To you all who absolutely love Matthew Crawley (like I do), this chapter is for you!

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According to Mr. McHarper's medical records, his address was located in the northernmost part of the village. After her work hours on the day Mr. McHarper's payment deadline was on, Mandy walked through the village trying to find his address. She passed shops and houses as the sun beat down on her, and she felt the back of her neck sweat. It was a warm day, maybe a little too warm to walk out looking for a patient's house, and in a navy-blue dress with long sleeves, no hat. She had spoken to Dr. Clarkson, and after he spoke with a few people on the board, including Mrs. Crawley, he said it would be fine to hand-deliver the notices, just as long as the delivery was made not during work hours.

Mandy passed a few shops as she walked, and she stopped at one the showed wooden toys, such as wooden animals and toy tools, in the window. She looked up and the store name read McHarper's Toys. This was it, the shop Mr. McHarper owned! Mandy walked into the shop that was stuffy and warm, but not as warm as the air outside. Wooden horses, dogs, farm animals, and even doll houses adorned the small shop. Mandy smiled, thinking back to her childhood, and how much she would have loved one of those rocking horses or doll houses.

"Can I help you, miss?"

She turned and faced a middle-aged man with graying brown hair and had scruff on his chin. She heard the front door open behind her, but she didn't think anything of it. "Oh, yes. Are you Mr. Forrest McHarper?"

"Yes, ma'am, I am. I'm the best toy maker in the village. What can I do for ya? You look too young to have any younin's yourself, so you must be lookin' for a gift for a niece or nephew."

"Oh, no, I'm not looking to purchase anything." She extended the yellow folder she held. "I'm actually an accountant at the hospital here in town. We have in our records that you still have yet to pay the bill for your two-day hospital stay four months ago. I just came to hand you a notice stating that your deadline is today, but we're offering you an extended pay period, with little interest."

The man sighed heavily and leaned over the counter that a very old-fashioned register was on. "Today is the deadline, huh?" He met her eyes, his expression grim. "You lot have been houndin' me with reminders to pay the bill for an illness I couldn't help but get, and I had paid them by the skin of my teeth. Psh... what has that hospital come to, heckling the patients for their money, and in person, no less?"

Mandy had dealt with difficult customers before at the law firm, people far more intimidating than Mr. McHarper. "I can assure you, Mr. McHarper, that we care about your health and your circumstances, and have devised a plan that can make your last bill payments affordable."

"But with interest?" he spat. "As in, extra money that I have to pay?"

"Yes, that is correct, but..."

"No," he cut her off and rounded the counter and stood before her, taller than her by a head. "I was already plannin' on paying the bill in full, and the exact amount. There will be no interest."

"I'm afraid that interest will increase with every passing day, but not a lot. I have a form here detailing the payment plan."

The man slapped the folder out of her hands and it landed on the floor. "There will be no payment plan, and no interest! I have worked my arse off working in this hole of a shop and barely make enough money to feed my three children." He stepped up in her face and pointed a finger at her, and she willed herself to remain calm as her heart hammered at his agitation. "Look here, missy, you tell that Dr. Clarkson that if he's starting to send pretty girls to gather interest money from people when they don't have any money to pay to even pay for a normal doctor visit, then he's not going to get a sent from me! Forget the medical bill payment! Get out of my store! Now!"

"Excuse me, but that is not the way to speak to a lady."

Mandy gasped in shock when she recognized that firm voice and whirled around to find Matthew standing there, his eyes set on the angry man. "Matthew? What...?"

"This isn't any of your business," Mr. McHarper shot at him.

"My mother is on the medical board for the hospital, and I can assure you that this plan that Miss DeMont is speaking of here is the best option for you. Now, we will leave this notice and form with you so you can think about it." He picked up the folder off the floor, then handed it to Mr. McHarper. "Now, will you please apologize to Miss DeMont for speaking in such a manner, when she was simply doing her job?"

Mr. McHarper's nose twitched. "Fine. My apologies, miss. Now, will the two of you kindly leave so I can run my business and make the money needed to pay this blasted medical bill?"

"Of course," Matthew said, and Mandy stared at him with wide, unbelieving eyes. He gestured her to the door, and they both stood out on the dirt street in the heat. He gave her a charming smile. "Long time no see, Mandy. It's been a week, has it?"

Mandy stared at his blue eyes for a moment, and realized the last time she saw him was when he stopped by his house and she was talking with his mother, creating a plan to boot her out when she barely moved in. Her cheeks heated up and not from the heat of the air. This wasn't good, being with him, especially looking at handsome as he was in his gray suit. She should leave. "It has, and... thank you for helping me out in here. Even though I was handling it."

"I don't think a man yelling at you is handling it."

"I was fine. I've dealt with angry people before at my last accounting job, and that man was friendly compared to them."

They both notice Mr. McHarper standing in the window and glaring at them. They both walked on down the street, and Mandy decided to walk on with him. Matthew said after a couple of silent, awkward minutes, "So... my mother told me about the home visits that the hospital is making to tell people they need to pay their bills. I heard that was your idea."

"It was. I figured being more personal about it would be a good idea, but I was wrong. Maybe I'll tell Dr. Clarkson that it would be easier for everyone to just mail the notices." They passed a few shops and people walking down the road. She noticed Matthew staring at her. She looked over and met his gaze, a question pushing at her lips. "Matthew... how come you were in the toy shop? I mean, was it just coincidence that you happened to be buying a toy for someone, or...?"

He pursed his lips together as they walked, and she tried to read his expression. It looked guilty. "Well..." he started and they neared a tall leafy tree that had a wooden bench sitting under it in the shade. He stopped at the bench, as did she. "Alright. I saw you walking in that direction as I was leaving work, and I was curious as to what you were up to. I noticed the envelope in your hand, so I figured you were on hospital business."

Her pulse rose at the thought of Matthew following her around the village. "You... followed me?"

"Yes. And I realized now that it was a foolish thing to do, considering what has happened in the past few weeks." He cleared his throat, and said, changing the subject, "So, are you liking your new accounting job?"

"Yeah, I like it. It keeps me on my toes just as much as Downton, only I'm sitting in a desk chair constantly going through files and adding costs of things for the hospital. It's invigorating."

"Well, I'm glad you're enjoying it." He gestured to the bench and they both sat down. Mandy kept her gaze away from him, not wanting to fall harder for him every time she looked at him. She didn't need that, especially with Thomas still waiting for an answer. Oh, how she wanted to go see him and her friends at Downton! She never had time in the past week due to her work schedule.

A minute passed as the warm wind caught some loose orange tendrils of her hair. She stared down at the dirt road, then at her early-twentieth-century women's shoes. She tapped her feet together. She wondered if she would be wearing her clothes when she wakes up from this reality. That way, she could keep her shoes.

"My mother said that they hired you on the spot when you said you have an accounting degree," Matthew said, splitting the silence between them. People walked by happily talking with one another, and children skipped along, dragging sticks in the dirt.

"Yeah, when they found out I had a degree, the job was mine. They told me what to do, and I got to it."

"That's wonderful. I'm not surprised. Having a degree in accounting—well, a degree in general—that's quite a feat for a woman."

"Thank you. It wasn't easy. I'm just glad that I'm using my degree, and not paying off my student loans by working in a fast food place or a market like most college graduates. At lease, college graduates where I'm from."

"Fast food?"

Mandy wanted to face-palm herself. Of course he wouldn't know what fast food is! "Fast food places are just restaurants that sell cheap food. It's pretty much the easiest job you can get without a degree."

"I see. Cheap food and an easy job... like a pub?"

"Something like that."

He nodded and faced the road again. She bit her bottom lip. Sitting with him on a bench on a warm day in a cute little village was just asking for trouble. She noticed that the people who walked by eyed them. She thought about it a moment and noticed that she and Matthew probably looked like a great couple, just like that jewelry shop owner said. People who walked by probably thought they were a couple.

She dismissed that thought. Not now!

"So, Mandy," he began, "I wanted to ask... how are you liking living in the hospital?"

A warm wind blew in the shade of the tree that they were in. "It's alright. I mean, it's a place to sleep, but it constantly smells of sterilizer, alcohol, and some type of ointment that is used on a lot of the patients. Other than that..."

His mouth flattened into a grim line. "I'm sorry that you aren't thrilled about it."

"Don't be sorry. Given what's happened, it's best that I not stay in the Crawley House."

Silence ensued again, and Matthew shifted in his seat so his body faced her. "Mandy..."

Mandy's heart thudded. Why did her name have to sound so good coming out of his mouth? She kept her gaze on the side of a brick building directly in front of them across the dirt road. She heard him sigh and he put his arm on the back of the bench. She felt his gaze on her. "I just wanted to apologize for everything that has happened in the past few weeks. It's all my fault. I shouldn't have bought you that pin—it just resulted in chaos."

She looked down at her lap and fiddled with the strap of her black work bag. "It's my fault, too. I allowed you to buy it for me."

"Only because I coerced you. If I hadn't have bought it, you wouldn't have been blamed for theft, and you wouldn't have been kicked out of Downton."

"It's already done. What we can do now is make the best of it."

"Yes, but I still feel horribly guilty."

She pressed her lips together, trying to figure out what to say. "Well, I guess I can thank you for it. It's currently my favorite pin. My only pin, actually. I had to give my others away because they belonged to Downton."

"I'm glad you like it."

She looked over at him, which was a mistake. The corner of his mouth lifted in a cute smile, and she couldn't help but allow her heart to race. His blue eyes held hers for a moment as the wind blew and rustled the leaves in the trees. How is it that this man is so captivating?

"Are you wearing that pin now, then?" he asked.

"Yes, I am. Like I said, it's the only one I have."

"Maybe once you get paid, you can treat yourself to a little shopping trip."

"Yes, maybe I can do that. I get paid at the end of the week."

They sat there a little while longer, watching a mother pass by with her two brown-haired children, a boy and a girl, who looked the same age. Maybe twins? "Do you enjoy children?" she heard Matthew ask.

The little family walked on, with the children giggling happily. "Um, well, just as much as the next person, I guess. I never had any younger siblings since I'm the youngest."

"I see."

"Do you like children?"

They met glances, and a soft smile appeared on his face. "I do. They're heaven's gifts."

Her heart warmed. The show never mentioned this about Matthew, that he loved children. That made him all the more attractive. "I think you'll make a great father, then."

His smiled broadened, and he looked a bit embarrassed. "I don't know. I guess we'll see."

A horrifying thought suddenly came to her mind, one that she completely forgot about, and was the reason why she almost stopped watching the show when she watched it for the first time... After Matthew and Mary get married, and literally right after Mary has her baby, Matthew dies in a car crash. He never had a chance to be an actual father.

"Mandy, what's wrong?"

She looked at him and noticed that her vision was blurred. She dabbed at her eyes with the back of her hand, and noticed moisture on it when she brought it back. She cleared her throat, trying to get a hold of herself. "Sorry. I get this way sometimes. It's just... you'll make a great father. You're just so sweet and friendly and caring, and everyone loves to be around you. What child doesn't want that in a father?"

Truthfully, what woman doesn't want that in a man?

Matthew gave her a soft smile. "Thank you, Mandy. That actually puts my mind at ease about the future."

She returned the smile, trying to block the thought, Then don't get into a car accident! When the gaze lasted longer than it should, she said, "Well, I should get going. I have to get back to the hospital and get started on some financing for tomorrow."

"Aren't you already off your work hours, though?"

"Yes, but I like numbers, and the work keeps me busy."

"I see."

Silence ensued for a moment, and she said, "Well, I should go. Thank you for rescuing me from Mr. McHarper."

"It was my pleasure. And, my apologies again for following you. I honestly need to learn to keep my distance from you as to not cause more trouble."

She attempted to not let that comment play with her emotions. "It's alright."

They both stood up from the bench at the same time, and Mandy stood up closer to Matthew than she anticipated. The two looked at each other for a moment. Before she realized she needed to move, Matthew leaned in slightly and pressed his lips on hers. Her eyes widened. Matthew Crawley is...

He moved his mouth once. She closed her eyes and returned the gesture, a bit dazed. When some children laughed in the background, Matthew drew back.

"I'm so sorry," he said, taking a step back. "I've crossed the line again, after literally just saying..."

"Don't be sorry. I'm at fault to, and um..."

She didn't know what else to say. Her heart hammered with the desire to kiss him again, but her her eyes stung with the guilt of doing something that she knew she shouldn't have done. She thought of Thomas and what he would think of this.

"I just..." he started, a bit flustered. "I just don't know what it is about you that caught me so quickly. It is like you bewitched me."

Her breath caught up in her. Bewitched? That word is... kind of hot. She repositioned her work bag strap on her shoulder with her tingly and shaky hands. "Matthew..."

"It's really true. I don't know what happened. My heart moved faster than my mind, and I couldn't stop it."

She nodded, her cheeks feeling hot, and not from the outdoor temperature. "Yes. That happens."

Matthew cleared his throat after a moment. "Well, I should get going,"

"Yes, me, too."

He made a little head bow. "Good day."

"You, too."

He walked on down the road and Mandy watched after him, and noticed how attractive his walk was. "I'm sunk," she whined to herself. "I knew I should've left when we were in front of the toy shop. Now I'm in trouble." She touched her lips, the sensation of his lips on hers still here. "Yeah, a lot of trouble."

She started walking back to the hospital, rolling over that sweet kiss in her head a hundred times before she walked through the main doors. She headed back to her office, and once she sat in her desk chair, and after pulling a file in front of her, the kiss still lingered in her mind.

Matthew kissed her. And she kissed him back! And she enjoyed it! What was wrong with her?

She knew the answer to that. It had happened, it seemed, before she even came to the Downton world and watched the show on her plasma screen TV, ogling at him every time he appeared in a scene.

She touched the hairpin in her hair. Yep. She fell in love with Matthew Crawley.