Hope Remains: A Hope Springs Fanfiction

Chapter 27

The night before leaving for the depot was always a peaceful one. The hard work was done, the wagons were loaded, and they'd rest for the night before making the long journey to the depot.

Finbarr sat on the swing on his front porch, playing his penny whistle as he slowly swung back and forth, back and forth. The movement was comforting, helping to ease his soul into peace before the next several busy weeks. Going to the depot was not an enjoyable thing for him. It was loud. It was chaotic. But it also made him feel accomplished. Especially when he sold all of his wheat. Accomplishing that feat made coming back home that much better.

His fingers played a slow tune, almost absently as he rocked back and forth. At that moment, his soul felt at peace. He had a wonderful home. A wonderful instrument to play. He enjoyed his job, despite the demanding hard work. And he loved Hope Springs. There was nowhere else in the world he'd rather be.

Grady barked once, alerting him to someone's presence. Immediately, he stopped playing, cocking his head to the side to see if he could guess who his guest was before they called out to him. Could it be Tavish? Or perhaps his ma.

"Why did you stop playing?" Emma asked, and his stomach erupted into a thousand pleasant butterflies. He hadn't been around her for weeks. Had it really been that long?

"If I play, I can't listen for who's trying to sneak up on me," he laughed, patting the swing beside him. To his delight, she sat next to him, her knee brushing against his. He leaned back against the swing and smiled as they rocked back and forth in silence. It was far too easy to imagine them doing this often as a married couple. If only that was the case.

"For the record," she said finally, "I don't think I could sneak up on you even if I tried. Grady gives me away every single time."

"That he does. Tavish hates it. Apparently it 'takes the fun out of having blind relatives'."

"He said that?" she laughed, and he nodded.

"He did. You have no idea how many pranks I've had to suffer through. After I wise up with one of his pranks, he moves on to the next. I just can't keep up."

She released what sounded like a contented sigh. "I love your family. There is no end to the O'Connor shenanigans."

He smiled, though in his heart, he wished she would have something similar to say about him. Did she still love him? He didn't want to ask for fear that he would dampen the good mood she appeared to be in.

Her knee touched his, and he held perfectly still as to not scare her away if he moved. "Did you finish harvesting your crop?" she asked. "Are you all ready to go to the depot?"

He nodded. "I am. We leave in the morning to give us as much daylight as possible for the first day of the journey. Honestly, I look forward to it. It's a good time to bond with all the men in Hope Springs. Though, we are all a bit weary on the journey back home than we are on the journey there. But it's that last stretch that is—" He stopped himself as he tried to reconcile his wording, as he could no longer see the view. "Was my favorite? Well, either way, that last stretch brings everyone's spirits up, when Hope Springs is just over the hill, and families are waiting eagerly for their husbands and fathers and sons to return home."

Finbarr realized he was talking quite a bit, but he had missed Emma so much. He would talk all night if that would keep her here with him.

"What did it look like?" she asked.

A knowing smile pulled up on his lips as he turned his head in her direction. He knew very well that she already knew what the view looked like. Perhaps she wanted to keep on talking to him too.