The remainder of the day was everything they all could have wished for. The Captain, Carolyn and the children spent over an hour at the park where quite a few people were out enjoying the crisp fall day. At this time of year, anyone living in New England knew the weather could change from pleasant to frigid in the blink of an eye and took advantage of a nice day whenever they could. Candy and Jonathan quickly found a group of children to play with and ran around burning off enough energy to fuel a locomotive. Daniel and Carolyn sat on a bench, with the proper distance between them, and enjoyed the time together while they watched the children.

Once again, the Captain being with the Muir family drew attention, but most people were getting used to it. The men had no problem understanding what Daniel saw in the beautiful young widow, and the women, though jealous, couldn't blame Mrs. Muir for being attracted to the seaman. Married or single, young or old, most of the women in Schooner Bay had eyes for Daniel Gregg. Although, it still irked some of them that an outsider had so quickly won him over.

"What will you do with your day off?" he asked. "You know, James and Mitch will both be back tomorrow. I could come over in the morning to fortify the house, and then spend the rest of the day with you and the children." Then realizing she might prefer time to herself on a rare day off, he gave her a chance to refuse. "That is, if you don't have something else in mind."

"I can't think of a better way to spend the day," she said, her face glowing. "What shall we do?"

"Well, we could spend the day out and about here in town or, if you prefer, we could take Martha and the children and spend the day at Gull Cottage. What do you think?"

"Spending the day in town with you would be nice, but I think we would constantly be on the lookout for Sean Callahan or, at the very least, spend the day being stared at. Sometimes I feel like I'm in a fish bowl when I go out. Would you mind if we spent the day at your house?"

"My dear, I would enjoy nothing more."

That settled, they talked of any number of things, including what they would do at Gull Cottage. Daniel told her there was nothing he needed to do that couldn't wait. As far as he was concerned, the day could be spent doing whatever she and the children wanted to do. Carolyn admitted she was pleased to have a day together at his house – without Claymore – and, weather permitting, looked forward to taking another stroll on the beach. They both knew it would take a monsoon to keep Candy and Jonathan from clamoring to go down to the water.

When they arrived home, Martha was just putting the final touches on dinner. The aroma coming from the kitchen was mouth-watering, and everyone sat down to another amazing meal. The pork roast was perfect and, as they ate, the feeling of goodwill was evident, even with Claymore present.

Carolyn shared that the Captain had invited everyone up to his house.

"Martha, do you have anything to do that can't wait?"

"I put a dent in the canning last night while you were at the Horan's, so I'm sure I can finish everything I need to do in the morning. If not, I can do it Tuesday. Frankly, I would enjoy getting away from the house for the day."

"Good! Then, it's settled. Tomorrow we'll make a day of it at Gull Cottage."

"What about my dinner?" Claymore whined.

"Don't you worry, I'll make sure you have something to eat in case we aren't home in time," Martha told him.

"All right. Will you still fix me a lunch?"

"Yes, Claymore. I'll send you off with a lunch fit for a king."

That seemed to satisfy him.

"So, we can go?" Jonathan asked.

"Yes, we can," their mom assured them.

Both children cheered their approval.

As for the adults, even with a threat hanging over their heads, they were able to put it aside for the evening and enjoy their time together. It was the type of environment Carolyn grew up in and had expected to have when she married Robert, but didn't. As a young boy, Daniel was surrounded by the same kind of loving family and, for the longest time, thought that kind of happiness had passed him by. Martha watched everything - the glances the couple shared, the incidental contact they had passing food around the table, and how, when they finished eating, his left hand and her right disappeared under the table so they could hold hands while they talked with everyone. Every day she watched this family grow to love Daniel Gregg more and worried about how they would react when he was gone for so long. Truth be told, she was beginning to worry just as much about the Captain.