Elizabeth twisted the blanket in her hands as she listened to Faith describe the things she needed to do to ensure her recovery continued once she returned to her home.
"Don't worry," Grace put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Your father and I are going to stay here until you're back on your feet. Literally," she joked, nodding toward the cast on Elizabeth's leg.
Elizabeth gave her a little smile, but it didn't touch her eyes. "I'm not worried about all of this. I just…" she sighed, "I need to speak with the Constable about something."
"I can ask him to stop by before you leave," Faith offered. "I was already planning to make a quick trip over to the mercantile, anyway."
"Thank you, Faith."
The nurse gave a small nod before excusing herself and heading out the door.
"Why do you need to speak with the Constable, dear?" William questioned. "I thought he said there's no case anymore."
"There's no case relating to James, but I just have this feeling that the Spencers aren't going to leave me alone. They'll still want some way to come after me, and I think it might involve the children." She shook her head. "I'll explain everything when Jack gets here. I might need your lawyer's assistance, as well."
"You have me worried, darling." Grace brushed the hair back from her face, eyes misting over at the sight of the still-healing bruises. "What do the children have to do with anything?"
"Hopefully nothing, but I need to check on something."
The door opened, and all three heads turned toward the sound. Jack gave a nervous smile.
"Hey, uh, Faith said you wanted to talk to me about something?"
"Yes. Please sit." Elizabeth motioned toward the empty chair near her bed. She glanced between Jack and her parents. "The Spencers will be here any day, and I just keep trying to think of ways they might come after me now that they can't blame me for James's death. I keep going back to the children, and especially Emma." She took a deep breath. "It's no secret that Emma is adopted, but there's more to the story. James was unfaithful to me, and Emma is his by blood. The Spencers had phony paperwork drawn up to make it look like James was adopting her, too."
"You want us to make sure your papers are legitimate?" Jack asked. "Make sure there's no way they can take her from you?"
She nodded. "I can't let them take her, or Willie. My children are my life."
"I'll have our lawyer look into it," William assured her.
Jack nodded in agreement. "Bill and I will see what we can find, too. That family isn't going to take anything else from you, Elizabeth," he promised.
"Thank you."
Grace reached over and squeezed her hand. "Now, why don't we get you home?"
...
"Welcome home, mama!" William cheered as his grandparents helped Elizabeth limp up the steps and into the house.
"Thank you, Willie." She gave him a smile, allowing her father to help her onto the sofa.
Grace fussed over her, propping her leg on a pillow and spreading a blanket over her lap. "Do you need anything else, dear? Another blanket? Maybe a glass of water?"
"No, thank you, mother. I'm fine." She held out her hand, inviting William over. He slipped his little fingers into hers. "Thank you for being such a good boy while I've been away."
He beamed at the praise. "You're welcome, mama."
She patted his cheek. "Where's your sister?"
"She spilled milk on her dress, so Mrs. Coulter took her upstairs."
As if on cue, Rosemary came down the stairs, carrying Emma in her arms. "See? I told you your mom was home now."
"Hi, mama." Emma waved with one hand, holding her doll in the other.
"Hi, baby. Can you come give me a hug?"
Rosemary set her down, and she made her way across the room. She climbed up onto the sofa, immediately leaning into Elizabeth's side.
"Rosemary," Elizabeth looked up at her, "thank you so much for helping with the children over the past week. I don't know what I would've done without you."
She smiled, touching her friend on the shoulder. "I'm happy to help. I'll let you get settled in now. Send one of your parents next door to get me if there's anything you need."
"I will."
"Well," Grace settled in the chair opposite her after Rosemary left, "what shall we do now?"
"I don't know." Elizabeth shrugged. "What do you think we should do, Emma?"
"Read a book," she answered quietly.
"Oh, that's a good idea." Elizabeth tightened her arm around her daughter. "Would you like to choose one, or should Willie choose?"
"Willie." She snuggled in closer.
"Okay!" Little William ran off to pick a book from the small stack on the shelf, returning a moment later with the book clutched to his chest. "I picked Emma's favorite."
Elizabeth took the book from him and smiled. "Wizard of Oz. Good choice, Willie." She invited him to join them on the sofa. "Emma, can you help me turn the pages since my arm is still hurt?"
She nodded, shifting so she could better see the book. "Okay, mama."
...
"Uncle Jack?" Allie swung their arms between them as she skipped along down the row of houses. "Is it true that William and Emma's daddy died?"
"Yeah, sweetheart," he confirmed. "He had a bad accident, and the doctors couldn't help him."
"Oh." She was quiet for a moment. "Does that mean they can get a new daddy now? One that isn't mean?"
"Sure, if their mom gets married again. But I don't know if that'll happen."
She jumped over a small puddle. "Why?"
"Well," he paused, trying to decide how to answer in a way his niece could understand. "She'll want to be really sure that if she gets married again, it's to someone nice."
"You're nice," she innocently replied. "You could marry her."
He coughed to cover up his surprise "What?"
"Then William and Emma would have a good daddy." She sighed, "But I wish you were my dad."
He stopped walking, crouching down to look her in the eye. "You do?"
She nodded. "My dad doesn't love me, and you do. You take care of me like a dad is supposed to."
He set down the basket he was carrying and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly. "I do love you, Allie-girl. So much."
"I love you, Uncle Jack."
"Allie?" He pulled back slightly, still keeping his arms around her. "Would you like it if I adopted you?"
"Would that mean you're my dad?"
He nodded. "That's exactly what it means. I would be your dad, and you would be my daughter."
"Yeah." She hugged him again. "I want you to adopt me."
He kissed her forehead and smiled. "I'll talk to some people about it, okay?"
She nodded, returning his smile. "So if you're my dad, and you get married, would I have a new mom then?"
"Yes, but I don't know if I'll get married, Al." He stood up, taking her hand as they started walking again. "I'm happy with how things are, just you and me."
"Well, if you aren't going to get married, could we at least get a dog?"
He chuckled. "I'll think about it, Allie-girl."
...
Matthew Spencer helped his wife out of the car before brushing the dust off of his pants. "She left James to come…here?" He glanced around at the handful of buildings flanking the street, a look of disgust on his face.
"This is where our grandchildren are living?" Lucille asked. "She'd rather them grow up here? In a town not even worth putting on a map?"
"Well," he put his arm around her, "they won't be here long if everything goes as planned."
"Thank goodness for that." She gave his back a little pat.
"Let's go see if we can find some suitable accommodations so we can freshen up before we speak with law enforcement."
"Lead the way."
He retrieved their bags from the car and led her over to a building that advertised itself as both a saloon and a hotel. They received a key to their room, neither even attempting to hide their disdain for the establishment as they ascended the stairs to the sparsely-furnished room.
After Lucille fixed her hair and touched up her makeup, they returned to Main Street. She kept her head down as they walked, feeling conspicuous in her dark clothes. Matthew stopped a man who came near.
"Excuse me. Could you tell us where we could find the Constable?"
"His office is over there." The man pointed at a building across the street. "But I think I saw him head toward the row houses a while ago. Inspector Avery might be in the office, though."
"Thank you." Matthew gave him a polite nod before striding to the building the man had indicated.
Upon entering, he saw a middle-aged man sitting at a desk, focused on the stack of papers in front of him. Matthew cleared his throat to get the man's attention.
Bill finally looked up, quickly scanning over the couple standing across from him. "Can I help you?"
"I think you can." Matthew pulled out a chair for Lucille, taking a seat beside her. "I'm Sir Matthew Spencer, and this is my wife, Lucille. I believe you're aware of what happened to our son here."
"Ah, yes." Bill leaned back in his chair. "I helped investigate—and throw out—the case you attempted to create against your daughter-in-law."
"We're hoping you can be of more help this time." He scooted to the edge of his chair. "She kidnapped our grandchildren and withheld them from us. We believe that we should be granted full custody of them."
Bill couldn't help but let out a laugh. "Good luck."
Matthew huffed. "Sir, you're a man of the law, and you're treating this like it's a joke."
"Well, frankly, it is. She didn't keep the children from your son while he was here. Not to mention, the evidence we have could easily lead to the conclusion that she saved the lives of those children by removing them from that house."
"Emma isn't even hers," Lucille blurted out. "And the adoption papers are—" She was cut off when Matthew held up his hand, keeping her from admitting that the papers had been falsified.
"Suffice it to say, the woman never legally adopted her. But Emma is our granddaughter by blood. We have more rights to her than our son's wife does."
"Not anymore." Bill rifled through the stack of papers on the desk, pulling one out and showing it to them. "This was just delivered today. Elizabeth Spencer is legally the mother of Emma Jean Spencer. In the eyes of the law, she has more rights to those children than anyone else."
Matthew stood abruptly, nearly knocking over his chair. "This isn't over." He pointed a finger at Bill. "We're going to fight this. That woman is going to be held accountable for what she's done to our family. Come, Lucille."
Bill shook his head as he watched them leave. "Well, no wonder your son was the way he was," he mumbled. He grabbed the papers from his desk and followed them out the door.
...
"Jack," Bill called out as he approached.
"Hi, Bill." He slowed his steps. "What are you doing out this way?"
He waved the papers in front of him. "Judge works fast. The adoption papers for Emma were delivered today. I was just on my way to give them to Elizabeth."
"That's great news, Bill!" he exclaimed. "Anything that makes it harder for the Spencers to make a case."
"Speaking of, they arrived in town today, too. And Elizabeth was right. They went straight for the children," he explained. "Asked me to make a case for kidnapping. I told them they don't have anything to go on."
Jack sighed. "I just wish they would leave her alone. She doesn't deserve any of this."
"Have you seen her lately?"
"I just came from her house. Allie and I brought dinner for them, and Allie stayed behind to play with the children for a little while. She seems to be doing okay. She's just tired of being in that cast."
Bill chuckled. "I can imagine. I'll let you get going now. Let me know if you happen to run into the Spencers."
"Actually, I'll go with you."
Bill raised his eyebrows. "Going to her house twice in one day?"
His cheeks warmed at the implication. "I just want to be there when you let her know the Spencers are in town. And when you give her the papers."
"You keep telling yourself that." Bill clapped him on the back, smirking as they headed toward Elizabeth's house.
...
"Are you sure there's nothing going on between you and the Constable?" Grace asked Elizabeth later that night after William and the children had gone to bed.
She had watched her daughter interacting with Jack earlier in the evening, noticing the brief glances and shy smiles that the two of them shared, the blush that had risen in Elizabeth's cheeks when he squeezed her hand after sharing the news that Emma was officially and legally her daughter.
"No, there's nothing going on," Elizabeth sputtered. "He's just been a good friend to me since I arrived here, and he's been a big help in dealing with the Spencers."
"He certainly is a nice man."
"And I thought James was nice when I married him." She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "People lie."
"Beth…" Grace put her hand on top of Elizabeth's. "There are good men out there. Not every man is like James. Please don't close yourself off to the possibility of having a second chance at love."
She sighed. "Right now, I can't even think about anything like that. I just want to be rid of the Spencers for good."
"Of course, dear. And your father and I are going to do whatever we can to make sure that happens."
"I just keep getting glimpses of what things could be like when I don't have to worry about them anymore, and I want to be there already. I want to have a normal life with the children, not fearing that I'll lose them."
"You'll get there." Grace squeezed her hand. "I have faith that everything will work out." She stood. "Do you need anything before I go to bed?"
She shook her head. "I think I'm okay."
Grace leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Good night, dear."
"Night." She gave her mother a smile, settling in after she left the room. Immediately, her mind went to Jack.
Was her mother right? Could there actually be something there?
Little did she know, Jack was lying in his own bed, having the same thoughts.
He stared at the ceiling, thinking about the conversation he'd had with Allie earlier that day. Marriage had never been a part of his plan. Although, fatherhood hadn't been, either, and he couldn't imagine his life without Allie in it. Perhaps their little family could feel more complete if he had a wife. But would that be Elizabeth?
He couldn't deny that he was attracted to her. When she first arrived in town, he thought he was just feeling bad for the circumstances she was in, but as he got to know her better, he realized that wasn't it. He was starting to become flustered when he was around her, but he couldn't help but be drawn to her. Her eyes, her smile, the way she adored her children. Jack shook his head. Even the thought of her caused butterflies to rise in his stomach.
He rolled over and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to force himself to think of something else. He didn't want to get his hopes up. After all, she probably didn't return his feelings, and even if she did, he knew she would be hesitant to pursue any sort of relationship after everything that happened in her marriage.
But when he finally found sleep, his dreams were full of her. The two of them sitting on a blanket in the warm sunshine, watching the children frolic through the grass. The two of them relaxing in front of a fire, his fingers tracing patterns on her arm.
When Allie climbed into his bed the next morning, she found him still sleeping with a smile on his face. Her own lips turned up, and she snuggled into him and whispered, "I love you, Uncle Jack."