Epilogue
Chrissy couldn’t believe how lucky she was. Exactly one year ago today, she had become Mrs. Johnny O’Reilly. They had come home from their honeymoon in Ireland and had been blissfully happy in their trailer home. But now, their home was under construction. The frame was all up and they were ready to put it under roof. They had designed the house themselves, deciding where each room would go and how large or small it would be. They had planned the location of each window and door and exactly how they would be positioned.
One of the things they had planned first was a built-in hutch with lights in it and red velvet at the back. It would house the Christmas napkin holders and centerpiece that was indeed waiting for her when they got home from Ireland. The solid glass front would show them off spectacularly. Chrissy knew the crystal pieces would always be one of the most prized of her possessions.
In the bottom of that hutch she planned to put her picture albums—the one with all her wedding pictures in it and the other one with all the pictures they had taken in Ireland on their honeymoon. Oh, that had been such a glorious time! She could still almost see the hillsides covered with pink and purple heather blooms. You could almost believe the legends they told of how beautifully the tiny little bell-blooms would ring when the fairies breathed on them. She had half expected to see a leprechaun pop out from behind a tree and tell her where his pot o’ gold was hidden. Of course, the pictures they took on Galway Bay didn’t half do it justice but in her mind’s eye, she could still see the molten gold of the moon as it disappeared beneath the shimmering waves of the bay.
Going through the castle there at Athenry, you could hardly keep from expecting a knight in shining armor to come riding in to rescue a damsel in distress. For sure, Johnny was her ‘knight in shining armor.’ He seemed to make it his purpose in life to fulfill her every wish and dream—the same way he had started doing when she and her family had first run out of gas near the big old house that had since become her family’s home.
Now, tonight she had the opportunity to make one of Johnny’s dreams come true. Of course, she would have to wait until Ramon went to bed. He usually retired fairly early, though. He didn’t seem to sleep too well; Chrissy had heard him moving around quite a lot during the night. She had seen him turning quickly to look behind him several times as if he were afraid of being attacked from behind or something. He was a good worker, though, or at least that’s what Johnny and her dad had told her.
Ed had hired Ramon while Chrissy and Johnny were out of the country. Ed had needed someone to help him and Ramon needed a job badly. Ed had checked Ramon’s credentials and confirmed that he had his green card and was a legal resident. Ed had interviewed several applicants for the job and, in the end, he had chosen Ramon.
“Why…..you choose me?" His accent was bad but he knew enough English to make himself understood most of the time.
“Well, it’s like this, Mr. Mendez,” he told him trying to be honest with him. “Of all the workers I talked to most of them had holes in the seat of their britches. You had holes in the knees of your jeans. I figured that meant you spent time on your knees either working or praying. Either way, I didn’t think I could go wrong hiring you.”
Ramon Mendez had smiled, shrugged, and gone back to work.
That evening, when Johnny and Ramon came in from working on the house, Chrissy had supper ready for the three of them. She had used her cookbook Grandmother Lydia had made for her and made one of her salmon loaf recipes. After he added a half a cup of hot sauce to his portion, Ramon declared it delicious. Johnny liked it, too, but without the extra hot sauce.
When Ramon bid them goodnight, Chrissy did make Johnny’s dreams come true and then she told him the good news.
“In about seven months, Sweetheart, you’re going to be a father.”
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