When Calls the Heart Season 11 Episode 8: Brother's Keeper

Outside Elizabeth's house, she and Tom share coffee as they discuss the debacle with the choir money. Tom does not have the money to pay everyone back, and he says he realises now that there were signs Sweeney was a crook. Elizabeth tells him that Nathan alerted the police in New York, so there might be a chance to catch Sweeney. Tom says he thinks Jack was right about him and that he is just a screw-up, but Elizabeth tells him that is not how Jack felt about him.

Nathan joins them with the news that the Mounties got Sweeney in custody and recovered the money Ned wired him. The bad news is that Sweeney gambled away the $300 raised by the choirs from other cities. Elizabeth tells Tom to head inside for breakfast. Nathan tells Elizabeth that if Tom cannot pay back the money he lost, he can be charged as an accessory to fraud. Elizabeth apologizes and tells Nathan she should have listened to him and trusted his instincts; Nathan says he knows she just wanted to believe in her brother-in-law, and tells her that he trusts her instincts too.

In town outside the daycare, Lee and Rosemary talk about how amazing Goldie is. Lee says he is meeting with Benson Hills Mayor Maisie Hickam later and asks what Rosemary is up to today. Rosemary reveals that Nathan has arranged for Clayton Pike to come and stay at the Hope Valley prison so that she and Bill can speak with him. Elizabeth interrupts and asks Rosemary to come with her to the schoolhouse for another emergency choir meeting.

At the schoolhouse, Tom, Elizabeth and Nathan tell the choir the news about Sweeney, but that they will be getting their money back. Joseph asks about the other towns, and Tom tells them that Benson Hills' and Jameson's money is gone, though he will be apologizing to them personally. Elizabeth encourages Nathan to say something, so he tells the group that Tom told him about a plan he has to get the other towns' money back. Nathan stammers about a fundraiser, and Elizabeth joins in that they will be hosting their own choir festival to raise funds.

They will invite the choirs from the other towns too, and Rosemary says she and Lee will donate the inn for folks to stay at. Everyone is on board with the plan and starts getting organized.

Lee meets with Maisie, who still insists that the resort will be a disaster. Lee agrees to disagree and says they have a merged town to take care of. Lee wants to proceed with discussing the paving of roads, but Maisie is concerned about what that would cost. Rosemary enters bursting with the news of a choral festival fundraiser in Hope Valley. Maisie has not heard the news about the Salt Lake City festival scheme by J.B. Sweeney, so Rosemary informs her that he is a swindler and a con-man. Maisie cannot believe that Tom Thornton has lost their money, and leaves Lee's office to find him.

Outside in town, Tom oversees the building of a stage for the choir festival fundraiser and Faith joins him. Maisie approaches and confronts Tom about the loss of funds. Mike asks Maisie to give Tom a break, but she questions him repeatedly about whether he has their money. Maisie tells Nathan that she wants Tom arrested for theft, but Nathan says that is not necessary. Elizabeth and the others promise that Tom is going to make the money back, and if he does not, Nathan says he will then put Tom in jail. Maisie agrees and walks away.

Elizabeth asks Nathan whether he is really going to put Tom in jail, and Nathan says he hopes it does not come to that.

In town, Mike hangs a sign for the choir festival outside the saloon. A man gets out of a taxi and asks Mike where he might find Joseph Canfield; Mike tells him to check the café or the church.

Rosemary approaches the jail as Nathan leads Clayton Pike and the other Mounties inside to put Pike behind bars for his stay. Nathan leaves to grab Pike some food and introduces him to Bill and Rosemary. The two explain to Pike how they met with his mother and that they know he took the fall for Lucas's attempted murder because he needed money for his mother's surgery. They ask Pike to tell them who hired him because they might be able to help, but he will not.

Outside the Queen of Hearts saloon, Elizabeth asks Nathan whether he is busy, as the choir could use another tenor. Elizabeth jokes that Nathan boasted about having a lovely singing voice, but Nathan suggests she ask Bill. Toby, Angela and Cooper discuss their setup for the fundraiser as the man from before approaches asking to buy one of their specials. He asks whether they are Angela and Cooper and tells them that he is their Uncle Jacob.

Minnie rounds the corner and greets Jacob with a hug, and they all welcome him inside the café. Joseph sees Jacob and offers his hand for a shake, but Jacob does not take it. Cooper asks how long Jacob can stay, and Jacob says it depends on whether their father is ready to apologize. Joseph tells Jacob he cannot apologize unless he knows what he needs to apologize for. Jacob says that if Joseph does not know, there is no point in him trying to tell him. Jacob says goodbye and heads out, and Minnie follows him.

Outside the café, Minnie tells Jacob that Joseph is a good man who misses him. She asks him what happened between them, and he says it does not matter because what is done is done. She asks him to stay and get to know Cooper and Angela since he came all this way. Jacob tells Minnie that she has always been kind to him and that he would love to get to know his niece and nephew, but that he does not think it is the best idea right now. Minnie says she hopes he will reconsider.

Back inside, Minnie tells Joseph that she knows Jacob is stubborn and impossible, but that perhaps he is a little stubborn too. Joseph says he believes Jacob brings out the worst in him. Minnie thinks Jacob lost a lot when he lost Joseph, as he told her he has not been to church in years. She wonders whether, if Jacob will not bend here, maybe Joseph can. He tells her he has been trying to fix this for 20 years and does not know how, but Minnie tells him he does know who to ask.

Outside, Allie practises singing and playing her guitar as Nathan approaches. She does not think she is any good without Angela on the ukulele. Nathan plays the guitar and sings with Allie, as Elizabeth and little Jack spot them from behind. Jack wants to join them, but Elizabeth tells him that this is a special moment just for those two.

Joseph sits by himself on the bench in the fields thinking as Henry approaches. Joseph wonders whether Henry is the answer to his prayers. He knows Henry knows more about forgiving and being forgiven than anyone he knows, so he is hoping Henry can help him understand. Joseph tells Henry how he hurt his brother Jacob years ago but he does not know how. Henry wonders why Joseph needs to know what he did in order to offer an apology, and tells him that if he regrets hurting Jacob it does not matter how or why, because they are family.

At night, while Pike sleeps in the Hope Valley jail, Lucas pays him a visit and asks the Mounties on guard to clear the room. Pike apologizes to Lucas about what happened to him. Lucas just wants to know why, but Pike says that if he tells Lucas, he is a dead man.

The next day at the mercantile, Minnie, Molly and Florence discuss how the fundraiser is all set up and ready to go. Ned enters and says that the word from the station was that the trains were standing room only due to the crowds coming in. They start vocal choir warmups in anticipation.

Outside on the stage, Ned and Florence theatrically perform “Daisy, Daisy.” Lucas thanks Ned and Florence and welcomes the group to the first Voices of the Valley Festival. Cooper and Angela spot their Uncle Jacob in town buying a tie from Florence. Jacob tells Cooper he looks just like their dad when he was younger. They thought their uncle had left, but he heard Angela was playing the piano at the festival and he wants to be there for it.

Back on the stage, Maisie Hickam takes a bow as her group wraps up. Tom helps emcee the event as Nathan says hello to him. Tom thanks Nathan for the help, and Nathan says that Mounties look out for their own. Tom says he is not a Mountie, but Nathan knows that his brother and father were. Tom tells Nathan that he and Jack would have really liked each other; Nathan wishes he knew him. Tom also knows that Nathan and Elizabeth have something between them, and Tom is glad that she has someone like Nathan in her life because she deserves it.

Elizabeth approaches then with little Jack; she is blown away at the festival's turnout. Little Jack sees candy apples and Nathan gives him some change to grab one. As Jack says thank you and runs off, Elizabeth teases Nathan that she does not remember saying “yes” to Jack's ask; Nathan tells her he knew she was going to. Tom and Nathan share a look.

Jacob enters the library as Joseph sits at the desk working on his sermon. Angela and Cooper told Jacob that Angela would be playing piano at the library, and they told Joseph that the library would be a quiet place to work. Joseph asks Jacob to sit with him so they can talk. Joseph tells Jacob that Cooper and Angela sent him the letter. Jacob knew from the handwriting, but he answered anyway as he hoped fatherhood had changed Joseph. Joseph tells Jacob he does not know how he hurt him, but obviously he did hurt him, and for that he is deeply sorry.

Minnie told Joseph that Jacob gave up on music and church, and for that, Joseph is sorry too. Jacob asks Joseph whether he really does not remember, and Joseph begs him to tell him. Jacob says it all changed after their granddad died; he was the one who helped them find their voices together. Joseph realizes he stopped singing with Jacob once he met Minnie. Jacob loved singing so much but he could not do it without Joseph beside him; it connected them and helped him through missing their granddad. Jacob had space in his heart for both Joseph and Minnie, but Joseph did not let him in.

Jacob says it is too late and starts to leave, but Joseph stops him. Whenever a parishioner tells Joseph it is too late, he tells them that God does not punch a clock. He is always there to see them through things that seem impossible to overcome. Joseph asks him to believe again and try. Jacob says goodbye and that he enjoyed meeting Angela and Cooper and seeing how close they are.

Outside the Mountie office, as Clayton Pike leaves, Rosemary and Bill ask him again whether Montague hired him to shoot the governor. Pike tells them to be smart and stop asking questions. He says that the guy behind this has eyes everywhere; if Pike rats him out, he will get to him, even inside prison. Nathan says they would arrest this person if that happens, but Pike says they do not get it — not even the Mounties can catch this man. Pike asks them to leave it alone or this man will come after them too. As Pike leaves, Nathan notes that he seems terrified.

Rosemary is surprised that Montague is capable of this much, and Bill notes that they do not know what he is capable of.

At the saloon, Tom, Mike, Elizabeth and Ned count the funds — they have raised $100 thus far, and there might be another $100 in the jar Ned brought. Maisie enters asking for Benson Hills' money; Lee notes that they have enough to pay them back, but not Jameson yet. Maisie says she has given Tom more chances than he deserves and that she is going to find the constable. Lucas and Henry walk in; Elizabeth explains they are short the money for Jameson, and Lucas and Henry offer to use the Governor's cultural fund to make up the difference.

They all thank Lucas and head outside for the festival finale.

On the stage, Minnie tells Joseph he did his best and apologized, and that he should give Jacob time and maybe he will come around. The Hope Valley choir takes the stage and Minnie introduces them. They see Jacob in the crowd and ask him to join; he takes the stage with them next to Joseph and they all sing “Amazing Grace.”

Back at the café after the festival, Joseph apologizes to Jacob for being thoughtless. Jacob tells him it did not seem like Joseph missed him at all, but Joseph explains that he did, and that from now on they will not miss each other again. The two hug, and they all share a meal together at the table with the whole Canfield family.

At the saloon, the rest of the townsfolk dance, sing and celebrate. Elizabeth asks Tom what is next for him. Tom says he needs to find himself a new job. He thanks her for believing in him, and she reminds him to believe in himself.

In Lucas's office, Henry tells Lucas and Edwin that he just got a call from Montague's office, but Henry did not know Lucas was considering that bid. Edwin is happy that Lucas took his advice, but Henry cannot believe Lucas called Montague, because Montague is reviled in this town and was also a prime suspect in Lucas's shooting. Lucas does not love Montague's ethics, but notes that Montague has not broken the law. Lucas asks Henry to review every detail in Montague's bid, and he also asks Henry what the review of Jeanette's investors proved.

Henry says that the investors are all on the level by his accounts, and that he cannot believe Lucas is considering Montague's bid just to avoid Jeanette's. Henry thinks Lucas should shut the whole thing down if he is worried, and Edwin reminds Lucas that he has made promises and will look weak if he backs down. Henry tells Lucas that he can always walk away. Lucas tells them both that the landscape has shifted: they know Benson Hills Oil Company will file for bankruptcy, putting people out of work, and the construction of the resort means jobs now.

Lucas would like to close with Montague's bid to get jobs created, and reminds them both that this news needs to stay between them.

Back in the saloon as people dance and celebrate, Elizabeth eyes Nathan. Tom sees, and notes to Elizabeth that Nathan is a good man. Faith spots Tom and asks him to dance. Elizabeth approaches Nathan and calls him a wallflower; Nathan says nobody has asked him to dance. She takes his hand and they slow dance together. Nathan quips that he never said yes to a dance, and she says he was going to. They share a smile.

“Brother's Keeper” ends on a celebration, but two of its three threads are deliberately left open. The Canfield thread is the one that closes: after the festival Joseph apologizes to Jacob for being thoughtless, Jacob says it did not seem like Joseph missed him, Joseph says he did and that from now on they will not miss each other again, they hug, and the whole Canfield family shares a meal.

The Pike thread does not close, and the recap is unusually explicit about that. Pike refuses to name who hired him to Bill and Rosemary, tells Lucas at night that if he says who hired him he is a dead man, and on his way out of the Mountie office says the man behind this has eyes everywhere and that not even the Mounties can catch him. He asks them to leave it alone or the man will come after them too. Nothing in the episode establishes who that man is. Bill and Rosemary believe it is Montague, and Lucas says Montague has not broken the law, but no evidence is produced in this episode and Pike never names him — so Montague's involvement in the shooting remains unconfirmed by the recap.

The Lucas thread ends on a decision that is not yet a deal. Lucas tells Henry and Edwin he would like to close with Montague's bid to create jobs and that the news needs to stay between them, and Henry says he got a call from Montague's office. The episode does not show a signed contract, agreed terms, or any meeting with Montague, and the recap does not say the bid was accepted. The resort is still unbuilt, and the Benson Hills Oil bankruptcy is still only announced, not completed. What is left unresolved is whether Lucas actually goes through with it, and what happens to Hope Valley when it finds out.