I had to include a little serge unbuttoned and #TeamNathan in this chapter. Hope you enjoy!
Chapter 44- The Visitor
A knock sounded on Nathan's front door.
Who could that be? He thought to himself.
He was pleasantly surprised when he opened the door to reveal Charlotte standing before him.
"Want to escort me into town, constable?" She asked, holding out a hand in invitation to Nathan. "I need to pick up some things in preparation for Allie's homecoming."
"I'd love to. I was just heading into the office now." Nathan responded as he pulled on his serge, but didn't concern himself with buttoning it. Instead Nathan reached forward to take Charlotte's outstretched hand. Placing it into the crook of his arm as they headed down the path leading into town.
Allie had left Nathan and Charlotte a message with Florence the other day. She was planning on catching one of the next stagecoaches home to Hope Valley and should be back by the end of the week.
It had been a long month for both Nathan and Charlotte without Allie as a part of their trio. Life with just the two of them had looked a little different. But they had used the time alone to build upon their first official date to the meadow. Becoming almost inseparable over the past few weeks.
They had continued with their usual morning coffees, rides to the meadow on Saturdays, and Sundays were for church, fishing, and dinner together.
But on top of all those activities, they had experienced many more shared moments. Since Charlotte was on summer break, she would often go along with Nathan on his rounds. Riding Newton and Bandit, they explored the far reaches of the region and Nathan's territory.
Other times they roamed through the shelves of the library, picking out books for one another, or sometimes swapping favorite novels from their own inventories. Then reading them together on the steps in their backyard or on the boulder at the lake in the upper meadow.
Many afternoons Nathan and Charlotte had an ice cream cone from the store while they walked through town hand in hand. Or they would share a slice of pie in the cafe, while chatting with Minnie, Clara and Bill.
There had been evenings, Charlotte and Nathan sat around his living room, as Nathan tried learning new chords and tunes on the guitar. Charlotte occasionally chimed in with harmonies, but she was also perfectly happy to sit in silence and just be serenaded.
One week the mayor of Hope Valley, or rather the mayor's wife, had roped them into helping put on the Inaugural Hope Valley Summer Festival. Charlotte helped with the food. Nathan built the booths, and then together they organized the evening dance. Thankfully, this time, they were able to share more than one waltz together. Although Nathan did joke that Charlotte seemed to have most of her dance card filled with requests from some of her younger admirers, much like it had been for her birthday.
One of Nathan's favorite adventures together had been about a week after their first date, when multiple days of heavy rain across the country had caused some regional flooding. When the Kline River crested its banks, the neighboring town of Buxton had seen some major damage.
Nathan and Charlotte had rounded up a volunteer force from Hope Valley to go and help the community of Buxton clean up. They had been joined by the Coulters; Lee, Rosemary, and Fred. The Canfields; Joseph, Minnie, Angela, and Cooper. Bill and Henry also tagged along in order to bring some of the supplies that Ned, Florence, and many others from town had donated.
They spent two days helping to repair the town church. Nathan knew he shouldn't have been surprised, but Charlotte was actually quite the hand with a hammer and nails. They worked side by side. Cutting, carrying, and fastening into place the boards needed to repair the church.
The symbolism of their service did not go unnoticed by Nathan. Just a year ago, his and Charlotte's lives had seemed wrecked by others' choices. Their foundations battered. Their windows broken. Their siding weathered. But he and Charlotte, working together as a team, along with their closest friends, were able to bring the church back to life.
"Charlie, you realize my team won last night. Right?" Nathan stated as he and Charlotte were nearing town.
Charlotte gave him a slightly puzzled look. Obviously having been abruptly pulled from her own thoughts. Finally, she answered. "I didn't even know we were competing last night."
Nathan smirked at her and then returned his eyes down the path leading towards the livery. "Friendly competition."
"Ha…" Charlotte scoffed. "I don't know how friendly it was when you slid into second base and knocked me off my feet."
Nathan chuckled, reliving the moment Charlotte had brought up. It had been such a lovely evening, that last night after dinner, he and Charlotte had decided to go do a little batting and catching practice in the field across from their row houses. Soon enough though, all the kids in the neighborhood had descended upon them and were wanting to play as well. What started out as just playing catch turned into a full schoolyard game. On one play Nathan hit a nice double to the outfield. He didn't really slide into second like what Charlotte was accusing him of, but rather when he came to her base, he wrapped her in a hug and "tripped" causing them to tumble into the dirt. Charlotte landing on top of Nathan, a cloud of dust obscuring them slightly from the children. At first, she was caught off guard.
"Oh my gosh. Are you alright?" Charlotte asked, quickly running her hands up Nathan's torso. "You didn't hurt anything. No broken ribs? No sprained ankles?"
"I don't know. I think I scratched myself right here," Nathan answered, tapping his cheek.
"Want to kiss it and make it better?" Nathan smirked.
Charlotte mockingly shook her head and rolled her eyes, but quickly leaned forward and gave Nathan a peck on his cheek before pushing off his chest to stand and then help Nathan to his feet.
"What do you say we even the score?" Charlotte asked before abruptly letting go of Nathan's arm and taking off down the street in a dead sprint.
For a moment Nathan stood in the middle of the road dumbfounded. Still trying to clear his mind from their shared moments the night before.
"What are you doing?" He called out in front of him.
"Friendly competition!" Charlotte yelled back over her shoulder. "Last one to the steps of the merc buys ice cream this afternoon!"
Nathan laughed as he set off after Charlotte. She was fast, but his long legs caught up to her a few strides before Charlotte had reached the mercantile. Nathan leaned slightly forward and in one swoop, easily lifted Charlotte from her feet, one arm placed on her upper back while the other caught behind her knees. Yet again finding himself holding her like a groom would hold his bride on their wedding night.
Charlotte's body leaned into Nathan's. Her arms wrapped around his neck as he carried Charlotte up the steps of the mercantile, before gently placing her feet onto the wooden wraparound porch.
"I think I won again," Nathan smirked, his forehead resting against Charlotte's.
"Hmmm…" Charlotte's body hummed against Nathan's where his arms still held her body close to his. "I think you may have cheated."
"Not that I'm complaining," Charlotte added, tilting her head back to wink at Nathan.
A laugh escaped both of them.
"Since I may have cheated," Nathan began, as he moved his hand to tuck a loose wave of Charlotte's hair behind her ear. "How about I treat you to that ice cream later Ms. Thompson? Say about three o'clock?"
"I'd say that's only fair," Charlotte beamed at Nathan before leaning forward and hugging him goodbye for the morning. Watching as he bounded down the steps and started across the street to his office. When Nathan reached the door to the jail, he looked back and saw that Charlotte was still watching him intently from where he had deposited her on the porch of the mercantile a short while earlier. She lifted her hand in a small wave, to which he returned before disappearing into his office to work on some morning reports.
His fists clenched at the sight out the window of his room above the saloon.
The Mountie's arms wrapped around her and his fingers tucked a strand of her unruly hair behind her ear.
He could hear her unrestrained laughter. It's notes caused fury to instantly build within him.
If he wasn't mistaken it almost seemed as though she was happy. Happy without him.
But she had always been a good actress. She was just pretending. Leading the Mountie into her trap.
He walked over to the leather travel bag that lay at the foot of his bed and pulled the newspaper clipping from below a pile of his packed clothes. He didn't know why he pulled it from its hiding place. He knew every single detail of its pages by now.
That first night he held this piece of evidence in his hands, he had quickly emptied the teacup the other rider had poured for him. Choosing instead to fill, and then repeatedly refill, the cup with the whiskey he always kept in his desk drawer as he scoured through the lines of the paper in front of him.
'VALLEY VOICE'
THOMPSON SCORES WINNING RUN FOR TEAM NATHAN
~ Mrs. Rosemary Coulter, Editor in Chief ~
An unfortunate injury and an unexpected Most Valuable Player made for a dramatic finish to the Inaugural Nathan Grant - Hope Valley Baseball Tournament this past Saturday. The game was planned by Ms. Allie Grant and Ms. Charlotte Thompson in honor of Constable Nathan Grant's birthday.
The article went on to detail the happenings of the baseball game. How the town doctor was injured which led to her being brought into the game as the doc's replacement. She had two strikes, before hitting a home run to win the baseball game.
As Charlotte rounded third base, her teammates gathered around home plate. But it was team captain, Nathan Grant, who congratulated her first, wrapping Ms. Thompson into a large hug and spinning her around in celebration.
Again, anger coursed through his veins at the image that came to his mind from the author's writing. He skimmed the rest of the article, before moving his eyes lower to look at the picture that had been included.
The picture that first caught his attention weeks ago. When he realized he had found her. She and the Mountie stood in the center of a large group. One arm wrapped around each other's lower back while holding a small trophy between them. What caught him by surprise though, was that she and the Mountie were not looking at the camera like everyone else. Instead they were smiling towards each other. Almost laughing together.
In all his time spent with her, he never remembered her looking at him in that way. He never remembered her laughing with him. And for a split second, he wondered what the Mountie did to deserve that sort of response.
He neatly folded the paper and returned it to its hiding spot at the bottom of his suitcase, before returning to the window. Witnessing her wave goodbye as the Mountie disappeared into the jail and she turned to walk into the mercantile.
Good. She's alone. He thought to himself as he grabbed his hat and headed for the door.
It hadn't taken Charlotte long to pick out the supplies she needed for Allie's return home. She was excited to see her daughter. It had been too long. While Charlotte loved spending all this quality time with Nathan, she longed for Allie's quick wit and their family to be complete once more.
As Charlotte finished shopping and made her way up to the counter for Ned to add up her purchases, the ringing of the store's bell drew Charlotte's attention towards the front door.
"Good Morning Elizabeth," Charlotte pleasantly welcomed.
"Charlotte! Just the person I was looking for," Elizabeth rushed past Charlotte to deposit a package on the counter beside where she stood. "I have something to ask of you."
"What is that?" Charlotte questioned, noting that the package Elizabeth had just set down was addressed to Helen Bouchard, Lucas' mother.
"Helen has asked me to do a book tour across Eastern Canada, down into the states, and then possibly over to Europe starting in just a couple weeks."
"Oh, wow!" Charlotte's eyes became big in surprise. "You plan on being gone from Hope Valley that long?"
"Well there aren't that many stops that Helen has planned, but with travelling I probably wouldn't be back until the new year. I've already contacted Mr. Landis about it. He said if you would be willing to teach all of the classes for the next few months while I am away, I could keep my contract upon my return as he wouldn't have to find another teacher. Also, since you would be essentially doing my job as well as your own, my pay for those months would go directly to you."
Charlotte mulled all this information over. Taking on all the classes, especially with the ever-expanding number of students in Hope Valley, would be a lot of weight and responsibility. But, Charlotte had to admit, the idea of the doubled income for almost four months would be a blessing.
Currently she was scraping by. With her marginal income from teaching, Charlotte was able to afford housing, food, other essentials, as well as a few gifts sprinkled throughout. But her savings wasn't much and she longed for the chance to put away money for the future. Especially when she thought about the future she wanted to build with Allie and Nathan.
"Can you give me a few days to think about it?" Charlotte asked. "I'd like to talk it over with Nathan and see if he believes it would be a good idea to take on that much."
"Oh!" Elizabeth exclaimed. "I didn't… I… uh…"
Charlotte could easily tell Elizabeth was stumbling. Elizabeth hadn't realized, or rather she had blatantly chosen not to realize, Charlotte and Nathan had become that close. That Charlotte felt the need to discuss these bigger decisions with Nathan. Not because she sought his approval, but rather she sought his counsel. Nathan seemed to know Charlotte better than she knew herself most days. They could weigh the pros and cons of the situation and make the right decision together.
Because of Elizabeth's sudden unease, Charlotte shifted their conversation. "This will be quite the adventure for Little Jack. All that traveling. It will be very exciting for him to see all those new places."
"Well… Lucas believes that Jack is too young to be taken on the whole tour. So, he suggested that we leave him in Hamilton with my parents and sister, Julie."
"And what do you believe?"
"Excuse me?"
"I asked what do you believe, Elizabeth. Is leaving your young son behind for four months the right choice?"
"Well my family in Hamilton hasn't spent much time with Little Jack, so this would be a good opportunity for that. Plus, this will be a chance for Lucas and I to spend some alone time together. Gustav has agreed to handle everything at the saloon while we are away and then Lucas has just hired a new man to take care of overseeing the oil pipeline that is being constructed outside of town. Henry, Mike, and Fiona can see to the other details of the operation."
Charlotte was so deep into her thoughts she didn't even notice the door to the mercantile open, as she simply couldn't fathom leaving Allie behind for an extended trip like Elizabeth was describing. Let alone a much younger child! Charlotte was about to continue questioning Elizabeth when the visitor's voice spoke up behind her.
"Charlotte. Charlotte Thompson.