Hello everyone! I know that it has been a long time. I am sorry. I have wanted to update for a long time, but haven't been able. My husband and I moved over the holidays, and that turned out to be a very harrowing adventure. I have had to put our new home in order, look for a new job, and get over various illnesses. I apologize for the wait. I'm sorry if the story seems to be veering away again. It will soon pick up. I just have to get over this spot. Also, I had to introduce characters that will figure prominently in stories yet to come as well as "Comfort and Joy." Thank you for the wonderful reviews, they mean the world for me, and yes, do inspire me to write more.
As he stepped off of the train onto the wet platform he shook his head. The distance of the journey from Prince Edward Island to Tulsa, Oklahoma had given him ample time to clear his head, gather his thoughts, and most importantly, straighten out his feelings. At least he thought that was what he was doing.
It was obvious that he had been developing very strong feelings for Una Meredith. He finally realized that he was on his way to falling in love with her until the accident happened. That accident changed everything. Whatever feelings that he had for Una before, certainly paled in comparison to everything that he shared with Katie.
He laughed, remembering how worried she remained throughout their time together that he was someone else's son, brother, sweetheart, or husband. He knew that he would never know what would have transpired had he not lost his memory when Katie found him. That wasn't how it happened, and wondering about all the things that might have been was pointless.
There was one thing that had never changed in Walter's heart throughout all phases of his life. That one thing was his deep and abiding belief in God and the plan the He created. This belief is what kept him from dwelling too much on the what-if's. Obviously, God had an interesting plan for his life. He had to believe that. Or else, life could possibly be just one cruel joke.
He stepped onto the wet platform at the train station, and looked about. He had to admit to himself that he felt just as at home there as he had when he returned to the Island. He especially felt at home when he noticed the somewhat short, rather pudgy man in the brown fedora and trench coat smiling beneath an umbrella. Suddenly that melancholy drifted away into some far off place.
"Johnny my boy, how are you doing? It's great to see you again!" the man held extended his hand to Walter.
"I'm doing well, Gideon. How are you, Ginny, and the kids?"
"I'm doing fine, I guess. This bum leg of mine bothers me in this sopping weather, but other than that, I can't really complain. Ginny's fine. She's been knitting away at sweaters for your two younguns since she heard that you were coming back. She's been terribly worried about their being cold up there in Canada."
Walter laughed. It felt good to laugh with Gideon again. "I think that's wonderful, Gideon. However, I'll have to let Ginny know that not only I, but the entire Blythe / Meredith / Ford clan have made sure that Tenny and Hope are wanting for nothing."
A little bit of the gleam in Gideon's hazel eyes went away. "I almost forgot that you're not Johnny Darcy anymore. I-I'm sorry about that Walter. It's hard to change almost ten years of habit."
Walter put his hand on his friend's back and told him, "That's perfectly fine, Gideon. I'm in a bit better spirits than when I left. Being home has healed some of the wounds. I'm just as much Johnny as I am Walter. Truth be told, I've spent more of my adult life as Johnny."
The man relaxed openly. "That's nice to know. Not the circumstances or anything, but I would hate to think that I've completely lost the best friend that I've ever had to a bump on the head."
Walter looked at Gideon earnestly and honestly, "You could never lose me as your friend, Gideon. We've been through too much together, you, Ginny, Katie, and I. I can't forget that. It would be almost like forgetting Katie and our life together, and I refuse to do that. I have neglected our friendship, Gideon, and I apologize. I should never have shut you out of my life."
Gideon, with his sweet temperament couldn't deny the man he had called "friend" for so long, "There's no need to apologize, J-Walter. I can't begin to imagine how I would react if I was in your shoes."
"Why don't we get out of this rain, Gideon? I'm horribly tired and would love to see Ginny and the kids."
The two men walked away from the train station together, and Walter couldn't help but feel nostalgic, thinking of the first time he arrived at that train station, with Katie on his arm. The things of this world had seemed so uncertain all around them. Yet he knew that as long as he was with Katie, everything would be just fine.
The rain had finally ceased, and Walter, along with Gideon, Ginny, and their children, Jacob, Maddie, Lucy, and Nicholas, spent the evening after dinner enjoying the cool, late summer evening sitting out on the front porch of the Kelley's home.
Walter leaned back in the wooden rocking chair and sighed, listening to the crickets and locusts chirping about, singing their summer song. They weren't the only ones singing. The children were well into a rendition of "My Country Tis of Thee" off on the far end of the porch. Listening to the sweet, young voices of the McGowan children made him miss his own two children so far away. He tried not to think about that, though. It was far too late to call long-distance to PEI. He would have to wait to hear the angelic voices of Hope and Tenny.
"Did I hear you say that Tenny and Hope are starting school, J-Walter?" Ginny asked.
Walter returned from his reverie, "Yes. They start tomorrow actually, at the Glen St. Mary School."
"Is that a very large school?" Ginny asked.
That thought, of the Gen school being large, made Walter chuckle. "No. It isn't large. It's only a one-room school house."
"Hmm," though Gideon out loud, "I reckon that their education won't be too different from the one that they would have had here."
Walter shook his head. "No, not for the time being anyway. The provincial government is working on consolidating all of the rural schools in P.E.I.'
"Are you in favor of that?" Ginny asked.
"Yes and no. Some children will have a greater distance to travel in order to get to school. My family and I never lost anything by attending a small school, but then my parents are both highly educated people, and we always learned more from them than any other place. My parents both taught in small schools before attending the university. Two of my sisters and I did as well. It was an experience I will never forget. Yet, now, the children can attend public high school and not have to go away to preparatory school at Queen's in Charlottetown for a secondary education unless they want to."
Gideon stroked the pipe he was smoking in reflection. "That would be a nice change. It is difficult to get an education beyond the eighth grade here unless you live close enough to a city with a high school. Of course, we don't know what our children will do for a higher education, if they get one at all."
This was news to Walter, who always assumed that the McGowans would attend Oakwood Academy in Tulsa as Katie, Gideon, Ginny, and Albert had. "They aren't attending school in Tulsa when the time comes?"
Gideon and Ginny looked to each other, searching for support. Gideon shook his head. "I didn't want to tell you, Walter. You've had enough to worry with, but I don't see how we will afford to send the children off to school, given present circumstances. Even at what I was making, it would have taken a great deal of saving up for four children..."
"Gideon, why aren't you making the same income?" Walter asked, afraid that he knew the answer.
"Times are tough, Walter. Sure things look like they're booming in general, but there will always be those of us who don't seem to reap those rewards. My automobile lot just couldn't compete with the larger ones in Tulsa that cater to the oil-rich and the bootleggers and flappers."
"I'm sorry to hear that, Gideon. I know how much that you've put into that business. At least you still have the farm."
Gideon and Ginny looked to each other, not sure if they wanted to bother Walter with their troubles, he had had enough of his own. He could see their painfully obvious trepidation.
"There's more to this, isn't there?" he asked.
"I mortgaged the farm in order to expand the car lot and compete. For the first time in my life I gambled, and of course, I lost," Gideon admitted, a broken man.
"You're losing the farm?" Walter asked.
"We've lost the farm. It was official this morning."
"What are you going to do?" Walter asked.
Gideon grasped for his wife's hand, "We've thought long and hard about this. We're going to start fresh some place new. We're moving to California the first of the month."
Walter shook his head in disbelief. "I just wish you would have let me know. I could've helped you. I'll help you now, if you'll let me."
Gideon shook his head, "No. I cannot allow you to give us charity," he declined.
"It's not charity when it's friends, Gideon. We've been through too much together," Walter insisted.
"No. I could never look at you the same, having such a debt hanging over my head. We're going to go to California. I can get factory work there."
"Factory work? I can't imagine you not tilling the fields and raising cattle."
"Sometimes we do what we have to in order to support our families. You of all people know that."
There was no arguing with Gideon, there never was. Walter resigned to the fact and politely decided to call it an evening.
He tried to sleep, but his mind was still stuck on his friends and their dilemma. He stayed awake all night thinking about it until an idea struck. He was going to help his friends some way, even if they didn't want his money.
Walter awoke with a sense of purpose. He had a few things to do that day. First, he had to call Ingleside, check in on his children, and discuss business with his father. Second, he had to meet with his attorney and settle the business matter. Lastly, he had to make that one journey he somewhat dreaded making down the road, just a quarter of a mile.
He found Ginny in the kitchen, frying bacon and humming a sweet tune. Gideon was already outside, working on the farm, and the children weren't awake yet.
"Ginny, do you mind if I use your phone to call Ingleside? I need to see how the children are doing," he asked.
Ginny looked up to him and smiled. "Of course you may use the phone. In fact, I've got to wake up the children, so you may have the room to yourself."
He smiled with thanks and called Ingleside, and where his father answered the phone. The children were well, but in school. He mentioned he would call before they went to bed that night. Then, Walter and Gilbert discussed business. It was a rather short affair, really, and they could finalize it with the call that night. He was off the phone before Ginny and the children came for breakfast. He shared a pleasant breakfast with the McGowan family, and took his old car that Gideon had been keeping into Tulsa, not knowing what was awaiting him there.
Do not worry. We will be back in Glen St. Mary soon. I just like to keep you guys in suspense!