MISTER PERFECT

By Mary

Carolyn Muir's old boyfriend sails into town on his yacht and proposes marriage, not once but several times. At first, Captain Gregg tries to discourage Thompson, but then he decides to help them get together.

GAMMGAMMGAMMGAMM

It was after midnight when Carolyn returned from taking her former suitor, Blair Thompson, back to his yacht. After bidding Martha, (who had been napping on the couch, waiting for her employer, and keeping an ear out for the kids, just in case,) goodnight, and then locking up, Carolyn peeked inside the nursery, where Candy and Jonathan appeared to be sleeping soundly, and then moved on to her bedroom, a.k.a. the Captain's Cabin. Entering, she took off her sweater and laid it over the back of a chair, and headed to her dressing table. She faced the large circular mirror and untied the decorative knot in the long strand of pearls she was wearing and watched in the mirror as Daniel Gregg appeared out of the ether.

"I trust you put Mr. Thompson safely aboard his yacht and pointed him in the right direction?" he inquired, already knowing the answer.

She nodded slightly and answered, still facing the mirror. "And I hope YOU learned a lesson from all this, Captain?"

"Oh, I did, I did…" the seaman nodded. "No more meddling for me. No more interference."

"I can count on that?" Removing the pearls, she then started to unclasp the chain of the gold locket, Blair Thompson's present, that the Captain had 'helpfully' put around her neck, earlier.

"Absolutely. In fact, I shall never again be near you unless you expressly summon me."

"You ARE reformed!" she answered, surprised, and finished removing the locket.

"Totally. Goodnight, Mrs. Muir." The ghost exited the room, through the French windows to the balcony, and as she watched in the mirror, he disappeared.

"Goodnight, Captain," Carolyn answered softly, and reached around to the back of her neck and started to unzip her dress. Suddenly, she stopped and looked around. Is he really gone? she wondered; how can I be sure?

Picking up her nightgown at the foot of the bed, Carolyn stepped into her walk-in closet and shut the door. A few moments later, the door opened and she emerged, dressed for bed.

Shutting off the light, she removed her slippers and curled up in bed, on her right side.

"And sleep well, Madam!" Daniel Gregg's voice echoed in her ears. Carolyn sat bolt upright, clutching her bedclothes around her, her heart beating wildly. A rich chuckle she swore came from the widow's-walk followed, and then silence.

"Blasted ghost!" she muttered, wishing her heart would stop pounding. When it did, a few minutes later, Carolyn once more curled up and waited for sleep to overcome her.

XXX

Ten minutes passed in total silence. Carolyn's mind began to drift. "Sleep…" she sighed. "I really need to sleep…" Just as she was about to lose consciousness, a small, timid knock could be heard at her bedroom door. Carolyn groaned softly. "Captain?" she whispered softly, "No more tricks tonight!" The knock came again, a bit louder. "The Captain can't knock!" Carolyn whispered. "What the…?" Suddenly, she was out of bed, on her feet, at the door, and opening it. Looking down, she beheld the almost tearful, blue-green-eyed gaze of her daughter. "Candy?" she half-whispered, half-gasped, pulling her daughter into the room, and shutting the door again, "Honey, what's the matter? Did you have a bad dream?"

Candy shook her head and glanced around the room. "No, Mommy. No nightmare."

"Then what is it, honey?" Carolyn asked, perplexed, leading her daughter toward the bed, and bidding her to sit down. "Is Jonathan okay?"

"Oh yeah, he's sound asleep."

"Then… why are you awake? What's wrong?"

"Nothing…" the girl mumbled. "I just figured I better come in and see you and Mr. Thompson, and tell him I'm glad he's going to be my new dad, or something."

"New…dad?" Carolyn practically choked out the words. "New dad? Candy, Blair isn't going to be your daddy!"

"But I heard him ask you to marry him," Candy protested, frowning. "More than once… on the docks, when he got here, and again when you guys were talking on the porch…"

"Candy, were you eavesdropping?"

"No, Mom," Candy flopped back on the bed, looking relieved. "I but I had just got my radio from him, and was going back inside, when I heard you two talking. I couldn't help it."

"I see…" Carolyn hid a smile. Pulling back the bedclothes, she patted the other side of the bed. "Why don't you come up by me and curl up for a little bit? It sounds like we need to get a few things cleared up."

Candy breathed a sigh of relief and scrambled up and under the covers, cuddling toward her mother, who had done the same.

"Now what possibly made you think I was going to go marry Blair tonight?" Carolyn asked lightly, trying hard to understand the inner workings of her eight-year-olds' mind.

"Well, he asked you before and… then, well our window is open, I woke up when I heard you go downstairs, outside, and Mr. Thompson was carrying his suitcases, and then I peeked from your room, and you were both in the car…" Candy paused for breath. "…And you eloped with Daddy; Grandpa said so, so I figured you were going to elope with Mr. Thompson and surprise us by being married tomorrow morning," the girl continued.

"Honey," Carolyn smiled, cuddling her daughter to her. "Just because Blair asked me, doesn't mean I would automatically say yes. He's been asking me to marry him since I was your age. Believe me when I tell you, we are NOT getting married, and if I were, you and Jonathan and Martha would be the first to know. I would never marry without you all being there!"

"So you really AREN'T going to marry Mr. Thompson?" Candy gave a sigh of relief. "I'm so glad! I don't think he would be happy here. And ... And I wouldn't be happy, either."

"Why?" Carolyn asked, stroking the blonde hair back from her daughter's forehead.

"Well, he thought Gull Cottage was a museum…" Candy began, "…I heard him say so. And he doesn't like Captain Gregg's picture, and he has to because this was the Captain's house first, and Mr. Thompson doesn't really seem to like the sea, much, getting seasick and all and he would have to if he is going to live at Gull Cottage, cause it's by the sea."

"I understand…" Carolyn nodded, and began to rub her daughter's back, softly, not mentioning that if Blair had actually been serious about marriage, most likely they would be living in Philadelphia, "Anything else?"

"Hmm…" Candy yawned. "I don't think you two look right together… I mean you don't look like you could be married… not the way Linda Coburn's dad and mom do, and he's a step-dad."

"Is that it?"

"No, nothing, I mean, maybe… no, not really."

"Candice Muir," Carolyn, giggled. "How long before you learn that I know when you say 'nothing' in that tone, it isn't 'nothing,' it's something?"

"I thought maybe you would be too sleepy to notice," Candy answered, her half-shut eyes opening again. "Its just that I don't know if I could get used to calling him 'Dad,' and calling him by his name doesn't seem right."

"I don't think he is the 'Daddy' type either," Carolyn chuckled.

"Mommy?" Candy nestled closer to her mother.

"Yes, sweetie?"

"Do you still miss Daddy? Or can you forget someone you love?"

"Oh, honey!" Carolyn shifted positions so she could look her reclined daughter straight in the eye. "I still think about your father every day. And no matter WHOM I decide to see, or date - Blair, or anyone else, nothing will ever change the way I feel about your father, and the years we were together!"

"But if you get married again…" Candy's voice remained slightly troubled. "Wouldn't the man you get married to, replace Daddy?"

"Of course not!" Carolyn hugged her daughter fiercely. "Your Daddy was a very special person… and even though I may – repeat, MAY love another man some day, no one, I mean, no one will ever fill the void your Daddy left when he died. Do you understand that?"

The little girl nodded slowly. "I do now, I think."

"Good," Carolyn nodded, and started stroking Candy's forehead softly. "I'm sorry you have been so worried, honey. Believe me when I say, that at this time, I have absolutely NO plans on getting married. I think we have been through enough changes to last for a while yet. But, sweetie, I want to thank you for being so polite to Blair while he was here, and I hope, if I DO decide to go out with anyone else, that you will be equally as polite to them."

"You're welcome," Candy nodded, her eyes closing once more. "I guess Mr. Thompson would be better than some of guys Martha and I see when we are grocery shopping. They are really kinda dorky. But I still don't think he's good enough to marry you, Mommy."

Yawning, Carolyn lifted an eyebrow. "Oh really?"

"Yeah," Candy answered. "You need someone a lot better-looking. Not someone who looks like Daddy did; he was really handsome, but because Daddy was Daddy…and…"

"…And?"

"Someone really handsome and strong, and kind to everyone, and likes kids, both boys and girls… someone who could help me with my arithmetic and Jonathan with his spelling, and take us sailing and fishing, and come with you on back-to-school nights…"

"And…?"

"And someone Martha likes, 'cause she knows everything… and someone who has a kind voice…"

"Who?" Carolyn whispered, wondering what was going on in her daughter's mind.

"Someone like Captain Gregg, might have been, but alive," Candy mumbled, and then said no more, having fallen fast asleep.

Carolyn Muir smiled in the darkness.