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communal dinner
at the Parish Hall. When she opened the door of the hall’s kitchen, she stepped
into the smell of stew and a wall of heat that made the windows sweat.
    The kitchen had
only one occupant. Mrs. Tully stood at one of the four large stoves. Her body,
heavy and wide from bearing seven children, heaved when she saw Aislynn. “I
have been waitin’ on you, Miss. Your men are starvin’ out there. Everyone else
is bein’ served.”
    “I’m sorry. I’ve
just been so busy,” Aislynn replied. To expedite her reunion with Tim, Aislynn
decided she had to earn money to either help him return or pay for her passage
to Utah. She took the only job she could find, as a companion to elderly Mrs.
Pearson. She diligently saved her one dollar a week.
    Mrs. Tully said,
“I’m sure you have, love and t’will be a busier year. I do wish you every
happiness.”
    The comment flew
past Aislynn’s ears, and she gave a standard reply. “Happy Christmas to you,
too.”
    Aislynn lifted
the tray holding bowls and a tureen of stew. With her foot, she opened the door
to the hall and searched the room for her family’s table. Ropes of pine boughs
and strips of white paper draped the bare wooden rafters. Candles, perched on
every sill, nestled in beds of evergreens, threw halos of light on the watery
windows. A small tree stood proudly in the corner of the hall, dotted with
candles and red bows. For a moment, the excited air in the room cheered
Aislynn, and she forgot how much she missed Tim. He had been gone nearly three
months, and thoughts of him ceaselessly crowded her mind.
    When she located
her men, she noticed the Mahers were seated with them. At first, Aislynn
thought it was nice that the Mahers were joining their group, but her thoughts
shifted to suspicions. Da invited them. He’s pushing Johnny on me again .
A dread rose, and her body started to tingle with tension. Dear God! He
couldn’t have made any promises, not without asking me. She tried to calm
herself. No, not even my Da, inconsiderate and immature as he is, would make
promises and neglect to consult me.
    Convinced she
was right, Aislynn exhaled with relief and approached the empty seat next to
Johnny. She greeted her family with a “Happy Christmas” as she settled the tray
at her place. With a quick curtsey in Mrs. Maher’s direction, she said, “It’s
so nice you could join us.”
    Mrs. Maher
leaned her broad frame toward Aislynn. Her wide, freckled face smiled,
“Aislynn, we’re so thrilled to be here, sharin’ Christmas with our new family.”
    Aislynn’s eyes
flew open. A great gasp escaped her lips. She wheeled around and glared at her
father. On the rim of rage, her hands gripped the edge of the table; her locked
arms were the only things keeping her upright.
    The eyes of
everyone at the table began darting, looking for an explanation. Sean stood.
All attention veered toward his movement. He picked up the empty pitcher of ale
and said, “Aislynn, take Brendan into the kitchen and fill this. Brendan, go!”
    Brendan rose,
and propelled by Sean’s shove, he stumbled toward the kitchen. Aislynn
followed. She was numb and could barely feel her feet pad across the trail to
the door.
    Without
thinking, Aislynn directed Brendan out of the kitchen, onto the snowy stairs
and closed the heavy door behind them. Grabbing the frosty railing for
strength, she leaned into her father’s face. “What have you done?” she cried.
    “I consented to
the boy payin’ court to you,” Brendan replied with his nose in the air.
    “You know I
don’t want Johnny.”
    “I’ll not have
you moonin’ over a man who don’t want you. He’s not comin’ home, and if he
does, it won’t be to you,” he insisted.
    “But I love
Tim.”
    “I know you
think that. But you’ll grow to love Johnny. You know in Ireland many families
make these arrangements, and the couples end up lovin’ each other.”
    “This is
America, and I’m an American. You can’t make