Author's note: This is going to be a part two or follow up to Father's Day in Hope Valley. I hadn't intended to write more of this story, but so many people were asking for more, I decided to make the effort and write some more. Not everyone will be happy with how I finish this and not everyone will get the answers they are looking for, but maybe this will leave it in a better place for people.

I originally was going to add this on to the original story, but then it seemed to take on a life all of its own and it no longer felt like it was part of the original story, so I made it a second story all of its own. I hope that people understand why I did this way and I hope that you enjoy the story.

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Summary of original story:

Allie Grant had an idea about wanting to honor the father's of Hope Valley, but especially her own who had chosen to love her and take her in. She talked to Bill and with his help a plan was put in place. The ladies of the town took over planning a community picnic after Sunday services. The children made cards for their father's and also each chose another man who was a father figure in their lives, this was to get the children that didn't have father's more involved in the project.

The older children on their own decided to create a 'Father of the Year' and it was almost unanimously decided that Nathan Grant was going to be the winner of the Father of the Year award. While the children were planning and writing out their memories or stories of their fathers, there was one mother (Elizabeth Thornton) that wasn't happy, because her current beau (Lucas Bouchard) wasn't going to be honored because he hadn't shown any interest in Little Jack. As part of the planning, some former characters who had left town were invited back and others emerged from the background.

The Saturday that the announcement was made declaring the next day Hope Valley's First Father's Day, Elizabeth and Lucas sneak out of town to Benson Hills leaving Little Jack with Lee and Rosemary without so much as a word to them. Bill gets involved when Lee and Rosemary are worried that Elizabeth doesn't pick up Little Jack. Bill tries to keep it from Nathan so as not to ruin his day off. Nathan however sees Lucas and Elizabeth sneak back into the the next morning after being gone all night, not that he didn't already know. He just hadn't said anything. He lets it go for the day so as to enjoy the time with Allie and other friends in the community.

The Sunday service happens without interruption. Pastor Frank Hogan who had returned for the event prayed a special blessing over the fathers. After the service, the community has a wonderful picnic and the children honor their fathers and the men who stepped up in the community. Most of the men are surprised to be included. Nathan is given his Father of the Year award. During this time, Elizabeth emerges but doesn't interact with anyone at the picnic, but watches. She is jealous of the attention that Nathan is getting and reveals that Lucas had proposed the night before, but it wasn't what she really wanted.

Overall it turned out to be a wonderful day, enjoyed by most of Hope Valley. Friendships were formed and others were strengthened. It ended with Abigail, Frank, Bill, Nathan, Allie, Lee and Rosemary sharing supper at the cafe with the two Mounties that had come to watch over the town to give Nathan the day off. Lee, Rosemary, Nathan and Allie agree that they need to do that more often and couldn't believe that they hadn't done something like that before.

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Chapter 1 – The In Between

It had been just over three weeks since the Father's Day Celebration and a lot had happened.

Frank had left town the Tuesday after the celebration, returning to Cape Fullerton. He was gone for a week before he returned to Hope Valley permanently. He had an apartment in town, but was looking at different plats of land to buy and build on. He found one fairly close to town and was hopeful his deal would go through. Even though he dreamed of marrying Abigail, he didn't want to live above the cafe permanently. He would if that made her happy, but he had hopes that a house nearby would be okay. The plat of land he was looking at wasn't that far from the cafe and was just outside of town toward the old mine. It wasn't that Frank didn't like the cafe, but he wanted a place to be able to go that was not work. He thought it would help in getting Abigail to relax.

While still helping Joseph with the church, Frank took a job in town as a handyman and had been kept fairly busy. He was spending every available moment with Abigail. Little did she know that Frank and Nathan had planned a trip to Union City where Nathan was going to help Frank pick a ring. Nathan wasn't sure why Frank had asked him, but was honored to help. They were working out the details and hoped to combine it with a trip Nathan was going to need to make to headquarters. Most everyone seemed happy for their Mayor and former pastor. The day Frank had returned, he had asked Abigail to court him and she had accepted. They had been seen fishing that weekend and many times since. Frank and Abigail had even gone fishing once with Nathan and Allie where the guys had been sorely out-fished.

Frank liked working with Joseph. They worked together on more than just spiritual needs. It turned out that Joseph was something of a handyman as well. Together they were fixing up Hope Valley, physically and spiritually. The other thing that Frank liked about Joseph, was that he could have deep conversations about the Bible and beliefs without being the one that was supposed to have all the answers. Frank felt like he was able to relax and it in turn helped him with his other relationships. The two men often worked on sermons together and agreed to take turns delivering them.

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Nathan had also been busy since the Father's Day Celebration. He had sat down that week with Bill and Abigail, where they learned Nathan knew about Elizabeth's overnight trip. They also learned that Nathan had done his research and filed the appropriate reports with the supporting evidence he had uncovered. He had explained that it was his duty not only as a parent, but as an officer of the law to file official reports detailing her actions. He made it clear that he wasn't sorry he had done it and that he would do it again if needed. Nathan basically challenged Bill if he thought that Elizabeth was above the law. Bill hung his head as he knew that Nathan treated people the same no matter their station in life.

Nathan thankful had not been asked to sit in on the meeting with Elizabeth where she was informed that her actions had been called into question and she would need to answer for them. Nothing else had been said and she hadn't made any attempts to change her behavior or explain her actions to them at the moment. Instead, she left the meeting and immediately went to Lucas who told her it wasn't a big deal and so what if she couldn't teach. Elizabeth did try to corner Nathan in the cafe and yell at him, but Abigail quickly shut it down.

That wasn't the only excitement that Nathan had had in the past three weeks. The week following the celebration, Superintendent O'Reilly had been in town. He informed Nathan and Bill that Hope Valley would at some point in the near future be getting a second young Mountie. Nathan was being promoted to Corporal and would oversee the young Mountie. Nathan had also been asked to update the tracking training materials given to Cadets. There was no real timeline on the project, other than the next year. With the growing population and Nathan's new responsibilities, O'Reilly said it was only natural to put a second Mountie there. He wasn't sure who the Mountie would be but was looking at several good candidates. Nathan had suggested Gabe Montgomery as he already knew the area and several of the residents. Having said his peace and not seeing a response coming from his Superintendent, Nathan thanked him for the visit and information. O'Reilly promised to be in touch as soon as a decision was made. He then left Nathan to ponder the coming changes.

For now, Nathan was looking forward to spending time with Allie and fishing. He had noticed while on rounds there were several new settlers on the edge of his daily rounds area and even more further out where he patrolled once a week. He made a note that if there were two of them, they should patrol the settlement area more often. The businesses in town had noticed the increase in settlers as well. Three new businesses had opened up, including a hardware store where Frank found a lot of business. Overall, it had been good for Hope Valley and there were plans to expand the church later that summer. There was also talk of building a new school. For now it was decided that a large open cabin would be built that could be used as a second classroom or eventually turned into housing for a teacher or Pastor.

Nathan had caught the eye of many of the young women who had come out and settled in the area. Nathan however had no interest in any woman romantically at that point. After everything Elizabeth had put him through, Nathan had built a huge brick wall around his heart and the only ones to get past it were Allie and Little Jack. It wasn't that Nathan didn't want to get married but he felt that he had missed his chance. He was happy raising Allie and protecting the town he loved. He also knew that if some woman managed to capture his bruised heart he would be much more careful until he knew her heart. At the age of thirty-one, Nathan felt he was no longer a good marriage prospect. He couldn't have been more wrong as every woman, young and old, married or not had thought him one of the most handsome men they ever personally laid eyes on. Even those that tried to flirt couldn't make headway with him. Either he didn't notice the flirting or didn't care. He was polite to the ladies, but simply didn't flirt back or give them reason to believe he was interested.

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Lee had been busy the last several weeks as well. He had added two more head saws to the mill and now was operating one of the large mills in Alberta with six head saws. He had had several offers from mills back east as well as in British Columbia to buy his operation or to combine with them. He however wasn't selling or interested in adding partners who didn't value the land and business like he did. Business was good and Lee felt at home in Hope Valley. He was also a pioneer in ethical harvesting and replanting.

Things had gotten so busy, that Lee had gotten Rosemary her own office next door to his. Not only was his business growing, but so was the Valley Voice. Rosemary's life seemed to revolve around the paper and keeping Lee happy. Rosemary had even hired Cody for the summer to help her with the paper. Robert continued to deliver the paper and the mail, but was hoping for more. Rosemary was thinking that she was going to need to hire someone full-time soon. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate all that Cody did, but she also knew that he had other plans. As Rosemary sat in her office one day, rubbing her upset stomach, she thought about all the changes that had happened since she had come to town in the hopes of winning Jack's hand back and moving back east to resume her career in the theater. She also realized how wrong she had been. She loved Hope Valley and couldn't see herself living anywhere else at that point.

Rosemary had several articles planned outlining the growth of Hope Valley while honoring the history of the town. She realized that it had been forever since they had done the Founder's Day play that they had done when she first arrived. She set about looking for an old copy, plus the updated copy that she had redone a few years later. She was hoping to combine the two, while updating it with the changes that had happened. She knew for a fact that the background that Jack had made was carefully stored in the storage area over the mayor's office with the trunks of costumes that had been made. Being a brick building and more secure from fire, it was felt that it was a safer spot to store it in case the worst ever happened again. She knew that they had had Founder's Day celebrations in the past, but the play had fallen by the wayside for more profitable endeavors.

The other big news that Lee and Rosemary hadn't shared with anyone other than Pastor Joseph and Pastor Frank was that they had officially started the paperwork to adopt a child from the Brookfield orphanage. They were hoping everything went through and they were celebrating Christmas as a family of three. Both Joseph and Frank were praying for them. Lee and Rosemary had not told everyone else because they wanted to be a bit further along in the process before they said anything. They didn't want to get everyone's hopes up for them and then something happened. The other reason for the delay had everything to do with Elizabeth Thornton. Her behavior of late had people worried and Lee had told Rosemary that they needed to be ready to step in and take Little Jack if needed.

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Abigail had settled nicely back into her job as mayor, even though she was still playing catch up on everything that had happened in the almost two years that she had been gone. She had happily settled back into life living over the cafe. Cody seemed much happier since coming back as well. He hadn't decided what he had he was doing, but Abigail knew that he was still looking at the Mounties. She also knew that Cody had had several conversations with both Bill and Nathan. Cody had taken a job working with Rosemary at the paper for the time being. He was good with words and they had found that Cody was willing to learn anything that Rosemary tossed his direction. It was Cody who stayed late to set and run the copy of the paper each Tuesday night.

When he wasn't working, Cody could be found hanging around Allie Grant, Robert Wolf, Angela and Cooper Canfield and Opal Wiese. They had formed a tight group of friends that sometimes included Emily Montgomery and Harper Tucker. They enjoyed spending time at the pond or fishing. They all came from different backgrounds and shared the different things they had experienced. Abigail had wondered if Cody hadn't developed a bit of crush on Allie Grant when she saw the two of them heading out fishing one afternoon. Abigail had to admit that Allie was a wonderful young woman. She was smart, funny and well liked by others. Abigail also knew that she had a strong moral compass having been raised by Nathan. It helped that she liked frogs, bugs and fishing. All things Cody liked as well. On more than one occasion, Abigail had heard them talking about various books or current events. Abigail was also sure that if Nathan caught wind of Cody's potential crush he would be upset, given the two almost three year age difference between the two teens.

Abigail had taken to opening the cafe to allow Minnie to come in a bit later. Abigail found that she liked the woman. She was much like herself. She hadn't had the easiest life, but had made the most of it. Abigail found that Minnie had mastered many of the recipes that she had left behind as well as improved some and added others. The two women had fallen into a nice routine and Minnie was understanding of the time that Abigail needed to spend at the mayor's office. Overall, it was a nice friendship and working relationship that the two women had developed. They could bounce ideas off one another and both found the new arrangement to be much better for them both.

Abigail was also enjoying spending time with Frank. He came and had breakfast almost every day. He also spent time doing many upgrades and was even adding a room off the back kitchen for more storage. Abigail was looking at getting one of those large electric ice boxes. She knew that they were very expensive, but she knew that they would eventually be the way of the future. She was thinking that she had enough in her savings to do it without shorting herself. Abigail also thought of other things that she wanted to add to the cafe. She knew that it would take time and she was patient. Besides the extra store room, Abigail was thinking the next summer would see an addition to the dining room area of the cafe, almost doubling the space available to sit at the moment. She knew with the growth of the town it only made sense.

Abigail had also had a couple of letters from her mother, who had agreed to sell the house and move to Hope Valley. She wasn't sure where her mother was going to live at the moment, but Abigail was glad that she would be there in the fall. Abigail had told Frank about it and he was completely supportive of her mother coming. They were enjoying spending every moment together that they could. They had been fishing and on a few horseback rides. They had agreed to court, but there was no timeline on anything moving forward. Abigail hoped that Frank would ask her to marry him at some point, but she wasn't going to press the issue. They had spent many years apart and were content to be together.

Abigail had written to Becky who was happy for them. She was busy working as an engineer back east. As much as Abigail and Cody both wished that Becky was closer, they both knew she was doing something that she loved and were happy for her. They were also happy that there was a young man that seemed to be interested in Becky, but it seemed even though Becky liked the young man she had no intention of settling down and starting a family anytime soon.

The only dark spot on an otherwise wonderful return to Hope Valley was Elizabeth and her behavior. Abigail had tried to talk to Elizabeth again when Bill, Lee and her had sat down with Elizabeth, but Elizabeth didn't want to hear what they were saying. During the meeting they wondered if Elizabeth had heard them at all, because they got no response other than a few curt words and a nod. To make sure they were clear, Abigail had followed up with a letter stating what they said in the meeting.

They were all at a loss as to how to get through to Elizabeth. She was on a bad path and didn't seem to want to hear anything anyone said. She also refused to explain her actions other than that she was happy and if they had a problem, she didn't want to hear it. They couldn't understand what Elizabeth saw in Lucas or why she tolerated his behavior. The only thing that they could conclude was that Elizabeth was truly too scared to open her heart to true love again. Because they had all seen the looks that Elizabeth gave Nathan and followed him with her eyes. Similar to what she had done with Jack. No one could deny the obvious sparks between the two whenever they were in the same vicinity. Credit to Nathan for his resolve to distance himself.

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Elizabeth had been miserable since the celebration. She had been called into a meeting with Abigail, Lee and Bill. They had threatened her that her actions had been called into question and wanted an explanation. She was angry and defensive. She tried to brush off the trip as no big deal as nothing happened. She also vowed that she would never let anyone take the Jack Thornton School from her as in her mind it belonged to her and not the town since it was Jack who had built it with his money. She honestly didn't think that she had done anything wrong and was determined to fight for what she wanted, even though she had admitted it wasn't exactly what she wanted. Even if that admission was only to herself and came too late to change things. She was a Thatcher. Things were supposed to work out for her and she couldn't figure out why she couldn't have her fun romance with Lucas and her deep friendship with Nathan.

She blamed Nathan for everything that had happened. It was his fault she felt the way that she did. She was fine until Nathan pulled back and put distance between the two of them. She didn't understand why he had done that. Even Allie had pulled back and raced from the classroom as quickly as she could this past spring. She watched Nathan still interact with Little Jack, but the moment that she approached or spoke, he put up a wall and retreated from her. She convinced herself that if Nathan hadn't come to Hope Valley then none of this would have happened. She pushed that thought further and had decided that if Nathan hadn't gotten in trouble that Jack would still be there like he was supposed to have been.

After the meeting, Elizabeth had tried to talk to Lucas, but he didn't want to talk. The next day he left on what he was calling a business trip. He didn't tell Elizabeth where he was going or how long he was going to be gone. She was upset because she had been planning an engagement party. She was trying to show that she was happy, she was trying so hard to pretend that she was happy so people would leave her alone. Since Lucas left, Elizabeth had been spending more time at home or hidden away in the library. She still left Little Jack with Laura most days as Elizabeth claimed that she was busy writing.

She might have been writing, but it wasn't what everyone was thinking. Elizabeth had gone back and was working on her short stories that she had started when she was with Jack. She was slowly working on her novel. It was never enough for Lucas's mother, but she would claim that she was busy getting ready for the school year or with Little Jack. Elizabeth felt that endless 'corrections' from Helen were pointless. She would change something and weeks later change it back. Elizabeth realized that Helen was trying to change the ending of the book that Elizabeth had written because according to Helen it 'didn't reflect a true reality'. Elizabeth knew that Helen wasn't happy that the novel ended with the father character claiming the heroine's heart. Helen outright told Elizabeth that the character she had written was too much of Nathan and not enough of her own Lucas. Elizabeth was angry at Helen and sorry that she had ever agreed to have her as a publisher.

The other thing that Elizabeth was working on was writing to her Aunt Agatha to help her find a different publisher that understood her better and would stop wasting her time with endless, pointless rewrites. At least with Lucas gone, Elizabeth didn't have to constantly sit through his horrible dates where he tried to impress her with quotes from various books. He never wanted to discuss the actual books, but only a quote or two. Elizabeth quickly realized that he never actually read the books, but memorized a line or two from them to pretend he was smart. The other thing that Elizabeth was learning, she really didn't know Lucas. He never wanted to talk about his past or business. He also grew bored and/or angry if she tried to share her past, other than Hamilton. Elizabeth had realized that he was obsessed with high society and being a part of it. Elizabeth had left that life and had no desire to go back.

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Bill was frustrated. He had tried to talk to Elizabeth but she refused to listen. He had found out that he could charge her with child abandonment, but he wasn't sure that drastic step was the right move. He hoped when they had talked to her about her actions and her teaching contract that she would realize she was risking a lot. But from what Bill had seen it only pushed her further into her fears. Try as he might, Bill had been unable to get a hold of William Thatcher directly. He had gotten a message that the man was aware of the situation and was dealing with it. Bill wasn't sure what that meant, but he wished to speak to William Thatcher directly about it.

Bill couldn't say he was surprised when he saw Lucas leave again. He had tried to learn where the man was, but hadn't been able to at that point. Bill had even gone as far as contacting a few of his former informants. He had however turned up some additional information on Bouchard's background. It appeared that Lucas had been involved with another heiress from the Toronto area who had seemed to vanish from society after being involved with Lucas for several months.

The other thing that had Bill frustrated was the lack of information that he was able to get from Superintendent O'Reilly or those around him as to the changes that were coming to Hope Valley. Bill wanted details and he had yet been unable to find out any. All he had learned was that the newly minted Commissioner Delaney had big plans to reorganize and expand the Royal Northwest Mounted Police Force. But it seemed everyone was quite tight-lipped about the details and timelines. Bill hated it when he couldn't get the information that he wanted. He had gone about it in several different ways and he had come up empty at every turn.

Bill felt that changes were coming and those who knew Bill knew he hated change. Not only did Bill feel that a change was coming to Hope Valley, but he saw the changing political landscape and economic changes happening across the country since the war. He was grateful that Hope Valley had mostly been spared the problems other parts of the country were experiencing since the war started. Part of the reason that Bill felt that Hope Valley had largely been spared was the lack of young men available for military service. Yes, there were a few, but they seemed to have been spared as they were needed in the jobs they already had. Another reason that Bill felt that the town had been spared was he learned that Coulter Enterprises had a government contract to supply wood for shipping crates to the government.

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