The Promise of Home

The Promise of Home by Darcie Chan Read Free Book Online Page A

Book: The Promise of Home by Darcie Chan Read Free Book Online
Authors: Darcie Chan
love.
    “Your father and I wrote to each other secretly for nearly a year after we first met, and every time Mama and I came for a visit, Frank would make sure to let your father know so we could see each other. Eventually, your father raised the subject of engagement. He wanted to speak to my father before proposing, but he was the son of a dairy farmer. I knew my own father would never agree to meet him, much less consent to our marriage.
    “It got worse once my parents grew impatient with my refusal to accept an engagement. My father was trying to force me into a marriage with the son of one of his partners at the bank. I panicked. I sent a wire to Frank, and he arranged for me to travel to his parish in Vermont. When I arrived, your father came up to the church, and we got married.”
    Michael looked at his mother as if seeing her for the first time. She was so small and quiet and deferential to his father. It was odd to hear her speaking matter-of-factly about her secret courtship and marriage. Could she really have been so bold and willful as a younger woman? Or was it that he simply didn’t understand his mother’s inner strength and what she was capable of doing?
    “Did you go back home after you got married?” Michael asked in an incredulous whisper.
    “I did. Or rather,
we
did. Your father and Uncle Frank and I went together. We thought my parents would take the news better if we were already married and there was nothing they could do to prevent it from happening.
    “How foolish and naive we were! My father went into a rage when he realized what we’d done. He cursed at me, and Frank, too, for his role in it, and he tried to hit your father. My mother just cried. It was horrible. We left quickly and came here to the farm.
    “We planned to stay until we could get our own little place. Seamus was born two years later, and then the war hit. Your father volunteered to fight, along with his two brothers, even before the government passed the conscription law. They were all sent overseas in early 1917, once we were formally at war. I stayed here, with Seamus and your grandparents, while they were gone. Being here turned out to be a good thing.
    “With my privileged upbringing, I didn’t know anything about cooking or keeping house or taking care of babies—it had all been done for us. Your grandmother taught me about living on a farm, growing and storing food, cooking and cleaning, and raising children. She and your grandfather always felt it was important to be self-sufficient. By the time the war was over, I had learned so much about the work that goes into being a wife and mother.”
    Michael nodded. “What happened after Father came home?”
    “Your father was the only one of his brothers to survive the war. It happened soon after they were all deployed. Even though his term of service hadn’t expired, they sent your father back to the United States after his brothers were killed. After that, as his parents’ only remaining child, he felt obligated to stay at the farm and help. He took a job at the mill only after Seamus was older and the income from the farm wasn’t enough anymore. I think he always wanted to come back here someday and take over the farm and build it up, but after the crash and then your grandfather’s death…”
    His mother looked down at the case of flatware. “It was a long time after I got married before I heard anything from my parents. I never saw Mama after that last time being at the house, though eventually, she did start writing to me. Before she died, she managed to send this set of silver to me. It’s by Towle Silversmiths, the rare Clover pattern from 1887. Twelve place settings and a matching server set. She begged me to keep it a secret from everyone—from your grandparents and even your father. She wanted me to have something valuable of my own, something that could be converted into money, in case I ever needed a way out of a bad situation. Mama sympathized

Similar Books

Winging It

Annie Dalton

Mage Magic

Lacey Thorn

Attorney-Client Privilege

Pamela Samuels Young

Only Human

Maria Bradley

The Charming Gift

Disney Book Group

Joy of Home Wine Making

Terry A. Garey

Tell Me You Want Me

Amelia James