It was a week later and Elizabeth had gone back to teaching at school. Nathan was getting better every day. He didn't need to take as many naps during the day but he also wasn't taking long trips out of the row house. Long walks would make his muscles ache so he tried to avoid it if at all possible. He would take short walks with Elizabeth at night but always in few of the row house while the children played inside.

Bill got a call that morning that everything was done in Capital city and Gabe would be coming back to Hope Valley soon. Bill would be glad to have his help with the regular Mountie duties until Nathan recovered. Bill had put most of his cases and judge paperwork in his office on hold until Gabe got back. He got a couple letters and just placed on the desk in his office. He decided to get some lunch from the cafe and walk to check on Nathan that afternoon.

Bill knocked on the door and he heard Nathan call from inside "come in!". Bill opened the door walking in with the sandwiches he brought from the cafe along with a couple files. Nathan was sitting on the settee with a book in his hand. He looked over his shoulder and winced as he started to get up.

"That's ok Nathan, you don't need to get up."

"I should move around, I have been sitting for a few hours. What brings you by?"

"I thought I would bring you some lunch and I had a couple things to talk to you about."

"Let's go sit in the kitchen," Nathan said. Nathan and Bill sat across from each other at the table and Bill handed Nathan a roast beef sandwich. Both of them took a couple bites before Nathan asked, "What did you want to talk about?"

"First, Gabe is on his way back from Capital City. He said he finished all the paperwork for the arrest and to put Charles in the jail there. Once he goes to trial, we may need to travel to Capital City but that could be weeks or months away."

"Good, I don't think I would be comfortable to travel at this point. I'm glad Gabe was able to help and he is on his way back here."

Bill reached for the files he brought with him. "The question remains of what to do with the office that Edward purchased and the land that was purchased by Charles company. I have read through both of the contracts and there is not much we can do in regard to ownership. I talked to William and he said he heard from his contacts in Hamilton that someone else was taking over Kensington Holdings now that Charles has been arrested. I have a call into the new president of the company and I am waiting for a call back. I am hoping that we can come to an understanding on the land. The office is another story since Edward purchased it under his name."

"There's nothing we can do?"

"I never say there is nothing we can do, I just haven't found it yet."

–––––––––––––

The dress shop was closed early that day. Elizabeth left the school house at the same time as the children and walked into town. She was meeting Rosemary there to look at a new shipment she had gotten from Hamilton as well as to have tea. The two of them had been busy and they hadn't had a lot of time to catch up lately. Elizabeth was looking forward to spending time with her friend.

Elizabeth knocked out the door and Rosemary opened it quickly. "Elizabeth, come in! Clara is here too. She wanted to talk to me about her wedding dress. I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all. Hi Clara."

"Hi Elizabeth. I was hoping Rosemary could help me. I was just telling her there isn't a lot of time."

"I'm sure we have more than enough time. When are you getting married?"

"This Sunday."

"What? How can you be getting married this Sunday? You just got engaged?!" Rosemary said.

"We haven't told a lot of people yet but Jesse got an offer to work on a ranch in America. It is a wonderful opportunity and I want to go with him. In order for it to be acceptable for us to travel together, we need to get married fast. I love Jesse and I can't imagine being without him."

"Of course you can't. But we will miss you both," Elizabeth said. She thought about what she would do if Nathan was sent to another posting away from Hope Valley. She hoped that he would ask her to go with him or that she would be brave enough to offer to go. She couldn't imagine being without him, just like Clara couldn't bear to be without Jesse.

"Why don't you tell me what you were thinking and I will let you know what we should be able to get done in time for this weekend," Rosemary said.

"Before we do that, I wanted to ask you both. Would you be my bridesmaids? You can wear whatever dresses you want, I would just like to have you both standing with me."

Elizabeth had tears in her eyes as she nodded. Rosemary spoke as she put her hand on Clara's, "We'd be honored. I will find us something that will work. Now I have a couple dresses that might work as starting points for you. Why don't you try them on and then we can decide if we need to make changes or do a brand new dress."

Clara tried on a few dresses and Rosemary made measurements and notes about what Clara liked and didn't like. Rosemary decided it would be easier to make a new dress for Clara and she asked her to come back in a couple days to try it on. Clara needed to get back to the cafe before the dinner rush, so she left Elizabeth and Rosemary in the dress shop. Rosemary led Elizabeth over to the shipment that she had told her about and pulled out a couple dresses for Elizabeth to try on.

Rosemary found two dresses in the shop that looked similar enough to work for them for Clara's wedding even though they weren't an exact match. The dress for Rosemary was blue and Elizabeth's was a peachy pink. Rosemary put them to the side while Elizabeth was trying on another dress.

Elizabeth stepped out from behind the curtain and Rosemary put her hand over her heart with a sigh. The dress was a silvery gray. It had beading and lace all over with a small capped sleeve. The rounded neckline showed the slightest bit of décolletage. "Elizabeth, this is beautiful on you."

"Really? You think so?" Elizabeth asked looking in the mirror.

"Don't you? Elizabeth, it looks like it was made for you. And you know what, Nathan will love it too."

"Rosemary!" Elizabeth said with a giggle.

"You know I am right."

"I do. Ok, I will take it."

–––––––––––––––––––

Rosemary said she would bring the silver dress and the bridesmaid dress to Elizabeth's row house later that night. Rosemary had a little more work to do and then she was meeting Lee for dinner. He would drive them home afterwards so neither of them had to carry the dresses through town and worry about them getting dirty. Elizabeth was happy for the help since she wanted to make a stop at Nathan's first before going home.

Allie answered the door at Nathan's row house and invited Elizabeth in. Nathan was sitting in a chair with a book on his lap and his feet propped up on the table in front of him. Allie walked into the kitchen and she continued making dinner. Since it had been Nathan and Allie for such a long time, Allie had learned from an early age to make easy meals. Today she was making sandwiches with leftover meat from the icebox and a cold salad.

Elizabeth walked over to Nathan and saw his eyes were closed. She smiled and put her hand on his shoulder. "Nathan?" she said quietly trying to wake him.

"Hmmmm…" Nathan kept his eyes closed but moved slightly.

Elizabeth crouched down at the side of the chair and put her hand on Nathan's arm, rubbing it up and down. "Nathan darling, are you awake?"

Nathan opened his eyes slowly and smiled seeing Elizabeth in front of him. She moved her hand down to his and grasped it with hers. He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it, never taking his eyes off hers. "Hi sweetheart, I didn't think I would see you today."

"I need to go home to get dinner ready but I had something for you," Elizabeth said. She reached in her basket and pulled out a wrapped gift and placed a bag of cookies on top of it. "For you," she said handing it to him.

Nathan opened the bag first, "Are these peanut butter? How did you know they were my favorite?"

"I may have gotten a hint from someone," Elizabeth smiled and turned to wink at Allie. She smiled from her spot in the kitchen and continued with what she was doing.

"Ah well your hint was correct." Nathan set the cookies to his side and started to open the gift. After removing the paper, he saw a leather bound journal with his initials in the corner. He looked up at Elizabeth.

"I ordered this when we started courting. I have always found it helpful to journal. I am not sure if it was something you currently do or would be interested in. I ordered it Hamilton and it just arrived. I hope you like it."

"I don't talk about it much, but I have had a journal ever since Colleen died. My mother actually suggested it as a way to deal with my feelings about her death and the challenge of starting to raise Allie. This is nicer than any journal I have ever had though. Thank you Elizabeth."

Elizabeth leaned over the edge of the chair and kissed him. He put his hand on her cheek to hold her close to him as he sat in the chair.

"I need to get going," Elizabeth said as she pulled back. Nathan started to stand put she put her hands out and said, "please don't get up. I can let myself out." Elizabeth started to walk towards the door but before she reached the door handle, Nathan called out to her.

"Elizabeth, I heard that Jesse and Clara are getting married on Sunday. I was wondering if you would like to go with me. As my date."

"Why Constable Grant, I was hoping you'd ask. I'd love to."

––––––––––––––––

Bill was sitting in the Mountie office with Lee later that night. Lee had been helping Bill keep an eye on things while Nathan was recovering and Gabe was on his way back to town. Lee had been in the saloon that afternoon and he was letting Bill know about the small fight that had started but it ended quickly without any injuries or damage.

The phone rang and Bill answered it. "Hi Fiona, it's Bill. Yes, you can connect him." Bill looked over at Lee and said "Superintendent O'Reilly".

"Hello Sir. Yes, Constable Grant is still on leave. Constable Kinslow is in town from Brookfield." There was a pause as Bill listened. Gabe was trying to hear the other side of the conversation but it was too quiet. "What!" Lee jumped at the shock in Bill's voice.

"What do you mean? How did that happen? Yes sir, I understand. I will keep Constables Grant and Kinslow informed. Please call with anything else. Thank you." Bill hung up the phone and sat down heavy in the chair. He looked out in front of him in shock.

"Bill, what happened?"

"It's Charles Kensington. The jail released him."

"What? How? I thought you said Gabe made sure he was locked up before he started the trip back here."

"Superintendent O'Reilly said that the warden told him he had a visit from a Mountie with paperwork signed authorizing Charles' release. Obviously the paperwork was forged and the warden did not have the name of the Mountie who delivered the paperwork. Superintendent O'Reilly said his office is conducting an investigation to find out what happened."

"Do you trust him?" Gabe asked.

"I have known Patrick for many years. We can trust him to find out who is behind this. I don't believe Charles will come back here but we need to be on alert."

"What do we tell Nathan?"

"Tomorrow I will go tell Nathan. Maybe I will wait until Gabe gets back so we can go to see Nathan together. I will also need to tell Elizabeth and her father since this news could affect them too."