Chapter Seventeen

Outside, everyone was waiting for the moment when I would appear at the door to walk down the aisle. Daniel led Mama to her seat, and that was the cue for the music to start.

Meghan was the first to appear, followed by Molly and Holly. With Holly being the last to walk down the aisle all eyes were on that back door. And then it happened. I stood there a few moments with Uncle Mick at my side.

“Okay,” I said, “it’s time to move on.”

Taking Papa’s place was not easy thing for Uncle Mick, but I felt Papa was there with us as we made that special walk.

When I made my way toward Travis, I felt as though I was coming home. My chest was warm with the love I had for him and for everyone who’d come to witness our love. Who knew that true love had been under my nose all along?

Mama looked at us, smiling, with tears in her eyes. She watched me become Mrs. Travis Sullivan. As we repeated our vows and placed the rings on our fingers, the pastor looked up at the congregation.

“As Annie and Travis have pledged their love to each other before God and all here, I pronounce them man and wife.”

Everyone congratulated us. The music started, and we were asked to lead the first dance. I smiled and looked up at Travis. “It’s very easy. Just move the way I do. We don’t have to be perfect.”

“I know how to waltz, Annie. My mama taught me.”

He was right. He did know how to waltz, and beautifully, too. We danced most of the afternoon and into the evening, and so many of our guests joined in on the fun.

Our wedding was truly one of the best nights of my life.

Travis and I took the train to New York for our honeymoon. The trip was a gift from my sisters. It was especially exciting for Travis, who had never been out of Fall River.

After we came back, we set up residence in the farmhouse. We moved to my brothers’ room to keep the big room for guests. Under Travis’s hand, the alterations and additions were done with great detail, giving the old house a homey touch.

The best news was that I was expecting. My news was received with cheers from all the members of the family. They gathered at our home for a celebration of the announcement and again for the delivery that happened some six months later. For that event, everyone wanted to be there. Why, even my brother Tom came home.

It had been many years since a child had been born into the family. The house was so full that some had to sleep in the sofa in the study. I couldn’t believe I was going to bring new life into this home and to be a mama.

Aunt Mary, who had been in this very house the night I and my sisters had been born, was so excited she just kept making coffee and sandwiches for everyone. Mama was in the kitchen, baking, since she felt that with all the sandwiches Mary was making, guests would soon want dessert.

The doc was there, too, to handle the delivery, but people were starting to wonder about me since the birth was taking so long. Travis was standing in the hallway with Brax and Adam. Both men were old hats at this baby business since they had a few of their own, and they tried their best to keep Travis calm.

“Does it always take this long?” Travis asked. “I mean, it is rather a long time, isn't it?”

Adam smiled at his new brother-in-law. “When Meghan had Sarah, it seemed like it took days, but it was about ten hours. Not to mention it was in the middle of a snowstorm. I wasn’t even sure I could get her to the hospital, but she got there just in time. It was an experience that I will never forget. By the time Bryan came along, I was completely calm about the whole thing.”

Meghan walked up behind her husband and tapped him on the shoulder. “Excuse me. Don’t listen to a word he’s telling you, Travis. He was a bundle of nerves both times, and there was not one moment that I recall him being calm. Meanwhile, all I wanted was to get to the hospital to calm him down.”

They all began to laugh, and the mood began to feel lighter. However, Travis only calmed down when the doctor came out of the upstairs bedroom and gave everyone the good news.

Mama had slipped out to the rose garden. She was missing Pa, and she looked at the roses sadly as she thought about him.

She looked up at the sky, and suddenly, a shooting star whisked by. She heard a voice in her ear. “Make a wish, Abby girl.”

“I wish you were still here, Ryan.”

“I am, Abby girl.”

Ryan appeared, standing in front of her, smiling and offering his hand. He was as handsome as ever, as though he hadn’t aged a day.

“Come on, Abby. Let’s look at the moonlight.”

“You can't be here. I mean you're… you’re not here. Oh, how I’ve missed you.”

When Uncle Mick came out, he found Mama in the garden, asleep on a bench.

“Abby, Abby, wake up.”

“No, Ryan, I don't want you to go… Ryan… don’t leave…”

Her eyes fluttered open, and Mick came into her view.

“What are you doing here?”

He smiled at her. “Well, I’m sorry I’m not Ryan, but I came out here to tell you that Annie had a girl.”

“A baby girl. Oh, Mick. Isn’t it wonderful?”

“Yes, it is wonderful. Now, why don’t you join us in the house and drink a toast to the new addition in the Lochlan family?” He offered his hand to her, and she got up and walked back into the house with him.

When they entered, Mary handed each of them a glass of champagne. “Is everything all right?”

“Fine,” Mama said. “I fell asleep in the rose garden.”

Braxton held out his champagne glass. “I propose a toast to our lovely Annie, her husband, and their newborn daughter, Amy.”

Travis saw our new girl first. Then Mama came up when everyone was celebrating. She hadn’t been right since Papa’s death. I hoped the addition to our family would cheer her up.

She came into my room and found a tired old me, holding my new darling little Amy.

“Hi, Mama. Here she is. I hope you like the name.”

Abby took the baby in her arms and smiled down at the precious little girl with the brown hair and deep-blue eyes. “Oh, I think the name is perfect. And she’s perfect.”

The days grew into years, and I had another child when Amy was three. Before Mama passed on to join Papa, she had the pleasure of seeing my two children grow to the ages of twelve and nine.

Mama had been ready to “go home,” as she called it. The love of her life was over there, and she missed him so. She passed away quietly in the garden where she’d loved to sit at the end of each day. She’d often said she spoke to Papa out there.

That day, I’d seen her go out there and promised I would call her when supper was ready. When I was done cooking, I told Travis to get her.

He came in alone. I asked, “Is Mama coming to supper?”

“She’s not coming in, Annie.”

“I told her supper would be ready.”

“Annie, Mama is not ever coming in again.”

“What are you—”

Then it hit me what he was trying to say. “Don’t leave her out there. Please bring her in, and place her in her room.”

Once again, Mr. Loring was summoned to our home, and the family gathered in sorrow at yet another passing.

Aunt Mary was hit the hardest since she was now the only sister left of the original McVinny girls. As she and Uncle Mick stood at the family cemetery over the mound of trees past the rose garden, she broke down and cried.

My brothers and sisters were all in sorrow, too. The citizens of Fall River shared our grief. So many offered their condolences.

Aunt Mary delivered the eulogy at the funeral. It took her four hours to get it just right.

“Abby was my big sister, and she never let me forget it. She took over when our mother passed, and there was nothing she wouldn’t do for either me or my sister Jenny. She was Papa’s favorite and kept all of us together in those trying times. When she found Ryan, well, we all knew he was perfect for her, not to mention he was about the handsomest man any of us girls had ever seen.”

She turned to look at her husband and smiled. “Sorry, dear, but we didn’t see you till later. Anyway, as I said, they were a perfect match. Abby never stopped being a mother. First it was to me, then to her children. My sister Abby never did things easy.

“When she first told us she was having a baby, we were all excited. After all, it would mean I was going to be an aunt and not the baby of the family. Well, like I said she never did anything easy. She didn’t just have one baby—she had three girls all at once. And each one was special in every way. Molly, Meghan, and Annie—and then the twin boys, Daniel and Tom—you all were so special to your mother, and she loved you each in a special way.

“So, today we are saddened by the passing of our dear Abby, yes, but we also know that she is happy that she’s not only reunited with her Ryan but also her parents and two sisters.” She took a pause as tears came to her eyes. “We miss you, Abby, and will hold only fond memories of you always. Until we meet again, Abby. Until we meet again.”

Mary placed a rose on the coffin as Mick helped her back to one of the chairs. Then I and the rest of Ma’s children and grandchildren all placed roses on the coffin.

As years passed, I too began to find the peace and tranquility of the rose garden. I now knew what Mama had felt.

I would sit in the rose garden and enjoy the night sky and watch the clouds dancing across the moon. I realized why Mama would say it was a gypsy dancing in the moonlight. At times I even felt she was dancing there for me.

Our children had grown. Amy had decided she wanted to be a teacher like me. The schoolhouse was no longer one room but had enough rooms to separate the younger ones from the older ones. Amy loved the younger ones and taught that class.

Everything had changed, yet there in the rose garden, everything was just a memory away, ready to be brought out when I wanted it. Mama had been gone ten years. We’d found her sitting there with a smile on her face. I knew she had gone with Papa. She’d always said he would come and get her when her time came. That was fitting since their love was the kind we could only find in books, the kind dreams were made out of.

I was sad that she was gone. I missed watching the moonlight with her, the advice she gave, and most of all, her love, but I knew that she was with him and my grandparents and aunts, so she wasn’t alone. I found comfort in knowing that she and Papa were together, and I thought of them often when I looked up at the moon at night.

Travis sat with me every night, and we enjoyed our moments of tranquility together. He would put his arms around me and hug me tight and we’d count our blessings, grateful for the love we had for each other.

In Travis, I’d found the love I’d always dreamed of in storybooks, and we would be together until the end of our days.

What should you read next? Finn, the first book in The Wild West Cowboys series. Read an excerpt at the end of this book.

Be the first to know about new book releases and 99¢ early bird specials by subscribing to Chloe Emile’s author newsletter.