Irish Eyes: a heartwarming, emotional historical fiction saga by Hope C. Tarr
Author:Hope C. Tarr [Tarr, Hope C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lume Books Historical Romance & Saga, A Joffe Books Company
Published: 2023-12-06T16:00:00+00:00
Chapter Twenty-Four
Tammany Hall, 14th Street between Irving Place and Third Avenue
Tuesday, November 7, 1905 â Election Day
We spent that first election day at Tammany headquarters, the main auditorium decked out in red, white, and blue bunting, Bayneâs 69th Regiment Band keeping boredom at bay. Well before the polls closed at midnight, Joeâs landslide victory was declared. Jaws stiff from all the smiling, I joined him onstage with Joey and Moira, cheers of âKiller Kavanaughâ ringing through the room.
Pat and Kathleen and their kids came out to help us celebrate. I turned the twins over to Norah, then eleven, and joined the adults at the punch bowl. Eventually, Joe and Pat drifted off to the balcony for a smoke, leaving Kathleen and me to ourselves.
She turned her face up to mine, thinner and paler than before but beaming. âThis is a proud day, isnât it Rose? I only wish Joeâs and my dear parents were alive to see it.â
I bit my lip, for I rather thought the course of Joeâs political career remained to be writ. From what Iâd so far seen, his Tammany handlers were the ones wielding the pen.
âAnd the headquarters, itâs all so elegant, donât you think?â she added, shooting an awed glance to the gilt-coffered ceiling.
Thinking of the money working people such as ourselves poured into the place to make such pomp possible, I sipped my punch in silence.
âRose, what is it? Whatâs the matter?â
âA bit knackered is all. Itâs been a long day. Howâs Norah getting on in school?â I asked, hoping to turn the topic.
But Joeâs sister was nothing if not stubborn, a Kavanaugh trait, or so Iâd come to see it. âSomethingâs off with you,â she insisted, raking me with sharp eyes until I finally relented.
âI worry this position might not be the best thing for Joe. For any of us,â I admitted.
Her gaze narrowed. âHowâs that?â
âSince the campaign started, itâs been one boozer after another. We see him less now than we did when he was at the station house.â
If Iâd thought to pour my troubles into a sympathetic ear, I was to be swiftly and sorely disappointed.
âSo he takes a nip more than he ought. Show me the Irishman who doesnât. Honestly, Rose, are things that bad? From where some of us sit, they look pretty prime.â
Stunned by her waspishness, I could do naught but stare.
But Kathleen wasnât done yet. âHeâs done all this for you. To make you proud.â
âBut I am proud.â
She looked at me askance. âAre you? I wonder. All these years, heâs never left off trying to prove himself to you. You must see it, or are you that blind?â
Joe and Pat walked up with Moira, sparing me from answering. Judging from their cherry cheeks and whiskey breaths, smoking wasnât all theyâd got up to.
âLook who we found playing hide-and-seek in the committee room,â Joe said with a chuckle, the twirled and waxed handlebars of his recently regrown mustache putting me in mind of a villain in a movie-house melodrama.
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