Lucas accepted the chair Sam offered to him as well as the tin cup filled with fresh hot coffee. It wasn't tea but it was warm and would keep his hands occupied.
Sam sat down in the other chair. "So what's on your mind, young fella?" he prompted.
"I'm wondering if perhaps I've gotten in the way of how things were supposed to be. Even though my intentions were good." Lucas paused to look up at the kind man who seemed to think he was offering a lifeline to him. Seeing the man's eyes taking stock of his words, Lucas reached a decision. "I wish I had never come to Hope Valley."
"Hope Valley you say? I haven't been there for quite a few years. Nice little town I recall." Sam's voice was nostalgic as he remembered the Christmas that he and his old pal Dasher had spent there. So many valuable lessons had been learned the last time he'd been there...perhaps this young man needed a valuable lesson too. True, it wasn't Christmas, but any time was a season for miracles, or in this young man's case, a time for lessons too. An idea began to form in the old peddler's head. "You really wish you'd never come to Hope Valley?" I don't remember you from the last time I was there."
"I purchased the town saloon several years ago when the owner was looking to sell and move closer to his family. Just plain luck that my bid was a thousand over the asking price and therefore beating out the competition. But Bill and Henry would have run it just fine...they would have finally built that stage for Rosemary." Great! Now he could add Rosemary to the list of people that would have been better off without his presence. Lucas rubbed his temple, wondering who else he had unintentionally wronged. Maybe if he sipped the coffee slowly enough he would not have as much opportunity to talk.
Sam continued to stare Lucas down. "It is a nice town. It's idyllic," Lucas admitted. "Everyone is friendly and hospitable and would be regardless of time or space. But my head is telling me that things would be easier for all involved if we hadn't gotten tangled up in each other's lives: Henry, Nathan, Bill...Elizabeth." Speaking her name out loud only made Lucas's heart ache even more.
"Elizabeth? Do you mean the lovely school teacher? Last I remember she was hoping that her Mountie, Constable Thornton, would propose."
"He did. She is Elizabeth Thornton now. A widow with a wonderful little son." Lucas shared the bittersweet news with Sam.
"Oh my," Sam said. "So young to have to carry such a loss." Sam and Lucas shifted their focus to the campfire. The comforting crackling of the fire was the only sound as both men were momentarily lost in their own thoughts.
Still looking at the fire's low flames, Sam spoke to his new young friend. "You love her."
It did not escape Lucas's attention that Sam had said it as a statement, not a question. He did not see any reason to bluff. "Yes," he said softly. "Very much."
Sam stood abruptly and turned towards Lucas so quickly that the younger man was startled.
"Alright." The older man said simply, his eyes lifted to the sky. Like he had been having a conversation that Lucas had been unaware of.
"'Alright' what?" Lucas asked.
"Alright. You never came to Hope Valley." Sam continued to maintain eye contact with Lucas who was growing more perplexed by the second. "You like to think you are the master of your own destiny. That you don't accept change easily and think you know what would be best. But perhaps a different perspective is needed in order to temper such a sweeping declaration."
Lucas fidgeted in his chair, deeply unsettled how Sam had quoted almost word for word what Lucas had told Carson months earlier.
"Who are you really?" Lucas asked the peculiar man standing in front of him.
"Perhaps I'm someone who can help bring some clarity to your perspective." Sam bent over the fire and poured the last of his coffee onto the low embers.
In quick order, Sam folded up his camp chair and walked over to the wagon. He stowed the chair in the back and climbed up onto the wagon's bench for the driver. Grabbing the reins and adjusting them in his hands, Sam was ready to snap the horses into action. He looked over to Lucas, who had risen from his seat but continued to stare at Sam with a mystified expression.
"Well, you coming, young man? I can give you a ride back into Copper Valley." Sam offered.
Spurred into action, Lucas quickly carried his chair and empty coffee cup towards the wagon. After placing the items where he'd seen Sam store his own, Lucas climbed onto the bench beside Sam.
"Appreciate the lift," Lucas thanked Sam as the horses started pulling the wagon forward. "But it's 'Hope Valley'."
"Not anymore, sonny," Sam replied in a cryptic tone with a mirthless look. "Not anymore."