Lucky to be loving you
Chapter 26
Page 76
There they were, the newlywed couple waltzing across the ballroom in Vienna, gazing at the Eiffel Tower in the City of Lights, riding the train past the Alps, and visiting the art galleries and theaters of the effervescent cities of Europe. Taking in all the sights, they explored the ruins of the Colosseum and enjoyed a day in Rome visiting the Vatican, finally wrapping up their trip by returning to the serene beauty of the Yorkshire Dales in England before heading to Liverpool to board their ocean liner back to New York.
This time there were no movie stars incognito sitting at their dining table, but they happened to see one of the other couples from their trip to Europe, Dr. and Mrs. Jeffrey Kowalski, the veterinarian, and his wife, Kalina who were visiting their family in Poland. They too were headed back to the States where they lived in Chicago. They asked the Maitre'd to sit them together so they could share with each other how their trip went.
"This has been such a wonderful trip to remember!" Fiona said joyfully.
"Yes, it's hard to leave this enchanting honeymoon trip behind, but it's back to reality now," James added.
Jeffrey nodded, "I hear you. As much as we dreaded leaving our families, we also miss our home and our friends back in Chicago."
Kalina agreed, "It was just fabulous to finally meet our relatives in person. Having been born in Chicago we only knew our family by the photographs. Meeting my grandparents for the first time, they would hug me, cry, look at me, and then hug me over and over. I'll never forget this, ever!"
"Were you in Poland the whole time?" Fiona asked.
"Yes, with both of us, we had so many relatives to meet. We were constantly going from one family's home to another," Kalina answered.
"Boy, did we eat!" Jeffrey laughed, "We must've put on 10 pounds!"
Nathan and Fiona shared their stories of dancing in Vienna, attending a concert of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, touring the Eiffel Tower, attending a wine tasting, discovering the amazing treasures of the Louvre Art Museum, investigating the Colosseum, exploring the Vatican, and sightseeing during their train ride through the Alps.
"We had exceptional weather and it only rained in Vienna, but we were inside. We will treasure our memories forever!" James smiled and reached for Fiona's hand.
When they arrived in New York and boarded the train to Canada on their last stretch it felt good to be returning back to their home country. Riding the train across southern Canada was as beautiful as it was a month earlier.
As they settled into their sleeper cabin, Fiona gazed tenderly at her husband and snuggled up to him, "You know, James, I thoroughly enjoyed our honeymoon, and am so glad we went. These last few days on the train back to Hope Valley, I just want to stay snuggled in your arms for as long as I can!"
"That sounds really good to me," James answered as he pulled Fiona closer, "Yes, really good!"
Gunther told Andy that he wanted to take Rosaleen to lunch and asked him to make himself scarce. Andy knew why and gladly bowed out.
Walking into the library Gunther spotted Rosaleen putting new books on the shelves. Coming quietly up behind her, he whispered, "Hello Rosaleen!"
Startled, she jumped and almost dropped the book she was holding. "Gunther Burmeister! Don't you know it's not nice to sneak up on a lady!" she giggled.
Gunther laughed, "I see you got more copies of Elizabeth's book."
"Yes, there is a second printing now, so Elizabeth's doing very well."
"Well, good. How about lunch?" Gunther blurted out.
"Lunch, now?"
"Yes, now. You don't look busy. Are you?" Gunther asked.
Rosaleen looked at the clock, "No, I'm not, now's a good time as any. Let me get my pocketbook." When she went into the backroom, she checked herself in the mirror and tucked in a few stray curls, donned some lipstick, and slapped her cheeks to pink them up.
Wondering why today Gunther has surprised her with a luncheon date had her curious. Things between them had been getting more serious and she was delighted to go to lunch with him.
She closed up the library and Gunther took her and walked her over to Minnie's. Looking questionably at Gunther, she remarked, "Usually you prefer the atmosphere at Billees. You are full of surprises today."
"Well, I thought it was a good change. I wanted a quiet time with you today," he smiled.
Greeted by Minnie, she showed them to a table, but Gunther requested the one in the corner away from others.
"Certainly," Minnie nodded handing them the luncheon menu.
"Oh, I am hungrier than I thought," Rosaleen said as she glanced through the menu.
"Order whatever you like," Gunther offered.
When Minnie arrived with their water, Rosaleen ordered the hot turkey sandwich.
"No potatoes, I'm saving my appetite for the delicious apple strudel. Does Emily still bake for you?"
"Not as often as I'd like her to, but you're lucky, we have some baked just this morning!"
Gunther ordered the same but with mashed potatoes. Taking a drink of water, he reached across the table and gently grabbed Rosaleen's hand. Rosaleen softly smiled.
"Rosaleen, I just received some news today that I need to share with you. It came as a big shock to me, but it was expected eventually."
"You make this sound so suspenseful. What in the world is it?" she laughed.
Gunther looked around making sure no one else was listening. He gulped, "Rosaleen I have been promoted..."
Rosaleen squealed and then everyone was looking at the young couple. "Sorry, but this is great news!"
"Of course, yes, it is! But it means I have been transferred to Buxton," Gunther filled in the rest of his news.
Rosaleen was disappointed and it showed all over her face as she hung her head, "Oh."
Gunther cupped his hand under her chin and looked into her watery eyes. "It's really a big opportunity for me. I was assigned as the Mountie there. Staff Sergeant Herrmann is filling in and will be there when I first arrive. He'll train me and when I'm ready to go it alone, he'll retire. But that doesn't mean I can't see you."
Rosaleen shrugged, "It'll be hard Gunther. You'll be so busy and really won't have much time at all to leave Buxton."
"Well, would you be willing to come to Buxton?" Gunther held his breath.
"Yes, I might, but really, it won't be much."
When Minnie brought their lunches, they both just picked at their food.
"I thought you were hungry?" Gunther asked Rosaleen.
"Oh, Gunther, I lost my appetite. This is so confusing. I'm happy for you and discouraged for us. What are we going to do?"
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Elizabeth and Will were talking about their upcoming Easter break for school and what they would be doing with little Jack. Ever since Will had kissed Elizabeth they had become an 'official' couple in Hope Valley. It had been a slow courtship up until then, but now it was blossoming quicker. They made quite the couple that seemed to be approved by even some of the more talkative ladies in town. Not that their approval was necessary, but it made it easier, and little Jack really enjoyed Will's attention.
The school teachers were expected to be properly courted. Jack had passed the test, and now Will was just as well-liked and approved. Will was a gentleman and respectful which pleased most everyone. It was Elizabeth who got him to loosen up and relax around her and Jack. She included him in Sunday dinners, but always with Rosemary and Lee and Gracie and Paul, or Molly and Bill. Now, she wanted to have Fiona and James over as a welcome home dinner. She was excited to hear all about their visits to Europe.
"That sounds wonderful," Fiona agreed as she settled Elizabeth into the chair at Nichols and Dimes, "A home-cooked meal!"
"Great! I bet you're busy catching up. I'm guessing this is my lucky time to get a haircut," Elizabeth smiled.
"Oh, it's been busy, for sure! Christy held the fort down, with the help of Dianna Starr. Dianna substituted for Christy right before and after Christy's second baby, Patrick. She really helped out fabulously, so I knew I could count on her to help again."
"Well, I for one, was waiting for you to come home. I decided that I wanted a new style. Something different. I've had long hair for as long as I can remember, and I trust your suggestions."
"Well," Fiona laughed, "You know me, I can get a bit edgy but I won't put you through that. So, let's just go with a bob. What do you think about that style?"
"Perfect! I think Will will like it too," she said confidently.
Fiona whistled, "You are concerned about Will's opinion. This is a big deal, huh?"
Elizabeth blushed, "Fiona!" she faked surprise.
"Elizabeth, you can't fool me! Let's just see what you'll look like in a bob!
With a little smirk on her face, Elizabeth felt she was finally moving on with her life. Losing Jack, being left by Lucas, and unfortunately spurning Nathan herself, she felt her future with Will was going to be a new beginning and she was ready!
Over at the dental office, James had quite a few patients that needed his attention. Lisa made a list of names who didn't want to travel to a nearby town to one of the other dentists James had made arrangements with. Even stubborn Matthew who suffered for a few weeks with an infected tooth waited for him. Luckily, Dr. Greene got word and although not a dentist, he took him in and knew enough to know that the look of his swollen gums and sensitivity when he touched one of the teeth, that it was infected. Paul got him on antibiotics which bought him some time, but now he was finally sitting in the dental chair.
"Good thing, Carson knew you had an infection because with your tooth being this bad, I couldn't have worked on it until you had the antibiotics," James said cautiously.
"Yeah, I missed a few days at work as my tooth was throbbing until the meds kicked in," Matthew added, "Lee understood, but work is getting busy again. There's a new development west of here that is a new project coming this spring."
James stopped to listen a bit better, "A new development? Like houses, businesses?"
"A whole town is planned. The railroad brought more folks out this way although it's not named or anything yet. Actually, I can't say much, but with you being married to the Mayor and all, I figured you'd know, or would soon," Matthew shrugged.
James put this news on the back burner and prodded around Matthew's mouth. When he touched the tooth, Matthew jumped. "OUCH!"
James shook his head, "It doesn't look like it's going to get any better. Do you want the good news or bad news first?"
Matthew sighed, "Just give me the bad news first, Doc."
James pulled his stool over and sat down, "Matthew, the bad news is you would need a root canal if we were to save the tooth. It's a complicated procedure, but the good news is, that your tooth is a wisdom tooth. You don't need your wisdom teeth, so I can extract it."
Matthew asked, "Why don't I need my wisdom teeth? I need all the help I can get!" Then he started to laugh, "I crack myself up sometimes. OUCH!"
James chuckled, "Matthew, wisdom teeth can be more trouble than their worth. They can crowd the teeth in front of them or sometimes they stay under the gum and are impacted making it hard to remove. You already have molars and they will serve the purpose. So, losing one won't affect you at all chewing-wise."
"So when will you do that?"
"How about now?" James smiled.
"NOW?" Matthew gulped.
"If you want to prolong your misery you can wait, but it's not going to get better. The sooner, the easier, but it's up to you."
Matthew nodded yes so James explained he would give him a few shots of Novocain so he wouldn't feel pain from the extraction and reassured him he would be much better in just a day or two.
When finished, Matthew nodded thanks with his mouth full of gauze. James walked him to the door and as Matthew walked away, he saw Rosaleen and Gunther walking arm in arm to the library, but what caught his eye was they both looked unhappy. In fact, Rosaleen was wiping her face when they passed by. Gunther gave a slight nod to James as they kept going by.
James closed the door behind himself and wondered what caused the couple to be so upset. He asked Lisa, "When's my next patient?"
"After lunch."
"Good, I'll be back in an hour, I'm going over by Fiona."
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Dottie was only working part-time at her apparel shop, but when the seasons changed and new fresh clothing styles came in, she always changed her schedule to work more hours. Debra Blakely had been handling the shop better than she had hoped for. Ever since she and Henry had gone on a honeymoon Debra was asked to step in and she had done remarkably well, so it allowed Dottie to just do the ordering. However, when times like this came around, Dottie was excited to see the new merchandise.
"So, Debra, what do you think of all the new shorter fashions and the flapper style?" Dottie asked.
"Well, it's all the rage, as we see in the fashion magazines, but I wonder how it'll go over with the ladies in our town"?
Dottie nodded, "Yes, first we need to put some pretty and fun dresses in the window to attract the younger women, like you. Then, once the rest of the ladies see them they just might want to try them too. At least, that's my hope!"
As the two of them opened the packages of women's clothing, Debra picked out one dress and Dottie picked out another for the window. They hung up the dresses to allow the wrinkles to straighten out, then went to the next package of clothing. The women's clothing also included blouses, skirts, lounge pants, hats and headdresses. They had so much fun opening the boxes that when Rosaleen came inside surprising Debra with a bundle of tears Debra was shocked.
Debra put down the garment she was hanging up and rushed over to Rosaleen, leading her to the back room, she asked, "Rosaleen, whatever is the matter?"
"Gunther just told me he is being promoted," Rosaleen burst out saying all the while she was crying.
"Oh, that's wonderful!" Debra looked perplexed, "Isn't it?"
Rosaleen shed a few more tears and stopped long enough to share what was making her so upset, "Yes, yes, it is, and I'm very happy for him. I am truly. But he was also transferred."
"Oh! I guess that was bound to happen. Where?"
"Buxton," Rosaleen sobbed.
Debra pulled Rosaleen close to hug her. "That's not that far. You will get to see him still, right?"
"He'll be so busy and won't get to leave much at all!" Rosaleen balled.
"Oh, that might be true, but maybe you can drive over to see him," Debra thought out loud.
Calming down, Rosaleen stopped to blow her nose and wipe her face. Taking a deep breath, she abruptly stood up, "Sorry to interrupt, I know you're busy, but I just needed to let my sorrow out."
"Anytime, I'm always here for you, you know that. I just wish I could do something to make you feel better. I know that when Greg left when he graduated from college and never came back for me, I was devastated! So, that's why I came back home to Hope Valley. You're always loved when you're with all your friends and family."
Rosaleen gave Debra a hug, "I got to get back to the library. Thanks for being here and listening. I'll talk to you later."
With that, Debra walked Rosaleen out of the back room but stopped to show her the two dresses she and Dottie were going to hang in the window. The new dresses did catch Rosaleen's eye helping Rosaleen to think of something positive and that's exactly what Debra wanted.
Meanwhile, when Gunther returned to the office after lunch, he saw Nathan talking to Bill. He assumed it was about him being transferred.
Bill nodded at Gunther saying, "I just heard about your promotion, and it is well deserved, I must say. Congratulations!"
Bill reached for Gunther's hand and gave him a hearty handshake.
"Thank you, Judge!" Gunther beamed.
"Listen here, Gunther. You'll be with one of the best. Staff Sergeant Christopher Herrmann will make sure you are completely aware of the town and introduce you to who you will need to know around there. He's lived there most of his life and he's got it all figured," Bill added.
Gunther listened keenly as he truly respected the Judge. Although Bill was a curmudgeon, he was a quite likable one and most everyone looked up to him. He was wise and had a good sense of when to trust his gut.
Nathan agreeing with Bill added, "From what I understand, Gunther, Christopher is retiring in the area, so you'll have him close by. I didn't know anyone here when I arrived, and Bill here was giving me a hard time," he paused to give Bill a crooked smile, "so it can be challenging, but nothing to be worried about."
Gunther was taking this pep talk all in, but then he asked, "When do I have to leave?"
Bill spoke right up, "It's not when I have to leave. No, it's when can I go!"
Andy had been listening in the corner, and chimed in, "His hesitation is all about a girl!"
Gunther shot Andy a disgruntled look. Bill and Nathan laughed.
"We've all been there," Nathan said.
"Yes sir, the females seem to get us all messed up sometimes, for sure," Bill added, "But, think with your head this time son!"
"It seems you've got a week to get ready and focused," Nathan answered. "I will admit, I am going to miss you, you've been a great trainee, and I am very proud of your progress! You'll be fine."
Gunther cleared his throat and looked outside. "If you don't mind, I'm going to go to the livery and brush down Sandy and bring her a treat. I've got to let her know what's going on."
"Sure, go ahead. He deserves to know. After all, he's promoted too!" Nathan chuckled.
