Oct. 14
Meeting with the kids canceled until tonight due to serious thunderstorm which knocked out the power. Muirs arrive tomorrow. Along with the serious cold.
Fortunately it wasn't my turn to carpool this morning but I wasn't so lucky when it came to the kisses good-bye. Linda Coburn was behind the wheel, smiling fakely in my direction. If Candy was to be believed, Mrs. Coburn was the mom who kept stirring the Schooner Bay pot about the Captain and was even brazen enough to joke about him in front of the kids. I could only imagine what she could muster after a martini or two.
"Carolyn," she oozed from behind the wheel of her late-model Ford. "You always look so nice. Doesn't she, Linda. Candy, does your mother ever forget to do her hair and makeup?" Mrs. Coburn's lips curled malevolently at the sides. Candy scowled and slunk deeper into the wagon's back seat. I couldn't resist. "Oh, you know," I rolled my eyes in the direction of Gull Cottage and smiled brightly. "I have to look nice for the men in my life." And I kissed Jonathan broadly on the cheek. As if on cue, the Captain let loose with a loud rumble of thunder and a big gust of wind that seemed destined only for Mrs. Coburn's teased beehive. She glared at me briefly then threw the car into drive and took off down the road. I don't think the Captain really scares her. The thought of his existence annoys her. As in, why hasn't the handsomest man in Schooner Bay bothered to haunt her? And she is a believer. Like most residents, she can't quite let the gossip die but unlike everyone else, she can't keep her thoughts to herself.
"Ah, Madame." My magnificent seaman materialized beside me, chuckling at the car as it abruptly veered to the right and disappeared down Cliff Road. "They quite rightly realize how smitten you are with me."
"Really? I asked as incredulously as possible. "I think the women are just jealous because I'm an unattached, bra-burning women's libber who doesn't need a man to have a fulfilling life…" and the thunder rumbled. "As I was saying," the Captain continued, secure in his pomposity, "It is my special curse to be the invisible consort of a beautiful woman whose honor I can only defend publicly with seemingly random acts of nature."
"Oh, you've used more than that in the past," I remembered, thinking of the many ways he'd hoodwinked most of Schooner Bay at one time or another. "Perhaps," he murmured wickedly into my ear, knowing well what he was doing to me, "Mrs. Coburn and her cohorts are jealous because you have the smile of a woman who's very, very satisfied." I felt no reason to argue that point. I might actually have kissed him there and then, in front of Gull Cottage, the gulls and Scruffy. But --
"Mrs. Muir." It was Martha from the front porch. She cleared her throat loudly. I jumped. "You said you and the Captain wanted to discuss something this morning?" She wiped her hands vigorously on her apron. "Coffee's ready, dear." Although it was Daniel's policy never to touch me in public, for fear an unrealized snoop might wonder about unilateral gestures, he wrapped his arm around my waist and we strode together, up the walkway and into the warmth of Martha's kitchen. The smell was heavenly. Fresh coffee and homemade sticky buns. Martha and the Captain must have reached a truce, because she shooed him into a chair and poured him his coffee. Odd, but she'd never done that for Bobby. Martha nudged a plate of sticky buns in his direction then reached into one of the cabinets. Bailey's for breakfast? I couldn't believe it. The liqueur seemed to be the source of some merriment between Martha and the Captain.
My housekeeper the teetotaler poured a generous dollop into Daniel's cup before topping off her own. "Mrs. Muir, dear?" I politely declined, remembering yesterday's headache. "I'll save my drinking for after the Muirs leave."
"Speaking of the Muirs," Martha asked, "does this have anything to do with their imminent arrival?" She glanced at the Captain, then back at me with one of her shrewdly penetrating glances. Martha never asked a question to which she didn't already know the answer.
"In a manner of speaking," Daniel began, typically prefacing an important point with a qualifying phrase. "Carolyn and I have agreed it is time to discuss the true nature of our relationship with Candy and Jonathan tonight. The arrival of their grandparents, particularly on this, the sad occasion and anniversary of his murder, probably will raise more questions than it might answer for the wee bairns."
"This is the first time since Robert died that I've been involved with anyone at all," I added, my eyes shining at Daniel. "They're not little kids any more. We want to make sure they know it's okay to love and remember Robert even as the Captain becomes more like a father to them –"
"More like a father?" Martha interjected with her usual forcefulness. She glanced at Daniel then pulled a cigarette out of her pocket. Much to my surprise, Daniel leaned forward with a lighter then pulled a thin cigar out of his pea jacket. After several drags and meaningful stares at each other – WHAT IS GOING ON? – Martha continued. "Carolyn, I love you like a daughter and goodness knows I helped raise you.
"But I have news for you: The Captain IS their father. And the only one they've ever known or can remember, I might add. Jonathan's already been asking me if I think you two will get married –" With this, I sputtered out a sip of the coffee (black) I was drinking. "Marriage? We can't even hold hands in Schooner Bay. This certainly isn't a bomb shell I'd care to drop right before the in-laws arrive, even if Daniel had asked me."
The silence was deafening. Daniel reached forward and grasped my hand. "My dear, if we surely could, I would have asked you. Instead, I think we need to assure the children our relationship is permanent, mutually exclusive, and that while I will never be their father, I will do the best I can to become one because I love them very much – and not just because I have some rather strong feelings toward their mother."
It was a rather romantic moment. Until Martha cleared her throat, that is.
"I think the bigger issue is how you're going to explain why you're a ghost and their real father isn't," she harrumphed. "Although if his spirit ever blackens this doorway –" Thankfully, Daniel cut her off at the pass. "Martha, actually, even I can't explain these matters as such. There is, however, a strong presupposition on my part that ghosts are the spirits of those not ready for heaven, for those who have what I suppose you could call, unfinished business. I daresay that mine – at first was clearing my name about the suicide everyone presumed I had committed.
"If I may," my wonderful Captain continued, "I do believe someone unbeknownst to me or you had different plans." He looked me lovingly in the eyes. "I do not mean to sound morbid, but I truly believe you, if I dare to sound presumptuous, are my family. One I could not, would not, ever leave, unless Carolyn so requested. And, even then…"
"What if I were to die, and I know this sounds morbid," I suggested. "Madame," he answered huskily. "You are my soulmate."
Tears sprang, unbidden, as they say, to my eyes. I blinked quickly to staunch them. Perhaps he could not answer this question directly, but I knew the answer and silently vowed to live as long and rich a life as I possibly could, for the children's sake.
"If you don't mind me saying so," Martha added, "you'd better realize that anything you say can and will be used against you when the sweet little darlings become teenagers. As for right now, don't be caught off guard if Candy wonders whether she'll have a little sister anytime soon. Sorry, Carolyn, but it is a natural question for a little girl."
I laughed nervously and glanced askance at Daniel. He drew himself into his best naval senior-officer posture or, as Martha said later, puffed his chest like a peacock, and offered, "Madam, you are the very first inamorata I have ever had in my too-long afterlife. I would love to give Carolyn another baby, but I strongly feel it impossible in my current situation."
"Thank goodness," I thought silently. Daniel would have to take a pass on this one, even if he were alive. I have no desire for more children. I don't think it selfish that I want Daniel, Candy and Jonathan all to myself. Nor do I want the risk of delivering another premature baby.
This ended the morning chat and conversation turned to matters of more earthly concern, such as sheets for the Muirs, whether or not they would take us out to eat two nights or three, and the possibility they might try, once again, to abscond with Jonathan in order to enroll him in his father's private school, Dexter Academy. Also, Martha and I secured a promise from the Captain that he would not harass them if we wouldn't ask Claymore to serve as a Captain surrogate.
As for the evening Q&A with the kids…the conversation followed Martha's to a "T." It ended with loving hugs all the way around. Candy loves the Captain dearly, but it is Jonathan who has captured his very heart. I distinctly heard him say, as we all headed for bed, "Captain, you're the best dad a kid could have."
"Aye, mate," he replied. "You are all I ever wanted in a son."