. .
Chapter Twenty-eight
. .
A New Reality
. .
Having stuffed his pockets with the contents of his office safe, Lucas Bouchard laid the last of his belongings on the desk before him. He had waited for Henry to step out before he counted his cash, re-pocketed the jewelry and sorted the papers. He was awaiting a call back from his insurance company and becoming perturbed that they didn't treat their customers with ready attention and respect. This was an emergency after all and he had called hours ago!
A glance in the mirror on the back wall showed Lucas his disheveled state, a far different version from the suave businessman persona he usually displayed. "Since the insurance adjuster in Union City can't see me, I should be treated better than this!" Lucas muttered. He needed a cup of tea, but didn't dare miss the expected return call.
Why hadn't Gustave come to find him and bring him some tea and lunch? 'Gustave could at least get something at the Café!' Lucas tried to remember their conversation when he had awakened earlier in the morning and Gustave had brought him a muffin and a mug of tea. 'Something about the bank, bathing at Ned's and heading to Union City? I'll have to go ask Ned what Gustave was talking about… And where is Elizabeth? Huh?'
Lucas was in a foul mood. After his absolute, speechless shock last evening, Lucas
had awakened to reality, both determined and angry. No matter whom he encountered or even thought of today, his anger spilled over and everyone was at fault and against him.
The ringing telephone startled him and Lucas quickly pocketed the cash and shuffled the papers before him. "Hello, Lucas Bouchard speaking…" He couldn't think of any pleasantries to add at the moment.
"Mr. Bouchard. I am Harold Marconi and I was notified you had called earlier. How may I help you?"
"As I said in my message…" Lucas drew out his statement, "my business burned to the ground last evening and it was a total loss. I am calling to begin the claim procedure to collect on my insurance." Lucas was businesslike, yet his tone showed his displeasure at being made to wait.
"I'm sorry, Sir, but we have no record of an active policy for you. I did find a discontinued policy that was terminated for non-payment in March of this year. Since the insurance policy was not kept current it is no longer valid."
"What? Non-payment?" Lucas stood, shouting angrily. "Did you even notify me that it was overdue? I can't believe this. After all the years I paid for that policy, it must be worth something. Non-payment, my #**!"
"Ah, Mr. Bouchard. That is not how property insurance works," Mr. Marconi calmly explained. "Only active policies can be claimed after an inspection of the property and investigation into the means of destruction or loss as filed by local law enforcement. In your case, your policy is inactive. Furthermore, I am looking at our billing records and you were notified the policy was in arrears on the thirtieth of April, May and June. On July sixth, fifteenth, and twentieth we tried to reach you by telephone with one response that you were out of town, the second that you were unavailable and the final you dismissed yourself, saying you would return our call. After a ten-day grace period, in which we would have explained the problems and possibly negotiated a new policy, on July thirtieth we issued a notice of cancellation, retroactive to March."
"I never received any such notice!" His voice growling and threatening, Lucas continued, "I should report you to law enforcement! This is ridiculous."
"Sir? Even if you had paid-in-full, your original policy would be worth nothing as upon our investigation in July, we discovered that you did not qualify to be grandfathered-in. You were not exempt and should not have served alcohol when you opened. The laws of Prohibition, excuse the pun, prohibit a new owner from continuing a previous liquor license. Even with insurance money, if they would have paid, you could not rebuild a similar establishment. It looks as though you have a total loss on your hands. I am sorry to…."
"What?" Lucas shout could be heard up and down Main Street. "You *#+^!" Red-faced, Lucas slammed the telephone onto the desk and departed the Petroleum office, letting the door slam behind him.
As Lucas stomped down the street, for the action of stomping his feet was the only way to express his rage, he was hesitantly approached by a former Hotel guest.
"Mr. Bouchard. MR. Bouchard! MR. BOUCHARD!" The volume of the guest's voice increased. "What will you do for us as we have lost our belongings and our funds through no fault of our own. You are responsible to compensate us for the worth of those items. When can we expect payment and be on our way?"
Suddenly aware of what the guest was saying, Lucas could only lie, "I'm working on that. You know insurance companies. They always take such a long time to reimburse you…" Lucas began to hurry calling behind him, "I'll be in touch."
. .
Escaping the town, Lucas Bouchard drove off with no purpose but to get away and avoid everyone. Finding himself at the cemetery, he took refuge and slumped onto a bench beside the iron fence, pulling up his collar and tightening his coat. Hoping he would not be disturbed, Lucas tried to reconstruct the past twenty-four hours. He and Elizabeth had enjoyed one of Gustave's suppers and then she had been picking up Jack's toys while he read the newspaper in the parlor when Rosemary had pounded on the door.
Elizabeth had opened it to hear shouts of "FIRE" as the bells rang the alert.
Panicked, Rosemary cried, "They called Lee and he took the car with the Canfield's. I need a ride into town. There's a fire somewhere. Hurry!"
Elizabeth had grabbed Jack, and they'd rushed into town only to find Lucas's worst fear realized. It was the Queen of Hearts. His Saloon. He was losing his business! Lucas couldn't remember much after his first glimpse of the orange flames breaking through the shattering windows while he stood paralyzed in the street.
Later, with the building reduced to smoldering embers and blackened beams, someone had instructed him to go sleep in the schoolhouse and he had sent Elizabeth home.
Lucas shook his head again thinking, 'She hasn't even looked for me to find out how I am!'
As that thought crossed his mind, Lucas Bouchard realized he needed to enact a different attitude towards Elizabeth Thornton now. She was his ticket to success and solvency and Lucas knew that spending money on gasoline or train tickets and returning with losses couldn't continue. He had precious little cash left.
'I'm afraid I have no choice. I must convince Elizabeth to elope, and soon! I have enough cash for a couple of nights at the hotel in Union City and we can even begin working on the bank accounts while we are there. If she insists that she wants to reduce her hours at school, we will need those funds as soon as possible! That's my excuse. I'll blame the need on her and say it makes sense to elope right away as we can live together in her row house to start. Of course, that means that I'll have to charm her into an early elopement…'
. .
In the Thornton row house, Elizabeth had left Jack in Laura's care and retreated to her room upstairs to think. Her journal lay open in her lap, but she couldn't form the words to write her disturbing thoughts. Rosemary's admonishment this morning had hurt. 'And in front of Allie! My student! That was rude…
Elizabeth wiped the tears again, although the handkerchief was already wet. Yet the more that she thought about it, the more Elizabeth realized truth. She had been more concerned for Nathan than for Lucas.
'Of course Lucas didn't even help fight the fire. He'd just stood there watching, which was embarrassing, while the rest of the town risked their lives to save the Saloon. I probably should go find him and talk about his plans to rebuild, but I am ashamed of his behavior. I don't want to be seen with him right now, not to mention that Nathan is such a hero and I am prohibited from telling him that! It's all so unfair. Ever since he started talking to Faith around town, Nathan's become more distant from me. I don't deserve that. We are friends! He declined that promotion for me and for our friendship. I have every right to visit him whenever I want to…'
'Everyone is against me. I don't think anyone cares that I'm still grieving and I'm a single mother and I'm alone. Everyone seems happy to see Nathan with Faith… I know dating the doctor is prestigious, but being friends with a school teacher, and one from Hamilton, counts for something.'
Elizabeth sighed, 'Now though, even teaching isn't fulfilling, and all the parents are against me. After all I've done for their children, now I'm on probation! I just need to stick with it to the end of the year I guess. By then Lucas and I can be married and I won't need the income anymore. Maybe I can go back to writing again? But there is no hurry for that and I'd have to be inspired…'
As she glanced at the small bookcase below her bedroom window, Elizabeth noticed her published book and the one that Jack had made for her. As happened so often, her thoughts turned to Jack, followed by Nathan, 'Jack inspired my first stories, and Nathan helped me find inspiration for my book and now…Lucas?'
. .
Allie answered the door to find Ned Yost standing there with a large brown-wrapped package in his arms. "Hello, Allie. I have a delivery for your father. Is he nearby?"
"Come in Mr. Yost. He's right here on the sofa." Allie opened the door wide to allow Ned to enter.
"Hello, Ned!" Nathan exclaimed excitedly. "Is this what I ordered this morning?"
"Hello, Nathan. It is! Florence sent me over here right away. She was thrilled it arrived and added ribbon as she did once before for you."
"That is so wonderful. Thank you, Ned, and please thank Florence for me as well? I guess when Florence Yost makes a rush order people respond!" Nathan took the package and set it beside him on the sofa, turning to talk to Ned. "Did the other item I ordered get delivered?"
"Oh yes! I delivered it myself! I can say her eyes lit up when I handed it to her! That was such a sweet thing to do after all Faith did for us last night. Well, you too, Nathan. How are you feeling today?"
"I'm in pain when I move my arm, but if I can find a comfortable position for it, I can almost forget it is injured. Faith said it will take eight weeks to be fully functional, but I sure hope she's wrong on that one! Are you okay? Still coughing?"
"I'm fine. I only cough when I walk outside and inhale the smoky haze. Be glad you are not in town right now. It's most unpleasant." Ned nodded towards the door. "I better get back though. Florence is handling the store!"
"I appreciate your kind service, Ned. Thank you for these and for earlier. Remember me to your wife!" Nathan grinned and gave a hatless tip of his hand.
"You are very welcome, Nathan. Now, be good and get better." Ned grinned at Allie. "You take good care of our town hero, Allie, okay? You should be very proud of your dad!"
"Oh, I am. He's the best! I'll see you at work, Mr. Yost. Bye now," Allie closed the door behind the Mercantile owner and looked quizzically at her father. "Care to show me what that is?" She pointed to the brown paper package, tied up with string.
Laughing, Nathan stood and lifted the package as he turned towards the kitchen. "Come see!"
. .
"Thank you for the rose, Dad. It's beautiful and I know Miss Faie will love hers. I'm going to go to the Coulter's now, so have a good talk. Should we call before we bring the dinner back?"
"You can just come back, Honey. Knock though just in case we are kissing!" Nathan wiggled his eyebrows at his daughter.
"After last night, I want to see you kissing!" Allie laughed as she put on her coat. "I hope you two can make it right but, be careful, Dad. Uncle Gabe might not knock!"
"True. Leave the door unlocked please? Thanks, Honey." Nathan waved. "Thanks for setting such a pretty table too. See you later."
"Oh, I see Miss Faie coming out of her house, Dad. Bye!" Allie disappeared quickly and waved to the doctor as she approached. "Hi Miss Faie. Dad's waiting for you. See you later."
. .
Grateful for the forewarning, Nathan stood beside the front door and waved Faith inside. "Hello, Faith. Thank you for coming early."
"Hi, Nathan. It's good to see you up. Did you rest today though? Sleep some?" Faith handed Nathan her coat and examined his face. "When did you last take an Aspirin?"
"About a half hour ago. I figured that means I can take another before bed, right?" Nathan motioned to the sofa. "Come sit beside me, please?"
"Sure." Faith sat, feeling rather awkward. "Before bed is fine, Nathan. So you rested?"
"I did. Napped for an hour and then Allie and I talked and read some and she just left. Rosemary and Allie made the dinner and are bringing it down here hot from the oven. They are giving us space." Nathan shifted and adjusted the pillow under his arm. "Faith, I…"
"May I speak first, please? I have been thinking about what I need to say."
"Okay, I'm listening."
"First, I know you acted heroically, Nathan, and rescuing Cal was a courageous thing to do, but you need to remember that Allie and I both love you. You need to calculate your risks even more now and be more careful. We couldn't bear to lose you. The entire town couldn't bear to lose you." Faith took a deep breath and blinked back tears. "I know your job involves risk, protecting, and rescuing those in need. I just realized last night that I can't prevent you from taking chances, I can just ask you to think of us before you do so."
"Faith, I have been calculating my risks ever since I began caring for Allie. I know my job is dangerous and I've even considered giving up being a Mountie, but I cannot do that. The good I can do is too great to leave it behind and, although I am not a fan of danger, I love so many other aspects of the job that I just pray for the Lord to protect me when I face a risk. I can't promise safety for myself or any of those I care for, but I can say that my experience allows me to be wise and careful. I know loving a Mountie isn't easy. I see it in Allie's eyes frequently enough, but we have to trust God. I hope my profession isn't an obstacle for you now?"
"No…" Faith paused. "This is just the first time I saw you take a risk, This is the first time since we acknowledged our love, Nathan. It hit me differently last night. I can't really explain it, but…maybe to say my eyes were opened in a new way?"
"I can understand that. Is that all?"
"No," Faith shook her head, looking down to collect her thoughts.
"I didn't think so. What else?"
"I need to ask you to change something and I don't know how to do that." At Nathan's frown, Faith rested her hand on his forearm.
"Nathan, you need to trust me to make the right decisions in my work too. When I asked if you were alright last night, you said yes, but you weren't. You were injured and you didn't tell me. You didn't trust me to know what to do or when to do it. You made your own decision and that doesn't work. If you had told me you were in such pain, I could have examined you more closely and stabilized your arm and iced it right away. Cal's leg could have waited for another five or ten minutes while I tended to you, but you didn't let that happen and so your arm swelled more than it had to and, by waiting, you made things worse.'
"You decided for me. In my office, you decided what I should do. After all my years of training, you took away my professional choice. Being a doctor doesn't work like that, Nathan. I need my patients to be honest with me. I need YOU to be honest with me. You need to admit you are in pain or injured or sick or whatever I can help you with. You need to tell me as soon as you possibly can, and you need to trust me. Trust that I know what I am doing. Trust that I can triage my patients and make wise decisions. Trust that my training is sufficient to help you and the other people around us. If I need your help, like I did out at the Sterk's farm, then I'll ask you. We work together extremely well when focused on others, but we need to work on us, on you, on me. Can you work on this with me, Nathan? Can you work on being honest about yourself with me and work on trusting me to do my job, just as I will do for you?"
His eyes glistening, Nathan watched her quietly. "I was ready to defend myself and now I find I have no defense. You are right. I didn't trust you to know what was best for me. I made the decision for you and I am sorry."
Nathan swallowed hard but continued, "Still, you do need to understand that I have years of experience in putting others first. Right? If I hadn't done that as a son, as a brother, as a parent, I wouldn't have been much of a man or a Mountie. I think of it as laying down one's life for his friends. Not like Jesus did but, only God knows, maybe someday I will have to die so someone else might live. I don't make my decisions based solely on self-preservation. I try to make them on protecting and serving others first. I can't change that, Faith. I don't really want to change that. I think it is how God made me."
Faith's tears overflowed and she let a sob escape. Nathan had poured out his heart for her, explained the depths of his motivations and she could only admire that and respect him for his choices. This man before her was an exemplary man and she took a moment to thank God for Nathan.
Nathan reached his good arm around Faith's shoulders and pulled her towards his side as he whispered tenderly, "I'm sorry I have made you cry."
"Oh Nathan, I can't help it. You are such a wonderful man and I love you so much that I…" She tucked her head into his side as she pressed against him. "It's just that I was worried and… You, the man that I love, suffered needlessly under my care. I am so sorry…"
"You don't need to be sorry, Honey. You need to trust me and I need to trust you. I need to share my pain, whatever that is, and you need to accept that sometimes my choices are out of love for others, including you. I think we both want to make things easier for each other and that gets in the way, or at least doesn't always work out as we expect," Nathan leaned away to look into Faith's eyes.
"Faith? Please look at me? You are an amazing doctor and I do trust your wisdom, experience, training, and skills. I hope you know that? I do trust you. I love you, Faith, more than words can express."
Nathan looked to Faith's lips and up to her watery eyes again before he bent to capture her sweet lips with his own. Their kiss expressed love and longing and passion, and drew them together deeper than ever before. Faith responded to Nathan's kiss, giving herself to him. When they parted, neither opened their eyes for a few moments. Instead they savored their love, their kiss, their connection, and treasured each other as they leaned their foreheads against one another.
Faith lifted her hand to caress his cheek and as he opened his eyes to meet hers, she reached up and kissed him again. This kiss was less intense, but just as sweet. Their connection had been restored and a lesson in understanding, gained.
Before their friends arrived for dinner, Nathan excused himself to get something, disappearing into the kitchen. When he emerged he held a vase wrapped in a pink ribbon and filled with a dozen perfectly pink roses, interspersed with white berries, clouds of gypsophila and trailing ivy.
Nathan set the vase on the coffee table and stood watching Faith's eyes widen in surprise.
"Nathan!" She gasped as his gift opened her heart even more to this man before her. Pulling her gaze from the beautiful bouquet, Faith looked into Nathan's crystal blue eyes and rose to wrap him in her arms. Nathan could only offer a half of a hug, but he made up for that by pulling her close and kissing the top of her head.
This is where Allie and their 'family of friends' found them when they burst through the door, knocking as the door opened. Allie was right, she needed to see them kissing!
. .
.