"Mr. Kensington, what brings you to Hope Valley?" Nathan asked.

"Just some business between Edward and I."

"How long will you be here?"

"Not to be rude, Constable," Charles said to Nathan with disgust in his voice, "but I do not believe that it is any of your business. And if you will excuse me, Edward and I will conduct the rest of our business in his office." The two of them walked quickly past Nathan, leaving him in the street to watch them. Nathan knew that he would need to tell Bill and look into what brought Charles Kensington to Hope Valley. Something was going on. But for tonight, he had a dinner to get to with two special ladies.

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Nathan walked into the cafe and saw Elizabeth and Allie sitting next to each other at a table against the wall. The two of them had saved a seat for him across from them. Both of them were laughing and talking as Nathan walked up to the table. "Sorry I wasn't here right away but you both seem to be having fun."

"We are Dad, Mrs. Thornton was telling me stories about when she was a little girl."

"Was she now? Maybe I can hear some of those stories sometime," Nathan said looking at Elziabeth. Elizabeth smiled and blushed looking back at him. Nathan reached for the gift he had put in his pocket when he walked out onto the street. "Allie, this is for you."

Allie took the gift from Nathan and opened the box. She looked down and saw a heart charm for her bracelet with daughter written on it. "It's beautiful, thank you."

"I wanted to get the date put on it, but I bought it before we knew the exact date. Next time I go to Benson Hills, I can have the date engraved on the back. I already talked to the owner of the jewelry store."

"Can you help me put it on my bracelet later until we can do that?" Allie asked.

"I can do that," Nathan said.

The three of them sat and ate dinner. Nathan ordered a piece of pie for each of them as well. When they were all done, Allie saw a couple of her friends come in and she asked if she could go tell them about the adoption. Nathan said yes and they both agreed that Allie would meet him at home. Nathan offered to walk Elizabeth home and she took his arm as they walked out the door.

Nathan and Elizabeth had only taken a couple of steps outside the door before Elizabeth heard her name, "Elizabeth!" Both of them turned and Nathan saw Charles Kensington approaching them both. Nathan reached over and put his hand over Elizabeth's hand around his other arm. He pulled her closer to protect her. Elizabeth looked at Nathan at this motion and then looked back to Charles.

"Charles? Why are you in Hope Valley?"

"I had some business with a colleague but I was hoping to see you again. I haven't seen you since you were last in Hamilton. I was hoping you would have stayed."

"I told you then Charles, Hope Valley is my home. There are so many things here that Hamilton will never have."

Charles looked at Elizabeth's hand around Nathan's arm and Nathan could see his jaw clench. Elizabeth had assured him that she had no feelings for Charles, however it did not appear to be the same on Charles' side.

"I see. I will be in town for some time, perhaps I can see you again?" Charles said, directing his question to Elizabeth and completely ignoring Nathan.

"Perhaps WE will," Nathan said. "Elizabeth, we should get home to the children." Nathan looked at Elizabeth and she could see by the expression in his eyes that he would explain if she would follow along.

"Yes, goodbye Charles." Nathan and Elizabeth turned and started walking a little quicker towards Elizabeth's house. Charles stood in the street, shocked at what had just happened. He had come to Hope Valley with plans. And those plans did not involve Constable Grant butting his nose into his business. Charles walked back to Edward's office. They would need to move the plans forward and Charles would need to make a call to another friend.

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Elizabeth waited until her and Nathan were almost at her steps before asking Nathan about what had happened in the street. She wanted to make sure they were out of earshot of Charles or Edward or anyone else that may be involved. "Nathan, what is going on? Why is Charles in town?"

"I don't know Elizabeth. Bill and I know that Edward and Charles are involved in business but we do not know what brought them to Hope Valley. Before coming to the cafe, I saw Edward and Charles in an argument so it doesn't look like Charles is here because things are going well. I'm sorry for putting my nose in when he tried to talk to you but I love you and I want to protect you from whatever plans they have."

Elizabeth stopped at her door, "I love you too." Elizabeth walked into her row house and greeted Laura. After telling her goodnight and thank you for watching Jack, Elizabeth closed the door and turned to Nathan, "I appreciate that you are looking out for me. I haven't talked to Charles since I was in Hamilton after Jack died. I can't think of a reason he would want to talk to me now."

"Maybe he is going to ask you to marry him again," Nathan said with a smirk, trying to lighten the mood.

"There's only one man that I would say yes to and I think you know that Charles is not that man," Elizabeth said as she reached her arms around Nathan's neck.

Nathan leaned down and kissed her. The kiss held the promise that he would ask her that question one day. He had the ring hidden in his dresser at home. He had kept in the Mountie office in the box that he gave to Elizabeth with the earrings. Nathan was worried that someone would stumble upon the ring in the office so he moved it to his room a week or so before giving her the earrings.

"What are we going to do about Charles?" Elizabeth asked. When she pulled back from him, he held her close with her head against his chest.

"I will talk to Bill in the morning. We will have to do whatever we can to find out what those two are up to."

"I think I will call my father in the morning before school."

"Your father?" Nathan wanted to make a call to her father as well but it had nothing to do with the case. He also didn't want Elizabeth present when he made that call.

"Yes. Maybe he has an idea of why Charles is here or why he would be interested in Hope Valley. Can I make the call from the Mountie office?"

"Of course you can. Would you like me to be there when you talk to him?"

"Yes please. We both can listen to the call and then he can tell us both if he knows anything."

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Bill was in his office late that night. He had told Nathan and Elizabeth that he had plans after the adoption ceremony, but he lied. He had gone earlier to the cafe for a sandwich which he left in his desk. He was waiting for a call from a friend he had during his days as a Mountie. Bill hoped that he would know something.

The phone rang and Bill answered it, "Judge Avery, Hope Valley."

"Bill, it is Albie," Superintendent Albert Wade was in the same class in the academy as Bill. The two of them were friends through training and they had kept in touch when they had been at their different postings. When Bill became an inspector, Albert went through a different path to become a superintendent. Bill visited his family whenever he was in Capital City.

"Albie, how is the family?"

"They are good. The kids are asking when you are going to visit again. I don't think that is why I had a message to call you though. What is going on Bill?"

"To the point as always. I was wondering if you could look into something for me. There is an Edward Morton here in town who is running a business in my town that I can't figure out. He is working with Charles Kensington in Hamilton. Anything you can find out about them would be most helpful."

"I will check into it and call you back. Anything else you know?"

"Not sure if it is related, but we had men looking at a piece of land. The land is owned by CMK Properties if you can find a relationship to either of the men."

"I'm on it. Talk to you soon Bill," Albert said as he hung up the phone.

Bill looked at the stack of cases in front of him. He decided to get through a couple of them before heading home for the night. Hopefully it wouldn't take long before his friend to call him back with information.