". . . It is not, as the current phrase has it, one of my hang-ups. You were saying?"
Turning quickly so her smile wasn't on obvious display, Carolyn walked over to the window, and looked out over the yard. "I was saying," she said thoughtfully, "or rather I would have said that any man who could create this lovely home, and take such care in each detail, would always have to be warm, caring and full of generosity." Turning back toward him, she took a step nearer, "And even if we had never met, I always would have thought fondly of you, just based upon what I found here at Gull Cottage."
"And now," he said looking gently into her eyes, "now that you know the house, and its owner?" "Claymore?" she asked with a teasing grin. "That scuttling scab on the face of humanity!" he began to bluster. "Oh Captain," she laughed, "not for a single second would I think of Claymore as the true master of Gull Cottage. Surely you know that, don't you?" Looking down for a moment, he tugged his ear as his expression cleared, and finally he looked up with a gentle smile.
"I thank you for that," he said quietly, "but I hope you know that for me, it is you who make Gull Cottage a home." Feeling more than a bit flustered she smiled a bit shyly, nodded, and handing him the last can of Yankee Skipper Chowder, she gave him a final look, full of all the words they might never say aloud, and headed downstairs.