Dinner was a lively affair, and Allie kept them entertained with stories of all the fun she had with her friends. After dinner, Allie helped Bill with the dishes, and Nathan made a call to Patrick and enquired about the use of his car to pick the others up.
"Good evening, Nathan. This is a surprise."
"Good evening, Patrick. I'm sorry to bother you at night, but I have a favor to ask."
"It's fine, Nathan; what can I help you with?"
"Well, Elizabeth, Jack, The Coulters, and some special guests are coming on the noon train tomorrow. Since they will all be staying here with Bill, Allie, and me, I was hoping I could borrow your car to pick them up from the station and bring them home?"
"That's no problem at all. I can do one better and assign Bill a car to use while they are here. He is a retired Mountie, and Elizabeth is a special guest at the presentation dinner. The Mounties would do anything for Elizabeth Thornton, as you well know."
"I do, Patrick, and I just want to thank you for helping me with this."
"It's my pleasure. So, you must be pretty excited to see her and young Jack." Patrick asked.
"Allie and I are very excited, although she doesn't know they are staying with us or that Elizabeth is bringing a surprise. I also wanted to ask if it would be okay and take an extra 30 minutes for lunch tomorrow."
"Nonsense, Nathan, please take the next four days off. We can temporarily assign you to Mrs. Thornton as her driver. You have put in much overtime in the last few months, so you are due for some time off. Consider this an order and not a request." Patrick said. "You have certainly earned it."
"That's very generous of you, Patrick. I appreciate everything you have done for Allie and me since we moved here."
"That's what friends are for Nathan. Let me know if you or the others need anything. Oh, and tell Elizabeth that I have already arranged for babysitting for the children."
"I certainly will. Have a good night, Patrick."
"You as well, Nathan."
After hanging up, he went to the library to wait on Allie and Bill. He could hear Allie talking about the mystery novel she and Nathan had discovered.
"I just got off the phone with Patrick, and we are all set for tomorrow."
"What is all set for tomorrow," Allie asked.
"Just some arrangements that Mrs. Thornton asked me to check on Allie. Nothing you need to worry about. Now, how about we read a couple of chapters before bedtime?" Nathan said, picking up the A J Grant novel.
"Which A J Grant book are the two of you reading?" Bill asked, trying to get a peek at the cover.
"It's the second one in the series. We are almost done with it, but luckily the next one, Undercover Mountie, is due out, I believe, next week."
"I know it will be released tomorrow," Bill said.
"How do you know that?" Allie asked. "The man at the bookstore said it would be out next week."
"Well, I know because A J Grant donates their earnings to the Thornton Foundation. It's why Elizabeth is coming to Union City this week. She will become the face of the foundation and the book series. Apparently, the author insists on anonymity."
"Really?" Allie said. "So, you know who it is?"
"No, sweetheart, I sure don't. I'm not sure anyone else knows except maybe for Elizabeth. But she isn't talking about it if she does know."
"One of the things I appreciate most about her is that she keeps confidences," Nathan said.
"That she does, Nathan," Bill said. "It's something I appreciate about her too. Anyway, the book signing is for Undercover Mountie, so you can read it sooner than you thought."
"Well, how about we read this one for now so we can finish it and be ready for the next one," Nathan suggested.
Bill and Allie agreed, and before long, they had finished it, and both had been able to guess who the bad guy was. Nathan was very proud of Allie's deduction skills. She had a way of seeing facts and how they connect rather quickly, and it was similar to his own.
"Tell Uncle Bill goodnight, Allie, and get ready for bed. I will be up shortly to tuck you in, all right?"
"Yes, sir," Allie said, hugging him. Then she turned to Bill, said goodnight, and gave him a hug.
"You know, Nathan, I'm looking forward to these next few days. It's almost like our whole family will be in the same house."
"I know what you mean, Bill. I've missed them so much. I enjoy the phone calls and letters, but it makes me long for Hope Valley even more."
"Well, I can tell you that everyone misses you and Allie too. The town just isn't the same anymore."
"That's always good to hear, Bill," Nathan said. "I think I will turn in after I tuck her in. I'll say goodnight to you and see you in the morning."
"I think I'm going to join you and turn in. I had an early morning and didn't sleep very well the previous night."
They climbed the stairs together and went in opposite directions. As Nathan went to Allie's room, she was just settling down to bed. He could tell that she was thinking hard about something.
"Allie, honey, is there something bothering you?"
"No sir, nothing is bothering me. I'm just thinking about how good it will be to see Mrs. Thornton and Jack again. I have missed seeing the two of them every day. I used to pretend that Jack was my little brother and that Mrs. Thornton was my mother, and we were a family."
"Oh, Allie, I had no idea you felt that way. I mean, I knew that you saw her as a mother figure, but I didn't know the extent of it."
"Do you think that you might get married someday?"
"I'm not opposed to it, and I would think about it if the right woman came along. But I hope that you are happy here with the extended family that we have."
"What about Mrs. Thornton?" Allie said.
Nathan froze, unsure of how to respond without raising her suspicions.
"I mean, you seem to care about her an awful lot, and she seems to care about you too."
'I would marry her in a heartbeat Nathan said silently. Sending a quick prayer, he said, "Allie, Mrs. Thornton is still grieving Jack's father. I don't think she is ready to move on. Do you know how sometimes we get sad about your mom?" Allie nodded. "Well, I think that she still gets that way too. But in the meantime, we have them as part of our family, and we should appreciate our blessings. Not to mention that they live in Hope Valley, and our life is here now. Now you need to sleep so that you'll be rested tomorrow when they come."
"Night, Dad, I love you."
"I love you too, Allie," Nathan said, kissing her forehead and tucking her in. "Sweet dreams, honey."
"Whew, that was a close one," Nathan thought, running his hand through his hair. He was blessed to have Allie in his life. The move to Hope Valley had ended up being a good one because, for the first time, Allie had thrived and had friends. She was experiencing a normal childhood, and he could see that spunky, outgoing little girl shine through again, which had disappeared when her mother died. That was all due to the warmth, affection, and compassion that Elizabeth showered on her—followed by the love, kindness, and friendship that her friends and honorary family members added on.
Elizabeth showed she really cared about all her students and would go above and beyond for any of them. Neither he nor Allie had ever experienced anything like that. It was part of the reason that he had fallen so hard and so quickly in love with her. She always knew exactly what to say to him to lift him up. She laughs at his jokes and is always willing to help wherever needed.
When Elizabeth learned about his father, she stood beside him and supported him through one of the most painful situations in his life. She didn't judge him because of what his father had done. When it looked like his father was guilty, she encouraged him to find the truth. Because of that, he and Allie now had a relationship with Archie. It had been a couple of years since he had gotten out of prison, and he stayed out and on the straight and narrow.
He would never forget the first time he met Elizabeth. She came through the door a little anxious. She was the most beautiful woman that he had ever seen. He figured he began to fall in love as soon as she said hello and introduced herself. He admired her strength by coming to the office and meeting her late husband's replacement. She proceeded to take him outside and into the street where the town folk could see her, and by sharing her initial experience, he fell further in love. Doing what she did, it had paved the way for the townspeople to begin to accept him as part of the community. He figured that gaining Bill's trust helped him as well because the man wasn't known for trusting easily.
He had never had the kind of support Hope Valley gave them. One of the kids Allie became very close to was Opal Weise, who had been fortuitous. Opal's mom was always willing to watch Allie whenever he was called out of town. If she couldn't, then Elizabeth stepped up willingly, and for the first time, they had gained a sense of home and family, even that he owed to Elizabeth Thornton. For the first time, he had friends other than Gabe. He felt like he was part of a wonderful family that would always go to the extra lengths for each other.
The smile left his face when he remembered the parent-teacher conference on Allie's second day. Elizabeth had found her doing card tricks while taking food and money from the other kids. It was definitely not something appropriate and was a bit embarrassing, especially since he was the constable. Nathan recalled the card trick; he couldn't help thinking of who had taught it to her. The thought of Lucas Bouchard stirred him up, but when he thought of him teaching Allie to swindle people, he saw red. It hit too close to his heartache from growing up with Archie. He couldn't believe that an adult would ever think that was the appropriate answer to a problem with a child who was nervous about making friends.
Lucas could always ruin a good day and was a thorn in his side. It still made him clench his jaw that he was a rival for Elizabeth or had appeared to be. He would deliberately take Nathan's words out of context and make her think he said something different. Then there was the trip to Union City after Clara's wedding. That memory could still bring pain to his heart as he thought about her going with Lucas on an overnight trip to see Virginia Woolf. He had stepped back from her for a while, certain that she had chosen Lucas over him. It had been hard, but he had tried to be happy for her. But the more he had thought about it, the more it hadn't made sense that she would choose someone like Lucas. So, he became less distant, especially after they had an argument at the cabin.
Luckily, they had begun talking again, and he began to notice that she was seeking him out more and more. It also helped him recover somewhat that the townspeople had accepted Nathan and Allie as members of Hope Valley. While Lucas had never been entirely accepted, and there remained an air of mystery and shadiness about him even after all the time he lived there. He couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if the Failed Prisoner Transport had happened.
As he thought back to Allie's words tonight, he couldn't stop thinking about the possibility of Elizabeth and him married, forming a family with Allie and Jack, and maybe another on the way. He pulled out the picture in his drawer and allowed himself to think of what their child could look like. The thought of one day having a child that was part of him and part of Elizabeth was more than he could handle. He whispered goodnight to Elizabeth and said a quick prayer for her and Jack. Then he put the picture away and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. As always, he dreamt of Elizabeth and how wonderful it would be to see her again.