Over the next few days, Nathan would wake up early to milk the cow and check for eggs. He wanted Allie's life to be as normal as possible and if that meant getting up early so, she could sleep in, that was fine by him. Nathan felt like he was starting to grow closer to Allie. They went to the sawmill and found a few scraps of wood to start making the birdhouse.
On a Thursday afternoon, Nathan was sitting at the table eating his lunch when he thought he heard people outside. There was a knock on the door. Nathan put his sandwich down and answered the door. At the door was Fred. But he wasn't the only one. There was a crowd of men and women behind Fred looking directly at Nathan.
"Fred? What is going on?" Nathan asked.
"These are my neighbors. I told Bouchard what you told me to tell him and he backed off. I told everyone that you were the one who gave me the advice. Now they all need your help with Bouchard." Fred said.
"Fred, that was just a one-time thing." Nathan said.
"Please help." One woman cried out.
"He's a menace." A man shouted.
Nathan sighed.
"Everyone line up and I'll take you in one by one." Nathan said.
Everyone lined up. Nathan called in the first clients. A husband and wife.
"How can I help you?" Nathan asked.
"When Bouchard first got to town, he bought up the row houses. He promised he wouldn't raise the rent on the land. I couldn't pay the rent since I was injured from work. He said that he would forgive the rent until I got back to work. Once I was back to work, he came looking for back rent. He claims he would only forgive my rent for one month. I was out for six months! He raised the rent and put interest on the rent. I will be in his debt until the day I die." The man said.
Nathan nodded his head.
"One day he came to me and said that he would forgive my debt if my wife would do him favors." The man said.
Nathan looked up. The wife put her head down. Nathan knew the kind of favors that Bouchard wanted.
"I'm sorry that happened to you. And I'm sorry that Bouchard went back on his word. But since it was only a verbal agreement, it is your word against his." Nathan said.
"There is nothing you can do?" The man asked.
"I didn't say that. There are a few loopholes in verbal agreement contracts that I can use to force him to forgive your debt for those six months." Nathan said.
"Great." The man said.
Nathan sighed; he hated doing the next part to people who have nothing to give.
"Unfortunately, it is going to take a lot of work." Nathan started.
"And money." The man said.
"Unfortunately, yes." Nathan said.
"What if we bartered?" The man said.
"How?" Nathan asked.
"I can teach you how to cook." The wife said.
Nathan thought about the offer. He had only been feeding Allie pancakes and grilled cheese since those were the only things he knew how to make.
"You have a deal." Nathan said. The husband and wife shook his hand and left.
One by one, everyone in line came to talk to Nathan. And one by one, Nathan listened to their stories. Much like the first couple, Lucas would forgive a month rent and then put a substantial interest on the debt. And if there was a wife, Lucas would proposition the wife. Even some of the wives gave into him and he still didn't forgive the debt. Like the first couple, all of them did not have the resources to pay Nathan. Instead, Nathan bartered his work for gently used clothing, learning how to sew, pie and cake making lessons, and even hair styling lessons to give to Allie. He told the crowd that he would talk to Bouchard and give him legal warnings before starting.
As the crowd was dispersing, Elizabeth Thornton was walking up to Nathan.
"What is going on here?" Elizabeth asked.
"Just offering legal assistance to those being harassed by your buddy Lucas." Nathan said.
"Lucas is not my buddy." Elizabeth said.
"He's just like your father. Buying up properties. Everyone has had their rents raised by Bouchard, except you. Why do you think that is?" Nathan asked.
Elizabeth scoffed.
"I'm not going to stand here and explain anything to you. I just wanted to inform you that Allie hasn't been showing up to school and I wanted to know why?' Elizabeth asked.
"I see her go to school every day." Nathan said confusingly.
"She gave me this note and said that you were letting her take time off from school." Elizabeth said handing him the letter.
Nathan looked at the signature.
"That's not my signature.' Nathan said.
"I thought so." Elizabeth said.
"I told her that she could take time off of school if she wanted. She said no." Nathan said
Elizabeth shrugged.
"I'll talk to her when she gets home." Nathan said.
Elizabeth nodded and started to walk away.
"Thank you for letting me know." Nathan said to Elizabeth.
"You are welcome Mr. Grant." Elizabeth said.
"I'm home." Allie yelled out when she got home.
Allie went to her room and Nathan followed her.
"How was school?" Nathan asked.
"Good." Allie said.
"Really? Mrs. Thornton was here today and she told me that you haven't been in school for the past few days." Nathan said.
Allie didn't say anything.
"I asked if you wanted time off from school and you said no. You have been lying to me for the past week!" Nathan said with a raised voice.
"Why do you care?" Allie asked.
"Because school is important. And lying is wrong. You are going to go to school tomorrow and for lying to me, you will be getting up early to help with the chores." Nathan said.
"You can't punish me!" Allie shouted.
"I can. And I just did." Nathan said.
"You're not my mother!" Allie said.
"No, I'm not but I am your guardian and I will punish you as I see fit." Nathan said.
"I hate it here! I wish you would just give me up for adoption. You are a rich loser who never cared about his sister or his niece until mom died. I hate you!" Allie said. Allie ran out of her room and outside to her horse.
"Allie get back here!" Nathan said chasing after her. But Allie was already on her horse and trotting off. Nathan just watched her leave. Nathan went back into the house and slammed the door.
"Why did you choose me as her guardian?' Nathan shouted to Colleen.
Before it got dark, one of Allie's friends came over to let Nathan know that Allie would be staying at her house tonight. She grabbed a few of Allie's items and left. Nathan hated feeling frustrated. And when he was frustrated, he would dive into his work. And this time would be no different. Nathan put on a suit but no jacket. He mounted Newton. He would be going to the Queen of Hearts for dinner and to scope out Lucas.
When Nathan arrived, the saloon was hopping. There were a lot of people. Men and women. Nathan ordered the chili and a beer. As Nathan was sitting there, he heard someone call out Lucas's name. Nathan saw Lucas. The first thing that Nathan noticed of Lucas was the way he walked. He had a cocky walked, like he owned the town. Nathan finished his chili and went over to the bar to finish his beer. Suddenly two men sat next to him. Nathan turned his back to the men. Lucas came over to talk to them.
"What is so urgent that you had to come in here during one of my busiest nights." Lucas said.
"Your tenants hired an attorney." One of the men said.
"An attorney? Who?" Lucas asked.
"Colleen Grant's brother." The other man said.
"I heard he was expensive, how are they affording him?' Lucas asked.
Both of the men shrugged.
"Figure it out." Lucas said.
"Maybe I'm just a nice guy who is doing it for free." Nathan said as he turned around to face Lucas and the two men.
"Nathan Grant." Nathan said with his hand out.
"Lucas Bouchard." Lucas said shaking Nathan's hand.
"Let's go talk in my office." Lucas said.
"Lead the way." Nathan said.
Lucas led Nathan upstairs to his office with the two men following them.
"Please have a seat." Lucas said.
Nathan sat down and Lucas closed the door. The two men stood in the corner.
"Can I make you a drink?" Lucas asked.
"No, thank you." Nathan said.
Lucas sat across his desk from Nathan.
"Let's get down to business, shall we? What will it take for everything to go away?" Lucas asked.
"Forgiveness of all debts and you stop raising the rent on the rowhouses." Nathan said.
Lucas smirked.
"I didn't mean for the tenants. How much would it cost for you to drop all of this nonsense?" Lucas asked.
"What? I cannot be bought." Nathan said.
"The way I heard it, you used to be a lot like me. Making tons of money. Not caring who you hurt in the process. Never came to visit your own sister." Lucas said.
"And then I stopped doing that work and went to fight for the little guy." Nathan said.
"What if you went back to that work? But for me? You could help me buy properties in Hope Valley. More money than you could ever dream. You could build a mansion up on the hill overlooking the town." Lucas said.
Nathan smirked.
"Are you going to forgive the debts?" Nathan asked.
"No." Lucas said.
"Then I will see you in court." Nathan said standing up. Nathan started walking away.
"I was going to buy your sister's property. I would have let her stay on the land. She was such a sweet thing. It wouldn't be a free stay though. She would have to do special jobs for me." Lucas said with an evil grin.
"Don't you ever talk about my sister like that!" Nathan said angrily. Before Nathan could walk over there and beat Lucas to a pulp, the two men grabbed Nathan by the arms.
"Please show Mr. Grant my hospitality. Go out the back way, I don't want you disturbing my guests. Goodbye Mr. Grant. Just remember, I always win." Lucas said.
The two men took Nathan out of Lucas's office. Nathan tried to struggle to break free. Once they were outside in the back of saloon, they eased up on Nathan and he was able to break free. He punched one of the men. The other man grabbed Nathan and punched him. Nathan fell to the ground. The two men kicked him in the stomach multiple times. One of the men left for a moment while the other one kept punching Nathan in the face.
The other man came back with a bottle of Vodka and as one man held Nathan on the ground, the other man poured the whole bottle down Nathan's throat. Nathan tried to spit it out but had no success. Once he finished the bottle, the man threw the bottle to the side. The two men stood over Nathan who was in the fetal position.
"If I see your face around here again, I'll make sure you won't recognize it in the mirror." The man said. After one final kick to the stomach, the men left.
Nathan sat on the ground groaning. After lying on the ground for a while, he went to untie Newton from the post and they walked home. Nathan was swaying as they walked. It was a long walk but Nathan held onto Newton. Once they got back to the stables, Nathan put Newton back into his stable and Nathan went to the empty stable and passed out in some hay.