Nathan and Allie walked over to Nathan's donkey that was tied up.
"A donkey?" Allie asked.
Nathan explained to Allie how he came into possession of the donkey.
"How much did one of your suits cost?" Allie asked. Nathan told her.
"You got ripped off." Allie said.
"How?" Nathan asked.
"This an older donkey. And donkeys aren't that expensive." Allie said.
"Oh. I did not know that. But we are going to keep him. What shall we name him?" Nathan asked.
"Nathan." Allie said under her breath.
Nathan shot her a disapproving look.
Allie shrank down and caressed the puppy.
As they walked to Elizabeth's house, there wasn't much said between them. Nathan didn't know much about Allie and she didn't know much about him.
When they reached Elizabeth's house, Allie knocked on the door.
Elizabeth answered the door. Nathan was not expecting Elizabeth to be the woman with auburn hair from the funeral.
"Hi Mrs. Thornton. We are here to pick up my things." Allie said.
"Hello Allie. Please come in." Elizabeth said opening the door for both of them.
Nathan and Allie walked in and Elizabeth closed the door behind them.
"I'm Nathan Grant. Allie's Uncle." Nathan said to Elizabeth.
"Elizabeth Thornton. It is nice to finally meet you." Elizabeth said. The two shook hands. Allie went to get her things. Nathan looked at Elizabeth. He was expecting an older woman with gray hair and a mean look on her face. Just like the teachers he had. Instead, Elizabeth had a sweet face and no gray hairs inside. Nathan did find her attractive. But he pushed that thought out of his mind.
"Who do we have here?" Nathan said seeing Little Jack.
"This is Jack." Elizabeth said.
Nathan crouched down to Jack who was sitting up in his crib.
"Hi Jack." Nathan said. Nathan started making faces to make Jack laugh. It worked. Jack was laughing and so was Elizabeth. Nathan stood back up and turned to Elizabeth.
"I want to thank you for everything you have done for Allie. Can I take you and your husband out to dinner?' Nathan asked.
Elizabeth's demeanor changed.
"My husband passed away last year." Elizabeth said.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know." Nathan said.
"It's fine." Elizabeth said looking at a photograph. It was a photograph of a man in a Mountie uniform.
"Your husband was a Mountie?" Nathan asked.
"Yes." Elizabeth said.
"I have the highest respect for the Mountie's. I thought of becoming one myself." Nathan said.
"What happened?" Elizabeth asked.
"I wanted a wife and children one day." Nathan said.
"And how is that working out for you?" Elizabeth asked.
"I've got the kid now but no wife. Kind of backwards." Nathan joked.
Elizabeth laughed.
As Nathan looked around the house, an envelope caught his eye. In the return address, it said William Thatcher.
"Oh no. Is William Thatcher trying to buy land in Hope Valley. Will that man ever stop?' Nathan said.
"What do you mean?" Elizabeth asked.
"His business is forcing out people from their homes in Hamilton. Low-income areas and only paying them a fraction. He is one of the worst offenders and I have taken his business to court many times on behalf of my comments. What does he want with you?" Nathan asked.
"To see how his daughter and grandson are doing." Elizabeth said.
Nathan realized that Elizabeth is William Thatcher's daughter.
"He's your father?" Nathan asked.
"He is." Elizabeth said.
"Did you know that your father and his company are trying to force people out of their homes?" Nathan asked.
"I don't get involved with my father's business interest. I'm sure whatever he is doing, it is legal." Elizabeth said.
"It's legal but wholly immoral." Nathan said.
"My father is not immoral." Elizabeth said with a raised voice.
"Why don't you ask the Smith family who had their land taken away by your father. A land that had been in their family for generations. I don't know if I feel comfortable with my niece being taught by a Thatcher." Nathan said with his voice raised.
"How dare you, sir! I am not my father." Elizabeth said angrily.
Suddenly, Allie came out with her things.
"Is everything okay?" Allie asked.
Nathan and Elizabeth put on fake smiles.
"Mrs. Thornton was just telling me about her family in Hamilton. Did you get everything?" Nathan asked.
"Yep." Allie said.
"Great. Let's go." Nathan said. Allie gave Mrs. Thornton a hugged and thanked her.
"Thank you for looking over, Allie." Nathan said politely.
"Of course." Elizabeth said. As Allie and Nathan walked away, Nathan could feel Elizabeth's eyes staring angrily at him.
Allie showed Nathan the way to her house. As they got closer to the house, Nathan was pleasantly surprised. The house was small but in great shape. Nathan expected a run downed shack.
"That's a nice house." Nathan said as they got closer.
"It is." Allie said.
When they finally got into the house, Nathan was surprised again. Though small, it had a cozy feeling. He didn't know why he was surprised. He knew Colleen could make any house a home.
Nathan put his suitcase down.
"This is cozy." Nathan said.
"And you haven't seen the best part." Allie said.
Allie led Nathan through two French doors that led to the backyard. Allie was right, this was the best part. Colleen's land was sitting on about 3 acres. There was a small barn and a small stable. There was an area gated off for Colleen's berry garden. There were two cows chewing on grass.
"This is amazing." Nathan said.
Allie smiled.
"Let me show you the barn and our horses." Allie said.
Nathan nodded. He followed Allie. She showed him the barn and behind the barn was a coop where the hens lived. Allie put the puppy down to let it sniff.
Allie led Nathan to the stables. Inside were two horses.
"This is buttercup, she's mine." Allie said petting a tan horse with brown mane.
"And this is mom's horse, Newton." Allie said. Newton was a brown horse with brown mane.
"I mean. It was her horse." Allie said. Nathan could see Allie's eyes welling up. She turned away from Nathan.
"He'll always be your mom's horse." Nathan said.
Nathan went to touch Newton who neighed at him.
"Woah." Nathan said.
"He hasn't been the same since mom died. I think he knows that she is gone." Allie said. Nathan nodded and stepped back. When he stepped back, he felt his shoe get stuck in something. Nathan looked down at his shoe stuck in horse manure.
Allie tried to stifle her laugh.
"There goes an expensive pair of shoes." Nathan said.
"There is a bucket with water around back.: Allie said. Nathan walked over to the bucket. He dipped his shoe in the bucket and pulled it out. His shoe wasn't going to be saved. There was a trash can in the corner and he threw his shoe away.
After throwing his shoe away, Nathan watched Allie put the cows back into the barn. She was wiping her eyes as she put them away. Nathan knew that Allie missed her mother dearly. It was just the two of them for so long. Nathan walked over to Allie after she put the cows away and put his arm around her.
"Are you hungry?" Nathan asked.
"Yes." Allie said.
"How about pancakes?" Nathan asked.
"Pancakes for dinner?" Allie asked.
"Yes. It can be fun to eat breakfast for dinner sometimes." Nathan said.
"And that's the only thing you know how to make." Allie said.
"That too." Nathan said.
After Nathan made the pancakes, he put the pancakes in front of Allie with syrup. He made his plate and sat next to Allie.
"So, what did your mom tell you about me?" Nathan asked.
Allie put the syrup on her pancakes.
"She said that you are some hot shot attorney in Hamilton. And that your job is heartless. But she said that there was a heart in there somewhere." Allie said.
Nathan knew that Colleen was talking about his old firm that he used to work for.
"What else?" Nathan asked as he put the syrup on his pancakes.
"She said that you got in an altercation with my father and that fight caused distance in your relationship." Allie said.
"How old were you when your father left?" Nathan asked.
"Six." Allie said.
Nathan nodded.
"After my father left, why didn't you come to visit us? My father was gone and he was the problem, wasn't he?" Allie asked.
Nathan gulped his pancakes.
"Pride. My pride got in the way. I thought it was too late to start a relationship with my sister again. But I'm here now." Nathan said patting Allie's hand.
Allie pulled her hand away.
"But for how long? You said you are going to be here until the school year is over. Then what?" Allie asked.
"I don't know." Nathan said.
"May I please be excused?" Allie asked.
Nathan nodded. Allie walked to her room and slammed the door.
Nathan put his fork down and rubbed his eyes. Nathan knew Allie was right. There was no reason for him not to have a relationship with his sister.
After cleaning up the dishes, he stopped by Allie's room. He put his ear up to the door. He heard soft sobs. He was going to knock on the door but decided to give her privacy. Nathan got ready for bed. He was going to be sleeping in Colleen's bed. The sheets had been changed and the room was cleaned after Colleen passed away. Nathan opened up her closet and saw her clothes. He smiled. On the nightstand, there was a bottle of perfume. Nathan smelled it and smiled. It smelled like Colleen. In the nightstand drawer, there was a picture of Colleen and Nathan at Nathan's graduation. Both of them smiling. A lump began to grow in his throat. He pushed it down and got into bed and turned off the lights and went to sleep.