O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. Psalms 34:8 (KJV)

Two years later, despite Prohibition1, both Eagle Creek and Hope Valley were thriving.

Eagle Creek had benefited from the passing of time and the winter snow and summer rains, making the area lush and fertile again as the lakes and streams flowed free again. The emergency money that Lucas had mentioned came through and assisted many families until their farms were profitable again. As a result of the many claims made against UC Holdings and the freezing of the funds, they were forced to go out of business. All their assets were sold in order to make restitution to landowners they had cheated. Montague, Bixby Balfour, and others who colluded with them were either serving prison sentences or bankrupt and in hiding.

The following Spring, people from Hope Valley and Benson Hills donated time and helped the farmers of Eagle Creek plant and harvest the crops, furthering the bond that the three towns shared that first year. With the farms prospering, the town started to prosper again as well, and the population rose as families moved back or new ones decided to make it their home. This allowed for the assignment of a full-time Mountie. With his faith restored, Lester Jenkins finished his Seminary training and became the Pastor. The town missed seeing Jack when he would come with his dad and Uncle Joseph on their trips. Since he wasn't in school, his visits began right after the holidays, to their surprise and delight. When he wasn't helping Joseph, he was usually found with his Aunt Gertie and Uncle Harold.

In the spring of 1921, Faith, with the help of the doctor in Benson Hills, found a young doctor with three years' experience as a practicing physician to move to Eagle Creek. He quickly fell in love with the new schoolteacher, Janice Henning. They had a Christmas Wedding that same year and were now expecting their first child.

With Elizabeth's help and the approval of Mr. Landis, Janice was able to get her teaching certification. Though at the start, she was only teaching her sisters and Zachary, a small stipend was arranged for her as compensation, which helped their family. By the next fall, the need to reopen the school building became necessary as people returned and her class size increased. She now had a decent-sized multiage class similar to Elizabeth's and was quite competent as a teacher.

With the Hennings farm doing better after the harvest the following year, Harry went away for 6 months to complete an apprenticeship to become a plumber. To everyone's delight, upon his return in the spring of 1922, he moved to Hope Valley and married Faith. Now, he owned a plumbing company and took care of all the plumbing needs in Hope Valley, Eagle Creek, and Benson Hills. He was kept busy installing the newest variety of flush toilets into new homes and renovating old homes to include water closets. They were also expecting their first child.

Harold Hennings became the official Mayor of the town, and after leasing the farm out, he, Gertie, and their twin daughters now resided in the mayor's house in town.

To Homer's delight he was given to the Grant's and now proudly served Hope Valley Mounties as their backup horse. When not performing his duties, he happily enjoys hanging in the paddock of the Grant Homestead with his fellow Mounties Sargent, Newton, and Hero and mooning over Bella, Allie's Palomino mare. Currently, he and Sargent share being able to go for gallops across Thornton Meadow with Elizabeth. All the horses enjoy the attention of their favorite human, Jack, who never hesitates to come to visit with a carrot or two or three.

Every Christmas, he also has the honor of pulling the little sleigh that was also given to the Grants. People stare as he trots through town, all decked out in the Christmas finery Elizabeth made especially for him. Either Nathan, Lee, Bill, or Harry act as drivers and wear a special uniform designed by Rosemary for the occasion, much to their embarrassment. Bill complains that it makes them look like some kind of character from a Dickens play. He's not wrong.

Homer and his sleigh had become an important part of not only the town's Christmas Season but also during the winter season for weddings and the occasional means to provide sparking opportunities for couples, which makes Homer a very happy horse since Newton tends to hog most of the Mountie work. Unfortunately, so many requests had been received that last year, the town bought another bigger sleigh for him, and now Sargent pulls the little one as needed, allowing him to join in the fun.

Thanks to a picture in the Valley voice of a smiling Homer decked out, along with an article Rosemary published written by Allie about Christmas in Hope Valley, there was an increase in the number of visitors to the town just before Christmas last year. People became curious and wanted to experience what an old-fashioned small-town Christmas was like. They fell in love with the traditions, especially the Wishing tree and the friendliness of the people.

Word spread through word of mouth, and this year's season was a little busier. The town still kept it lowkey and simple, refusing to change, but the wishing tree was kept off-limits, though still visible, to all but the town itself by a barrier that was built around it. The drawing took place a little earlier in the month to allow for private interaction, and the gift exchange took place in private as well since the town concluded all public festivities on Christmas Eve night with a dinner and dance after the service. Christmas Dinner on the 25th, the extra income boom from the increased traffic added to the town's coffers and helped them recover and have a nice way to support everyone without Coulter Lumber having to do it.

Mike and Mei were married in the Winter of 1921 and were the happy parents of a boy named after his father. Shortly after Lucas and Fiona married, they decided to sell their businesses to Mike and Mei. Because of prohibition, all remnants of the saloon part of the Queen of Hearts had been removed, and it was now the Hope Valley Inn. They now live in Bill's old place above the Judge's office.

When Elizabeth and Nathan found out Bill had gifted his land to them, they accepted only on the condition that once their house was built, he would move to the cabin there and share the land with them.

He didn't even hesitate to agree, and he and the Grants moved onto his land together at the end of Spring 1921. He often caught a ride to work with Nathan each day or Lee when needed. Since he could see the Grant Farmhouse from his porch, Hero even had his own stall in the Grant's barn right next to Bella.

Rosemary and Lee were also blessed with a son just two months ago. Making Jack hope that his new baby was a boy, too. Master Coulter was named after Lee's brother. Patrick Leland Coulter was adored by the Grants and Thorntons just as much as Goldie was.

Goldie continues to be the star attraction, according to Rosemary, for the Hope Valley Christmas Program. She is always toddling after Jack and Allie, who adore her despite having sisters and now a little brother. Now that there were three baby boys to choose from, the town anticipated some fun as to which baby would play Jesus this year. The decision was made easy, to the disappointment of the town, when the Hickams and Grants elected to opt-out on their son's behalf.

The Bouchards were happy living in their temporary home at the Capitol. They had one child named Zae-Rose. Lucas had proved himself as governor, and it seemed that he would easily win a second term. It was a treat when the family was able to spend time in Hope Valley. They made a point to spend every Christmas there.

Joseph and Minnie Canfield were well-established as the town's devoted shepherds. Joseph as the Pastor, and Minnie as his beloved wife, ministering to those she came in contact with through the café and other charity work. Minnie and Elizabeth became even closer as time went on and were as close as Elizabeth had been with Abigail. Minnie had also become the voice of reason for many in Hope Valley, as Abigail had once been. The children were still in school and enjoying their community friends. However, Angela would complete her time at the Jack Thornton school this spring along with Allie.

Allie only had half a year left at the Jack Thornton School. She was making plans to go to school in Hamilton in the fall to become a veterinarian to her little brother's dismay. She planned on staying with Grandma and Grandpa Thatcher while she was there.

Nathan and Elizabeth were happy in their new home on Bill's land. They had moved in before school started in the fall of 1921. Laura Campbell taught that fall as, once again, Elizabeth was pregnant shortly after getting married with twin girls. To honor the special women in their lives, they named them Winnifred Grace, after Minnie and Elizabeth's mother, and Rosemary Colleen, after her best friend and his sister. Winnie and Rosie were 15 months old now and had their father, brother, and Uncle Bill wrapped around their finger. To the delight of Jack, Elizabeth had recently delivered a son they named Joseph William in honor of two very special men. He was the spitting image of his father and loved by all.

Elizabeth had returned to teaching after having the twins, but only half days, and she only taught the older children. Laura was doing well with the younger children and with managing the whole class in the afternoon. Cat Montgomery would watch the twins and Goldie at the Grants. It was convenient since the Coulters built themselves a new home near the Grants and were their closest neighbors. Once done with school and in town, Elizabeth would go meet up with Rosemary for a ride home. It was definitely a lot of work for them, and while they loved motherhood, they loved their jobs too and didn't want to give it up completely, so it was a happy compromise. For the season before the boys came, it worked great.

While the addition of the two boys didn't affect Rosemary since she kept Patrick with her at the office, things would be changing for Elizabeth. She wouldn't be going back to work until the fall term. The plan was that Cat would come for the full day once Nathan went back to work until Elizabeth recovered from giving birth a week ago. Elizabeth and Cat would have their hands full watching the four young children, with Goldie being the oldest at 2 and a half. She was a carbon copy of her mother right down to her personality and could be a handful.

Jack enjoys going to school with his best friend, Sarah Wolfe. Like his mom and his sister, he loves Math and excels at it. He enjoys reading as well and, though advanced for his age, still begs to have stories read to him. He is a protective older brother but has no problem being protective of Allie when boys come to call, to Nathan's delight. He still asks for stories of his dad, and Nathan has strived to teach him things that Jack Sr. would have. He also loves listening to stories about Nathan and Allie's mom.

Bill continues as judge and still has his interest in the Café. He loves being Uncle Bill to his special kids in HV. One of the highlights of his life is still when he gets to spend special time with his godson. He has been taking Jack on overnight camping trips and tries to keep Jack Sr's memories alive for his son. Just the past summer, he and Jack took the train to Charlotte's ranch to spend time getting to know his Thornton side of the family.

It had taken Bill 8 months to track down Madeline's whereabouts. To escape the clutches of Montague and the others, she and Jamie had moved to England and lived with her cousin and his wife in Sussex. They began corresponding but visits had not been possible. But two months ago, everyone was pleasantly surprised to see Madeline St. James and her son Jamie moved to Canada and were currently living at the boardinghouse that had been built to help accommodate the growing population. The town matchmakers were hoping that a courtship announcement would come. Elizabeth had already been in contact with Gertie, and plans were already in the works.

Just like Christmas two years ago, Jack told him that he hoped the new baby would be a brother like Patrick. Bill discouraged him from putting that as a wish on the wishing tree this year because God had already made that determination. Jack had sat thinking for a bit and then said he had to think of something else. Unfortunately, Jack hadn't come back to him, and he wasn't sure whether it had been granted or not. Since Jack was extremely happy with how things turned out, he assumed it had been.

Nathan was assigned another Mountie and promoted to Sergeant. The bulk of his work now involves overseeing a district of multiple towns. Each week, he drives to one of the posts in his district to check on things there, but he is home again for supper. He also has had a specialization as a field coach, where a new constable is sent to him every six months so he can learn about policing and being part of a small community, which is Nathan's favorite part of the job. He's also happy that he still gets to spend time making rounds with Newton. Although the car gets him to the other posts quickly, he doesn't have to give up working with Newton, either. It is a happy balance for him.

When he found out he was required to drive around, he complained to Elizabeth and teased that Newton couldn't do rounds in the car. She, in turn, had arranged for a mini stuffed replica of Newton to be made and, as a surprise, placed it in the car so he would see it on his first day. Unfortunately, stuffed Newton wasn't his ONLY passenger. Scout loved to ride in the car with his head hanging out the window as he sat in the seat behind Nathan. Scout drooled worse than a baby, so Nathan had to keep towels in the car to clean up afterward. The funny thing was Nathan found himself still talking to stuffed Newton and Scout. But he reassured the real Newton he was definitely a better conversationalist.

With the Mountie and Pastor positions filled, Joseph's and Nathan's assistance was no longer required. Joseph and Nathan particularly missed the time of fellowship they had on the drives, so they decided to meet for lunch each Wednesday if they were available.

Nathan and Joseph also started a men's prayer group on Sunday mornings before church. They were the only members to begin with, but after a few weeks, Bill joined them. Then Kurt, next Lee, until half a year later, more of the community men were part of the prayer group than weren't. Through the prayer group, Nathan's group of friends increased. The happy relationship with his wife and his group of friends made him even more comfortable in Hope Valley society. However, the crowds were still stressful from a professional standpoint.

Wednesday, December 27, 1922

Bill and Joseph sat in Bill's unofficial booth at the Hope Valley Inn, waiting for Nathan to arrive. Five minutes later, he appeared looking a little disheveled and bleary-eyed as he took the seat next to Joseph with a groan.

"Looks like someone could use a strong cup of coffee," Bill said, sliding one over.

Nathan took it gratefully and, after a couple of sips, said, "Any chance this is your special coffee because I think Elizabeth and I are going to need it."

Joseph reached over and removed the burp cloth still on his tired friend's shoulder. Nathan gave him a sheepish smile as he handed it to him.

"That bad, huh?" Bill chuckled. "I can go get it."

"How is she doing?" Joseph asked.

"She's a trooper. She had just fed Joey and laid down to rest. Allie and Jack are keeping the girls occupied." Nathan said, looking up.

Joseph and Bill looked at each other with raised eyebrows when he looked at Bill with eyes wide and furrowed brows and added. "I think?"

Joseph chuckled. "Is there anything Minnie and I can do for you, my friend?"

"I wouldn't even know where to start. Oh wait, I do need to ask you something. It's the whole reason I came."

"Sure, what can I help you with?"

"Elizabeth and I wanted you and Minnie to be Joey's Godparents. If you agree, then Pastor Jenkins would be willing to come perform the ceremony for us."

"Normally, I wouldn't dream of answering for my wife, but I feel in this case she would approve. It would be our honor to be his godparents. Now you, my friend, should get home and get some sleep yourself."

"That sounds wonderful, actually." Nathan sighed.

Nathan looked half asleep, so Bill offered, "Why don't I drive you back to make sure you don't fall asleep on your way home? In fact, I have a free afternoon, so I'll just stay, cook dinner, and spend time with the kids. Next time, either send one of the kids to get me or pick up the phone and call if you need help. Actually, now that I think on it, I'll just plan on taking over the cooking until Elizabeth is back on her feet."

Nathan just nodded gratefully. Before they left the booth, the men raised their coffee in their weekly toast.

"To the gift of love and friendship."

1) Prohibition for Alberta, Canada, lasted until 1923.

Authors note: We hope that you enjoy reading our story as much as we had fun writing it.

Melissa, Sherri, Abbie and Gracie