Elizabeth tucked the quilt up around Allie's neck, though the woodstoves in the main dining room and the sitting room kept the downstairs of Abigail's nice and warm. Not to mention the fact that the oven and stove in the kitchen were going now during almost every waking hour to keep up with the demand of baking and cooking for a town that had very clearly needed a café.

Allie had fallen asleep on Elizabeth's lap while she and Nathan talked. She would be spending the night with Abigail and Elizabeth since Nathan was meeting Bill here at a little after eleven to go to the mine. Elizabeth had decided to stay up with him, so now they sat on the sofa in the dim light of a single candle and the glow of the embers in the woodstove.

"Should I be worried?" Elizabeth said softly, curled up under his chin with her arms around him.

"No," Nathan said, kissing the top of her head. "Gowen's not guarding the mine, and anyway, we have a warrant."

"And that shaft is stable?" Elizabeth asked. She would never forget the long hours she'd spent with Rosaleen in that dark mine.

Nathan exhaled softly. "Since it's been locked up for a good six months, we don't really know." He squeezed her gently. "Don't worry, Elizabeth. We'll be fine."

Nathan pulled away so he could look into her eyes. She gazed up at him and he kissed her, feeling the warmth of her face where she had been pressed against his chest. "Though I must admit it's nice to have you worry about me. No one's done that for a while."

Elizabeth murmured softly against his cheek. "We worry about the people we love."

Nathan pulled away and looked at her for a long moment. Then he smoothed her hair back from her face and said, "Are you happy here?"

Sitting up, but being careful not to wake Allie, Elizabeth said, frowning a little, "In Coal Valley?"

Nathan tilted his head slightly. "No, here at Abigail's."

Elizabeth laughed softly. "Aside from the fact that I'm going to eat my way out of all my corsets, yes. I love Abigail. She's my dearest friend," she touched his cheek, "Apart from you, of course..."

Nathan smiled. Elizabeth knew this look well by now. Nathan had something to say and it was important, but he was unsure how to phrase it. Sometimes he just needed time to figure it out, and sometimes it helped if she asked questions.

"What is it?" she said, searching his eyes in the dim light.

Nathan raised his eyebrows and smiled at her. "I'm thinking I want to build a house in the spring. Out on the meadow, near the trees. With a view of the pond and the church. With a small barn for Newton... and... Sarah."

Elizabeth felt her heart expand and she smiled. Leave it to Nathan to move from courtship to what sounded like more by asking her horse before he asked her. She decided that this was too important a discussion for her to make it too easy for him.

"Well, that would certainly save me some money, being able to board Sarah with you at your new house. But it would be further for me to go when I wanted to ride her..."

Nathan laughed softly. "Elizabeth." He smiled at her. "You know what I'm talking about."

She smiled back at him, her heart starting to race a little. "Yes, but I want to hear you say it."

He took a deep breath while she waited. "I can't imagine being in that house without you," he said softly. "I love you more every day, and I just don't see that changing anytime soon. It just seems that when it's right, you know it, and so I thought we..."

Elizabeth gasped softly as she saw Nathan pull something from his pocket. It was a small square of black velvet and as he folded the corners back, Elizabeth could see the sparkle of diamonds flickering in the light of the candle. She gazed at his hand, holding a ring, and her breath started to come faster.

"This was my great-grandmother's ring. It was also my mother's but she hasn't worn it in years and she wanted me to have it. Just in case." Nathan searched Elizabeth's eyes, and what he saw there gave him the courage to slip off of the sofa and on to one knee. He wasn't sure that this was the right place, or whether asking Elizabeth to marry him while she held Allie asleep on her lap was standard procedure, but she had said that saying I love you in a wagon by the side of the road was romantic, so...

"Lizbeth..." Nathan smiled as he saw Elizabeth's eyes begin to glisten in the candlelight. "I want to live in that house on the meadow with you and Allie. I want us to be a family. I want to wake up to you every morning and fall asleep with you in my arms at night..." He was getting ahead of himself, but now that he'd started, he couldn't seem to stop. All the dreams that had been forming in his head and his heart over the last five months began to spill out. "I want us to have a porch swing where we can watch the sunset, and I want to fill that house with children. Our children..." He finally stopped, thinking he was making a mess of this. "I'm not doing this very well..."

"Oh, yes, you are." Elizabeth moved Allie gently over to the side and she didn't even stir. She leaned forward and took Nathan's hands, smiling, as her eyes filled and she laughed softly. "You're almost there..."

Nathan laughed too, and took another deep breath. "Elizabeth Marie Thatcher. I want us to spend the rest of our lives together. Will you marry me?"

Elizabeth took both of his hands and brought them up to her lips. "Yes," she said, a little breathlessly, and the tears spilled over. "Yes, I'll marry you."

Nathan took the ring out of the velvet and slipped it on her finger. It was a little too large, but she clasped it tightly, turning it from side to side in the flickering light. It had four small diamonds set in a square, and although Elizabeth had grown up surrounded by elaborate and exquisite jewelry, she had never seen anything more beautiful.

Nathan stood and pulled her up with him, holding her tightly. "I can't believe this is really happening," he whispered into the softness of her hair.

"I know," Elizabeth said, her tears staining the plaid of his shirt. "But it is..."

A voice came from the doorway and they both turned.

"I don't mean to make it a habit to keep interrupting you two, but you're not making it easy..." Bill said, laughing.

Did they think he was stupid?

Henry Gowen sat in his living room with his stockinged feet up on the table, sipping a whiskey and watching the fire. He'd owned Coal Valley for a long time, and now a rookie Mountie thinks he can bring his version of the law to the town and erase everything Henry had worked for all these years?

Today had been a surprise, he had to admit. But they must know that Henry was aware that Bill Avery had ridden into town. Having Silas in his pocket had proved to be very helpful. From his window at the Office of the Mayor, Silas could see everyone who came in and out of Coal Valley, and since Mayor Ramsey did virtually nothing that Henry Gowen didn't ask him to do, Henry had known within minutes.

Taking another long draw on his whiskey, Henry narrowed his eyes at the fire. It had to be about the mine, and Avery probably intended on getting into that shaft somehow. He would have to post guards now, which meant more money going out the door.

But Henry wasn't going to worry about that tonight. It was too cold for even Avery to venture out, so Henry decided to handle it first thing in the morning. The shaft could remain unguarded for one more night.

Truth was, right now Henry was feeling underappreciated. He'd kept this town afloat through a disaster that would have sent other business owners off to find their fortunes elsewhere. Instead, he had stayed. He didn't know why, and in a way, Henry considered it a weakness that he cared at all about these people. But he had developed... not feelings, as such... but a sliver of respect for the way they got back up every time they got knocked down. It reminded him of when he was young.

Seven months. He shook his head, gritting his teeth. You'd think if something happened seven months ago, folks would be willing to let it go. But not Abigail Stanton.

Henry heard from Silas that right after the livery, Bill had gone to the Café, and since Elizabeth and Nathan were practically fixtures on the walls there, of course he was talking to them too. So Abigail, Nathan, Elizabeth and Bill Avery were joining forces against him.

Fine. Let them try.

Bill jumped down from his horse as Nathan did the same. They tethered them outside the entrance to the mineshaft and both unhooked their lanterns and lit them.

Nathan found himself feeling very grateful that it had been a much warmer season when Elizabeth had been trapped in the mine. It would have been so much more dangerous in there for all those hours at this time of year.

"You know, I didn't think I could be colder than I was on my horse coming into town, but I was wrong," Bill said, finding his fingers going numb even through his heavy gloves.

Nathan shivered. "Yep. It's pretty cold."

Bill laughed and looked over at him. "You're a bit of a master of the understatement, Nathan. I get the feeling you're not much of a talker."

Nathan smiled, "You're not the first to say that. I talk when there's something to say, but I guess I'm just not very good at small talk."

"Well, you must have said something right to Elizabeth. That girl looks at you like the sun rises and sets in you." He looked over at Nathan in the meager light from the lanterns. "And I noticed she was wearing something new on her finger when I came to get you at Abigail's," Bill said, turning before they entered the mine. "Congratulations."

Nathan raised his eyebrows and laughed softly. "Pretty observant of you, Bill."

"C'mon, that's chapter one of forensics investigation. It's always important to know relationships between people so you know who's motivated to do what. And the ring was a little too big, so probably your grandmother's?"

Nodding, Nathan said, "Great-grandmother." Looking ahead, Nathan added, "And my mother's."

Bill frowned in the half-light. "And if your mother isn't still wearing it, you've lost your father, in which case, I'm sorry."

Nathan stopped walking and looked over at Bill. "Just who's being investigated here?" he said, a little defensively.

Raising his eyebrows and smiling, Bill heard the nerve he'd just touched and thought there was a lot more to that story. But he said, softly, "Just making conversation, Nathan."

Nathan paused to collect himself and then he smiled his crooked smile. "I get the feeling you don't ever just make conversation, Bill."

Bill laughed. "Excellent observation." He slapped Nathan on the back. "I like you, Grant. I liked your letter, and I like you. And I'm not that fond of many people." He turned back toward the entrance to the mine. "So, you ready to do this?"

"Lead on, Macduff," Nathan said, raising his lantern.

"Ah!" Bill said, pleasantly surprised. "Macbeth! So you're a reader, too. You do know that's a misquote, even though it's a common one... it's actually..."

"Lay on, Macduff, yes." Nathan laughed. Their voices were starting to echo in the silence of the mine shaft, and both realized that their conversation was an effort to belay the natural fear that came up in anyone walking into a freezing, pitch-black, possibly unstable mine shaft at a little after midnight. Even if they happened to be Mounties who were supposed to be fearless.

"Elizabeth was trapped in this mine a few months ago. She came in after a student. An eight-year-old girl who lost her father in here. The shaft they were in collapsed and we had to dig her out. After nearly eight hours." Nathan was speaking softly, almost reverently, and Bill heard the emotion there.

"So Elizabeth is brave as well," Bill said, looking over at Nathan in the shadowy glow of the lanterns.

"She's the bravest woman I know," Nathan said.

Bill nodded and then after a moment he said, "Not unlike her friend Abigail."

Nathan looked over at Bill. He heard not only admiration, but interest in the older man's voice, and although he already liked Bill Avery very much, Nathan found himself feeling wary. "She's been through a lot, Bill."

Bill heard it all very clearly. The respect, appreciation, and most of all, the protective tone. Smiling, he said, "You're a good friend to her. You probably should be cautious of a man like me."

Nathan frowned, a little perplexed. "Not cautious, so much as wondering how long you'll be around. I don't get the feeling you put down roots too easily."

Bill laughed, nodding. "You're not a bad observer yourself. No, not usually my style. I tend to cut and run." He looked over at Nathan. "But you were right about this town." He shook his head, peering into the deep darkness ahead of them. "I can't figure it out, but Coal Valley does have a certain charm to it."

Nathan raised his eyebrows. "Apart from Abigail Stanton?"

"I can't lie, that woman does sweeten the pot. Strong, beautiful, and with a smart mouth on her. That's quite a combination."

Nathan took a deep breath. "Don't hurt her, Bill, or you'll have me to contend with."

Bill laughed. "You do realize I'm still your superior officer, right?"

Nathan held his lantern a little higher. "I haven't forgotten. But right now we're both in a mineshaft that killed forty-seven men, and that tends to equalize things a bit."

Exhaling, Bill said, "True words, Nathan." He thought for a moment. "I need to tell you something, but I'm going to trust you to keep it to yourself for now."

Nathan stopped and turned to Bill, hearing the very serious tone in his voice. "You can trust me."

Bill nodded. "I know I can." He looked at Nathan. "I just want you to know that Henry Gowen and I have a history together. I won't share the particulars right now, but... we each have very good reasons to dislike the other. It will probably come out somehow in this investigation, and I didn't want you to think I wasn't being straight with you."

Nathan nodded. "Thank you for telling me. And after five months of getting to know Henry Gowen, and one day of knowing you, I'm pretty clear on which one of you I'm likely to trust."

They had reached the closed-off mineshaft. Bill hung his lantern on a hook to his right and Nathan did the same with his on the left. Bill turned to Nathan and smiled. "You were right." To Nathan's questioning look, Bill said, "You do talk when there's something to say."

Nathan laughed softly, and both stood for a moment, looking at the wooden doors that met in the middle and were held together by a thick chain secured with a padlock.

"Gowen said they closed off this shaft for the protection of his men," Nathan said.

Bill pulled out his flashlight and was checking around the doors as he said absently, "Henry Gowen only does things for his own protection. He doesn't give a lot of thought for others."

Nathan paused for a moment. "Bill. I appreciate you telling me you have a history with Gowen, but..."

Bill turned to him and narrowed his eyes a little. "But, you're wondering if I can be unbiased in this investigation? That's a good question, and you just went up a notch in my book for asking it." He nodded. "Yes. Facts are facts, and whatever I find in this shaft will be the basis for my report. I won't be reporting on whether Henry Gowen cared about the men who died here."

Nathan nodded. "Thank you." He pulled out the bolt cutters he had tucked in his belt and made quick work of the chain holding the padlock. They both pushed on the doors and a rush of stale, foul air hit them full in the face. Both stepped back, coughing.

"Methane," Bill said, pulling a kerchief out of his pocket to cover his mouth. "Get that lantern away from the door," he said, pulling his own down and walking backwards. Nathan did the same, and they stood at some distance while the worst of it moved down the shaft behind them.

Bill extinguished the fire on his lantern and Nathan pulled out his own flashlight before doing the same.

Shaking his head, Bill raised an eyebrow. "Well, there's some good news here," he said, turning to Nathan.

"What's that?" Nathan said.

"This is going to be a very short investigation."