CHAPTER 18

Hope Valley, Aberta Canada

Monday, May 23, 1921

"Good afternoon, Elizabeth. Hi Jack." MaKayla said warmly as Elizabeth and Jack entered the infirmary. "What brings the two of you in today?"

"Is Faith here? Elizabeth glared at MaKayla.

"No, she is out for lunch."

"Will she be back soon?" Elizabeth asked.

"No, I don't think so. She and Nathan went on picnic to the hot springs." MaKayla answered.

"Do Faith and Nathan go out for lunch often together?" Elizabeth inquired casually.

"Yes, usually a couple of times a week," MaKayla told her but was sure this news would not be welcomed by Elizabeth. "If what brings you here is a medical problem, I'm sure I can help you." She told her with a light smile.

"Hmm, yes. Jack has another sore throat. Faith thinks it's his tonsils." Elizabeth told her.

"I see. Ok Jack, let's go over to this table and take a look." The little boy followed her to the exam table. MaKayla picked him up and sat him on the table. She then looked in his throat, took his temperature and palpated his neck.

MaKayla turned her attention back to Elizabeth. "I agree with Faith. In looking at her previous notes, this happens quite a bit." She said to Elizabeth. "I would probably suggest that he have his tonsils removed."

"Faith suggested that as well, but she didn't feel comfortable doing it as she has never done it before. She said I would need to take him to Union City or Hamilton." She told her.

"Well, no worries, I have done this procedure many times. I would be happy to remove his tonsils, if Faith has the right equipment. It's a relatively safe and easy procedure, of course, any surgery has it risks. The consensus is that it helps to eliminate all these throat infections Jack seems to be susceptible too." She told her.

"What are the risks? Elizabeth asked nervously.

"The biggest risk is hemorrhage, but we would keep a close eye on that. Also, ether or chloroform can make most patients sick afterwards, which is never pleasant. Although that is a short-term affect. You can think about it and if you decide you want to have them removed, just let me know." She told her.

"Hmm, so does that mean you're going to be here a while longer?" Elizabeth asked her curiously.

"Once Lucas has this resort problem straightened out, he'll be able to return to Capital City. I'm just not sure how long that will take." She told her honestly.

"That explains why Lucas is still here, but why are you here?" Elizabeth asked questioningly.

MaKayla smiled at her, "Although I don't owe you an explanation, I will give you one. After Lucas was shot, he wasn't miraculously all better. He has suffered a great deal, both physically and emotionally. It's now 8 months after the shooting and he still doesn't know who wants him dead. If you don't think that would play havoc with someone's emotional health you would be seriously mistaken. Add in his fiancée's betrayal and taking on a job he didn't want. Well…" She paused to gauge Elizabeth's reaction, of which she saw none.

"Elizabeth, I realize that from the minute Lucas stepped on that train to Capital City, you moved on. Washed your hands of him. You were so willing to believe Jeanette's story about being engaged to him. I assume because it would assuage any lingering guilt you might have with how things ended between the two of you." She paused to let those words sink in.

"Wait a minute, what are you talking about? Clayton Pike shot Lucas; he's going to prison." Elizabeth told her vehemently.

"You do realize that your best friend and Bill Avery are investigating Lucas's shooting because no one believes that Pike is guilty. You have been so self-absorbed and fixated on pursuing Nathan you've blocked out everything else around you." She told her frankly.

"I am not fixated on Nathan! She told her angrily. MaKayla gave a gentle laugh.

"The only person who can't see your fixation is Nathan. Mostly because, currently, the only woman he has eyes for is Faith." She stopped herself from continuing down that path, as it was not her place.

"I'm sorry. I got off topic, your question is why am I here? The answer is simple, I see a good man in need who through no fault of his own has been put through hell. He needs someone in his corner." She told her earnestly.

"And because you're in love with him." Elizabeth said quietly.

MaKayla smiled, "Let me know if you decide you want me to remove Jack's tonsils while I'm in town. In the meantime, here is a prescription for Jack." She told her.

MaKayla turned back to the little boy. "Hope you feel better soon, Jack. I will tell your buddy I saw you today. Goodbye Elizabeth." MaKayla said cordially.

MaKayla watched as they left the infirmary. For the life of her, MaKayla could not figure out what Lucas had seen in that woman. Elizabeth struck MaKayla as someone who had her own emotional demons and hadn't yet dealt with them properly. On one hand she felt sorry for Elizabeth, on the other the woman annoyed the heck out of her. This was a woman who was unable to let go of the past and move into the sunlight. But she had to want to, and running after Nathan was not going to fix what ailed her. Elizabeth would need to learn that for herself.

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Later that evening, Lucas and MaKayla were sitting on Lucas's porch enjoying a cup of tea and the wonderful view in front of them. Lucas broke the peaceful silence.

"Jeanette, will be coming to town on Thursday. I've decided to accept her bid on the resort." He told her with no preamble.

MaKayla turned to face him. "That is a good thing, right?" She asked him.

"I've done as much due diligence that is humanly possible, everything seems to be on the up and up. I'm going to trust in that. The resort can be built and the jobs that are needed will come with it." He said without any joy.

"Does that mean once the deal is closed, you are free to return to Capital City?" She asked.

He smiled at that, "Yes. I'll have Henry stay in Hope Valley and work with Jeanette and her investors. There is no need for me to stay any longer." He told her relieved that this part of his nightmare might be coming to an end.

By the way, I saw Elizabeth today. She brought Jack into the infirmary." She told him

"Is my little buddy sick?" Lucas asked alarmed.

"He has tonsilitis, apparently, he suffers from it quite often. I offered to removed his tonsils but since we will be leaving soon, if Elizabeth decides to go that route she can take him to Union City." She told him calmly.

Lucas nodded. "But you could remove them, right? If Elizabeth agreed." Lucas knew that this was no longer his concern, but he also knew he would always think of Jack Thornton Jr. as his son.

"Of course, if Elizabeth asked, I know we would stay to help Jack. No need to worry about that." She told him reassuringly.

"Thank you. If everything goes as planned, the deal should close the following week. Assuming Jack doesn't need you, we can leave after that." He told her, sad and happy at the same time.

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The following day, Lee and Maise Hickam met to go over their joint town business.

Their conversation quickly turned to the proposed resort. "I don't know what is worse Montague's attack or his bid. And before you start defending your pal the governor, may I point out that this process has been shrouded in far too much secrecy." Maise told him emphatically.

"I agree. I have to admit the lack of transparency really concerns me. I'm also worried that the governor isn't getting the quality of bidder he was hoping for." Lee told her earnestly.

"Lelend Coulter, I didn't think I would see you on my side. That resort is only going to bring trouble to our valley and we can stop it and should." She said sternly.

"I am on board with that Maise." He told her reluctantly.

Lee left the meeting with Maise sad that it had come to this. But he did agree with her. There were no respectable bidders on the resort. The only one left seem to have too many questions attached to them. Hope Valley didn't need to borrow that kind of possible trouble. He owed it to Lucas to tell him that they were pulling their support. It was late, he would tell him first thing in the morning.

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Hope Valley, Alberta Canada

Wednesday, May 25, 1921

On Wednesday morning, Lee knocked on Lucas's office door. He got no answer so he opened the door and walked in. Lucas was sitting on the edge of his desk; he had a far off look in his eyes.

"Lucas, I won't take much of your time. I just wanted to talk to you about the resort." Lee told him. Lucas shook his head to clear the thoughts from his mind. He turned his attention to Lee.

"Hmm, yes, well Montague dropping out was certainly a setback." Lucas told him as he got up from the edge of his desk and went to sit behind it.

"Setback?" Lee said incredulously.

"Obviously Lee, I'm upset by what happened to him, but we don't know that his beating had any connection to the resort." He said confidently.

"Come on Lucas. It happened right after Rosemary revealed Montague was a bidder on the resort." He told him succinctly.

"I'm doing everything in my power to make this a clean process." He told him.

"I'm sure that you are, but is that even a possibility right now?" He asked him concerned.

"What are you trying to say Lee?" Lucas asked as he could feel his temper starting to escalate.

"What I'm trying to say is, that I really think it's time to cut our losses." He said emphatically.

"To cut our losses?" Lucas said quizzically.

"Yes." Lee told him.

"This isn't about you or me, Lee. It's about our town; our territory. It's about our children's future. And if your too small minded to see that, then…" he trailed off exasperated at how this conversation was going.

Lee lowered his head in resignation, "Maise and I can no longer offer you our support for this project." He told him dejected.

"You and Maise?" Lucas said in shock.

"I have come to see things from her point of view. It would seem that the resort has already led to violence. Lucas, my friend, being governor may have a nice ring to it, but it doesn't mean that yours is the only opinion that matters. Nothing good is going to come from this. I'm sorry." Lee looked Lucas in the eye hoping that he would understand why he had to pull his support for the resort.

Lucas stared at him in disbelief. His friend was no longer in his corner. "If that's all, I have a resort to get built." Lucas told him with contempt. Lee looked at his friend sorry that it had come to this but he felt he was right.

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After Lee left his office, Lucas started to pace. His head started pounding again, all he could see was the flash of the gun going off over and over again in his mind. He sat down on the couch putting his head in his heads trying to drown out the sound of the rain in his head that was getting louder and louder.

He could see people in front of him, two of them. It was raining so hard, why couldn't he see their faces, the lights from the car were now shining in his face.

Henry entered the office; he walked over to where Lucas was sitting. "Lucas, it's Henry." Lucas didn't respond. "Can you hear me?" He shook him lightly. "Lucas?"

Lucas still didn't answer him. His mind had gone back to the night of the shooting, he saw the flash again, "Governor Bouchard has a nice ring to it." He heard a voice. Who was saying it? Lucas closed his eyes tighter.

Just then MaKayla walked into the office. "MaKayla," Henry said to her, "thank goodness. I can't get him to respond to me. It's like he's in a world of his own or something." Henry said nervously.

MaKayla knelt down putting her hands on his arms. "Lucas, it's OK. It's MaKayla and Henry." She said softly as she looked at Henry. "No one is going to hurt you. You're in your office in Hope Valley, your safe." She said very gently.

Lee remembered something he wanted to tell Lucas and headed back to his office. As he approached, he saw the door was open and Henry and MaKayla were on their knees talking to Lucas, but something was terribly wrong. He stood in silence and watched the scene unfold in before him.

"Why isn't he answering us?" Henry asked more frantic than before.

"I think he's having another flashback to the night of the shooting. Something must have upset him to trigger it during the day." She told him

"A flashback, you mean like I've been reading about the soldiers coming back from the war. What did they call it…" Henry trailed off.

"Shell shock," she told him. "Lucas has been having awful nightmares for months. He has barely slept in the past 8 months. You had to have noticed how thin he is, the dark circles under his eyes, the short temper?" She asked him.

"I have. But I thought it was the pressure of being governor." He told her.

MaKayla sighed deeply, "Think about it Henry. The betrayal from Elizabeth that he never saw coming. She told him right up until the night he left that she was going with him, she would be by his side. Then she told him at the train station that she didn't love him enough to go with him. Losing the boy that he thought would be his son, the family he has always desired." She stared at him incredulously. How had he never thought of any of this?

She continued. "Having a faceless person he can't remember, pumping two bullets into him. Do you even realize how close he came to dying, twice. Fighting his way back to survive. Knowing that, that same person is still out there, possibly planning their next attack against him. Taking on a job he never wanted. And now his friends…his friends questioning his judgement at every turn. How would you be dealing with all that Henry?" She said angerly.

"I'm…I'm sorry MaKayla, I had no idea. Is that why you're here? You knew Lucas needed someone? How can I help him?" Henry said sadly. Henry felt awful; he had thought that something was off with Lucas but never bothered to try to find out what was really troubling his friend.

She gave him a sad smile and shrugged, "Lucas is not good at asking for help, Henry. He's always had to do it on his own, it's all he knows. He thought that he had finally found his home here in Hope Valley with Elizabeth and little Jack and look how that turned out. He thought he had friends that would have his back. Yet, Elizabeth hasn't shown him one ounce of compassion since he's been back here. Honestly, with the exception of a very few, has anyone in this town?" She said irritated.

It was getting louder in his head, "Governor Bouchard has a nice ring to it." Lucas cried out, "Make it stop!" His eyes flew open. Sweat was pouring from his brow. He stared blankly at MaKayla and Henry in front of him.

"Lucas," MaKayla said softly again. "Look at me. Everything is ok." She told him.

"MaKayla," he said quietly, touching her face. "Thank goodness, it's you." He took a deep breath and hugged her tight as he rested his head on her shoulder for a moment. He released her trying to get his bearings.

"I was upset. Lee just told me he was pulling his support for the resort. And then the night I was shot started playing over and over again in my head. I was outside my campaign headquarters, except this time, I heard a voice. They said, 'Governor Bouchard has a nice ring to it.' I just can't see who said it. MaKayla, why can't I see who shot me?" He said frantically.

Lee had seen enough. He had no idea that his friend had been suffering relentlessly for months and it broke his heart. He turned and walked away, devastated by all that he had seen and heard.

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When Lee returned to his house, Elizabeth was there with Rosemary. As he walked in Rosemary looked at him, he seemed dejected, Rosemary thought.

"Lee, is everything alright?" Did you get your mayors statement to the printers on time?" She asked him anxiously.

"Yes, sweetheart. I did." He told her quietly.

"Did you also see Lucas and inform him that you and Maise are withdrawing your support for the resort?" She asked him.

Lee turned to Elizabeth, "Elizabeth, did you tell Lucas right up until he left for Capital City, that you would go with him? That you loved him, you wanted to make it work between you?" He asked her with a menacing tone.

Elizabeth stood in front of him, speechless. "Lee, why are you asking Elizabeth these questions, that was months and months ago?" Rosemary said annoyed with him.

"Hmm, because all this time…all this time, Elizabeth has been telling us that it was a mutual breakup, that Lucas was fine with everything." He said with a knowing smirk at Elizabeth.

"You, me, this whole town, we have been giving Elizabeth our sympathy, our friendship, our compassion. After all, Lucas left her to pursue his dreams, he needed a grander stage. Isn't that right Elizabeth?" Lee asked with disgust.

"Lucas was happy, he was having the time of his life. Right Rosie, isn't that what you told me? No need to reach out he was fine, you both told me. I was supposed to be his best man, some best man I turned out to be. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to bed." With that Lee went upstairs leaving the two women staring at him in shock.

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Later that evening, MaKayla and Lucas were once again sitting out on his front porch. There was a full moon illuminating the beautiful scenery around them. It was a mild spring evening. They were each enjoying the quiet of the night with a cup of tea. Finally, Lucas broke the silence between them.

"I know you well enough to know that you would like to talk about what happened this afternoon, but at least for now can we just forget about it?" Lucas said as he gave her his best puppy dog face. "Can't we just look at the stars?" He asked her. It's such a beautiful night."

MaKayla started to sing, "Then the traveler in the dark. Thanks, you for your tiny spark. How could he see where to go if you did not twinkle so."

Lucas gave her a dimpled grin. "You have a beautiful voice." He told her.

"My mother would sing that song to me and my brother and sister. Twinkle, twinkle, little star." Did your mother ever sing that one to you?" MaKayla asked him.

Lucas gave a hearty laugh, "we will need to have a talk about Helen Bouchard someday. No, if anyone sang to me at night it was me. And as you have learned, I absolutely cannot carry a tune. It's not pretty." He laughed again.

"Yes, I can attest to that," she giggled. Let's just say you have a unique singing voice. Thank goodness your speaking voice could melt butter." She laughed with him.

"Lucas, you had a rough day, would you like me to sit with you until you fall asleep tonight?" She asked tentatively. I could sing to you; help you fall asleep with good thoughts. But she knew that he would not take her up on her offer, relaying on others did not come easy to him even when he needed it most.

He looked at her with sad eyes, "I would but I think it is best if you don't. I think I'm tired enough to sleep the whole night. But thank you for offering. It means a great deal to me." He smiled at her, a soft, gentle smile that touched her heart. "I think I will go to bed now. Goodnight, Doc." He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead and then went inside. She watched him as he walked into the house.

"Goodnight my love," she whispered to the heavens.

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The next morning, Lucas came out of his office to find Edwin, Mike and Bill talking. Lucas walked over to them.

"What's going on gentlemen? Edwin, what's this?" Lucas asked as he took the paper from his hand.

"I will speak to the mayors immediately about retracting this outrage." Edwin told Lucas.

Lucas stared at the headline, "Mayors Withdraw Support for Bouchard's Resort." Anger started to well up inside of him. He turned and walk back to his office, slamming the door shut. He angrily started ripping up the paper. He couldn't breathe. He flung off his jacket. The room was closing in on him. He sat down on the corner of his desk, trying to regain his composure.

The flashbacks started again; except this time the picture was crystal clear in his head. He walked out of his campaign office. It was raining, car lights flashed in his face. He could hear a voice. A woman's voice. He heard a sweet Louisiana accent, "I came to congratulate you, Cheri. Governor Bouchard has a nice ring to it." Her face came into view…it was Jeanette.

There was a man standing off to the side near the car. "Who's your friend?" He heard himself ask. The man came out of the shadows.

"This is Mr. Shaw he wants to have a word with you." Lucas stared at the man but he didn't know him. Lucas turned to leave but then the man pulled a gun on Jeanette. He saw fear in her eyes. He struggled with the man for the gun. It went off. He fell back and everything went black.

Lucas stood up, breathing heavy. Just then the door to his office opened. He turned towards the door; it was Jeanette. Lucas stared at her for a long moment as he steadied his breathing.

"You were there." He said to her incredulously.

"What are you talking about?" She said with a coy smile.

"You were there when I was shot." He told her.

She gave him a shocked look, and started to walk over to him. "In a way I'm relieved you remember. It was such an awful night. Casmir Shaw, he forced me to take him to you." She told him

"The gangster?" Lucas asked stunned, not sure if he heard her correctly. "He was the man with you that night?" He asked beseechingly.

Jeanette lowered her gaze. "Yes."

"How do you know Casmir Shaw? You told me you had gone legit." He said harshly.

"I was introduced to him by a friend, at the time I had no idea who he was." She told him. "When I found out, I swear Lucas I tried to get away from him and I did for a while." She told him with pleading eyes.

"But he found me and then your picture was in the paper when you started running for governor…I unfortunately let it slip that I knew you. He had an understanding with Balfour and if you were elected to the governorship, he was going to use me as leverage. He wanted to have you continue to let him run his operation in your territory without retribution." She said with fear in her eyes.

"Is he still after you?" He asked.

"The publicity surrounding the shooting scared him off. He doesn't like that kind of exposure. Except…"

"Except, what?" He asked coldly.

"You announced the request for bidders for the resort and he got interested as a way to launder money." She told him.

"Casmir Shaw is behind your bid?" He asked angrily. "One of America's most wanted criminals."

"Yes," she said quietly.

"And he had Montague beaten to eliminate him from the competition. He's also the one that spread the rumors about how the government would not play fair after the resort was built." He said as the pieces all fell into place.

"Yes. You have to cooperate with him Lucas. If you don't, I'm as good as dead and so are you." She told him with fear in her eyes.

"You could have come to me Jeanette, told me. Do you have any idea how not knowing has tortured me? Do you care so little for me that you kept this from me for 8 months?" He asked with blind fury. Jeanette stepped back in alarm. She had never seen Lucas so angry.

"I want you to leave my office. Go up to your hotel room and stay there until I come for you. Do you understand? Do not leave your hotel room." Lucas told her sternly.

"What are you going to do?" She asked terrified.

"Just leave now, Jeanette. Talk to no one and go directly to your hotel room." He said flatly.

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Once Jeanette had left, Lucas walked over to the bar in his office and poured himself a whiskey and gulped it down. His hands were shaking, his head pounded but at last he had the answer to the question that tortured his soul.

Once he had regained his composure, he called Henry and asked him to come to his office immediately.

As Henry walked through the saloon, Bill stopped him and asked what was going on. "Hell, if I know, Lucas told me to get over here right away. Excuse me gentlemen."

When Henry entered Lucas's office, he was sitting at his desk. He was very pale and still didn't look much better than when Henry saw him yesterday. "Lucas, what's going on?" Henry asked.

Lucas then told Henry the whole story. "Well, I'll be damned. We can let Edwin know then we can have him write up a press release announcing the cancelation of the resort project." Henry told him. Lucas nodded.

When Lucas and Henry entered the saloon to find Edwin they saw that Lee, Rosemary, and Nathan had joined Bill and Edwin. They walked up to the group.

"Lucas, before you say anything, I gave you fair warning on the mayors statement that was printed in the Valley Voice this morning." Lee told him.

"You did and I appreciate that, Lee. You at least had the decency to tell me to my face as opposed to blindsiding me." Lucas stated while staring directly at Rosemary.

Looking at the faces in front of him, Lucas cleared his throat. "I've canceled the resort; the project is dead." Lucas said flatly.

Have you lost your mind?" Edwin asked exasperated

"Why now?" Bill asked.

"Certain information has come to light. Unfortunately, that's all I can say for the moment." Lucas told them.

"Our readers will expect more than that, Lucas." Rosemary said.

"I will prepare a statement that will be issued to all newspapers." He told her as he walked away.

"Bill, Nathan, could you please join the governor and I in his office?" Henry asked them.

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Once the men had assembled in his office, Bill asked. What's this all about Lucas?"

Lucas eyed the men judiciously, "Earlier today, I remembered the night that I was shot. I know who tried to kill me." He told them as they looked at him, surprised by this sudden turn of events.

"The gunman was Casmir Shaw." He told them.

"The American gangster is the gunman?" Nathan said astonished.

"Yes, the minute I was elected he wanted me to know that I needed to play ball with him, the same as Balfour had done in the past. He knew Jeanette and found out about her personal connection to me. He was using her as leverage to get me to agree. She was also there that night. She was Shaw's way to prove to me that he could get to her at any time." Lucas swallowed hard, before continuing.

"After the shooting was front page news, he laid low for a while, not liking the exposure that the shooting had generated. Then I announced plans for the resort and he thought this was an even a better way to get his claws into me and the territory." Lucas said.

"He was behind Jeanette's bid from the beginning." Henry told them.

"Well, now that we have you as a witness, we can put him behind bars for shooting you." Bill said.

"You would have to catch him first and that will not be easy. He has managed to avoid the law for quite some time. For all we know he may not even be in Canada anymore." Lucas said.

"I'd like to talk to Jeanette and hear what she has to say." Nathan said.

"Not so fast Nathan, there are other things to consider." Lucas told him

"Lucas has concerns for Jeanette's safety." Henry said.

"What about your safety?" Bill asked.

"Do you think Shaw would come after you here in Hope Valley?" Nathan asked.

"It's possible. And that's why I'm bringing the both of you in on this." Lucas told them.

"We should bring Lee and Rosemary in on this too. Lee is the mayor and Rosemary has been investigating your shooting with me right from the start." Bill told him.

"I don't want Rosemary involved. If we tell Lee, I don't trust that he won't share this information with her." Lucas stated.

"What are we doing about Jeanette's involvement in all this?" Nathan asked.

"I'm going to ask you to please leave that with me. For now, this stays amongst the four of us. No exceptions, gentlemen." Lucas said firmly.

"Nathan, I will discuss protection needs with you later, but first I have other things I need to attend too." He told him.

The men all nodded in agreement but Bill didn't feel right about leaving Rosemary and Lee out of this. Lucas was the boss and he had no choice.

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Once everyone had left his office, Lucas sat back down at his desk. He was relieved that he finally saw the full picture of what happened that night, but did he? Something seemed off. He couldn't quite put his finger on what was bothering him. His thoughts wandered, had he remembered everything correctly or was there still a piece missing? Was Jeanette keeping something else from him? He felt strongly that there was more, but what?

Lucas walked over to the infirmary to see MaKayla. As he entered, he saw Nathan. "Hello Constable" Lucas said with ease.

Nathan looked at Lucas and was surprised to see him. "Faith and I were going to have dinner tonight. I was just telling her that I wasn't sure I would be able to make it." He told him.

"Nathan, do not cancel your plans because of me. I believe we are good for tonight; I insist. As a matter of fact, I insist that you and Faith have dinner on the house at the saloon." He told him.

"Now Dr. Donovan if you don't mind, I would like it if you would go on a horseback ride with me." He said to her with a soft grin.

"Lucas, are you sure it's safe to do that?" Nathan asked worried.

"Thank you for your concern, Constable, but I believe I will be safe for today." Lucas told him.

Faith jumped in, "now it's my turn to insist. MaKayla go. Enjoy, it's a beautiful day out there."

They walked over the livery, saddled their horses then rode up to Lucas's property on the hill. Lucas had always thought it was so beautiful there. With MaKayla by his side the land had started to hold good memories instead of just rejection and pain.

Once they had reached the property, they sat on the grass gazing at the immense beauty in front of them. MaKayla turned to him. "Lucas, what's going on? It was like you and Nathan were speaking a secret language back at the infirmary. Is everything alright? She asked concerned.

"I remember Doc, I finally remembered who shot me." He told her resolutely.

She stared at him in shock, "Oh Lucas, that's wonderful. Who was it?" She asked curiously.

"Casmir Shaw, he's a criminal from America who has been running rum through our territory. He has been quite successful the past few years. He wanted me to look the other way as he continued the dirty dealings that he had run under Balfour's tenure as governor." He told her

"Lucas, I'm so relieved you remember. But do you know this Shaw person?" She asked confused.

"No, I'd never seen or really heard of him before that night. But Jeanette was there with him, the night of the shooting. He knew Jeanette through some mutual acquaintance and she let it slip that she knew me. He thought he could use her as leverage to get me to fall into line. He was holding a gun on her. But I still feel like something is missing. Something doesn't make sense." He told her. "I need your help to try to make sense of it." He told her.

"Ok, but how could I be of help?" She asked him surprised.

"First, why would Shaw use Jeanette as leverage against me? Wouldn't it make more sense to go after Elizabeth and Jack? Jeanette and I haven't seen each other for years." He said questioningly.

"Well, you said he knew of your personal connection to Jeanette. Perhaps Jeanette told him of Matthew's death and the role you played in it. Perhaps he thought he could use that in some way or she was just easier to get to than Elizabeth." She offered.

"I suppose that could be it." He said still unsure.

"Shaw and I struggled for the gun; during the struggle the gun went off hitting me in the leg at close range. But the second shot, hit my shoulder and was at a distance, correct?" He asked. MaKayla nodded.

"I don't remember the second shot, which means I lost consciousness after the first bullet and hit my head when I fell. I was no threat to Shaw at that point. Why did he take a second shot especially if he didn't go for a kill shot? It makes no sense." He said mystified.

Maybe he thought he didn't need to go for a kill shot, as you call it. For all intents and purposes, he had left you for dead. You were losing quite a bit of blood. If Edwin hadn't found you when he did and we didn't have a donor match for your blood type, you would have died Lucas, no question." She said as a chill ran down her spine. "I don't necessarily think he meant to let you live, you were just very, very lucky." She said to him.

"Lucky that a beautiful surgeon and I happen to share the same unique blood type." He said with a knowing smile. MaKayla returned his smile.

Lucas continued his thought, "there is no way Shaw knew any of that. There has to be another reason he didn't kill me when he had the chance. Men like Shaw don't leave witnesses, he would have finished the job that night but something stopped him." He said bewildered.

"If men like Shaw don't leave witnesses why not kill Jeanette as well?" MaKayla questioned.

"Most criminals don't have the stomach for killing women and children. Although I have known men that don't have such ethics." He said with disgusted laugh. "Besides, Jeanette is not what we would call a law-abiding citizen, he probably knew he had nothing to fear from her." He said with chagrin.

I'm going to let Jeanette leave town tonight and go somewhere that Shaw can't find her. I owe her at least that much. He told her.

"Lucas I don't think that you owe Jeanette Aucoin anything. She could have told you months ago what happen and saved you so much heartache." She said with disdain.

Lucas lowered his gaze, "I promised Matthew I would always look out for her. I need to honor that promise as much as I possibly can. I hope you can understand that." He said as he turned to look at her.

MaKayla raised her hand to touch the softness of his beard, "That is the kind of man you are Lucas Bouchard and it makes me lo…care for you all the more." She said with an endearing smile.

"I think you would be safer in Capital City and not…" he trailed off as she put her finger to his lips.

"I am not going anywhere, Governor. I was with you at the beginning of this mess and I plan to see it to its conclusion." She told him emphatically.

"Somehow, I knew you were going to say that." He said shaking his head. "You are one stubborn woman, MaKayla Donovan." As he leaned in and gave her a deep kiss.