A Passion Redeemed (58 page)

Charity hovered close to her father as he carved the turkey, waiting for him to turn and talk to her mother before stealing another piece. A luscious hunk of dark meat was halfway to her lips when he snatched it from her hand. He popped it in his mouth and arched a brow. "So you're wanting special treatment, are you now? Long-lost daughter or no, you'll wait like everyone else or you won't get the wishbone."

She reached up and kissed him on the cheek. "We both know I'll get the wishbone, now don't we, Father? Turkey thievery or no."

He grinned and tossed a piece to her, then one to Blarney, who lay at his feet. "Enjoy the attention, young lady. It ends at the stroke of midnight when you turn back into just another O'Connor sibling."

Katie hopped up on the table and began picking at the turkey. "Why are we having turkey and dressing? It's not Thanksgiving; it's almost Fourth of July."

Patrick swatted her hand and handed her a consolation piece. "Stop fingering the food, Katie Rose. Only God knows where your hands have been. And we're having turkey and dressing because it's Charity's favorite. Get off the table."

Katie rolled her eyes and jumped to the floor. "My favorite is chocolate cream pie; are we having that?"

Marcy turned at the sink. "No, ma'am, we're having peach pie because-"

"It's Charity's favorite," Katie mimicked. She crossed her arms, a petite eight-year-old with the air of a matriarch. "You have other children, you know."

Charity grabbed Katie and swung her up in her arms, nose to nose. "You got a problem with peach pie, little girl?"

Katie squealed and squirmed. "Nooooo! It's my favorite."

"I thought chocolate cream pie was your favorite," Charity teased, tickling her sister.

"After peach," Katie shrieked before sliding to the floor.

Charity squatted to hug her, then stood. She touched her own ear. "Oh-oh, ear kiss."

Katie cocked her head. "What's an ear kiss?"

Charity leaned back down and hugged her again, pressing her head to Katie's. She pulled back, catching Katie's tiny ear on hers. It sprang back. Katie giggled. "Oooo, I can't wait to give one to Collin! Mama, when are they gonna be here?"

Marcy glanced at the clock over the stove. "Anytime now. Beth, is the table all set?"

"Yes, Mother, everything's ready."

Marcy paused, ladle in hand. "You look very pretty tonight, Beth. Very grown up."

"Too grown up to suit me," Patrick muttered.

"Thanks, Mother. Charity helped me."

Marcy blinked at Charity. "Did you use all the rouge on Beth, dear? You look a bit pale."

Charity smiled. "No, I haven't been fixing my face for a while. No interest."

Her parents exchanged a look. Marcy pushed a limp strand of hair from her eyes. Her face glistened from the steam of the mashed potatoes. "Well, you're pretty with or without makeup, Charity. And Beth too. You're all growing up into beautiful women. I'm afraid if your father had his way, you'd still be in pinafores and playing with dolls."

"I hate dolls," Katie announced, filching more turkey. "Except for Miss Buford."

"Katie Rose, are you eating all that turkey before I even get a taste?"

Katie whirled around to see Collin propped in the door. She threw her hands up and bolted toward him. He doubled over, groaning with her force, then hiked her up over his shoulder and tickled unmercifully. Her squeals rang through the house.

Faith butted him out of the way with a smile and barged into the kitchen. She made a beeline for Charity, squeezing her with a happy moan. "Oh, Charity, we missed you something fierce, didn't we, Collin? I am so glad you're back for good."

Collin flipped Katie over his other shoulder and grinned. "Yeah, even I missed you, kid. Almost as much as Brady."

Charity felt a dusting of heat in her cheeks. "He is coming, isn't he? Tonight, I mean?"

Collin dropped Katie into a chair with a thump and hooked an arm around Faith's waist. "You bet. Wild horses-or in Brady's case, tame ponies-couldn't keep him away. He went home to clean up first."

The doorbell rang. Katie shrieked and Blarney barked. Beth jumped up and knocked over a chair. She jerked it up and ran for the door. "I'll get it."

Charity put a hand to her chest and grinned at Emma. "I'm afraid this is going to take some getting used to, isn't it, Emma? After living with Grandmother and Mima?"

Emma nodded and smiled.

Charity laughed and yanked her up from the table, slinging an arm over her shoulder. "Faith, Collin, this is my dear friend, Emma Malloy. She's going to be staying awhile. Emma, this is my sister, Faith, about whom I have given you many an earful."

Faith smirked. "I'm sure that's safe to say."

Collin reached out a hand. "Welcome, Emma. I have great admiration for anybody who can put up with my sister-inlaw."

Emma shook it with a timid grin. "She is a handful, I'm afraid."

Charity stuck out her tongue. "The saints be praised for Faith taking you off my hands, Collin McGuire."

Faith laughed and gave Emma a hug, then leaned to buss her father's cheek before sidling up next to her mother. "The natives are restless, Mother. Can I help you get food on the table?"

Marcy sighed. "That would be lovely. Patrick, Charity, Katiemake yourselves useful and grab a platter or bowl."

Charity snatched the tray of turkey from her father's hands and headed for the door, almost toppling it when Beth and Brady pushed through.

Brady steadied Charity's hands. "Whoa, girl, that's my dinner you're messing with."

Charity squealed and handed the tray off to her father. She laughed and threw her arms around Brady's neck. "John Morrison Brady, as I live and breathe. Did you come here tonight to see me or get a free dinner?"

Brady lifted her off her feet in a voracious hug. "No lie shall cross these lips. No comment." He put her back down with a thud.

Charity laughed and tried to throttle him. He grabbed her wrist with a playful gleam in his eye. "Don't mess with me, woman, I'm hungry."

"Charity, Brady, if you two don't settle down, I'll make you eat in the kitchen." Marcy pushed past with a steaming bowl of mashed potatoes. "Beth, don't stand there gawking, darling, get that dressing in on the table, please."

"Yes, ma'am," Beth muttered, her face pink as she jostled past Charity.

Charity quirked a brow at Brady. Her gaze followed her sister through the door. "She's still smitten, I see," she whispered.

Brady grinned and shrugged his shoulders. "Puppy love. She'll get over it." He grabbed a basket of rolls. "Although I have been known to have that effect on women."

Charity swiped the gravy boat from the table and shoved him through the kitchen door. "You mean little girls, don't you, Brady?"

Patrick stood at the head of the table. "Everyone, take your seats." He looked around. "Where's Steven and Sean?"

"Sean's running a bit late," Marcy said. "Rough day at the store."

"And Steven's asleep in the parlor," Katie said with a smirk.

"Katie, wake him, please."

"Steeeeeeeeeeeevennnnnn!" Katie's screech could have curdled the gravy.

Patrick gummed his lips and singed her with a menacing stare. "Thank you, Katie Rose, for that delightful display of table etiquette. Marcy, your daughter needs fine-tuning."

Marcy bit back a smile. "Yes, dear."

Charity giggled and snatched a piece of turkey, pitching one in her mouth and sailing the other across the table to Emma's plate.

Patrick gave her the eye. "Make that two, Marcy." He sighed. "Steeeeeeven!"

Steven stumbled into the dining room, sofa prints embedded in his cheek. "I'm coming, Father. I'm not deaf ... or at least I wasn't." He plopped down next to Brady and scratched his head, mussing his red hair even more than it already was.

Patrick stood and closed his eyes, palms pressed to Marcy's lace tablecloth. Candlelight flickered on bowed faces as a hush fell over the table. "Heavenly Father, thank you for your incredible blessings, not only for the bounty of this table, but for the bounty of our lives, evident in this woman beside me and the children we have borne. And for bringing a precious one of our own back home to us, Lord, and a special bonus, too, in Emma. Amen."

Katie's lips twisted. "You forgot to bless the food, Father. Again."

Patrick sat down and gouged a piece of turkey with his fork. He gave Katie a caustic gaze that prompted another round of giggles around the table. "And bless this food, Lord, both in the nourishment of our bodies and in the peace of its partaking." He held the tray of turkey for Marcy. "Emma, dig in and start passing to the left or you're likely to go to bed hungry tonight."

The front door flew open, and Sean blew in, his cheeks ruddy from the night air. "Sorry I'm late. Kelly's was a madhouse." He spotted Brady and Collin and groaned. "If I'd known you two were going to be here, I would have hustled a bit more. There's still food left, I hope?"

Collin stuffed a roll in his mouth. "Not much."

Marcy smiled. "We just said grace and I made plenty, Sean. But before you sit your weary bones down, isn't there something you're forgetting?"

He hurled his coat on the rack by the door and grinned, rounding the table to pluck Charity up out of her chair. He crushed her in a bear hug. "Welcome home, you little brat. I guess Katie's got some competition now."

"Thanks, Sean. Any interesting things-or people-in your life these days besides Kelly's Hardware?" She pushed haphazard strands of straw-colored hair from his blue eyes.

He ruffled his hair with his hand and plopped down beside her, reaching for the potatoes. "Nope. No time. Pass the turkey, McGuire, if you can bear to part with it."

Marcy smiled and handed Sean the rolls. "Charity brought her good friend home to stay. Emma, this is Sean, my oldest."

Sean stood and extended his hand across the table, his smile as broad as his reach. "Welcome. Anyone who can put up with this sister of mine has to be the genuine article."

Charity smacked him.

"Nice to meet you, Sean," Emma said with a blush.

"So, Charity tells me you and she met at Shaw's and that you've worked there forever." Faith dolloped potatoes on her plate, then handed them off to Collin.

Emma gave her a crooked smile. "Yes, I was actually Mrs. Shaw's top sales clerk before Charity came on the scene. Dublin's gentry took one look at her and pushed me aside."

"Oh, pshaw. Don't believe her. It took me a solid six months to catch up." Charity removed a roll from the basket, eyed the lighter one on Brady's plate and switched it with hers. He stared her down, but she ignored him.

"What happened to your face?" Katie asked.

"Katie Rose!" Marcy, Faith, and Charity's voices rang in shock.

Emma smiled. "No, it's a natural question and one I don't mind answering. I got in the way of a pan of hot grease, I'm afraid."

Katie's eyes bugged. "How did you do that?"

"Katie, hush," Charity warned.

"Someone accidentally threw it in my face."

Forks, knives, and spoons stilled as all eyes focused on Emma.

Charity cleared her throat and elbowed Sean, who stared as if Emma had just announced she was from the moon. "So, Sean, Mother tells me you finally wrangled a promotion."

He chewed slowly, his eyes still fixed on Emma. He swallowed and turned to his sister. "Yeah, I did. Don't look now, sis, but you're rubbing shoulders with the assistant manager of the largest hardware mercantile in south Boston. Not to mention future manager of a new store."

One of her brows slanted up. "Well, well. Must be those dangerous good looks drawing all the ladies in to buy nuts and bolts."

He grinned and chomped on a roll. "Must be."

The conversations steered in various directions as the family ate, their laughter as warm as the soft glow from Marcy's silver candlesticks, dancing high with flame. Charity glanced across the table and winked at Emma, then looked up at Brady who was immersed in an intense discussion with Collin and Patrick. She sighed. How could she have believed this place was not home? Her thoughts wandered to Bridget and Mima, and a bit of melancholy tempered her mood. Oh, Lord, if only they were here.

When pies had been cut and eaten, and the candles waxed to near gone, Patrick stood from the table and stretched. "Any takers on chess? I need to work off that second piece of pie."

Marcy rose and began stacking plates. A smile twitched on her lips. You might want to consider a five-mile jog instead, my love. I counted three."

Patrick chuckled and pushed his chair in. He hooked an arm around her waist and kissed the top of her head. "Or I could just chase you around the house, Marceline, if you prefer."

"Patrick, stop. We have company."

He laughed and winked at Emma. "Not company, Marcy, family. Emma will get the lay of the land soon enough, eh? Sean, Collin, Brady-to the parlor. One of you lucky boys is about to learn a valuable lesson in chess."

Faith jumped up. She wrestled a stack of dirty plates from Marcy's hands. "Oh, no, you're going into that parlor and put your feet up. We can handle the dishes. Go on, get in there and keep Father honest."

Marcy sighed and gave her a grateful smile. "Thanks, Faith."

Charity hefted two bowls in her hands, and Faith promptly stole them away. She motioned her head toward Brady, who was laughing as he followed the others from the room. "It's your first night home; no dishes. Why don't you see if Brady wants to take a walk?" She wriggled her brows, giving Charity a telling look.

Charity laughed and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks, Faith. I could use a good talk with that man right about now. He makes a wonderful sounding board."

Faith grinned over her shoulder as she moved toward the door. "Among other things, if you would open your eyes."

Charity smiled. "They're open, Faith. It's the heart that's still a bit closed."

Faith stopped at the door, her eyes soft. "I know. It'll get better, I promise. Now go grab him before Father robs him of his pride."

Charity found him on the sofa, talking politics with Sean. She tapped him on the shoulder. "Good, I see it's Collin who's to be fleeced tonight. I was worried about you."