“Good day, Joyce!” Grace stood up and approached, her arms spread out for a hug. They met, and Joyce hugged her mother tightly.
“Hello, Auntie!” She greeted her.
“How has your day been at the sewing shop?” They took the few steps back to the blanket and sat down. Joyce made herself comfortable and happily took a small bottle of Coca-Cola out of her aunt’s basket.
“It’s been fine. We’ve gotten a lot of work done. But I’ve been waiting for this picnic, auntie. I’m so glad to be able to see you and talk to you again. I’m glad you’ve come back from visiting.”
Grace nodded. “I must do what I can for our Irish old-timers, Joyce. Visiting them seems to bring them great joy, so I keep doing it.”
“Yes, I know, Grace. You have a very strong sense of loyalty.”
Grace smiled wide. “It is an Irish thing. You possess that quality, too. You just have different things you are loyal to.”
Joyce happily took a turkey and cheese roll from her aunt. “I do? Such as?”
“You are very loyal to your job. When was the last day you didn’t go to work?”
Joyce gave her a look. “If I don’t work, I don’t make any money. How will I save and get ahead then?”
“You are loyal to yourself as well.” Grace chuckled. “You want what you want, and you’re going to get it, are you not?”
“That is my plan. I must get out of this little town.”
“You will miss me?”
“I will.” She leaned forward and put her hand on her mother’s arm. “You are going to be the person I miss the most, auntie. You know that.”
“Your brothers and sister have missed you in the last month or two. You should go visit them.”
Joyce laughed. “Before I leave this place, I will visit them. Until then, they know where I am! And since they have their families now, I would only be intruding if I just went over there. Robert would think I am only there for a meal!”
The women laughed softly.
“I do have something I wanted to show you and discuss with you, Joyce. Something you might want to consider as you think about traveling and leaving here.”
“Oh?”
“Yes.” Grace reached back into her basket and pulled out the newspaper from a larger town some distance from them. It was one of the towns she had visited where they had relatives. They had relatives all over town and all over the state of Virginia, who had migrated down from New York to escape the blistering cold of winter and the crunch as people from around the world flooded into the main streets there.
Grace looked through the paper, snapping it open and folding it so that a particular page was displayed. “Look at what this says here.” She pointed to a small ad in the middle of the page.
Joyce read through it. “Auntie, are you suggesting I travel to the West to become this man’s bride? Why would I want to do that?”
“There are several good reasons why this would be for you, Joyce. First, I have been praying for a sign, something that will help relieve you from the burden of being in a place you don’t want to be in.”
“Auntie, I’m perfectly content…”
“Let me finish, my girl. Second, this man is wealthy. He will take good care of you, and you won’t have to work in a sewing shop for the next ten years, saving money to be able to go somewhere else where you will have to work again. And third, you have a chance to have a family of your own. I know you want that, do you not?”
“I do. You know I would like to have a family soon. I’m almost 22, and I need to start my life. I know a lot of girls my age who have been married for several years. I don’t want to be a spinster.”
Grace laughed and shook her head. “A beautiful woman like you does not have to worry about that, Joyce.”
Joyce snorted. “How can you say that, Grace? I have not had any marriage proposals before. Not in my life!”
Grace blew a quick breath through her lips as if to dismiss the words Joyce had just said. “The only reason you haven’t been receiving any is because you have three protective older brothers, and there are too many relatives here. You have almost a dozen cousins here, and that’s almost all of the population your age that aren’t already married.”
Joyce nodded. “That is a good point, Grace.”
“At least, consider this proposal. You can have so much more, so much freedom being married to an older, rich man.”
“It doesn’t say he’s older.”
“Do you expect him to have wealth at your age?”
Joyce contemplated that thought. “I suppose not. But what if he’s very old?”