Secrets of the Heart Read Online Free

tall, slender O’Leary to the fire wagon.
    The nine firemen washed up as soon as they returned to the station, while the chiefs told the men who had stayed behind about the successful firefight at the vacant lot. Shift change came at 4:00 P.M.
    “You going to walk with me today, Burgo?” Patrick O’Leary asked his friend, Burgo Murray. “Planning on it.” “I’m ready if you are.”
    As the two men left the firehouse, O’Leary said, “I’ll have to let you go on when I reach O’Malley’s Grocery. Katie gave me a list of things she needs.”
    “Okay,” said the short, stubby man. “Since Katie does the milkin’ on your work days, I reckon it’s only fair that you carry home the groceries for her.”
    They walked on for a while without talking, then Burgo said, “Chief Williams seems really scared, doesn’t he?”
    “Yes. Can’t blame him. A good healthy rain would make us all feel better.”
    “One without lightning, preferably,” Murray said with a chuckle.
    Teenagers Ross Tralee and Eoin MacNeill were standing on the board sidewalk in front of O’Malley’s Grocery on the corner of Fifth Street and Bolton Avenue. Carriages, surreys, and wagons, as well as riders on horseback, moved through the busy intersection while customers came and went from the store.
    “What is it, Ross?” said Eoin. “You got the jitters?”
    Ross ran the back of his hand across his mouth in a nervous gesture. “Well, I guess you might call it that.”
    “What are you afraid of?”
    “That she’ll turn me down.”
    “A fella can’t live like that, my friend,” said Eoin, brushing coal black hair off his forehead. “Remember when I first fell for Doreen, and I told you I was going to ask her for a date?”
    “Yes.”
    “And you asked me what if she said no. Remember that?”
    “Uh-huh.”
    “And what did I say?”
    Ross looked toward the sky for a moment. “You said, ‘Ross, as irresistible as I am, she’ll jump at the chance to go out on a date with me.’”
    “Right. And did she?”
    “Well, I guess! You took her on a date, and now you’re her steady beau.”
    “Yeah! Now listen, Ross, you’ve got to take a deep breath, walk through that door, get Kathleen into a conversation, then ask her to go to Marybeth Monaghan’s party with you. Just tell her that almost everybody in the senior class is going to the party, and how honored you’d be if she would be your date.”
    Ross wiped sweaty palms on his pants. “But what if she’s busy taking care of customers? How will I get up to the counter to talk to her?”
    “Honestly, Ross,” sighed Eoin, “can’t you figure that out?”
    “Huh?”
    “Be a customer. Buy something.”
    “Oh. Yeah. Sure. Okay. I’ll buy something. Sure. Ah…Eoin…”
    “What?”
    “What’ll I buy?”
    “Anything. Just buy…a pencil. That’s it. Buy a pencil.”
    “Okay. I know where the school supplies are.”
    Eoin gave his friend a gentle shove. “Go on.”
    Ross took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Yeah, let’s go.” He took two steps and stopped. “I can’t. I just can’t.”
    People passed by, glancing at the boys’ curious behavior.
    Exasperated, Eoin said, “Why not?”
    “Because…well, Kathleen’s so beautiful. I…I’m just plain ol’ Ross Tralee.”
    “Well, I’m just plain ol’ Eoin MacNeill, but I landed Doreen, didn’t I?”
    “Yeah. No offense, ol’ pal, but Doreen’s not the looker that Kathleen is.”
    “Hey, that was uncalled for. Now, come on. I’m right here with you…in spite of your insult toward my girl.”
    “I didn’t mean it as an insult,” Ross said. “Doreen’s a pretty girl. She just doesn’t have the looks Kathleen has.”
    “Well beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Now, let’s move. You can’t ask her for the date standing out here.”
    Ross Tralee’s knees felt like boiled mush as he walked toward the door with his friend.
    An elderly couple came out, and Eoin took hold of the door. He waited