Page 35 of Choices of the Heart

Sophie hunched down in front of the girl. “Well, I daresay I am fancier than Emma, and I am excited to play tag. I haven’t since I was a little girl.”

“Were you good at it?” Ivy asked, excitedly.

Sophie nodded firmly. “I was the very best.”

“Pompah will play with us!” Ivy said. “Finbarr used to play with us, but he’s never here anymore.”

“If you’re going to play a game involving a heap of running, we’d best do it outside,” Katie said.

Everyone agreed, and soon enough the entire family and Sophie were out in front of the house. A chair had been brought out for Mrs. Archer and another one for Katie. They were set beside one another on the porch. Emma sat on the steps directly in front of her grandmother and mother.

True to Ivy’s evaluation, Emma didn’t seem likely to participate. She had been spending a great deal of time with Mrs. Archer. But Sophie saw in it something different than Ivy did. Ivy attributed it to Emma’s wanting to be very fine and proper. Sophie saw loneliness in her expression. She would wager Emma had missed her grandmother and was enjoying every moment she could with her. After all, eventually Sophie and Mrs. Archer would be returning to Baltimore.

They’d not yet begun their game when Burke’s buggy came rolling over the wooden bridge. Ivy rushed out toward the road, stopping before putting herself in harm’s way. She jumped up and down and waved her arms about.

Burke pulled his horse to a stop. “Good afternoon, Ivy. Are you waving me over because you need something or because you’re wanting to chat?”

“Today is my birthday, Dr. Jones.”

Burke smiled. “Happy birthday. I believe you are ten years old now?”

Ivy nodded. “I’ve waited my whole life to have two numbers in my age.”

“Are you having a grand party to celebrate having two numbers?”

“We are.” She looked back over her shoulder to Joseph, who stood not far distant. “Pompah, may Dr. Jones join our party?”

“You are the birthday girl. You may have any guest you wish to have.”

Ivy bounced with excitement. “Stay, Dr. Jones. Stay and have a party with us.”

“I could stay for a little while.”

Sophie’s heart did odd things at that declaration. It bounced every bit as much as Ivy did. It had been doing that more and more often when she thought of him and when she was with him. She’d found enough similarities between the two of them that she’d come to think of him as someone she could relate to and understand.

They were both struggling to decide what they wanted in life and how best to get it. They were both grappling with the weight of compromises and sacrifices. He had lived in and been happy in a big city, but found aspects of his very different life in this very small town that he loved as well. He was kind, not just to her and Mrs. Archer, but to the people of Hope Springs, and especially to the children.

And he liked the person she was in Hope Springs, therealher, the one she had to keep hidden in Baltimore. With him, she didn’t have to make that compromise.

He soon had his cart and horse safely taken care of alongside the house and joined them all.

“We’re playing tag,” Ivy said. “Not Katie, on account of her baby. And not Grandmother, on account of her being very old.”

Mrs. Archer hadn’t missed that comment, but far from being offended, she held back a smile.

“And Emma isn’t playing, on account of she’s grown up and fancy now.”

Emma ignored the jab.

“Well, I believe I would do very well playing tag with you.”He was as good as his word.

The game of tag began, and he was an eager participant. Sophie had bragged to Ivy about being an expert, but she was, in all actuality, not overly experienced with the game. Still, she loved the idea of being able to run, laugh, and spin about with no one deciding that made her embarrassing or improperly behaved. She threw herself into the game with a lifetime’s worth of longing and lost opportunities.

Sean, being only three years old, was at a distinct disadvantage. When he grew frustrated, his father picked him up and they played as a team. Ivy proved a fierce competitor. Every one of them was tagged by her in close succession.

It didn’t take long for the adults to begin running out of energy, while Ivy herself didn’t look at all worse for wear. Knowing she would never catch the girl, when it was Sophie’s turn to do the tagging, she set her sights, instead, on Burke. With a little bit of clever maneuvering, she managed to grab hold of him.

“I caught you,” she declared, holding fast to his sleeve.

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