The report he was trying to read did not make any sense, not matter how many times he had tried to read it. The letters kept moving around making strange words that, when put together in a sentence, made absolutely no sense. Hearing the door to his office open, he saw Henry coming in.
"Good Morning, looks like you found the file I left last night." Henry said
"Good Morning" was Lucas's reply, "Yes, thank you, however I can't seem to make out any of the words." He replied, setting the papers back down on his desk.
Henry had settled into his official Governor's office chair and noticed it was upside down. "You do know it's upside down, right?" he said with a smirk.
Lucas expelled a deep breath, annoyed at himself for being so caught up in other things, he hadn't even realized his error. He shoved the papers into a drawer and closed it with a little more force than was necessary, and looked up.
"Lucas?" Henry asked, seeing how disheveled his clothing was, and how tired his eyes looked. "What happened?"
"I've been here all night" was Lucas's replay, "Trying to wrap my head around everything that happened with and around Shaw. Deciding if I should just resign and let someone else be the Governor. Trying to figure out how to help Jeanette. Worrying about the job losses that are going on. Let's just say, my head won't stop thinking."
"That would probably keep me up all night as well, but Lucas, you should get some rest this morning." Henry said.
Lucas shook he head, straightening up his clothes and ran his fingers through his hair. "Thanks, but really I am fine. I would rather get some work done, so let's get to it."
"Alright, but how does breakfast sound first?" Henry asked, standing up.
"I think that is an excellent idea," Lucas told them as he stood up and headed towards the door.
"Here we are, miss," the taxi driver said once the car was stopped and safely at a standstill. He stepped out and assisted the lady out as well. "If you'd like to get checked in, I will make sure your luggage is taken to your room."
"Thank you," Jessie said and headed towards the building. As her eyes adjusted to the lights, she was surprised to see how many people were in there. Some were finishing up a meal, others were just sitting at tables conversing with the others. She had to admit, this place was nicer than she thought it would be, especially considering the town had only dirt floors. Making her way to the desk she was also surprised at how friendly and everyone, especially the staff were to each other.
Mike had just given Henry and Lucas their breakfast when he saw a woman walking towards the desk, and quickly made his way over there. "Good Morning." he said, "Can I get you a table?"
"Actually, I would like to check in, if you have any rooms available." Jessica replied.
"We sure do," Mike told her, pulling out the guest ledger and showing her where to sign. "How long do you intend to say, Ms Harrison?"
"Please, call me Jessie, I tend to answer to that more than Ms. Harrison." Jessica said with a grin. "I will be here for a few days, if you have accommodations for that long of a stay?."
"Mike." he introduced himself to her, reaching out to shake her hand before continuing. "You are in luck, the room assigned to you should be open for the entire week, just in case you decide to stay."
"Thank you." Jessie smiled. "Is breakfast still being served?"
"It sure is, I'll have Mark here will take your luggage up to your room and escort you to a table." Mike told her, pointing in the direction they needed to go.
As she passed by a booth, she heard a male voice, "…. wish I could find someone reputable to tell the whole story to." A little shiver went down her spine as she recognized the face of the man who said it. Trying to keep her relief from showing, she hurried towards Mike, helped her into a chair and gave her a menu. A moment later she gave him her order and, with a smile and slight bow, Mike headed towards the kitchen.
Having finished her breakfast, Jessie headed towards the door, intending to calm her racing thoughts and heart, by walking around the town. The beautiful white church building, just on the outskirts of the town, had caught her eye, so she headed in that direction.
"Elizabeth." Nathan said, walking towards her. "I realized something today. I realized how foolish it was for me to think that you and I could ever be more than friends."
"Nathan, what are you talking about?" Elizabeth answered.
"What happened to you at the saloon, you getting hurt like you did. Elizabeth it could have been so much worse than it was, I can't risk you being in danger like that, ever again because if something happened to you…. I can't even think about that. The thought of loosing you….I just can't" and with that Nathan turned around and walked away. Standing there, unable to move, she heard another familiar voice say to her, "Don't let him go."
The sound of someone knocking at her door startled her awake, glancing out the window she realized how long she had slept. The knock came again, this time followed by "Mama, are you awake?" Jack called out, not used to his mom still being asleep after he woke up.
"Oh my goodness, Jack, mommy must have slept in this morning. Thank you for waking me up. Give me a few minutes and I will be right down to start breakfast. I believe it's your turn to decide what we have." Elizabeth called, getting out of bed and heading towards her closet.
"Okie Dokie," and then she could hear him hopping down the stairs.
"That was some yummy pancake's mama, I think we should have them every day." Jack said as he finished off his breakfast.
"Hmmm? Oh yes, breakfast was good this morning, you made an excellent choice, Honey Bear." Elizabeth said. Since the moment she'd gotten downstairs, a feeling of dread had washed over her, but she couldn't figure out why.
Jack was a little confused. He had to keep calling his mom more than once to get her attention. "Can I go to daycare today, mama? Lily said she would be there." he asked. When he got no response again, he repeated his question.
"Oh" Elizabeth was started back to the present again, "That sounds like a good idea, run upstairs and get your shoes and socks and we will head over. Mommy needs to get some things from the Mercantile as well."
Once again, Nathan found himself on the phone with Mountie Headquarters going over his report of what happened at the saloon with Shaw. As he was hanging up, the door opened and Bill Avery walked in.
"Nathan. I'm surprised to see you here." Bill said, sitting down on the chair in front of the desk.
"Why would it be a surprise to find me here, Bill? I do, after all, work here" Nathan responded.
"Isn't this the time when you are usually doing afternoon rounds?" Bill asked.
"Yes, but I've been on the phone all day with Headquarters explaining my report about Shaw to them once again. I gotta tell ya, Bill, it's starting to get really old."
"I bet" Bill nodded. "How are you doing with it all, by the way?"
"I'm fine, Bill, really. Just glad Shaw is finally behind bars."
Noticing how Nathan's voice cracked just a bit when he said Shaw's name, Bill decided to push a tiny bit more, as he sensed something else was going on with his good friend.
"So, what can I do for you?" Nathan asked
"Well, it's been three days, and I've seen you working almost non-stop. Have you even gone home, or had a decent meal? You aren't sleeping here, are you?"
"No, Bill, I am not sleeping here."
"So…..?" Bill pushed once again.
"Really, Bill, it's nothing. Just have a lot on my mind and the days seem to get away from me."
"And how's Elizabeth doing?" he asked, already knowing the answer since he'd come from her house.
Shrugging his shoulders, he said, "Honesty, I haven't seen her since she left the infirmary."
"Uh huh, and why is that?" Bill asked.
"Like I said, things have been really busy around here and by the time I do get home it's so late I don't want to disturb her or Little Jack." Nathan replied, looking down at the desk.
Bill really liked Nathan, in fact, he considered him family and couldn't imagine his life without he or Allie in it. He also knew that Nathan wouldn't talk about private things unless forced, and usually Bill had to force it out of him. Lately, Nathan had started opening up more than usual, so to see him pull back in his shell was disheartening, so he decided to do some discrete meddling.
"And is this your way of letting her take the lead? Waiting until she comes to you? Can't you just go check on her as a casual acquaintance? Constable Collins told me he took Elizabeth's statement because you needed to take care of other things." Standing up, Bill went to the door and locked it before coming back to his chair.
"Should I be worried?" Nathan asked, trying to lighten the conversation up.
"You and I are going to have a talk, Pal, a long, overdue talk. You see, even if she hadn't married Jack, I would still consider Elizabeth family, she's like a daughter to me and just like you do with Allie, I am very protective of her and Little Jack. Watching her struggle through the last few years was one of the hardest things I've had to do. I knew she was hurting, but there wasn't anything I could do about it because she had to go get through it on her own. " Bill's eyes were getting misty, so he cleared his throat and began again.
"Now I am not saying Lucas was not the right person for her, or that she made mistakes, but I will say watching her transform the last few months has been so wonderful. Before it felt like a forced happiness, but now it's natural, and I love it. I love seeing the sparkle back in her eyes, but Nathan, the reason for that is you."
Nathan interrupted saying "That's not true Bill, I haven't done anything."
"That's where you are wrong, my friend, but I know I can't convince you of that, so I'll just move on. Now look, I want you to look me in the eye and explain to me why you are pulling back even further now."
Nathan stood up and began pacing around the Jail. "Because Bill, what if something else happens to her because of me, because of this job? How can I knowingly ask her to put not only her life, but the life of her sons, at risk every time I go to work. What if she gets killed because of a case I am working on? I'm sorry, Bill, but I won't even let myself think of that happening. I can't even describe the fear I felt when Shaw started swinging around her jacket, I actually hoped a bullet would find me before the night was over. The thought of living without her in my life, and it being because of me. I can't do it, I just can't. I am here to protect her, not harm her" Thankfully by the end of his speech he was facing the two cells and could compose himself before turning back around.
"But Nathan, you were not the reason she was in that situation the other day. That had nothing to do with you. In fact, you probably saved her from things getting worse with the way you handled things. You had nothing to do with that. Nathan, why did you take custody of Allie and then adopt her? She could get hurt because of your job. Someone you've put away could kidnap her. How is this situation with Elizabeth any different than that? You took a beating from her father in order to make sure she'd always be with you. Why does a situation with Elizabeth scare you more than it would with Allie?"
Nathan walked back to his desk and sat down. Silence came over the jail as Nathan began to ponder this new perspective. He'd never thought of it like that before, for a moment he was annoyed that Bill was the one to point it out, because he knew the older man would never let him live it down.
"It's none of my business, I know, but I also know a little of what's in Elizabeth's heart, and while it's not my story to tell, I have a feeling you'd want to hear it, Nathan, and I know she wants to share it with you."
The guilt from overhearing their conversation started building again. He knew what she was going to say, and it seemed to prove his point even more, but he wasn't willing to give the man any more ammunition to prove the flaw in Nathan's logic.
"You're right, Bill, but I need to do my rounds, and think about this some more."
"I understand, but think about it and we can continue this conversation when you realize I am right." Bill smirked,
"Sure, Bill.." Nathan said, stood up once again and heading towards the door. Grabbing his hat, he turned around and rolled his eyes as Bill scrambled around the desk and sat in his chair, shaking his head he unlocked the door and headed out of the building.