School has already started for a few days when Bill returns to Hope Valley. Nathan, Elizabeth, and Rosemary meet with him at the Saloon in Lucas' former office for a debriefing before their working day begins. Goldie is babbling in her stroller while Jack is chatting with Lily and Faith in the next room.

"What do you mean, a dead end?" Elizabeth says.

"Houston knows nothing," Bill sighs. "At first I thought he was still holding a grudge against me, but it seems more likely that the man has been kept in the dark after he was caught. He did try to fool me into believing he had some information about a bunch of crooked Mounties in the northwest, but it wasn't hard to guess he had nothing. To think he had the nerve to try to negotiate... As if I was going to get him out of jail!"

Rosemary rolls her eyes. "Of course, he saw an opportunity and wanted to take it."

"Did you get anything on your end?"

"Nothing very conclusive," Nathan answers. "It turns out that the report that got me suspended has been falsified. This only confirms what we had already begun to guess: that Hargraves is a liar and a cheat."

"But we are not stopping there: there are still other leads to explore," Rosemary declares. "Bill, we've got some gangsters to get in touch with. One of them has to know something."

"Can I have a coffee first?"

"Are you sure it's safe?" Nathan objects. "Visiting Houston was already a risky move."

"Well, we can't afford to play it safe indefinitely," Rosemary argues.

"Maybe we should," Elizabeth insists. "Maybe we'd better wait until we know a bit more about Hargraves' intentions."

"His intentions are pretty clear to me. He wants to blame Jack for whatever dirty business he or his buddies are involved in. We have to do something before it's too late."

"Trust me I understand, and I am very grateful for everything you do, but... just be careful."

"We will," Bill assures.

Elizabeth glances at the clock. "I have to go to school. Let me know if you find anything."

Nathan stands up at the same time she does and offers to walk with her. Bill and Rosemary exchange a knowing smile as they watch them leave together, Jack skipping beside them.

The reporter clasps her hands together. "Come on, we've got work to do!"

"But first my coffee," Bill adds. "Though maybe I could use something stronger..."

***

In the late afternoon, Nathan knocks on Elizabeth's door.

"Come in!" He hears her voice calling.

As he steps inside, a delicious aroma greets him. Elizabeth is washing dishes in the kitchen, an apron tied around her waist. Whatever is responsible for the smell is baking in the oven.

"Hi, beautiful." Nathan crosses the living room and kisses her.

"Hi, Constable," she grins as he pulls away.

"Jack's not with you?"

"He is in the backyard. He's not in the best of spirits today. He's been like this since lunch recess, and he won't tell me what's bothering him. I don't understand, he seems to get on well with the other children." She glances worriedly at the window. "Allie offered to take him for ice cream. She's coming over later, I hope it will cheer him up."

"Do you mind if I talk to him?"

"Would you do that?" She replies with a grateful look. "Maybe he will open up to you. He's been talking about you a lot lately."

Going out the back door, Nathan finds Jack sitting on a step, staring into space.

"Hey Jack, what's going on?"

"It's nothing."

Nathan frowns slightly. The boy usually greets him with much more enthusiasm.

"Well, that doesn't sound like nothing." Nathan sits down beside him. "You know you can talk to me, right? Between you and me, it might be better than staying alone with your worries."

Jack sighs, resting his head on his hand. "It's just... I wish I had a dad."

"You have a dad," the Mountie says gently.

"I know, but I never got to meet him. Mama told me about him, but it isn't the same thing. I'm the only one at school who never knew my dad," the boy's voice quivers a little, highlighting his feeling of injustice. "They all have memories with their dad, and I have nothing."

"I understand, it must be hard for you. Did you tell your mom about that?"

"I don't want to make her sad."

"You won't. She loves you, Jack. She wants you to be happy."

Jack takes a serious look. "Maybe I can ask her if she can get me a dad. A girl at school said her dad died and now her mom has found her a new one. Maybe it will be you. Allie says you're the best dad ever. I would like to have a dad like you."

The boy grabs Nathan's arm, looking at him a little too expectantly. His enthusiasm echoes in the Mountie's heart.

He wraps his arm around Jack's shoulders. "No one can ever replace your dad, Jack. But it doesn't mean you can't rely on other grown-ups. You've got your godfather Bill, you've got your Uncle Lee and your Uncle Tom... Your dad didn't leave you alone."

"I've got you too?"

"Yes, you've got me. And I'm here for you, whether you're sad or happy—you can count on me."

Jack's eyes light up. "Thanks, Mountie Nathan."

"Thanks for letting me be a part of your life, kiddo."

When they get back into the house, they find Allie and Elizabeth chatting and a pie cooling on the table. Elizabeth's eyes land on her son's smile, then on his hand in Nathan's. She looks up at him and he winks at her with a reassuring nod.

"Shall we go, Jack?" Allie holds out her hand to the boy. "Before the parents tell us we're too close to dinner for ice cream."

"Yay, let's go!"

Elizabeth chuckles as she watches them take their leave with a firm step.

"Thanks," she whispers to Nathan.

"You don't have to thank me." Moving closer behind her, he wraps his arms around her and rests his chin on the top of her head. "You hear that?"

"What?" She breathes out, distracted by his proximity.

"Sounds like it's just the two of us."

"Oh, I like the sound of that."

Nathan's hands gently untie Elizabeth's apron and replace it around her waist. Elizabeth's breathing becomes shorter. He turns her to face him. When she meets his eyes, she just forgets how to breathe.

"Me too, sweetheart. Me too."

And without her knowing how, by another spin, she finds herself sitting on Nathan's lap, on a chair.

With an intoxicating tenderness, his hand cups her face and his thumb runs along her cheek. He stares at her intensely, as if she was the most beautiful and precious thing in the world. And as far as he's concerned, she is. His breath hits her lips before his mouth crashes into hers. Elizabeth wraps her arms around his neck to deepen the kiss. The rush of heat in their chests soon evolves into an intense warmth that spreads throughout their bodies. Nathan's fingers slide up her ribs and press her closer, trying to reduce the already non-existent distance between them.

Oblivious to them, the fire consuming them keeps growing.

So much so that they don't hear the knock on the door. But a second one snaps them back to reality.

"Oh my goodness!" Elizabeth blushes, barely able to breathe.

"I will... um, take care of that." Nathan gestures awkwardly toward the door.

She nods, standing up and rearranging her hair while trying to pull herself together.

"Rosemary, hi!" Nathan says, readjusting his voice with a little cough.

"I'm sorry to interrupt."

"You're not interrupting," they both reply at the same time, earning a suspicious look from their friend.

"I have a phone call for you, Elizabeth. It's Charlotte."

"Charlotte?" Nathan echoes.

"Charlotte is Jack and Tom's mother," Elizabeth clarifies as she moves toward the door. "I hope she's okay. I'm coming."

He squeezes her hand. "Take your time, I'll go back into town and check on the kids."

As the two women make their way up the steps of the Coulter house, Nathan continues along the row houses.

His cheeks are still on fire. He can feel it as he tries to process what has just happened. He isn't sure what he was expecting, but, one thing's for sure, he hadn't seen this coming. That was intense—and disconcerting. He wasn't prepared to let himself get so carried away.

He wasn't prepared for the way she had managed to melt his body and soul.

And it takes him all the way to the main street to recover.

He spots Allie and Jack sitting side by side on a bench in the playground, apparently deep in conversation. He breaks into a tender smile and walks toward them until their talk reaches his ears.

"I understand how you feel, Jack. You know, I've been growing up without a mom since I was four. I know what it's like to feel like you're the only one who didn't know them, to wonder if you must miss someone you knew very little or not at all. But I've had my dad, and he's always given me all the love I needed."

"But don't you want a mom?"

"Sometimes, I guess, I wonder what it would be like."

"I can share mine with you if you want."

Allie chuckles. "You're sure?"

"Well, only because it's you. I don't want you to feel sad."

"Thanks, Jack. You are the best. And I love your mom, she's amazing."

The boy shrugs. "I know."

Nathan can feel his eyes moisten. He decides not to eavesdrop any longer and quietly turns back, letting them share this moment together.

***

After hanging up with Charlotte Thornton, Elizabeth heads back to her house, deep in thought. She has barely reached her door when Rosemary calls her back through her window.

"Elizabeth, there's another call for you! It's from Fort Clay."

The teacher freezes. That can't be good.

When she picks up the receiver again, her hand is slightly shaking. Feeding Goldie in the kitchen, Rosemary glances at her friend with an anxious look.

"Hello, Mrs. Thornton. This is Superintendent Hargraves."

Elizabeth swallows and tries to keep a composed, civil tone. "How may I help you?"

"You see, some facts have been brought to my attention and I'm a little bothered. I don't know what you and your friends think you're doing, but I must remind you that interfering with a Mountie investigation is liable to prosecution. Your friends Constable Grant and Judge Avery are supposed to know that."

Elizabeth's heart skips a beat. "I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean."

"What I mean is that you must let justice take its course," he answers coolly. "Listen, I understand, you want to defend your husband, and there's nothing wrong with that. It must be hard for you to see his loyalty questioned. But please listen to reason. Have you ever thought you might not like what you find? You should save yourself more grief."

"I don't know what blame you're trying to put on him, but you'll need more than lies to do it. Jack has always been nothing but decent and impeccable."

"With all due respect, Mrs. Thornton, there are things you don't know about your husband. Things that might be uncomfortable to uncover. Over the years of my Mountie career, I've seen men change. Sometimes people make a bad decision, it happens even to the best of us. They are only men. And a single mistake can be all it takes for everything to change. You may not have been married to your husband long enough to realize it, but Mounties don't tell their wives everything. A man who feels guilty even less so. That is how the truth is: not always pleasant. So you'd better be aware of it before you try to face it unprepared."

"I assure you that I'm totally prepared to face the truth, whether it's pleasant or not."

"Are you?"

Silence falls as no word comes out of her mouth.

"Have a good evening, Mrs. Thornton," the man says before hanging up.

Elizabeth puts the receiver back down, clenching her teeth. Rosemary rushes over to hug her. She doesn't need all the details to know that her friend's caller hasn't been particularly kind.

As she leaves Rosemary's house, Elizabeth sees Nathan coming back with Allie and Jack. Before she can notice, Nathan's preoccupied look fades when he catches hers. He sends the children inside, telling them to go finish their homework, and invites Elizabeth to sit with him on the porch.

"Is Mrs. Thornton all right?" He asks, taking one of her hands.

"Yes, she's fine. Actually, she wanted to check on me. She's been contacted by the Mounties about the inquiry. I... I told her about Jack's letter and the papers, and that we were looking into it. I didn't want her to worry too much."

"You did the right thing." He nods. "She has a right to know."

"And then Hargraves called."

Nathan abruptly turns to her, his eyes widening. Elizabeth relates the Superintendent's words as she did to Rosemary and the Mountie's jaw tightens. He can't believe the man took the liberty of saying such things to her.

Elizabeth sighs, staring at the field in front of her. "What if it was true, Nathan? What if Jack had made a mistake?"

"I don't think he did. I may never have met him, but I've heard enough about him—here, but also back in Fort Clay, from other Mounties. Nothing I heard sounded like a man who wasn't entirely devoted to his duty."

"Thanks. I don't even know how I can doubt it."

"Andrew Hargraves... He's good at making people doubt."

She nods thoughtfully. "You know him quite well, don't you?"

"Or so I thought. I got to know him when I was under his command. I thought he was the kind of man with a sensitive ego who didn't like it when things didn't go his way. But even back then, I never thought him capable of dishonesty. And now, well, we all know the man is a liar. If you ask me, he's also a bit of a manipulator. That's why I won't believe a word he says in this case."

"You're right. I shouldn't let his words get to me. That's probably what he wants."

"Of course that's what he wants, and we won't give him that satisfaction. You say he mentioned that things had been told to him? It sounds like he knows something, and I don't like it."

"How could he? We've all been very careful."

"I don't know... That could also be another lie." Nathan says wearily.

He runs a hand through his hair. The day definitely looks set to end as well as it started.

Elizabeth looks at him and frowns slightly. "There's something else, isn't it?"

Nathan hesitates. He's been thinking all the way here about how to tell her without finding a good way to do it. But he can't put it off.

"I... I just got a phone call, while I was in town. From the RCMP headquarters."

Elizabeth's frown deepens. "What did they want?"

"They assigned me a mission." Nathan takes a breath. "They want me to lead a training session for new recruits."

Her face crumples. What kind of torture is that?

"No." She shakes her head. "No. No they didn't..." Her voice cracks and Nathan's heart sinks.

He feels so helpless in the face of her distress. It hurts him because now he knows. He knows how it feels to lose someone so close to your heart that it tears you apart. That's how he felt when he thought he had lost her. He knows she dreads feeling that way again and he can only understand.

"I'm so sorry, Elizabeth. It shouldn't last more than two or three days, maybe less."

Her rib cage tightens, making it hard for her to breathe. "Why this mission? Why you? Why now? Don't tell me you think it's normal."

"I know it's not. But these are orders, I can't discuss them. There's one thing I can tell you, though. This mission is not the same as the training mission Jack replaced me on."

Elizabeth closes her eyes in an attempt to hold back the tears that threaten to fall.

Nathan cups her face. "Hey, sweetheart, everything's going to be fine, I promise."

"You can't promise me that."

"Trust me, I'm not saying this because I'm good at my job. I'm always careful when I'm on duty. I have Allie. I have you. I have Jack. You count in every one of my decisions."

"Oh, Nathan." She places her hands on his. "Of course, I trust you. I don't trust them."

Looking deeply into her eyes, he brings her fingers to his lips. "I'll be careful."

Elizabeth breathes as she tries to regain her composure. She can handle it—can't she?

"When do you have to leave?"

"Tomorrow afternoon. I'll be back before you know it."

"Just as we were saying we wouldn't let him get to us," she smiles bitterly. "Can't say he's making it easy."

"Let him just wait for me to come back. The minute I'm done with this, I'll make sure he can't do anything like that ever again. I will not rest until this inquiry matter is over."

And Nathan couldn't be more determined to keep his word.