After the visit with Lily and the phone call with Mattias, Anna went about her normal day's work-taking care of Chloe, updating and organizing Doc's paperwork, seeing a few people who wandered in-while giving Doc Mattias the cold shoulder. She realized later that this treatment was probably more welcome than her constant attempts at conversation, and regretted it slightly.

Regardless, the end of the day brought a very welcome chance for a visit to Kristoff and Sven's for some food, drink, and conversation. She worried slightly that the topic weighing most heavily on her mind was something she had to keep confidential, so she prepared conversation topics in her mind while walking over. Fishing? Town history? How Sven became such an amazing cook?

When Kristoff finally came over to interrupt this train of thought, his first words derailed it entirely.

"So, I should warn you: the town is split on your decision to call social services."

"Wait, what? How does the town know? That's a violation of doctor-patient confidentiality!"

"No, just the town grapevine. Gerda spotted Lily leaving the office, and Lily broke down and told the whole story. Then the phone tree got involved, and, well, it's all I've heard about this afternoon."

Anna groaned. "An invasion of privacy is that last thing she needs at this point…"

"Here in town, they think of it more as 'helping' than 'invading'. Don't get me wrong, I'm not exactly the head of the welcome committee, but Sven and the bridge club have already arranged for a meal train, and Yelena is stopping by later to scope out what farm work needs to be done. She figures they could hire some local kids to help her out. Make things less overwhelming."

Anna melted at his description, her face curling into a smile. "All right, that is sweet. She'll need some additional support, and it will be good for the case worker to see that she's not isolated here."

Kristoff's face was unreadable. He cleared his throat and continued. "What happens with Chloe, then?"

"Well ideally, they'll find a relative placement. Lily has grown children with kids of their own, so I would hope one of them could look after her while Lily recovers. After that, I think reunification will be fairly simple. I mean, nothing in the system is ever simple, but Lily is a model citizen who just found herself in difficult circumstances."

Kristoff nodded slowly, still stoic. As he excused himself to the kitchen, she felt doubt rising inside of her.

What did he think about her decision?

Why did she care what he thought?

The answer came to her as she thought back to their picnic-right. He had been in foster care. The whole situation, and hearing about it all day, must have brought back some difficult memories.

Still, it wasn't like she was totally naive. She had worked with plenty of people who had been involved in the messy process of foster care. Then there was the matter of her own teenage years, when case workers had been in and out of their home to discuss Elsa's legal guardianship of her younger sister.

They would send her away to her room to talk with her older sister, as if she would simply let herself be shut out and not listen in on the conversation.

"Don't get me wrong-we want you to be successful. The last thing we need is another teenage girl bouncing around the foster system! But you're not much more than a child yourself, dear."

"I'm legally an adult. I've already enrolled in online school, and with my parents' estate and college funds, I won't have to work during the semester. The house is paid off-I have a monthly budget plan right here. Please, I have to do this. My sister has already lost so much. I can't let her get hurt again…"

Those snippets of conversation haunted her past, but there had been positive outcomes as well. Without their parents' constant fears about what people might think, both sisters got access to counseling, and Elsa finally found a medication that would take the edge off of the anxiety and depression that had often kept them apart. The sisters began to connect more. As soon as Anna graduated high school, they were both able to go away to college, and the rest was history.

There had been the whole matter with Elsa's worries about Hans, but the sisters had managed to stay close in spite of that.

So, overall, the system had done what it was meant to do. It had preserved their family and given them the help that they needed.

She wondered if Kristoff felt the same about his situation.

The repairs on the cabin hadn't been as extensive as the grimy exterior had suggested, but Kristoff still worked with a sense of urgency, worrying that it would all be for nothing.

Well, it wouldn't, right? Even if Anna left-she had said she was going to leave, so there was no reason to believe otherwise-having viable housing would make it easier for Yelena to find a replacement. Even Doc Mattias seemed to be coming around to the idea of an extra set of hands.

In any case, while the news about Lily being Chloe's mother was the talk of the town, Kristoff asked Sven if he could take a day to work on the repairs.

"Of course! Everyone knows I'm the more important half of the operation anyway. Olaf and I have got this. Right, buddy?"

Olaf, whose school had a long weekend for some reason or another, nodded enthusiastically. "I think I've watched Kristoff enough to know how to tend bar! What'll it be, Sven? On the rocks or neat?"

Kristoff quickly took the bottle of whiskey that Olaf had grabbed, replaced it, and steered the boy out from behind the bar.

"I'm not looking to lose my liquor license here. I'll be back before it's reasonable to drink, anyway, and I really should get a lock or something for the alcohol…"

"Geez, I'm just kidding! Calm down, old man."

He rolled his eyes at Kristoff, who returned the gesture and then set off for the cabin.

The work kept him busy, but failed to keep his mind from returning to the same few questions that kept plaguing him.

Why did he want to keep helping Anna, anyway?

Was he just trying to avoid the town gossip about how the meeting would go today?

What was it about that woman who had shown up to his bar looking defeated, out of her element, and yet stubborn and full of fire, that made him feel like he was back in high school dealing with crushes on girls way too good for him?

Kristoff shook his head, as if that might get rid of the thoughts. It was understandable, right? This was a small town. He didn't encounter many people. Anna was new and interesting-not like that , but like she clearly had some sort of past she was trying to escape-and there had been some crazy recent events with her at the center.

Everyone had the new arrivals-both Anna and Chloe-on their minds.

That was all this was.

...Right?

If that's true , asked the voice that reminded him suspiciously of Sven, then why do you keep picturing the way that her face lit up when you took her on a picnic, or when she was learning to fish? Why does that memory make your stomach flip?

And why are you working so hard to try to make it happen again?

Anna was more than a little bit nervous as she strapped Chloe into a carseat in the back of Mattias's pickup. The three of them were meeting the social worker at Lily's farm.

When Anna arrived on the front porch, holding Chloe's baby carrier, she raised her hand to knock-and then hesitated.

Mattias looked at her for a moment, then brushed past and knocked for himself.

Lily opened the door a crack, then seemed relieved to see who it was.

"Come in. I'm glad it's just you. Everyone has been so nice lately, but with what I did...well, it's so embarrassing to have all of this undeserved kindness."

"Lily, it's not undeserved. You have to understand that. What you went through would be difficult for anyone. No one blames you."

"That's what they say, but they sang a different tune back when they thought it was some irresponsible teenager who did this. I can't imagine what they're saying behind my back."

Anna sighed, her hand on the woman's arm. It would take time, but eventually, she would see herself as the strong woman that she was.

They had time to settle in before the case worker arrived. Anna was happy to see that she was a woman older than Lily, with a kind and sympathetic smile. Back in LA, it was rare for someone to last long in foster care, making most case workers young, looking both bright-eyed and already beaten down.

"Before we start with the intake paperwork, I want to make it clear that you are not the first woman to be in this situation. Not by a long shot. Without a support system, many women feel overwhelmed and think their babies might be better off with someone else. Then they change their minds and decide to parent. There's no shame in it."

The rest of the meeting continued along a similar vein, and Anna was relieved when Lily had the strength to notify her family. She called her eldest daughter, who decided to make arrangements to come up the next day and take temporary custody of Chloe. The two of them would work with the case worker until Chloe could come home to Virgin River.

By the end of the conversation, there wasn't a dry eye anywhere-even the case worker and Mattias, though they managed to keep their composure, teared up a bit.

The case worker had already contacted a psychologist in the neighboring town, and Lily was somewhat hesitant, but agreed to do what it would take to navigate the system and care for her daughter.

It was late afternoon by the time they left, bringing Chloe back to the office for one last night.