Catherine took a deep breath and decided not to get angry. She remembered her family telling her how difficult she had been while she was carrying each of her daughters. Only now, she had decided it was time to believe it, if her daughter's attitude, so like her own, was any indication.
"Forgive me, Alexandra." Catherine said softly.
"I will try to remember that. But please know that I only want what is best for my grandchild...your baby." "Of course, Mama." Alexandra smiled.
"And I truly appreciate your putting your own feelings aside for the sake of the baby...and I hope for mine as well."
Catherine returned the smile. "That's right, dear, but I hope you won't take it wrong if I ask your husband...Nathaniel, is Alexandra really all right? Her...episode, didn't cause any...damage?"
All eyes were on Nathaniel as he stood up, saying,
"No...no damage. Alexandra and the baby have fully recovered, and as for her..."condition", everything she said was perfectly accurate.
And I apologize, Alexandra, for treating you like an invalid. You are perfectly capable of taking care of yourself."
Alexandra was horrified. "Nathaniel, I wasn't talking about you, you know that!"
"Yes you were." Nathaniel snapped.
"And you were right. Now, if you will all excuse me, I have some patients to attend to..."
"Nathaniel...you were taking the day off to take care of me!" Alexandra cried, immediately regretting her choice of words.
"And as you said, you know exactly how much you can do, and when it is best for you to stop. I trust your judgment. I'll be back later this evening. If I'm late, don't wait up. Thank you for coming, Catherine, Charles. I'm sure that under Alexandra's supervision, the holiday will be saved."
Nathaniel spoke with only the barest hint of sarcasm.
"Good day." He said, as he picked up his bag and left.
"Nathaniel!" Alexandra called.
"Let him go, dear." Clara said gently, "Things will work out for the best."
Alexandra nodded, as Clara added, "Thanks to Catherine, we will have a wonderful holiday. Now why don't we sit down and have some tea, while we discuss this further."
Charles said, "Wonderful, ladies. Catherine, I am so proud of you. Since I am now even more outnumbered than I was a minute ago, I will take my leave as well. I have every confidence that you ladies will plan something superb. I'll be back to pick you up later, Catherine."
Charles kissed his wife and left the women to their planning. Alexandra sighed. Now that her mother was finally cooperating, her husband was upset with her. Would the people she loved ever be reasonably happy at the same time?
Teresa kept on reading and re-reading the letter she got today. It said that her family would be arriving in town in time for the Thanksgiving holiday. The fact that she was expecting had made the difference. She hadn't told her husband yet. She hoped that Jake wouldn't be too upset about it, since she knew he would have preferred that she hadn't invited them. But she did, and they were coming. So, she'd better let him know.
"Jake!" she called, "I need to talk to you!"
"We have nothing to talk about, Ryan." Gretta said, as she tried to walk away. "I am grateful for your concern and your friendship, but as you can see, your proposal of marriage was unnecessary, gallant as it may have been!"
"You don't understand..." Ryan said, quickly catching up with her.
"Of course, I do...you were wonderful to try to help me..."
"Will you accompany me to the concert my mother and Gilda St. Clair are putting on?"
Gretta stopped. "The concert? Is that what you wanted to talk about?"
Gretta blushed deeply.
"Of course." Ryan lied. "What else would I be talking about?"
Before Gretta had a chance to answer, Preston Lodge walked up to them.
"Hello Gretta, Dr. Bell."
They nodded, as Preston continued. "Well, have you had a chance to think about it?"
"Think about...what?" Gretta replied, grateful for the rescue.
"The concert of course!" Preston grinned.
"Gilda St. Clair, with narration by Daphne Pennington Bell...it's not often that Colorado Springs is treated to such culture. Shall I be picking you up?"
Gretta looked from Preston to Ryan and made her decision.
"Of course, Mr. Lodge," she said finally "It would be an honor. Good day Dr. Bell." Gretta said, as she quickly took her leave.
Preston left as well, with an evil grin on his face, leaving Ryan to wonder if this girl was really worth fighting for.
After thinking it over for a few hours, Nathaniel decided to, as Catherine did, chalk up Alexandra's uncharacteristic outburst to being pregnant.
He went home with a bouquet of flowers and apologized.
Meanwhile, Erin (who was off on a break) and Catherine had come to a semi-truce for now and had gone shopping for a new dress for Erin for Thanksgiving. As far as Alexandra could tell, her dream for a harmonious holiday was coming true.
Michaela was settled at the table late Tuesday evening, planning the menu for Thanksgiving dinner. She wasn't all that nervous about cooking it, as her skills had vastly improved.
"So, we have the creamed peas and corn, honey carrots, stuffing, mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes, Brian is making a chocolate chiffon pie and a pumpkin pie, and of course there is the turkey, which Sully's supposed to go out hunting for tomorrow," she murmured to herself, checking off each item on her list.
"Yup, that ole bird will be sittin' in the pantry tomorrow afternoon when you get home from work," Sully said teasingly from behind her. Michaela jumped in surprise, but relaxed as he put his arms around her shoulders. "Sorry I frightened ya," he apologized.
"That's all right. I think that plans for our dinner are actually coming along. I think I even have the guest list settled."
"Well, make room for surprises," Sully said with a smile. "I can remember one Thanksgiving where a very unexpected visitor showed up, or rather was discovered."
Michaela grinned, knowing that he meant Katie.
"Yes, I'd say we had a great deal to be thankful for that year."
"And this year too," Sully reminded.
"Yes, this year as well. We gained a son-in-law, and many new people in our lives," Michaela mused.
"How about...maybe workin' toward another new person," Sully asked, smiling but nonetheless serious.
"I think that that's a wonderful idea. After all, you never know."
Myra had returned to St. Louis several days after the trial, alone. Without her daughter, without her fiancé. For the first time in her life, she had no one relying on her, and no one to rely on. As the weeks past, she missed Sam more and more. The darling little girl was her only link to the one life that had made her happiest - being a wife and mother. She saw Michael on a few occasions, but it was clear that the relationship was over. Come to think of it, there had never really been one.
Eventually, Myra knew that she needed to go to a lawyer to appeal the decision so that she could regain some custody of her daughter. But for now, Samantha was safe in Colorado Springs, and Myra was able to heal her broken heart and sort out exactly what she needed to do. For now, the only person she could cope with caring for was herself.
After the initial phase of getting to know each other again, Horace and Sam had settled into a pleasant routine.
Sam had recovered extremely well from the short trauma of knowing Michael, and her nightmares were a thing of the past. As Dr. Mike pointed out, children were dreadfully resilient.
Because she was only six, Sam went to school in the mornings, and spent the afternoons with Gretta and Katie. Gretta didn't mind watching Sam; having two very active children under her care kept her mind off the problems she was having. Horace was thrilled to have his daughter back again. Sam was his only link to the once-blissful existence of being a husband and father; an occupation at which he may not be the best at, but that was certainly not for lack of trying.
"Poor Horace..." Gretta thought with a smile. Samantha played happily with Katie. You would have never known she was the same sick little girl Horace had brought to the clinic two days ago. As it happened, Samantha was indeed suffering from a mild catarrh with a slight fever, but when she didn't immediately awaken from a sound sleep...well...Horace panicked and rushed her to Dr. Mike.
Samantha's slight fever was gone that very day, and showed no signs of returning. She was kept out of school for a day, and was now perfectly all right.
Gretta wondered how it would be to one day have children of her own, she hoped she would at least wait till it was truly necessary before she panicked...but then her thoughts drifted back to Ryan...well, perhaps by spending time with Preston, she could avoid Ryan for the time being...at least her brother seemed to approve.
He was quite familiar with the Lodge family name, and even though Preston's finances were still not recovered, Nicholous was very confident that Preston A. Lodge III would soon be back on top.
"Such an alliance could only be a benefit." Nicholous had told her, when she mentioned who was to accompany her to Gilda St. Clair's show.
Not that the Pennington/Bell fortunes were any the less...in fact the market crash had barely touched those assets...but there were other matters to consider...
Gretta only hoped that Nicholous hadn't got it into his head for Gretta to marry Preston one day. He was handsome and charming...and would certainly be rich again, but he lacked compassion...at least outwardly.
She could see that even in the short time she'd known him. Ryan Bell, for all his political charm, certainly cultivated as the son of a senator, and occasional sarcasm, (which as near as Gretta could tell, had to be a Pennington trait), was a deeply compassionate man.
Gretta could certainly fall in love with him...in fact, she already...
"NO! What am I thinking! Johann...if you can hear me...Help me!!!"
Gretta forced her mind back on Katie and Samantha, who were both giggling as they played. Gretta was determined to put her problems aside as long as she could. Thank God for little children!
Two shadowy figures sat on horses at the edge of town.
"Ready Jamey?" a rough voice asked.
"Ready, Kay."
"Now you remember the plan? if you think you're being followed, don't go back to the hide-out."
"Obviously," came the sarcastic reply. Just don't be late. Sure ya don't want me to be a back-up?"
"Naw. Ya'll be too busy detaining the sheriff. Remember? Now Belle and Jeremy are at the other end of town, and ole what's his face is back at camp. You're gonna keep the sheriff busy, while Belle and Jeremy take care of our "business" at the bank. I'm gonna be at that cafe in case somethin' goes wrong, and they need back up, or if we need a hostage. If the sheriff pulls anything funny, pull out yer gun, or pop 'im off, or somethin'. and you remember that Dave and Sam, they're gonna be doin' "business" at the saloon, while the rest are gonna be roaming town, waiting if anything goes wrong. We'll all meet at the hideout tomorrow after dark. We should be able to lose any trails by that time. And you remember that there's gonna be two riders at each end of town, waiting to lead any posse on a wild goose hunt."
"I sure did organize it well, din I?" Jamey taunted.
"Aw shut up. I reckon meetin' those two other gangs did help. After we finish combin' up towns in this territory, we'll split the loot between gangs, and go our separate ways. Now just because you came up with this plan and all, don't mean that somethin' can't go wrong. And just thank yer lucky stars that ye're pretty enough to keep the sheriffs by yer side till the job's done. Now, you can run in them skirts, can't ya?"
"Barely."
Jamey smoothed the bright red skirts out over her legs. "I'll tell ya one thing, whoever's line we took it from sure did have taste, if you like to wear the blasted things."
"Well, come on, now Jamey, quit yer jabbin' and git!"
Michaela looked at the line, puzzled. Her red dress was missing, the one with the tiny white flowers scattered over it. It was an old dress that she hadn't worn since Katie was born. But she'd seemed to have lost some weight, and had washed it in hopes that she could wear it again. But now it was gone.
"Knock! Knock! Knock!"
Daniel pulled his feet from the desk and shrugged himself up.
"Knock! Knock! Knock!"
He walked lazily to the door and opened it. There stood a small, pretty young lady with deep brown eyes, and brown hair with auburn steaks running though it.
"Sheriff Simon?" she asked.
"That's me."
"Yes, I'm here visiting a cousin, and I can't seem to be able to find him. Could you help me?"
"Why sure ma'am. If you'll just step inside...."
Thanksgiving Day rapidly approached, and in Fairplace Connecticut, Colleen and Andrew were completely enjoying themselves. As it turned out, Audrey was all for women having jobs, and working, and she whole-heartedly supported Colleen's decision to become a doctor, and listened in awe to tales of Dr. Mike.
Colleen wanted to help in the kitchen, but Audrey simply wouldn't hear of it, and so she watched over little Tom, a dear who looked very angelic in his flowing white nightgown embroidered in blue. Baby Tom had a slight cold, but was well enough to be out of bed in the warm kitchen, sitting in Colleen's arms, clutching a brown fuzzy bear, being read to, and sung to, while Mama and Mrs. Porter, the cook/house-keeper/nanny rushed about the kitchen preparing all sorts of good things to eat.
"John and I are discussing my opening a business," Audrey confided to Colleen.
"I've got the place picked out, and everything. One thing I love about Fairplace is that it's so old-English style. English gardens, English houses, English buildings. The streets are even made of stone, though the city hall is voting to pave them over, as it's easier on the horses and doesn't wear down the carriages so badly.
Did you notice my gardens? Mother, may she rest in peace, designed it, and over-saw everything. That fountain came all the way from Italy, in the center. That's our pride and joy. Mother was a great one for gardens and decorating."
"What kind of business will you be opening?" Colleen asked curiously.
"Well, the kind I WANT to open would be a financial consultant, investing firm, something like that. My only hesitation is right now we're so respected, John being a doctor and all, that I don't know if I could subject little Tom to all the humiliation of having his mother being talked about all the time, and not having respectable parents. Women just don't open a business like that, society says, but I say I should be free to open whatever kind of business I wish. There are plenty of feminists, and women's rights crusaders in Fairplace, despite the discrimination. I believe I'd have some business, but would it be enough to make a profit?"
"I can't speak for Fairplace, but I know that in Colorado Springs, Ma's clinic was just as highly respected as Andrew's was. She was even more respected than Andrew, because she had been there so long. And as for the type of business you wish to open, I don't think that it is any more scandalous or improper than being a doctor is," Colleen commented, bouncing Tom on her knee.
"Well, I never thought about it that way. That's quite an interesting point," Audrey replied, pausing in the middle of chopping carrots for the vegetable dish she was preparing. The kitchen smelled heavenly - between the turkey and the stuffing and all the spices.
"Tom is so good!" Colleen marveled. The little boy was happily playing in Colleen's lap, his earlier discomfort from his sniffles all but forgotten.
"Yes, he takes after his father in temperament. He's very calm and easy-going. A perfect little angel, though he can have his bouts of mischief," Audrey said with a grin, coming over to kiss her son's blonde head. "If it's not too personal, are you and Andrew considering starting a family any time soon?"
Colleen smiled. "No, not at all. Actually, we decided it best to wait until I graduated from medical school to have children. Medical internships with an infant are not at all feasible!" she laughed.
"That's true."
"Although, if it were up to me, I'd love to have a child. I grew up in a big family, and I just love babies."
"Well, Andrew will certainly make a good father when the time comes. And you, I don't believe how well Tom has taken to you! Usually he can be so shy around strangers. You have quite a talent when it comes to babies."
"Oh, thank you."
"I hear that Andrew's partner's wife is expecting soon."
"Yes, in a month or so. Alexandra asked Andrew and I to be the god-parents and Andrew is probably going to deliver the baby as well."
"Well, at least there will be a baby in your life again."
"Yes, to a certain degree."
During this conversation, Audrey had finished with the dinner preparations and had moved on to studying the recipe for the dessert. Suddenly, she threw her hands in the air with frustration.
"Honestly, I can't believe I chose this dessert. It looks impossible!" she said with a mixture of laughter and exasperation.
Colleen put Tom into his cradle and went over to look. "Oh, this is quite simple, actually. Would you like me to help?"
"Well, I know that I did say I didn't want you to lift a finger, but at this point I'm about ready to reconsider, if you truly wouldn't mind."
"Not in the least! Here," Colleen started to measuring and mixing.
"Wait, put this on. I don't want you to get flour on your clothes," Audrey cautioned, handing the new chef an apron. Colleen tied it on over her chocolate brown, plaid trimmed dress she had on, and the two ladies began to tackle the dessert.
"Oh no! I wish Colleen were here.." Michaela moaned as she was preparing her Thanksgiving dinner. So far, things didn't look that good. The stuffing was like mush and the creamed peas tasted strange.
"Ma, I finished the pies," Brian called out from the other side of the kitchen. Michaela came over to inspect. They looked delicious and a lot better than what she was preparing. Michaela licked her lips, then sighed. She took a quick look at the clock, then gasped.
"Gracious, the turkey needs to be prepared and I need to redo this stuffing, and oh.."
"Mind if I help ya?" Michaela turned around. Emma was standing there, taking off her coat.
"Matthew brought me over early, said he had to take care of some business..." Emma said cautiously.
Michaela gave her a smile of gratitude. "Thank you Emma. As you can see, I'm in a great puddle again."
"No problem," Emma said cheerfully, tying an apron over her deep burgundy dress.
Together, Michaela and Emma managed to salvage the stuffing. The peas were thrown out, but Michaela was able to prepare a corn and carrot dish to replace them. With the baked yams and the rolls that Brian had made the day before, Thanksgiving dinner was quite a success.
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