“Yeah,” Reese muttered ungraciously, glaring at Kevin for spoiling the party and ruining his plans. “Cut the cake.”
Faith did as he asked, first cutting slices for the children. Sarah volunteered to fetch coffee for the adults and milk for the children. She nudged her husband in the ribs, motioning for him to help her.
He shook his head. “Get Mary to help,” he instructed. “I don’t want to miss a minute of this.”
Only the children were oblivious to the tension permeating the room. It was almost as palpable as the creamy, rich icing atop the birthday cake. Faith’s movements as she sliced the cake were jerky and uncertain. Reese seemed to be staring a hole through her as he angrily poured yet another glass of brandy. Faith managed a half-hearted smile as she lifted slices of cake onto plates for the adults.
Sarah and Mary returned carrying trays of fresh coffee and glasses of milk. Sarah placed the first cup of coffee in front of Reese.
He glared at her as she removed his brandy glass and set the cup and saucer in its place.
The silence in the room was deafening as the cake and beverages were passed around. Faith’s gaze raked the room as she looked for some way to start a civilized conversation.
David answered her silent plea, smiling sympathetically. He invited Kevin and Temperance to sit next to Reese. “Why don’t yo
u tell us how you met?”
“Well,” Kevin began, launching into his story. He had emigrated to America from Ireland and unable to hang his doctor’s shingle in the face of extreme anti-Irish prejudice, had found work as a horse trainer on the Hamilton plantation. “Then I met Temperance.” The love echoed in his voice as he said her name. “And I proposed marriage.” Kevin’s handsome face darkened with remembered anger. “But her father wouldn’t hear of his daughter marrying a dirty, Irish, horse trainer. So…”
“We eloped,” Tempy said softly, “to Baltimore. My father tracked us down. He had…had…Kevin…” Her voice cracked as she remembered her father’s cruelty.
She took a sip of her coffee as Kevin resumed their narrative. “He had me beaten unconscious and signed onto a ship bound for England and then to China. I was gone for five years. When I got back to England, I worked passage back to the States. I headed straight for Hamilton’s plantation.” He shrugged. “You know what they say about hardheaded Irishmen. I bearded the lion in his den and got clamped in the Petersburg jail for my efforts. Old Man Hamilton…” He felt Temperance cringe at his side and corrected himself. “Temperance’s father told me she’d gone to live with relatives and that the marriage had been annulled.”
“It had.” Temperance announced. “I was sixteen when we eloped. My father had it annulled and sent me to Philadelphia. I stayed there until my sister, Prudence, became ill. She was carrying a child.”
“Me,” Faith interjected.
Tempy smiled at Faith, then continued her story. “I moved in to take care of Pru until she was back on her feet. By that time…”
“I was out of jail, but barred from living in Virginia. Hamilton had powerful friends.” Kevin looked around at his audience. “Maybe I could have done more, but I didn’t relish spending more months in jail.”
“You did everything in your power.” Tempy patted Kevin’s hand, reassuring him.
“I left, set up practice in a little town on the Pennsylvania-Maryland border and made inquiries. I knew Hamilton had sent Temperance to Pennsylvania, but I didn’t know where. There wasn’t much call for an Irish doctor. I tended more animals than people until the war. I volunteered as a surgeon, giving my full name Kevin McMurphy O’Malley. My full name wouldn’t fit in the space on the army forms. Some clerk shortened it. I became Dr. Kevin McMurphy to the United States Army and though I tried to correct the error, Kevin McMurphy I stayed.”
Tempy reached over and clasped Faith’s hand. “He hunted for me after the war.”
“I didn’t know to look in Richmond. I didn’t know Temperance’s sisters or their husbands. I went to the plantation,” Kevin explained.
“And, of course, there’s nothing there except the chimneys of the house and part of the orchard,” Temperance finished, reminding Faith of the state of the plantation.
“I believed Temperance was dead.” Kevin’s voice was husky, filled with emotion.
“And I knew something had happened to Kevin. I knew he must be dead or he would have found me, hardheaded Irishman that he was.” She gazed lovingly at the handsome doctor. “We would never have found each other if it hadn’t been for you, my dear.” Tempy patted Faith’s hand. “Or you, Reese.” She smiled at Reese. “Thank you for bringing me here to surprise Faith. Thank you for giving me my…nieces…” She choked over her words. “And my love.”
“What do you plan to do now?” Faith asked.
“Marry him again.” Tempy glowed. “This time for good.”
“Oh,” Faith said.
“Oh, is right.” Kevin added. “And if you’re a very good girl, I might let you up for the wedding.” He winked at Faith. “A matron of honor should stand up for the bride.”
“When’s the happy day?” Reese demanded, already planning how to celebrate the occasion.
“As soon as we can talk to the priest,” Tempy confided. “We’ve already waited long enough.”
“Twenty-five years,” Kevin said. “Twenty-five long, lonely years.”