
There is a game set for 8 p.m. between the two men and some other guys they have been talking to. I will keep the table next to them free so you and Bill can eat there. Lucas.
"This is happening tonight?" Nathan asked, his tone serious once again.
"Yes," Lucas said, rubbing his red cheek.
"Good. I don't want to cancel my dinner with Elizabeth for tomorrow. Lee is letting me use his office to have a dinner for two tomorrow night and Rosemary is helping me plan it. I told her no candles."
Lucas continued to glare at him.
Nathan turned to go and paused. "After reading this, I don't blame Fiona for slapping you if she was expecting something nice for Valentine's Day," he told him. "Have a good day, Lucas," he added before finally walking out of the Queen of Hearts. As he walked down the street to Bill's office he found himself whistling, still amused by the show he had just witnessed.
"How much do you want off?"
Lucas could hear the annoyance in the feisty barber's voice. Perhaps letting her cut his hair wasn't the best idea right now but when he had come by to talk to her, Fiona had claimed to be too busy. As Kevin was the only other person in the shop, he saw it for the excuse that it was. Without hesitation, he had sat down in a chair by the wall and said that he needed a hair cut. Fiona had glared at him but had gone back to cutting Kevin's hair. When Kevin had left, he had giving Lucas a sympathetic look that had irritated the saloon owner.
"Just a trim will do," Lucas told her, trying to feign a confidence that he wasn't feeling.
Fiona nodded tersely and started trimming his hair. Lucas tried to figure out the best way to explain the note situation. Surely she could see reason. As he opened his mouth to say something, a sharp, stinging pain erupted at the top of his right earlobe. As a hand shot up, to cover it, Fiona uttered the most insincere apology he had ever heard. Lucas was sure she had done it on purpose but he sure wasn't going to accuse her. She was mad enough as it was.
"Mistakes happens," Lucas replied, accepting the white handkerchief she held out to him. "Which is what happened with the note. You got the note meant for Nathan and he got the one meant for you. I would hate it if you ever had dinner with Bill."
Fiona glared at him skeptically. Lucas held out the note Nathan had brought back to him. Taking it, she began to read it, a smile taking place of her scowl.
"You would close down the Queen of Hearts on a Friday night, just for me?" Fiona asked.
"You are the Queen of my heart, my dear," Lucas told her, with as much charm as he could muster seeing as he was sitting in a barber shop, holding a handkerchief over his bleeding ear.
"I almost really do feel sorry for nicking your ear," Fiona told him. "Faith gave me some yarrow powder for just this eventuality after I nicked poor Mike's ear."
Lucas felt jealousy bubble up at her mention of Mike. Apparently, his feelings for Fiona were already deeper than he thought.
The jealousy melted away as Fiona started to tenderly treated his ear with the yarrow powder. Once she was done, she placed a kiss on his temple.
"Let me finish the hair cut now," Fiona told him. "I don't want to be reminded of giving a bad haircut during dinner tomorrow," she said, placing the jar of yarrow powder on the counter and picking up her scissors.
The comment made Lucas wonder what his hair cut would have looked like if Fiona hadn't forgiven him. As he looked at her reflection in the mirror, Lucas realized he didn't really care. He would risk bad haircuts and nicked ears for this woman any time.