Lunch with Bill had been both delicious and fun. It had been a long time since they'd spent time together, just the two of them, but now it was time to take the next step with Nathan and have a long overdue conversation. She reached the stables and noticed Newton tacked up and ready to go and Nathan saddling Sargent. "Nathan, Hi." she exclaimed when she reached them, reaching up to rub the horse's soft nose, "I'm so glad you were able to make it"
Looking at her with a raised eyebrow, he asked, "What, you were afraid I wouldn't?" and grinned at her.
"Well, our track record of being alone for any length of time isn't all that impressive, is it?" she asked, grinning back at him.
"We do seem to attract interruptions, don't we?"
"That we do." She answered.
Elizabeth noticed his brow was furrowed and since saddling a horse was second nature to him, and he wouldn't hold her gaze like they had this morning, something was bothering him. "Is everything okay, Nathan? It seems like something is bothering you."
Nathan shook his head, saying, "Nope, I've just been looking forward to this all day and hope we can get out of here without any additional interruptions." In truth, his mind and heart were all over the place. After overhearing her conversation with Bill earlier, he was overcome with emotions. Regret and anger at himself for listening to the whole thing. Fear that she was going to turn him down again. Fear that she would decide to give things a try, which didn't make sense, but still it was there. He gave her a smile and went back to tightening the cinch.
Deciding to accept the answer for now, Elizabeth let herself become excited again about their ride. She reached out to rub Sargent's nose when she heard it.
"Nathan, can you come with me, please." It was Henry who had come into the stables in quite a hurry and with some urgency to his request. She was close enough now that Elizabeth heard the frustrated sigh that came from Nathan and saw the annoyance flash across his face.
"Is everything okay?" Elizabeth asked him, turning around.
"Everything's fine. The Governor would like a word with him, is all." Henry explained. He could see what he was interrupting and wished he could have put it off so they could enjoy the afternoon, especially after he'd interrupted them once before, but this was urgent and couldn't wait.
"I guess I jinxed us" Nathan said looking sadly at her, thinking again about of the words he'd overheard not long ago and how much he wanted to talk to her about them.
"It's okay, go." Elizabeth told him, trying to convey in her eyes that it really was okay and that she understood.
The second he heard the footsteps followed by his name he had wanted to say save it for later, jump on Sargent, grab Elizabeth and get out of there. But the moment he heard 'Governor', he knew it was about Shaw and that it could not wait. "What is it?" he asked angrily as the two men walked away. Henry kept quiet until they were out of the livery then said, "Let's wait till we are in the office," After a few steps Henry cleared his throat, "Listen, I just want to say how sorry I am for interrupting you guys back there, well and that other time too. I get the feeling you've been trying to find alone time, but that hasn't been happening?"
Nathan just shook his head and blew the air out of his lungs in frustration. Henry smiled to himself, he would recognize the look anywhere.
"Well, for what it's worth, I am truly sorry, but I also want to say how pleased I am at what looks to be something special. Elizabeth is very special to me, and she deserves the best this world can give her, and Nathan," he stopped reaching out is hand to stop Nathan as well, "I know you are the one to fill that role, and I couldn't be happier for the both of you."
Nathan was taken aback by that statement. Stopping, he turned and looked into the older man's eyes, he could see the honesty and sincerity behind the words. "Thank you, Henry, that means a lot"
"You don't got to say anything, Nathan, I understand." Henry assured him with a smile as he opened the door to Lucas's office, only to hear Bill say, "This is really bad."
"What's going on?" Nathan asked once the door closed behind him.
"Shaw is on his way here," Henry told them.
The silence that descended on the men standing in the office could only be described as deafening. Each of them looked at the other hoping they'd heard wrong, but the grim look on Lucas's face told them they'd all heard right.
Nathan was the first to speak up, "Casimir Shaw is on his way to Hope Valley, right now? How do you know this? How far away is he?"
Lucas looked at the three men in front of him. They all had history together, some good and some not so good, but he had to admit there was comfort in knowing he could trust them with his life. What is what he was about to do. "Jeanette came back. It would appear Shaw found her, roughed her up and told her to bring a message. He is not happy about me canceling the resort and suggests I rethink things. He says he'll be here today and hopes I have the right answers to his question."
"Is Jeanette okay?" Nathan asked.
"Yes, for now, but there is something she isn't telling me about what happened with Shaw. She's upstairs in one of the rooms as we speak. She says Shaw has threatened to come and destroy Hope Valley, and, based on what's been in the newspapers lately, I fear how this will end. Now, I've called Mountie Headquarters and requested they send back up, but when they will arrive I am not sure. There didn't seem to be much urgency on the other end of the phone, which I will deal with later, but for now, this needs to be our main focus." Lucas sat down and motioned for the others to do the same.
"First things first" the Governor continued, "We can't do this alone. Bill, Henry, will you go get Mike and Lee so we can bring them in on this? I do not want to start a panic, so this must be kept quiet for as long as possible, but I also think this is bigger than something the four of us can handle."
"Agreed" they all replied together.
"Lucas, I really need to talk to Jeanette." Nathan stated, as soon as Bill and Henry had left the room.
Letting out his breath, Lucas said, "I know."
"Is there something you are not telling me about this?" Nathan asked, remembering back to the mess Lucas had made with Amos Dixon. He shivered a little thinking about how Elizabeth had been involved.
"I told you there was nothing else you needed to know about me, and that is true. It's just that I am a different person than I was in New Orleans with Jeanette. We were involved in some pretty shady ventures, nothing Illegal really, but not everything was on the level. I came here hoping for a fresh start, for a new life. Having her here brings up a lot of shame and guilt for what we, I, did, and honestly I worry I could fall into her trap and end up back in that life again which something I swore I would never do, but it's proving difficult."
Lucas stood up and walked out of his office, trying to calm his racing heart. He'd never said those words out loud, to anyone. Never before had he admitted his deepest fear, but here he was telling the Mountie about it. Stopping for a moment, he corrected himself, no, he was confiding in his friend.
Heading up the stairs, he reached Jeanette's room and was relieved when she opened the door after he knocked. Part of his expected her to disappear before this whole thing was done.
"Jeanette, I need you to come to my office, Nathan would like to speak to you." He told her.
"And who is the Nathan you speak of?" she asked, in her typical sultry voice.
"He is the town Mountie, and one of the good guys. I need you to tell him what you told me and then answer any questions he might have." Lucas told her.
"But Lucas, Shaw forbade me from talking to anyone but you. If I talk to this Mountie, he will find out and things will get worse for all of us."
"How can he find out? He's not even here?"
"The man has people everywhere, even your most trustworthy might be working for him, and they have to do exactly what he says."
"I'll protect you, but please, you need to do this." Lucas urged.
Seeing the desperation in his eyes, Jeanette reluctantly agreed. Pulling the door shut behind her, she tried to take his arm, but anticipating it, Lucas stepped away. He knew she was scared, really scared, but he knew he needed to keep his distance.
As they reached the bottom step, Jeannette took in a sharp breath. She'd seen someone, someone she didn't want to ever see again, sitting at the back of the room, his hat pulled down low over the eyes she would never be able to forget.
Nathan felt a bit of relief after talking with Jeannette. Not only had she been willing to talk, she repeated everything that Lucas had told them, and admitted to getting in way over her head. When he'd asked her to explain, her response was questionable, saying it involved a deal that was presented to her missing key details, but she was desperate and went along. That actual deal had nothing to do with this particular situation. Looking into her eyes, Nathan could see the truth in what she was saying and agreed to wait until after things were settled as Bill, Henry, Mike, and Lee had opened the door.
"Thank you for coming, gentleman," Lucas began once they were all seated, "I'll get right to it. Casimir Shaw is on his way to Hope Valley as we speak.".
"What?" Mike and Lee both said together. "Casimir Shaw, the gangster from America?" Mike questioned, looking around at the others.
"Yes, now I am happy to talk about the details, but that will have to wait, for now just know he didn't like the fact I canceled the resort project and intends to make me pay for it, well in addition to shooting me, actually."
"He shot you?" Lee exclaimed
Lucas nodded his head before Lee asked, pointing at Jeanette, "And what is she doing here?"
"Later Gentleman" Bill told them, "For now we need to figure out what to do about Shaw. Obviously, we don't want to cause a panic, but we do need to figure out a way to keep the town and the people in it safe. We don't know where he is, but understand him to be 'on his way'. Nathan and I will head out the main road and look around the outskirts for any clues or signs of his whereabouts. Mike, Lee and Henry, I need you three to watch the side roads and If you see anything or anyone suspicious, fire off a few shots in the air. If you need a weapon, follow Nathan to the jail"
The three men nodded their heads.
"Good, now I officially deputize you until this is over with, however long that takes, You can go with Nathan to the Jail and get a weapon for your safety." the Judge concluded.
Nathan then jumped in. "Lucas, Jeannette, you two are a very high profile target for so you can either stay here or we find somewhere else, but you must stay out of sight.
Seeing the Governor was about to protest, Bill jumped in, "Nathan is right, Lucas, keep out of sight."
Seeing the Governor nod in agreement, the rest of the men headed out, leaving Lucas and Jeanette alone.
When they arrived at the jail, Nathan went to the back room to change back into his Serge. This was not how he had seen this day ending. He was supposed to be out of town on a horseback ride with Elizabeth, heading towards…. Nathan shook his head in an attempt to focus back on what was happening. This was more important than the ride, because Elizabeth's safety, not to mention Allie's and Little Jacks, were at risk. Soon everyone was ready to go and they headed towards the stables.
With Henry, Mike, and Lee watching the side roads, Bill and Nathan started down the main road, headed out of town, hoping to find something that would help them stop this threat before it even reached the town.
"What are you thinking, Bill?" Nathan asked, seeing a pensive look on the older man's face.
"Just that this was not how I saw this day going. I was going to finish up some paperwork, saddle up Hero here and take a nice easy ride up to my cabin. Instead, I am looking for a needle in a haystack and hoping to find it before the haystack burns down the entire town" Bill told him.
"I was supposed to be on a ride with Elizabeth." Nathan admitted out loud.
"You win, Pal." was the response he got, but as Nathan looked at him, he saw the smirk on Bill's face.
Nathan rolled his eyes and said, "Lets find that needle.