“AndIdon’t imagine he’s ever going to come back here,” Ivy said.
“He might, someday. When he’s ready,” Katie said.
“What if he’s never ready?” Emma asked.
“Then that would be sad indeed,” Katie said.
Joseph slipped into the house, no doubt to collect the presents Ivy was going to open.
Emma asked Katie, “Does Papa see Finbarr very often?”
“No,” Katie said. “But when he does, Finbarr asks after you girls.”
“He did precisely that the first time I met him,” Sophie said.
Emma looked to her. “You’ve met him?”
“I have seen him twice,” Sophie said. “Both times, I was with Dr. Jones.”
Burke nodded. “In fact, I saw him only a couple days ago. He had a splinter in his hand that needed removing.”
“How was he otherwise?” Katie asked.
“He seemed content.”
Katie shook her head slightly. “Content is not the same as happy.”
“But it’s better than he was before,” Emma said. “It’s better than miserable, even if he’s only not miserable because he’s keeping away from all of us.Mostof us,” she quietly corrected.
The presents arrived, and Ivy was very quickly distracted. Emma, however, didn’t seem to recover her spirits.
Sophie stepped a little bit aside, motioning for Burke to do the same. “Do you know why Emma concerns herself so much with Finbarr?”
Burke nodded. “From all I’ve been told, they were once quite close. Finbarr looked on her as something of a little sister, and she adored him. They had a falling out and never have regained what was once there. I think she grieves that.”
“And he is never around anymore. She likely feels that even more acutely when she hears that other people interact with him, but she never does. It must seem, at times, like he’s avoiding her specifically.”
“To be completely honest, I suspect he might be. The chasm between them is connected to his injuries and his loss of sight and the mental anguish that accompanied it. I think the fact that she is connected to that made it even harder for him to repair what was damaged between them.”
“They’re both hurting so much. Don’t you sometimes wish pain like that could be addressed as easily as a splinter?”
He took hold of her hand. Her heart skipped a beat.
He squeezed her fingers. “You have a good heart, Sophie Kingston. And a good head on your shoulders. That is a remarkable combination.”
“I can’t think of a single person who has ever told me that.” She wasn’t feeling sorry for herself; she was simply stating the truth.
“That’s likely because the people of Baltimore aren’t permitted to see it.”
“It’s more a matter of they don’t wish to see it.”
“And yet, you make it your home.”
“Compromises,” she said with a sigh.
“Someone once told me recently that when a compromise is no longer worth making, that’s the time to rethink our assumptions.”
“Who told you that?”
