April 1916
Henry,
I am writing to you one week after my arrival. My mother isn't doing very well, but she smiles every time she sees Cody. He has taken to her well and is quite excited to have a grandmother and a grandfather. My father has taken him under his wing on the farm which I am grateful for, because I can tell Cody misses Becky and Robert and would not know what to do if it weren't for the farm work. He loves the cows and the chickens and is, surprisingly, terribly afraid of the pigs. He says he is glad to eat bacon now. Daddy lets out a laugh every morning at breakfast as Cody takes down the bacon faster than ever. Becky will be visiting us on her next school break. I am not sure how long we will be staying, but I hope things in Hope Valley are okay in my absence. Bill is to take on the mayor's duties for now, but I hope that you will be able to help him from time to time. I wrote him to go to you if he needed anything, though I am sure he won't, so you may need to ask him how things are every now and then. He is not much of a businessman, as you know. I did not write this letter just to ask that favor of you but to sincerely apologize for my hurtful words before I left. It was wrong of me to push you and to tell you how you should feel about me. I would like to hear from you and discuss this further. Please write back.
Abigail
Henry sat at his desk in Lee's office as he read Abigail's letter. The look on his face was both confused and uncertain. He finished reading and let the parchment fall out of his hands onto the desk in front of him. Leaning back in his chair, he let out a soft sigh, folding his hands together in his lap. His eyes stayed fixated on the letter in front of him as he wondered how he could decide what to say to her in a reply.
"Is something wrong, Henry?" Lee asked from the desk across from his own.
"Hm? Oh. No, Lee. Everything is fine. I am going to go for a little walk." The former mayor said as he stood up and stepped around his desk, heading for the door.
He walked up and down Main Street a few times, trying to ask himself what he would write back to Abigail. He wasn't sure what he would even say in the letter. He didn't know if he even wanted to write back to her. He knew that it was wrong of him to ignore her questions that night. To act like them being together would be a crime. And thus he understood that his actions caused her to say what she said to him. It wasn't her fault. And he DID want her to know that. He just didn't know how to tell her.
Late that night, he sat on the bed in his room at the saloon, using the hotel's Bible as a writing surface under the parchment.
Abigail,
I was glad to hear that Cody is enjoying his time there. I bet you are excited to see Becky. I hope she makes it there safely. How was the journey there yourself? Hope Valley was hit with a pretty nasty wind storm. Lee Coulter was badly injured. But he is home and safe now. I hope the storm did not hit you and Cody on your trip-…
He stopped writing. His mind now falling blank as he almost picked up the paper to crumble it up and throw it in the trash bin by his nightstand. But instead he just froze, looking down at the paper in front of him as he tried to picture Abigail right in front of him in the hopes that it would give him a better idea of what to write. He closed his eyes briefly and pictured her face in his mind. He couldn't help but smile to himself before he continued to write.
-...on your trip. The town misses you and your cooking. Bill and Clara are doing well taking care of the cafe and all, but it is not the same without you and your recipes. I hope your mother is getting better. Hope your father is well too. As for Bill, I will try my best to help out if he allows me to. You know he does not enjoy my company much…let alone, heed my advice. But I will try.
He stopped writing again, wondering how he should address her apology to him. After thinking for another moment, he thought of something.
-...I will try. And to address your apology, all I must say is that I am not upset with you. You were right with what you said. I made the mistake of getting caught stealing from the town and I will continue to pay for that for the rest of my life. Your words were truthful and from the heart. Frankly, I have heard worse. There is no real need to apologize for pointing out my faults. I hope things go smoothly out there.
Henry
It took him a few moments to decide to actually fold the letter and place it into an envelope for mailing. He hoped that he didn't sound strange in the letter, a bit self conscious in his ability to write a good one. Soon realizing that a second attempt at it would probably not be any better, he sealed the letter and set it on the nightstand before blowing out the flame in his lamp and he laid down to try and sleep. Though all he could think about now was Abigail's face.
His letter reached her two days later due to travel and the moment she saw his name in the top left corner of the envelope, she took a seat at her parents' dining room table to open it. Cody and her father sat at the table as well, playing Chess together while she read it to herself. Her heart ached a bit for Lee as she read about his injury from Henry and she made a mental note to write to him and Rosemary as well. She smiled a bit when Henry said the town missed her and her cooking before she let out a small giggle as she read the part about Bill.
"What's so funny, Mom?" Cody asked with curiosity as he waited for his grandfather to take his turn on the Chess board.
"Oh, nothing, sweetheart. It's just a letter from Mr. Gowen." Abigail told him.
"Who is Mr. Gowen?" Her father asked after moving one of his pawns.
"He used to be the mayor in Hope Valley before Mom got the job." Cody answered for her.
"Oh, wow. Did you run against him?"
"No, Daddy. Not exactly." She admitted. "He was forced to step down for…legal reasons."
"Legal reasons?" The gray-haired man looked at his daughter at the other end of the table.
"He went to jail." Cody answered too quickly for his mother to reply yet again.
"Jail? For what?" His grandpa asked.
"I don't really know. The adults don't tell us." The blonde boy stated as he moved his Knight on the board.
"It was nothing too heinous. It had to do with the town's finances. That's all." Abigail tried to brush it off as if it were no big deal.
"Hm. What did he say in that letter?" The older man wondered.
"That is private, Daddy." Abigail said to him. "We are just being friendly. He tells me of a storm that hit Hope Valley and injured a friend of mine."
"Who?" Cody asked immediately.
"Mr. Coulter."
Cody's shoulders perked up with concern. "Oh no! Is he okay? What happened?!" Her son worried about Lee, his bud whom he'd play baseball with at times when he wished he had a father.
"Henry says he is alright, Cody. No need to worry. I am not sure what happened exactly. Mr. Gowen did not give me the details, but I am sure everything is alright." Abigail told him calmly so he would not get upset.
"Are you going to write back?" Cody wondered.
"Yes, I am."
"Will you ask Mr. Gowen what happened exactly?" The frantic boy pleaded with her.
"No, sweetheart. Henry and I have other things to discuss, but I will write to Mr. and Mrs. Coulter myself to get the details, alright? Or perhaps you could write them a letter. And Robert too. I am sure they would appreciate hearing from you." She softly smiled at him.
"Mm, yes. That is a good idea." Cody agreed. "After this game is finished, may I?"
"Yes, of course you may." His mother grinned at him and felt so proud of his manners and the polite young boy that he had become.
Later in the evening, Abigail went to her mother's bedroom to feed her the dinner that she had made. Vivian Adler lay in her bed, a weak smile growing on her face as her daughter stepped into the room with a tray of stew and homemade bread.
"There's my sweet girl." Abigail's mother spoke softly, her voice weak. "How is Cody getting along with the pigs now?" She wondered, having told her daughter that perhaps Cody just needed to get used to the hogs. It had been a little over two weeks since they had arrived, so Vivian figured Cody wouldn't be so afraid anymore.
"Oh, he is still a bit cautious." Abigail admitted, setting the tray of food down on the nightstand before pulling a chair closer to her mother's bed. She sat in it before lifting the bowl of stew off the tray and dipping the spoon into it. "But I think he seemed a bit more in his element filling the pig slop this morning."
"Good, good." Vivian forced out a small smile before allowing Abigail to feed her a spoonful of the stew.
"How are you feeling tonight?" Abigail asked her. "Any better than yesterday?"
"Mm." Her mother swallowed her stew and nodded. "Yes. I just feel weak."
"Well, here. Dinner should help a bit with that." Her daughter said before feeding her another spoonful.
After the stew was halfway gone, Vivian noticed something about Abigail and she spoke, kindly declining another spoonful. "What is it, dear? There is something on your mind. I see it in those eyes."
"It is nothing to worry about." Abigail said kindly. "You needn't worry about me right now. You just work on getting better." She tried to feed her again, but Vivian declined once more.
"Please, dear? I need to think about something other than how I am feeling." She said truthfully. "You are my daughter. I need to know more about what is going on in your life. I still cannot believe you are the mayor of a town. I always knew you would do something spectacular."
"Oh, Mom. Being a mayor is not as spectacular as it sounds. Believe me." Abigail shook her head a bit before finally getting her mom to take another spoonful of stew.
"You are stressed?" Her mother said, as more of an observation than a question.
Abigail sat back more in her chair, looking down into the stew and playing around a bit with the spoon in it. "Not about that."
"About what, my love?" Vivian wondered.
"Alright, yes, work and being mayor does come with its ups and downs, but it is also the people around me." She admitted.
"They stress you out?"
"Yes. They all look up to me. Even before I was mayor, they did. I don't mind it most of the time…but there are times that I need a break. I need to focus on myself. But I hardly get the time to do that. While I'm fixing everyone else's lives, mine starts to feel like it is falling apart." She felt ashamed for saying something that sounded so selfish.
"Oh, honey." Her mother reached over to place a hand on top of her daughter's hand in her lap, the hand that did not hold the bowl. "How do you feel it is falling apart?"
"Well…Becky and Cody."
"What about them?"
"I feel like I hardly know my own daughter. Ever since we found her, it's been her off to the hospital or off to school. And sometimes I wonder if I even know much about her at all."
Vivian squeezed Abigail's hand before allowing her daughter to continue feeding her. "She is getting a wonderful education…because of you. And I am certain once she graduates, you will have plenty of time to get to know her. And if she really is as lovely as you and Cody make her sound….then she will appreciate you even more for the things you have done and sacrificed for her." She gently smiled as Abigail teared up a bit. "And Cody? How is he falling apart?"
"Oh, that boy." Abigail softly chuckled. "He needs a father figure in his life. I see him with Daddy and the older men back home…I can tell that piece of him is missing. A piece that I cannot fill."
"Have you thought about that piece that's missing inside YOU?" Vivian asked.
"What piece?"
"A man."
"Oh, Mom…." She chuckled a bit and placed the, pretty much empty, bowl back on the tray on the nightstand. "I do not need a man to feel whole."
"Of course not. But if you are taking care of everyone else in that town…who is taking care of you?"
Abigail picked up the bread from the tray and broke off a small piece before feeding it to the other woman. "There WAS a man that I was courting for a bit. But he had another calling."
"Who was this man, might I ask?"
"His name is Frank Hogan…Well…Matt Landry used to be his name but he changed it after he was released from prison and became a pastor."
"Prison? Oh, my!"
"And then there was Bill. He was before Frank, actually, but sometimes I forget about him because we really only kissed once." Abigail told her.
"Bill?"
"Yes, he is the sheriff in Hope Valley. We showed interest in each other until his ex wife kept showing up to try and tell me off."
"Oh." Her mother tried to process all the information at once.
"And now Henry." Her voice softened a bit as she said his name and looked down at the floor, suddenly daydreaming about the man she left back at home.
"Henry?" Her mother grew more intrigued by her daughter's demeanor as she mentioned him. "Who is Henry?"
Her mother's voice snapped Abigail out of her thoughts and she looked back up at her. "Oh, he is….a friend." She said, though her body felt a bit of a rejection to that word.
"A friend?" Her mother noticed that the way Abigail said it did not sound convincing.
"It is complicated. There is so much to say about that man, but I might be here for three weeks if I begin to talk about it."
"Do tell me, dear. I can see that he has a hold on you." Vivian informed her. "Is he the reason you seemed so upset when you arrived here weeks ago?" She asked.
Abigail looked at her mother for a moment before she nodded. "Yes…Before I heard word about your condition…he and I had a discussion that ended in me saying some hurtful words to him. I never got to properly apologize before Cody and I left to come see you." She softly sighed before feeding her mother another piece of bread. "I wrote him a letter last week and I just received his in the mail today…..That is what was on my mind when I came in here tonight."
"The letter?"
"No. What to write back to him. I want to write him a better apology, but I am not sure how to go about it."
"Just write what's in your heart, darling." The woman said before reaching up to gently touch her daughter's cheek.
Abigail finished feeding her mother and gave her a kiss on the forehead before leaving her room for the night to let her get some sleep. After bringing the empty tray back downstairs, the mayor of Hope Valley washed the dishes and looked out the kitchen window at her father and Cody who were petting the cows outside. She smiled to herself before drying her hands when she was finished and sitting down at the dining room table again with a pencil and paper in front of her.
Dear Henry,
I disagree with you when you say that there is no real need for me to give you an apology. You have grown in the last few years and after all of that progress, you do not deserve to be spoken to in that way. I want you to know that I regretted my words the moment they left my mouth and I am sorry to have hurt you. Whether my words come from a mean place or my heart, it does not excuse how wrong they are. I must think before I speak, especially when speaking to you. We have been through so much together and apart and I feel that we only owe each other kindness. Which you have only given me, Henry. I now look back and realize that it has been over three years since you last did or said anything to hurt me, whether it was intentional or not. You have given me your kindness for so long and I have not done the same for you. For that, I am truly sorry. You deserve to hear that word just as much as the rest of us do. I am also very sorry that I tried to bring up our feelings in the way that I did. Whenever I am around you, I feel emotions more intensely than I ever have before and I could not hold back the words that I was feeling. If you do not feel the same about me, then I understand. I will not push you anymore. I give you my word. I hope you are doing okay back at home. I cannot stop thinking about you. Truthfully. Take care, Henry.
Abigail
He read the letter in his car outside the mercantile a few days later once he had received it. His mind began to spin as he was confused as to why she would say those words to him. He felt he did not deserve to even know anyone like her. She was the best woman he had ever met and probably the best PERSON he had ever met. He could not believe that he was in this position and he had no idea how to cope with it. He had never felt this way before. Not even with his ex wife.
He began to feel dizzy as his mind tried to process it all and he set the letter down in the passenger seat of his car before pushing his thumb and forefinger into his closed eyes. He felt lightheaded and weak whenever he thought about Abigail and longed for her to be beside him.
The truth was…he could not stop thinking of her either and he….truly missed her.
He took a moment to regain himself before starting up his car and driving toward the woods, heading for the cabin that he owned there. Once he arrived, he looked around inside, making sure nothing needed to be fixed before he would sell it.
Henry soon became too busy with trying to sell his cabin and coming across the oil on Jesse's land, which he had bought from him, to write back to Abigail.
May 1916
Weeks passed and she hadn't heard from him. She began to worry and decided to write another letter to ask if everything was alright, but before she could mail it….she threw it away instead, deciding to let Henry come to her when he was ready.
Abigail,
My apologies for getting back to you so late. The last three weeks have been so busy in Hope Valley. I bought some land from Jesse and struck gold. Well…Oil. I have left Lee's business to start my own Oil Company. Lucas Bouchard agreed to be a minority partner so I could get things started. I already have four clients from out of town who are interested in trading with me. Money is coming in again. I may be able to buy my house back if I save up enough. It would sure beat living in the saloon. I sold my extra cabin outside of town to a new family who came to Hope Valley. They seem nice enough. The mother has begun to help out at the cafe. I think you two would be good friends. They have a son and daughter as well. I am sure you and Elizabeth have written to each other recently. Perhaps she has told you about them. Has Becky arrived yet? And how is your mother doing now? It has been so long and we are all worried. Is there anything I can do to help? Do you need money? I can send you some for a good doctor if it is necessary. Please write back as soon as you can to let me know.
From Henry
"Oh, Henry." Abigail didn't mean to say it out loud after she read his offer.
"What is it, Mom?" Becky asked the older woman in the living room as they both sat and drank tea together.
"Mr. Gowen. He is offering to send us money for Nana's doctor." Her heart leapt as she told her daughter.
"I like Mr. Gowen. He is such a nice man." Becky smiled, sipping her tea. "I don't understand why people in Hope Valley don't like him."
"Oh, well, sweetheart. He has a complicated past and some of the people in Hope Valley have still not forgiven him." Abigail told her.
"Yes, but YOU have. And you lost TWO people in that mining accident." Becky pointed out.
"Yes, well…it is not very easy for others to forgive someone if they don't try to get to know him." Abigail set the letter down on the coffee table in front of her parents' couch and lifted her saucer and teacup again. "Everyone tried to avoid him after the things he had done and I did the opposite. Perhaps that is why it was easier for me to look passed his mistakes and see him for the man he could be…the man he has become."
"He is also funny." Becky said.
"He is?"
"Yes. He told me a lot of jokes on the horse ride to Hope Valley two Christmases ago. We also had a nice talk about you." Her daughter smirked a little.
"About me? What did you both say?"
"Well, he said that you were probably the best friend he's ever had. And that he enjoyed seeing you be a mother. And he was proud of your work as the mayor." She sipped more tea. "I just cannot picture him doing anything to hurt anyone."
"Oh, sweetheart." Abigail set a hand on her daughter's knee beside her before setting her teacup down on the coffee table again. "That is because you met him after he had changed."
"I am glad that the judge did not make him go to prison. I believe that being around other criminals would not have helped him." Becky told her.
"I agree with you."
"Being around YOU has helped him. And us. Cody and I are so grateful that you are our mother. If it wasn't for you, I would probably be dead. And Cody would have starved to death."
"Oh, honey." Abigail placed an arm around her daughter in an embrace. "I do not want to think about such things." She kissed the top of her daughter's head. Becky smiled and set her teacup down before turning to hug her mother back. "I love you." Abigail hugged her tighter.
"I love you too, Mom." They pulled away from the hug and Becky smiled at her. "What are you going to tell Mr. Gowen about the money?"
"It is a nice offer, but I am going to decline for now. He has worked hard for that money and I don't want him sending it to us when we can afford Nana's doctor ourselves." She kept an arm around Becky's shoulders.
"It is so nice of him to want to help."
"Yes, it is. I will write back to him later tonight and make sure he knows that we all really appreciate his kindness."
They continued to drink their tea and speak of how things are at Becky's school before lunch.
Dear Henry,
I was worried about you when I did not hear back in so long. I am glad to hear that you are doing well and started your own business. You must be very happy being the boss again. Yes, Elizabeth has told me about Minnie and Joseph. I am glad to hear things in Hope Valley are looking up. It is very kind of you to offer us money, but I have to decline at the moment. You worked hard for that money and I want you to enjoy it. If anything changes, I will let you know. Mom has her ups and downs. She seems to be getting a bit stronger. The other day, she was able to stand up from the bed all on her own, but only for a moment. The doctor is still unsure of what illness this could be, but we have faith. To answer one of your questions, yes, Becky has finally arrived. She has been here for one week and my parents love her very much already. I cannot believe how much she has grown already. Pretty soon, she will be graduating and working out in the real world. She and I have spoken about you. She believes that you are a very kind and good man. It is not only I who thinks that about you. I would like to see you. I enjoy reading your letters, but I still feel there is much more that needs to be said in person. I told Mom about you. She would like to meet you. Perhaps some day when you are free, you can come and visit. I believe that you and Daddy would get along. And you and I could discuss things regarding our last night together. Please let me know your thoughts on this.
With love, Abigail
A/N: I know this chapter is pretty long, but I liked ending it there. I wanted to get into what Abigail and Henry write each other about since the show said that they write to each other ever since she left Hope Valley. I hope you guys like this chapter. Let me know in the comments/reviews, please. I am getting so excited for you all to read what I've got planned later. ;)
