Granting a Family - Chapter 11: A Teacher and a Mountie

Within the Mountie community, certain folklore had been widely accepted as truth, especially when those stories occurred in real life to validate the widespread belief. One of those long-held theories was the legend of A Teacher and a Mountie. Stories like Jack and Elizabeth Thornton circulated throughout the Mountie ranks and only perpetuated the belief that beautiful country school teachers were meant to be with men in red serge. 

When Nathan arrived in Hope Valley to watch over Jack’s widow and son, the last thing he wanted was to become a cliché. He fought with everything inside of him to resist falling for Elizabeth, mostly because he felt like it was betraying Jack’s memory, but partly so he wouldn’t be made a mockery of by his co-workers. Now rumors of Nathan and Elizabeth swirled, and he could tell some of the Inspector-trainees were talking about it...he had caught some of them looking and snickering when he walked by. He knew Carl Jessop was one of the ringleaders spreading gossip about the situation, and he really hoped none of them saw them together at the Cardinal Café on Saturday.

Elizabeth’s visit to Union City and their “date” to the café confused Nathan more than ever. She even wanted to make dinner for him and Allie when they got home, and have the four of them finally get their family date. If all of this had happened a year ago, it would have been everything he had dreamed and more. He had been deeply hurt by Elizabeth, and just wasn’t sure if he could ever fully give his fragile heart completely to her again.

Tuesday had been physically exhausting for the Mounties as they completed their PT tests, but Nathan had passed it all with flying colors. Once they were all finished, the tradition of having a wood chopping contest began. Nathan had no intention of joining, but when Carl kept bragging about how he would beat everyone and take the bragging rites home, he had no choice but to join...if only to shut up Constable Jessop. Nathan easily chopped his way through the first few rounds. Even though he was exhausted, chopping wood was like mental therapy and he had a lot of emotions to work through right now. He channeled all of the pent-up frustration of the past year and handily beat everyone who challenged him. Of course Carl, though annoying and arrogant, had also been easily defeating his challengers. 

Sweat had soaked Nathan’s Henley and the shirt was clinging to his body, revealing his muscular arms and torso. He turned around and noticed a crowd of people had formed behind the Mountie Headquarter fence, including many women, watching the contest with great interest. It had come down to Nathan and Carl, vying for the title. Carl was soaking up the attention, especially from the women, and tore his sweaty shirt off to complete the contest bare chested. Nathan rolled his eyes, more determined than ever to beat him soundly and wipe that smug look off his face.

One of the superiors got up and announced, “Ok Mounties, our final round is between Constable Grant and Constable Jessop. They have two minutes to chop as much wood as they can, and the one with the most wins!” 

“You going to win this one for a certain Mrs. Thornton?” Carl jabbed at Nathan.

“No, I’m going to win this to wipe that smirk off your face,” Nathan snapped.

“Ready. Set. Go!”

All of the pain and frustration from the past year, and the past week, came flooding back, and Nathan took it out on the wooden logs. Everyone watched in silence as his pile grew at an alarming rate in the short two minutes of the competition. Carl did his best to keep up, but kept getting distracted by the pace Nathan was keeping. When the whistle blew, signaling time was up, both men nearly collapsed in complete exhaustion from a day full of physical activity. Carl put his shirt back on, looking slightly defeated but having gained some respect for his rival. He walked over and held out his hand to Nathan, “Grant, I misjudged you. Looks like I have some work to do if I want to beat you next time.”

Nathan shook Carl’s hand out of good sportsmanship, then sat down on one of the wood stumps to regain some strength before he got cleaned up and headed to his temporary home. Mounties were patting his back congratulating him, and a group of women were still gathered together talking and taking turns looking over at Nathan. Embarrassed, he went inside the building to gather up his things and went back to the boarding house.

Wednesday morning, Nathan walked Allie to school in the morning before he had to go to his scheduled training. Allie chattered endlessly about the things she was learning in school, her new friends, and how she also missed home and her friends in Hope Valley. Nathan loved listening to his not-so-little girl talk about the things that were important to her as they walked. When they arrived at the school, Allie gave him a hug and as she walked away she turned and yelled, “Bye, Dad!” then hurried up the stairs and into the building.” As he watched her go in, he saw a familiar face at the top of the stairs, staring at him with wide eyes and her mouth open in shock.

Kate, he thought as he started climbing the stairs to her. Why was she here at the school? He was trying to process seeing her here and she seemed frozen in place as he moved his way through the crowd to meet her.

Kathryn was out watching the students arrive for the day when she spotted someone familiar in the crowd. But wait, was that really Nathan wearing red serge? He’s a Mountie? Of all the rotten luck, he has to be a Mountie, Kathryn thought to herself. But then she noticed something else. He was bringing a young girl to school who hugged him, and then...Did she just call him Dad? She tried to process these two new pieces of information, when she noticed him walking up the stairs to her. As much as she wanted to run away, Kathryn’s leg’s felt cemented to the ground where she stood.

“Kate, it’s so good to see you! What are you doing here?” Nathan noticed the confusion in her eyes and realized he had some explaining to do. But first he looked her up and down to appreciate how beautiful she looked this morning. Her hair was up in an attractive bun with a few stray hairs attractively framing her face, and she wore a light green dress that brought out her eyes. “You look really nice.”

“Uh, thank you,” she stammered. “I’m a teacher here at the academy. I didn’t know you had a daughter...or that you were a Mountie.”

“I know we haven’t had time to talk about those things yet, but believe me when I say those were two subjects I definitely planned to cover at dinner tonight.” he explained. “I hope you are still planning to go.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” she replied.

“Kate, please,” Nathan pleaded. 

“My name is Kathryn,” she insisted. “And what about the other woman? I know she’s also a teacher, because I saw her taking the same exam as me the other day. You were holding hands with her. Are you married? It wouldn’t surprise me that a Mountie would be romancing other women when he’s already married or otherwise attached.”

Where is all this coming from? Nathan thought to himself. “Give me a chance to explain everything,” he urged. “I want you to get to know me. Just like you clarified who you were with when I saw you with another man, I promise all of this is a big misunderstanding. I have to go, but I’m begging you to have dinner with me tonight so we can talk about this.”

“I don’t think so, Constable,” she emphasized the last word with contempt, then turned around and went inside the school.

Great, being a Mountie comes back to bite me again, he thought. And she was a school teacher! The legend of a teacher and a Mountie was turning out to be nothing but a nightmare for him. Nathan let out a big sigh and headed for his last two days of training before the final Inspector exams. He suddenly longed for home in Hope Valley away from the city and a certain school teacher who assumed the worst of him, which seemed to be a trend.

Nathan was greeted at Mountie Headquarters with a lot more respect from the other trainees since his big win in the wood chopping competition. No one was giving him a hard time about Elizabeth anymore, and even Carl wasn’t putting him down constantly like he had been. He had a hard time concentrating on the first part of training, only thinking about his conversation with Kate that morning. As the day went on, he really started enjoying the things they were learning and remembered reasons why he became a Mountie and enjoyed the profession so much.

At the end of the day, Superintendent Lewis again handed out the mail and phone messages. To his surprise, Nathan had a letter from Hope Valley. When he saw his name on the envelope, he knew immediately who it was from, and his heart beat a little faster wondering what the letter said. He quickly put it away, so no one could see the return address and give him a hard time again. Nathan changed out of his uniform and into civilian clothes, gathered up the rest of his belongings, then went to get Allie from school. He was hoping maybe he would run into Kathryn again so he would have another chance to answer her questions and let her really know him. And then there was this letter...what did Elizabeth have to say to him that required a letter? He would be home in just a few more days. 

Nathan scanned the crowd at Advanced Learning Academy, hoping to spot a certain blonde school teacher while waiting for Allie to appear. Without warning, someone crashed into him, and he dropped everything he was holding.

“I’m so sorry, let me help you gather your things,” the woman started to say, then looked up and froze when she realized she had bumped into Nathan. 

“Kathryn, hi. I was hoping I would run into you...maybe not literally,” he snickered at his own joke, then quickly got serious again. “I know how things must look to you right now, but I promise if you give me a chance I could ease your mind. I’ve really enjoyed our conversations together the past couple weeks.” She handed him the last item she picked up for him with hurt in her eyes, knowing it was a letter to him from a woman named Elizabeth. 

“Nathan, I let myself get caught up in the idea of us getting to know each other better the past couple weeks,” Kathryn remarked. “I apologize for this morning and the way it came across, but it doesn’t change the fact that you are leaving in three days to go home. Maybe if things were different…”

“Dad!” they heard Allie holler as she ran to Nathan. Kathryn quickly excused herself before Allie reached them.

“Allie, how was your day?” Nathan asked, trying to act completely normal.

“Great!” Allie responded. “What were you saying to that teacher?” 

“Oh, Kathryn stays at our boarding house and I’ve talked to her a few times so she was just saying hi.” Nathan did his best to hide his feelings again for Allie’s sake, just like he always tried to do with Elizabeth. However, he wasn’t very good at hiding his feelings most of the time. “Is she one of your teachers?”

“No, she’s one of the advanced math and science teachers here, but I’m not in her class. Were you asking her out?” Allie questioned.

“If I had been, would that be a problem?” He carefully gauged Allie’s reaction.

“I don’t know. I guess not, since she’s not my teacher right now,” she admitted. “Besides, we are leaving in a few days, so would you really want to go out with someone who lives that far away?” 

“You make a good point,” Nathan said. “It’s ok, she turned me down anyway once she found out I had a daughter and that I was a Mountie.”

Allie put her hand in Nathan’s to comfort him and said, “Listen, when the right person comes along she’ll love you for who you are, because you are my hero and the best guy I know.”

Tears formed in Nathan’s eyes and he suddenly felt a wave of gratitude for this amazing girl who called him Dad. Trying to keep his emotions in check he kissed her forehead and they turned to head back to their home away from home.

Kathryn had been secretly observing this tender exchange of father and daughter and her heart was melting ever so slightly. He can’t be that bad, if he treats his daughter like that, she thought. Something about him told her he was different, but she had thought that before and got burned. She didn’t think she could trust another man...another Mountie, anytime soon.

Once Allie had fallen asleep, Nathan decided he should read Elizabeth’s letter. He hadn’t told Allie about Elizabeth coming to Union City, or their lunch “date”. He didn’t want to give her false hope that things could work out with them. He pulled out the letter and stared at his name written once again in her handwriting. He smelled the letter, and a hint of her scent still remained which caused a little flutter in the pit of his stomach. He carefully opened up the envelope and carefully unfolded the letter.

Dear Nathan,

I know you will probably be home shortly after you get this letter, but I wanted to write to you so you could read this before you got back to Hope Valley. I first of all want to thank you for lunch the other day after my exam. Seeing you brought back so many feelings and emotions, and I’m not sure what to do with them. As you know, I wasn’t always myself last year, and it resulted in me hurting those I love most. 

In our conversations, I often used Allie to cover up the feelings I had for you. When I talked about you being who she looked to when choosing who to marry, I was the one looking at you and knowing no other man would compare as I chose someone to marry. You have been MY rock since you came to town, Nathan. You didn’t have to come to Hope Valley and watch out for me and little Jack, but your sense of duty and honor are so admirable. You will never know how much your sacrifices have meant to me.

Lucas has come around a lot since the story ran in the newspaper, explaining his side of the story of his involvement in the real estate transactions. He wants me back, and he’s been giving me all the flowers and gifts he thinks will win me over. I just found out that he and Helen have a two week book tour set up for me the first week of June, after school gets out for the summer. I have mixed feelings about the tour, but know it is probably necessary. 

Now I’m just rambling, but I feel like I’m talking to a friend. I’ve missed you, my dear friend. Please be safe, and tell Allie I can’t wait to hear all about her experience at the academy when you get home. Just know you are missed at home, and everyone is so proud of your accomplishments. Little Jack mentions you by name whenever he sees his Daddy’s picture, and every time we walk by your house or the jail. He asks daily to go see Newton if we are ever near the livery. I have tried to make the new Constable and his wife feel welcome, and they seem to be settling in quite nicely. 

Finally, I hope I didn’t ruin your chances with that woman we saw that day at the café. It would be unfair of me to keep you from finding someone else who makes you happy. Just know I want nothing more than your happiness. You deserve the world, Nathan. Good luck on your exams, and safe travels back to us this weekend.

Love always,

Elizabeth

Nathan sighed as he folded the letter, put it back in the envelope, and smelled it one more time before storing it in one of his files. He laid awake staring at the ceiling not knowing what he even felt anymore. He had been single for this long...maybe he wasn’t meant to ever get married. But one thing was certain, that the legend of A Teacher and Mountie was just that: pure fantasy.