The pain in Emma’s expression when she looked at Finbarr tugged at Eliza’s heart. She suspected the two needed only a little nudge to get them talking.
“Finbarr’s looking after Lydia while I finish up.”
“‘Looking’ after might be the wrong word,” Finbarr muttered.
“Why do you do that?” Emma asked.
“Do what?”
She sat on the blanket, facing him. “People speak kindly of you, and you contradict them. I don’t understand why. Do you think they’re wrong, or do you simply not like hearing compliments?”
“I don’t know. It . . . It seems like the right thing to say.”
“It isn’t.” She spoke firmly.
Eliza pinned a sheet on the clothesline, watching and listening to the young people while trying not to be obvious about her eavesdropping.
“You, of all people, should be pleased to know I have a low opinion of myself,” Finbarr said to Emma.
Emma didn’t appear the least convinced. Indeed, her expression turned ever more determined. “And you, of all people, should know whythatis utter rot.”
Finbarr couldn’t have looked more surprised. “You’ve a bit of fire in you, Miss Emma.”
“I’m growing up,” she said. “And I’m learning to be strong and firm. I suppose you don’t approve.”
He shook his head. “On the contrary, I think it’s brilliant.”
Finbarr’s words of approval softened the young girl’s edges of wariness. Eliza wished he could see how quickly and entirely he made a change in his friend, how very much he obviously still meant to Emma Archer. The girl might not still feel the sweet little-girl love she had when they were both younger, but anyone seeing her now would know in an instant that she cared deeply about what he thought of her.
“Lydia reminds me a little of Ivy.” Emma scooted closer to the two of them. “Although she doesn’t run away as often.”
“I don’t think anyone runs away as often as Ivy did. That lass sure loves to run. It’s fortunate she’s old enough now to find her way back.”
“Assuming she wants to come back,” Emma said with a little laugh. “She’s stubborn, too, you know.”
“Oh, I know.”
They talked as they played with Lydia. Nothing they said was of deep significance, but Eliza felt she was watching something more important than it appeared to be on the surface. Hope Springs was a place of healing.
Was Patrick finding his needed measure of healing? She hoped so. No matter that he’d given her ample cause to be wary, she wanted him to do better, to feel better. He deserved to. His family deserved to have him back. Perhaps while he was gone with Ian, he’d find the strength to tell his brother what weighed on him.
She wanted to believe that she’d be able to face him with relative indifference when he returned. But he jumped often and easily into her thoughts, and when he did, her heart responded immediately with an aching thrum. When he returned, she would struggle. But difficult paths hadn’t broken her before, and neither would this one now. This was the path she was choosing, and she would walk it.
“Mrs. Porter?” Emma’s voice cut into her thoughts. “I think Lydia has something in her foot.”
Eliza pinned Ivy’s dress to the clothesline. “What is it?”
“A little splinter, I would guess.” Emma eyed the sole of Lydia’s left foot. “It looks sore.”
Lydia whimpered a little, trying to pull her foot free of Emma’s hold. Finbarr whispered something to her, and she stopped squirming for a moment.
Eliza hung up the last few bits of laundry then crossed to the blanket. She sat next to Emma and made her own study of Lydia’s foot. There was no need to point out what had caused Emma’s concern. A good-sized red blotch marred the girl’s foot. Right in the middle was a dark spot, precisely what an irritated splinter would look like.
The girl still had no shoes. That she’d gone as long as she had walking about barefoot without getting a splinter was nearly miraculous. Of course, Eliza carried her around a great deal of the time, trying to avoid precisely this.
“I wonder how long her foot’s been sore.” Eliza turned toward Finbarr. “Did she seem to be in pain while you were walking around the house?”
“I can’t see well enough to know if she was limping or anything.” He sounded so disappointed in himself.
