Chapter 46- Only You For Me
He had seen the stagecoach pull up to the platform and two women get off. One he recognized as the girl from the article. The girl who stood beside her in the paper's photograph. He had assumed, given the rest of the information in the article, that the girl was the Mountie's daughter, Allie. The other visitor, he didn't recognize, but from the family resemblance he made the assumption it could be the girl's grandmother.
Allie said a couple words to her grandma before running towards the Mountie office down the street. The older woman, after directing the stagecoach driver with her bags, climbed the steps and entered the mercantile next door.
He quickly diverted his course, now walking towards the back street that led past the livery. As much as he felt the pull to see her. To catch the scent of her shampoo as she walked by. He knew he had to stick to his plan. To stay hidden. He was undercover as he learned more about who she was now. As he understood how this town operated. And most importantly, he needed to figure out what this Mountie had come to mean to her.
She would be the only person in town who knew who he was. Even then, he wasn't sure if she would recognize him. The other rider had been right, his looks had changed since she left over a year ago. He had bulked up a bit, his hair was longer and styled differently. While he was always clean-shaven when they had been together, he now had a beard that changed his looks drastically. He wore an old, stained hat that hung low over his left eye and the loose and ragged clothes he had packed disguised his frame.
The man who owned the saloon where he was staying also owned the oil company he now worked for. While his 'new' boss, Lucas Bouchard, understood all the finer points of running a saloon, he was way over his head in the petroleum business and was desperate for help.
His new job was to oversee the construction of the oil pipeline outside of town. It was the perfect opportunity to be in Hope Valley, while also staying low and often out of sight of many in the community. He didn't need his newness in town causing any unnecessary questions, especially from the local constable.
His hands trembled slightly and sweat trickled from his brow. He hadn't had anything to drink since he arrived in town yesterday. He wanted to make sure he was fresh in order to get the job and the lay of the land before he returned to his old friend. But with his position in town now secured, he decided to head back to the saloon and have a round or two of whiskey to congratulate himself on a job well done.
Coming out of the shadows of the buildings he saw them again in the middle of the street. Allie and the older woman walking towards the mercantile ahead of her and the Mountie who were holding hands and leaning in close to one another.
Let them have their happiness for now, he sneered. It won't last forever.
"How did it go last night?" Nathan asked, handing Charlotte a cup of morning coffee as they took a seat on her back steps.
"Your mom is a gem!" Charlotte exclaimed. "Seriously, she is wonderful. Funny and passionate like Allie. Kind and caring like you."
Nathan nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah. She has really come into her own. When mom and dad were together, it wasn't that way. When Archie was sent to jail, Maise was able to create a new life for herself. I love seeing her finally happy."
"Everyone deserves to be happy," Charlotte confirmed, moving a hand to rub along Nathan's shoulder and back, easing the tension in his muscles. She always knew reminders about his childhood and his dad's troubles with the law caused Nathan a lot of sadness and hurt.
Nathan took a sip out of his coffee before asking, "So, did you make a decision about Elizabeth's offer?"
Charlotte released an exasperated sigh. "No. Not yet."
Charlotte had brought up Elizabeth's proposition the night before as they walked home from the cafe after taking Maise out to dinner and introducing her to many in the community.
"The extra money would be such a blessing, especially as we look into the future."
"Follow your heart, Charlotte. Never make these sorts of decisions based on money."
"You're right. And it's not even the extra work that will come with doing two teachers' jobs in one. I think the only thing that is really holding me back is Little Jack. I keep thinking if I told Elizabeth 'No' it would make her reconsider the trip."
"I wondered if Little Jack's situation was what really bugged you."
"Doesn't it bother you too?" Charlotte asked turning to face Nathan so she could better read his expressions.
"It does. But Charlotte, I know how much it upset me in the past when Elizabeth would give me unsolicited parenting advice about Allie. I'm not sure it is our place to do the same to her about Little Jack."
Charlotte turned back to look at the mountains to the west, trying to disguise the tears that threatened to spill from the corners of her eyes. "Why can't Elizabeth see what she has is so special?"
Charlotte's hand moved to rest on her stomach. A habit Nathan had noticed she occasionally did when it seemed Charlotte was reminded about her own loss.
Nathan reached over and threaded his fingers through hers, pulling her focus back to the present. Back to him.
"I mean, why leave Jack in Hamilton?" Charlotte continued. "I realize Elizabeth's family has not spent much time with him, but they are really strangers to Jack. Imagine spending almost four months in such an unfamiliar place, while your mom and stepdad leave you behind to travel the world. They should have asked Laura to go with them. Lord knows, they could afford to pay for her to join and take care of Jack while they are busy on the book tour."
Nathan stayed silent. Only nodding his head in agreement.
"Should we offer to take care of him instead?" Charlotte squeezed Nathan's hand. "That way Jack at least is someplace familiar. With people he knows and has spent time with in the past. Maybe we could ask Lee and Rosemary to help? And Laura too."
Nathan lifted Charlotte's hand and placed a gentle kiss across her knuckles. "You are an amazing woman, Charlotte. As much as I would love to say yes, especially because I think that is what would be best for Little Jack, I know Elizabeth and Lucas would never agree to your offer."
"You're probably right," Charlotte let out a small groan in despair. "I don't get it. I like Elizabeth and Lucas as individuals. I just don't care for them together. Which is horrible to say, especially since they are married, but they don't seem to bring out the best in each other when they are together. They have different values. Different focuses in life. Lucas is a very astute businessman. Wealthy and well spoken. And Elizabeth, had such a similar upbringing, but as a mother I would assume her biggest focus would be her son. That doesn't seem to always be the case when all Lucas wants is grand moments, sans children."
Charlotte continued, "There are some days I wonder why they even got married. Especially after you went to Elizabeth on her wedding day."
"Everyone has to live with their choices in life. Elizabeth included. Almost two years ago she chose Lucas. That was her decision and Elizabeth is one of those people that when she makes a choice, she sticks with it through thick and thin and doesn't like to be told if she is wrong or behaving badly. Whether it was the right decision for them to get married, especially for Jack's sake, I can't say."
Nathan felt Charlotte bristle slightly against him and he quickly realized why his words could cause that sort of reaction. Charlotte thought he still regretted not being Elizabeth's choice.
Nathan reached over and gently lifted Charlotte's chin, so she looked directly at him. He took a steadying breath, hoping his words wouldn't falter. "Charlotte, I didn't go to Elizabeth on her wedding day to break them up. I went because I needed her to know that… that it was you I belong with. Not her. That day I thanked Elizabeth. If she had chosen me, I wouldn't have been free to be with you. Do you remember what I told you that day? In the infirmary. About how I had waited three years for the wrong woman and how I would wait a lifetime for the right one. And whether you believed it or not, you are the right woman for me."
"You still think that? After everything we have been through. You still want to wait for me?"
"I don't think that anymore," Nathan shook his head in disagreement, his words causing Charlotte's eyes to close and her breath to catch.
"I don't just think that anymore because I know that you are the one for me. The right one for our family. I know that especially after everything we have been through. I will wait until the end of time for you to want that too."
A lone tear escaped down Charlotte's cheek and Nathan instinctively reached up to wipe it away. His caring action causing Charlotte to lean forward and wrap her arms around Nathan, burying her face into the crook of his neck.
"Hey… hey…" Nathan soothed. "What's all this about?"
"I was just thinking.
"This reaction seems a little more than just thinking."
Charlotte leaned away from Nathan. "I was just thinking about grace. God's grace. Your grace. And how I need to extend that same grace to Elizabeth. I don't know the battles she has gone through in life. I haven't walked that path. I don't know what it feels like to be a single parent. I don't know what it feels like to lose a love like she had with Jack. All those experiences, they change someone."
Nathan again used his thumb to brush the tears from Charlotte's cheek.
How did he get so lucky to have Charlotte in his life? To have a little piece of her heart. Her incredibly kind, considerate, and loving soul was something Nathan never expected to find.
"Nathan, you need to know," Charlotte whispered, her smokey grey eyes unflinching. "If something should ever happen… to you... I couldn't imagine feeling this way about anyone else. And I don't want to. I couldn't be like Elizabeth. There is only you for me."
This was another one of those chapters I didn't expect to be a standalone, but it ran away from me and became its own creation/moment.
First, I had to give a little insight on "him" and what his plans are for the foreseeable future (leading up to the "Season Finale"). He's going to "pop in" occasionally to the story, but much like he said here… he plans to keep a low profile if possible.
With Nathan and Charlotte, I loved how what started out as a simple conversation between them discussing Charlotte's new job opportunity over morning coffee, turned into such a deep and personal conversation.
I've said it here before, this story has been a healing process for me after Season 8. While I still feel the WCTH writers butchered Elizabeth's character and many of the other Hope Valley residents, I have concluded that Elizabeth and Lucas together is what the future of the show will be (and why personally I don't believe I can watch the show anymore). I need to accept that this was the choice the writers made.
In Nathan's dialogue for this chapter that begins… "Everyone has to live with their choices in life…" I think we could replace anywhere that references 'Elizabeth' with 'TPTB' very easily.
I also wanted to mention my updates to the story may be a little few and far between over the next few weeks/months. Travel for my work has entered its busy season and this week I'm in CA (LA early in the week and then San Fran later). And next week I leave for Texas (Austin, San Antonio, and Houston).
As much as I wish this story is what paid my bills, unfortunately… I'm not Tinker nor his wife and I have to buy my own dresses and put hay in my own barn ;)