Bill had been gathering evidence since the moment Lucas Bouchard stepped into Hope Valley. Something about his story didn't add up. He never said exactly where he was from so it was difficult to call around to get information. Fiona had come into his office earlier in the week telling him about a call Lucas had made to San Francisco. He had told a woman on the phone that Hope Valley was perfect. Now, the question was- why had Lucas Bouchard come to Hope Valley?

Fiona walked into his office, "Hello Bill, do you have a moment?"

"Yes, what can I do for you?"

Fiona shut the door behind her and came to sit in one of the chairs in front of his desk. "Do you remember the phone call we spoke about before?"

"Yes. Did you find out anything else?"

"I did. I called one of my brothers. He works for the mayor of San Francisco. He said that there is talk of Lucas Bouchard being involved with some gangsters in the area. They are looking for him but they aren't sure where he had traveled to. I told my brother to make sure not to tell anyone he knows that Lucas is here in Hope Valley."

"Gangsters? What could Lucas be involved in?"

"My brother didn't know but he said to be careful. These men are dangerous."

"Thank you for telling me. I'll let Constable Grant know so we can keep an eye on the town but I won't tell anyone else for now. We don't want to let Lucas know that we are onto him. Just let him play his part for the time being."

"Ok, let me know if you need me to do anything else," Fiona said, as she left to go back to the mercantile.

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It was Sunday morning and the town was headed to church. The festival would be the following Saturday so this would be the last time the town was gathered as a whole before then. Elizabeth had asked to speak after church this morning to remind everyone of the festival and that there was still time to help. She had written down some notes to bring with her and she decided to bring Jack in his buggy this morning. Rosemary and Lee were walking with her to church this morning when they got to Nathan and Allie's house. Allie opened the door and walked out onto the porch, "Hi Mrs. Thornton. Hi Mrs. Coulter. Hi Mr. Coulter."

Elizabeth smiled, "Hi Allie, how are you feeling?" Elizabeth had told Rosemary and Lee about looking for Allie when she got home from the search.

"I'm ok. My wrist is a little sore. I won't be riding a horse anytime soon."

"I hope not," Nathan said coming up behind her, smiling and putting a hand on her shoulder. "Hello everyone."

Elizabeth got a little shy once she saw Nathan walk out. She smiled, but didn't say anything. She wasn't sure how to react to him now. She knew that he was important to her. His friendship meant a lot. She wasn't sure if she was ready for more, but she could easily see it turning it to that.

Allie hopped down off the step onto the ground and started walking with Rosemary and Lee. Nathan shut the door to his house and began walking with Elizabeth as she pushed the buggy with Jack who was asleep.

Nathan saw Jack and commented, "Did he have an early morning?"

This broke the ice with Elizabeth. "He usually does," she replied laughing.

"Elizabeth, are we ok? You ran off quick at the infirmary. I wanted to make sure I didn't do anything. I appreciate your friendship and I would hate to ruin that."

"I appreciate our friendship too," Elizabeth said, smiling back at Nathan and she was relieved that they could move forward. The two of them walked to church, talking about their plans for the day and about the festival that was coming up fast. Elizabeth was excited about chance of getting a library and Nathan liked seeing her this happy.

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Bill found Nathan after church. He didn't want to bother him on his day off but he also didn't want to wait to let him know what he had found out. "Nathan, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Allie and I were going to go fishing. I think we need some time to talk after what happened the other day. Can it wait?"

"I wish it could, but no." Nathan saw the serious look on Bill's face and understood. He looked over at Allie standing with Elizabeth and the Coulters.

"Allie, can you wait here for a minute? I just need to talk to Judge Avery for a minute."

Allie nodded. Elizabeth smiled at Nathan with an unspoken knowledge that she would watch out for Allie.

Nathan and Bill walked over to the side away from the crowd where they couldn't be overheard. "I have been looking into Lucas Bouchard. Fiona overheard him on the phone to San Francisco where he told a woman that Hope Valley was perfect."

"Perfect? For what?"

"That's what we don't know. Fiona said her family is from San Francisco so she was able to find out that gangsters are looking for Lucas. He may be on the run from them which is why he came here. They don't know where he is for now, but I wanted you to be on the lookout."

"Thank you for letting me know Bill. I am going to go fishing with Allie but first thing tomorrow I will call the Mounties and see if they have any connections down in San Francisco if I can find out anything else."

The two men walked back over to the group with smiles so no one would worry. Elizabeth could sense something was happening. She had been married to a Mountie so she knew the looks. Bill was a former Mountie, and Nathan a current one. She would be on the lookout for anything unusual even if they wouldn't tell her exactly what it was.

––––––––

Nathan and Allie went to their favorite fishing spot. They rode out to the spot together on Newton. When they were riding, Nathan realized that it was not far from the place where he had found Allie. The field of wildflowers could be seen from where he was fishing, why hadn't he noticed it before?

The two of them hadn't caught any fish but it didn't matter to Nathan. He just wanted to spend time with Allie. There is something that he wanted to bring up to her but he didn't want to do it with a lot of people around. He wanted to give her the chance to really think about it and decide one way or the other without pressure.

"Allie there is something I want to talk to you about."

"I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry?"

"I'm sorry for running away and for everyone having to come look for me. I know I shouldn't have taken that horse."

"Allie, I know you are sorry. I appreciate your apology. You should also apologize to Mrs. Thornton though, it was her horse you took that day."

"Really? I didn't know!"

"I know that and she isn't upset. I still think you should apologize as it would be the right thing to do," Nathan said. Allie nodded and looked down. "But Allie that wasn't what I wanted to talk to you about."

"It wasn't?"

"No, it wasn't," Nathan took a deep breath. "I wanted to talk to you about when you came to live with me, when I became your guardian."

"Are you going to send me away?"

"No! Why would you think that?" Nathan asked her.

"I've caused so many problems over the years. You could probably have your own family by now if it wasn't for me. Maybe it would be better if I went."

"Allie, listen to me. You are the most important thing in my life. When I heard you were missing, I was devastated. I knew I had to find you, I couldn't think of anything else. You are my family. I know that I am your guardian but I wanted to ask you what you thought about me adopting you. You don't have to answer me now, I just wanted you to think about it.

"What would that mean? Would I call you dad instead of Uncle Nathan?"

"You wouldn't have to if you didn't want to. It would just make everything more official."

"And if I wanted to call you dad?"

"Then nothing would make me happier than to be your dad and have the best daughter in the world," Allie tossed her fishing pole on the ground and ran to give Nathan a hug. The two of them stood for a while in a hug until Allie said, "Can we talk to Judge Avery when we get back?"

"I think that can be arranged," Nathan said with a smile.