Matthew and Emma spent the whole day talking to each other, while walking throughout the woods and town.
"I haven't had this much fun since...since.... well, I can't remember!" Emma laughed.
"Me neither. Hey, would you like to come to dinner at the homestead tonight?" Matthew asked her.
Emma gave him a doubtful look. "I don't know...should I come willingly, or refuse..."
Matthew was startled for a second, then realized she was joking.
"Oh, I'll come. Then I guess that means you'll have to escort me there, won't ya? It's been a long time since I've been there. I could get lost, ya know," Emma said.
"Well, I guess I'll have to," Matthew whispered, wrapping his arms around her.
For a moment, they stood silently. Emma faced Matthew, and for long time, they stood staring into each other's eyes.
"I should go get cleaned up," Emma said.
"Yeah...you should..." Matthew answered back.
Suddenly, Emma gave him a quick kiss on the lips.
"I'll see you at 6:00 then. Bye!" She gave him a wink and walked off, leaving him standing there like a shocked fool. He stopped to lean against a tree.
"It sure is nice to have Emma back..." Matthew thought.
"Wait a minute, Mr. Ryan." Michaela said, puzzled. "You said your sister had been gone for years...but I thought she was only missing for a few months..." Nicholous looked up. "Did I say years? Sorry. It really only has been months. I suppose I meant that it seems as though she's been gone forever. And I suppose Gretta will not be back if she thinks that I'm still here." He rose from the table and started for the door. "Thank you for your hospitality Dr. Quinn. Please inform Gretta that I have taken a room at the Chateau. And that I will not leave without her." Michaela watched as Nicholous left. She hoped Gretta would come back. Hopefully everything would work out.
Daphne walked into town. She didn't know what else to do. She was so angry at herself for her outburst in her son's clinic. "Why did that girl have to show up here? She only serves as a reminder of....No! I won't think about it! And my son...just like his father, he is!!! He'll be taken in by that...that...OHHH!!!!!" She continued, stopping short when she realized people were staring at her. "What are you looking at?!" Daphne snapped. "Don't you bumpkins know it's rude to stare?!?!?"
Daphne continued into town, quieter this time. She made her way to the mercantile. Loren met her at the door. "Daphne!" He said, delighted, then he noticed her tear-stained face. "What's wrong?" "Oh, Loren!" Daphne said, bursting into tears. "Please hold me..."
Puzzled, Loren put his arms around her. He would never understand women...but he was glad Daphne chose to come to him anyway...
After an awkward silence, Ryan said to Gretta, "All right. So your brother's come to take you back to Switzerland. I don't know what I could possibly do to prevent that..."
He paused. Ryan didn't really want Gretta to go back to Switzerland, but he was concerned about his mother. He didn't want her to leave either.
Of course he loved his mother, but she also provided him with a certain...leverage in certain matters, by virtue of her celebrity.
Ryan couldn't afford to alienate her...yet he truly cared for Gretta. He was determined to discover the truth.
To do that, he would have to attempt to defuse the situation.
"Well...perhaps there is a way." Ryan said, "Let me escort you home."
Gretta paled, "Ryan, I can't go back there! What if Nicholous is still waiting for me?"
Ryan thought for a moment. "I am almost positive that he is not. In fact, it's more likely that he's decided to wait you out. He's probably taken a room right here at the Chateau...he'd never bother with the Gold Nugget.."
Ryan blushed slightly, recalling how he had been taken in by a certain Mr. Lawson, and had spent his first few nights in town there.
Gretta calmed visibly, realizing he was probably right. "But what about your mother? She was terribly upset. She really hates me you know, although I can't imagine why..." Gretta trailed off.
Actually she did have some idea why, but she was convinced that Ryan was not yet ready to know.
"That is another matter. I shall have to speak with her, and with you too. If I'm to help you, I'll need to know the whole truth."
Ryan looked into Gretta's eyes. Gretta looked at the floor. There was another awkward silence.
Then Ryan said, "All right. You win. You don't have to say a word right now. But you owe me an explanation, and I will hold you to that next time we speak."
"What about your mother?" Gretta asked again, truly concerned.
"I'm sure she's gone crying to Loren Bray, for all the good he can do her...she'll be back, and she'll be all right. She always is. I'll apologize to her, for whatever she thinks I did...she'll be difficult for a few days, and then it will be as though nothing ever happened..."
Ryan spoke from frequent experience.
"Now please... let me take you home."
This time Gretta agreed. "Dr. Mike will be worried. I hope she's not too angry with me."
Emma went to her room at the Chateau. She shared a suite with Gilda.
There were two rooms and a tiny sitting room, and a washroom, where a maid came to draw a bath for you every night.
It was four o'clock now, and Emma decided to indulge and ring for the maid. She came up, a debonair in a chic little uniform and cap, and drew the bath.
Emma added a handful of scented bath salts and a few drops of bathing oil, to make her skin soft. She was eating dinner at Matthew's, and she wanted to be beautiful for him. Had he not, after all, hinted a proposal?
Emma, wrapped in a bright red bathrobe, sat down at the vanity and pulled the pins from her hair while the furnace in the washroom heated.
The September air had suddenly become cold, and everyone was sure that they would have a hard winter this year, especially since the last year had been so mild.
Running the silver comb through her hair, Emma though of times before she had left. Matthew's sudden proposal, her gentle refusal. She had loved him, but not enough, she had thought, and the last thing she wanted was to make Matthew miserable.
She thought of times even earlier, working at Hank's, leaving, her operation, Matthew was there through it all. He'd always been there for her. She smiled as she remember pulling him into the hot springs when she'd caught him spying on her. The furnace was rattling. Emma tested the water with her elbow.
'Just right,' she thought. Shedding herself of bathrobe, she stepped lightly into the hot water. Steam rose into the air.
At first, Emma simply lounged in the water, she loved hot baths. But then she knew she had to hurry.
Quickly she washed both hair and body, and stepped briskly out into the warm air the furnace had made for her. Wrapping her bathrobe around her once again, she shivered into her cold room.
Drying her hair with a towel, she picked out her dress. She wished she could wear the new canary yellow satin dress she had made for herself, but that would be much too formal. Only the ball at Christmas time Gilda had informed her of would be formal enough to wear the canary yellow gown.
She knew that while Dr. Mike would pull out her good china, she wouldn't dress up, and neither would anybody else, though Matthew and Sully would probably shave.
She chose a pink gingham dress that was made in the latest style, that would serve as beautiful but simple. She finished drying her hair and pinned it up. She surveyed her reflection in the floor length mirror. Turning about in disgust, she went back to the vanity and re-did her hair.
She piled her hair up on top of her hair in a style that she'd seen in Chicago, and secured it with shell combs, letting two small locks curl down the side of her face. Surveying herself once again, she was nearly pleased, but not quite. Going once more to the vanity, she took out a small puff and powdered her face lightly, and then sprayed herself with rose scented perfume. Picking up her heavy brocade shawl and a pink handbag, she walked confidently down to the lobby where Matthew would be waiting on her.
Collins was sentenced for assault and battery, kidnapping on the Cook vs. Collins case, and various other charges on other illegal actions brought to the public by, but not connected with, the Cook case. In all, he was sentenced for twenty years on the other charges, and life for the charges the Cooks had pressed against him.
It had originally been death, but tenderhearted Colleen couldn't bear to be the cause of anybody's death, no matter how much she hated them (and indirectly, she would be the cause, though it really wasn't her fault).
So she had asked the judge to lighten the sentence to life, with no bail.
Feeling sorry for her, the judge had done just that, but forced Patrick Collins to make a public apology to the Cooks (the purpose of this was to humiliate Collins, really.) And now, with Patrick Collins out of the way, Colleen and Andrew sat back, determined to enjoy their new married life without further interruption. But that didn't happen. Colleen casually mentioned over dinner one day that they would need to inquire about their tickets to Colorado Springs for Thanksgiving. That's when Andrew pulled a surprise on her.
"I've been meaning to tell you," he pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. "This came a week ago. It's from one of my old Harvard friends. He and his wife want us to come to their home in Connecticut for Thanksgiving. He married right out of college, and they have a little boy, he tells me, that's about a year old now. We've kept in touch since graduation, but I haven't written him in a while. It would mean a lot to me, Colleen, if we could visit them. I haven't seen him in three or four years."
Colleen looked down at her plate. Inside she was crushed. Didn't he know how much she had wanted to go back to her old home for Thanksgiving? Didn't he know, happy as she was, how much she wanted to see her family? She was never lonesome or unhappy, but she still missed her family. She looked at Andrew. He was waiting for her to reply.
"If you want to go, I suppose we can," she said quietly. A smile broke Andrew's face. He began to shine all over, as he always did when he was excited.
"I've only met Audrey, that's his wife, once or twice, but from what I remember, I think you'll love her. She's a lot like you, really. Difficult, headstrong, stubborn, cute.." Colleen looked at him fiercely until she realized he was only joking. She slapped him playfully. He threw a pea at her. Without thinking she picked up a sautéed union and threw it. It hit him square in the face. Laughing uncontrollably he chased her around the table, through the parlor and finally into their bedroom where they collapsed into spasms of laughter. But inside, Colleen was hurt. 'Why,' she thought, 'can't we go to Colorado?'
Ryan Bell brought Gretta home to the Sullys. It was just as he said, Nicholous had indeed taken a room at the Chateau, and was waiting for Gretta to change her mind and come with him.
Michaela was not so much angry as confused. Why did Gretta run off like that? Why did Gretta run away from home in the first place? What could have happened that made her feel as though she couldn't come home?
Those questions would have to be put aside, as Michaela immediately put Gretta to work watching Katie while she finished preparing for Matthew and Emma. It had been quite some time since Matthew had invited a lady friend to join them for dinner, and even though they knew Emma, Michaela still wanted it to be at least a little bit special. The mystery surrounding Gretta would have to wait.
Dr. Bell walked into town. He had a lot on his mind. How was he going to pull this off? He had to find some way to keep both his mother and Gretta in Colorado Springs, while remaining in his mother's good graces (once he found his way back there, that is) and maintaining his own shining reputation...He was so deep in thought that he didn't see the mud puddle directly in front of him.
He slipped and fell, ruining his suit, and blurring his vision, having spattered mud all over his glasses. And worse yet, he splashed mud all over a good-looking, older couple who just happened to be walking by. The man wasn't splashed much, but the woman's dress was ruined...Terribly embarrassed, Ryan mumbled an apology...
"Oh, Ryan!!!! Just like your father!" Daphne muttered at her son, and walked away in a huff, Loren Bray following close behind her, every bit as disgusted.
"Could this day possibly get any worse?" Ryan muttered to himself, as he slowly made his way to the dry side of the road...He soon found that it could indeed get worse, when he felt a terrible pain in his ankle as he started walking again. "Damn! Must have sprained it when I fell!" Ryan knew he should have stopped and treated it properly on the spot, but he was really too embarrassed to care. He'd fix it when he got back to the Chateau...
Poor Colleen. How could Andrew possibly not know that she wanted to go to Colorado for Thanksgiving?
Didn't he miss Michaela, Sully, Matthew, Brian and Katie as much as she did? After all, they were his family too!
Then, as she got ready for bed, Colleen had a thought...Christmas! We could visit Andrew's friends for Thanksgiving, and then go to Colorado for Christmas!!! I'm sure Andrew would agree to that!
And for a moment Colleen was satisfied. Until she thought about the baby... Alexandra would be very near her time by Christmas...Although the Penningtons had never presumed to ask Colleen and Andrew not to leave for the holidays, it was clear that their leaving could possibly present a hardship.
"I couldn't do that to Sasha. No matter how much I missed my family. Ma would understand that." Colleen climbed into bed and addressed her husband, "Andrew, if we go to Colorado, it HAS to be Thanksgiving...that way we could be back in Philadelphia for Christmas, just in case..."
Colleen looked over at Andrew. He was asleep, but this simply could not wait. "Andrew!" Colleen said, shaking him. "We need to talk. About Connecticut..."
"Hmm?...What?" Andrew replied, as he tried to get his eyes to focus.
"What's wrong, Colleen?"
"Andrew." Colleen said sharply. "We need to talk about our plans for the holidays."
"Our what?" Andrew said, still not quite awake.
"Andrew!" Colleen repeated. "I'm sorry, but we'll have to visit your friends some other time. You know my parents are counting on us to come home for Thanksgiving..." Andrew sat up. "Colleen, we just saw your parents not too long ago. Surely they can manage without us this year."
Colleen frowned. "That's not the point! You know we can't get away for Christmas...we probably won't be able to see them until summer. We HAVE to go to Colorado for Thanksgiving this year."
Colleen began to pout.
"Colleen...it won't be so bad. I promise we can go back and visit...as soon as we can after the holidays..."
Andrew tried to comfort her.
"Don't you want to see my parents for Thanksgiving, Andrew?" Colleen asked.
"Colleen, you know I love your parents as if they were my own, but..."
"But?!"
Andrew hesitated a moment, then said, "I've already told my friends we'd be coming. They're already expecting us..."
Colleen's face turned red with anger. "You did what?!? How could you without even discussing it with me?!" Colleen shouted.
"Colleen." Andrew said, trying to remain calm.
"You never asked me if I wanted to go to Colorado Springs for the holidays...we hadn't made any plans yet..."
"You should have known!" Colleen shouted again.
"How, Colleen?" Andrew raised his voice as well. " Was I supposed to read your mind?! Did you tell your parents we were coming?"
Colleen refused to answer the question, instead saying, "You can wire your friends first thing in the morning and tell them we can't come. I'm sure they'll understand."
"I will not." Andrew replied. "You wire your parents. You DID tell them we were coming... I don't recall you asking me about it."
The Cooks continued to argue for a time, finally escalating to the point where a tearful Colleen sent an indignant Andrew out of the bedroom to sleep in one of the chairs, since they didn't yet have a couch.
It was going to be a long night...
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