A/N Thank you to everyone who has been posting reviews/comments on this story! I really love seeing everyone's thoughts. That being said, please keep your reviews relevant to the story. Your opinions on the show/writers/etc. don't need to be discussed on my story (even if you think you're being kind by saying you wish this is how the show was). Thank you :)

...

Elizabeth curled her fingers around her teacup. "I'm so sorry for leaving the way I did. I just felt like I had to get away. I had to get the children out of there."

"No one blames you for leaving, Elizabeth," Julie assured her. "About a week after you disappeared, he came to Hamilton looking for you, and he was nearly falling over, he was so drunk. Of course, his parents still think he's the perfect son, but we all realized then what you'd been dealing with. I just wish you would've been able to tell us what was going on far sooner."

"I'm just happy that you're safe now." Grace put a hand on her knee. "And now you can come home with us."

"I've already spoken with our lawyers," William informed her. "We're going to make sure you and the children are protected."

Elizabeth glanced down into her cup and cleared her throat. "I'm not going back with you. I've decided that the children and I will be returning to Toronto."

Grace gasped. "Back to him? But why?"

She sighed. "No matter where I go, he's going to come after me. And you know how much power and influence the Spencers have. They aren't going to rest until I'm found. There's no way for me to be free of him, so my best option is to go back to him willingly. I'll just keep my head down, do what he asks of me, and hope he'll leave me be."

"There has to be another way," Grace insisted. "You shouldn't have to go back to that situation."

She shook her head. "Even if I take him to court and testify to everything he's done to me, there's a strong chance the judge will side with him. I'm his wife, and as far as the law is concerned, that means he can do just about anything he wants to me."

"Bethie…" Tears filled William's eyes. It was the first time Elizabeth had seen him so vulnerable. "I am so very sorry."

She shrugged. "You didn't know."

"I should've known." His voice cracked. "I shouldn't have agreed to this match. It's my fault that you're in this mess."

"Father… I don't blame you. I want you to know that." She reached across the table to squeeze his hand. "But I have to go back to him. It's for the best."

...

Julie sat on the small sofa, putting her arm around her sister. William and Grace had taken the children for a walk, leaving the sisters alone in the back room of the café.

Julie decided to take the opportunity to do a little digging, hoping that she could find some way to help her sister. "Elizabeth, have you talked to anybody about what he's done?"

Elizabeth shook her head. "The nurse here has figured out most of it, as has the Constable, but I didn't tell them much. No one knows exactly what happened in that house except for me and James."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Elizabeth looked at her sister, debating in her mind whether admitting things aloud would even make a difference. But something in the earnestness and concern on her sister's face made her crack.

"He beat me. Not at first, but it started when William was a baby. He would drink, and then the baby crying would set him off. It used to be just a slap here and there. Then he started using his fists, and sometimes, an empty bottle."

"Oh, Beth," Julie breathed. "You poor, poor thing."

"He would take me to bed even when I said no. I was so terrified that I would have to bring another child into that house," Elizabeth continued, taking a shaky breath. "I was pregnant when I left. I lost the baby around the time I arrived here, because of him."

"Elizabeth, you can't go back to him."

"I have to."

Julie took her hands. "No. You don't. Mother and father are going to find a way to protect you. You and the children can come back home, and we can get the Mounties to stay outside of the house. We can make sure James doesn't get near you ever again."

"Matthew will just pay the Mounties to look the other way. Just like he paid the journalists and the judge to lie about Emma."

Julie furrowed her brow. "What are you talking about?"

"James has been unfaithful since before we were married," she explained. "I had my suspicions, but I didn't know for sure until a woman showed up at our house with Emma, saying she couldn't care for her anymore. James admitted he fathered her, and I convinced him to take her. Matthew made sure that the adoption paperwork made it look like James was adopting her, too. The Spencers lied to the papers, too, and made up the story that she was the child of family friends who died in an accident."

"Elizabeth, you really have to get out of that situation. That's not good for you, and it can't be good for the children, either."

"I don't want to go back," she admitted. "If I thought there was any other way, don't you think I would do that?"

"Why don't you keep trying? If you don't feel safe coming home with us, you could stay here," Julie suggested. "We aren't going to tell the Spencers that you're here. Even if he does eventually figure out where you are, you'll at least have some time to try to build a case. Maybe father can get him to admit to what he did."

"Well…" Elizabeth pondered her sister's words. She had a point, but she just knew that any reunion with James would have to be on her own terms. She couldn't risk him showing up unannounced. "If he finds me…"

"We can warn you," Julie stated. "If we find out that he's discovered where you are, we can send you a telegram. That should give you plenty of time to leave, or to prepare for his arrival. Plus, it seems the law men in town are already well aware of the situation. I doubt they'll let him get anywhere near you if he were to show up."

"I don't know…"

"Please," she implored. "Please think about it, at least. I can speak to mother and father about their thoughts on the situation."

"Please don't tell them about what James did to me. They already feel so badly for agreeing to the marriage."

"They should know, Elizabeth. You shouldn't have to hide anything."

She shook her head. "I can't tell them. Please, keep this to yourself."

Julie sighed. "Okay, but just know I'm not happy that you're keeping this from them."

...

Jack stood, looking out the window of the jail. Elizabeth hadn't emerged from the café since she entered it with her family an hour before, but her parents had brought the children outside. Now, they were wandering down Main Street, William pointing out the buildings to his grandparents, while Emma was content to be carried by her grandfather.

"Do you think James Spencer was ever unfaithful?" Bill's voice broke into his thoughts.

"What? Why would that matter?"

"If we can't get him on abuse, maybe we could get him on adultery." He shrugged. "It's just a thought."

"He was unfaithful. The boy told me he caught women going in and out when Elizabeth wasn't home. But I don't know if his word is enough, and there's no way she'll admit it to us if she was even aware of what was going on. We made a mistake going to her parents. " He sighed, sinking down into his chair. "I don't know if she'll be able to trust us ever again."

"I don't regret it. I made sure they wouldn't tell the Spencers her location before I told them she was here."

He rubbed a hand over his face. "How are we going to get him? She's convinced that her only option is to go back to him, but that's just going to get her hurt again, or worse."

"What is it about this case in particular that has you so worked up?"

"I don't know. Maybe she reminds me of Colleen." He leaned back in the chair, his thoughts drawn to his sister.

She was so vibrant, so full of life. And then she met Dylan.

Jack never thought he was good enough for his sister, and he told her as much. But Colleen claimed she was in love.

She fell pregnant with Allie shortly after the wedding, and that was when the trouble began. Dylan would leave for increasingly extensive periods of time, gambling away much of their money. He finally left for the last time when Allie was a toddler.

As much as Jack hated Dylan, he almost wished that James Spencer was more like him. As far as he knew, Dylan never laid a hand on his sister and niece. He was just a coward who ran when things got too difficult. He hadn't even responded when they notified him of Colleen's death.

If only they could convince James Spencer to run, to forget about his wife and children, and just let them live their lives in peace.

"Hey." Bill snapped his fingers to get Jack's attention. "Where'd you go?"

"Just thinking about Colleen. Maybe this situation isn't anything like hers at all. I hate Dylan, but at least I never had to worry about him physically hurting my sister."

"And he leaves you and Allie alone," Bill pointed out. "Think we could convince James to leave Elizabeth alone?"

"I wish." He reached for the papers on the desk in front of him. "But since that's unlikely to happen, let's keep working to find another way to get him."

"You do that. I have somewhere to be." Bill grabbed his bag from the hook. "I'll see you later."

...

"That's where Mr. Mountie works." Little William pointed at the jail. "Can I tell you a secret, grandpa?"

"Sure, you can." William crouched down to his level. "What is it?"

He cupped his hands around his mouth, leaning toward his grandfather's ear. "Mr. Mountie is going to put daddy in jail," he whispered loudly.

"Is that so?"

The little boy nodded. "I told him about the bad things daddy did."

"So you don't want to go back and live with your dad?" Grace asked.

He shook his head. "Daddy's bad."

"No. Daddy's not bad. Just loud. I miss him," Emma stated quietly.

"Daddy's going to jail," William told her. "He's bad, and bad people go to jail."

"No!" she wailed, running to the jail. She burst through the door. "Don't put my daddy in jail, Mr. Mountie!" she begged.

"Emma." He jumped up from his chair. "What are you doing here? Who told you I would put your dad in jail?"

"Willie. He said my daddy's bad and that you'll put him in jail. I love daddy. I don't want him in jail."

William, Grace, and little William entered the jail then, looking to see what Jack would say.

"Emma…" he sighed, taking her little hand. "It's complicated. Sometimes the people we love do bad things, and it isn't safe for us to be with them anymore."

"So it's true? My daddy's going to jail?"

"Not right now," he assured her.

"But you promised!" little William interjected.

"Constable, why don't we all sit, and we can discuss the situation," William suggested. "Grace and I don't have a lot of information, but perhaps we know something that can help."

"Sure, take a seat." Jack pulled out a couple of chairs for them. "Let's talk."

...

Elizabeth tucked the quilt around the children, taking a moment to watch them sleep. She'd heard from her parents the things that William had revealed to them, just how much he knew of what occurred in their house. Her heart broke knowing he was carrying that knowledge, that pain. She hated that she didn't protect him better.

And then there was Emma. She had absolutely no idea what James had done, and was distraught to hear that her entire family wanted to lock up her beloved father. Everything she knew was being taken from her.

Elizabeth sighed heavily, turning to look out the window. The moon was nearly full, casting a glow on the mountains and trees surrounding the valley. It was beautiful, but she couldn't truly appreciate it.

Despite the relative safety she was in now and all of the people supporting her, she felt more lost than ever before. There had to be a solution that was best for all of them. Her, the children, the Spencers. She just had to figure out what that solution was.

Suddenly, a tune began in her head, something familiar, comforting. The words appeared in her mind, unbidden.

"Be still, my soul, the Lord is on thy side."