Minnie looked up as the golden stallion rode up to her house, only to smile as she saw who was riding him.
She walked down the steps and held the reins as a magnificent beast stopped, letting out a huff.
Grace's face was rosy from exhilaration, her hair tousled by the wind and her lips wore the biggest smile.
"Hello, Minnie", she greeted her warmly and jumped down from Excalibur.
Minnie held the reins as Grace came down and went over to caress the animal's neck.
"Good boy, Excalibur", whispered Grace, planting a soft, small kiss on Excalibur's golden face "Good boy", she pulled out an apple and lead the horse toward the fence to tie him.
He followed her, stretching his long neck to get the apple.
Grace smiled as she opened her palm and let him take the treat while she tied his reins on the fence.
"Hello, Grace", Minnie greeted her as a young woman turned to her with a smile "That's a fine horse you have there", she said with a twinkle in her eyes.
Grace's smile widened.
"He's gorgeous, isn't he?", she asked, gently caressing Excalibur's back.
Minnie nodded, smiling.
"Just like his owner", she smiled warmly as Grace blushed "And you picked him among all the other horses?"
Grace chuckled, putting her glowed palms together.
"No, actually, he picked me. He nudged my shoulder as I passed by his stall", she replied.
Minnie smiled.
"Well, animals feel when someone is important to their owners", she took Grace's hands "And from what I've read in that letter, you are very important to Lucas".
Grace's cheeks flushed up.
"He is very important to me too", she whispered.
Minnie nodded and let go of her hands as they walked upstairs to the house.
"You can't imagine how happy it makes me to hear that", she shook her head "My heart broke for that good man. He was hurt and betrayed so badly. But, what upset me the most was the attitude that Elizabeth displayed in front of the children at the school. Like she was the one who was hurt and betrayed".
Grace creased her eyebrows, slightly shaking her head in confusion.
"What do you mean?", she asked.
Minnie looked at her as she led them over to the living room to sit down. She busied herself with pouring tea in two cups and she shook her head.
"Cooper and Angela came home one day telling us that they don't want us to vote for Lucas because he had broke their teacher's heart and left her to become a Governor instead of marrying her", she spoke with disbelief obvious in her voice "But, the real shock came the day of election when they came home from school and told us that Mrs. Thornton told them that both she and Mr. Bouchard decided to end things up and that she is grateful for their support and for being protective of her".
Grace gasped.
"What?!"
Minnie nodded.
"We sat them down and told them the truth… However, Elizabeth never told the kids the truth. Actually, she never got the record straight with town people, either. It wasn't until Gustave snapped at her when she wanted to go to Capitol City with Nathan and Bill after Lucas was attacked that people actually got a glimpse of what really happened. Gustave told her that Lucas doesn't need her to come just so she could clean her dirty consciousness. He told her that she played with Lucas' feelings for three years and that he wouldn't allow her to continue, nor go near Lucas ever again".
Grace smiled warmly, wiping a few tears that rolled down her cheeks.
"Dear Gustave. He is such a darling", she whispered.
Minnie sighed.
"Joseph and I tried to explain the kids the best we could. Angela is more thoughtful of the two of them and she only had a few questions to fill out the holes", she gently pushed a plate of scones
toward Grace, urging her to help herself before she continued "However, Cooper was another story. He was very fond of Lucas until then and he just couldn't believe it that he would do something like that. Apparently, we managed to explain it well because Angela told us that Cooper said at school that he likes Mr. Bouchard. However, we warned them not to speak about all that with other children, no matter what. It is not their story to tell, it's Elizabeth's. I don't want my children to start gossiping. Joseph and I raised them better than that".
Grace nodded.
"I understand. And you did the right thing. Children can be very sensitive when they are fond of someone and they hear somebody else talk bad about that person", she shook her head in disbelief "I can't believe it that Elizabeth would be so manipulative with children. Thanking them for their support and protectiveness?! Protectiveness from what?!"
Minnie took a sip of her tea.
"I know. And I don't understand it either. Lucas was always so nice to all the children and they all loved him", said Minnie.
Grace's face softened.
"Oh, Minnie, you should see him with the kids at the orphanage my sister Lillian and I run! It's always like a holiday for the little ones when he comes to visit them! The fact that he finds a time to just be with them shows how big his heart is", said Grace, her heart full of love for her beloved.
Minnie smiled.
"Only a great man can reach children's hearts", Minnie gently said.
Grace nodded, her eyes softening even more.
"Minnie, he plays with the kids, reads to them, talks to them… Not to mention how much he helped our orphanage. We never had any support from the ex Governor. Lucas is devoted, good-hearted, thoughtful, caring…", she rambled on until she saw Minnie's look and smile "What is it?"
Minnie took Grace's palm in her hand and placed a second palm over hers.
"You truly love him, don't you?", she softly asked.
Grace smiled bashfully, her cheeks flushing up.
"How could I not? He's the best of men", she whispered "I would do anything for him".
Minnie smiled playfully.
"I can see that. Even playing undercover for days", she chuckled, making Grace chuckle too "You must be exhausted".
Grace let out a breath.
"I am. But it's worth it. I want to know to whom Lucas can trust. This will be hard enough for him and I want to help him", she said.
Minnie caressed her knuckles.
"He loves you, you know that? I could tell from his letter. Don't let anybody tell you differently", Minnie said warmly.
Grace's eyes shone with happy tears.
"I know", she placed her other palm on Minnie's hand "Thank you, Minnie. Lucas was right when he told me I should reach out to you".
Minnie smiled gently.
"Of course, dear", she let go of her hands and stood up "Now, lets go get some lunch".
—--
Minnie watched as Cooper and Grace ran across the yard, playing tag, both of them laughing their hearts out.
At that moment Joseph's car pulled up and Minnie creased her eyebrows coming down the stairs.
"Joseph? Is everything alright?", she asked.
Joseph came toward her and kissed her on the cheek.
"Yeah, I just came to get my tools and I'm going back. Forgot them this morning. Robert will be at the stables until I come back", he explained.
Minnie nodded.
"Well, why don't you wait a moment while I pack you some scones for later?", she asked with a smile.
Joseph smiled.
"Thank you, love", he said.
As Minnie went inside the house, Joseph went to the stables to get his tools.
As he was about to come out he heard shrieks of laughter from behind the bar and exclamations of "Tag!" piercing the air.
He smiled as he walked back toward the house just as Minnie came out carrying a bag of scones.
"Thank you, dear", Joseph accepted the bag and both of them looked at the direction from where the laughter was coming.
Grace was trying to escape Cooper's fingertips that were about to tag her and she ran backwards, laughing all the time.
Cooper launched toward her the moment she peeked out from behind the wagon and in the next moment a wrestling match began sending both of them to fits of laughter.
As they laughed, they didn't pay attention to where they were going and both of them hit the barn doors with their heads!
"Careful!", Joseph exclaimed, but Grace and Cooper just rubbed fingers on the affected place on their heads, laughing as they did that.
Completely unfazed, they continued their game.
Minnie smiled as she watched them
"She is truly remarkable", she whispered to her husband.
—--
Grace sat down at the piano with Angela, watching in awe as the young girl played.
When she finished, Grace applauded.
"Angela, that was beautiful!!", she said sincerely with a smile.
Angela smiled.
"Thank you, Miss Grace", she said "Do you play?"
Grace grimaced.
"No, I never had a chance to learn. But, I would love to try", replied Grace.
At the next moment, Angela searched for Grace's fingers and gently brought them over the piano. She took Grace's index finger and pressed each key with it, explaining the notes.
Grace listened carefully and she gently smiled at Angela's enthusiasm to help her new friend enter the world of music. The girls huddled side by side giggling as Grace would hit the wrong key.
Cooper came to stand up at his Mama's side and smiled.
Minnie looked at him and smiled.
"What is it, my sweet boy?", she asked.
Cooper hugged Minnie around neck with one hand and leaned his head on her shoulder.
"I like Miss Grace, Mama", he said with a smile, earning himself a kiss on a cheek from his Mama.
—--
Joseph was grooming a horse when he heard hoofs thundering around the corner.
Looking up, he saw Grace riding in on Excalibur, smiling and exhilarated from the ride.
He smiled as he left the stall and held Excalibur's reins so she could get down more easily.
"Thank you, Joseph", she said, slightly out of breath and smiling happily.
"Don't mention it", said Joseph as he led Excalibur back to his stall.
Grace followed them and watched as Joseph unsaddled the horse and reached for the brush.
"Joseph? Would you mind if I groom him?", asked Grace.
Joseph shook his head.
"Not at all. You have some treats in that bucket", he showed it to her and went back to doing his job.
Grace pulled out a few pieces of apple from the bucket and opened her palm. She smiled as she felt Excalibur sniff the treat first then started to munch on it with gusto.
Grace caressed horse's golden neck as she slowly started to groom him.
The glorious beast danced his head up and down and turned to the right, gently nudging Grace's arm. She smiled as she continued with grooming, a sense of peace washing over her.
As she circled around Excalibur, brushing his shimmering mane, the horse sniffed her hair and whinnied almost joyfully.
Once Grace finished, she caressed the magnificent beast's head, getting lost in her thoughts.
One day left.
Excalibur softly neighed, catching her attention. Grace looked up at him and gently smiled.
"He'll be here soon Excalibur", she whispered "I know. I miss him too".
Joseph leaned his forearms on Excalibur's stall as Grace gave some hay to the golden horse and with one last caress she turned to walk away.
Joseph opened the stall for her and they walked together toward the exit of stables.
The sun already started to go down and the evening pulled out its watercolors and brushes and started to paint the sky in shades of purple, dark blue and orange.
Grace looked at the road that led away from Hope Valley, falling silent.
Joseph followed her gaze and his eyes shone with understanding.
"When does Lucas leave for Hope Valley?", he silently asked.
Grace took a deep breath in.
"On Saturday morning. He has a meeting with the Prime Minister on Friday so he can't leave earlier", her eyes kept looking at the horizon "He should be here on Sunday morning".
Joseph nodded.
"It will be good to see him again. He's a good man and even better friend", he said and glanced at Grace "I am glad that he won't be here alone. That someone who loves him as much as he loves her will be there by his side".
At those words, Grace looked at Joseph.
"Thank you", she whispered "For everything. I am glad that my Lucas has you as his friends", she smiled and gave a little wave as she started to walk toward the Queen of Hearts saloon.
