It’s only taken 12 seasons, but Melissa Gilbert is finally coming to Hope Valley. The actress and Little House on the Prairie icon makes her first appearance on the hit Hallmark Channel series When Calls the Heart — developed and exec produced by Michael Landon Jr. — in the episode airing Saturday, Feb. 8.

Landon Jr., son of Little House star/writer/director Michael Landon, first pitched Gilbert on the Heart guest spot last year, when the two appeared together at a Little House on the Prairie 50th anniversary event. That conversation led to the actress’ upcoming two-episode arc, which begins the sixth episode of season 12, titled “When Autumn Leaves Begin to Fall.”

“I play Georgie McGill, and she is a forensic accounting investigator with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police,” Gilbert tells Entertainment Weekly. “I am working on a case, and that case brings me to Hope Valley, where I cross paths with Bill Avery, played by Jack Wagner. You find out that we had a history together. We went to school together. It’s revealed gradually over the first episode that I had a pretty intense crush on him, and I assumed he didn’t even know I existed — but the feeling was mutual. The question now is, in this investigation and working together, are we going to fall in love? Are we going to have a romance? It’ll be fun to see how it unfolds.”

Though she signed on for two episodes, Gilbert — who also co-founded the lifestyle brand Modern Prairie — says she’s very open to returning to When Calls the Heart should Landon Jr. call again. “I would love to see what happens with Bill and Georgie going forward, because it is left as a romantic cliffhanger — will-they, won’t-they? Are they, aren’t they?” says Gilbert, who’s second episode airs later this season. “I also think it’s really great to portray the beginning of a romantic relationship with two people our age. Just because you’re over 60 doesn’t mean you’re dead.”

Later-in-life romance is also the theme of Gilbert’s current job, starring in the Off Broadway play Still alongside Desperate Housewives‘ Mark Moses. The pair play Helen and Mark, former lovers who rekindle their relationship after 30 years apart. The role requires Gilbert to bare… well not all, but definitely more skin than she’s used to.

“I keep saying, ‘Why didn’t I get to strut around in a bra and panties when I was 20, 30, 40, even 50?’ Now, at 60? And post-Covid 60, too,” says Gilbert, laughing. “It took me a minute to find the courage to actually do it. I stripped down to my bra and panties for the first time with just women in the rehearsal room, and then gradually let more and more people in. And now I’m running around backstage in my bra and panties in front of everybody.”

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Now that she’s long past the initial discomfort, Gilbert says she loves “portraying this juicy, sexy, passionate, physical relationship between two people over 60. So far I’ve [gotten] to do that opposite Mark Moses and Jack Wagner — and I come home to my husband Timothy Busfield, who is the greatest love of my life,” she adds with a smile. “My life is good right now.”

When Calls the Heart airs Saturday, Feb. 8, at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel.