I Am Not Yours

Farewell For Now

August 1916

The next morning, Abigail woke up in her own bedroom above the cafe. She was more than happy about the night before, remembering the wonderful time she spent with Henry. A part of her felt she would never stop smiling though another part of her felt extremely melancholy knowing she had to leave Hope Valley again.

She got up out of her bed to get dressed and pack the rest of her things before going to wake up Becky and Cody. Once she knew they were fully awake, she went downstairs to make them breakfast, but was surprised to see that a group of her Hope Valley friends had already cooked and planned a spontaneous surprise going away breakfast party for her and the kids. Lee, Bill, Molly, Florence, Dottie, Elizabeth, Minnie, and Rosemary were all in attendance as well as a few of Cody's friends and Florence's daughter, Deborah, for Becky, and Abigail was very grateful. Once Becky and Cody joined them downstairs, they all ate and talked about what life is like in Fulton Hills.

Abigail looked around at everyone and thought about how lucky she was to be this loved and she knew, for certain, that she could not stay in Fulton Hills forever. This was also her family and she would miss them too much if she moved away.

After they had finished eating and talking, it was time for the Stantons to head out to the stagecoach. Many others from around town came out to say goodbye to them and Abigail gave many of them hugs and assured them they would be back as soon as it was possible. Some people gave their well wishes to her mother and she began to feel the need to cry. But she held it together with a smile on her face.

Soon, she found herself looking around for Henry. He promised he would come say goodbye. But he was nowhere in the crowd. A part of her was worried. The other part of her was upset and disappointed. But she had no time to think on it longer as, soon, the stagecoach arrived and they had to get on it. Even as they closed the door, she looked out into the crowd to see if she could see him, but he was nowhere to be found. She felt a pain in her chest move into her stomach and she forced a smile to wave goodbye to the people of Hope Valley as the stagecoach pulled away.

A part of her tried to see the positive in not being able to say goodbye to him. Perhaps it was for the best considering the way they left things the night before was perfect and maybe it was better that way. But the other part of her wondered why he didn't show. She began to overthink, wondering if perhaps he was still too afraid to let the people in town see how much they meant to each other, even with a simple goodbye. Perhaps she was just sex to him. Maybe she pushed him too much again to show his feelings. These thoughts clouded her brain the whole journey back to Fulton Hills.

Henry had intended to go see them off. He woke up on time, he was dressed on time, he started to leave the house on time. But before he could even make it outside of his bedroom that morning...the thought of saying goodbye to her again made his heart beat faster than he ever thought possible. He didn't eat breakfast and the hunger pains he felt in his stomach turned into a severe chest pain. The most intense and painful chest pain he'd ever felt. He soon felt dizzy and placed his hand on the nightstand between his bed and the bedroom door to try and maintain his balance. He gulped, feeling a wave of heat throughout his entire body before his vision blurred and he collapsed onto the floor beside his bed, unconscious.

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October 1916

Henry spent over a month trying to write to Abigail in an apology letter. But he didn't want her to know what happened the day she left. He didn't want her to worry. But he also didn't want to lie. He tried multiple times to come up with a good one or a good excuse as to why he didn't make it to the stagecoach that morning, but never did. Abigail hadn't wrote to him either. Her schedule in Fulton Hills grew to be more busy. Her mother was getting better, but could no longer walk on her own. Sick of her bedroom, Vivian asked her doctor if she could finally move down to the living room to be around the family more since they knew she was not contagious. He gave the family his approval and Abigail and her father moved a small cot into the living room for her.