November 1912

Abigail was halfway through the woods when she finally stopped, hearing the creek nearby, and she felt her heart pounding as if to escape her chest. She took a deep breath, placing a hand over her mouth, asking herself what did she just do. She could still feel Henry's aftermath of his climax inside her, trickling down her inner thighs and she felt a heat wave run through her body. Immense guilt and shame overcame her and she just stood there, frozen, before she could finally move.

She followed the sound of the creek until she reached it. Her eyes roamed the area. The grass blowing in the breeze as the sun shone on the mobile water reminded her of that first morning with Henry and she shivered. "What have I done?" She asked herself as another feeling crept over her. She was a whore, a sexual deviant, a concubine. If anyone in town found out what she had just done…no one would look at her the same way. They would believe that she was sleeping with Henry all along in order to frame Noah for the mining accident. They would no longer come to her for advice or come to her cafe for that matter. They were not married and she let him touch her in ways that were quite unholy. She could never forgive herself for this. She WOULD never forgive herself for this.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a cracking twig and footsteps nearby. She turned to see that Henry had also made his way down to the creek after what had happened. Instinctively, she took a step back from him though he was yards away from her.

"I-...I'll go." Henry turned to head back toward his house, but Abigail stopped him.

"No…I was just leaving." She gave him more attitude than he was even used to.

The widow sauntered passed Henry, disappearing through the trees to head home as stray tears of shame, guilt, and even embarrassment, ran down her cheeks.

Henry turned to watch her leave, wondering why she had come back to their spot in the first place. Of course it was NOT their spot, but he had been calling it that (to himself) for nearly twenty years and he wasn't going to stop now. He sighed once Abigail was out of sight and walked to the spot where they had sat all those years ago with their fishing rods and he remembered asking her to fish with him regularly each morning. That, of course, never happened once their rivalry began after he'd heard she was married. But NOW…a part of him regretted being so angry with her, because he knew they could have been great friends had he not taken his frustrations out on Noah.

He sat down on their spot and looked out at the water, his confusion only growing the more he thought about what had just happened. It didn't take him long to feel his satisfaction turn to mortification. Had he taken advantage of her? Had he hurt her? He was so confused yet he felt dirty. He felt like a predator and wondered if Abigail thought of him as one. Most of all, he felt guilty. Guilty for enjoying what they had done. Abigail didn't deserve that. She was too good for him. Too good for this town, this WORLD. And he had just done something that could never be undone. His need for her to want him dissipated into a need for her to forgive him. For everything he'd done. But most of all…for touching her. He didn't feel worthy of touching her or kissing her or making her feel good.

He wasn't good enough for her and he never would be. The last twenty minutes had happened so fast that he couldn't even fathom entirely what they had done or why they had done it. It didn't matter though. What's done is done and he had ruined the best person he had ever met. He felt dirty and he knew that the hatred she felt for him could only have gotten worse after what just happened.

Now, NO ONE in town would ever forgive him. He ruined their golden girl and he would face a reckoning if they ever found out what he'd done.

November 1912

Once Bill Avery offered to buy Henry's share of the cafe, Henry agreed right away, no longer wanting to be associated with Abigail for her own sake. He didn't want anyone to find out what they had done nor did he want Abigail to feel like she had to do it again. He stayed away from her as much as possible to protect her reputation and so he wouldn't need to see the look on her face when she would remember what had happened and he would feel dirty again looking into her eyes.

Henry put most of his energy into getting reacquainted with Nora, hoping that she could help take his mind off of Abigail, but nothing worked. The money he got from Bill for his shares of the cafe was enough to get by for another year or so, but Henry knew he needed to find another job so he came up with the plan to frame Silas for being sick in order to take his position as mayor. It wasn't something he was proud of, but he justified himself in hiring Silas' wife, Dottie, as his secretary. The longer he dwelled on his past with Abigail and his current actions, the more he realized that it was best she never ended up with him. He always did conniving and manipulative things and Abigail needed to stay as far away from him as possible.

December 1912

After weeks had passed following the arrival of Frank Hogan, the new pastor, rumors had spread of him being an ex-outlaw named Matt Landry and Henry grew furious, knowing that Abigail had been growing closer to that…liar. He needed to protect her from him. From being with a man as bad as he was. No. Worse than he was.

Of course it had been Henry's idea to try and get rid of Frank, or Matt, or whatever his name was, the moment he learned of the man's troubled past. And Henry expected Abigail and the town to agree with him.

Everyone met in the church one afternoon and Henry had thought it would be a vote to fire Frank. But everyone voted to keep him…Abigail's idea to truly forgive…and Henry had decided to vote to keep him too. Though he hadn't really wanted to. But he did anyway to try and stay on Abigail's good side.

Forgiveness….That is what Abigail always preached and it gave Henry a sliver of hope that she might forgive him for what happened in his study at his home weeks ago. But that hope quickly vanished once Abigail made eye contact with him in the church that afternoon and he turned to leave before she could speak with him.

Abigail watched Henry leave, feeling a rush of guilt that she hadn't expected, realizing that if Henry really had liked her when they first met….that this may not have been easy for him. Watching her live a happy married life, then moving onto Bill, now Frank. A part of her wanted to talk to Henry about it, but then thoughts of what they had done flooded back to her and she changed her mind, telling herself that talking to him would be a bad idea and she felt that all of her neighbors could read her mind and knew what she had done with the new mayor.

Quickly forgetting about Henry in that moment, Abigail turned to face Frank at the pulpit in the church again and she smiled at him, going over to him and challenging him to another game of Darts at the saloon.

The moment Frank opened the saloon door for her, she regretted her decision to go there when she saw Henry, sitting at a table with Nora Avery. Henry's eyes flew to her in a quick glance and he tore his eyes away, pretending that he hadn't seen her. Abigail immediately felt sick to her stomach, thinking that her advances in his study were actually unwanted and she started to wonder if she had forced him into having sex with her that morning. If he had wanted that…he wouldn't have sold his shares of the cafe to Bill and he would have approached her for more sex by now, wouldn't he have? She asked herself. She didn't want to know the answer anymore as it made her feel foolish for having suggested to him that she would sleep with him for his shares in the cafe.

"I've got an idea." Frank broke Abigail away from her disturbed thoughts.

"Oh?" The cafe owner forced a smile and looked at the pastor. "And what would that be?"

"We play left handed." Frank offered.

"Left handed?"

"Yes. Seeing as you beat me pretty bad last time, I think it'd only be fair to see how you are as a southpaw." He chuckled, going to the dart board and pulling out the darts from it, handing them to her.

"I see." Abigail softly chuckled as well. "Challenge accepted." She smiled as Frank handed her the darts and she went to stand behind the game line on the floor.

Henry managed to look over at the couple every now and then, playing around and having fun until Frank stood behind Abigail and wrapped his arms around her to help her aim better. Henry's slight smile, which he had forced for his conversation with Nora, faded and turned into a bit of a glare as the left corner of his top lip curled up in disgust.

"What is it, Henry?" Nora asked him once she had seen his expression.

Abigail, after throwing her last dart, heard Nora's voice and she turned to look at Henry, seeing the look of jealousy on his face and she guiltily looked away, faking a smile at Frank.

"Oh, nothin'." Henry lied to Nora, looking back at her. "I really should be heading out. Got an early morning at the office tomorrow." He stood up to leave, placing some cash down on the table.

"But…it's only four in the afternoo-" Nora began to say to him but he left anyway.

"Um…just a moment, Frank." Abigail told him. "I'll be right back." She handed him the darts and rushed to the saloon door, exiting it to go after the other man. "Henry?" She said once she shut the saloon door behind her. He was surprised to hear that familiar voice behind him, but kept walking as if he hadn't heard her, hoping she would just go back inside. "Henry!" She called out in a louder tone, begging for his attention.

Henry continued to walk, placing his hands in his pockets.

"Henry Gowen, don't you dare make me run after you!" She said in a tone she hadn't used since she scolded Noah or Peter.

The mayor stopped in his tracks, though he hadn't intended to. But hearing her tone only made him curious to hear what she had to say that was so important and he turned around to face her, but refused to move any closer. "Yes, Mrs. Stanton?" He said, reverting back to using her last name.

Abigail frustratedly stepped down the step in front of the saloon door and walked over to him herself, stopping about two feet from him. "I don't appreciate you watching me with another man. It makes me feel guilty. As if I have done something wrong when I know that I haven't."

"I wasn't watching you." He denied, keeping his hands in his pockets though his arms felt an urge to reach out and touch her.

"Could have fooled me." She protested. "I am spending time with Frank now and you have to accept that." She internally asked herself why she was justifying any of this to Henry considering they had never been anything more than unwanted acquaintances.

"He isn't right for you, Abigail."

"Oh, please, Henry."

"I am serious. He is an outlaw."

"EX outlaw." Abigail corrected.

"You don't need to be around men like that."

"Men like what?" Abigail placed her hands on her hips.

"Men like me." Henry accidentally blurted out.

"H-Henry-" Abigail began, stunned that he had said that. "Frank has changed. He's done his time and he's a new man now."

"Even new men can fall back on old habits."

"He's a pastor. He lives for the Lord now and that's something I think we all should do."

"Ah. So that's what this is about."

"What what is about?"

"Why you are spending so much time with him. So you can ask for forgiveness…For what we did."

"Henry, shhh!" Abigail looked around, making sure no one was near to hear them.

He quieted his voice as he spoke again. "You don't need to ask forgiveness, Abigail. You did nothing wrong."

"What do you mean I did nothing wrong? Of course I did."

He shook his head. "No, you didn't." He sighed. "Goodbye, Abigail." He took one more look at her before turning around and heading home.

"It-...It is very rude to walk away when someone is talking to you." Abigail called after him.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Stanton." He called back as he kept walking.

Abigail huffed with annoyance, sliding her hands down off of her hips. She hated it when he did that. She especially hated that he was right about why she was spending all her time with a pastor. She still felt guilty about what she did with Henry and talking to God was her only way to feel as though she MIGHT be able to forgive herself. But who was she kidding? She knew that would never happen and her mind was on Henry at all times now. It was maddening and she couldn't take it anymore. She rolled her eyes at herself and went back inside the saloon to Frank, forcing a smile yet again.