Separate Roads (44 page)

“I couldn’t! I’d feel out of place.”

“You were and are both Brenton’s and Caitlan’s best friend. I don’t think it will be so easy for them to part from you. Of course they will want a time of adjustment alone, but I should think they would welcome the company of their best friend. You don’t have to be tied to their hips, yet neither do you have to be cut off from them completely. It is something to think about, and to talk to them about.”

“I wouldn’t want them to pity me.”

“Jordana, you are the last person anyone would pity. Just give it some thought. Who knows what God has in store for you?”

“He hasn’t let me down yet.”

“And He won’t, Jordana. Whatever His plan for you, I am certain it will be something that will keep you sufficiently stimulated.”

Jordana smiled. She hoped that wasn’t expecting too much of God, but then she remembered He had promised, “Delight thyself also in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”

40

Jordana had not been the only one out of sorts that evening. Kiernan had been both anticipating and dreading the arrival of his in-laws. After hearing of their intent to visit California, he hadn’t expected a written response to his letter of confession. In a way, he would rather have had it in writing than face-to-face. He comforted himself with the fact that they had been not only cordial with him thus far, but actually very warm.

Now that they were here he hoped the matter would be settled very soon. It was excruciating to wait and wonder. But he didn’t know how to broach the subject and wasn’t certain if he should do it or let them choose the place and time. It made Kiernan most uncomfortable.

Especially as the evening progressed, and James, after his wife and Jordana had returned from some mother-daughter tête-à-tête on the porch, made a special presentation to his son.

“Brenton, as you know, you have reached your majority, and because your mother and I have been wise in our investments, we find ourselves able to provide each of our children with a monetary inheritance.” Pausing, he took an envelope from his coat pocket. “I’d like to present yours to you now.” He handed the envelope to his son.

Brenton opened it, his eyes wide. “This is far more than I expected,” he breathed, leaning over to show the check to his fiancée, whose eyes sprang open even wider than Brenton’s.

“It was invested wisely over the years and has nearly doubled,” said James.

Kiernan cringed at this statement, though it was in no way directed at him and was spoken in the most matter-of-fact manner. Nevertheless, he wanted to crawl under the threadbare carpet beneath his feet. This feeling wasn’t helped when the conversation turned, quite naturally, to the railroad, and all he had to report were failures and roadblocks.

Victoria, bless her heart, was quick to sing her husband’s praises. “Before his accident, Kiernan was Charles Crocker’s right-hand man. And Mr. Crocker intends to take Kiernan back on as soon as work begins again. He will probably be one of the main supervisors when the construction moves east.”

“I’ve heard the Supreme Court has upheld the government’s pledge to honor the Central Pacific’s contracts. So it shouldn’t be long now,” said Carolina.

“It won’t be soon enough for me,” said Kiernan, beginning to feel some of the angst he had felt during his recovery from his accident.

The conversation continued, but Kiernan was distracted. He poked at the fire in the hearth, then, seizing on the excuse of needing more wood, escaped from the parlor and made his way to the kitchen and out the back door to the woodpile. He was gathering up an armload when James stepped outside.

“Can I give you a hand?” James asked.

“I’ve got it, sir, but thank you.”

“Would you mind a word before you get the wood?”

Kiernan let the wood slide back to the pile. “Of course not.” He licked his lips, suddenly nervous as he sensed the moment of truth had finally come. “Would ya be wantin’ to go into the kitchen?” His accent was thicker than ever.

They returned to the kitchen and took seats at the table. The minute they were seated Kiernan jumped up again. “The coffee’s warm. Would ya be wantin’ a cup?”

“Yes, thank you.”

Kiernan poured two cups, but he knew the distraction would not last.

“You know, Kiernan,” James said casually after Kiernan resumed his seat, “now that the court has ruled in favor of the CP, bonds will be released for sale. I plan to purchase several.”

“Ay . . . well, ’twill be a good investment.”

“You might think to do the same,” suggested James.

Kiernan blinked, then his healthy eye squinted with confusion. Suddenly he began to wonder if his letter had ever arrived in Baltimore. With the war on and communications so unreliable, it was a good possibility. His stomach knotted at the prospect of having to go over the matter afresh.

“Sir, did ya by any chance receive a letter from me . . . ?”

“I did,” said James. Then he reached into his coat pocket and withdrew yet another envelope. “And I have something for you.”

Kiernan took the envelope, his hands actually trembling. Now, what was he going to do? No doubt out of sympathy, James was giving him money. How could he accept it? Yet, how could he refuse it? Especially since Victoria would be the one to suffer most. Had she not already suffered enough from his pride? He thought, too, of all his recent lectures to Caitlan about pride. Yet it made it no easier now to accept charity—he could think of no other word for it—from his father-in-law.

“Go ahead, Kiernan,” prompted James, “open it.”

Kiernan did so and found a check inside—a sizable check! But he couldn’t smile; he couldn’t feel joy. He could feel only the depths of his inadequacy.

“’Tis difficult for me to take this, sir,” Kiernan finally rasped through a constricted throat.

“It is your money, Kiernan.”

“Sir? I’m not understandin’.”

“Kiernan, your mother-in-law and I were, understandably I think, upset when we received your letter,” said James. “But it was not because you had lost Victoria’s dowry—”

Kiernan thought it decent how James referred to Victoria’s inheritance as a dowry, somehow making it seem as if it were in fact as much Kiernan’s money as Victoria’s.

James went on, “What upset us was that you felt you could not tell us, and that because of that, you were forced to suffer—as I am sure you must have, in a new land with no money to live on besides what could be earned by the sweat of your brow.”

“We did suffer, sir, I will admit. Victoria especially, and thus I would be understandin’ yar disapproval of me. ’Twas so wrong of me. I clung to what I perceived of as pride, but only when I wrote ya that letter did I finally realize it was the wrong kind of pride. I am sorry for that now. But I still don’t feel right acceptin’ this check from ya. I will for Victoria’s sake, but—”

“Let me finish before you say anything else,” interjected James. “First, you are a good man, Kiernan, a fine man. I am not merely blowing air when I say I am proud to have you as part of our family. You are not perfect, but who is?” A peculiar look crossed James’ face, then he continued. “We have all made mistakes in our lives. Perhaps because of my own mistakes, I was able to perceive in the beginning when you married Victoria that you had some maturing to do. Oh, I had no doubts that you would make a good husband to my daughter, but I did have my doubts about your understanding of finances. Thus, Kiernan, I practiced a little deception of my own. I did not turn over to you the whole of Victoria’s inheritance. The check you now hold is the balance plus interest of that inheritance.”

Kiernan gaped at James’ astounding revelation, unable to conjure up a verbal response. It was best that he did not, for his immediate response was that James had treated him rather like a child, not trusting him even enough to share his misgivings with Kiernan. Yet, Kiernan’s good sense quickly prevailed. For one thing, he had proven James’ treatment to be exactly proper because Kiernan
had
behaved like a child. Moreover, he was certain that if James had shared these things with him years ago when he first married Victoria, he would have been unable to hear them.

“Will you forgive me?” James was saying. “What I did was wrong—”

“My actions proved ya were not wrong, sir,” Kiernan said quickly. “And I know ya only had mine and especially Victoria’s best interests in mind. I was a prideful, cocky boy back then. I can honestly say that life has seasoned me considerably, perhaps even matured me.”

“I see that too, son.”

As James spoke the word “son,” Kiernan’s chest tightened with pride and love for this man who, indeed, was the closest person he had to a father.

“Let us agree to be open and honest with each other from now on,” James added.

“Agreed, sir. And if yar not mindin’, I would ask that ya act as my financial advisor in the future.”

“Happily, Kiernan! And my first bit of advice would be for you to invest in Central Pacific stock.”

The two men rose, and before they returned to the gathering in the parlor, they embraced warmly as father and son.

In the parlor, Kiernan caught Victoria’s eye several times, smiling broadly each time. He couldn’t wait to get her alone and tell her about how God had blessed them yet again!

41

There was a lovely church ceremony on the tenth of January. Brenton was handsome in his dove gray cutaway coat over black pinstripe trousers. But Caitlan was stunning in the ivory silk-and-lace gown she and Victoria had copied from a photo in the latest
Godey’s Lady’s Book.
On her cinnamon red curls, which fell in ringlets around her shoulders, she wore a tulle elbow-length veil. She carried a bouquet of white roses.

Besides family, there were about two dozen guests, mostly close friends of Kiernan and Victoria and also a few who had made the acquaintance of the bride and groom during their stay in California. Before going to the church that morning, photographs were taken by Jordana—of course, Brenton had set everything up so his sister had only to make the final exposure.

The entire group left the church immediately after the ceremony for a luncheon at the O’Connor home. Then, amid tears and laughter, the newlyweds departed on their honeymoon. Much to their surprise, James and Carolina had presented to them the gift of a week’s stay in one of the best hotels in San Francisco.