Michael was becoming quite concerned. He’d had only one letter from Maura in the past two weeks, and lately her letters had been so detached. What could he do? He didn’t want to lose her. Anxiously, he wrote to her.
My dearest love,
You’ve written lately of all the work you’ve been doing. I suppose that’s why I haven’t heard from you as often, and I really do understand. My schedule is also very demanding with classes, studying, and working at the clinic.
I miss you so much, but for the life of me, I can’t figure out when I can find the time to come see you again. Not until next August—and that’s so far away. I was wondering if after you completed your work for the four stores you might ask your Uncle Jack for some time off to come here and visit me. I have a female friend whose roommate had to go back home because of illness. She said you could stay with her in the dorm. Her housemother is willing to look the other way for a few days and a few dollars.
Please, please get back to me on this. I need so much to see you and hold you and kiss you.
I love you.
Michael
Maura had been busy at work in her own office for a week when she received Michael’s letter. She picked up her mail when she came into the house Friday evening and went immediately to her bedroom to read it. She sat on her bed and wept.
Sweet Michael! How could she tell him she had been involved with someone else for the past three months? Three months she would rather forget.
Consumed with guilt, she didn’t know how to reply.
Aunt Gert had described her relationship with Michael as an infatuation—puppy love—because she was so young. Perhaps she was right, but in Maura’s mind, that was the way she would describe her relationship with Matt. She’d never fallen deeply in love with him, but she certainly had been attracted to his charm. He’d stirred feelings in her that she didn’t know she had. She needed to see Michael as much as he needed to see her so she could sort out her feelings—to find out if Aunt Gert had been right about him also.
It took her two days to put the words on paper, but when she did, she felt better.
My dearest Michael,
I am sorry I’ve been remiss in writing as often as before, but I have been very busy. I know you have a tremendous workload also, and I can’t imagine trying to keep that up for the next two and a half years. Yet you’ve always been faithful with your letters.
I guess the only way I can explain myself is to say that I was given a very large responsibility for someone so young. I love doing what I do, but it’s difficult for me sometimes because of my age. There are many people who feel that the only reason I have my job is because of Uncle Jack. Which I suppose is partly true. But with the reorganization of four stores, I’m constantly trying to prove myself. There are some who would love to see me fall on my face, and it takes all I have in me to get the job done.
One of the best things that have come out of all of my work is that the worst is behind me, and I will now have Saturdays off. That means more time to write.
I love your idea of me coming to visit, but Uncle Jack will be out of town for the next two weeks, so I’ll have to get back to you.
I hope all is well with you, and I’m really looking forward to seeing you in the very near future. I really do need to see you again.
All of my love,
Maura
She did not think it wise to upset him by telling him about Matt.
After Jack returned from his trip, he made his rounds of the other three stores and came back to report to Maura that the new system was working very well. “Matt Gorsky was asking about you. He said he’s tried calling you a number of times, but you’re never available. He was wondering if you were sick or something.”
Maura shrugged. “He was getting too serious, so I decided to drop him. He’s not my type.”
She knew Matt was feeling her uncle out to see if she’d said anything. She was glad she hadn’t. Things were better that way.
When she asked for time off to go see Michael, Jack said she had truly earned a vacation. “You go and relax. You need some fun back in your life.”
She wrote Michael to tell him she would see him on the last Friday in April. “I’ll send details later.”
Maura’s eighteenth birthday was April 16. Jack and Martha took her and Kevin to the country club. After socializing with friends there, they all had a wonderful dinner.
As self–absorbed as Kevin was, he always remembered Maura on her birthday by making her a special birthday card. He truly loved his sister, but he’d always found her too serious. His cousin Patsy was much more fun.
He gave Maura a peck on the cheek, said, “Happy Birthday, sis,” and handed her the card, which read:
As sisters go I have to say
You are the best
Happy Birthday
Love, Kevin
He wasn’t much of a poet, but the front of the card was quite creative. He’d painted garlands of flowers, butterflies, and bees. He actually was a very good artist, something he’d taken to when he was quite young, and it was one of the reasons he’d always made her a card. His bedroom was filled with pictures of houses that he’d painted. His plan was to become an architect.
Right now, he was looking around, hoping to see Wally, so he would have an excuse to spend time with his crowd. He’d already met up with a few of them sprinkled around the room. Elaine Parnell kept giving him the eye. She looked promising. But no Wally.
Jack and Martha handed Maura her gift, a long thin box—a string of pearls.
“Oh, Uncle Jack, Aunt Martha, thank you so much! They’re beautiful.”
“You deserve them and more,” Jack said as she hugged him and went on to kiss Martha on the cheek. He looked at his watch. “Hmm, almost nine. Best we get going. I have a very early day tomorrow, and there’s something I want to talk to you about, Maura, before I go to bed.”
Maura couldn’t imagine what that would be. She hoped it wasn’t more work.
Kevin was relieved to see Wally come in with his parents and asked if he could stay behind and have them take him home.
“Why, of course, dear,” Martha said. “Just make sure it’s not too late. School tomorrow, remember.” She patted him on the cheek.
He promised it would be early.
Jack dropped Martha and Maura off at the door. “You two go on in. I’ll park the car and take Sadie for her run. Then I’ll be up to talk to you, Maura.”
She was propped up in bed reading when Jack came in the bedroom.
He looked at her with fatherly affection. “I can’t believe our Maura is actually eighteen.” He smiled, sat down on the edge of the bed, and took her hand. “But you’ve always been quite grown up and very special, ever since you were a very little girl. I suppose part of that came with losing your father and then your mother at such a young age. That had to be quite difficult for you. I know how hard it was for me when your mother died.”
“I still think of them. Especially Mama. I don’t suppose we’ll ever know how it happened.” She looked at him curiously. “Was there something you wanted to talk to me about?”
“Actually, yes, and it’s about your mother.”
“My mother?” She sat upright. “Have they found out who did it?”
“No, that’s not it. It’s about her money.”
“Mama didn’t have any money.”
“Oh, but she did. She inherited quite a tidy sum from your great–grandfather a few weeks before she died.”
Maura looked at him in amazement. “She did?”
“Yes, she did, and after her funeral, I had it put in a trust for you and Kevin, with the stipulation that each of you would get your share on your eighteenth birthday.”
Maura’s eyes widened. “You mean I’ll have enough money to buy a nice car like yours?”
“More than that. Much more. Your mother left almost two hundred and sixty thousand dollars. Half of which is Kevin’s. But it has all been drawing interest for the past thirteen years. Your share comes close to two hundred thousand.”
Maura gaped. “Two...hundred...thou...Oh, my goodness.”
“I couldn’t be happier for you, dear. My big concern is that with all that money, you won’t need to work for me anymore.”
“Now, Uncle Jack! Don’t talk like that. What would I do if I didn’t work? I love what I do.”
“I was hoping you’d say that. But just think. Someday you’ll get married and have a family, and you’ll never have to worry about scrimping and scraping the way Martha and I had to do when we first got married. Money doesn’t buy happiness, but it sure helps to keep it going.”
He stood. “Well, I’ll be off to bed. Five–thirty comes mighty early.” He leaned and kissed her on the forehead. “Happy birthday, dear. Sweet dreams.”
“Night, Uncle Jack. Love you.”
Maura was so excited she couldn’t sleep. Jack and Martha had retired around ten, and the house was very still. She heard Kevin come in around eleven.
Something has to be done with that brother of mine, she thought. He’s not even sixteen, and he’s becoming a real playboy.
She fell asleep trying to decide if she should say something to her uncle.
The trip to Columbus was long and tiring. One thing Maura had decided along the way was that if she’d had a photograph of Michael to look at while they were apart, she wouldn’t be having this difficulty trying to remember his face. The dimples she remembered, but the nuances weren’t there. He’d simply have to get his picture taken. However, when she got off the train, she had no problem recognizing him.
She threw herself in his arms and clung to him for what seemed to be a very long time. Michael held her face in both hands, kissed her softly, and groaned, “Oh, my God, I can’t tell you how good you feel. Let’s get out of here.”
She met Ruth, Michael’s friend, at the dorm and settled in her room. Mrs. Yorick, the housemother, set down all the rules and was adamant that she be in her room by ten p.m. If she wasn’t, she wouldn’t be welcome back the following night. Given the woman’s robust looks, Maura decided she would never want to lock horns with her. She nodded; she would comply.
Michael took her to a charming, dimly lit Italian restaurant for dinner. They sat side by side in a booth and tried to satisfy their appetites for both food and each other.
The waitress gave them a knowing smile as she took away their half–filled plates of spaghetti. Ah, lovers, she thought.
It had been difficult for them to eat, kiss, fondle, and talk. But they got some of all of it in.
They’d taken a trolley to the restaurant, but it was spring, and the evening was quite balmy. Perfect for two lovers. They decided to walk back to the dorm, stopping along the way to hold each other and kiss. That was the only pause in their conversations. They had plenty to share.
They arrived at the dorm at ten minutes to ten. They lingered. Maura was in her room at ten on the dot. They still had Saturday and Sunday.
Michael met her the next morning at nine. They took the trolley downtown and had breakfast at Woolworth’s Five and Dime store, then spent the day in town, roaming through Woolworth’s and some of the better stores.
Maura insisted on buying Michael a cashmere sweater at Lazarus. When he balked at her spending her money on him, she said, “Michael, I can afford it. I’ve got a job, remember. Uncle Jack pays me well, and I live at home. What else do I have to spend my money on?” She didn’t, however, tell him about the small fortune she’d just received. She really didn’t know why, except that it was hard for her to even imagine it herself.
Michael got his picture taken. A vendor on the corner of Maine and High Streets shouted out, “Hot dogs! Buy your hot dogs!” They each had two. Maura saw the capitol building, and Michael took her to see the clinic he worked in. She met Dr. Thaddeus Clifton, who gave her a tour of the building, introduced her to a few of the animal patients, and spoke very highly of Michael’s work. Then they were off to the German Village, where they had dinner.
It was time to take the trolley back to the dorm. The closest they’d been to each other all day was holding hands. Neither of them could wait to get into the shadows of the trees in front of the dorm to embrace.
Sunday morning turned out to be a marvelously warm spring day. They ate a late breakfast at Herman’s Drugstore on the corner by the dorm. Michael took her on a tour of the campus, where he kept meeting up with friends, proudly introducing her. He showed her the dorm where he lived. They would stop intermittently to sit down on benches scattered along the way, Michael with his arm around her, her head on his shoulder. They sat in silence.
For their last evening together, Michael had planned something very special. Because it was Sunday, there wasn’t much open. Downtown Columbus was dead. But there was a place he had in mind.
They rode the trolley to the Scioto River and walked along the waterfront until they came to a place called Catfish Charley’s.
“Remember our first date?” Michael asked as they entered the smoke–filled restaurant.
From the aroma, there was no question that fish was cooking. A large grill behind a long counter was frying up at least a dozen pieces of fish.
The place was quite crowded and noisy. People were seated at the counter and at the tables that filled the room. They had to wait for a table and stood watching, fascinated by the skill of the waitresses carrying armfuls of plates heaped with fish, fries, coleslaw, and bread.
Maura looked around at the fishnets hanging from the ceiling, a large anchor leaning against the back wall, and an entire wall of pictures—of fishing boats, captains, and fishermen with their catch. She leaned over and said, “This place surely does have atmosphere. I can’t believe you remembered our first catfish dinner together.”
“I remember everything we’ve done together.” He took her hand and squeezed it.
Two very portly customers with satisfied looks finally got up from a table in the back of the room, and they were seated.
The patrons were a familiar bunch, talking back and forth across the room, one table to another. Waitresses yelled out, “Where’s my order?” “Ya forgot my slaw!” The cook shouted back, “I only have two hands!” or “What do you think I am, a machine?”
Maura and Michael loved every minute of it.
When their order came, they ate in silence, enjoying the panorama around them, soaking up the experience, knowing it would be their last evening together. They needed no conversation.
On their way back to the trolley stop, they leaned on a railing next to a dock. It was dark, and the moon cast a path of gold across the murky water. Two small boats moored at the dock dipped and swayed, creating a soothing lapping sound. It reminded both of them of Darby’s Island.
Michael had his arm around Maura and turned her to face him. He stared at her intently for a second then said, “Maura, I’d planned to do this at the restaurant, but there was just no way. So I’m going to ask you now. Will you marry me?”
For a moment, she was at a loss for words. She hadn’t expected this. But it only took her that moment to make up her mind. “Oh, Michael, you know I will.”
They embraced. He kissed her long and hard. When he released her, he said, “Then stay. We can get married here. I’ll find us a place. I’ll work something out.”
“Oh, that would be so wonderful, but I can’t. It would be too difficult for you with your schedule and all. You’re almost there, Michael. I would never want you to not finish school, and with me around, I’m afraid I would keep you from it. Besides, Uncle Jack is expecting me back. Patsy will be graduating in May, and after that, we’ll be going to see Grandma Mahoney and Aunt Gert. There’re just too many things in the way. But just think: only two more summers, and you’ll be done. Can’t we just plan to be married then? I know it seems like a long time, but it’s only a year and a half. And we’ll be married for a lifetime.”
“Why do you always have to be so darn sensible? Don’t you know how much I need you? Please stay.”
Maura snuggled in his arms and murmured in his ear, “Sweet Michael, I love you, and as much as I’d love to stay, I’m willing to wait for you. Please do the same for me.” She stepped back. “Tell you what: I’ll set the date for August 1926. How’s that?”
Michael gave up. He knew he’d never win out over her logical, responsible way of thinking. But that was part of why he’d fallen in love with her. He remembered how she’d always made sure that she and Patsy didn’t keep their Aunt Gert waiting, how Patsy always looked to her for approval—and a good thing, too. Now, if it were Patsy he’d asked to marry him, she would see things quite differently. She lived in the moment, with her heart on her sleeve.
He gave her a big squeeze. “Okay, if that’s the way you want it, I guess I have no choice but to wait.”
He reached in his pocket. “I want you to wear this.” He took her hand and slipped a ring on her finger. “I know it’s not much, but it’s all I could afford. It’s your birthstone. Someday I’ll get you something much better.”
Maura looked at the silver band on her finger. The moonlight picked up the glint of a very small diamond. “Oh, I love it. Does this mean we’re engaged?”
“Well, I guess. I expected to put it on your finger this week, when we got married. But since you’ve changed my plans, I see no reason why it can’t be an engagement ring.”
On the train ride back to Buffalo on Monday morning, Maura stared longingly at Michael’s picture. She knew how much she’d disappointed him and wished she could have stayed. She missed him already. But what if she married him and got pregnant? He’d probably quit school and work full time in the clinic.
It had crossed her mind that she had enough money to keep him in school, but he was too proud for that. That was one of the reasons she loved him. He had taken it upon himself to work his way through school rather than depend on his parents for support. She knew they’d helped him out from time to time, but for the most part, he’d done it on his own.
No, it was better this way. If he’d known how much she really didn’t want to wait, he would have broken down all her resolution. It had taken everything in her to say no.
She twisted the ring on her finger and stared out the window at the passing, empty fields.
It was the first week in May when Tony Russo dropped dead in the lumber yard of a heart attack. Clyde Mersol came running into her office, out of breath. “Call a doctor! Call an ambulance!”
Startled, Maura looked up from her ledger. “What’s the matter?”
“It’s Tony. He was pulling some lumber down for a customer and just keeled over. I think he’s dead. I couldn’t get him to answer me. Just get help, will you?”
Dr. Reubin pronounced Tony dead when he arrived. The entire store was in shock. Tony’s wife was contacted, and the doors were locked for the day. Four days later, the store was once again closed so that all the employees could attend the funeral.
The day after the funeral, Jack entered Maura’s office and sat down, something he did periodically just to pass time and talk about the business. He enjoyed discussing things with his niece because he knew that whatever was on his mind would go no further. Today he had a particular problem to discuss.
“I guess we have to hire someone to take over Tony’s job as yard foreman. He’ll be hard to replace. He was a good man. Been with me since I opened the store. I know Clyde expects to take over his job, since he worked under him in the yard, but he’s only been here two months, doesn’t know the stock, yet, and has a record of showing up late. There’ve been times when I thought about getting rid of him. But Tony would always say, ‘Ah, he’s okay. Not too quick, but he has a strong back.’”
Maura just nodded and listened.
“Maybe I should bring in someone from one of the other stores. Someone who has more knowledge of the yard.”
Maura chewed on her pencil, thinking. “You know, there is someone here who knows every small detail of the business and is always on time.”
“Who’s that?”
“Wash. Lincoln Washburn. When anyone around here needs to know anything and there’s no one else to ask, they go to Wash. He always has the answer. I know he’s just the maintenance man, but I can’t tell you how many times he’s helped me out. He knows every nook and cranny, every crick and crack in this building. He knows when deliveries come and where they’re stored. He knows what’s on the shelves and in the yard. He’s the first one here in the morning and the last one to leave at night. He deserves a chance at a better paying job. And I know he would do it every bit as well as Tony. Besides that, everyone seems to like him. I just love him to death.”
“But, Maura, he’s black! What would people think if I hired a black man as yard foreman? That’s one of the most important jobs you can have in a place like this.”
“And it’s a job I think he could handle very well. So what do you care what people think, as long as the job gets done?”
“I just don’t know. I’ll have to give it some thought. But you’re right. He’s one of the most dependable workers I’ve ever had. Been with me from the beginning, same as Tony. That’s when there were only four of us working here, and I took care of the yard myself. There wasn’t anything I asked him to do that wasn’t done well, and always with a smile.”
It took Jack a few days to mull the problem over. He called Wash into his office the following Monday. “Sit down, Wash.”
Wash held his cap in his hands and gingerly sat on the edge of the chair in front of Jack’s desk. This was quite unusual for him, to be asked into his boss’s office. He had no idea what he’d done wrong.
Jack put his feet up on his desk, leaned back in his chair and smiled. “How’ve things been going with you these days, Wash?”
“Good, Mistah Jack. No complaints.”
“Your Emiline is one fine cook. I can’t tell you how much she means to me and my family.”
“Yessah. She thinks mighty highly on you all, too,” he answered, twirling his cap
Jack finally got around to the business at hand. Wash left his office stunned but happy. He walked out into the yard. He knew he could do the job.
Clyde Mersol was irate. “I ain’t workin’ for no nigger.” He quit.
There were others willing to take his place.
The rest of the store was nonplussed, but no one really blamed Jack for his choice. Everyone thought the world of Wash.
Martha was totally against the whole idea. “What will the people at the club say when they find out you hired a black man to oversee the work of others? He was doing just fine as a maintenance man. That is his place. Leave well enough alone.”
She was totally embarrassed when the members of the country club started buzzing about the news. It was bad enough that they had an Irish name like Mahoney. Jack had been Catholic, but thank goodness she’d swayed him to join her at the First Presbyterian Church, where they were now members in good standing. Otherwise, they would never have been asked to join the country club.
Jack ignored her complaints. Things were moving along well at the store, Wash’s new job made Emiline very happy, and who cared what the people at the club thought or said? It would all blow over, be forgotten when the next thing popped up.
Plans for the family trip to Cleveland for Patsy’s graduation were totally sabotaged the following week. Mother Angela called around eleven on Tuesday evening from Notre Dame Academy to say that Patsy hadn’t been in her bed at bed check.
She assured them there was no foul play, that Patsy was probably perfectly safe. She’d taken all of her clothes, and her roommate told them she was running off to get married. She was sorry things had worked out that way, but Patsy would receive her diploma in the mail. There was nothing else the school could do. It had been Patsy’s choice to leave.
“I just called because I was sure you’d want to know—and God bless.”
Martha was beside herself. “How could she do such a thing?” she screamed. “Running off two days before her graduation. Who is this boy? Why couldn’t she tell us?”
On and on she ranted until the wee hours of the morning.
Jack listened and sympathized, quite upset himself. Finally, exhausted, they both managed to fall asleep around four.
Maura never said a word. It was up to Patsy to call and tell them everything. She wasn’t really surprised that Patsy would do something like this. Maura was only happy she’d waited until she finished school.
Martha took the call from Patsy two days later. Bubbling with happiness, Patsy told her what she’d done. Martha tried to interject a few thoughts of her own, but Patsy kept babbling on.
She and Paul were in Chicago at the Drake Hotel. Paul would be going for orientation at Feltzer Engineering the next day. They thought they had found an apartment; that’s what they were going to see about today. If that didn’t work out, they could always stay with Paul’s parents in Evanston until they found a place. They would be coming home—she wanted everyone to meet Paul, he was so wonderful—probably Saturday. He wouldn’t be starting work for another week or so. “Byee.”
“Of course, dear. We’ll look forward to seeing you.”
Martha sighed and hung up the phone. What else could she say? The deed was done. She shrugged and turned to Jack, who’d been trying to garner some information from his wife’s periodic comments of “Uh huh” and “Oh, I see.” Not much to go on. “You’ll have to cancel our trip to Herron’s Point,” she informed him. “Patsy and what’s–his–name are coming in on the four–thirty train this Saturday.”
Emiline only worked Mondays through Fridays. This weekend was an exception. She was as excited about Patsy coming home as the rest of the family and planned to serve all her favorites.
Maura couldn’t wait to see Patsy’s handsome Romeo. It amused her to think of all the romance novels Patsy had read. She wondered if they were of any help on her wedding night.
Jack and Martha brought the newlyweds back from the train station around five in the afternoon. Kevin, Maura, and Emiline were all sitting on the veranda next to the driveway, waiting, as the car pulled in.
Patsy hopped out of the car, threw her arms around Emiline, plying her cheeks with kisses, then turned to Kevin and gave him a big hug. She and Maura rocked back and forth as they embraced, and Maura whispered in her ear, “You bad girl.”
They both laughed.
Paul and Jack got the luggage out of the trunk and set it next to the veranda door.
“Everyone, I would like you to meet my husband, Paul Johnston,” Patsy announced proudly.
After Maura shook his hand, she stood back as he gracefully met Emiline and Kevin. Tina came out to shake his hand, too. Of course, Sadie was in the midst of all the activity, racing from one to the other, accepting any crumb of attention she could get.
Maura observed that he was tall and lanky, with an angular face and a large Adam’s apple that bobbed up and down as he talked. It was a nice, kind face, though, softened by his brown, curly hair. But handsome? No, she would never describe him as such. Patsy looked stunning.
Emiline left for the kitchen to prepare dinner. They were having fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy, warm apple pie, and ice cream. All of Patsy’s favorites.
The week that followed was a busy one. Jack and Maura would return from work to find the house full of Patsy’s friends either coming in or just leaving—lots of them former beaus with their new girlfriends. Maura would usually join them unless the crowd planned to be out late. Everyone liked Paul a lot. He was very bright and quick. Maura could see how Patsy would be attracted to him. She and Patsy had a number of private moments together. There was no question that Patsy was very much in love and extremely happy.
Patsy asked her about the ring on her finger.
“I’ll be inviting you to my wedding a year from this August,” Maura said, holding her hand in front of her and admiring her ring.
“Oh, Maura, I’m so happy for you!” Patsy covered her large diamond and emerald ring and gold band with her other hand. She could never gloat, not with Maura.
The house seemed empty after Paul and Patsy left. Kevin was out of school and always at the club playing tennis. Maura felt very lonely when she returned from work. She spent a great deal of time in the kitchen with Emiline, just talking and helping where she could.
She was especially disappointed that she didn’t get her two–week vacation. She’d really been looking forward to seeing her Grandmother Mahoney, Uncle Hal, and Aunt Gert, but Jack had said he’d had to rearrange his entire schedule because of Patsy, and he’d try to set up their vacation for sometime in July.
“That’s not too far away,” he’d said with a patronizing smile, patting her on the head.
She’d been at work about six hours when the headache came. It was so fierce that she had to go into the restroom twice to throw up.
“Go home and go to bed. You must be coming down with something,” Irene, her clerk, ordered. “I’ll take care of things here.”
It was all she could do to make it home and into the house. There was no one around. Even Sadie wasn’t there to greet her. Emiline is probably taking her for a walk, she thought.
The kitchen was very warm, and the aroma of pot roast and onions filled the room. She ran to the sink and threw up again. After cleaning up after herself, she took a headache powder and slowly walked up the stairs to her bedroom.
Startled, Kevin jumped up from the edge of her bed, where he’d been sitting, reading her letters from Michael.
“What do you think you’re doing, you little sneak?”
Kevin gave her a snide grin. “Pretty hot stuff, sis.”
If she hadn’t already had a headache, he’d have given her one. She shook with blood–red rage and screamed at the top of her lungs, “You slimy little sneak! How dare you! You have no business in my room. And you certainly don’t have any right to go through my things. You’re nothing but a despicable, spoiled brat!”
She grabbed the letters and stuffed them back in the box he’d taken them from.
Martha, having just come in from shopping, dropped her packages and followed the sound of screaming.
“Here, here, what’s going on? Maura, you have no right to talk to your brother like that!”
“That’s right, Aunt Martha. Take his side. You always do.”
Martha had never seen Maura in such a state. In all the years she had been with her, she’d never spoken to her in that tone.
“Now, Maura, I’m sure Kevin has a good explanation for what he’s done. Don’t you, Kevin?” She looked at him standing there, the only one in the room who didn’t seem upset.
She looked back at Maura. “I don’t know what he’s done, but I’ve never known him to be a sneak.”
Kevin’s handsome, angelic face smiled sheepishly at Martha. “Aunt Martha, I didn’t mean any harm. Wally is supposed to pick me up just about now. We’d planned to take these two girls to the amusement park, and I only have a dollar twenty–five. No one was here, so I came in to see if Maura had any money. Sometimes when I pass her room, I see money lying on her dresser. Anyway, there was none, so I opened the top drawer of her dresser, thinking maybe she’d put some in there. That’s where I throw all my stuff. Anyway, I saw this box and figured it might have money in it, but it was full of letters. I don’t know why I took one out and read it. Just curious, I guess.” He looked at Maura with hound–dog repentance. “I’m sorry, sis. I shouldn’t have done it. It won’t happen again.”
“You creepy liar!” Maura screamed. “That box was buried under my camisoles and panties. And those letters were strewn all over my bed!”
At that moment, she could have strangled him gladly. “Aunt Martha—”
They all heard the horn honk.
“That’s Wally,” Kevin said, brushing past Maura and Martha. “Gotta go.” He gave his aunt a pleading look.
“All right, Kevin. Here.” She dug in the purse she was still holding and handed him a five–dollar bill. “Run along and have a good time.”
“Thanks. You’re a love.” He gave her a peck on the cheek and raced down the steps.
Martha called after him. “Behave yourself, hear?”
She looked back at Maura, sitting on the edge of the bed holding her head. “You see, Maura? He really didn’t mean any harm.”
Maura looked up at her aunt through bloodshot eyes. Her head throbbed. She was so sick, and she’d come home to this.
“Aunt Martha, Kevin was lying. You really don’t know him very well. In fact,” she raised her voice, “you don’t know him at all.”
Martha had had just about enough. It was bad enough that the girl had been the cause of such embarrassment to her at the country club. Jack would never have promoted Wash to yard foreman if it hadn’t been for her. Who did this high–handed girl think she was? Now she was angry. She shouted back, “I know very well who Kevin is! You’re a fine one to talk. You’re the one who doesn’t know who she is.”
“What do you—” Maura’s face turned ashen and she ran to the bathroom.
Martha’s voice trailed after her. “What’s the matter, dear? Don’t you feel well?”
She stood there wishing she could have bitten her tongue. Through the years, Maura had become as much a daughter to her as her own Patsy. She wouldn’t hurt her for the world.
What’s the matter with me? she thought. Why did I have to say that? If I know Maura, she won’t let up until she has an explanation—in its entirety. Jack will be furious with me.
When Maura returned, her face was flushed, and she was shivering.
Martha was startled. “Oh, my dear, you look terrible. Here, get under the covers. I’ll get you a quilt.”
Quite concerned, she called the doctor.
She waited at the bottom of the steps as Dr. Riley came down with his black satchel. “Looks like she has that bug that’s been going around. Must have had at least five others this past week with the same symptoms. Nasty but short–lived. Here, give her one of these every three hours. She’ll be fine in a day or two.”
For twenty–four hours, Maura slept in snips and starts between trips to the bathroom. First she was cold, then she was hot—covers on, covers off. Her headache slowly diminished, her fever broke, and by midday the next day, she fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.
Jack came home that evening and found Martha, who had finally mustered up the courage, sitting in his study waiting to talk with him about the confrontation the day before.
She broke down and cried as she related the event. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know why I said what I did. If I could take it back, I would. You know I would never want to hurt her. It was just all those terrible things she said about Kevin, you know? I wasn’t thinking. I’m truly sorry.”
When it came to Martha, Jack was a patient man. She was the love of his life. He’d always overlooked her overindulgence of Kevin. Why wouldn’t he? It was Kevin that had brought her back from the throes of depression and given her back to him. Martha was sometimes too concerned with her social standing, he knew that, and a bit too proud, but she was never mean.
Taking her hand, he smiled, accepting the fact that the family secret that had been withheld from Maura for all these years was finally in the open. He’d always thought that someday someone would tell her. He’d expected it would be someone from Herron’s Point with a long memory and mean disposition, someone who found some sadistic pleasure in causing others discomfort.
“It’s all right, Martha. I’ll have a talk with her. She’d probably find out sooner or later, anyway, and perhaps under much worse circumstances. It won’t be easy for her to accept at first, but she does have the right to know. She’s a very sensible girl. She’ll handle it like she handles everything else, logically and sensibly.”
He patted her hand and went up to see Maura.
Maura was sitting up in bed taking nourishment when he walked in. Emiline had come to see her “sweet chile” three times that day and had finally convinced her to have some chicken noodle soup, toast, and tea.
“Well, young lady, you look a far sight better than that heap of bones I saw thrashing around in bed last night. Feeling better?”
Maura gave a wan smile. “Much better, Uncle Jack. I’ll probably be able to go to work tomorrow.”
“Don’t even think about it. Irene is doing just fine.” He sat in a chair and crossed his legs. “Everyone at work was asking about you. Wash told me to tell you hello.”
She took a sip of tea, set the cup down and said, “That’s nice.”
There was a long pause.
Jack wasn’t sure just how to broach the subject of yesterday’s confrontation with Kevin and Martha.
Maura wanted to tell him about Kevin, and she, too, was having difficulty knowing how to begin. Finally she said, “You know, Uncle Jack, yesterday was not one of my best, and when I came home, sick as bejeesus, Kevin and I really got into it. I’ve been—”
“I know. Your Aunt Martha told me all about it. I can’t tell you how sorry she is that she said what she did about you not knowing who you are.”
Maura gave him a curious look. “She did? I was so sick I really don’t remember everything that was said. I just remember how angry I was at Kevin. What he did yesterday was the last straw. I’ve been wanting to talk to you about him for a long time.”
“That’s interesting. Your Aunt Martha seemed to think you were more upset with her for what she said. She told me it upset you so much that you ran to the bathroom and threw up.”
“Now that you mention it, I do remember her saying something about not really knowing who I am. What did she mean by that?”
Jack was sorry he’d even brought it up. Martha was so sure Maura was going to demand an explanation, and here was Maura telling him she didn’t even remember. Now what should he do?
“Oh, I’m sure she didn’t mean anything by it. She was just angry, that’s all. You said such nasty things about Kevin, and in her eyes, Kevin didn’t really mean any harm. You know how it is with her and Kevin.”
“Yes, I do. That’s the problem. It’s one of the reasons I haven’t said anything before. But after yesterday…well. He is such a sneak and a liar, all the things I called him. He has Aunt Martha totally fooled with his charming lies. He doesn’t always go where he says he’s going. He and Wally both drink. I don’t know where they find it, but they do. Kevin has come home drunk more than once. Sometimes he says he’ll be in at a certain hour, and Aunt Martha takes him at his word. You’re both sleeping when he comes in, but I hear him. His room is right next to mine. The next day, he tells her he got in long before he really did. Sometimes he sneaks out after everyone is in bed. I hear that, too. Uncle Jack, he’s not even sixteen, and he’s been at this for over a year. And you can’t blame Wally, like Aunt Martha does if she catches him at something. Wally does whatever Kevin wants. I know that, too.
“Yesterday, I could have strangled him gladly. He must have spent a good part of the afternoon reading my letters. They were all over my bed. I surprised him, coming home so early, so he told Aunt Martha he was looking for money and that he only read one letter out of curiosity. Ate humble pie and apologized to me. Huh! He lied, Uncle Jack, gave her this long explanation of why he did what he did and convinced her, just like he always does.”
Jack was shocked. He’d turned a blind eye to all of Kevin’s comings and goings, feeling Martha knew Kevin well enough to handle him. “Well, that’s quite enlightening. You should have spoken up sooner, Maura.”
“It’s not that I haven’t wanted to.” Her face grew quite serious. “So what did Aunt Martha really mean when she said I don’t know who I am?”
Jack thought they had slid past that subject quite neatly. If he hadn’t brought it up in the first place, it might have escaped her altogether. Now he knew she was going to pursue it until she got an explanation. That was Maura—no loose ends.
He looked down and talked to his hands. “It’s nothing. Nothing at all.”
“Yes, it is. Aunt Martha wouldn’t have been concerned and sent you to talk to me about it if it was nothing. So tell me. What is it that I don’t know about myself?”
“Well, Maura, there is just no easy way to tell you this other than to say that Tim Ryan wasn’t your real father.”
Maura put her hands to her face and gasped. “What do you mean he wasn’t my real father?”
“What I mean is, your mother was raped, and you were the result of that rape. But no one could have been more of a father to you than Tim Ryan. He loved you like his own. None of this is your fault, understand, and it makes no difference who your real father is. We all love you just for being you.”
Maura let out a long, whimpering wail. “Who is this man? How could he have hurt my beautiful mama that way?”
“I think you should talk to your Grandma Mahoney about that. She can tell you much more than I can.”
He paused for a moment, then looked at Maura with tear–filled eyes. “I loved my sister dearly, and her pain was my pain, but the one wonderful thing that came out of all of it was you. Your mother loved you so much, and I can’t thank her enough for giving you to me. I couldn’t love you more if you were my own daughter. And think of it, Maura. I’m not your real father, either.”
Maura began to weep.
Jack got up, set her tray on the floor, and took her in his arms. “It’s okay, sweetheart. Go ahead and cry. Sooner or later, you’d have found out anyway, and you do have every right to know about you heritage.”
She finally lay back and buried her head in her pillow, weeping softly. Jack stayed, rubbing her back until she was silent and he knew she had fallen asleep.
By the following Monday, Maura had come to a decision. She went to Jack’s office, where she found him talking on the phone. She waited in the chair across from his desk, watching him fiddle with a pencil as he talked.
When he finished, he put the receiver in its cradle and looked at his niece, her face pinched and pale. He leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on his desk, as he usually did. “Well, my dear, what can I do for you this beautiful June morning? Feeling better, I hope.”
“Uncle Jack, I’m going to be leaving.”
Jack sat upright. “Leaving? What do you mean?”
“I mean I’m going to leave my job here.” She threw up her arms in despair. “I can’t seem to concentrate on anything. All I can think about is that terrible man who’s supposedly my father. I’ve got to find him and look at him face to face. Perhaps after I do that I can come back to work.” She looked at her uncle and shrugged. “I don’t know. But I have to leave and put my life back together.”
“But why? You’ve lived all these years without him. Why do you have to find him now? He almost destroyed your mother’s life. Don’t let him do the same to yours.”
“You don’t understand. You can’t know how deeply this has affected me. You, Aunt Martha, Aunt Gert, Uncle Hal, Grandma Mahoney—all of you thought you were protecting me, I know. But now, just knowing that you knew all these years hurts me. I’m glad Aunt Martha finally said something. I can’t imagine what it would be like if a stranger had told me. And then there’s Mama and Papa. I keep thinking of them. I know I was young when they died, but my memories of both of them are quite vivid. Papa used to call me his little princess. He did love me, I know. And I could never think of anyone else being my papa. And Mama was so good, so loving. I just can’t imagine what the two of them must have gone through because of me. They protected me from it all. You all did. But I’m a big girl, now, and I have to deal with it. I’ve decided I have to confront the man that hurt my mother and fathered me. I don’t know why, but I do. I’m filled with anger and hatred toward him, and I don’t like the feeling. Unless I see him face to face, I know it will never go away. I have to tell him how I feel and hopefully put closure on it all.”
Jack looked at his niece with admiration. “I know you well enough to know you’re not going to change your mind. You must do what you feel is right. I won’t try to talk you out of it. Fortunately you now have the means to do it. When will you go?”
“If it’s all right with you, I thought I would leave when we go to Herron’s Point. We’re all going there next week, anyway. I’ll tie up things here with Irene before we go, and by the time you get back, she’ll be all settled in at her job. I’ll just stay on and talk to Grandma and find out more about this man. Perhaps I’ll be back within the month, perhaps not. At this point, I really don’t know which direction my life will take. All I do know is it sure took a detour.”
“Seems like you’ve got this pretty much settled in your mind. Next week won’t be a problem.”
Maura stood to leave. “Thank you for not giving me a hard time with this. It wasn’t an easy decision. I’ve loved working here, and you know I love you and Aunt Martha, but I have to do this.”
Jack got up, walked over, and gave her a hug. “Your going will leave a great big hole in this place. Not that Irene can’t handle your job. You’ve trained her well. But that aside, everyone will miss you. You’re a very special young lady. Home won’t be the same with you gone. Emiline will be devastated.”
He sighed as he opened the door for her. “First Patsy, then you. Maybe now I can concentrate on Kevin. From the things you’ve told me, he needs a lot of my attention.”