The next morning, Colleen dropped Allie off at school. After dropping Allie off, she went straight to work. For most of the morning, she cleaned the rooms that had been occupied the night before. She only saw Lucas once that morning. He was holding his tea and gave her a wave. He then went into his office.
Colleen ate her lunch and went back to work. She was ironing sheets when she heard a familiar voice down in the dining area of the saloon. Colleen looked over the railing from upstairs to see Elizabeth standing in front of Lucas with an angry face. Colleen stopped ironing and walked downstairs.
"Mrs. Thornton, what is going on?" Colleen asked.
"It seems that Mr. Bouchard taught Allie a few card tricks and Allie has been using these card tricks to steal from her classmates" Elizabeth said.
Lucas had a smirk on his face.
"Thank you, Mrs. Thornton, I'll take it from here." Colleen said.
Elizabeth nodded and left.
Lucas still had a smirk on his face.
"I wonder what that student won." Lucas said.
Colleen smiled at him.
"I don't know. I'll have to ask her when I get her home, since she's, my daughter." Colleen said.
"What?" Lucas asked.
"First, wipe that smirk off your face. There is nothing funny about teaching a young girl how to gamble and steal. Second, I quit. I cannot be associated with someone of such low character." Colleen said grabbing her bag and headed out the door.
"Wait! I can explain!" Lucas said rushing after her.
"Save it!" Colleen said.
About 100 yards from the saloon, Nathan was standing with Allie. Colleen went over and took Allie's hand.
"We will see you at home." Colleen said to Nathan and walked away with Allie.
Nathan looked at Lucas who was standing outside the saloon. Nathan started to clench his jaw when he felt a hand on his arm.
"Nathan, do you mind walking me home?' Elizabeth asked.
Nathan swallowed and looked at Elizabeth.
"Of course." Nathan said and the two walked toward the direction of Elizabeth's house.
"What happened back there?" Nathan asked.
"At lunch today, Allie was using a card trick that Mr. Bouchard showed her to steal some things from their lunches. After learning where she learned it, I went over to see Mr. Bouchard, but it seems like your sister took care of him."
Nathan shook his head and then started laughing.
"He must be scared out of his mind. I've gotten good tongue lashing from Colleen before, it is not fun." Nathan laughed.
Elizabeth laughed.
"She is a good mother." Elizabeth said.
"She is. But sometimes I feel like she is parenting alone. I try to co-parent with her but I don't want to overstep my boundaries." Nathan said.
"I get that. I think she appreciates you in her corner. Allie has a good male role model to look up to. Hopefully my son will have someone like that in his life."
"I'm sure he will. There is Bill, Lee, your future husband." Nathan said.
Elizabeth gave a little laugh.
"Marrying again or even courting is so far off my radar that it might as well be in outer space." Elizabeth said.
"Same." Nathan said.
"How long did you wait until you decided to court again?" Elizabeth asked.
"My sister set me up with a couple of women but it never felt right. Sometimes I think I won't feel anything for another woman as I felt for Angela." Nathan said.
Elizabeth nodded her head. They arrived at Elizabeth's house.
"Thank you for walking me home." Elizabeth said.
"It was my pleasure." Nathan said.
They said their goodbyes and Nathan watched Elizabeth go into the house. But even after he was in her house, his look lingered.
Later that evening, there was a knock on the Grant's door. Nathan answered the door and saw Lucas standing there.
"You." Nathan said.
"Is Colleen home?" Lucas asked.
"You don't need to talk to her." Nathan said.
Suddenly, Colleen came to the door.
"Nathan. I can handle this." Colleen said.
Nathan nodded and left the door.
Colleen closed the door behind her and stood in front of Lucas.
"What do you want?" Colleen asked.
"I want to apologize. I didn't know she was your daughter. She came into the Saloon yesterday. She wanted to look around but I told her no. I asked her why she wasn't playing with her friends and she said that she didn't have any. I showed her one card trick to impress the other classmates to make friends. I had no idea that she was going to use it to steal from her classmates." Lucas said.
"That's what Allie said. But why did you teach her a card trick at all?" Colleen asked.
"Because when I was her age, my parents enrolled me in a new school. I was the quiet child who read books. I learned magic through books and used it to make friends." Lucas said.
Colleen sighed.
"The way to hell is paved with good intentions." Colleen said.
Lucas gave a small smile.
"Allie didn't know I was working on the Saloon." Colleen said.
"Why not?" Lucas asked.
"Because I did not want her to get the wrong idea. And I know what happens at some saloons. And I don't want Allie to be around those things because her father loved those things more than Allie and I." Colleen said.
"I had no idea." Lucas said.
"I know." Colleen said.
"I was hoping that you would come back to work." Lucas said shyly.
"I don't know." Colleen said.
"I promise, if any child comes into the saloon, I will not teach them a card trick. I will tell them to go read a book." Lucas said.
"You can't charm your way out of this." Colleen said.
"I enjoy your company." Lucas said.
Colleen sighed.
"I'll leave you for the night." Lucas said as he started walking away.
"6 percent raise." Colleen said.
Lucas turned around and smiled.
"3 percent." Lucas said back.
"4 percent." Colleen countered.
"Deal." Lucas said.
Colleen smiled. Lucas walked away. Colleen shook her head at herself.