Chapter Thirty-five
Dinner with the O’Connors was like stepping back into a much happier time.
The Archers and O’Connors had been connected essentially her entire life.
They’d had dinners at a few of the O’Connors’ homes.
She’d gone to school with those close to her age.
She’d looked after those younger than her.
An evening with them, laughing and teasing and just enjoying each other’s company, was a blessing.
Everyone helped Finbarr navigate, and she could see he wasn’t nearly as overwhelmed. He seemed happier and content among them.
Eimear sat on Emma’s lap when the eating portion of the evening had shifted into one of music. The O’Connors were a very musical bunch, with nearly every instrument accounted for.
Aidan was sitting on one side of Emma, with Finbarr on the other. To Aidan, Eimear said, “Your family has céilís.”
“Yes, we do.”
“I love céilís.” Eimear turned to Finbarr. “Will you dance with me, Finbarr?”
“I’ll stand up and bounce and sway with you a bit, mo mhilis,” he said. “Is that close enough to dancing?”
Eimear climbed off Emma’s lap and crossed to Finbarr. The little girl took his hand and pulled him from his chair and a bit to the side. He picked her up and bounced and swayed just as he said he would.
“Seeing Finbarr dance with you at the last céilí did this family a world of good,” Aidan said to Emma.
“It certainly put an idea in Eimear’s head,” Emma said with a smile.
“Eimear needed you here,” Aidan said, with a nod that looked like confirmation. “She and Ivy both.”
Your sister needs you. It was the same sentiment as the telegram that had brought her back to Hope Springs. “Eimear and Ivy needed me?”
“Ivy’s had a difficult year. She’s done at school, but doesn’t have a place outside of that. She’s so much older than all her siblings, which I think makes her feel a bit alone at home. I get the impression she’s a little lost. Reminds me of someone else I know, but about five years back.”
He was very much describing how Emma had felt at that same age.
Your sister needs you.
“Was it you?”
He looked over at her. “Was it me who what?”
Her gaze narrowed a little. “Sent me a telegram.”
Aidan looked away again, his gaze on his family members playing music and grinning at each other.
Aidan didn’t answer the question, but he also didn’t quite keep his smile tucked away.
He likely wouldn’t admit to it, but she knew the answer.
He had looked at her family and seen a need that even they hadn’t recognized.
And he’d not only taken the time—he’d taken the risk of reaching out to her in the hope that she would listen and help.
“You care about people, and you aren’t content to simply know they need something. You do all you can to see to it they get that something. You are going to make a remarkable doctor one day.”
“I hope so,” he said. “Finbarr told me months ago that he thought there might be a way for me to get to St. Louis for medical school. I’m not sure what he had in mind.
Dr. Jones thinks I could attend school on a tuition scholarship.
It’s having a place to live that I can’t sort out.
” He looked over at her. “I think Finbarr might have an answer to that difficulty. I think he might know of someone there I could live with.”
Someone he could live with in St. Louis. She didn’t have to think very hard to realize who Finbarr had likely been talking about: himself. If he did decide to stay in Hope Springs, what would that do for Aidan’s plans?
Aidan’s grandmother approached in the next instant. Miss Groves was with her.
“Aidan, Miss Groves has come looking for Dr. Jones, but he’s away just now. Do you think you could help her?”
“Of course,” Aidan said without hesitation.
Mrs. O’Connor stepped back a little, allowing the teacher to address her substitute doctor.
“I have a horrible splinter in my hand that I can’t seem to get out.”
Aidan nodded. “I can help you with that.” He looked over at Emma. “Care to try your hand at being a nurse for the day?”
“I don’t want her helping,” Miss Groves said through tight teeth. “She cost me my job.”
“You violated the terms of your employment,” Emma said. “The town council specifically said you couldn’t beat the children. That you couldn’t help yourself isn’t my fault.”
The whole room had gone quiet, watching Miss Groves with looks of reproach and disapproval. For the first time, she seemed hesitant to lash out at Emma.
Aidan stood. There was a firmness underlying the care and concern he always showed anyone who needed medical help. No one seeing him in that moment would think he could be bent toward unkindness by even the most powerful of forces.
“Let’s go over to the doctor’s quarters. Everything I need to address your splinter will be over there.”
“Not if she’s going,” Miss Groves snapped, glaring at Emma.
“I’ll have my ma help,” Aidan said. “But I’d advise you not to speak unkindly to her. She’ll bite your head off, and there aren’t enough tools in all of Dr. Jones’s cabinets to fix that.”
He began walking away. Miss Groves followed with a hangdog expression. Annoyance and amusement flitted around the room.
Ivy dropped into the chair Aidan had just abandoned. She folded her arms angrily across her chest, a fierce look on her face that Emma had come to know well when they were children.
“Want me to belt her one?” Ivy asked. “I’d be awfully good at it, and I’d enjoy it.”
Emma put an arm around Ivy and tugged her up close. “The town will be rid of her as soon as the stage runs again. That’s justice enough for me.”
“And she won’t be here tormenting you,” Ivy said. “That will make Hope Springs a far more pleasant place.”
In that declaration, Emma found a ray of hope. Hope Springs would be more pleasant once Miss Groves was gone. It made the possibility of remaining far more palatable.
But quick on the heels of that came the realization that Finbarr might not be staying. If Aidan needed him to go to St. Louis, she suspected he would go.
Emma would lose him.