Home of the Gray Dog - Segment 26

Chapter 126

To everyone else at the mansion, Samantha appeared back to her normal self. Only Walker, who had spent hours alone with her on the flight back from San Francisco, knew how tenuous the hold on her emotions was. This was obvious when, two weeks after their return, Samantha reluctantly joined him for a private breakfast in his apartment.

          “Walker, I don’t think I can handle people looking at me, always asking how I’m doing.” Samantha refused to look at Walker when saying this. He watched her holding her teacup, the contents inside now cold. More than anything, Walker wanted to take her into his arms and comfort her. It saddened him to see even an accidental touch by any man still caused her to pull away in fright.

         Trying to pick his words carefully, Walker reached out to take the forgotten teacup from her before saying, “Sam, I decided to write a poem just for you.” Encouraged to see the beginning of a tiny smile on her face, Walker stood and placed his right hand over his heart. In a serious voice, he recited the following lines.

“Sam, my love, with hair of flame.
Although you’re much too thin right now.
If, in the future, you take my name
I’ll feed you until you’re a lovely sow.”


         He stopped upon hearing a soft giggle from the woman sitting on the sofa in front of him. This is working out better than I thought it would, was his delighted thought. Walker walked back and forth for a minute, composing the next few lines in his mind. At last, he returned to stand, once again, in front of the sofa. He looked down and grinned at seeing Samantha trying hard not to laugh.

         Determined to pull that sound from her, Walker continued, his voice once again as serious as he could make it. He realized, however, she hadn’t understood what he meant in the third line.

“Okay, that might sound slightly rude
Although I meant it to be sweet.
Chef Geof will make all your favorite food
Until we know you’re back on your feet.”


         Samantha finally gave in, and her tentative laugh filled Walker with such joy. So far, she hadn’t said a word about the poem or its true meaning. This didn’t faze Walker, and he quickly composed the next stanza. Not wanting to lose the moment and see Samantha revert to the unhappy woman she’d been for weeks, Walker continued his poem,

“My words seem to be coming out wrong.
Sam, please stop laughing, since I’m really trying.
If you would rather, I’ll sing you a song.
Does that look mean you’re going to start crying?”


         At that, Samantha most definitely was laughing and frantically shaking her head at his offer to sing. Walker sat down on the sofa next to Samantha and took her hands in his. In his final two lines, he poured out his heart to the woman he finally realized he loved.

“I will love you always, Sam, and want you for my wife.
Please tell me you’ll be mine for the rest of my life.”

Chapter 127

Samantha sat there, silent and wide-eyed, staring at Walker when his words eventually penetrated. She slowly pulled her hands out of his gentle grasp, still not responding to his sudden marriage proposal.

         When she stood and walked rapidly away from him, Walker’s confusion came through in his next words. “Sam, what’s wrong? Was I going too fast, misreading how you felt?” His voice fell to a hesitant whisper when he said, “I thought you cared for me.”

         Samantha whirled around to face him, tears streaming unnoticed down her pale face. “Care for you?” Her voice rose hysterically, “Care, you stupid man? What a miserly word to use for how I feel…care!” She held up her outstretched hands to ward him off when Walker came toward her. “I think I’ve loved you since that first day we met when I came to interview for a job. Do you remember what happened?” She watched him smile as that memory came back to him. “Yes, I see you do. I came in dripping wet from the rain, and you went and got a towel from the office bathroom.” Samantha hiccupped as her tears slowed down. “There I was, a soggy mess, a total stranger to you, and you shoved that rough cloth over my face and then toweled my hair dry.”

         Walker smiled for the first time since she had walked away from him. “Sam, you were a beautiful soggy mess, and I knew I had to hire you just so I could look at you every day.” He started coming closer, but immediately stopped at seeing her body tense, preparing to move away again. “Please, Sam. Talk to me and tell me you’ll marry me.”

         “I can’t.” Samantha was wringing her hands in anguish, her eyes pleading. “It’s not fair to you, to marry you like I am.”

         Walker thought he understood. “You mean after Colin kidnapped and hurt you so badly?” He finally got close enough to pull her into his arms.

         “Walker, you deserve better. You need a wife, a family, and I no longer can give you children.” Samantha leaned back in his embrace to look up into his face. She knew he would understand what she meant. Edith had mentioned she had told Walker about Samantha’s necessary hysterectomy.

         “Nothing matters, Sam, except that we love each other.” He smoothed her hair off her face and gave her a smile filled with his love before saying, “We already have a couple homes filled with children. All that’s missing in my life now is a wife. So, what do you say? Will you marry this middle-age bachelor and put him out of his lonely misery?”

Chapter 128

“Please, Walker, give me a little more time.” Samantha’s almost inaudible plea gave Walker hope that eventually she would agree to marry him. He decided until then she needed a diversion to get her mind off recent events. Suddenly, he remembered the large wooden box he had received from Reverend McCready.

         “Sam, I haven’t shown you the photo albums belonging to my mother, my adoptive mother, have I?” Walker didn’t wait for an answer, but left Samantha to go back into his office. He returned within minutes carrying the heavy wooden box. When he saw Samantha seated on the sofa, Walker placed the box on the coffee table in front of her. He felt encouraged to see Samantha’s expression changing from sadness to curiosity.

         “Where did you find them?” While asking this, Samantha dug into the box and pulled out the various albums. Walker had already removed the perpetual motion balls and left it on his office desk. All that remained in the box was the unopened manila envelope. In all that had happened since the arrival of the box, Walker had forgotten about the large envelope.

         “Reverend McCready, from the old neighborhood where I used to live, sent the box.” Walker reached in and took out the envelope, surprised at its weight. “I thought this only contained old papers, nothing really all that special. It feels, though, like there’s another album or something inside.” He felt his excitement growing, and Samantha watched him tear open the envelope like a child with a Christmas present. Both of them ignored the photo albums for the moment when Walker pulled out the envelope’s contents.

         Samantha reached out to touch the two items, and then pulled her hand back for fear of damaging them. “What are they, Walker?” She asked this, even while leaning closer to breathe in the slightly musty scent coming from the items.

Chapter 129

Walker gently placed the books on the coffee table. One seemed to be another diary from the same century as those by Jason Edgeworth and his two wives. The second book was in far worse condition. It smelled of the sea, of unknown spices, and had the aroma lingering on it of foreign places.

         Samantha finally picked up the diary and opened it. She read aloud from the first page, “This diary belongs to Elizabeth Templeton and is written in the year of our Lord 1845.” She looked over to where Walker was carefully opening the second book. “Is that another diary?”

         “No, it’s a ship log from the same year. A ship called the White Dolphin.” Walker started reading the first page to himself. The handwriting in faded ink demanded all his concentration. Sea water stains also made reading the log extremely difficult

         Finding herself ignored for the moment, Samantha started flipping pages in the diary, skimming through numerous entries. Eventually, she looked up from the book, a puzzled look on her face. “Walker, is the Captain of the White Dolphin named Whiting?”

         “Yes,” answered Walker, “How did you know?”

         As Samantha was about to answer him, they heard a loud knock on the apartment’s door. Before Walker could get there to find out who was there, the door burst open. His two young wards, Joshua and Sue Beth, raced in uninvited. They had not visited Samantha since her kidnapping and rescue and refused to wait any longer to see her.

         The quiet apartment soon filled with laughter, something that had been lacking for weeks. Walker leaned back on the sofa, more than happy to watch the children remove the last vestiges of sadness from the face of the woman he loved. Some time in the future, he would again ask her to marry him, but he realized the moment still was not right. On the table, now forgotten, were the White Dolphin’s sea log and Elizabeth’s diary. They also waited for a better day to reveal family secrets.

         In this way, life at Maison du Renard Rouge and Hannah’s Home started returning to normal, for which Walker was very thankful.

THE END

The third and last in this trilogy is currently finished and in my portfolio. I hope, if you enjoyed Home of the Red Fox and its sequel, Home of the Gray Dog, you will want to read the following as I edit it. Feed back is always welcome.

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