“Now that is some turn of events. Are you comfortable having two near strangers running your business?” asked Lewis.
“Well, I was a bit nervous at first. However, the two of them have been of such help and I don’t mind a bit,” said Sam. “And that’s the absolute truth even though I didn’t realize it fully until just now. Funny that. And why on earth do I feel like I know this man?” she thought.
“And you’re so comfortable, that you’ve gone on this grand vacation?” he asked.
“Yes. I haven’t been away from the B&B in thirty-seven years. Angie and George are very good at handling the B&B. Figured it was time I saw a bit of the world,” said Sam. “Now, I’ve done all the talking, tell me a bit about yourself.”
“Well. um… I’m a businessman from Canada. Logging, paper products and such. And I have to admit something. I feel a bit of a bastard. Um… Oh hell. You’ll either believe me or you won’t,” he said. “I haven’t been totally truthful.”
“Lewis, what’s going on? What do you mean I’ll believe you or I won’t?” asked Sam trying to figure out if he was a nutcase or if she was in danger.
“I… oh hell. Pardon my language, but the last thing I expected out here in the middle of the Pacific was to pick up a hat with that scent on it,” he said. “Here’s hoping she knew what Buster really was,” he thought with trepidation.
Sam looked at Lewis and blinked. “Scent?”
“Your hat. That bandana. Buster wore that bandana didn’t he?” Lewis asked feeling totally exposed and ready for her to scream any second. He really didn’t know of a better way to try and explain things without revealing too much. He just wasn’t good at this sort of thing.
“Buster? You know it was Buster’s?” Sam asked going pale under her newly acquired tan.
“Yes. How could I not know my great grandfather’s scent?” Lewis said quietly hoping that her question meant that she did know what Buster was and wouldn’t scream.
Sam just sat there dumbfounded. Then she took a better look at Lewis. She realized why he looked familiar. He looked like Buster in those photos. She also wasn’t sure which one of them was more scared. “Lewis, if you hadn’t used the name Buster, I would have thought you some kind of scam artist. However, not once this evening have I mentioned his name or nickname,” she said.
“No, you didn’t. You were very careful to not say his name,” said Lewis.
“There’s also only one way you’d recognize a scent after all that time. And yes, I know,” said Sam.
Lewis drew a deep breath and relaxed just a little. “I’m sorry for not being more open with you, but I was curious and nervous all at the same time. You have no idea of how difficult life can be for us at times,” he said.
“Lewis you don’t know the half of it. Let’s get away from all these people and I’ll tell you what really happened. Oh, and about your cousins Ginny, George, Luc and their partners,” said Sam. She motioned for the waiter, signed her check and the two of them took their glasses of wine and headed out to the beach to talk.
*
“Who was on the phone?” asked Angie.
“That was Sam,” said George as he crawled back into bed. They’d been making love when the phone rang.
“Oh? What did she have to say? Everything all right?” asked Angie.
“Yeah. Everything is very alright. She’s met a man, and they are headed for New Zealand together,” said George.
“Wait a minute. She met a man and is going on the rest of her vacation with him and you aren’t twitching? What in the hell is going on?” asked Angie as she sat on his chest and grabbed his shoulders like she could actually affect some change by shaking him.
“Hold on! Don’t kill the messenger! His name is Lewis and they’ve hit it off well and have been talking pretty much for the last forty-eight hours,” said George dragging it out.
“What?! Come on George! Who is this guy?” asked Angie. “And what are his motives for chatting up our Sam for that long a period of time?”
“Angie, his name is Lewis Davy. He’s Buster’s great grandson and he recognized Buster’s scent on Sam’s hat bandana,” said George waiting for all the implications to settle in.
Angie finally heard everything George had said. “Oh. My. God.” was all she said.
“Now, when she calls next, she said she’d give us more details. From what I understand though, when she comes back in a month, we’ll have a new cousin to get acquainted with,” said George.
“Okay,” said Angie as her brain twisted and turned.
*
Ginny was running the front desk. ‘Solda was helping Meg nearly full time at the house and Bitty had run off with some guy she’d met at the picnic and not been home since. She expected Bitty to turn up pregnant when she did come home.
“Patrick, could you give me a hand?” she asked. The client list had grown after the court case and with Meg pregnant, Patrick had been taking her workload of clients.
“What do you need?” Patrick asked as he came out of the back offices.
“I need a schedule for our techs and a hiring strategy because Luc has been gone more and more as the babies get closer to their arrival,” she said. She wasn’t upset over any of this, but it was getting difficult to find enough people to do the work. Luc worked at home in the mornings to be with Meg and did jobs in the afternoon. Kevin was stretched thin and Cal and Peter seemed to live in the warehouse. They’d also given up and bought Buttercup and Fezzik outright from the security firm. When the dogs had gone back, they’d been sullen and refused to work. The handler had tried everything and just turned up one day at the office with the dogs in tow. He’d explained what was going on and Luc, Cal and Peter had gone out to the van.
The minute the dogs heard the men’s voices, they went ballistic. They were so happy, that the tail wagging rocked the van. When the two dogs were finally let out, they literally crooned. Luc settled on $1000 per dog. Everyone, especially Buttercup and Fezzik were happy at long last.