Issue 1 Downtime

Chloe was heading down the wooden sidewalk, her mind busy as she considered what kind of fabric she should get for her new dress.

Derek, in the meantime, was going over a list of things he needed to have ordered for his pratice. Hm... shouldn't take too long to get this shipped in. I hope... He really wasn't paying attention to who was around as he walked along the storefronts.

Chloe bumped into him. Literally. "My goodness, I am so sorry, Dr. Scott. I didn't see you at all!"

"Oh, my! Miss Chloe! Terribly sorry, I don't know where my head was just now," he said, folding the list up and tipping his hat to her in appology.

"You're sweet to say so, but it was all my fault!" Chloe said, blushing a little at the tipped hat.

"Well, I wasn't exactly looking where I was going," he said apologetically.

"Where are you going?" Chloe asked.

"Oh, just into the General, I need some things ordered. What about you?"

"I'm going to the dry goods store next door to there." Chloe said "I need to get some calico for a new dress."

"Oh, you're making a new dress? Well, I'm sure that it can't fail to be less than lovely on you," Derek said with a smile. "Now that you mention it, though, I do need some things in there. If, that is, you wouldn't mind my company?" Outside the parlor house, he seemed to be much more sure of himself.

"I would." Chloe said "Its always useful to have a masculine opinion when selecting dress fabric. Otherwise I just get the pinkest one, and Miss Victoria says that I wear too much pink. I don't know, I like pink, but then I think variety is good, but then I always pick the pink fabric."

"Pink does suit you," Derek admitted with a smile. "But if you want to diversify a bit, I could help, I suppose. If I could be so bold..." He offered her his arm with a charming smile.

Chloe took is arm, smiling hesitantly "I don't want to hurt your reputation, Dr. Scott."

"Somehow, I still think that people will come to me when they're not feeling well," he said with a smile. "So I think I'll choose to keep the company of a lovely lady now while I have the opportunity."

"I don't think I deserve to be called a lady any more." Chloe said, a bit sadly "But its sweet of you to say that."

That comment raised questions in his mind, but they seemed to be questions best left for less public settings. "Well, it's what I say, and I'm enjoying your company. So we'll just go with that, all right?" he said, turning a charming smile toward her as they walked.

"That sounds lovely." Chloe said. After a moment's pause she added "The weather is very nice."

"That it is," Derek agreed pleasantly. "Not many days like this back east, it's taking some getting used to."

"The weather is lovely here." Chloe said "Sometimes, on days like this, we used to go for a picnic, before there started being so much trouble with the ranchers, and the Indians."