November 1913
It didn't take long for Henry to realize that it was wrong and irrational of him to force Nora to choose between him and Bill. He apologized to her the next day and told her that he would like to take up her offer on leaving town to start over somewhere new….Immediately. Nora thought it was a little soon but she agreed and they made their way to Union City, ignoring the warning that there would be terrible weather in the valley and the possibility of a threatening flood nearby.
Nora begged Henry to stop or slow down several times, but he didn't want to go back…especially since he had heard from an anonymous source that Bill and the federal investigators assigned to the mining accident that killed all of the widows' husbands were getting closer to finding more incriminating evidence against him. Ever since he had received that telegram in the mail the day before the storm, Henry knew that he could not stay in Hope Valley much longer.
His urgency to leave town, however, could not have come at a worse time. Hit by the storm, the town's people all worked together to keep each other safe while Henry and Nora crashed just outside of town and Mr. Gowen was thrown from the vehicle, knocked unconscious.
In town, once Bill had realized Nora and Henry were nowhere to be found, he set out to look for them with a tip from Dottie on where they were headed. It didn't take long for Bill to locate them and he carried Henry up into his own car before driving them to the Union City hospital where they stated that they weren't sure Henry would make it.
Much to Bill's chagrin, he did.
December 1913
About a month had passed since the flood and it was now a week away from Christmas. Lee and Rosemary Coulter were on their honeymoon whilst the town began to prepare for the holiday festivities under Elizabeth's orders. She had taken over Rosemary's job as the Christmas organizer and planner and Abigail had been quite impressed with her progress considering she had been overwhelmed by such responsibilities in the past. Though Abigail didn't have much room to talk when it came to responsibilities since she had been given some of the mayoral duties while Henry remained in the hospital.
"The morning stage just came in…" Clara said as she entered the cafe's kitchen one morning.
"Is there a problem?" Abigail asked as she noticed the displeased look on Clara's face.
Clara looked at her mother-in-law with sad eyes. "He's back."
Abigail, with a hint of both confusion and worry, rushed toward the exit of the cafe. She had heard word from Union City that Henry would not be arriving for another week or two in his condition. Although, the widow wondered what sort of terrible shape that man could even be in. He didn't seem like the type who could even get sick let alone injured.
She immediately bit her tongue at her own thoughts the second she stepped outside in front of her cafe. Looking toward the stagecoach, her jaw dropped slightly at the sight of Henry Gowen…the invincible man…struggling to sit in a wheelchair given to him by the hospital. He had a white sling on his left elbow and a bitten pride wore on his face.
"Careful! I don't want you to fall." Nurse Faith Carter tried to help him.
"I'm not gonna fall unless somebody pushes me." Henry said in a familiarly stubborn tone.
"Let's get you home." Faith said as she got him straightened out in his chair. "You should save your strength."
"And you should save your breath. I'm just fine." With his right hand, he began to wheel himself away from Faith and toward the mayoral office.
Abigail was shocked to see him in such a state, physically and emotionally. She stepped down off the cafe porch and headed over to Faith as Bill Avery joined both ladies.
"Well, this is a surprise." Bill said with a disappointed demeanor.
"Mayor Gowen refused to stay in the hospital another day." Faith said with concern in her tone.
"Is he going to be okay?" Abigail asked, with a hint of concern in her own tone.
"He'll be fine. Right now he just needs plenty of rest. But he won't listen."
"But he can go back to work, right?" Abigail looked toward Henry, watching him wheel away.
"Abigail. Henry Gowen's under federal investigation. He's not allowed to serve as mayor unless, or until, he is cleared." Bill replied to her.
The cafe owner continued to watch Henry struggle to wheel across the street and she sighed before heading back inside to finish up with her customers until Lunch hour was over.
Once she had finished cleaning up the last customer's table inside, she removed her apron and received the mayoral paperwork she had been working on since Henry's absence from her coffee table near the woodstove in the back of the cafe. She was about to leave through the cafe's back door before her eyes fell upon a basket of muffins she had prepared for dinner's dessert tonight. She hesitated for a moment before taking the muffins with her.
"Hello, Henry. It's good to see you." She hadn't intended on saying the last part aloud but it slipped from her mind and out through her lips as she had realized just how long it's been since they last laid eyes on each other.
"Abigail. What can I do for you?" Henry asked her. He also had missed seeing her and those beautiful eyes, but he was upset that no one from town, aside from Faith, had come to visit him in the hospital, Abigail amongst them. He wasn't sure why he had even expected Abigail to come see him, but some little part in him had a small amount of hope that she would, yet she never came. Though another part of him knew he shouldn't be so upset considering there was a possibility that Bill never even told the others what had happened. Perhaps Abigail didn't even hear about the accident, he thought to himself.
"I heard about the accident and I came to see how you were doing." His thoughts were wrong. She did know...yet she never came. "I brought you some muffins." She softly smiled at him.
"That's very kind of you. Thank you." Mr. Gowen said though he didn't want to be so nice to her.
"How's Nora?" Abigail wondered, remembering that she was also involved in the accident. "Is she coming back to take care of you?" A part of Abigail felt odd speaking about Nora and Henry even so long after their…indiscretions.
Henry's very slight smile faded at the mention of Nora's name. "You needn't concern yourself with that. I'm quite fine. Thank you." Henry sat down, clutching a cane that Abigail hadn't even noticed before when she entered the room above the mayor's office.
Not only was she glad to see him out of his wheelchair already, though she was certain Faith Carter would not be so glad, but she was glad to hear that perhaps Nora would not be returning to town yet. She didn't really have many problems with Nora, aside from the fact that Nora used to rudely approach her about Bill, but she wasn't so sure she liked seeing her with Henry around town. But Abigail could never figure out why it bothered her so much.
She stepped closer to Henry's chair and set the basket of muffins down on the little table beside it. "Well, then I need to talk to you about some town business. There are bills that have to be paid."
"Well, if you just leave them. I'll be back down in the office tomorrow."
The widow immediately felt awkward now as she wasn't sure how to break the bad news to him without possibly starting another 'feud' between them. "Henry…You can't go back to being mayor. Not yet anyway."
"Says who?" Henry asked kindly, expecting that she said that because she actually cared about him in his condition.
"The town charter. You're still under federal investigation. And apparently that means you can't serve Hope Valley in ANY capacity until you've been cleared…..I'm sorry."
Henry looked away from her, his eyes roaming the room for a second as it hit him that no…she didn't care about him. She never did. That's why she never came to visit him after his accident. That's why she hadn't even written a letter of condolences to him after the accident. That's why right now…she had only come to visit him on business and brought him pity muffins. No, not pity muffins. Guilt muffins. "Are you?" He wondered if she really was sorry because he did not think that she was anymore. What they had done…twice…one month ago was something she was ashamed of. Not because of what they did out of wedlock but because of who he was. She was ashamed that she did it, yes. But ashamed that she did it with HIM. "Seems to me that you've gotten what you always wanted." It was now clear to him that her only plan for years was to be the one in charge. That is why she had taken the lead in bringing the women into the mine to finish their late husbands' work. That is why she bought a cafe to run. That is why she had let him have her body after he had become mayor. To gain power. To be in charge. Perhaps that is why Nora left him….because Abigail told her to. Everyone always listened to Abigail…even himself. And now she had his job.
"I have a business to run and a child to raise. I certainly do not want your job!" Abigail defended herself almost as if she could read his mind.
"And yet….you have it."
The woman took in a deep breath, forcing herself to keep calm with him when she mainly wanted to shout. But she knew that she truly did need help with the town duties considering she was starting to get overwhelmed with all of the responsibilities and she truthfully WAS upset that she was now stuck with his job, but SOMEONE had to do it and the only one left to do so was herself as the Head of the Town Council.
She remained calm and returned to speaking about what was important. "If you could just answer a few questions about these invoices…"
"You are an intelligent woman. I'm sure you will figure it out." Henry told her.
"I don't have your experience, Henry." Abigail reminded him.
"No, you do not." He replied with attitude and a silent glare of hatred that sent shivers down Abigail's spine.
"I thought we could work together."
"Well you thought wrong." He informed her, just wishing she would go away.
"You're making this harder than it has to be." Her voice faintly quivered as she practically begged him to just cooperate.
The mayor placed his cane on the floor in front of him and he stood up to be at the same level as she. "Good afternoon, Mrs. Stanton." He looked her straight in the eye as if daring her to stay another minute.
She looked him right in the eye as well, again, reading his mind in knowing that he was telling her to leave and she let out a huff before doing as he wanted and she left with the files.
After she had gone, Henry slumped back down into his chair, defeated. His stomach growled and he realized that he hadn't eaten since he left the hospital in Union City last night. His eyes fell to the basket of muffins Abigail had brought him and he mentally refused himself the chance to reach for one. He was not going to take a pity muffin NOR a guilt muffin. Not from her. She had betrayed him too many times before and this was the last straw. She had now taken his job from him. He had nothing and no one…..yet again. Being mayor was overwhelming at times, yes, but he enjoyed it. He actually enjoyed doing the paperwork seeing as he had nothing else to do with his time anyway. He had no friends to spend time with until Nora came to town and now that she was gone too…he was looking forward to doing more paperwork. But now he didn't even have that.
His left hand reached over and pushed the basket of muffins off of his little table and they fell to the floor, one of them rolling across the room and stopping at the foot of the fireplace. He immediately regretted that, grimacing in pain as his left shoulder ached when he did that. Perhaps Faith was right and Henry was not supposed to remove the sling from his left arm yet. But he, of course, did not listen to her and had removed it just before Abigail had arrived minutes ago.
He placed his right hand over his left shoulder and gently massaged it, willing the pain to go away but it stayed…as did the pain in his heart, soul, and pride.
He had spent the rest of the afternoon just sitting up in that room, thinking about what else he could do for money. The only thing he could come up with was to sell his house, but he had that house designed and built just for him and his accommodations. He did not want to give it to somebody else. Especially since a part of him had expected that Abigail would be the one to buy it just to rub it in his face that she had taken everything from him. Perhaps this was all her revenge for what happened to Noah.
Once Henry finally found the will and the strength to get up from his chair, it was getting dark outside and he limped his way over to the window with his cane, drawing back the curtain to look out at the townspeople smiling and laughing and preparing for Christmas. Some walked by the tree at the center of town and admired it, even without its decorations yet and Henry thought of all the years of holiday celebrations in Coal Valley (turned Hope Valley) and it warmed his heart. Seeing the way everyone treated each other like family here always comforted him and he only hoped that one day, he would be treated with the same kindness. Though he knew that would never happen. He was hated by them all. Perhaps he was the only person they could hate considering they were not hateful people at all, he knew that. But he had never felt comfort in any other town or city he had lived in in the past and he knew that Hope Valley was the only place he wanted to be. But he was also too hurt to stay here knowing that Abigail was now in charge and he would be seeing her everywhere.
His stomach growled again and he decided that it was time to force himself to eat. He picked up Abigail's muffins off the floor and threw them into the fireplace before walking toward the door. Just outside the town hall building, Dottie stood with her key to get in as Henry stepped outside, almost bumping into her.
"Ah, Henry." She kindly smiled at him. "I was just about to come and see if you need anything. I am sorry I didn't come earlier today. Miss Thatcher has me so busy getting ready for the Christmas festivities. What can I do for you, Mr. Mayor?"
"Nothing." Henry told her, walking passed her with his cane.
"Nothing?" Dottie chuckled, turning to follow him. "But you always have so much for me to do and with your absence, I am sure that-"
"I have nothing for you to do, Mrs. Ramsay, because I am no longer in need of your services." He told her, still walking away.
Dottie's smile faded. "What do you mean?"
"I think you know very well what I mean. Good evening." He said, leaving her there in the center of Main Street as his words caused her to stop following him and he went straight into the saloon.
The former mayor's widow stood in shock before she went right over to Abigail's to inform her that Henry just fired her and she now had no job at Christmastime. How jolly!
When Abigail walked into the saloon, looking for him, she didn't expect to see him reading a newspaper with a glass of Scotch in front of him, his cane hanging on the edge of the table. She closed the door behind her and approached him. "Henry?"
"I told you I didn't want to talk any town business." He said, ignoring the fact that she was actually standing across from him as he flipped another page in the paper.
"That's not why I'm here." Abigail informed him and he looked up at her with annoyance. "Why did you fire Dottie?"
"I fired Dottie because I no longer have use for her services." He set the paper down, knowing that Abigail Stanton was not going to leave him alone.
"But she was going to try and take care of you until you got back on your feet." She tried to tell him what Dottie had told her.
Henry doubted that. "And why are YOU here? Are you here because you CARE about me?"
Abigail sat down in the chair across from him when he said that. "Is that so hard to believe?" She wondered.
"A while ago, that might have meant something to me…" He felt a tightening in his chest, knowing that she was never interested in him or his friendship after he found out she was married to Noah when she first arrived in town.
"A while ago?" The widow asked, confused seeing as she thought they were getting along well before his accident.
"I cared about what happened to you after your husband passed. That's one of the reasons why I invested in your cafe."
"It was a business deal. You were just trying to make money." Abigail doubted his words.
"Well, you can believe whatever you'd like." He pushed his chair back, getting ready to stand and leave since she didn't look like she was going to at all.
"Henry…I know that you are upset about a lot of things…" She started, speaking quickly so she could get words in before he left.
He interrupted her before she could continue. "Here's what you know. What you know is that I don't want your help!" He started to raise his voice a bit, but not too much that it would draw a lot of attention. "You're here because you wanna feel good about the fact that you made an effort. You're here because you want to be able to go to sleep at night, comforted by the fact that you know that you tried."
Abigail felt something in her break as he used that tone with her…even for the first time. He had been short with her before and even frustrated. But he had never expressed enough emotion with her for it to be considered anger. His anger only fueled hers and she realized how hurtful his words were. "You're just saying that because you think I took your job." She replied though that wasn't what she wanted to say to him. She wanted to tell him that he was only mad with her for never wanting to be with him and for courting Bill and Frank after Noah died but not Henry. She knew exactly why he was upset but she couldn't say those things in the saloon with people watching.
"Then why can't we just stop playing games here? Why can't you just admit that you enjoy feeling morally superior to the rest of us? You're here for you. Not for me. For you." He told her…knowing that she would understand exactly what he meant by that. He was right as she read his mind. He thought she was trying to seem morally superior to make up for the fact that she did what she did with him when they weren't even seeing each other. She was helping people more and more lately to try and NOT feel like a devious person for sleeping with him.
Her heart pounded as she realized what he meant and she kept her eyes on his to make sure she did not look around the saloon at the people watching them and her anger was now heightened. "If you really believe that then there is nothing more to say!"
"Well, I really believe that so I guess we're done." He said, his voice calm again and he stood, leaning on his cane.
"We're done!" Abigail nodded at him in agreement.
Henry left the saloon before they could say another word and the cafe owner let out a breath, looking down at his empty chair in front of her and she felt the urge to cry though she wasn't sure why. She let out a sigh of frustration before soon making herself stand up to leave as well, ignoring the looks a few of the saloon customers gave her and she went back to the cafe, telling herself to just be done with that man once and for all…Even if he was never off her mind.