Walt owed Lizzie Ambrose an apology.
That he couldn't deliver it was eating at him. He knew Lizzie had been more invested in their relationship than he was but he had gone along with it and even briefly thought it might work. Then Cady was hurt and guilt about what happened in Denver got him thinking he didn't deserve to move on. Atonement must be made. He had treated Lizzie badly at the hospital and gone off to Henry for help with the sun dance ceremony. It had worked, Cady woke up and was recovering. When Walt went to Lizzie's house, it was closed up and she was gone. Walt could have tracked her down but he hesitated for two reasons: He would be using his position and resources for a personal matter and, maybe more importantly, Lizzie didn't want to hear from him or she would have been easier to locate. He didn't blame her. Fear for Cady didn't excuse his abrupt dismissal of Lizzie. She had been nothing but kind. She had been the aggressor in their interactions but that last night before the election he had slept with her. It had meant more to her than to him, and word about Cady had come just hours later, but that didn't absolve him of using her.
Walt shouldn't have gotten involved with Lizzie. She had been interested, maybe a little too obviously interested, but he wouldn't have taken it further if it hadn't been for Vic. He wasn't blaming Vic either - blame rested squarely with him - but Vic had encouraged both of them which, looking back, seemed odd because she hadn't appeared to like the relationship after she helped get it started. Well, it was over now but he didn't feel good about how it ended. Lizzie had put her house on the market shortly after leaving. She'd made a lot of improvements; it was a valuable property that sold quickly. Walt had hoped she would be back to sign papers but it had all been handled through a realtor. Now he was left wondering if he should find her and apologize. He finally decided that it would make him feel better but make her feel worse and that wasn't his goal. He could admit to himself now that he had wanted that first time with a woman after so many years with Martha to be over and done with. Lizzie had been more than willing.
Walt shied away from the thought that he was also trying to distance himself from Vic. It hadn't worked anyway because her hand on his shoulder as he sat by Cady's bed had been more comfort than he wanted to acknowledge. He'd suspected from the beginning that she might be trouble and it had solidified early on when he, Vic and Ferg had gone to look at the body of that man mauled by Waffles. There was a stream to be crossed by log. Ferg went first and continued on. Walt went next and had stopped to look back and see that Vic made it across. He wouldn't have checked on Ferg or Branch and there was no need to check on Vic either. She hadn't grown up in this environment but she had already proven herself equal to climbing mountains and fording streams. He had simply been compelled to stop and make sure she was safe.
Vic was still on his mind, and Lizzie was one more regret to carry.
Vic knew it was for the best that Lizzie was out of the picture but she was sorry about her own role in pushing Walt and Lizzie together. She had been feeling ambivalent about Walt. She was married and, even though it was rough with Sean sometimes, she shouldn't be feeling more than friendly liking and professional respect for another man. When Lizzie answered her door and was so obviously taken with the sheriff, the solution seemed clear. Get them together so Walt would be off limits and Vic could quash this inappropriate crush on her boss.
Lizzie was a nice enough person but Vic didn't much care for her type. Lizzie played the 'poor little woman who needs a big strong man' card right from the start. Admiring how tall Walt was, fainting in his arms, saying she was all alone out there. Vic didn't think that was Walt's type long-term but this could be like a rebound after his wife's death. The first relationship wouldn't last but hopefully it would drag on long enough for Vic to get herself under control. So Vic told Walt that Lizzie was cute and he should ask her out.
Walt didn't bite but Lizzie wasn't a quitter. She showed up at the office and wrote a check for Walt's campaign. Walt mistakenly assumed Vic had given Lizzie the idea and he was furious with Vic and Vic was furious right back. That should have cooled her feelings but somehow had the opposite effect. By the time Lizzie stopped at the office again, with a gift for Walt, Vic was fed up with her and glad that Walt wasn't interested. Except he was. He called her and they had drinks at the Red Pony. She had stayed over at his cabin although Vic was pretty sure nothing had happened. Not then. It probably would have happened at Lizzie's house the night she called in a false home invasion if a real crime hadn't occurred. Vic was disgusted by Lizzie's sex kitten seduction ploy. And disgusted with herself for pointing Walt at Lizzie, assuming she would be a safe distraction.
Vic didn't like realizing that she was as manipulative in her own way as Lizzie was with her weak-sister act. It had been even more painful to learn that Walt had slept with Lizzie the night before the election. And then finding Cady at the side of the road and knowing how devastated Walt would be. Thankfully, Cady was all right now. And Lizzie was gone but her breakup with Walt had been bad and Vic wasn't blameless in the whole situation.
Walt bore some fault for this thing, whatever it was, between them. Vic had told Walt that he was different from her husband because he was a real man. But men are all alike in some ways. On that case with the bear Vic had caught Omar watching her ass when she bent over to tie her shoe. Later when she, Walt and Ferg had to cross a stream by log to get to the body of a man the bear had killed, she had been last on the way in but on the way back Ferg went first and Walt motioned her to go ahead of him. He had figured out he could look at her ass crossing that log. Why had it pissed her off when Omar did it but she felt more flattered than annoyed when Walt did it?
Walt was still on her mind and Lizzie was one more regret to carry.