Hope Springs (51 page)

They were soon surrounded by well-wishers, people offering congratulations and expressions of happiness.

Mr. O’Connor put Katie’s fiddle away. Joseph helped her unbuckle her bow holder, shaking his head in clear amazement. Katie couldn’t seem to stop smiling.

The wedding guests trickled out, making their way to Joseph’s newly reconstructed barn where the entire town had been invited to join in the celebration. Biddy and Ian hugged Katie and Joseph once more for good measure. Finbarr and Tavish offered sincere and heartfelt congratulations. Though Finbarr hadn’t recovered his sight, he seemed to be slowly adjusting to his new life, and Katie held out hope that he would return to the cheerful lad he’d been. And Tavish did seem to be happy, just as he’d told her he would be. Mr. O’Connor gave her a fierce hug and told her again how much he loved her.

Katie had told Biddy this was to be a day filled with happiness. How true that was.

Only Katie and Joseph and the girls remained. Joseph pulled all three of them into his embrace. Katie kissed the top of each girl’s head, then Joseph’s cheek. Her family. This was her family.

“This is the best day ever,” Ivy declared, her smile the widest Katie had seen.

“I agree.” Joseph’s gaze held Katie’s. “The best day ever.” He kissed her. “So far.”

She loved the thought of that. They would make each day better than the last. And they would be together. Always.

Acknowledgments

With gratitude to the following:

The Wyoming State Historical Preservation Office; the library at Cornell University; The Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown, New York; and the Bunratty Castle & Folk Park in County Clare, Ireland, for invaluable information and insights.

Krista Lynn Jensen and Ranee S. Clark for answering endless questions about Wyoming and helping me make the setting of these books as accurate as I could.

My amazing critique group: Annette Lyon, Heather B. Moore, J. Scott Savage, LuAnn Staheli, Michele Paige Holmes, and Robison Wells, for support, guidance, and friendship. And a deep and sincere thank you to Jennifer Savage for countless acts of service and friendship, and for making me, red hair and all, feel like one of the family.

Pam van Hylckama Vlieg for being the greatest support, advocate, and agent I could hope for. Your guidance and encouragement are a gift for which I am daily grateful.

Lisa Mangum for amazing, detailed, and thorough edits. Without question, this book is stronger and better than it could possibly have been without her eye for detail, her unparalleled sense of story, and her always-reliable advice.

And most importantly of all, to my family members and friends who have, over the past year, walked at my side as I have begun my battle with an unexpected and unforeseen disease. Life has not taken the path any of us anticipated, but the courage I have seen in my children, the love and support I receive daily from my husband, and the help, prayers, and kindnesses of my parents and siblings and extended family have given me strength in the midst of a very difficult struggle, and have helped me find the courage to face an uncertain future.

Thank you to the many friends and readers who have reached out with words of support and encouragement, something I have appreciated and needed more than you likely realize.

Discussion Questions

The Feud

1. Much of the hatred and violence of the town feud is fueled by only a few individuals. Why do a few loud voices of dissent so often overpower voices of reason? In what ways have you struggled to take a stand against something only to be drowned out by other voices?

2. Mr. Johnson had a brother who died at the battle of Gettysburg, fighting against an Irish regiment. How has this experience likely influenced his hatred toward the Irish? What things in Seamus Kelly’s past might also have left him quick to fight and slow to choose peace?

3. After assisting Mr. Johnson with his injuries, Katie laments that the Red Road and the Irish seem unable to see how alike they are. What similarities are there between the groups that might have helped them relate to one another? In what ways do we sometimes dehumanize others with whom we have disagreements?

4. When Ian is laid low, and later, when many relatively peaceful families are forced from their homes, Katie struggles with seeing the innocent paying the price for the hatred of others. In the end, this pattern holds true in terrible ways, and yet it is that price which finally brings healing to Hope Springs. Why do you think the town was unwilling to set aside their hatred before being devastated by it?

Joseph and Tavish

1. What are each man’s strengths? Weaknesses? What do they have to offer Katie that she needs? What does she offer to each of them?

2. Joseph feels that, not having had the opportunity to court Katie while she lived in his home, he needs to at least try now that he is free to do so, whether or not it makes a difference. Tavish, recognizing that Katie’s past makes her wary and slow to open up, knows his courtship will take time and feels that Joseph is infringing on
his
chance to court Katie. In what ways are they both right? Why was this conflict between them unavoidable?

3. Katie didn’t grow up with a mother or sisters or with any examples of romantic, loving relationships to learn from. How did this upbringing make it harder for her to sort out her feelings for Joseph and Tavish? Katie worries that she seems foolish to those looking on from the outside. Consider times in your own life when you have been unfairly judged by those seeing, but perhaps not fully understanding, your struggles.

4. Biddy points out that Katie’s dilemma is made more difficult because Joseph and Tavish are both good men and could make her happy. Often choosing between two good options is the hardest choice of all. What clues led you to know she would make the choice she did? What do you think finally convinced her of what her heart wanted most? Would you have made the same choice she did? How might her life have been different if she’d chosen the other path instead? What ultimately made her choice the right one for her?

Katie

1. More than almost anything, Katie wants to be loved and to be an important part of the lives of those she cares about. With which people in Hope Springs does she find this connection, and in what ways?

2. How do her efforts to help her neighbors, as well as her enemies, bring healing and peace to Katie’s heart?

3. After the fire, it seems Katie has lost everything: she will not see her family again, they have not written to her, she doesn’t have her music to soothe her, and she is haunted by the suffering she could not prevent. In what ways does she recover those things and more? What losses might she likely continue to struggle to accept?

4. After all she has been through in her life, especially in the months since arriving in Hope Springs, do you think Katie will be happy? Will Joseph? Tavish? The rest of the town? Why or why not?

About the Author

© Annalisa Photography. Used by permission.

Sarah M. Eden
is the author of several well-received historical romances, including Whitney Award finalists
Seeking Persephone
(2008) and
Courting Miss Lancaster
(2010). Combining her obsession with history and an affinity for tender love stories, Sarah loves crafting witty characters and heartfelt romances. She happily spends hours perusing the reference shelves of her local library and dreams of one day traveling to all the places she reads about. Sarah is represented by Pam van Hylckama Vlieg at Foreword Literary Agency.

Visit Sarah at www.sarahmeden.com.