Dinner in the New Hope Orphanage was full of laughter with the stories Lillian shared about Chuck. The children were all very excited that Grace and Chuck were coming back to Brookfield in a little over a week. Gabriel and Marcus offered to help get the little cottage ready for the couple. Lexi was going to use Grace's old room and Simon was going to room with the boys, Vincent and Roy. Simon asked Lexi to tuck him in, so she told Lillian that she would do story time for the boys. While Lillian told the girls, Nora, Mary Louise, and Violet, a story, Gabriel and Marcus helped Eleanor clean up the dining room and kitchen.

Once the kitchen and dining rooms were clean, Eleanor retreated to her room off the kitchen to read and get ready to go to sleep. Gabriel and Marcus entered the living room just as Lillian and Lexi descended the stairs. Lillian and Gabriel sat on the settee while Lexi and Marcus took the chairs across from it.

Gabriel tells Lexi that Sgt. Oakley is coming to Brookfield tomorrow. He will want to talk to Lexi and Simon about the circumstances with Simon stowing away in the stagecoach. He assures Lexi that he wants to find out if Simon's aunt and/or uncle have abused him.

"Has he told Simon's aunt and uncle where he is? Are they coming to Brookfield tomorrow as well?" Lexi questions quickly. "Is he going to have to go back with them?" Lexi casts a worried look towards Gabriel and then towards the ceiling and the boys' room.

None of the adults below heard a small boy get up from his bed in the boys' room and creep to the stairs to listen in on the adults' conversation. Even though they spoke in low tones, he heard that a Sgt. was coming to talk to him about him running away from his aunt and uncle. Miss Lexi may be a good shot, but her right arm was now in a sling because she was injured. He was worried that she would be hurt if she tried to protect him from his uncle. He had to protect Miss Lexi!

After her conversation about Sgt. Oakley's visit and pending interview, Lexi felt like she needed some air and alone time, so she excused herself from the group. She wandered into the barn that was built before the winter weather showed up. After she greeted Apollo, Benson, Smoky, and Virginia, Lexi found a clean stall to ruminate in. She had been in her little hideaway for about ten minutes when Marcus entered the barn to get Apollo so he could pull the wagon back to the livery.

When Marcus locates Lexi he asks, "Why are you worried about the interview with Sgt. Oakley? If either the aunt or uncle is abusing Simon, neither Gabriel, Sgt. Oakley, nor I will allow them to take custody of him. The courts may not grant custody to you right away due to you being single, but they may put him somewhere like Miss Walsh's orphanage."

"While I can see that Lillian's orphanage is a good one, what if the courts place him at a different one? From conversations I had with Grace Stewart, Lillian's sister, there are quite a few orphanages that are not good even if they look that way on the outside." Lexi rises from her spot in the empty stall and begins fiercely pacing the aisle along the stalls to continue her raging. "Simon has been abused by someone close to him. I know because I recognize the signs from my own childhood. I never felt truly safe until I moved in with my grandfather, and even then, I was apprehensive for months that it would change. If I had needed to leave my grandfather's, then I would have been fine since I was almost sixteen. Simon is only three years old! He needs protecting!"

Marcus gently grabs her shoulders to pause her pacing and says, "We will protect Simon! All of us, you, me, Gabriel, Miss Walsh, and the entire town of Brookfield. I would even wager that Staff Sgt. Oakley will do everything he can to make sure Simon is safe." He enfolds the crying Lexi gently in his arms. "I would give you my handkerchief, but I seem to remember giving it a beautiful redhead earlier today." He teases trying to get a smile out of her.

Lexi gives him a small smile through her tears and tells him, "I have it in my pocket." Then she takes it out of her skirt pocket and starts wiping the tears from her face. "I will be sure to wash it and return it so you can give it to the next redhead who cries on your shoulder"

"Please keep it. Honestly, you are the only woman, redhead or otherwise, I want snuggling into my shoulder whether you are crying or not." Marcus sheepishly confesses. "Now, I need to get Apollo hitched to the wagon, so Gabriel and I can take it back to the livery before turning in tonight."

After he hitches Apollo to the harness for the wagon, he puts a pack in the wagon. Lexi sees this and asks, "It thought you were staying in Brookfield, Constable?"

"It's Marcus, and I am. Why do you ask?" Marcus asks.

"Is that not your pack you just put in the wagon?" Lexi queries.

"It is. I have been staying in the cottage, but now that you are staying here it wouldn't be proper. So, I am moving to the hotel." Marcus explains.

"Why wouldn't it be proper? Lillian, Eleanor, and I are staying in the house, not the cottage!" Lexi says disbelievingly and rolling her eyes.

"Even so, Gabriel suggested that I move earlier today. We need to start getting it ready for Chuck and Grace anyway. Let me escort you back to the house." Marcus explains as he guides Lexi and Apollo to the front of the house.

Once they reach the front of the house, Lexi says a quiet good-bye to Marcus and Gabriel and enters the house. Gabriel shares a final good-night kiss with Lillian before vaulting into the front of the wagon with Marcus. Lillian blows a kiss to Gabriel before entering the house and locking the door.

As the two men drive off, Gabriel asks, "How is Lexi taking the news of Sgt. Oakley interviewing Simon about the abuse?"

"Honestly, I think if she senses that we will send Simon back to his aunt and uncle she will take Simon and run. She already wants to stay on the move to keep away from her cousin, but that is a distant second to protecting Simon. She definitely believes that his situation is similar to the one she survived before moving to England." Marcus confides.

After they get Apollo bedded down in his stall and the wagon put away, they separate with Gabriel going to his apartment behind the Mountie office and Marcus going to the hotel.