"He's gone," Carson said, stepping out of the wagon.
Elizabeth's heart skipped a beat. Not again. How could this be happening to her again? Nathan had finally been able to work up the courage to ask her out on a date and now she'd never be able to go. She was almost in tears when she sensed a presence behind her, Elizabeth whipped around and saw a man in red serge. Nathan. He was okay. She instinctively ran to him. Wrapping him up in a tight embrace. She closed her eyes and savored the moment her feelings for the man were more clear than ever.
When they finally released each other she realized that they were still in the middle of the road. Her cheeks flushed. Had she really just hugged the mountie in front of the whole town? And had it really felt that good to be in his arms? As they made eye contact Nathan nodded his head towards the school to get away from the gathering crowd. When they sat down in the back row and Nathan finally spoke. "It could have been me."
Elizabeth clung to him tighter. Selfishly glad it wasn't his body in the back of that wagon. "I thought I had lost you."
"When she pointed the gun at us all I could think about was getting home to you, Allie, and Little Jack. I could see our future flash before my eyes," he confessed.
"That's exactly how I felt when Carson said that the mountie had passed away. I realized that you could have died without knowing how I feel about you." Elizabeth told him looking into his glistening blue eyes.
"I don't want you to make any big decisions right now, Elizabeth. Take some time to collect your thoughts. This can wait a few more days. Right now we need to get home to our children. I don't want them to worry about us."
Elizabeth nodded in agreement. "And when you're ready to talk about what happened today just let me know. I'll always be here for you, Nathan."
"Thank you Elizabeth," he replied sincerely.
As Nathan knocked on the door of Opal's row house he hoped that Allie hadn't heard about what had happened already. He wanted to be the one to tell her so that he could give her accurate information. He was relieved when Opal's mother opened the door. He wanted to talk to her first. "Hello Constable," she greeted him. "I'm so glad that you're alright. I haven't told Allie anything but I heard for myself when I was in town."
"Thank you," Constable Grant replied. "Where is Allie?"
"She's upstairs. I'll let her know you're here." She told him as she went up the stairs to retrieve his niece.
What was he supposed to tell Allie? He knew he had to tell her the truth but he didn't want to worry her. Right as he was trying to plan out what to say she flew into his arms. "Uncle Nathan! I'm so glad you're back." The young girl went on to tell him all of the fun things she had done with Opal that day. She came to a stop when she realized that her uncle wasn't paying attention. "Is something wrong Uncle Nathan?" she asked him.
"Everything is okay now," he comforted her. "Why don't we go home and talk there?"
"Okay," Allie said, concerned.
Nathan turned to Opal and her mother, "Thank you for taking care of Allie. I appreciate it." They smiled and waved goodbye.
He wrapped an arm around his niece and led her home. When they got to their row house he sat down on the sofa and patted the space next to him. When she had settled next to him he started to tell her about what had happened. "Sweetie, there was a problem during the prisoner transfer. The criminal's sister blocked off the road and pointed a gun at us." Allie drew in a sharp breath. "I coaxed her into letting go of the gun but before I could take it the other mountie had drawn his weapon. That scared her and she pulled the trigger. Unfortunately, the other mountie didn't make it. Everyone else was fine and she and her brother are locked up in jail now." He said as he wrapped his arms around Allie holding her close. They sat in silence for a few minutes, allowing her to soak it in until Nathan asked if she was okay.
Nodding, she said "I'm just glad that you aren't hurt, or worse. I love you, Uncle Nathan."
"I love you too." He said as he held the girl in his arms. He couldn't imagine his life without her.
Elizabeth was walking down main street with Little Jack in her arms. Her mind was still reeling over what had happened the day before. She still wasn't sure if she could be involved with a mountie again. She scanned the road in front of her. Bill was making his way to the cafe. Some of Elizabeth's students were playing with a ball in the road, excited to have the afternoon off. She smiled at them as she headed towards the mercantile to pick up ingredients for dinner. She was about to enter the building when she heard a familiar voice call out her name.
"Abigail?!" She said in shock as she saw her friend. She ran towards her still holding on to Little Jack. As they embraced she was so excited to see her best friend again tears were streaming down her face. When they released each other she could see that Abigail was crying too. "I'm so glad you're back Abigail. And Cody," she said acknowledging the young boy who had been standing off to the side. "We all missed you!" She told him as she wrapped her arms around him. Abigail reached out to hold Little Jack.
"Oh my goodness he's so big," Abigail said. "He was just a baby when we left to go take care of my mother."
"How is your mother?" Elizabeth asked concerned.
"She's doing so much better," Abigail said happily. "She's with a family friend right now and has a doctor's appointment in a few days. If all goes well they will bring her here to live in Hope Valley!"
"That's great news!" Elizabeth said, matching Abigail's excitement. "I can't wait to meet her."
It wasn't long before everyone in town had heard of Abigail and Cody's arrival and had run over to see them. Cody was thrilled to see his friends again, especially Robert. He had enjoyed spending time with his grandmother but he had missed all of his classmates.
Abigail was delighted to see all of her friends. Of course, they had been writing letters back and forth but the postal service was slow where she was. Abigail was especially excited to see Clara. She had sent her a wedding gift but hadn't been able to attend the celebration. "Clara!" She called out as she wrapped her daughter-in-law in her arms.
"Abigail!" Clara said just as thrilled to see her. "I'm so glad you're back."
As Clara turned to greet Cody, Rosemary came running down the street dragging Lee along. "Abigail? Cody?!" She said delightedly as they got to their friends. "I'm so glad you're back in town," she said while hugging them. "And of course, we'll throw a welcome home party. I'll see if Bill can do the cooking, Elizabeth can have the kids make banners, and I can provide the music. There's so much to do already!" She said talking a mile a minute.
"Rosie, let's slow down a little bit. I'm sure that Abigail and Cody are tired from their trip." Lee interrupted.
"We are," Abigail mouthed a silent thank you to Lee. "But if you want to have a celebration we would love to see all of our friends again. Maybe this weekend after Cody and I are settled in?"
"Perfect, I can't wait to catch you up on everything that's happened," Rosemary said excitedly.
Abigail was exhausted by the time she had reunited with every citizen of Hope Valley but she didn't mind. She was just so happy to be back. Bill had brought Cody to his old room to get some sleep while she had walked home with Elizabeth and Little Jack. After parting with them at their row house with the promise to have a much-needed sit-down conversation in the morning she walked back to the cafe. There was only one person who she hadn't seen yet. As she got to her cafe there he was. Standing on the steps waiting for her to return was Henry Gowen. "Henry!" She called out thrilled.
They took a walk by the pond while Henry filled her in on the business side of Hope Valley. While no one had taken over her position as mayor, Henry had helped Bill out with some of the necessary tasks to keep the town running smoothly. Now that Abigail was back she would be able to resume her mayoral role. After Abigail was caught up they made their way back to the cafe. Before they parted Henry asked Abigail a question he had been building up the nerve to ask her for years.
"Would you like to have lunch with me tomorrow?" Henry asked nervously.
"Absolutely." She responded, putting him at ease. "Meet you here at noon?"
"Perfect. I missed you. Writing letters isn't the same as seeing each other every day. I'm so glad you're back."
"Me too, Henry, me too." Abigail hadn't been this happy in a long time.