November 1913
The next day was the children's Science Fair at the schoolhouse and Henry was expected to appear as the mayor in order to congratulate the kids on their hard work. It was rumored that a scholarship scout was going to attend to choose a student who could go to an expensive school on his behalf if he deemed the child intelligent enough to succeed in a college. It was also rumored, heavily, that Becky, the sick girl that Abigail had been caring for, was the favored child in receiving said scholarship.
Henry was hesitant to ascend the schoolhouse stairs once he had arrived, knowing that Abigail would most definitely be there to support Becky, Cody, and even Ms. Thatcher. He wasn't sure if he could be in the same room with her now without cracking a smirk at her after what they had done the night before…..for a second time.
It didn't take long, once Henry had entered the school, to return to his usual, miserable self as he saw "Pastor" Frank standing beside Abigail with a hand on her back. The mayor sneered and went in the opposite direction to take a peek at young Opal's grizzly bear presentation.
Abigail noticed Henry avoiding her throughout the kids' presentations and a part of her felt powerful. As if she had finally found a way to make Henry Gowen leave her alone for once and for all. She never would have guessed that copulating with him would have pushed him away from her, but it was working and she was proud of herself, though a part of her wanted him again and again. But she had to hide that from the others, of course.
The Science Fair went on and soon, the rumors were proven to be true once an odd man that no one had ever seen in town before, made his way inside the schoolhouse and continued to search the room for great science projects. He, eventually, settled near Becky and asked her a few questions about the model of a bridge she had designed herself with great architectural design before granting her the privilege of receiving his scholarship.
Unsurprised, Ms. Thatcher and the kids were ecstatic as Henry tried to read Abigail's expression. He could see that she seemed proud and emotional while Frank placed a hand on her shoulder from behind. Henry sneered again before hearing Caroline, Becky's aunt, tell the scholarship scout that she would have to think about allowing Becky to go to college at all and Mayor Gowen saw Abigail's excited expression fade into a look of disappointment and worry, matching Becky's expression of defeat and crushed dreams.
Once the parents and students had begun to disperse, heading home for bed, Henry stepped outside, making note of Abigail and Frank remaining inside near Elizabeth's desk. He waited patiently at the bottom of the stairs, tipping his hat to some of the mothers that passed by, saying goodnight to him and he did his best to politely say farewell to most everyone that walked passed.
Soon, the woman he had been waiting for to exit the schoolhouse finally did and Henry stepped directly in front of her as if to block off her path. "Good night, ma'am."
"Oh, uh…. Goodnight." The blonde woman replied to him reluctantly.
"Mrs. Connors?" Henry asked to confirm he had the right woman.
"Yes?" Caroline nodded with a look of confusion. "Do I know you?"
"No, ma'am…Henry Gowen. I am the mayor of this town. Might I have a word?"
Caroline turned her head to look back up into the school where Cody and Becky were laughing with Frank and Abigail. She sighed softly and looked back at Henry. "How can I help you, Mr. Gowen?"
"I'd like to talk to you about your niece and nephew." Henry said, placing his bowler hat back on his head.
"What about them?"
Henry sent her one of his sly, conniving smiles as if he were about to play her, yet she had no idea. She'd never met him before.
A couple of days later, a few people had gathered at the stagecoach to see Becky and Cody off. Henry peered through his window blinds from the mayor's office to watch them. He kept his eyes mostly on Abigail, her willingness to seem strong for the young boy she'd been caring for shown through her eyes and even Henry could see it from where he was. He glared at Caroline Connors who stood there, watching Cody sadly hug Abigail as tight as he could, hoping she'd stick to their deal from the night of the Science Fair.
The stagecoach door hung open awaiting its travelers as Henry grabbed his bowler hat from his coat rack, about to go outside and across the street to remind Caroline of their discussion, but before he could place his hat upon his head, he noticed Caroline had stepped closer to the group of people. She was speaking and Henry saw Cody's face light up as well as Becky's. Abigail looked to Elizabeth as if wondering if this was a dream and Henry could tell….that Caroline must have told them she had changed her mind and the children could stay in Hope Valley. With Abigail. Henry smiled to himself, proud of his handy work and he placed his bowler hat back up on the hook of his coat rack before he went back to sit down at his desk.
He looked at the signed contract in front of him, smiling a bit more as he studied Caroline's signature at the bottom of it beside his own. He had made her and her family an offer she couldn't refuse. Allowing the Connors' access to some of Hope Valley's funds regarding the soon-to-be built railroad tracks and Caroline's husband owned an iron company that builds the tracks and nails used for the trains in Davenport. Little did Caroline know….there was no plans for a railroad in Hope Valley for the near future.
Henry was too busy smirking at his own devious genius to realize that Abigail had made her way over to the mayor's office after the stagecoach left with Caroline Connors inside.
"Henry?" Abigail's voice sounded throughout the quiet room as she peeked her head inside the mayor's door.
Gowen was forced out of his thoughts and he quickly pushed some papers over the contract with Caroline so Abigail would not see it. "Hello, Mrs. Stanton."
"Mind if I come in for a moment?" She asked him.
"Not at all." Henry gestured toward the chair across from his desk. He never thought he'd be happy to see the widow in this room again after she had stolen files from him before the trial against her husband and the mining company, but he was. He had wanted to speak with her after the second time they–
But he hadn't had a clue on how to approach her or what to say, really.
"I have a favor to ask you." Abigail stated as she sat down in the guest chair opposite the mayor.
"How can I be of service?" He asked.
"My cafe…it's doing rather well, but the contract with Bill Avery needs some revisions."
"Revisions?" Henry frowned a bit, secretly upset that she was only here to talk business.
"It's the mayor's job to write up business permits and contracts and I was just wondering if you could write up one that states that…Bill…is only on as a financial partner. Not a creative partner."
"What do you mean?" The mayor wondered, twirling a pencil in his hand.
"Well, ever since Bill bought your shares of the cafe, he has been trying to make some changes to it and they're not exactly…changes that I am fond of. But he believes that being part owner gives him the rights to make said changes and…the sign out front says 'Abigail's Cafe,' so…I am not willing to give him as much power as he expects to hold." Abigail explained to Henry, knowing that it was probably a dumb idea to ask him this in the first place considering Henry was not known for doing her any favors, save for the one where he helped get Clara out of her predicament with Mr. Fletcher. "Please?" Abigail broke the silence between them.
"I will have to take a look at your current contract first." Henry finally answered her.
"And then?" The widow egged him on to continue.
"And then I will decide if revisions to it are at all possible. If I have to cut corners to help you, then I will be happy to." He said, truthfully, though a part of him was bitter that she was not here to see HIM. "I saw you out at the stagecoach with the children."
"Ah, yes." She immediately grinned at the mention of them. "Their aunt had a change of heart. Turns out they will be staying with me after all."
"That must be very nice for you." He smiled a bit, Abigail's smile causing his insides to melt.
"Oh, it's wonderful. Cody went off with his friends to play some celebratory baseball and Becky went back inside with Elizabeth to work on another science project. She is so excited to go to college."
"Well….you must be proud." Henry said, realizing how bad he was at small talk.
"Oh, I am. Of BOTH of them. Becky's slowly starting to walk again…when she is willing to. And Cody…well, he was so shy when they first arrived here and even had some trouble with the other kids once Becky went to the hospital in Union City. But now he's so popular with all of the children."
"He must have picked that up from you."
"What do you mean?" Abigail asked him.
"You're quite popular with everyone in town. They all look up to you and want to be your friend." He elaborated.
"Oh. I don't know about that." She chuckled as if it were ridiculous. "Florence Blakely and Molly Sullivan just love to gossip and I think they only come around the cafe so often to learn more about my exciting life. Just this morning Florence was asking me if Frank and I were officially courting yet." She softly laughed. "She hadn't come in for even a cup of tea."
Henry's mood changed a bit at the mention of Frank. "What did you tell her?"
"What?"
"About you and Frank."
"Oh…Well….I told her 'yes, I think so.' Though I am not entirely sure what Frank thinks."
"You should ask him then." Henry said shortly, hoping that Matt Landry was still somewhere inside the pastor and that he wouldn't want to settle down with a lovely cafe owner. The outlaw in him should want to travel and find more ladies to woo, the mayor was wishing.
"I suppose you're right." Abigail smiled at him and stood up from the chair. "Thank you, Henry. I will stop by with the contract later this evening for you to look over. Have a good afternoon." She turned to leave. "Maybe I will bring you some more muffins." She stated just as she opened the door and stepped outside, smiling to herself.
Wow…I just had quite a lovely talk with Henry Gowen that didn't end in flames or worse. Abigail happily pulled the door shut behind her and her eyes met Frank's across the street, her smile growing more as she descended the town hall stairs to join him on the other side. "Care to go for a ride on the horses with me?" Frank asked her.
"That would be lovely." Abigail grinned at him. "I think Clara can look after the cafe for a while." She took Frank's arm as they headed for the horses' stables together and she thought to herself that a private horse ride would be the perfect time to ask the pastor about their relationship and how serious it was.
They passed Nora and Bill who had been discussing her father and his brother briefly before they started to talk about Henry being under investigation during the saw mill accidents.
"I don't appreciate you actually arresting him the other day, Bill." Nora told her ex husband. "But I am grateful that you let him out until you find more evidence."
"I am still positive that he did it, Nora." Bill let her know.
"Henry is not this terrible man that you think he is. He is sweet and caring and has always been gentle with me. And he has a big heart. You two would get along if you would stop fighting over me."
"No one is fighting over you. He is a con man. And until I figure out how he forced Silas Ramsay into resigning as mayor…I have to take him down for other reasons…and right now that just happens to be by exposing his wrongdoings at the saw mill."
"He didn't do it, Bill." Nora insisted harder.
"Then explain the nails found in his car."
"Henry is a very smart man. Don't you think that if he did something like this, he wouldn't have left the evidence out in the open for you to see?" Nora pointed out.
"Hm…" Bill looked off into the distance as if that made sense actually. His eyes moved to the town hall, looking into the mayor's office window and he noticed Henry standing by it, peeking out at them. "He's watching us." He told his ex wife. "I've got work to do."
Bill walked away from the blonde, leaving her in the middle of the street and she turned around to look at Henry through the office window, smiling and waving at him from where she stood. She then pointed toward the saloon as if to ask him to meet her inside and the blinds closed as if Henry were accepting the invitation.
The mayor grabbed his bowler hat and coat, placing them on before heading outside and toward the saloon where he and Nora grabbed a table together, though he wasn't as happy to see her as she was to see him.
He was bitter. And he was angry. Abigail had been seriously courting Frank and it was now official…straight from her mouth. He didn't know why that made him so angry, but it did. Frank was all wrong for Abigail Stanton and Henry wanted her to be with someone more like Noah…something he never thought he would feel. But he did. And Frank Hogan, or Matt Landry, or whatever his name was this week was NOTHING like Noah Stanton and it gave Henry a bad taste in his mouth knowing that Frank could be touching his lips to Abigail's.
To top that off….Nora was still spending time with Bill. Henry hated that. Especially since he was not stupid and he knew that they must have been discussing his arrest. Bill was probably trying to convince Nora that Henry really did do it. Soon he was going to lose her if he allowed Bill to keep whispering these things in her ear.
He had had enough.
"It's time, Nora." Henry told her when she noticed he had been acting grumpy today.
"Time for what?" She asked him, placing her hands on the saloon table in front of her.
"Time for you to choose between me and Bill."