Chapter 26- A Woman
"Thank you for watching Allie while I'm in Brookfield," Nathan said as he sat beside Charlotte on the back steps of her house for their morning cup of coffee.
With summer approaching, the days were getting longer, but because Nathan had to leave so early today to help Constable Kinslow serve a warrant, he and Charlotte were up before dawn to make sure they could still have this moment together before Nathan left.
"It is no trouble at all. You know how much Allie and I love being with each other. She has been planning all our activities for when you are away. It will be good to spend some girl time together," Charlotte responded, her eyes concentrating on where her finger was tracing the weaving lines of Nathan's palm.
"Still, I appreciate that we have you in our lives. It makes leaving Allie a little easier knowing you're here to take care of her."
"We take care of each other," Charlotte gently corrected.
Nathan nodded. Charlotte was right. His girls seemed to take care of each other. But this would be the first time he had left Allie and Charlotte overnight since before Christmas. Since Charlotte had made her promise to Nathan.
What I promise to you tonight, is this; I don't want to do this alone anymore Nathan. I don't want to face that darkness without your light. Your happiness. Your support. I want to see where this goes. Where we go. I want to be with you Nathan.
And because of that promise, leaving Charlotte this morning seemed like an insurmountable task for Nathan. Especially with her finger doing that intricate drawing across the plains of his hand.
"You'll be home Friday afternoon, right?" Charlotte questioned.
"Yes. I'll ride to Brookfield this morning. Then this afternoon, Gabe and I will plan out how we are going to execute the arrest for tomorrow. Once that job is done, I will stay in Brookfield for another night, probably check in on Lillian and Grace at the orphanage, and then get an early start back home on Friday morning."
"Good," Charlotte smiled. "Because I believe one of the activities that Allie is planning was a sleepover for Friday night. And even though I watch those kids every day in school, the idea of supervising a slumber party alone seems a little too daunting. I'll be happy to have a co-parent… I mean... a co-chaperone for the event."
Nathan smiled at Charlotte's fumble of saying co-parent. Because that is exactly what they had been doing for months. They may be living in separate houses, but the grass between their back steps had a well-worn path from the multiple trips a day, various members of their family took between the two properties.
"I'm happy to be there for you. Although I will have to be sure to get plenty of sleep while I am in Brookfield, because if I remember correctly, the last sleepover Allie had, there was absolutely no sleeping."
An exuberant laugh escaped Charlotte. "Good idea. I remember when I had a few sleepovers as a teenager. I always loved them, but I think my parents seemed hesitant to say yes to hosting. As an adult I can understand why. There is usually no sleeping despite being called a sleepover."
"Agreed." Nathan smiled.
The light around them was getting brighter, which meant the sun was starting to come up over the horizon to the east. Nathan took a deep, jagged breath.
"I better be going," Nathan said hesitantly. "I already told Allie good-bye last night before bed. So, I didn't have to wake her this morning. She is definitely becoming a teenager and is loving sleeping in when possible."
Charlotte nodded in agreement as the pair stood and walked down the space between their two houses to where Newton was tied to the post at Nathan's front porch, already saddled and packed for the trip. He whinnied and impatiently stomped his hooves seeing their approach.
"Good morning Newton," Charlotte said as she reached up to nuzzle the horse's head. "Make sure to take good care of him please."
"For me," she added under her breath before turning to face Nathan.
He had just grabbed the red serge from where he had hung it earlier on a hook and easily slipped his arms into the sleeves.
Before Charlotte could stop herself, she reached forward, helping Nathan to pull his uniform into place, her hands holding onto the lapels of the serge. Once she realized her actions, she paused but did not retract. Instead, Charlotte's palms flattened against Nathan's chest. His muscles under her fingers, sculpted from hours of physical labor. The rhythmic beat of Nathan's heart calming Charlotte's, until hers naturally synced to his.
Charlotte looked up into Nathan's sapphire blue eyes that were already staring down at her. He gauged her reactions before moving his hands to rest on Charlotte's hips. Neither one broke their gaze. Charlotte needed to know it was Nathan, only Nathan, who was touching her in this way.
"Please be safe," Charlotte's voice was thick with emotions.
"I will," Nathan removed one of his hands from Charlotte's hips to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. He took an extra moment to rub his thumb along her delicate cheekbone, causing Charlotte to close her eyes and lean into Nathan's hand where it cupped the side of her face.
Nathan smiled at her reaction, "You should know. You make it mighty hard to leave home Ms. Charlotte Thompson. But the thought of coming back here... to you… well it's all a man could ever want."
"I'm going to miss you," Charlotte whispered, moving to wrap her arms around Nathan, enveloping him into her body. Her hands interlocked behind his back as she nuzzled her head into Nathan's collar. Breathing in his scent and committing it to memory.
Nathan pulled Charlotte in closer and rested his cheek along the top of her wavy hair, "I'm going to miss you."
"Have you received a letter from Robert lately?" Charlotte asked Allie as they sat around her kitchen table later that night. The pair had finished dinner and were working on their respective schoolwork, but Charlotte had sensed they both needed a break from the tasks.
"No. I haven't," Allie's eyes dropped from Charlotte's. "When Robert first left for Mountie training last fall, he wrote to me almost once a week. But the last message I received was over a month ago and it was three lines scribbled on a partially torn piece of paper."
"Oh…" Charlotte paused as she wasn't quite sure what to say. She had of course been Allie's age once, but she had been much older when she first had feelings for a boy. And that had of course been with Beck. Which knowing what Charlotte knew now, should have never even been considered love.
"I'm sure Robert is just busy with his training. He may not have time to write as often as he had. Did you ask your Uncle Nathan about it?" Charlotte questioned.
"I actually did. He said that it was a possibility. Usually training ramps up about this time for recruits, but I still cannot shake the feeling that Robert is trying to distance himself from me. Do you think it's something I've done?"
"Allie. You are an amazing young woman. I can't say I'm qualified to give relationship advice, but if you learn one thing from me, let it be this. You will always be enough. Never conform your life to make it fit into someone else's. If Robert is the right person for you, no matter where you both go in life, those feelings will still be there when you are ready. You and Robert still have so much life to live. So many changes that are yet to happen. And those changes, if they don't happen at the same time, may seem to draw you apart," Charlotte reached across the table to squeeze Allie's hand in reassurance. "I genuinely believe that everything happens for a reason in life. While you may not understand the reason at the moment, in the future you will."
"Thank you," tears pooled in the corner of Allie's eyes. "I really don't know what I would do without you, Ms. Thompson. I mean Uncle Nathan is great and all, but sometimes it is easier to talk about these sorts of things with a woman. I did not know if I would ever be able to have that since my mom died. I love Uncle Nathan and he tries so hard, but there have been days in the past I still feel like I'm an orphan."
"I understand," Charlotte nodded her head in agreement. "I felt the same way after I lost my parents. I was much older than you when they passed, but that doesn't stop the feeling of being so completely alone in the world. Like a lost ship floating aimlessly in the expanses of the ocean. The only difference between us; is that you had your Uncle Nathan. He came into your life and helped make it complete."
"That isn't the difference between us," Allie responded, straightening in her chair. "You have Uncle Nathan too! He came into your life and helped make it complete, just like he did mine."
A smile spread across Charlotte's face at the truth Allie just stated. Suddenly she found herself grateful. Grateful for all the darkness, the heartbreak, and betrayal because it allowed her to recognize true love when she found it. And Charlotte knew without a doubt that all the broken, shattered, and forgotten pieces of her soul were worth putting back together again, because she had been able to find new light and love along the way.
"Your Uncle Nathan is an amazing person, Allie. He is the most caring man I have ever met. Nathan loves you so very much. I hope you realize that and how incredibly lucky you are to have him."
"We are incredibly lucky to have him," Allie corrected.
Charlotte squeezed Allie's hand tighter in response.
Yes... we are incredibly lucky to have him.
"Well, that was a good day's work," Constable Kinslow patted Nathan's shoulder as the two watched the prisoner transfer wagon pull off down the street.
Nathan released a breath he had not realized he had been holding. "Yeah, it was."
Gabe looked over at Nathan, reading his expression as the pair returned into his office. "Alright. What is it? There is something you have not been telling me since you got here yesterday. Do not get me wrong. You didn't miss a beat with the arrest today, but I can tell something is on your mind."
Nathan pulled out the chair in front of Gabe's desk and sat down with what seemed like the weight of the world on his shoulders. "I've mentioned Charlotte to you before, right?"
"So that's what this is about," Gabe's eyes twinkled with mischief as he took a seat in his chair across from Nathan. "A woman."
Nathan smirked at Gabe, "Not just any woman. The woman."
"Oh," Gabe responded in shock. "I didn't realize that anything had become that serious for you. After what happened with Elizabeth… I mean... I know you had talked about Charlotte almost a year ago when she first arrived in Hope Valley and then you mentioned that Allie and she had become close when you were here before Christmas, but…"
"I've never met anyone else like Charlotte," Nathan confessed. "And I don't just say that because it's cliché. I say it because it's the truth. I've never met anyone that can make me laugh as much, I've never met anyone who makes me as happy, I've never met anyone that I can talk so freely to. And really, I've never met anyone who's mere presence can actually change my mood the way Charlotte can."
Nathan did not know what came over him to bare this much of his soul, and heart, to Gabe, but the words fell out of his mouth before he had time to think them through.
"Sounds like love," Gabe smiled at Nathan.
"It is."
"So, what are you going to do about it?" Gabe questioned, raising his eyebrow as he pushed back in his chair.
"It's not that easy, Gabe," Nathan leaned forward, placing his forearms on his thighs, eyes focusing on the shine of his Strathcona boots. He had known for a while that he would need to do this. Put Charlotte's past to rest, once and for all. No matter how much healing she had done over the past months, Nathan doubted that without this closure, Charlotte would ever agree to take that next step with him.
Nathan did not usually go searching for trouble, but in his mind, this trouble had never really gone away. It was still there. Still lurking in the shadows of their lives, like a mountain lion waiting for the right moment to pounce.
"Before Charlotte came to Hope Valley, she was engaged to a man named Beck McEntire. He is the sheriff of a town down south called Potter's Creek. After they became engaged, Charlotte realized something was off. He had become involved with the wrong type of people and started dealing in some illegal business ventures. When Charlotte confronted McEntire about it, he hit her and verbally abused her."
"Poor Charlotte," Gabe interjected.
"That's not it," Nathan leaned back in his chair again, taking a deep breath, as he ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "Charlotte realized she had to leave. She had to get away. The night before she left for her new posting in Hope Valley, Charlotte had left McEntire a letter explaining how she could not be with him anymore and that she was leaving. That night, McEntire broke into Charlotte's house, drunk, and... attacked her."
Nathan's eyes had closed while reliving the pain that Charlotte had gone through before coming to Hope Valley. He was not sure if it were more to hold back his anger at the situation or to hide his tears for the hurt it had and still did cause.
"Nathan…" Gabe said gently. "Tell me what you need me to do."
"I need you to find out more about McEntire. Charlotte said he has connections. And that he threatened he would find her wherever she went."
"It's been almost a year, Nathan. Are you sure you want to go digging this up? What if he has moved on? Forgotten all about Charlotte?"
"Charlotte isn't someone you can just forget about. I know that firsthand. But I just have this feeling about McEntire that I can't shake."
Gabe nodded his head in agreement. "First thing they taught us in training- trust your instincts."
Nathan looked over at Gabe. Mutual understanding and appreciation passing between the two.
"Thank you."
"I owe you," Gabe smirked as he stood up and started his way to the door. "What do you say we get over to the orphanage for dinner. I believe we are in for a feast tonight, because if I didn't know any better, I would say Ms. Winters has a bit of a crush on you. Charlotte may have a little competition."
That made Nathan laugh heartily. "Well, they do say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach!"