Hello all! I'm sorry it has been so long. Between the holidays, working, everyday life, my husband finishing college, and our moving, I haven't had the chance to write. Though I have had a break from the horrid block that has been torturing me. I want to thank everyone for the wonderful reviews, especially Ruby, whose writings inspire me so. As always, please review, I cannot wait to hear from you!
Una slept very little that night. Her heart and her head were fighting their own Armageddon. Her head, for some reason, kept telling her that the reasonable thing to do would be to marry Samson. In doing that, she would be afforded the security of her own home and an established position as the wife of a minister. Her heart told her other things, however. It kept remembering the walk home she shared with Walter the night before. It remembered the touch of his lips to hers. It remembered the warmth in his eyes and the tingling sensation that flowed throughout her body when he spoke her name. Her heart and her mind kept running those things over and over until she had decided to tell Samson that she could not marry him first thing the next morning.
Then, just as suddenly, as one resolution came to her, another memory forced its way beyond Una's subconscious. It was the memory of two nights before, the night before the kiss.
It had beeen a green evening marked with a fringe of dampness from a summer afternoon's rainstorm. She could still smell the rain and hear the thunder, rolling off into the sunset as she ambled along Rainbow Valley. She was feeling like some other person; possibly Faith or Nan, maybe even Rosemary, Rilla, or even Mrs. Blythe. She certainly didn't feel like herself. She almost felt like someone's mother.
For some reason that she didn't understand, but secretly cherished, Hope Blythe had taken a fancy to her. There wasn't a day when Hope didn't think of some reason to spend time with Una, whether she was showing her the picture she had drawn or letting Una bake cookies with her.
That particular morning, Hope had decided to show Una her favorite spot in all of Rainbow Valley. It was a nice little spot, to. Una had never noticed it in her Rainbow Valley years, but that made it even more special.
The spot so special was a small, circular hollow, no more than five feet around. Honeysuckle, ivy, and other shrubbery enclosed the little setting. A lush emerald moss blanketed the ground, and a worn old stone made the perfect place to rest one's head while daydreaming.
While there, Hope shared with Una the dreams her soul treasured about maybe someday being a brave doctor like her Grandfather and Uncle Jem. Hope's dreams startled Una a bit, because she never wanted anything more than to be someone's wife and mother.
So, in the greenish purple haze of twilight, when Una thought that everyone else she knew would be somewhere else, she winded her way down to Hope's Hollow relishing every moment she had spent with the little girl that day. Only, when she arrived to that sacred spot, she heard a familiar voice and understood the depth of kindred spirits.
The voice belonged to none other than Hope's father, from whom she must have unknowingly inherited her love of that hollow.
Una thought about making her presence known to Walter; however, something kept her from doing so. The young girl that still remained deep within the grown, hardened, conflicted woman couldn't resist listening to his private thoughts. In their younger days, she would have given anything to know what was on that magnificent mind. Now, she was given that opportunity and couldn't leave it be.
She quietly peered through the thick foliage surrounding the Hollow and saw Walter laying across the mossy spread, with his head propped on the smooth old boulder, looking into the clear summer sky, lost in another time and place. She could see the corner of his eyes, which were possessed by that same otherworldly gaze that overcame them long ago when he once spoke of The Piper.
"Oh how I wish you could see them. They've grown so much since you left," he spoke out staring off into the twilight sky. "Tenny still looks too much like me, but he walks with the pride and confidence of a Darcy. He's a little rambunctious; especially when he's in the company of Walt and Gil. However, there are often times when I can see the sturdy good sense of both our fathers. He still is crazy about baseball, but he also seems interested in all sports. I know that I was interested in them with you, but I didn't really care too much for them as a child, so he didn't get that from me.
As for Hope, our little Prairie Princess, she is very much her mother's child. She has your common sense and quick wit, but she also has your stubborn streak. Just like I told you before you went away, I finally know where she got her red hair. Thus far, she is the only red headed granddaughter of Anne Shirley Blythe. That automatically makes her a favorite of my father. Of course, that birthright also comes with an active imagination and temper to match. You already knew of those qualities though.
They may take after so many people, but there are times when either Hope or Tenny will look at me, and I can almost swear that I am looking at you," he sighed and then cried out to the sky, "Oh Katie, how I miss you, and wish you could be here. I don't deserve the children by myself. I made them with you, and you should get to raise them and watch them grow.
I cannot stop missing you Katie. I cannot stop loving you Katie. Just saying your name still makes me feel things I never imagined I could feel. I cannot stop thinking about you…."
Una needed to hear no more. She had learned enough about Walter to know that his heart was forever the property of his wife. From what she could tell, his wife deserved it. She quietly walked away in the pale darkness of the evening, leaving Walter alone with the love of his life.
The memory of overhearing those words that evening, "I cannot stop missing you Katie. I cannot stop loving you Katie. Just saying your name still makes me feel things I never imagined I could feel. I cannot stop thinking about you," overcame all other thoughts and feelings that were within her. Nothing else mattered. Una had finally made her decision.