Chapter 8 – Changes part 1

Nathan looked at the calendar and realized it was the twenty-first of August. He couldn't believe that it had been ten years since he had lost his sister. There were days it felt like it had been yesterday and then then there were days it felt a lot longer than that. Nathan had sent a note to school just to let the teacher know what was going on in case Allie was distracted or upset. He had offered to let her stay home, but she wanted to in school since it was still the first week. Nathan was fine with it, he was never sure how Allie would react to the day, so he never made plans other than to be available to Allie if she wanted.

Since Allie had chosen to go to school and things were covered in town, Nathan decided to go for a ride on Newton. Packing a lunch and his saddle bags, just in case, Nathan headed out with nowhere in particular in mind. After riding for close to an hour, Nathan found himself at the little cemetery outside of Hope Valley and in particular standing in front of Jack Thornton's grave. Nathan had been there before, but that day he wasn't sure why he had come. He looked out at the cemetery and saw rows of wooden cross makers, never having really paid attention he walked from Jack's grave to check them out.

As he walked along, names that he had heard started jumping out at him. He quickly realized the rows of crosses were for the miners killed in the explosion of 1910. He carefully read each name, going back and making sure he read each and every one. Of those that still had family in Hope Valley, he took a moment to stop and pray, letting them know their family was taken care of.

Walking through the entire cemetery, taking note of every name carved on a headstone, he found himself back at Jack's grave.

"I am sorry, Jack." Nathan said, aloud. "Sorry, you took my place. Sorry, you never got to meet your son. Sorry, that Elizabeth let her fears take over. Sorry, that I had to step back and away from her. You know more than anyone how stubborn she could be. I tried, I really did, but I could force her to love me back; though I think we both know that she did despite all her protesting otherwise. I promise, even if I have had to set very firm boundaries with Elizabeth, I will always be there for Little Jack."

Nathan felt a warm breeze for a brief moment and then a peace settled over him, almost like Jack had told him it wasn't his fault, any of it. Nathan stayed there for another minute and then walked back to the gate where Newton was tethered. One last glance back before mounting Newton and heading back to town. When Nathan looked back, he could have swore he saw Jack and Colleen standing there smiling at him. Jack gave a salute and Colleen a wave, before they turned and walked away together, disappearing as they went. Nathan mounted Newton, shook head and clicked to Newton.

"Home boy." Nathan said.

Newton took them back to town as Nathan was lost in his own thoughts. He was thinking of all the things that had changed not only in the last six weeks, but the last ten years.

… … … …

It had been an incredibly busy six weeks since William Thatcher's short overnight visit to Hope Valley. The six weeks had also brought many changes to the community of Hope Valley. Even though the changes mainly centered around a small group of people, they affected the entire community. Even many of the newcomers noticed the changes that happened in those six weeks. They might not have known the history but they could say that things were different even the short time that they had been there.

Since Elizabeth had agreed to take a year off from teaching, Abigail and Lee had contacted the Superintendent of Schools letting him know that Elizabeth was taking a year off due to personal reasons and they needed not only one but two teachers as they wanted to split the upper and lower grades. They were informed that there was a married couple who were both teachers and they would come for the year if at least one of them would be hired more long term and the other could be used to sub if the other teacher needed or offer additional tutoring after the first year. It didn't take long for Lee and Abigail to agree.

Since William had been checking in weekly with Abigail, he even agreed to build the small house they would be able to use as a teacherage. William had ordered the materials from Lee and sent a crew to build that would fill out with local men and William would pay them through Lee to keep his name out of it. Since there were so many men looking for extra hours, the group was able to get the teacherage up and completely finished in just over three weeks. The crew had also been able to build a second classroom on the backside of the church. It had its own stove and the storeroom was made to connect the two classrooms if needed, but also the doors could be shut when they wanted. William had made a donation to Hope Valley for the school so they had all the supplies that they needed. He just wanted to make sure that the donation was for the school only. Abigail and Bill assured him it was and even agreed to send him a report as to how the money was used if he wanted.

The new teachers, Mr Daniel and Sarah Martin had arrived at the beginning of August and stayed in the saloon hotel while their house was being finished. They not only were settled in their new home with Mr Martin having signed a three year contract with Hope Valley, but they had started school for a few days. It was different having the children in two classrooms, but the parents quickly realized it was a good thing since with the new settlers there were eighteen new students of all ages.

… … … …

Since William Thatcher's visit, Frank had been busy. He had helped with the construction at the church, both the new classroom and the teacherage. He had also started on the framing of the expansion for the dining room at Abigail's. By the spring, they were going to be more than doubling the dining area of the cafe. He had already added two large rooms off the kitchen. One would be a storage room and the other would be the new more private sitting area for Abigail since the old area had been taken over with the expansion of the kitchen. There were now two stoves and lots more cupboards in the kitchen along with a second large prep table. Abigail and Minnie had their hands full. So much so that they had hired two of the young ladies from the settlement to come in and work from ten in the morning through the lunch rush. They also came in and helped on Saturdays with the extra baking sometimes.

Frank had also been able to finalize the purchase of the land near the cafe he had wanted. The house was on hold for now, but at least he had the plot of land. Abigail loved the plot of land and talked about the large garden that she wanted so she would have fresh produce for the cafe. She had a small one now, as most of the space had been taken over by the expansions that had been done.

The other thing that Frank had been able to do was head to Union City with Nathan for three days the week after Mr Thatcher's visit. Frank used the excuse he needed some things and wanted to see them instead of ordering them from a catalog. Nathan had made arrangements for the two of them to stay with another Mountie while they were there so no need for a hotel or the barracks for Nathan. It was a nice few days for Frank to slow down and think about the next steps he wanted to take with his life. Him and Abigail had already talked about it with her mother selling her house and moving out to Hope Valley with them, they were set on settling in Hope Valley for the long haul and not leaving. Both loved the area and the things that it had to offer. There was plenty of room for growth and they were close enough to a bigger town if needed.

While they were there, Frank was able to get several of the tools he had been looking at, but more importantly he had found the perfect ring for Abigail at a jewelry shop that Nathan liked. It was a simple gold band that had five diamonds in it. The center stone was the largest with the next two on either side just slightly smaller. The top where the diamonds were, also featured tiny loops on either side. It had rounded edges, so he found a dainty wedding band with rounded edges to sit next to it. Since the jeweler liked Nathan so much and this was a friend of his and a pastor to boot, he threw in Frank's wedding band for free. They found one that was plain with slightly less rounded edges that worked for him.

The last thing that Frank and Nathan did before they boarded the train back to Hope Valley was stop by the automobile dealer that Superintendent O'Reilly had mentioned was handling all the vehicles for the RCMP. Both Frank and Nathan saw the wisdom in getting a personal car. Neither was quite ready to take that step, but they got a lot of questions answered and even more so for Nathan about the car he was supposed to receive by September sometime. The special safety glass from Paris had been ordered and that was all they were waiting on, since as soon as they installed that, they would be able to deliver the cars to where they belonged. As Frank and Nathan left the dealership with a stack of information, including the last two monthly car magazines that one of the manufacturers from the States put out with the latest information. It heavily leaned on their line of cars, but also talked about other cars and how they compared to the products that this particular manufacturer put out. There were ads for several different cars in the back, with the ability to order custom interiors and a limited range of colors for the exterior.

Now Frank just had to figure out when to propose. He had been so busy since he had come back from Union City that he hadn't had time to sit down and plan something special for Abigail. Even though Nathan gave him a hard time several times about waiting too long. Frank had a rough idea worked out, but he had yet to work out the details or even determine the best time. He also understood what Nathan meant about waiting too long. Frank wanted it to be special, but he also wanted it to be soon.

… … … …

Lee and Rosemary had been so busy they had gone three days without seeing each other wake before they had realized it. Lee had been so busy with the sawmill and the four construction crews that he was overseeing. There was the one that had done the teacherage and classroom, which he then hired on to tackle the long list of other projects he had waiting. Once the crew was done over at the school, Lee set them to work building two more warehouses at the mill and a second bunkhouse.

Lee was also overseeing the two crews who were building new houses for settlers just southeast of town. They were similar to the row houses, but instead of sixteen, there were going to be thirty by the end of the following summer. It worked great because the houses were between town and the train station. Lee knew if the town kept growing the station and maybe eventually his mill would be in town.

The last crew that Lee was overseeing was building out near the oil derricks. They were building two bunkhouses and pre-assembling panels that would become new derricks. Henry was set to expand the drilling since he had a new silent partnership that was much more beneficial then his previous one with Lucas Bouchard.

Rosemary had been so busy at the newspaper, even with Cody's help. She had hired another young man, Alan Griggs, who had moved with his family so his father could work at the mill. Alan was seventeen, finished with school and was eager to learn. Being a small man in both stature and muscle he wasn't cut out for the more demanding work such as at the mill or in construction or at the derricks and pipeline. Turns out Alan was amazing with words and had a great memory for things. He was such a big help to Rosemary who had struggled the last three months.

Rosemary was convinced that it was just stress that was causing her to be forgetful and not allowing her to sleep well at night, despite being tired. She was so tired and not sleeping well that she was napping throughout the day and that made sleeping at night worse. That is how she and Lee hadn't seen each other for three days. She was working on things for the paper at night since she couldn't sleep and since Lee was so busy with work, he has been staying at the office late. Rosemary hadn't been up to cooking, especially if Lee wasn't going to be there, so they had taken to each making something simple for themselves when they were hungry.

Not only was she managing the paper, but she had been helping Lee with paperwork since Jesse had ended up needing to take two weeks off at the beginning of the month when Clara went into labor early. Despite the scare that the little guy gave everyone and the care that he needed afterwards, mother and son were doing much better. Clara and Jesse had decided to name him Louis Carson, after Jesse's father and Carson who saved the baby's life. Even though Clara was able to get around, she was still keeping little Louie at home until he was stronger.

The last two things that were keeping Lee and Rosemary so busy were doing the paperwork to adopt a child from Brookfield orphanage and spending time with Little Jack. Even though Elizabeth wasn't working, she still had little time for Jack, which was frustrating and saddening for many people.

… … … …

The reason that Lee and Rosemary were spending more time with Little Jack was that Laura had quit as his nanny at the end of July. She had spoken to Mr Thatcher and explained that she just couldn't do it anymore. She explained that she needed to spend more time on the farm with her father and his new wife. Laura's father, Jed, had given in and written about getting a mail order bride. The young woman who arrived was only seven years older than Laura, but had grown up in the city so did know much about helping on the far. She was however a quick learner and not afraid of hard work.

The young woman, Lena, had come to Canada from Norway when she was ten years old. Her father had settled in Toronto and worked in a shipyard there. Lena was the youngest of nine kids. Her mother died when she was two and was raised by her older sisters. Being the youngest, she never really had learned much beyond the basics of cooking and cleaning. Her father had passed away over a year prior in an accident at the shipyard. After that her sister and brother-in-law felt it was beyond time for Lena to get married. But given that she was almost thirty, there weren't many good prospects. That was when her sister had stumbled upon a pair of sisters who ran a well established mail order bride service for men who lived on the Western frontier. They screened each man and did their best to weed out those who were less than stellar. They absolutely didn't take any men that had a record with the Mountie or local law enforcement. The men also had to have at least two letters of reference from pillars of the community, one from a pastor was recommended, but not required.

Jeb hadn't been looking for a mother for small children, nor was he known to drink or gamble. He just wanted a partner in life since his first wife had died so young. The only requirements Jeb had asked for was they be willing to work on the farm with him and allow his twenty something daughter to remain on the farm.

It turned out Laura and Lena made a great team working the gardens, tending the animals and keeping house. Laura had caught the eye of several of the new young men in town, but had yet to commit to anyone. Though she had her eye on one young man, he had yet to approach her. She was hoping the big harvest festival that Rosemary, Minnie and Abigail were planning would change that.

Since they no longer had Laura's income from Mrs Thornton, Laura did work three afternoons a week at the ice cream shop just to bring in a bit more money, even though Mr Thatcher had given her a huge paycheck more than covering all the hours she had been with Little Jack beyond what Mrs Thornton had paid for. Jeb insisted on setting half that money aside for Laura for the future. So working in the ice cream shop helped with the farm and also gave Laura time with other people.

… … … …

Lee and Rosemary weren't the only ones who spent more time with Little Jack. He spent a lot of time with Bill and Nathan, not that Elizabeth was happy about the time Little Jack spent with Nathan. It just seemed if he was with Bill, he ended up over at the Mountie office.

Molly and Cat also took Little Jack a few days a week. Once William had learned that the two women had Little Jack most days, with the exception of Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, he insisted on paying them and had spoken with them each to let them know that they were to enforce boundaries with Elizabeth. They weren't to keep Little Jack overnight unless it was an emergency and if Elizabeth didn't pick him back up by five o'clock, he wanted to be informed. Not that it did much. Elizabeth would get Little Jack from Molly or Cat and usually end up leaving him with Bill or Lee and Rosemary until close to bedtime.

As much as they tried to get Elizabeth to spend time with Little Jack in the evenings, she always had an excuse. She had homework from the additional courses she was taking since one of the conditions of Elizabeth returning to the classroom was that she finally get the advanced certificates for blind and disabled students that she had been promising she would do for almost two years. But since she had been out of the classroom as a student for so many years, there were other courses that she needed to take just to qualify to take the special courses for blind and disabled students.

Elizabeth had signed a multiple book deal with her new publisher and they wanted more and more of her short stories as well as a second and possibly third novel. She was working on them all the time it seemed. Granted the short stories she had started when she was dating Jack were easy to write as she continued the Adventures of Mountie Theodore. It took time to type them out and make sure things were correct. What Elizabeth had wanted was to find someone to do illustrations for the stories, but she didn't know anyone that could draw well enough that was willing to help her. She had planned on asking Laura, but with the way things ended between them, that was not an option.

If it wasn't homework or a deadline for the publisher, it was supper with a gentleman caller. Elizabeth had broken her engagement with Lucas, but it didn't take two weeks for her to accept a supper invitation from another man. Many of the single lumberjacks and other settlers all had their eye on the former schoolteacher turned author. In the last three weeks, Elizabeth had been to supper with eight different gentlemen callers. Only one had managed to wrangle a second outing, but that ended abruptly when Little Jack had been dropped off and took an instant dislike to the gentleman, throwing a full blown tantrum right there in the side yard where they had set up a picnic. It had taken Rosemary getting Nathan before Little Jack would calm down, only then to fall asleep in Nathan's arms as he comforted the boy at Rosemary's.

… … … …

After Nathan had returned from his Union City trip, he had set strict boundaries with Elizabeth and she wasn't happy. Nathan and Bill had informed her that she wasn't allowed to just barge in the Mountie office and make demands of Nathan. It was his place of work and he deserved the respect that came with wearing the uniform.

Nathan had also told her that he didn't appreciate being accosted in the street and continued actions of that nature would result in an arrest for harassment. He also made it very clear to Elizabeth that she was not to speak to Allie other than a civil greeting she would give other people. The biggest thing was that Nathan had made it clear that Elizabeth was not to harass, cajole or manipulate other people into telling her about his life.

Nathan had told her quote 'You lost the right to know about my private life when you said you were only looking for your dead husband on me' end quote. He had also quickly spread the word to friends and acquaintances that if they wanted to remain that way, they would keep his private life just that, especially from Elizabeth. Knowing what she had put him through, they were more than willing to do that for Nathan. Not that Elizabeth still didn't try to continue to insert herself into Nathan and Allie's lives or find out what they were doing. The more that she was met with a brick wall, the more angry she became.

It was Frank who had convinced Nathan that he needed to withdraw himself from Elizabeth's life unless it was direct Mountie business. It was also Frank who had talked to Bill about bringing Little Jack to see Nathan when he had him, since Elizabeth refused to let him run to Nathan when they saw him. Nathan was always civil and polite when he saw Elizabeth, but he wouldn't answer personal questions or get drawn into a conversation with her. It was hard as she kept trying to insert herself. Not that Nathan agreed with having the gentlemen callers, he wasn't going to say anything unless they broke the law.

As far as Nathan could tell, Elizabeth had thrown herself into course work, writing and dating instead of actually spending time healing. He had made the reports to Mr Thatcher as he said he would, but he wasn't sure how much longer the man was going to tolerate his daughter thumbing her nose at his guidelines he had laid out in the document that Elizabeth had signed without carefully reading.

… … … …

Elizabeth broke off her engagement on her end the day her father left. She had written a short note to Lucas that she had only let Abigail read. She then put the ring in a pouch and attached the letter to the pouch. She then went to the saloon and spoke to Gustav. Bill had gone with her and they explained that they needed to leave this for Lucas, but needed to make sure that it was secure and wouldn't get lost. Gustav took the note and put it in Lucas's office and assured Bill and Elizabeth that the pouch would be put in the safe and the moment that Gustav saw Lucas he would let him know about it.

Satisfied that she had met the conditions of breaking off her engagement as set forth by her father, Elizabeth left the saloon both relieved and a bit sad. She wasn't happy, because she had kind of wanted the marriage no matter how much she knew it was wrong. She knew that she didn't love Lucas, but he had offered her comfort that she was used to while growing up. She wasn't sure that the marriage would have worked out, but she had been willing to try. What she didn't know was that if she wouldn't have broken it off, she would have been sacrificing her son to have a man she didn't love.

After leaving the saloon, Elizabeth wished Bill a good day. She then went to the mercantile and got a few things. She then went home, gathered things, told Laura that she was going for a ride so she could think. Elizabeth ended up riding Sergeant out to Jack's land and cried for hours. She wasn't sure why she was crying. She couldn't figure out if she was crying because she missed Jack or was upset about the broken engagement with Lucas or over what she had done to Nathan and the look he had given her that morning as she left on Sergeant. It was a look that she had never seen from him. It was a look of almost pity, it wasn't the look that she was used to seeing from Nathan. She had hoped that she would be able to get back into Nathan's life. She was sure that he still loved her, but that morning, seemed to crush all those thoughts in an instant.

… … … …