Page 36 of Choices of the Heart

He slipped his other arm around her, laughing. “I knew if you tried to chase me, I was going to get caught. I haven’t played a game like this in so long, I fear I am woefully out of practice.”

“You’re fortunate,” Sophie said, “I’m woefully out of air.”

He laughed again, and she happily joined in. She released her hold on his sleeve but rested her hand on his arm. He didn’t pull away.

“I think we can put this on the list of things Hope Springs has to offer that Chicago and Baltimore don’t,” he said.

Her lungs hitched. Warmth spread to her cheeks. “Putwhaton the list?”

“Playing games with children in wide-open spaces.”

Disappointment sat like a lump in her chest. She’d thought, for one fleeting moment, that he meant holding her like he was, standing so near each other. She needed to rein in her thoughts before she inflicted on herself the very rejection she most wanted to avoid.

“Would your visiting friend consider the local doctor being pulled into impromptu games with children a mark against this place?”

“I don’t know,” he said.

“Doyouappreciate this part of it?” She told herself she was asking him only about the game. But she wasn’t. She meant so much more than that.

“I do.”

Her voice quieter than she would have preferred, she said, “I appreciate it too.”

“Will you miss this freedom when you go back to Baltimore?”

She would. And she would misshim. Best nip that thought in the bud.

Sophie turned her gaze to Ivy, who was standing a bit away, watching them with a smile. In a voice loud enough to be heard by the others, she said, “You and I are both taggers now, Dr. Jones. I think we should catch the birthday girl.”

Ivy giggled and ran again. Burke released his hold on Sophie, and she ignored the feeling of loss that accompanied it. They chased after Ivy. Little Sean laughed as they went past.

“Help us catch her, Sean,” Burke said.

Joseph, carrying his son, joined in. They were able to corner and catch Ivy relatively quickly. Sophie suspected the girl let them do so. Burke scooped her up and tossed her over his shoulder. She laughed and laughed.

Did Burke realize how much the children of this valley loved him? She was certain he’d had a chance to treat children when he was in Chicago. But in so large a city, was there any chance to come to know them this well? Had he been part of their lives outside of their moments of illness and injury?

“I think you’d best let the adults rest a bit from our game, Ivy,” Joseph said. “You can open your presents while we catch our breath.”

Burke set Ivy on the steps next to her sister.

“Presents?” Ivy asked, her tone and expression a little too innocent.

“You know perfectly well you have presents,” Emma said with a little bit of a laugh.

Emma bumped her sister with her shoulder. Ivy bumped her back. The girls were in such different stages of life that they sometimes seemed to have little in common. There were moments like this one when it became clear that they still loved and cared about each other. In time, Ivy would get older, and she and her sister would relate more to each other again.

“You have presents from your grandmother, from Sophie, from your ma and I,” Joseph said.

“And from me,” Emma added.

“And your father has a present for you that Finbarr asked him to deliver,” Katie said.

That sent both girls spinning about to stare alternately at Katie and Joseph.

“Finbarr sent me a present?” Ivy couldn’t have sounded more excited.

“He’s never forgotten about your or Emma’s birthdays,” Joseph said. “I don’t imagine he’s going to start.”

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