United by Susan X. Meagher

Author:Susan X. Meagher [Meagher, Susan X.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, lesbian, romance, Adult
ISBN: 9780996677486
Goodreads: 34384725
Publisher: Brisk Press
Published: 2017-02-23T03:00:00+00:00

***

They not only stayed for tea, Brigid held out a steadying hand to help Miss O’Leary to the bathroom, then the old woman sat in her chair as they put fresh sheets on her bed and opened the windows for a minute to air out the room. Jamie wrapped an aged quilt around her, pleased with how alert she seemed, chatting about the weather. Then they worked together to help Miss O’Leary into a nightgown from a stack of them, freshly washed, resting next to the prayers and meditations on her dresser. Jamie noticed that each was identical, probably recently purchased by the women who tended to her.

When they left, Miss O’Leary was sound asleep, bearing a slight, but very contented smile.

“You were a great help,” Granny said as they walked back to the car. “I can’t manage to change her on my own, and I can’t ask John to help. They’d both die of embarrassment,” she added, showing a rare smile.

“I enjoyed meeting her,” Jamie said as they got back into the car and buckled up. “Does she have a disease, or is she just old?”

“If she makes it two more weeks, she’ll see her hundredth year,” Granny said. “She’s simply worn out.”

“She certainly isn’t a complainer. She seemed so grateful for just that little bit of time we spent with her.”

“The good lord never made a purer soul than Úna O’Leary,” Granny said, her words firm but her voice shaking a little. “The family had far more than their share of troubles, but she’s never uttered a bitter word. Her father was with the anti-treaty forces you know. Killed in Ballina. Shot in the back by some coward. No one to this day knows if it was a free-stater who did it, but everyone assumes…”

Jamie was still only in the twelfth century in her Irish history book, so she had no earthly idea what Granny was talking about, but she figured details didn’t matter. This woman clearly meant a lot to Granny, and that’s what mattered.

“There were no prospects for a girl who had to work the farm to support Lord knows how many children they had at the time. They wound up with seven, the youngest my age, but there had been many more.”

Jamie shivered to think of how horrible it would have been to have been consigned to supporting your whole family through what had to be subsistence farming. Trapped for your entire life because of circumstances far beyond your control. “We can never be thankful enough for what we have,” she found herself saying aloud.

Granny gave her a glance, taking her eyes from the road for only a second. “Why do you carry the psalms?”

“I like to read them during the slow parts of the Mass.”

“Ahh,” she said, nodding. “I pray the rosary.” She was quiet for a few minutes, then said, “Siobhán’s told me you’re not Catholic.”

“No, but my faith isn’t too far from yours.”

Granny shot her a look, but didn’t add anything. Jamie was pleased to have it end there, given the heat of the glance she’d just received.

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