AN: So, in my opinion season 8 of WCTH was the start of the show changing from emotional drama to soap opera where storylines get dropped, contradict one another or just plain don't make sense. Case in point - why would Bill suddenly be demanded to return uniforms when he hasn't been a Mountie for several seasons? Apparently, retired Mounties even get to keep their uniforms in real life. So, when giving the September Challenge prompt of how to break up a Pucabeth wedding - my mind instantly went to a very common soap opera storyline. I let the story tell you which one.
Disclaimer: Characters of WCTH and places in the show belong to Hallmark Channel. This story is simply for entertainment purposes.
The wedding day of Elizabeth Thornton and Lucas Bouchard dawn bright and sunny in Hope Valley. Doing his morning rounds, Corporal Nathan Grant couldn't help but think the weather was the work of someone taunting him. He had done and said some things he was not too proud of since coming to Hope Valley but he knew the costs of not doing them could have cost careers, maybe even lives, of innocent men - perhaps even himself. As it was the target of their investigation had been making his life difficult these past four years.
Four years! This mission was not supposed to have taken this long. More than once, Nathan had implored the other two men involved to give it up. To take what information they had and do the best they could with weeding out the bad apple in the Mountie ranks. However, the one who had paid the highest price in this operation kept refusing - stating that after all he had given up full victory would be the only payout worth that sacrifice.
Nathan hadn't heard anything from the telegram he had sent two days ago. Yet another plea to stop this charade. He kept hoping to hear from one of his two comrades before he was forced to make a decision on his own. The one thing he did know was that he could not let Elizabeth make the mistake of marrying Lucas.
All during the morning, Nathan waged an internal debate about what course of action to take. Allie could tell he was distracted. More than once she had questioned him. He tried to convince her he was fine. The look on her face told him she didn't believe it for a minute. As he donned his dress uniform for the wedding, Allie suggested that perhaps he shouldn't go either. Nathan had given her a sad smile, kissed her head, and told her that he had to.
Saying good-bye to Allie and Bill, who had come to stay with Allie refusing to go to the wedding himself, Nathan stepped out of the row house. In the distance, he could see the people of Hope Valley walking in the direction of the little white building that served as both schoolhouse and church for the community. It would be his destination as well but first he glanced down to row of houses to the two on the end. Elizabeth would be in one of the two getting ready with Rosemary's help. For about the twentieth time that morning, Nathan considered going to the row house and baring his conscience to her before she even made it to the church. In fact, he had been on his way to do that a few hours ago when Ned had run up to him with an urgent telegram.
Do Nothing. I got this. Ahab.
As Ahab was the code name for their undercover asset, Nathan had chosen to listen. Ahab had the most to lose in this situation. He had given up the most of the three of them. Nathan could only hope that his fellow Mounties fanatical determination to see this mission through no matter what didn't have the same tragic ending as his literary counterpart had faced.
Nathan sighed and turned from those two row houses. With slow but long strides, Nathan made his way toward the church. The first thing he noticed was the somber demeanors of those gathering for the event. Except for the colorful dresses that the ladies wore, it had more of a feeling of a funeral than a wedding. Whatever his fellow Mountie was planning to do, he was running out of time. Surely he wasn't going to actually let this wedding take place.
Saying very little to his neighbors and friends, Nathan made his way into the little white church. There was very little talking at all, actually - mostly nods of greeting to one another as people silently found their places. At the front of the church, Joseph stood with the groom, Gustav and Mike. Hope Valley's mayor nervously rubbed a finger beneath his collar. Hickam looked more nervous than the groom and Nathan knew why. Mike had confessed to a group of them a week ago that he didn't want to stand with Lucas but felt bad because other than his cousin, the saloon and oil company owner, had no one to stand with him. Even Henry had refused.
Mike was simply too nice for his own good, though Nathan knew exactly how that went at times. However, he didn't think anyone in Hope Valley was going to think of him as the nice guy any longer once the truth finally did come out. Allie had been asking him to put in for a transfer. Perhaps soon he might just actually do that.
Now sitting in the back row of the pews on the left side of the church, Nathan's gaze locked with Lucas' icy stare for just the briefest of moments. The Mountie could tell that his former rival was not happy he was there. He waited to see if Lucas would come back and ask him to leave but instead, Lucas turned and said something to Joseph. Nathan pulled out his pocket watch and looked at the time - twelve fifty-five. Five minutes until the wedding was set to begin. Would he need to do something drastic to stop this wedding after all?
Those five minutes seemed to creep along slowly. Eventually though, Minnie entered.
"The bride is waiting outside," Minnie announced as she walked down the one side of the building to her daughter who sat at the piano. She touched Angela's shoulder gently as the girl began to play.
All eyes turned toward the door. First to enter were Little Jack and Sarah Wolf. The five-year-old flower girl held a basket of rose petals in one hand and scattered them with her other hand. Beside her, Little Jack held a pillow with two rings tied securely to it. Clara followed the two children and behind her was Rosemary. When the children reached the front of the church, Sarah obediently followed Joseph's instruction on where to stand. However, instead of standing with the men, Little Jack followed Sarah and no amount of coaxing could get him to go stand near the men - not even from his Auntie Rosie as she walked down the aisle. Resigned that the boy had chosen his own spot to stand, Lucas instead asked Jack for the pillow with the rings. Jack's response was to throw the pillow at Lucas, which elicited a soft ripple of laughter from many in the room. Nathan could tell that even Joseph was biting his lip in an attempt not to laugh.
"Smart kid," Nathan thought to himself even as the song Angela was playing changed to the bridal march. He stood with everyone else, though in his heart he hoped that Elizabeth would not walk through the doors.
But in she walked, on her father's arm. She did not wear the glowing smile of a bride but a resigned expression. Mr. Thatcher held her close to him and Nathan hoped that perhaps her father would simply refuse to give her away. Though, knowing Elizabeth as he did, he wondered if she would give in to even her father's demands on this subject. As she passed him, Nathan resisted the urge to reach out and stop her.
And then she was past him. He remembered the words in the telegram - do nothing. Nathan wondered if he would be strong enough to follow those instructions.
Reaching the front of the church, Mr. Thatcher gave his daughter away - though Nathan could see the hesitation. The only smile in the entire church seemed to be the one on Lucas' face as Joseph continued with the ceremony. Nathan kept glancing over his shoulder at the door, almost willing it to open.
"If anyone has any reason that these two people should not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace," Joseph said.
At those words, Nathan knew he couldn't continue with this charade any longer no matter what the consequences. He got to his feet. There were several gasps around the room as all eyes went to him. He opened his mouth to speak but behind him, the door opened and another voice spoke before him.
"Elizabeth can't marry this man because she's married to me!"
Nathan felt relief flow through him. There would still be fallout to deal with, but finally, the secret was out - for better or worse. He barely noticed the commotion around him as people reacted in shock. Several of the women fainted, including Rosemary, who was caught by Clara and Mr. Thatcher who had sprung from his front row seat.
Nathan's eyes sought out Elizabeth. Despite her face being as white as her dress, the bride seemed to be in no danger of fainting herself. Her expression however was a mixture of emotions - shock, disbelief, anger, sadness, joy and confusion. Nathan didn't begrudge her a single one - not even knowing that at some point her anger was sure to be directed at him. For now though, her eyes were locked on the man who had spoken.
"And just who are you?" Lucas demanded.
Before the man could speak though, Little Jack left his spot at the front of the church. "Daddy!" the boy cried rushing to the man who he had only seen in photographs before this day.
Behind Elizabeth, Nathan watched as Joseph closed the Bible he held and glanced heavenward. The pastor's lips were moving and Nathan knew that he was praying. He also knew that they were all going to need those prayers in the hours and days to come.