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Chapter 13

"The Groundhog didn't see his shadow." Candy grumbled at dinner the third week in February. "So, why is it so blasted cold out still?" They had arisen to frost-covered windows and snow in the air. "I'm ready for some warmth."

Carolyn smiled at her daughter, glad she hadn't asked her opinion on the groundhog, as she had only been half-listening. She had finished her article for New England Family just a short four hours ago and not even three cups of coffee had managed to wake her.

She had also had that dream again. It wasn't scary, but it was strange, and it had begun to occur with an alarming frequency. She would dream about the first day she saw Gull Cottage, see the house needing someone to love and care for it, hear Martha's wisecracks about Edgar Allen Poe and sand castles with three bedrooms, but Bobby wasn't there as he had been.

In her dream she would see the portrait and feel that thrill of longing washing over her as she looked into the blue eyes of the man who was the subject of the painting and then the dream would change completely and she would find herself in that room, rain beating on the windows, the night pitch black, a voice telling her to light the blasted candle. But before she could, she always woke up. What it might mean, she wasn't sure. But surely after dreaming it several times, it must mean something!

"You better hurry up." she reminded her children, "you don't want to miss the bus."

"Mom!" Candy exclaimed.

Jonathan, laughing at their absent minded mother, said, "We don't have school today; it's a holiday."

"A holiday?" Carolyn let her head sink down into her hands. "So, there's no mail?"

"Or bank," Martha chimed in.

"So, I stayed up all night for nothing," Carolyn groaned. "Oh, the indignity of it all!"

"Why don't you go back to bed for a while?" the housekeeper offered. "I can keep Bonnie and Clyde busy down here for a bit."

"Oh, I don't think I could, I should probably use the day to get ahead on a project or finish going through the chest…" However, the look on her face said she really liked the bed idea.

"Go on. You've been working hard and you need the rest. Then, maybe later you could do a little shopping. I've heard they have great sales for whatever President's birthday this is we are getting a day off for."

Carolyn resisted the urge to head toward the typewriter and allowed herself to sink into the depths of the feather mattress. Pulling the covers up, she laid her head on the pillow, and then pulled the other one against her, holding it tight. Thoughts of lying with Daniel like this filled her head and she smiled. He was such a gentleman she thought, (maybe more of one then she had wanted that night) thinking about their time in Castine two weeks before. Men like him didn't come along very often, maybe only once in a hundred years. Drifting off to sleep, she heard music coming from somewhere, the tune mixing with her thoughts. "If only I could touch your hand," the words sang.

"But, you can touch my hand," she saw herself in the living room sitting on the sofa beside Daniel. She grasped his hand in hers and brought it to her lips, kissing it gently.

"If I could link your arm in mine," the words sounded far away like she was hearing them at the bottom of a well.

"But you can!" she insisted and once more she was with Daniel, walking with him on the beach, arms linked as they enjoyed a winter jaunt by the water's edge.

The scene changed and they were still walking together, but this time through fog and he walked beside her, but apart from her.

"A real, live flesh and blood Gregg," he was saying, but she couldn't concentrate. "How can you manage that?" she heard herself say and then the scene switched to yet another where they were in the main bedroom and he was standing at the fireplace, looking into her eyes and making her feel weak and strong all the same time.

"Can I shake your father's hand or kiss your mother's?" he was asking, "I can not present myself to them in those circumstances."

"If I could touch your lips to mine..." He was there, and then disappeared.

"Daniel?" she woke up suddenly, sitting up and throwing back the covers. Taking a moment to clear her head, she got out of bed, and just stood in the middle of the room.

As strange as the dream has been, it hadn't scared or alarmed her, but she wasn't sure what to make of it. The phone rang and she reached for it, her voice faltering on the greeting.

"Carolyn, is that you?" It was Daniel's voice, rich and warm, and she instantly felt like she was floating on air.

"It is," she answered back. "To what do I owe the pleasure of a morning call?"

"It is a holiday," he said in tone that made her laugh.

They talked for over an hour, he filling her in on the quiz team and their latest win; and she telling him about her article and Jonathan's spelling bee victory.

"And Candy is trying to organize a girl's softball team," she told him with pride in her voice. "She's even wangled a sponsorship out of Ollie Wilkins."

"That's my girl," Daniel bragged. "Tell her I'm proud of her."

"I will."

Their conversation slid into something a bit more intimate after that, his words poetry to her soul.

"I love you." She ended the call, not wanting to ever let him go.

After hanging up, she re-dressed and headed for the attic, determined to look through the sea chest some more. Her hand fell on something heavy and she picked up the carefully wrapped item, laying the paper aside. It was a shawl of the finest silk, embroidered with flowers of all kinds, the smell of cinnamon and ginger mixing with the mustiness of its dormant stage.

For a brief moment, she had a flash of memory, of seeing it before, but knew that it was ridiculous. Shaking it out, she wrapped it around her body and suddenly was overcome with the longing for Daniel to hold her in his arms.

The feeling became very strong, so she took it off and placed it in the paper once more. But instead of putting it back in the chest, she laid aside to take downstairs with her. Maybe Daniel would know something about it.

00000000

He had to sit down when she asked him about the shawl, his leg muscles did not seem to want to work correctly. He had her describe it to him again to buy some time before he had to answer her.

What an imbecile he had been that day, asking Carolyn to try the shawl on and then having the audacity of asking her to give it to Vanessa. After he had come to his senses he had given the shawl to its rightful owner; Carolyn, and she had worn it on more than on occasion, keeping it carefully stored in a garment bag of sorts.

He loved knowing that it was there and that it meant something to her. Of course, this Carolyn would have no knowledge of it. However, he had thought that maybe when she saw it, everything would come rushing back to her, and it hadn't happened.

"It was bought for the first Vanessa," he told her, choosing his words carefully. "Captain Gregg bought it in Morocco for his future wife, but of course, you know how that came about."

"I do." she said and he could hear paper rustling in the background. "Strange though, isn't it?"

"What's strange, my love?"

"That he was set to marry a girl named Vanessa, and so were you, but nothing came of it either time."

They couldn't talk long; he was supposed to meet Brendan and Sarah for dinner at seven o'clock. He and his former first mate had spent most of the day together, enjoying the batting cages worked, liking that it was fun and good exercise.

He had been taking a shower when Carolyn's call had come, Sam coming to the door to let him know that annoying ring was sounding again. He wondered how many other people had a cat that told you when the phone rang.

He entered the restaurant and the girl at the front gave him a smile as he walked in. He looked around for his friends, wondering again how a six-foot-four curly-headed man was so hard to find in a crowd.

Spying him finally in a back booth, he was glad to see that Sarah was also there. But what surprised him was what he saw next; Brendan and Sarah sitting side by side, his hand holding hers as they talked, her eyes lighting up as her face held the biggest smile Daniel had ever seen. He couldn't help but watch a for a few minutes as he saw Sarah giggle and Brendan lean in to whisper something in her ear, then kiss her.

He saw Brendan and Sarah almost every day; when had this happened?

"What have we here?" he asked good-naturedly as he sat down on the empty chair at the table."

"What are you having trouble understanding, Danny; the restaurant, the food, or the menu?" Brendan teased him. "That's called a glass, you drink out of it."

"Very funny." he tried to look solemn, but it was impossible. He felt too happy these days to be in anything but a good mood.

"No, all of the hand-holding and love-talk," He indicated them. "When did this come about?"

Brendan and Sarah both looked at him as though he were crazy. "I guess, what, about a month ago?" His friend said; a smirk on his face.

"Or maybe longer than that, really," Sarah said thoughtfully. "It just takes a while for some idiots to say the right thing."

"Oh, don't be too hard on him, Sarah; he can't really help being the way he is." Daniel threw Brendan a grin.

"Oh, he wasn't the idiot; I was," Sarah quickly corrected. "When we met again right before Christmas, he told me how he had felt about me for some time, even when I was with you, but he wouldn't do anything about it, and I was too busy punishing myself for letting you go to realize that maybe, forgive me, Daniel, that maybe I had found someone better… well at least for me."

"And you haven't tried to hide this from me?" the seaman looked confused.

"No, we've been very out in the open about it," Brendan assured him.

"Which is why you usually show up at our quiz practices and games," Daniel was beginning to feel slightly foolish. "And you don't usually stay past ten, if we go out or bowl or something, and, well I am the prize idiot of the century. Congratulations, you two!"

He hugged Sarah and clapped Brendan on the back and there was a lot of laughing. "I certainly missed that blip on the radar."

"Well yeah, between school, the quiz team, and Carolyn, but it's all right, love does that to people. Then Brendan kissed Sarah just because he could.

"Any update on the Carolyn front?" Sarah asked as the waiter brought their appetizer and refilled their iced tea glasses.

Sarah believed firmly that for things to continue to proceed as they were that Carolyn must remember her other life. Daniel couldn't help but wonder if it would truly make a difference, but he had found, not that he would admit it, the women were usually right.

"She called right before I left," he told them. "She's still going through the sea chest upstairs and she found the shawl. She told me she tried it on and it made her feel homesick for me, but other than the thought of me and my "ancestor" of both being engaged to girls named Vanessa, it didn't ring a bell.

"But she's on the right track. Do you really think it will throw everything off-course if she doesn't remember?" he asked again.

"Oh, I think you could be happily married for fifty years and be surrounded with children and grand-children." Sarah patted his hand. "But I'm just afraid, knowing women the way I do, and Carolyn in particular, that she might find out later and then become angry with you for not telling her. Of course I could be wrong."

After dinner they went to see a movie, a past-time that Daniel found he greatly enjoyed. He had snuck into the theater in Schooner Bay from time to time but his was so much better. He had, he knew, picked up many traits and practices of a man in this time and most of them he did rather like.

He drove a car — Brendan and he had gone shopping for one right after New Year's and it was now parked in the garage of his apartment building; he loved the batting cages, was fond of pizza and beer, actually liked working out in the gym, enjoyed shooting hoops, and very much liked going to sporting events at the school, loved bowling and this summer he was going to see about renting a boat to take the kids out in.

Happy as he was, he still had to wonder why this had happened and would it go away.

Surely after all this time, it was a gift he was meant to keep but sometimes fear would seize him and he would wonder until he saw his students or heard Carolyn's voice or Sam would come and cuddle with him. Please, who ever did this, don't take it back!

0000000

March first was a clear day in Schooner Bay, the sun welcome warm after a weekend of bitterly cold temperatures and a snowfall that had ceased to be fun after the third foot of it began to accumulate.

Candy and Jonathan had kissed their mother goodbye that morning. The bus driver, Charlie, gave her a friendly wave as he opened the door for them. Scruffy, also happy to see the sun, came bounding out the door, barking at the yellow vehicle until it disappeared, then ran to Carolyn for a pat.

"Let's see what kind of mischief we can get into today, shall we?" she asked the dog and he gave a sharp bark in answer.

"No, not that much trouble." she smiled, taking him back inside.

"More coffee?" Martha handed her a steaming cup.

"Thank you." she took it gratefully, taking a sip before letting Scruffy down.

"It's still cold out there, but at least it has stopped snowing and thanks to Ed and his nephew, we have a path out of here." The handyman and his burly relative had cheerfully, more or less, cleared a path from the house to the gate, asking nothing in return. Carolyn had insisted on paying them and when they refused again, dinner was offered to the men and their choice of dessert.

They would be coming next week to collect their reward.

"What's on your agenda for today?" the housekeeper asked her, happy to see that even though her employer was still often tired, that her appetite had improved, her eyes shone with happiness and her mood was usually good. Love had a funny way of doing that to a person.

"Well, Deke called and said the library is still closed, so I thought, if you don't mind that is, I might finish going through the trunk?"

"I don't mind a bit." Martha took the now empty cup. "Go and have some fun."

"Thank you." Carolyn gave her a squeeze before heading back upstairs. She had gotten so much good information from the things she had found in the chest; she couldn't help but feel she understood the late Captain Gregg on a completely different level now. She didn't even mind the strange dreams they seemed to illicit. The last time she had found a crystal punch bowl carefully wrapped, the paper around it fraying from age. Not being able to resist, she had taken it out of its protection, gasping at the way the sun shone on it. As she held it up for closer inspection, a sense of uneasiness had come over her — she had seen this bowl before, she was sure of it. She had kept it in her room since that day, glancing at it on occasion, trying to remember. She wasn't going crazy she had seen it.

Delving into the chest today, she found some more letters — ones that Captain Gregg had received from his aunt and a young girl named Lucy. Looking at the letters she knew that Lucy was Quincy's daughter, who was Daniel's cousin and that each one was addressed to "My Dearest Uncle". Carolyn also knew through research at the library that Quincy and Alexander were both honorary cousins. Brothers in their own right, they had been born to a family — Shaw, who lived in Schooner Bay; and the mother and father had died within months of one another.

Eliza Gregg being the kind woman she had been took them in as well as Daniel and raised the three as brothers. Quincy had left shortly after Daniel had gone to sea; the sixteen-year-old headed for New York City where he worked as an accountant for a number of years before coming home, marrying and starting a family. He had taken the name of Gregg as his own and had had five children, Lucy being the eldest.

Alexander, too, had gone to sea, but came back after a year looking for adventure elsewhere. According to Eliza's Bible, he married at sixteen and moved to Keystone where he and his wife had a small store.

He kept the name Shaw, but two of his children called themselves Gregg. No wonder families were so hard to unravel, she thought with a smile.

A ray of sunshine came through the window and caught on the cut of her emerald, causing a wave of loneliness for Daniel to wash over her. This was another part of love she had missed, even though it was terrible. She missed him so much; it made her ache with wanting to be with him. Phone calls were nice, but not enough. She wondered briefly if when they married if he would consider adopting the children, but warned herself not to get too far ahead of things. Even if he did want to take them as his own, and he did seem to love them, she was sure that the Muirs would never allow it. But when was the last time she had listened to them and what they wanted?

The grandfather clock downstairs rang the noon chimes and she decided what she would do.

Hurrying to her room, she put on a pair of slacks and a sweater, and taking the punch bowl with her, told Martha she would be back in time for dinner.

She was going to hopefully find a few answers.