Chapter 2

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It was Colleen's first week back in Boston, and she had a plan.

She had developed it during the long train ride from Colorado Springs. She couldn't just go up to his home and surprise him. For one thing, she didn't know where he lived. She knew it was with his parents but asking her grandmother for the address didn't seem like a good idea. Elizabeth would likely be appalled by her request. A young lady didn't go chasing after a man! Even if Colleen had the address, he might not be home. Or he might be at home, and his mother might also be there, and his mother might not wish to leave the two of them alone, staying in the room as a chaperone. It wouldn't be the same, having another person there. And what if his father was there, too? That would just be too nerve-wracking. So, the entire notion of visiting him at home was out.

Running into him by chance was also out. Unlike the small town of Colorado Springs, where such a thing was possible, Boston was home to a quarter of a million residents. It would be a fruitless endeavor searching the city streets - the proverbial needle in a haystack.

Therefore, her only remaining option was to find a way to deliberately meet up with him for a private conversation, and the only way she could think of to do that in the big city of Boston was at his uncle's clinic. She'd found the address in the business directory at the library. The two of them had spent many hours working together at Dr. Mike's clinic, so the setting would be familiar. They could talk just like they had in Colorado Springs, reminding him of how well they got along, rekindling their friendship – and, hopefully, sparking something more from him.

Still, because this wasn't Colorado Springs, she couldn't just stop by the clinic and hope Andrew had a free moment to chat.

She needed an appointment.

And so it was, on a Friday afternoon when she had told her grandmother she was going to the library, she was sitting in the waiting area of the Derby Clinic, pretending to gingerly hold her wrist. Andrew would discover that she was feigning the injury – there was no getting around that - but she hoped he would find her efforts to see him endearing and not foolish.

The door to his office opened, and Colleen held her breath. Andrew was escorting a patient out, a reassuring hand on the man's shoulder. They spoke quietly before Andrew turned to hand the file to the nurse at the desk. "I'll see him again in two weeks," Colleen heard him tell the nurse. "Give me a few minutes then send the next patient in." And as quick as that, the door to his office closed. He hadn't looked in her direction, the whole thing lasting all of fifteen seconds.

Colleen almost forgot to breathe again. She hadn't imagined it. It was him. It was really him, looking as handsome as ever. And something she had dreamed about for the last year was finally about to come true.

They'd be together again. Alone, talking. Just like old times.

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The nurse knocked on the door. "Doctor, your next patient," she announced as she let Colleen into the room.

"Thank you, Miss-"

The statement broke off as Andrew caught sight of her in his office. "Colleen?" he asked, the surprise evident in his voice.

"Hi, Andrew."

He simply stared at her for a moment before breaking himself out of his daze. "Um, thank you, Miss Mitchell," he said, dismissing the nurse.

The nurse closed the door behind her.

"Colleen, what are you doing here?"

"I have an appointment."

"Uh, no, I mean, what are you doing here in Boston? Not that it's not good to see you, but I thought you were in Colorado Springs. Or in college. Away at college, I mean," he stammered, still recovering from the shock of seeing her.

"I was. School's out for summer. I decided to visit Grandma during my time off."

"How is she? And your family?"

"They're fine. Katie just turned one."

He shook his head in astonishment. "Has it been a year already? Incredible. She certainly had a memorable entrance into this world."

"Yes, she did."

He stood there looking at her again, taking in her appearance. Colleen had chosen her lavender dress with the ruffled trim, which he had seen her in before. Her hair was pinned up, however, which he had not seen before, nor the white hat which finished the ensemble.

"You're different," he said finally, almost to himself.

"Sorry?"

"I mean you look different. Not in a bad way, mind you. Just not as I remember."

Colleen grinned. Encouraged that he had noticed her more mature look, she spontaneously raised the hem of her dress a touch. "I wear heeled shoes now, too," she flirted, pointing one foot forward for his inspection.

Andrew glanced at her footwear, a ladies' style sporting a customary one-inch heel. "Uh, yes." He cleared his throat. "So, um, did you say you were here for a medical concern?" he asked, returning to the purpose for her visit.

Colleen had forgotten her ruse. "I thought I might have sprained my wrist, but it's feeling much better."

"Well, let's take a look just to make sure. What happened?" he asked as he took gentle hold of her forearm and hand.

At his touch, Colleen again had to remind herself to breathe. "I tripped on the cobblestones in the street."

"A common enough occurrence. We all stumble now and again." Their eyes met. "So, I've heard," he added, giving her a friendly smile of recognition.

Colleen smiled back. The sentiment was similar to the one she had expressed upon welcoming Andrew to Colorado Springs, when he had fallen in the street. That had been a genuine mishap, however, whereas this one was fabricated. Would he chide her for lying? She was about to find out.

He returned his attention to her wrist, carefully manipulating her hand forward and back, turning it palm up and palm down. "I don't see any contusions or abrasions. There isn't any swelling. And it doesn't hurt?"

"No."

He nodded and released his hold of her. "I see no signs of injury. It appears you got lucky." He wrote something down on a file. "You're free to go. And be more careful next time crossing the street in those heels," he advised teasingly.

"I will."

He started to escort her out. "It was good seeing you again, Colleen. Give my best to your family."

Colleen panicked. He hadn't said anything about wanting to see her again. Did he still think of her as a young girl, pulling a childish prank to see him and raising her skirt? Colleen had thought the latter move might appear risqué, as adult, but maybe he had examined too many female ankles to care?

She whirled on him just as he was reaching for the doorknob. "Would you like to come for supper next week? We could catch up. Grandma will be there," she added, making the invitation more innocuous. "I'm sure she'd like to see you again." Of course, she was presuming about Elizabeth's reaction, but she couldn't imagine Elizabeth not wishing to see him again. After all, out of all the doctors in Boston, she had picked him to come out West to help Dr. Mike.

Andrew considered her offer. "Are you cooking?"

Colleen's heart skipped a beat. Was he teasing her again, aware that Elizabeth Quinn had servants, or did he really want her to cook for him? She decided to play coy. "If you want me to."

There was the slightest delay in his response. "Then I look forward to it." He pulled the door open, ushered her out, then handed the file to Miss Mitchell. "We're all done here," he informed the nurse. He turned back to Colleen. "Good day, Colleen." He gave a nod of farewell before returning to his office, closing the door behind him.

"Miss Cooper?" the nurse said, looking up from Colleen's file.

"Yes?"

"You must be a friend of the family. Dr. Cook isn't charging you for your visit."

Colleen smiled broadly.

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The door closed behind him. Andrew wiped a hand across his mouth, letting it all sink in.

Colleen Cooper. He thought he would never see her again. Of course, there was a remote chance that she would visit her grandmother, but it had seemed just that – a remote chance. Even so, the odds of running into her were practically nil, as Boston was a large city. Colleen, smart girl that she was, had known this, and had concocted the artifice of having a sprained wrist in order to visit him at work, where he was guaranteed to be.

His uncle would have charged her for the visit, for wasting his time with a non-existent injury. But Andrew didn't have the heart to do so. It had felt surprisingly good to see her again. Chat with her again. Reminding him of their time in Colorado Springs. And then her coquettishness showing off her heeled shoes! She was so proud of them, of appearing grown up in front of him. How could he charge her for that?

He had almost reclosed the door to that chapter of his life – literally – when she had abruptly asked him to supper. He knew he shouldn't have, but he couldn't help his teasing dare of asking if she would cook. He couldn't help being selfish, asking her to provide a taste of Colorado Springs for old times' sake. Naturally, it wasn't much of a challenge and Colleen had readily volunteered, leaving him no choice but to accept her invitation, as it would have been rude to refuse at that point.

Stupid, stupid, stupid! If he had had any ounce of sense, he would have politely turned down her invitation rather than issue the dare. Colleen and her family were part of his past, not his present. But instead, he had goaded her into making an offer he couldn't refuse. If he was being honest with himself, he really hadn't wanted to refuse. Truthfully, he was interested in knowing how his former patients were faring and was a bit curious as to what had been going on in the small frontier town since he'd left it nine months ago.

There had been one snippet of national news to go on - a baby bottle recall resulting from contamination Michaela had discovered. Mrs. Quinn had also provided a brief update at a social function they had met at: the family was fine, baby Katie was thriving, Colleen was in college in Denver. The matriarch had also mentioned a storm at Thanksgiving, resulting in minor damage to the town and major damage to Preston Lodge's new hotel – the same hotel Preston had offered Andrew a job at. He had had to turn that down, of course, and was thus understandably interested in hearing more about the doctor who had assumed the position.

The knock on the door reminded him it was time to get back to work.

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