“Finbarr.”
He slipped his hand from hers and made his way back over to the festivities. Her mind spun on that revelation. A young man, who was hurting in innumerable ways, whose struggles made hers seem insignificant, understood a truth she herself had not recognized. Sometimes, the sacrifices that have been worth making, even for a long time, stopped being worth it.
But rethinking those assumptions in her life meant rethinking everything.
Burke hadn’t energy enough to go to thecéilíthat Saturday evening. There had been a great many patients in and out of the infirmary, and he’d traveled out to one of the ranches to see to a cowboy with a badly cut arm. By the time he’d returned to his own house, he was exhausted. So, he stayed there, and promised himself a quiet evening instead.
That was one advantage of being in Hope Springs. In Chicago, there’d been almost no opportunities for quiet. Even when he’d stayed in the small apartment he’d called home, the noise of the city was loud enough that it permeated the walls. Here, one could truly have peace.
He’d spent a lot of time thinking about the question Sophie had posed, and the subsequent ones that had arisen in his mind as a result. There were things he liked about both places. There were things he would miss in choosing one over the other. He simply had to decide which things mattered most.
In that moment, though, he meant to simply relax and lift from his shoulders the weight of the day.
He leaned his head back against his chair and closed his eyes. He might have drifted off to sleep if not for the knock at his front door. That was a difference here in Hope Springs versus working in the hospitals of Chicago. In that big city, when he’d been home, he was home. Here, he was the doctor at all hours of the day and night.
He rose from his chair and crossed to his front door. Sophie stood on the other side, smiling. Warmth settled on his heart, as it always did when he saw her. The pull he’d felt to her had only grown. Seeing her was, more often than not, the very best part of his day.
“Why aren’t you at thecéilí?” he asked.
“I came here to ask you the same thing,” she said.
“You walked all that way?”
She shrugged. “I am discovering that I particularly like walking. I don’t get to do nearly enough of it in Baltimore.”
He stood aside and motioned her in. “Come have a seat and rest for a moment. That was quite a distance to cover.”
She didn’t object. He walked next to her all the way back to the sitting room.
Since Ivy’s birthday, Sophie had visited the infirmary often. He’d called on her out at the Archers’, as well. This, though, was the first time they’d been truly alone. There was something comfortable about it, almost familiar.
“If you’d like, I can drive you back to thecéilí. I can hitch up my buggy relatively quickly.”
She shrugged as she sat. “I’m not in a hurry. I mostly wanted to make certain you were well.”
That was thoughtful of her.
“I am. I stayed behind because I had a long and exhausting day. I wasn’t certain I had the energy for a party tonight.”
She looked at him with concern. “Nothing horrible happened, I hope.”
He sat as well. “I was simply busy. I have days like that now and then.”
“And is that a mark for or against Hope Springs?”
“Oddly enough, it’s both.”
“These things never are simple, are they?”
He leaned forward a bit in his chair, enough that he could reach her hand where she sat. He took it in his. He loved holding her hand. He loved, even more, that she seemed to like it as well. “There is definitely a great deal to think about.”
“You can’t really be happy if you don’t know what truly makes you happy.”
He threaded his fingers through hers. She smiled softly. She was so comforting, so lightening. How could the people of Baltimore not cherish the person she truly was?
He kept his gaze on their entwined hands. “I’ve found myself wondering what the people I’ve known over the years—both those few who believed in me and all those who doubted—would think of what I’ve accomplished. I wonder if they would think I have reason to be proud.”
“Is that why you want to impress your doctor friend who is coming? If he approves of what you’re doing, you would have an answer to that question?”
