Author's note: This will be part 4 of the story that started with "Father's Day in Hope Valley," then "A Summer of Change" and "The End of Summer." Again, I didn't want to add it to the existing stories, so I have made it a stand alone story as part of a series I am calling A Father's Love Stories. I am not sure how many more parts there will be to this story, but I will keep writing as I get inspiration. There are some steam alerts later in the story, but they have been marked for those that don't like those parts and skip them.

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Summary of part 1 – Father's Day in Hope Valley:

Allie Grant had an idea about wanting to honor the fathers of Hope Valley, but especially her own who had chosen to love her and take her in. She talked to Bill and with his help a plan was put in place. The ladies of the town took over planning a community picnic after Sunday services. The children made cards for their fathers and also each chose another man who was a father figure in their lives, this was to get the children that didn't have fathers more involved in the project.

The older children on their own decided to create a 'Father of the Year' and it was almost unanimously decided that Nathan Grant was going to be the winner of the Father of the Year award. While the children were planning and writing out their memories or stories of their fathers, there was one mother (Elizabeth Thornton) that wasn't happy, because her current beau (Lucas Bouchard) wasn't going to be honored because he hadn't shown any interest in Little Jack. As part of the planning, some former characters who had left town were invited back and others emerged from the background. Many of whom have stayed and made their homes in Hope Valley again. Or rejoined the community.

The Saturday that the announcement was made declaring the next day, the 16th of June, 1918 would be Hope Valley's First Father's Day, Elizabeth and Lucas sneak out of town to Benson Hills leaving Little Jack with Lee and Rosemary without so much as a word to them. Bill gets involved when Lee and Rosemary are worried that Elizabeth doesn't pick up Little Jack. Bill tries to keep it from Nathan so as not to ruin his day off. Nathan however sees Lucas and Elizabeth sneak back into town the next morning after being gone all night, not that he didn't already know. He just hadn't said anything. He lets it go for the day so as to enjoy the time with Allie and other friends in the community.

The Sunday service happens without interruption. Pastor Frank Hogan who had returned for the event prayed a special blessing over the fathers. After the service, the community has a wonderful picnic and the children honor their fathers and the men who stepped up in the community. Most of the men are surprised to be included. Nathan is given his Father of the Year award. During this time, Elizabeth emerges but doesn't interact with anyone at the picnic, but watches. She is jealous of the attention that Nathan is getting and reveals that Lucas had proposed the night before, but it wasn't what she really wanted.

Overall it turned out to be a wonderful day, enjoyed by most of Hope Valley. Friendships were formed and others were strengthened. It ended with Abigail, Frank, Bill, Nathan, Allie, Lee and Rosemary sharing supper at the cafe with the two Mounties that had come to watch over the town to give Nathan the day off. Lee, Rosemary, Nathan and Allie agree that they need to do that more often and couldn't believe that they hadn't done something like that before.

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Summary of part 2 – A Summer of Change:

The summer brought many changes to Hope Valley. Frank Hogan had moved back from Cape Fullerton permanently. He had immediately asked Abigail to court. He made a trip to Union City to get a ring and is planning the perfect proposal. Besides, sharing the pastor duties with Joseph, Frank has been busy working as a handyman around town. There have been plenty of things to keep him busy since there have been new businesses in town, new homes being built, the church expanded and a new classroom built. A new teacherage was also built and Frank has been helping Abigail double the size of the cafe. Frank has also bought a plot of land and wants to build a home for him and Abigail in the future.

Abigail had stepped back into her role as mayor and was glad to see the town growing. She had also worked out a schedule with Minnie and they were running the cafe together. For the time being, Abigail and Cody were back living over the cafe and Jesse, Clara and their new little guy had taken the apartment that Bill had arranged for Abigail. Not only was Abigail expanding the cafe, but she had decided to modernize as well since the town had electricity. She was working on running it to the row houses, but that would take time. The other change for Abigail that was happening was that her mother was selling her house and moving to Hope Valley since she didn't want to be alone.

One of the biggest changes over the summer was that William Thatcher had visited Hope Valley to find out the truth about what was going on with his daughter after he had received a copy of the report that Nathan had filed about the overnight trip to Benson Hills by Lucas and Elizabeth. William's visit brought about a lot of changes. Elizabeth is being forced to take at least a year off of teaching which meant two new teachers were brought to Hope Valley. Elizabeth wasn't happy with her father, but after he threatened to cut her off, she reluctantly agreed to his conditions. One of those conditions was breaking off her engagement with Lucas, which she did.

Elizabeth's behavior over the summer was all over the place. Before her father's visit, she was angry and defensive. She tried to make it seem like her trip was no big deal and refused to admit there was anything wrong about it, even when called out by Abigail, Lee and Bill. She continued to ignore Little Jack and leave him with others to care for. She also tried to accuse Nathan of causing her trouble. She had tried to accost him several times, before she was warned that continued behavior would result in an arrest for harassment. After her father's visit, her behavior didn't get much better. Her nanny Laura quit shortly afterward, so Elizabeth used Cat and Molly to care for Little Jack. Bill and the Coulters also ended up with Little Jack quite a bit. As one of the conditions of taking a year off, Elizabeth needed to finish the certifications that were required to teach blind and disabled students. But because she had failed to maintain her continued learning, there were several other courses that she needed to take just to be able to take those qualifications.

Elizabeth was also busy writing, or so she claimed. Her father had gotten her a new publisher and signed a new book deal for a couple more books. They also wanted more of her short stories that she had shared. She used her writing and course work as an excuse as to why she wasn't able to care for Little Jack. But those things didn't stop her from accepting several invitations to dinner from different gentlemen starting shortly after she broke things off with Lucas.

Lucas however didn't learn about it as he was running from the criminal element. He snuck into town late one night, took care of some business and left early the next morning, only to sneak back into town again to pack his stuff and leave for good, never seeing Elizabeth's note. He didn't care, because he was only after her trust fund. One of the pieces of business that Lucas took care of was accepting Henry's offer to buy him out of the oil business completely. Lucas left the saloon for Gustav to run. Nathan had seen Lucas sneak in and out of town, wondering what he was running from and what trouble would be coming to town looking for him.

Lee had probably been one of the busiest men in all of Hope Valley. He had added to more head saws and was now operating one of the largest mills in Alberta. He was also overseeing several construction crews that were building new houses for the settlers and several other projects. Rosemary had expanded the paper and gotten her own office next door to Lee's original office. She had hired Cody for the summer and Robert continued to help as well deliver the papers. She had also ended up hiring a new settler full-time to help as things got busy and she struggled with her health over the summer. She was also planning on trying to bring the Founder's Day play back since it had been years since it had been performed, so she was working on updating it to show the changes that had happened in the Valley. Lee and Rosemary were also looking to adopt a child from Brookfield and had been working through those steps over the summer with the help of Pastor Joseph and Frank.

Nathan had also been kept busy over the summer with the new settlers and businesses. He also learned about some of the changes that were coming to the Mounties and specifically Hope Valley. Nathan had been asked to rewrite/update the tracking manuals and information that was given to Cadets. With that and his growing population, it was decided a second Mountie would be assigned to Hope Valley. Nathan asked for and received Gabe Montgomery for that assignment. There was also talk of adding a third, but the plans had been put on hold to see how the two handled things. One of the major changes that was coming for the Mounties was that Hope Valley was getting an official police car. Nathan even thought about getting his own car but was holding off at the moment. The last major change for Nathan professionally over the summer was the promotion to Corporal. He was also receiving a commendation, but at his request there was no ceremony for either.

The two biggest changes of the summer came from Rosemary who had just found out that she was pregnant, possibly with twins. Lee was out of town, so she hadn't shared the news yet. The other big change was that Nathan had been in contact with a mail order bride from Toronto named Maggie. The story ended with him asking her to come to Hope Valley. They had talked on the phone and made rough plans for a wedding a few days after she arrived. Nathan was so happy. He had taken Allie on a ride after school that day to let her in on the secret. She was so happy for her dad and couldn't wait for Maggie to come. The news wasn't shared with anyone else, as Nathan wanted to keep it to just them for a day or so.

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Summary of part 3 – The End of Summer:

This story covers a few days in August in Hope Valley. It picks up where the previous story left off on Wednesday, August 21, 1918 and goes through that weekend. So much happened that it was needing its own section and even then it is longer then most of my short sections.

Elizabeth confronts Nathan and he tries to make his boundary clear and she wasn't having any of it and ran to Bill saying that Nathan threatened her. Nathan finds out that Elizabeth had been trying to badmouth him all over town. He informs headquarters in Union City and in the process Bill learns that Nathan is getting married. Nathan explains to Bill about Maggie. Bill makes sure Nathan knows what he is doing and that Allie is alright with the plan. Satisfied with their answers, Bill is happy for them and agrees to stand up with Nathan at the wedding.

Rosemary goes to tell Lee her news the next morning, but they were interrupted by a phone call from New Hope Orphanage. Lillian has a little boy that she felt would be perfect for them to adopt. Lee and Rosemary talk about it, including Rosemary telling Lee about her news. They decided to at least go to Brookfield and meet the child. They instantly feel a connection to the child and bring him back to Hope Valley that night as part of an emergency placement. They are met by Nathan, Carson and Bill when they return to Hope Valley and the three men are so happy for the couple.

Elizabeth is not happy to learn that Lee and Rosemary had gone out of town without telling her. She was hoping to leave Little Jack with them, and has to end up canceling her dinner invitation because she doesn't have anyone to watch her son. Abigail ends up having a harsh conversation with Elizabeth about taking care of her own son. Elizabeth didn't take it well and got all huffy, leaving the cafe with Little Jack in tow.

Nathan has an interesting conversation with Gabe about stubborn women and learns more about Elizabeth's mother-in-law. Nathan also learns more of the history of the town from Gabe from the time around the mine explosion. Later Nathan had a long conversation with Maggie about Elizabeth and everything that has happened so she is ready to deal with anything that happens.

Friday, Nathan goes to Union City to a meeting at headquarters and also to take care of some wedding details. He learns some of what Bouchard had been up to, but it actually opens up more questions than it answers. Nathan has a productive trip to Union City, not only does he have his meeting at headquarters, but he double checks the flowers and dresses for the wedding. He got their wedding bands and some gifts for Allie. He also arranges the hotel for them to have a mini-honeymoon. As Nathan is doing some window shopping, he stops at a friend's shop and gets paid for the plaques that he had made. His friend also asked for more and Nathan promises to do what he can. Nathan also stops by his lawyer friend's office and invites him to the wedding in Hope Valley. We also learn about Nathan writing some books as he gives the lawyer a new contract.

Frank proposed to Abigail on the dock, forgetting that the school children could see them. Everyone is happy for them. Lee picks up Nathan from the train station. Nathan ends up helping with PJ as he was upset and crying when they got back to the house. Nathan calms the child and gets him to sleep, revealing that he could sing. Lee and Rosemary were both stunned, while Nathan was embarrassed. They ask Nathan and Maggie to be godparents to PJ. Nathan says he will ask Maggie, but doesn't make any promises.

Saturday Nathan has another run in with Elizabeth when she tries to talk to him at the office, but he refuses to talk to her behind closed doors. Nathan was saved by a phone call and he was grateful. Elizabeth's back and forth, up and down moods go from cursing Nathan's existence to wanting him to take her back. Nathan also speaks to Maggie and they agree to be godparents to little PJ. Nathan also spends time with Allie as he knows that things will change again for her.

Sunday Frank preaches and it hits home. Four new couples are announced at church – two engaged and two courting. Frank and Abigail and a couple of settlers, Michael James and Eleanor Thomas are the engaged couples. The newly courting couples are Gabe Montgomery and Rachel Stonelake as well as Alan Griggs and Laura Campbell. It is also announced that Lee and Rosemary are expecting in the new year as well as Jed and Lena Campbell. Lee and Rosemary's son, PJ is also introduced. The baptism of PJ and little Louie Flynn was announced for three weeks from then.

Allie is happy that Nathan actually sang in church, but he is able to slip away and finish rounds before being mobbed by people. Elizabeth again tries to be the center of all the conversations in the churchyard and ends up getting called out by Rosemary. Elizabeth also learns she is not going to be PJ's godmother and isn't happy.

New/Returning Characters to keep in mind:

Pastor Frank Hogan

Abigail Stanton

Cody Stanton

Gabe Montgomery and his Mountie horse – Magic

Rachel Stonelake – Gabe's girlfriend

Daniel and Sarah Martin – New teachers

Alan Griggs – New settler Rosemary hired to work at the paper

Louis Carson Flynn aka Louie – Jesse and Clara's new baby

Lena – Jed Campbell's new wife (mail order bride)

Margaret O'Connor aka Maggie – Nathan's mail order bride that is coming

Patrick James aka PJ – Lee and Rosemary's adopted son