The Brightest of Dreams by Susan Anne Mason

Author:Susan Anne Mason
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical Fiction;FIC042030;FIC042040;FIC027200
ISBN: 9781493422760
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2019-11-18T00:00:00+00:00

Quinn trudged along the sidewalk on his way to the boardinghouse, trying to ignore the way his damp shirt clung to his skin. The intense heat of the summer was one aspect of the city he still hadn’t grown accustomed to, and today it was making him more than a bit irritable.

It had been three days since Quinn and Julia had returned from Peterborough. Three days since Julia had moved in with Mrs. Middleton. Yet it felt more like three years. He missed her warm smile, the amber flecks in her brown eyes, the way her face lit with enthusiasm at every new sight she encountered. He missed sharing his thoughts with her, knowing she’d listen and sympathize with him. Or perhaps even suggest a different course of action.

Now, as he approached Mrs. Chamberlain’s front door, Quinn missed the thrill of anticipation he used to experience, knowing she was inside. Somehow the boardinghouse didn’t hold the same appeal without her.

Even Harry agreed.

As the boy’s health improved, he was becoming restless, unused to lying around with nothing to do. And he complained about Julia not coming to visit him. “Julia brings me cookies,” he whined. “She reads to me and plays cards with me.”

Apparently, Quinn didn’t quite measure up in the visitor department.

“You know Julia has a new job,” he’d reminded Harry. “I’m sure when she has some time off she’ll come ’round.”

“Or maybe when I’m better, you could take me to visit her.” Harry’s face had brightened, his eyes pleading.

“We’ll see.” But Harry’s comment had given Quinn pause. Quite innocently, the boy had let it slip that he still wasn’t fully recovered. Which only reinforced Quinn’s goal for today.

He planned to speak with Mrs. Chamberlain, get her opinion on Harry’s prognosis, and ask her what she thought they should do next. He didn’t want Harry to become a burden. Yet Quinn’s room at the YMCA had room for only one cot. If need be, Quinn could make a pallet on the floor for himself and give Harry the bed, but that arrangement wouldn’t do for long. Perhaps Mrs. C. would have another alternative.

Quinn knocked on the door and shifted from one foot to the other as he waited.

Today he would also ask to use Mrs. C.’s telephone to contact Becky and find out what she had decided regarding coming back to England.

He’d checked into the schedules for ships leaving Halifax for England, and there was one leaving at the end of July. The daunting task of getting all three of his siblings, as well as Julia, on that boat weighed heavily on Quinn. Only his faith allowed him to believe it could be possible. Surely, God hadn’t brought him this far to let him return empty-handed.

“Hello, Mr. Aspinall.” Barbara Campbell, one of the boarders, opened the door with a smile.

“Good morning, Miss Campbell.” He removed his cap. “How are you today?”

“Very well, thanks,” she said with a grin. “You must be here to see that adorable brother of yours.”

“That’s right.” He moved into the foyer.

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