Author's Note: This Holiday Fanfiction was written for the 2023 Fanfiction writing challenge specifically for Amy Mefford (FnficJunkie). It is a Joseph and Nathan friendship story, but with permission, Bill found his way into it. It takes place after the S10 Finale. For this story, all verses are taken from both the American Standard Version (ASV) 1901 Public Domain and the King James Version (KJV) Public Domain. Special thanks to Abbie and Gracie Atwood for their collaboration and contributions in this story.
Colossians 3:12-14 12 Put on therefore, as God's elect, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, longsuffering; 13 forbearing one another, and forgiving each other, if any man have a complaint against any; even as the Lord forgave you, so also do ye: 14 and above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfectness. (ASV)
Two months have passed since Lucas Bouchard won the Governor's race against Bixby Balfour and moved to Capitol City. In that time life in Hope Valley continued much as normal, though some things were different.
Life in general had slowed down quickly for Hope Valley after the election as the number of tourists that visited the hotel became less. The cold weather made soaking in Hope Springs very undesirable.
Lee had been elected by special vote when Bill decided to step down as Mayor pro tem due to the increase of his court cases and working with Lucas and others against Union City Holdings.
Hickam and Gustav were taking great care of the hotel, though there weren't as many tourists visiting Hope Springs due to the cooler weather. This suited the residents. To make up for lost revenue, as many as could afford it ate at the Queen of Hearts or Abigail's as often as they could. Even if it was stopping in for one food item they could add to their otherwise home-cooked meal.
Now that it is December, everyone's thoughts turn to the Christmas season and preparing. Plans were low-key this year because of the economic downturn they were still recovering from.
Thanks to Elizabeth's father and Aunt Agatha, Lucas was able to shut down Union City Holdings and expose other areas of corruption. When he had stepped out of his campaign office the night of his victory, he was surprised to find that William Thatcher and Aunt Agatha were waiting for him in a vehicle. He had been surprised thinking that they might have been upset at what happened between him and Elizabeth. Rather, to his surprise, Elizabeth had explained it all to them, and there were no hard feelings. Her Aunt Agatha had even hugged him before they left and whispered, "I just knew you were destined for a bigger stage, my boy."
To everyone's surprise, without the distraction of Elizabeth, he and Fiona became closer and were now officially a couple. Funnily enough, it was Elizabeth who pointed out how much they had in common and encouraged them to date. It had started with phone calls regarding the hotel and other questions followed by a few visits back and forth between them that grew into more.
Mike and Mei had also begun a courtship, and to Mike's delight, Harry became closer to Faith, and they had just recently gone on a date. To help his family, Harry would come to Hope Valley Monday through Thursday to work with the Yosts and occasionally do odd jobs for Lee or Mike as needed. He would stay with Mike during those times.
After Elizabeth had talked through everything that had happened, including her grief with Joseph and Minnie, she finally felt peace within her, allowing her and Nathan to also clear the air between them. As a result, the relationship between Nathan and Elizabeth remained warm and at times flirty, but neither took it beyond that.
While not exactly friends, Nathan and Lucas had a good working relationship as they occasionally worked together. Nathan kept tabs on Montague and his cronies and investigated reports of implied threats and other reports of intimidation attempts as they worked to undo the damage done by Union City Holdings.
As far as stopping Union City Holdings, UCH quickly gave up on their plans for the Hope Valley Area as soon as Lucas was pronounced Governor. Rock Creek was well on their way to returning to normal. Diverted water was once again directed back to its original path, and farmers who hadn't sold were preparing for the next season's crops. There weren't many farmers that had sold so that added to the quick solution to the troubles there.
Unfortunately, for the town of Eagle Creek, it was a different story. It had been the hardest hit by the underhanded scheme. Although Union City Holdings was ordered to stop diverting the water and remove all structures, the damage had already been done. Even though Lee had been working closely with Lucas to ensure that it was done correctly it would take longer than in other towns affected.
So many had moved away in search of a living and those that stayed were struggling greatly but were determined to stick to their homes and livelihoods. The first priority was to get through the winter. There were still farmers who hadn't sold who were in the area. Their greatest worry was about not having any seed to plant in the new year. Among those who had left were the pastor, the café owners, the doctor, and the schoolteacher.
Even the Mountie was reassigned so Nathan was assigned to visit Eagle Creek twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays. Joseph went with him since there was no longer a pastor. They drove his truck when they went, allowing Nathan to finally learn how to drive. While Joseph stayed in town Nathan would use his truck to make the rounds since the area allowed for easy travel by car. On the few times the weather prevented it he was provided with a horse to use by Harry's parents.
Once a week Joseph would make rounds with Nathan to provide for the spiritual needs and physical needs of those who didn't get into town often. On days when there was no one needing him, Joseph would work on the church building and yard maintenance; pulling up weeds, or washing windows, and fixing anything in disrepair.
Nathan also spent some time in the Mountie office there, handling reports when necessary. Using the truck allowed them to take materials donated by Lee or Lucas to make repairs where needed. For those times that Joseph couldn't go, Nathan would simply take Newton.
Twice a month Bill and Faith would also travel to provide their professional support. Bill dealt with legal matters as the legal battles continued, and Faith provided medical care. Benson Hills' doctor also assisted in providing support on the two weeks that Faith didn't go. Occasionally, they would also help provide needed supplies and jobs for those like Harry seeking to help their families where they could. With the two towns working together in support, there was hope for a full recovery in time.