January 1913

Henry stood in his lounge, staring down at the half-burnt papers in his hands, wondering why nothing could ever go his way. Perhaps this was everything that he deserved. Bad Karma after all the bad things he had done to get where he was and it was now all coming back to haunt him. He had expected to be furious with Abigail for what she did, but truthfully, he wasn't. He was GLAD that it was Abigail Stanton who had done this. After all….he had been partially responsible for her family's deaths. It only made sense for her to get revenge on him now. He sighed and sunk back down into his green chair, just staring at the burns on the papers he held.

He jumped a bit when he felt someone else's hands touch his gently, taking the papers from him and setting them back down on the coffee table. Henry looked at Abigail standing in front of him after she had decided to return back inside.

The widow held both of Henry's large hands in hers, standing in front of his chair, looking down at him with apologetic sorrow. "Can you get new papers made?" She softly asked.

"Doesn't matter." He answered flatly. "It was just a dumb dream anyway."

"No dream is dumb, Henry." Abigail stated. "Look at me and my cafe." She sent him a reassuring smile.

Henry just then realized that she was still holding his hands and he felt a panic rise in his chest at their touch, suddenly feeling dirty again and he gently pulled his hands away from hers. "Why did you come back?" He asked her softly.

"I felt awful. I couldn't just leave like that." She noticed him move to stand up again so she took a step back giving him room to do so. "Is that why Dottie was here? Giving you those papers?"

"No. She was here on a more personal matter."

"Oh, I see." She nodded a bit, but still felt nosy. "Personal as in….?"

"None of your business? Yes." He said, downing the rest of his Scotch before turning to head toward his kitchen.

"Ah." Abigail rolled her eyes a bit. "Does Silas know about this?"

"About what?"

"Dottie's trips to your home."

"It's not like that." Henry said as he heard Abigail's footsteps following behind him.

"You two do spend an awful lot of time together." Henry abruptly stopped and turned to face her with a glare. Abigail put her hands up defensively. "I am not judging." She tried to sound genuine…after all…she had no place to talk after what they had done.

"No!" Henry insisted again. "She was being my FRIEND." He told her. "She has been a very good one lately. I tell her things and she tries to give me advice."

"You….tell her things?" Abigail asked, feeling a bit nervous by what he meant by that.

"Not about that. Trust me, no one will EVER know what you did with me." He slightly rolled his eyes and turned to continue toward the kitchen. "We talk about Nora and about how hard it is being the mayor."

"Well…that was a job YOU chose." The widow pointed out.

"Not lightly." Henry told her. "I wasn't qualified for any other job in town and with my leg the way it is, I can't exactly work at the saw mill."

"Your leg? What's the matter with your leg?" She asked him, looking down at the way he walked, just now realizing that he has had a slight limp ever since they met and she never knew why.

"Back when I worked in the mines in my hometown as a kid-"

"Wait…you were…a miner?" She asked him, never having expected that.

"Yes…I was."

"I never-"

"You never asked either, did you?" He interrupted her and she graciously shook her head no. "Well, back when I was about 16, a whole pile of coal landed on me, basically crushing my leg. The doctors never thought I would walk again."

"Well…" Abigail tried to lighten the mood a bit with an encouraging word and a smile. "You proved them wrong."

"Sure did." Henry agreed, pulling out some cookies his new chef had baked the night before and he took a bite of one before gesturing toward them, allowing Abigail to take one if she wanted to. She didn't. "But I was never able to do strenuous work again."

"That was why you became a businessman." She assumed.

"A CON man." He corrected her. "But I did what I had to do to survive."

"Henry, I am so sorry I never knew these things about you. And you're right…I never asked. But can you honestly blame me after everything that's happened between us?"

"No, I honestly can't." He admitted. "I am surprised that you came back here."

"Well, as I said…it felt wrong to leave after what I did." She stated.

"I deserved it." He took another bite of his cookie.

"Don't say that." She finally decided to reach for a cookie of her own now, breaking off a small piece and placing it into her mouth. "You really like sweets, don't you?" She asked him.

"Why do you say that?"

The cafe owner smirked a little. "Everytime you come into the cafe you ask for something sweet and every time I give you muffins, it doesn't take long for you to devour one." She chuckled a bit.

"I wouldn't call it devouring." Henry said before placing the three quarters he had left of his cookie into his mouth jokingly.

Abigail couldn't help but laugh with a playful eyeroll. "Oh, you're just being silly." She had another piece of hers.

Henry struggled at first to chew the cookie but he was soon able to swallow and chuckled. "That was not very polite, I apologize."

The woman chuckled again too before growing serious again. "I am sorry, Henry. For assuming the worst of you…but as you said…even new men can fall back on old habits."

"And I agree with you. I have never tried to change your mind about me."

"No. I suppose you are right." Mrs. Stanton softly sighed before looking him up and down. "Should we talk about what happened?" She asked him.

"No." Henry said quickly. "I did not mean for it to happen. And I'm sorry."

"You are?"

"Yes." He looked at one of the clocks he had on the wall in the kitchen. "I am meeting Nora for a picnic."

"Oh." Abigail nodded. "Alright…then I'll head out." She didn't understand why that made her feel upset. Perhaps because she wasn't finished speaking to him, but she didn't want to make him late so she turned to leave, but quickly stopped to look at him again. "You DO deserve to be happy, Henry." She assured him. "We all do things that we regret. It doesn't mean we don't deserve happiness." With that, she turned and left for good this time.

Henry watched her leave, sighing to himself before going into his study, grabbing his suit jacket and car keys and he left to meet Nora on the plot of land he had intended to buy, though his mood wasn't as excited as he had wanted it to be as he told Nora his plans of possibly buying it for her.

Meanwhile, Frank had asked Abigail to join him for a morning of fishing. She immediately thought of Henry, but decided to push him to the back of her mind as best as she could and agreed to go with him. She had told everyone in town, including Bill, Jack, and Lee that she did not believe Henry was the one involved in the saw mill's accidents, but they, of course, did not believe her as Jack and Bill decided to continue the investigation with Henry still on the suspects' list.

"Something seems to be bothering you." Frank told Abigail as they stared out at their fishing rods in the water at the pond just outside of town. Thankfully to Abigail, a different spot than where she and Henry had gone.

"Hm? Oh…it's just…all this excitement with the saw mill. It's a little bothersome that no one seems to believe Henry didn't do it. They all forgave you so easily, but I guess it'll be a different run with that man." She sighed.

"Are you certain it wasn't him?" Frank asked her to be sure.

"At first, I truly did think it was him. But now….I'm not so sure. He's the mayor now. What would he gain from shutting down the only business in town that brings in outsider money?"

"I suppose that's true. But from what I hear about him…he is a man of mystery and strange motives."

Abigail looked at the water again. "Let's change the subject."

Frank studied her for a moment, wondering what it was about Henry that always put Abigail on edge but he did as he was asked and dropped the subject. "Are you still hesitant about your faith in God as you said you were weeks back?"

"Mmm, perhaps a little." She lied…the answer was 'yes, a LOT.'

"Well…what are some questions you have. I am happy to answer them." Frank softly smiled at her.