Chapter 69- A Love Worth Fighting For

*This chapter tells what happened after "Hello, Charlotte". It does not go into any "dark" details (and please know I never will), but there is some mean/creepy words and assumptions involved in this section. I feel necessary to point that out in case it could be any sort of trigger for someone reading this story. Skip this chapter- and maybe the next couple- if this could cause you any sort of distress.

For the rest of us... this is probably my last author note/warning/interruption for a while. Grab the popcorn. Maybe a box of tissues. As we continue on with this "season finale".

And as always, I love hearing your thoughts on each chapter.

As Charlotte stared into the flames of the flickering campfire she was transported to a distant time and place. A vision of what could have been. One of warmth. Happiness. Love. So far from where she currently found herself.

She was home with him. In the house he had built for their family. For their friends. For her.

"Daddy. Tell us a story," their little girl requested from her seat on Charlotte's lap in front of the fireplace.

"When did you become so bossy, little lady?" Charlotte squeezed her arms tighter around their daughter, pulling the sweet girl closer to her body, nuzzling their cheeks together. "We taught you better manners than that. How about you ask nicely?"

"Sorry, Daddy. Will you please tell us a story?" The little girl corrected.

His warm smile went directly to Charlotte's. "I'd be happy to. What story do you want to hear?"

"Tell us the story about momma's first birthday in Hope Valley," their daughter pleaded. "It's so romantic."

"Bleck," their son groaned from his position on the floor, playing a game of checkers with Allie.

Allie reached over to her little brother and ruffled his hair. "What if dad also tells about how he almost burnt down the café trying to bake mom's birthday cake that day."

"You almost burnt down the café?" Their son sat up a little straighter, his interest suddenly peaked. "I guess I can listen to the rest if you tell us about that part first."

Charlotte bit her lower lip, but he saw the strain it was for her to keep from laughing outright.

He humored them. Telling about the birthday cake disaster and then how Aunt Rosemary and the rest of the town pitched in to save the day. How momma spent almost all-night dancing with the children of Hope Valley until Grandpa Bill had told him to "stop being a wallflower and go ask that girl to dance."

"And that's when you asked… what's the saying again, Allie?" The little girl questioned from her place on the floor beside her brother and sister, having moved to that position from Charlotte's lap during his story. "May I break in?"

"I think what you mean is, may I cut in," Allie chuckled.

"Oh, yeah. You asked if you could cut in. Isn't that right, daddy?"

"You're right sweet pea," he answered, as he stood up and walked over to the gramophone in the corner of the room. With easy movements he started the record. The one that had played that night, and so many nights since. A slow, beautiful composition of 'Waltzing Matilda'. He confidently came back to Charlotte. His eyes never leaving hers. Full of life. Full of love.

"May I cut in, Mrs. Grant?"

She placed her hand into his and followed as he gently helped her to her feet. He wrapped his arm low around her back, pulling her expertly into his body. She would never tire of the feeling she had every time he held her close. The rush of emotions that always came over her. Safety. Happiness. Love. Desire.

They danced around the room slowly, not paying any attention to their steps. Just following the movements and music that had become almost second nature to them at that point.

Charlotte leaned close as her hand slid up his strong shoulder so her fingers could thread into the wavy hair at the nape of his neck.

"Remember when you had me share your birthday wish that year?" Charlotte's husky voice whispered into his ear. "On the back step of my row house."

"Mmmhmmm."

"Them," Charlotte tilted her head towards the children.

"You," she moved their entwined hands to rest on his chest. "That was what I wished for."

His blue eyes shimmered as he dipped forward, kissing her breathless. His soft assault on her mouth sent a hot flame shooting through her core, turning every one of Charlotte's limbs into liquid fire. His grip tightened on her, holding her steady to him. Supporting her.

"That was my wish, too," he admitted, pulling back so slightly from the kiss that as he spoke his lips still grazed hers in their movement.

"Daydreaming about getting back home?"

She glared her disdain across the fire at him but did not answer his question. Once they set up camp is when he had started into the bottle. It would be in her best interest to stay out of his way as much as possible.

Her cheek already felt ablaze from earlier when she had pushed him too far.

She remembered the evening before. Her body had become numb with two simple words, "Hello, Charlotte."

It shocked her the way one voice could turn her world completely upside-down. How in an instant, what she had worked so hard to overcome, rushed back into her life like the past year hadn't even happened.

Charlotte had turned slowly. Her eyes adjusting to the darkness of the room. Just illuminated enough by the glow of the moonlight filtering in through the windows.

The same way it had been at her personal Christmas ball with Nathan. The world around them that night had been nothing but moonbeams, music, and magic. A beautiful dream. Charlotte closed her eyes and prayed this was all a dream, but upon opening them again, she realized it was a nightmare. A very real nightmare.

It was him. His looks were slightly different. He had bulked up and a beard covered his face. His clothes were worn and loose. His hair was longer, but it was unmistakably… him.

"Beck." The word choked out of her throat.

Beck eyed her from where he slouched back in the kitchen chair. A slow, lazy smile spread across his face. His sense of arrogance; palpable. "I was worried there for a minute that you'd gone and forgot me. It would seem no matter how far you run, you can't get away from me, can you?"

"How did you get in here?" Charlotte questioned. "The doors were locked."

"Charlotte, you should know," he shifted slightly in the chair, moving to rest his forearms on his thighs, his fingers threaded together. "Locked doors have never been a barrier between us."

Charlotte felt bile rise into her throat.

"Don't worry. I didn't break your door... this time," a sadistic grin spreading across Beck's face. "Funny thing is that when you spend so many weeks in this town, you start to learn a few things. People are very open around here. I overheard your sweet little neighbor girl one day while she was working in the mercantile, telling a friend that her and her uncle had a key to your place in their house , in case she ever needed to come stay with you while he was out on Mountie business. Seems as though you are the only person in this town who feels it necessary to lock your doors at night. Where's the trust, Charlotte?"

He knew about Allie and Nathan. Beck had been in their home! Charlotte's heart raced.

"I think you know exactly what happened to my trust," Charlotte swore she could hear each pump of her heart as it coursed blood through her body. She worked to push back her shoulders. To stand straighter and more in command. Give an outer image of courage, when all she wanted to do was scream and collapse in on herself. But what good would that do? Everyone else was still at the party in town. No one would hear her cries for help other than maybe Rosemary and what could she do? Charlotte gulped. If Rosemary did happen to come, what would Beck do to her? Or the baby that already meant so much to their family?

"You've changed, sweetheart." Beck's mocking gaze swept over Charlotte's body, his mouth curving into a sardonic smile. "You seem a bit braver and more confident than that last night we were... together."

Charlotte froze. She wasn't even sure if she was breathing.

"It's quite the seductive look on you, this... pluck," Beck rose from his seat and moved towards Charlotte. Stopping only inches from her, looking down over her.

"You're still that same beautiful woman I remembered even if you are wearing your hair unkempt these days," He reached forward and twirled a piece of Charlotte's loose waves between his fingers, before slowly trailing his touch down her arm.

Charlotte felt faint.

"It appears as though the town's schoolteacher has been trying to lure the local law enforcement under her spell. Where have I seen this before?"

"Why are you doing this, Beck?" Charlotte swallowed. "I was never what you wanted. I was never what you needed."

"Instead, you think you are what Nathan Grant wants? What he needs? That's laughable, Charlotte. You know he could have any woman he wants. He's young. Handsome. I'm sure one look at him in his unbuttoned serge, would have all the Hope Valley ladies lining up to be Mrs. Grant. Maybe he's even already had that effect on another Hope Valley teacher?"

Charlotte's stomach quivered. Wasn't what Beck said, what she always wondered as well? That Nathan would be so much better off without her here. Without the threats of her pasts. Without the burden of what she had experienced. Beck was right. Nathan should have married Elizabeth. He would be better off with any woman, other than herself.

Nathan loves you. As I love you. Never doubt.

The voice from earlier spoke to her again. She wasn't alone. Charlotte's body swayed with the weight of what she was experiencing. She saw Beck's brow furrow as if trying to read her expression.

Beck would never understand.

"No."

"No, what?" Beck's face hardened. "No, you are not what Nathan Grant wants? I'm glad we are in agreement."

"We are not in agreement," Charlotte's voice rose. "You are right in that any woman would be lucky to have the love of Nathan Grant, but in every other way you are so incredibly wrong. He loves me. He wants to build a life together with me. To have a family with me…"

"He wouldn't if he knew you had already been..." Beck paused for dramatic effect. "Mine."

Instead of feeling sickened by his words, Charlotte chuckled and shook her head at Beck's assumptions.

"Wrong again, Beck" Charlotte's voice dripped with disdain. "Nathan has known since the very beginning the coward of a man you are."

The back of Beck's hand swung hard and connected right to Charlotte's cheek. She reeled back from the impact. Straightening Charlotte saw something in his face that made her less afraid. She wasn't sure what it was, but he didn't look so in command of himself or the situation.

Her face felt warm from where Beck's hit had landed. The impact was accompanied by a stinging pain right between the eyes causing her vision to slightly blur. She knew she was bleeding because of the sharp copper taste in her mouth, but that didn't stop Charlotte from setting her jaw in defiance. "Nathan chose me. Even knowing everything about my past. It didn't make a difference to him. He still chose me, even knowing our journey together wouldn't be perfect. He chose to share in my burdens. To be there for me. To heal me."

"Your personal savior, huh. Well darling, where is your honorable Mountie now? Where is Constable Grant when you need him most? Let me guess… you and all his friends had been planning an intricate arrest. All the details were there, but then today, what should arrive, but a telegram from Constable Gabriel Kinslow, claiming to have received new information that changed some of the plans. So, our honorable Nathan Grant set out on a mission across half of the territory to save little 'ol you, from big, bad me."

Charlotte's mind swam with the information Beck was sharing.

"I will say though. What I could see from my room above the saloon this afternoon, your goodbyes were quite… moving," Beck's mouth lifted slightly. "It was as if you both knew."

"Knew what?" Charlotte's tongue was sharp.

"Knew you would never see each other again," Beck drawled. "Charlotte, enough of these games. You're coming home with me."

Charlotte closed her eyes. Her memory floated to words that she wrote in Nathan's letter last week.

I'm not going anywhere, Nathan. This is where I belong. You are with whom I belong. I have finally found the place where every single thing I see and every single thing I feel tells me to stay. To fight. To love.

Charlotte swallowed the lump in her throat, willing herself to stand her ground. To fight. "Hope Valley is my home. The people here… they are my family. I'm not going anywhere."

"Still defiant," Beck reached forward and gripped Charlotte's face hard, staring down into her eyes. The impact of his hands on her sore cheek caused her to grimace. She tried to hide her fear by glaring back at him, but she couldn't fool him. He obviously knew she was pretending to be strong and smiled. "This isn't your home, my dear. It may have been where you laid your pretty, little head this past year, but this isn't where you belong. You belong with me. We can be happy again. Don't you remember all those fancy candlelit dinners we would go on? Or the pretty new clothes from the city I would buy you?"

Beck leaned forward, stopping only inches from Charlotte's face. She tried to recoil, but his grip held firm. "Hmmm… you don't smell like that expensive soap I ordered all the way from Paris, our last Christmas together."

"I always disliked the smell of jasmine," Charlotte spouted in an insult.

Beck's hand slid down and closed lightly on her throat. "You look so in control, but your heart is pounding like a frightened doe. Do you really think I'm going to hurt you?"

He kissed her forehead in a mocking manner, then patted her cheek before taking a step back.

Charlotte took a long and shaky breath. "Beck, what you claim would make us happy is not love! I thought it was once, but it's not. Far from it! There are a million ways to show you love someone, and out of all those things you listed for reasons, none of them hold a candle to what true love is."

"You learn that from all those novels you read?" Beck's dark eyes burned with annoyance.

"No," Charlotte matched his gaze. "I learned that from living. Living here in Hope Valley. The people here. My church. Since the first day I came, they have shown me nothing, but love and support."

Charlotte's mind raced to the night of the Christmas dance in town, when she had run out of Nathan's arms and into the street.

"Nathan, you don't want me. I'm… I'm broken." Charlotte had cried out.

"Charlotte," Nathan's voice had been barely above a whisper. "I don't believe you are broken. And even if you were, I would happily spend the rest of my life putting you back together, piece by piece."

Charlotte smiled to herself at the memory because that is exactly what Nathan had done for her. Healed her broken soul, with the gentle, guiding, and caring hands of a master craftsman. Working slowly, but methodically to make her whole again.

"And what about Nathan Grant?" Beck said quietly, breaking through Charlotte's silent thoughts, one of his dark eyebrows rising as he looked down at her.

Charlotte's heart was in her throat. "What about Nathan?"

"You've already stated that the man loves you, but what about your feelings? Do you love him, Charlotte?" Beck sneered. Charlotte knew that look, better than anything. She had shown her hand. Beck knew the truth without her even having to confirm it.

Charlotte remembered what she had told Nathan last week by the creek.

"If Beck came for me, I could handle it. I've lived through it once before. I can live through it again. But Nathan, if Beck knew what this town meant to me. If he knew what… you mean to me. Beck would know that the only way he could hurt me any worse would be to take you away."

"It is mighty convenient that you decided to come home from the party earlier than the rest," Beck's voice was amused. "I was concerned about what would happen to all those people who have shown you nothing but love and support since you came to town. Especially when I had told you that night. I have connections. Wherever you went. Whoever you were with. I would find you and make you pay."

Charlotte looked up at Beck's face and saw he meant every word he said.

"Don't." She pleaded.

"Don't, what? My dear," Beck said warningly, as his hand reached out to take a hold of Charlotte's elbow, pulling her slightly back to him.

"I'll go," The words choked out of Charlotte's throat. "I'll go with you. Just… just don't do anything to hurt them. Please."

"You always were a smart girl, Charlotte," Beck's hand tightened beneath her elbow. His fingers biting into her arm. "I always thought you would see it my way… in the end."

Beck stepped away and walked towards the kitchen table, he picked up a couple pieces of paper and a pencil that had been laying on its surface and returned to her side.

"Here," Beck extended the supplies in Charlotte's direction. "While I was waiting this evening, I drafted up a letter for you to write to your neighbors on why you left. I find in cases like this, honesty is the best policy."

Charlotte scanned Beck's example note and swallowed. If she wrote these words, it would crush Nathan. Especially if she told him "I can't bring myself to love you", like what Beck had outlined.

Charlotte knew those words would be like a dagger to Nathan's heart. Especially when she hadn't been able to tell him her true feelings before he left.

"I can't write this," she balked.

Beck gripped her chin. "You can and you will, because you know exactly what I will do if you disobey me again."

Charlotte jerked her chin away and glared up at him.

Beck lifted the pencil between them, "Write it, Charlotte."

Charlotte wrenched the pencil from his hand and gracefully copied the words he outlined onto the paper.

"There! Are you happy?" She challenged.

"Very," Beck took Charlotte's hand and began leading her to the door. "I have two horses waiting by the stream just down the road. They are packed and ready to ride."

Charlotte pulled back, stopping their advancement towards the door. "Did you pack me extra clothes? A coat or blanket?"

Beck's mouth set in a straight line.

"If you haven't noticed," Charlotte spoke in a condescending tone and knew she was pushing Beck farther than she should be. "The weather has changed. There is snow in the mountains and a heavy fog rolling in tonight. I'm not dressed for riding and camping out in that. I need to grab some extra clothes and provisions, or I will get sick. Just let me run upstairs and pack a small bag. I'll be back in a few minutes."

As Charlotte started to pull out of Beck's grasp, he held tight, not releasing her. She turned back to face him, panic rising in her chest.

"I'll let you go, but you have exactly five minutes and if you are not back down here, I'm coming to get you," Beck snarled. "And don't try to do anything stupid, Charlotte. You know what happened last time."

Charlotte nodded in agreement, racing up the stairs as quickly as her legs could carry her. Her bedroom was dark, but she quickly threw on her thickest coat, wrapped a scarf around her neck, and switched out her shoes for a pair of woolen socks and her heaviest boots. She took one of her small travel bags and threw in a few other warm pieces of clothing.

"Three minutes!" Beck's voice hollered up the stairs.

Charlotte swallowed the lump in her throat. She knew she hardly had time, but in the dark of the kitchen, she had discreetly left a clue for Nathan. She reached into her nightstand and pulled a piece of paper from it and began scribbling the words she had bottled in her heart for over a year.

Charlotte had decided then and there that no matter what Beck threatened, she at least owed Nathan the truth.