“I can’t imagine fate would offer us this opportunity only to snatch it away so quickly.”
Without warning, the door to the dining room flew open and Mrs. Archer, looking more like a general directing her troops than a society lady visiting her family, directed them all back inside. Her family looked as confused as Burke felt and Sophie appeared to be.
“What is this, Mother?” Joseph asked as he walked past her.
“Let us call it fate intervening once again.” Mrs. Archer gave Sophie a pointed look.
Apparently, their conversation had been overheard.
Burke kept his arm around Sophie and tucked her up against him, hoping to lend her strength as well as communicate to the others that no amount of embarrassment was going to get him to leave her side.
“You might as well sit,” Mrs. Archer told the others. “This might take a while.”
They all sat, except for Emma, whom Mrs. Archer waved over next to her. She put an arm around her granddaughter and squeezed her shoulders. “Now is the time, sweetie.”
“I’m nervous,” Emma said.
Mrs. Archer nudged her forward.
Emma took a breath and squared her shoulders. “I’ve been thinking about something for a while now. It’s not a sudden thought or a whim.”
“What is it?” Joseph asked.
“When Grandmother goes back to Baltimore—” She paused. She swallowed and took a breath. “When she goes back, I want to go with her.”
A shocked silence fell over the room.
Joseph managed to find his voice first. “That is not a journey you can make both directions easily or quickly. And it wouldn’t be a good idea for you to travel back here alone.”
She shook her head. “Papa, I don’t mean I want to go with her as a traveling companion. I want to stay there and live with her.”
The color drained from Joseph’s face. Katie’s eyes pulled wide.
“I like Baltimore. I’ve always enjoyed visiting. And—I’m done with my schooling, and there is nothing for me to do here. I can’t imagine spending the next years of my life sitting around not being needed.”
“Emma, you will always be needed in this family,” Katie said.
“I don’t mean I’m not loved. I know I am. I know that you like having me here. But it’s been a while since I’ve liked being in Hope Springs.” Emma’s voice shook with barely held back emotion. “I haven’t, really, since the fire. It’s hard to be here where I remember that every day.”
Tears began forming in her eyes. The rest of the family had grown tearful as well.
“It hurts to be here,” Emma said, her voice breaking. “I think I need some time away. I need distance. I need some peace, even just a little.”
Burke’s heart ached for the young lady as she echoed the exact sentiments Finbarr had expressed. The fire had occurred long before Burke’s arrival, but the impact of it continued to be felt.
“You would be so far away,” Joseph said.
“But you visit Baltimore regularly. I would still see you. And Grandmother tells me there’s a school there where I could learn to be a teacher. I’ve always thought I’d be a good teacher.”
“You would be an excellent teacher,” Katie said.
“I can’t learn any more here. But I could there.”
Joseph looked to his mother. “How long would it take for her to get her schooling as a teacher?”
“A couple of years.”
Joseph paced away, running his hand through his hair. Burke could only imagine how difficult it was for him to even contemplate the idea of one of his children being so far away for so long.
