Nathan was in a deep sleep when he heard a rooster crow. Nathan turned in his bed. Nathan could tell it was still dark out. He heard the rooster again. He was going to turn in the person with a rooster in an apartment building. He heard a third time and opened his eyes. Allie was standing next to the bed.
"Allie! What are you doing here?" Nathan asked.
"Didn't you hear the rooster crow? It's time to get up." Allie said.
Nathan adjusted his eyes. He realized that he wasn't in his apartment but in Colleen's house in Hope Valley.
"What time is it?" Nathan asked.
"4:30." Allie said.
"4:30? Why did you wake me up so early?" Nathan asked.
"Because you need to get up and learn how to tend to the animals before I go to school." Allie said.
"This can't be done in another hour?" Nathan asked.
"No." Allie said.
"Do you get up this early every day?" Nathan asked.
"My mom used to let me sleep in and she would handle the animals." Allie said.
"Oh." Nathan yawned and rubbed his eyes.
"Do you know how to make coffee?" Nathan asked.
"Yes." Allie said.
"Please make me some and I'll be right out." Nathan said.
Allie nodded and left the room. Nathan groaned as he got out of bed. He a lantern and went over to his suitcase. Had he known that he would be tending to animals, he would have brought more appropriate clothing. He found an under t-shirt and put on a pair of jeans he brought with him. The only shoes he had were nice dress shoes. He would make sure to be careful this time. Nathan came out of his room and went into the kitchen.
Allie handed him his cup of coffee.
Nathan tasted it and almost spit it out.
"I thought you said you knew how to make coffee." Nathan said.
"I've only made it once for my mom." Allie said.
Nathan put the cup down.
"I'll have to show you how to make a cup." Nathan said.
"Whatever. Follow me." Allie said sharply.
Nathan followed Allie out to the barn. She brought out a small stool and a bucket.
"Sit on the stool and pinch the udder. The milk will come out." Allie said.
"Should I buy her dinner first before we get that far?" Nathan joked.
Allie rolled her eyes.
Nathan sat on the stool and put his fingers on the udder.
"Now pinch" Allie said.
Nathan pinched and some milk came out. But the milk made the udders slippery and Nathan's hand kept slipping. The cow mooed and moved a little.
"Woah." Nathan said.
"Here. I'll show you." Allie said. Nathan got up from the stool and let Allie sit. Nathan watched Allie milk the cow. She was quick and the bucket was getting fuller.
"You can finish up." Allie said.
Nathan sat on the stool and grabbed the udders. Slowly but surely, milk was coming out.
"Look at that." Nathan exclaimed.
After the bucket was filled, Allie showed Nathan to the hens.
Allie showed Nathan how to pick up a hen and check for eggs.
"I'm going to go saddle up Newton in case you need to go into town." Allie said. Nathan nodded and Allie left for the stables. Nathan went to the first hen.
"Hello hen. I just need to check for eggs." Nathan said to the hen. The hen looked at him. Nathan nervously picked up the hen. Sensing his nervousness, the hen pecked at Nathan's hand.
"Ouch!" Nathan said. Not giving up, Nathan tried a second time. He got pecked again but was able to get the egg. The rest of the hens pecked him but he was able to get the eggs.
Allie came back from the stables.
"What happened?" Allie asked.
"They all pecked me." Nathan said.
Allie smiled.
"They do that sometimes. I'll take the eggs and milk. I'll make us breakfast. The stables need to be cleaned." Allie said.
"Got it." Nathan said. Nathan watched Allie walk away. She reminded him so much of her mother. Independent. Nathan sighed and went into the stables.
He carefully looked on the floor for any manure. He got the pitchfork from off the wall and began to clean the stables. After cleaning the stables and feeling proud not stepping in the manure, he began walking back to the house. As Nathan was walking back to the house, he saw the cows grazing. He smiled. Suddenly, Nathan heard a squish. Nathan looked down. He had stepped in cow manure. Nathan angrily took off his shoe and tossed it in the garbage.
When Nathan came into the house, Allie noticed one of his shoes was missing.
"Did you lose another pair?" Allie asked.
"Yes. I need to go into the mercantile to order some work boots and see if they have an old pair lying around." Nathan said.
Allie nodded. She put a plate in front of Nathan. There was scrambled eggs, toast and some berries.
"This looks delicious." Nathan said.
Allie smiled and sat down next to Nathan with her food. They both ate their food in silence for a couple of minutes.
"Look Allie. I know everything isn't normal right now but it will be." Nathan said.
Allie nodded.
Nathan ate his breakfast some more.
"What is your favorite subject in school?" Nathan asked.
"Science." Allie answered.
"Really? That's great." Nathan said.
"I want to be a veterinarian when I get older." Allie said.
"That's fantastic." Nathan said.
"Why did you want to become a lawyer?" Allie asked.
"When I was in school, I was part of the debate team. I loved debating. And I decided I wanted to do that for a living, so I went to law school. But it took me a long time to learn that the law should be used to help people and not hurt them." Nathan said.
"How do you help them?" Allie asked.
"There are rich people or companies that want to take people's land to build on it. That's fine and legal as long as they pay for the land and the people want to sell their land. But some companies don't offer a fair price or try to force people off their land by making threats. That's where I come in. I fight those people or companies in court." Nathan said.
"Are you rich?" Allie asked.
"I'm well off. I saved money here and there. But almost all the money I make goes back into my private practice." Nathan said.
"What's going to happen to it now?" Allie asked.
"I'm going to have to shut it down for a while." Nathan said.
"What about the people you help?" Allie asked.
"There are similar attorney's that I will be referring them to. I'm going to go into town and call my assistant." Nathan said.
"Oh. Sorry." Allie said.
"Sorry for what?" Nathan asked.
"If it wasn't for me, you could go back to your practice." Allie said.
"Allie, you are not a burden." Nathan said.
"May I be excused?" Allie asked.
"Yes." Nathan said. Allie put her dishes in the sink and went into her room. After some time passed, she came out with her books and bag.
"I'm going to go to school." Allie said.
"You don't have to go to school if you don't want to." Nathan said.
"I know. But I want to." Allie said.
"Okay. Do you want me to pick you up?" Nathan asked.
"No. I'm okay to ride home alone. I do it all the time." Allie said.
"Well, have a nice day." Nathan said.
"Thank you. You have a nice day too." Allie said.
Allie went out the door and headed to the stable and rode out on buttercup. Nathan gave a sad smile to himself.
After making a list of things to do at the mercantile, Nathan went into his room and got his last pair of shoes. This time as he was walking out to the stables, he held the shoes in his hands. Once he made it to the stables, he put his shoes back on and went over to Newton.
Nathan grabbed a carrot and showed it to Newton who ate it.
"I have heard that you haven't been the same since Colleen died. I can relate. My whole world has been turned upside down. But just between you and I, I'm scared. I'm scared that I won't last ten months for Allie. This is day one and I'm already exhausted. I'm scared that I won't know how Allie through her grief when I haven't even addressed my own grief. Growing up, there was a lot of disappointment, especially with my father. I was taught to push those emotions away. Push them down deep and forget about them." Nathan said to Newton.
Newton ate the carrot. Nathan opened the stable and led Newton outside the stable. Nathan tried to get on the horse but couldn't get his foot in the stirrup. After many tries, Nathan was finally to get on the saddle. He adjusted himself on Newton. He squeezed the side of Newton and Newton began trot.
Nathan laughed.
"Good boy Newton." Nathan said. As Newton trotted, Nathan's smile did not fade. Riding a horse was exhilarating. Maybe once he got more comfortable, Newton would be able to go faster. But for now, his speed was perfect.
Once Nathan and Newton made it to the mercantile, Nathan tied up Newton and went inside.
"Good morning." The man behind the counter.
"Good morning. I'm Nathan Grant." Nathan said.
"I'm Ned Yost. You must be Colleen's brother?" Ned said.
"That's me." Nathan said.
"She talked about you all the time. It is such a shame that we are meeting under such circumstances." Ned said.
"Yes. It is a shame." Nathan said.
"How many I help you?" Ned asked.
"Do you have an order catalog?" Nathan said.
"Yes, we do." Ned said.
"Great. I just need to order some clothes and work boots." Nathan said.
Ned gave him the catalog. Nathan started looking through the catalog and wrote down what he wanted to order. While Nathan was standing there, another man came in.
"Hi Fred. How are you?" Ned asked the man.
"Hi Ned. Not so good. Bouchard raised the rent on my row house." The man said.
Nathan raised an eyebrow.
"Oh no. That's terrible." Ned said to Fred.
"It is only my house. I know he is doing it to get back at me by telling him about the horrid conditions the row houses. Except for Mrs. Thornton's house who has a sweet spot for. Or maybe her father's money." The man said.
"May I use your phone?" Nathan asked Ned.
"Go ahead." Ned said pointing to the phone.
Nathan went to the receiver and asked to be transferred to Grant Law Firm in Hamilton. After a few moments, Gertrude answered the phone. They had their pleasantries and got down to business. He gave her a list to do. Call all clients and ask them if they could wait 10 months until he got back. If not, refer them to Richard Thompson. Next, he asked her to ship certain items from his apartment to Hope Valley. Finally, he asked her to take a generous severance for the next ten months. After hearing her protest, Nathan finally convinced her to take some severance and a vacation. After hanging up with Gertrude. He called his bank who closed his account and opened one in the Buxton Branch. His money would arrive armed guard within two days.
After hanging up with the bank, he gave his list to Ned and told him that he would pay for the order once it came in. Nathan asked if Ned had any work boots lying around. Ned did not. Thanking Ned, Nathan walked out the door toward Newton.
As Nathan was walking, he heard someone calling out to him.
"Mr. Grant!" The voice called out.
Nathan turned around. It was Fred from the mercantile.
"Hello." Nathan said.
"Hello Mr. Grant. My name is Fred Lightner." Fred said.
"Nice to meet you, how may I help you Mr. Lightner." Nathan asked.
"Ned said you might be able to help me with my problem with Bouchard." Fred said.
"How so?" Nathan asked.
"He said that you could look over my contract and see if it is legal for him to raise the rent on my rowhouse." Fred said.
"I'm not really practicing law at the time." Nathan said.
"Please. If he keeps raising the rent, my wife and daughter will have to leave Hope Valley and be homeless." Fred said.
Nathan sighed.
"What do you have in your pockets?" Nathan asked.
Fred went into his pocket and pulled out a bunch of coins. Nathan took the cheapest coin.
"I'm your attorney now. Everything you tell me is privilege. I know for a fact that he cannot raise the rent in vengeance. If he threatens you, tell him he will be in violation of Consumer Rule 326.8 B." Nathan said.
"Rule 326.8 B. Got it. Thank you." The man said.
Nathan nodded.
"I have a pair of old work boots if you want them. What is your size?" Fred asked.
"11." Nathan said.
"Me too. My workspace is right over there. I'm one of the blacksmith's in town. I can give them to you right now." Fred said.
Nathan nodded and started following Fred.
As they were walking, Nathan started asking Fred questions.
"Who is Bouchard?" Nathan asked.
"Lucas Bouchard. He owns the Queen of Hearts saloon. We all thought he was a great man. He gave space for a library. But then everything turned sou. He began buying land all around Hope Valley and even the land the rowhouses were on. He raised the rent on the rowhouses. A few families had to move out of Hope Valley due to high rent prices. He isn't nice to anyone in Hope Valley except for Elizabeth Thornton. He is sweet on her. But her father is rich and I think he might be sweet on that trust fund money." Fred said.
When they finally got to his shop, Fred went into the back and brought out the work boots.
"If Mr. Bouchard gives you any trouble, please come see me." Nathan said.
"Thank you, Mr. Grant." Fred said.
"Thank you for the work boots." Nathan said.
Fred nodded. They said their goodbyes. Nathan changed out of shoes into his work boots. He mounted Newton and headed back home.
Once he was back home, Nathan put Newton back into his stable. Nathan walked over to Colleens Garden and went inside. The garden was beautiful. It was nicely kept. Nathan tried a few of the berries. They were sweet. Nathan noticed that one of post was coming apart. Nathan went and found a hammer and some nails and hammered the post back together. There was a small bench in the garden. He sat there. It peaceful in the garden. Nathan closed his eyes to listen to the sounds. As he was listening to the sounds, he fell asleep.
Nathan was enjoying the sun on his face when suddenly there was shade. Nathan opened his eyes. Allie was standing over him.
"Allie? What are you doing here?" Nathan asked.
"School is over." Allie said.
"Wow. I just conked out." Nathan said.
Allie noticed the hammer.
"Did you hammer something." Allie asked.
"The post over there." Nathan said rubbing his eyes.
"You know how to hammer?" Allie asked.
"When I was in college, I apprenticed under a carpenter for four years to earn extra money. I learned how to make table, chairs, birdhouses." Nathan said.
"Birdhouses?" Allie asked.
"Yep." Nathan said.
"Can you show me how to make a birdhouse?" Allie asked.
"Sure. We can see if there are any scraps at the sawmill and I'll show you." Nathan said.
"Okay!" Allie said excitedly.
"Let's go inside and work on your homework." Nathan said.
"It is mostly reading." Allie said.
"You can tell me all about the book." Nathan said putting his arm around Allie.