Hope Remains: A Hope Springs Fanfiction

Chapter 20

Emma hummed to herself as she shelled peas for tonight's supper on the porch. It had been a long time since she'd felt this light, this happy. Although she still didn't know where her future would take her, for once, it seemed as if she finally had a path to follow. Of course, that path forked off in two widely different directions, but she knew either direction would take her somewhere good. But as she thought back on Katie's words, she couldn't help but wonder which path was the right one for her. How was she even supposed to begin to choose? Especially as the harvest season neared an end, she knew she had to make up her mind before then, before Papa took Peter back to the depot.

"Hello there, Miss Emma," Biddy O'Connor had turned in at the gate. Emma's heart began jumping about when she noticed Finbarr's tall form behind her. She knew he couldn't see her, but he seemed to know where she was as he turned his face toward her and smiled. Grady bounded past him, yipping joyfully as he sniffed at the cow tethered just outside the barn.

"Hello to the both of you," Emma smiled. "What brings you by today?"

"I've come for a good gab with Katie," Biddy replied, an impish look in her eyes. "And I ran into this fine young man on his way here to get cozy with a certain special lass."

She blushed to the roots of her hair. So did Finbarr.

"I'll leave you to it," Biddy grinned as she stepped past her into the kitchen. She watched her go, a small smile quirking up her lips as Finbarr came and sat on the porch steps.

"What are you up to today, Miss Emma?" he asked, stretching his long legs out in front of him.

"Nothing too terribly exciting," she laughed as she let a handful of peas fall into the bucket. "I'm just shelling peas for supper."

"Can I help you?" he asked, reaching out and grazing the bucket with his fingers.

"Of course," she chuckled, handing him the basket of peas. "I'll never turn down an offer of help."

His smile set her traitorous heart tripping over itself. Heavens above, she loved his smile. Just when she thought she had worked out in her mind what she wanted, her heart would leap at the very mention of Finbarr's name. She was no nearer sorting it out than she had been on the first day she had met Peter.

"Where is the competition today?" he asked, his voice holding more than a touch of laughter along with a small note of jealousy. He seemed to have guessed the direction of her thoughts.

"Jeremiah Johnson took him hunting this morning," she replied. "He promised to come by when they returned."

"So, what I'm hearing is that I get you to myself this afternoon." His grin widened, and she laughed, giving his shoulder a little push.

"You are incorrigible and that's a fact."

He laughed. "And that's an awfully big word, sweet girl. You forget I'm a simple farmer, cut me some slack and tell me what exactly it is I'm being accused of."

"I mean you're a hopeless tease, Finbarr O'Connor," she laughed. "Completely hopeless."

Finbarr's laugh joined her. Heavens, she had missed that laugh.

"Does that mean it's working then?"

She rolled her eyes. "Incorrigible. Simply incorrigible."

"I suppose I must be, though I don't think that's a bad thing," he teased, shelling the peas deftly as he spoke. Emma was impressed that he could do it so easily without his sight. She closed her eyes, attempting to shell the peas without her sight but sent them rolling all across the porch.