The next night, Fiona had just closed up the barber shop and was on her way to the cafe to have dinner with Faith and Lily. Mei said she was also going to join them because Mike was staying late to close up the saloon. Fiona smiled as the rays of the setting sun settled over Hope Valley. Sunset had always been Fiona's favorite time of day. It symbolized the end of a hard day's work and signaled that a fresh start was just around the corner.
Up ahead, Fiona saw Faith standing in front of the saloon, holding her doctor bag having just come from the infirmary. Fiona was about to call out to her friend, but then she saw who Faith was standing with. Lucas.
Fiona watched as the two of them stood there talking, both with smiles on their faces. Lucas said something that made Faith laugh and then Fiona watched as Lucas reached out and brushed Faith's fingers with his.
Fiona instantly averted her gaze and started walking towards home as fast as she could without running.
"Hi Minnie," Fiona burst out as soon as she stepped foot into the cafe. "I actually have a lot of work to do, so I'll just be in my room." And before Minnie could utter a single word, Fiona fled from the room and dashed up the stairs. She knew she looked suspicious, but at that moment, she didn't care. She just had to get away.
Fiona shut her bedroom door behind her and sank wearily onto the bed, holding her head in her hands. Why is this happening? This isn't supposed to be happening! She couldn't have feelings for Lucas! He was courting Faith! Why did seeing the two of them together affect her so much? This has to stop, Fiona reprimanded herself. I can't keep doing this.
It was about an hour later that there was finally a knock at Fiona's door.
"Come in!" Fiona called, tearing her gaze away from the newspaper article that she'd been proofing. When the door opened, Fiona expected to see Minnie, but instead, it was Faith that popped her head inside.
"Hey," Faith said, with a small smile. "Minnie said you seemed a little preoccupied when you got home. Are you OK?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Fiona forced a smile onto her face. "Just lots of work." She waved her hand towards the other papers on the bed, trying to make her statement sound more believable.
"Oh, OK." Luckily, Faith didn't question it. "Minnie left a pot of soup on the stove if you want to stop and have some dinner," she said.
"Is Mei still coming over?" Fiona asked, setting her pen aside. At this, Faith shook her head.
"She decided to stay and help Mike close up instead. I saw her on the way home. She asked me to tell you."
"OK, well, are you and Lily eating now?" Fiona stacked her papers and started to stand.
"Actually, I have a date," Faith answered. She tried to contain her smile, but it couldn't help but escape anyways.
"Oh, with Lucas?" Duh, Fiona, she chided herself. Who else would it be with?
"Yeah." Faith smiled and Fiona thought she saw her friend's eyes sparkle. "I know it's a little last minute and that you have a lot of work to do, but would you mind keeping an eye on Lily tonight? She has homework that she has to do before tomorrow, so you wouldn't have to entertain her or anything," Faith rushed to explain. Even as Fiona's heart sank, she didn't let the smile fall from her face.
"I'd be happy to," she said, trying to ignore the small voice inside her head that reminded her that she was the only one of her friends who didn't have a beau. I don't need a man to make me happy. I'm happy being independent. Fiona repeated it until she believed it.
"Thank you so much, Fiona," Faith gushed. She crossed the room to give her friend a quick hug. "I really appreciate it. Plus, I know Lily loves spending time with you."
"Anytime," Fiona replied and this time, it felt more believable. "That's what honorary aunts are for."
"Thanks, Fiona. Lily will be thrilled. I'll go tell her." And with another smile, Faith ducked back out of the door.
"I'll be down in a minute!" Fiona called after her, but Faith was already too far away to hear. Fiona held back a sigh as she tucked her papers back into their folder. She was determined to make the best of tonight. Besides, she loved spending time with Lily. The two of them always had their own little adventures together. When Fiona arrived back downstairs, Lily bounded right up to her.
"Are you going to hang out with me tonight, Auntie Fiona?" Lily asked, her brown eyes wide with excitement and anticipation.
"You bet," Fiona replied, bending down until she was eye level with the little girl. "Maybe we can try out a new cookie recipe together."
"Yay!" Lily cheered, doing a dance around the kitchen.
"But, you have to finish all of your homework first," Fiona instructed, holding back a chuckle. Immediately, Lily stopped dancing and her expression grew serious.
"I'll go do it right now!" she exclaimed and then she took off up the stairs and towards her room. Fiona chuckled as she watched Lily go. Yup, she certainly was lucky to have a girl like Lily as her niece.
About an hour later, Faith left for her date with Lucas and Minnie followed soon after to go home and cook dinner for her family. Fiona and Lily had soup for dinner and then whipped up a fresh batch of chocolate hazelnut cookies that left the cafe smelling heavenly. Fiona forgot all about her confusing feelings until after she had tucked Lily in for the night.
Fiona tiptoed back to her bedroom and closed the door until it was ajar. After loosening her hair from its updo, Fiona changed into her pajamas and turned off her light. For a minute, she just stood there in the dark room. The night was dark, the overcast sky hiding the brightness of the stars. The wind pushed the clouds over the crescent moon, creating a ghostly fog over the only light in the sky. Fiona shivered as her mind drifted back in time to a year ago, to a night much like this one. To the night that she found out that Lucas had been shot.
Fiona had left for Nashville the night of the election, crossing into the states mere minutes after she heard the good news that the territory had a new governor. It hadn't been until days later, as she was walking home for the night, that she finally saw the papers.
"New Territorial Governor Shot on Election Night!" the headlines read and Fiona's heart had stopped as soon as she'd laid eyes on it. Her hands had trembled as she picked it up, hoping more than anything that the headlines were wrong- that the newspaper was talking about a different governor, a different person, a different man.
When she saw Lucas's face on the front page, Fiona thought she might faint. The only thing that stopped her was the urge to make a phone call.
"Hi Florence," Fiona remembered saying into the nearest phone she could get her hands on. "Can you tell me where I can reach Bill?" Fiona's voice shook ever so slightly and she tapped her foot nervously as Florence repeated the information. She didn't dare ask Florence about Lucas's condition, not knowing what the answer might be. No, she'd rather ask Bill, who Fiona knew wouldn't judge her for whatever reaction she happened to have.
The wait to be connected felt like hours even though it was only a matter of minutes.
"Hello?"
"Bill!" Fiona burst out, latching onto his voice like it was a lifeline. "I just saw the papers. How's Lucas? Is he-" Fiona squeezed her eyes shut, unable to bring herself to say the words. Please let him be OK.
"He's alive, Fiona," Bill said, his voice as calm as always. "He took a pretty hard knock to the head and they had to do major surgery on his leg. We're still waiting for him to wake up."
"But he's going to, right? He's going to pull through?" Fiona clutched the phone and waited, but Bill's silence was the only answer she needed.
"We don't know yet, Fiona," Bill finally said, his voice much softer than normal. "He was shot twice, once in the shoulder and once in the leg. Nothing's for sure, but the doctors are hopeful."
"OK," Fiona forced herself to say, but she felt far from it. "Thanks for letting me know."
"I'll let you know if anything changes," Bill promised.
"I'll call you," Fiona said. "Bye Bill." And then before Bill even had a chance to reply, Fiona hung up the phone.
After that, Fiona called Bill everyday, unless he happened to call her first, until Lucas woke up. Fiona knew that life was uncertain and that nobody knew what was going to happen next, but the shooting seemed like a nightmare come to life. Fiona could never have imagined that something like that would ever happen to one of Hope Valley's own. And the fact that it had made Fiona sick to her stomach, even now.
Shaking herself out of her dark thoughts, Fiona drew the curtains closed and slipped until the covers. A couple minutes later, she heard the downstairs door click open and then shut again, signaling that Faith had arrived home from her date. The next minute, the floor outside Fiona's door creaked as Faith went to check on Lily and give her a kiss good night.
Fiona let out another sigh as just for a moment, she wished that she had someone to bring her flowers and walk her home. Where did that come from? Fiona mused, the thought itself surprising her. I'm independent. I always have been. I don't need a man to make me happy. But as Fiona laid there in the dark, in the cozy room that was no longer her permanent home, the word 'independent' was starting to sound a lot more like 'alone.'
Faith was cleaning up the desk in the infirmary when the door jingled open almost a week later. Faith turned and smiled when she saw Nathan standing in the doorway with Jack in his arms.
"Hey you two," Faith said, brightly. "Are you ready for your check-up, Jack?"
"I guess," the boy mumbled, but he clearly wasn't in the mood. "Why do I have to do this?" he asked, glancing between Nathan and Faith. "I feel fine."
"Check-ups are important because they make sure you stay healthy," Faith explained, still smiling, mostly for the boy's benefit.
"It will be over before you know it," Nathan assured Jack, bouncing the boy in his arms a few times.
"OK," Jack said, dragging out the word.
"Why don't you hop up onto the bed, Jack?" Faith suggested, going back over to the desk to grab her doctor bag. Nathan set Jack down and the boy scrambled over to the bed and climbed up.
"Is Elizabeth at school?" Faith asked Nathan and he nodded in confirmation.
"She forgot that she'd scheduled the older kids' speech competition for today and she didn't want to have to reschedule since all the parents had already been told and invited, so I offered to take Jack instead." Nathan ran a hand through his hair before crossing his arms. "Bill offered to cover for me this morning, so it worked out."
"I bet it's nice to spend some extra time with him," Faith said, nodding her head towards Jack. At this, Nathan broke out into a grin.
"I take every opportunity I can get." And nobody could mistake the love in Nathan's eyes as he looked at the little boy. If Faith hadn't known better, she would have thought that Jack was Nathan's son. I guess he is, Faith realized then. In all the same ways that Lily is my daughter. Love is what matters.
"OK, Jack, are you ready?" Faith asked, as she took a seat in front of Jack and took out her stethoscope.
"Umhum," Jack muttered, but his shoulders dropped and he gave Nathan a look that seemed to say, Do I have to do this?
"Remember what we talked about, Jack?" was all Nathan said, with raised eyebrows.
"Oh, yeah." Jack immediately straightened his spine and pulled his shoulders back. "I remember now. I'm ready for my check-up now, Dr. Carter." At this sudden change of demeanor, Faith cast a curious glance over at Nathan, who seemed like he was trying not to laugh.
"I promised him that we could go feed Pal and Newton before he had to go back to school, but only if he was on his best behavior," Nathan explained, his eyes sparking with amusement as he watched Jack.
"Ahh," Faith said, with a knowing smile. "Well, let's get this done quickly so you can go have some fun!" Faith started going through her routine check-up, which she had given to Lily only a few weeks ago.
"How are things with Lucas?" Nathan asked after a minute, as he leaned his shoulder against the wall by the door.
"Oh, it's been going really well," Faith answered with a smile, as she finished checking Jack's joints. "Lily loves him and she started calling him Uncle Lucas a couple weeks ago." Faith's cheeks warmed at the memory.
"That's great," Nathan replied. "Elizabeth and I are really happy for you two." Faith stood, and smiled again.
"Thanks. And I know that the whole town is very happy for both of you too." At this, Nathan actually blushed and glanced down, but Faith didn't miss the smile that spread across his face.
"Well, Jack," Faith said then, turning back to the little boy. "I am happy to announce that you are perfectly healthy."
"Yay!" Jack cheered. Then, he immediately looked at Nathan. "Does this mean that we can go see Pal and Newton now?"
Nathan chuckled. "Yes, we can go see them now."
"Here, I'll just give you his check-up paperwork," Faith said, heading back over to the desk.
"Oh yes, Elizabeth asked me to make sure that I got that from you," Nathan replied, following her across the room. Jack was still sitting on the bed, bouncing up and down as he told Molly, who had just come into the infirmary, about going to see Newton and Pal.
"Here you are." Faith handed Nathan the papers.
"Thanks, Faith," he said, taking them and folding them neatly before sliding them into his pocket. "I'll give these to Elizabeth." Nathan started to turn back around, but then stopped halfway. "And I'm glad things are going so well between you and Lucas," he added. "It's great when you can be fully yourself with someone."
"It certainly is," Faith agreed, smiling again. Nathan smiled back before turning back around.
"Alright, Jack. You ready to go, bud?" he asked.
"Yes!" Jack exclaimed, scrambling off the bed and over to Nathan. Nathan reached down and Jack automatically slipped his small hand into Nathan's much larger one.
"Thanks again, Faith," Nathan said, halfway out the door. Then, he waved to Molly before he and Jack walked out of the infirmary together and Nathan closed the door behind them.
"I love seeing Nathan and Jack together," Molly said, with a smile. She walked over to where Faith was standing by the desk.
"Yeah, me too," Faith replied, but she barely even registered that she was saying it. Her mind was far from the present. Nathan's words kept swirling around her head. It's great when you can be fully yourself with someone. It was such a sweet and touching sentiment and something that Faith had always wanted in a relationship. But then why did it leave her head spinning?
Faith quickly tried to push the feeling away. Whatever it was, she didn't have time to figure it out now. She had work to do. Faith straightened her shoulders and hardened her resolve. But even as she tried to ignore it, Faith couldn't forget Nathan's words. And the fact that they left her stomach in knots.