Nora Roberts’s The Gallaghers of Ardmore Trilogy

Jewels of the Sun

Tears of the Moon

Heart of the Sea

Nora Roberts

Table of Contents

Jewels of the Sun

Tears of the Moon

Heart of the Sea

Dear Reader,

Those of you who are familiar with my books know that Ireland is one of my favorite places to visit, in real life and in fiction. It’s a country of dramatic cliffs and quiet fields. One of myth and magic and legend. In Jewels of the Sun, I’ve borrowed from some of those myths and created my own legend.

It could have happened.

I’d like you to meet the Gallaghers of Ardmore: Aidan, Shawn, and Darcy, who run the local pub in this pretty seaside village in the county of Waterford. Not far from the village is a cottage, a place of magic where a lonely American woman comes to explore her roots and her heart.

She won’t be alone in the house, for there is another lonely woman in residence. She just happens to be a ghost.

With the help of a faerie prince who loved well if not wise, Aidan Gallagher of Ardmore and Jude Frances Murray from Chicago will find their place, and take the first step toward breaking a hundred-year spell.

I’d like to take you back to Ireland with me, through the doors of Gallagher’s Pub where the fire’s burning low and the pints are waiting. I have a story to tell you.

Nora Roberts

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

JEWELS OF THE SUN

A Jove Book / published by arrangement with the author

All rights reserved.

Copyright © 1999by Nora Roberts

This book may not be reproduced in whole or part, by mimeograph or any other means, without permission. Making or distributing electronic copies of this book constitutes copyright infringement and could subject the infringer to criminal and civil liability.

For information address:

The Berkley Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Putnam Inc.,

375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

The Penguin Putnam Inc. World Wide Web site address is http://www.penguinputnam.com

ISBN: 1-101-14605-2

A Jove BOOK®

Jove Books first published by The Berkley Publishing Group, a member of Penguin Putnam Inc.,

375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

Jove and the “J” design are trademarks belonging to Penguin Putnam Inc.

First edition (electronic): July 2001

For Ruth Ryan Langan

Come away! O, human child!

To the woods and waters wild,

With a fairy hand in hand,

For the world’s more full of weeping than

you can understand.

—W. B. YEATS

Contents

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN

SEVENTEEN

EIGHTEEN

NINETEEN

TWENTY

ONE

OBVIOUSLY, WITHOUT QUESTION, she’d lost her mind.

Being a psychologist, she ought to know.

All the signs were there, had been there, hovering and humming around her for months. The edginess, the short temper, the tendency toward daydreaming and forgetfulness. There’d been a lack of motivation, of energy, of purpose.

Her parents had commented on it in their mild, you-can-do-better-Jude way. Her colleagues had begun to glance at her, covertly, with quiet pity or unquiet distaste. She’d come to detest her job, resent her students, find a dozen petty faults with her friends and her family, her associates and superiors.

Every morning the simple task of getting out of bed to dress for the day’s classes had taken on the proportions of scaling a mountain. Worse, a mountain she had absolutely no interest in seeing from a distance, much less climbing.

Then there was the rash, impulsive behavior. Oh, yes, that was the final tip-off. Steady-as-she-goes Jude Frances Murray, one of the sturdiest branches on the family tree of the Chicago Murrays, sensible and devoted daughter of Doctors Linda and John K. Murray, quit her job.

Not took a sabbatical from the university, not asked for a few weeks’ leave, but quit, right in the middle of the semester.

Why? She didn’t have the faintest idea.

It had been as much a shock to her as to the dean, to her associates, to her parents.

Had she reacted in this manner two years before when her marriage had shattered? No, indeed. She’d simply continued her routine—her classes, her studies, her appointments—without a hitch, even while shuffling in the lawyers and neatly filing the paperwork that symbolizes the end of a union.

Not that there’d been much of a union, or a great deal of hassling for the lawyers to legally sever it. A marriage that had lasted just under eight months didn’t generate a great deal of mess or trouble. Or passion.

Passion, she supposed was what had been missing. If she’d had any, William wouldn’t have left her flat for another woman almost before the flowers in her bridal bouquet had faded.

But there was no point in brooding over it at this late date. She was what she was. Or had been what she was, she corrected. God only knew what she was now.

Maybe that was part of it, she mused. She’d been on some verge, had looked down at the vast, dark sea of sameness, of monotony, of tedium that was Jude Murray. She’d pinwheeled her arms, scrambled back from the edge—and run screaming away.

It was so unlike her.

Thinking about it gave her such sharp palpitations she wondered if she might be having a heart attack just to cap things off.

AMERICAN COLLEGE PROFESSOR FOUND DEAD

IN LEASED VOLVO

It would be an odd obituary. Perhaps it would make it into the Irish Times, which her grandmother so loved to read. Her parents would be shocked, of course. It was such an untidy, public, embarrassing kind of death. Completely unsuitable.

Naturally, they’d be heartbroken as well, but overall they would be puzzled. What in the world was the girl thinking of, going off to Ireland when she had a thriving career and a lovely condo on the lakeside?

They would blame Granny’s influence.

And, of course, they would be right, as they had been right since the moment she’d been conceived in a very tasteful mating precisely one year after they’d married.

Though she didn’t care to imagine it, Jude was certain that her parents’ lovemaking was always very tasteful and precise. Rather like the well-choreographed and traditional ballets they both so enjoyed.

And what was she doing, sitting in a leased Volvo that had its stupid wheel on the stupid wrong side of the car and thinking about her parents having sex?

All she could do was press her fingers to her eyes until the image faded away.

This, she told herself, was just the sort of thing that happened when you went crazy.

She took a deep breath, then another. Oxygen to clear and calm the brain. As she saw it, she now had two choices. She could drag her suitcases out of the car, go inside the Dublin airport and turn the keys back in to the leasing agent with the carrot-red hair and the mile-wide smile, and book a flight home.

Of course she had no job, but she could live off her stock portfolio very nicely for quite some time, thank you. She also no longer had a condo, as she’d rented it to that nice couple for the next six months, but if she did go home she could stay with Granny for a while.

And Granny would look at her with those beautiful faded blue eyes full of disappointment. Jude, darling, you always get right to the edge of your heart’s desire. Why is it you can never take that last step over?

“I don’t know. I don’t know.” Miserable, Jude covered her face with her hands and rocked. “It was your idea I come here, not mine. What am I going to do in Faerie Hill Cottage for the next six months? I don’t even know how to drive this damn car.”

She was one sob away from a crying jag. She felt it flood her throat, ring in her ears. Before the first tear could fall, she let her head roll back, squeezed her eyes tight shut, and cursed herself. Crying jags, temper tantrums, sarcasm, and otherwise rude behavior were merely various ways of acting out. She’d been raised to understand it, trained to recognize it. And she would not give in to it.

“On to the next stage, Jude, you pathetic idiot. Talking to yourself, crying in Volvos, too indecisive, too goddamn paralyzed to turn on the ignition and just go.”

She huffed out another breath, straightened her shoulders. “Second choice,” she muttered. “Finish what you started.”

She turned the key and, sending up a little prayer that she wouldn’t kill or maim anyone—including herself—on the drive, eased the car out of Park.

She sang, mostly to keep herself from screaming every time she came to one of the circles on the highway that the Irish cheerfully called roundabouts. Her brain would fizzle, she’d forget her left from her right, visualize plowing the Volvo into half a dozen innocent bystanders, and belt out whatever tune jumped into her terrified brain.

On the route south from Dublin to County Waterford, she shouted show tunes, roared out Irish pub songs, and at a narrow escape outside the town of Carlow, screeched out the chorus of “Brown Sugar” loud enough to make Mick Jagger wince.

After that it calmed down a bit. Perhaps the gods of the traveler had been shocked enough by the noise to step back and stop throwing other cars in her path. Maybe it was the influence of the ubiquitous shrines to the Blessed Virgin that populated the roadside. In either case, the driving smoothed out and Jude began, almost, to enjoy herself.

Roll after roll of green hills shimmered under sunlight that glowed like the inside of seashells and spread back and back into the shadows of dark mountains. The hulk of them rambled against a sky layered with smoky clouds and pearly light that belonged in paintings rather than reality.

Paintings, she thought, as her mind wandered, so beautifully rendered that when you looked at them long enough you felt yourself slipping right into them, melting into the colors and shapes and the scene that some master had created out of his own brilliance.

That was what she saw, when she dared take her eyes off the road. Brilliance, and a terrible, stunning beauty that ripped the heart even as it soothed it again.

Green, impossibly green, the fields were broken by rambling walls of rough hedges or lines of stunted trees. Spotted cows or shaggy sheep grazed lazily in them, figures on tractors putted over them. Here and there they were dotted with houses of white and cream where clothes flapped on lines and flowers burst with wild and careless color in the dooryards.

Then wonderfully, inexplicably, there would be the ancient walls of a ruined abbey, standing proud and broken against the dazzling field and sky as if waiting for its time to come round again.

What would you feel, she wondered, if you crossed the field and walked up the smooth and slick steps left standing in those tumbling stones? Would you—could you—feel the centuries of passing feet that had trod those same steps? Would you, as her grandmother claimed, be able to hear—if only you listened—the music and voices, the clash of battles, the weeping of women, the laughter of children so long dead and gone?

She didn’t believe in such things, of course. But here, with this light, with this air, it seemed almost possible.

From the ruined grandeur to the charmingly simple, the land spread out and offered. Thatched roofs, stone crosses, castles, then villages with narrow streets and signs written in Gaelic.

Once she saw an old man walking with his dog on the side of the road where the grass grew tall and a little sign warned of loose chippings. Both man and hound wore little brown hats that she found absolutely charming. She kept that picture in her mind a long time, envying them their freedom and the simplicity of their routine.

They would walk every day, she imagined. Rain or shine, then go home to tea in some pretty little cottage with a thatched roof and a well-tended garden. The dog would have a little house of his own, but would most usually be found curled at his master’s feet by the fire.

She wanted to walk those fields with a devoted dog, too. Just to walk and walk until she felt like sitting. Then to sit and sit until she felt like standing. It was a concept that dazzled her. Doing what she wanted when she wanted, at her own pace and in her own way.

It was so foreign to her, that simple, everyday freedom. Her great fear was to finally find it, nip the silvered edge of it with her fingertips, then bungle it.

As the road wound and ribboned around the coast of Waterford, she caught glimpses and stretches of the sea, blue silk against the horizon, turbulent green and gray as it spewed against a wide, sandy curve of beach.

The tension in her shoulders began to slide away. Her hands relaxed a bit on the wheel. This was the Ireland her grandmother had spoken of, the color and drama and peace of it. And this, Jude supposed, is why she’d finally come to see where her roots had dug before being ripped free and replanted across the Atlantic.

She was glad now she hadn’t balked at the gate and run back to Chicago. Hadn’t she managed the best part of the three-and-a-half-hour drive without a single mishap? She wasn’t counting the little glitch at that roundabout in Waterford City where she’d ended up circling three times, then nearly bashing into a car full of equally terrified tourists.

Everyone had escaped without harm, after all.

Now she was nearly there. The signs for the village of Ardmore said so. She knew from the careful map her grandmother had drawn that Ardmore was the closest village to the cottage. That’s where she would go for supplies and whatever.

Naturally, her grandmother had also given her an impressive list of names, people she was supposed to look up, distant relatives she was to introduce herself to. That, Jude decided, could wait.

Imagine, she thought, not having to talk to anyone for several days in a row! Not being asked questions and being expected to know the answers. No making small talk at faculty functions. No schedule that must be adhered to.

After one moment of blissful pleasure about the idea, her heart fluttered in panic. What in God’s name was she going to do for six months?

It didn’t have to be six months, she reminded herself as her body tensed up again. It wasn’t a law. She wouldn’t be arrested in Customs if she went back after six weeks. Or six days. Or six hours, for that matter.

And as a psychologist, she should know her biggest problem lay in struggling to live up to expectations. Including her own. Though she accepted that she was much better with theories than action, she was going to change that right now, and for as long as she stayed in Ireland.

Calm again, she switched on the radio. The stream of Gaelic that poured out had her goggling, poking at the buttons to find something in English, and taking the turn into Ardmore instead of the road up Tower Hill to her cottage.

Then, as soon as she realized her mistake, the heavy skies burst open, as if a giant hand had plunged a knife into their heart. Rain pounded the roof, gushed over her windshield while she tried to find the control for the wipers.

She pulled over to the curb and waited while the wipers gaily swished at the rain.

The village sat on the southern knob of the county, kissing the Celtic Sea and Ardmore Bay. She could hear the thrash of water against the shore as the storm raged around her, passionate and powerful. Wind shook the windows, whined threateningly in the little pockets where it snuck through.

She’d imagined herself strolling through the village, familiarizing herself with it, its pretty cottages, its smoky, crowded pubs, walking the beach her grandmother had spoken of, and the dramatic cliffs, the green fields.

But it had been a lovely, sun-washed afternoon, with villagers pushing rosy-cheeked babies in carriages and flirty-eyed men tipping their caps to her.

She hadn’t imagined a sudden and violent spring storm bringing wild gusts of wind and deserted streets. Maybe no one even lives here, she thought. Maybe it was a kind of Brigadoon and she’d fumbled in during the wrong century.

Another problem, she told herself, was an imagination that had to be reeled in with distressing regularity.

Of course people lived here, they were just wise enough to get the hell out of the rain. The cottages were pretty, lined up like ladies with flowers at their feet. Flowers, she noted, that were getting a good hard hammering just now.

There was no reason she couldn’t wait for that lovely sun-washed afternoon to come back down to the village. Now she was tired, had a bit of a tension headache, and just wanted to get inside somewhere warm and cozy.

She eased away from the curb and crept along in the rain, petrified that she would miss the turn yet again.

She didn’t realize she was driving on the wrong side of the road until she narrowly missed a head-on collision. Or, to be perfectly accurate, when the oncoming car missed her by swerving around her and blasting the horn.

But she found the right turn, which she reminded herself should have been impossible to miss, given the stone spear of the great round tower that topped the hill. Through the rain it lanced up, guarding the ancient and roofless cathedral of Saint Declan and all the graves, marked with stones that tipped and tilted.

For a moment she thought she saw a man there, wearing silver that glinted dully, wetly in the rain. And straining to see, she nearly ran off what there was of a road. Nerves didn’t make her sing this time. Her heart was pounding too violently to allow it. Her hands shook as she inched along, trying to see where he was, what he was doing. But there was nothing but the great tower, the ruins, and the dead.

Of course there hadn’t been anyone there at all, she told herself. No one would stand in a graveyard in the middle of a storm. Her eyes were tired, playing tricks. She just needed to get somewhere warm and dry and catch her breath.

When the road narrowed to little more than a muddy track bordered on both sides by man-high hedgerows, she considered herself well lost and hopeless. The car jerked and bumped over ruts while she struggled to find some place to turn around and head back.

There was shelter in the village, and surely someone would take pity on a brainless American who couldn’t find her way.

There was a pretty little stone wall covered with some sort of bramble that would have been picturesque at any other time, then a skinny break that turned out to be someone’s excuse for a driveway, but she was too far past it when she realized what it was and was terrified to attempt backing up and maneuvering in the mud.

The road climbed, and the ruts became second cousin to ditches. Her nerves were fraying, her teeth clicking audibly as she negotiated another bump, and she seriously considered just stopping where she was and waiting for someone to come along and tow her all the way back to Dublin.

She groaned aloud with relief when she saw another break. She turned in with a coat of paint to spare, then simply laid her forehead against the wheel.

She was lost, hungry, tired, and had to pee rather desperately. Now she was going to have to get out of the car in the pouring rain and knock on a stranger’s door. If she was told the cottage was more than three minutes away, she’d have to beg for the use of a bathroom.

Well, the Irish were known for their hospitality, so she doubted that whoever answered the door would turn her away to relieve herself in the hedgerows. Still, she didn’t want to appear wild-eyed and frantic.

She tipped down the rearview mirror and saw that her eyes, usually a calm and quiet green, were indeed a bit wild. The humidity had frizzed her hair so that it looked as though she had some wild, bark-colored bush on her head. Her skin was dead pale, a combination of anxiety and fatigue, and she didn’t have the energy to dig out her makeup and try to repair the worst of it.

She tried a friendly smile that did manage to convince the dimples to flutter in her cheeks. Her mouth was a little too wide, she thought, just as her eyes were a little too big, and the attempt was much closer to a grimace than a grin.

But it was the best she could do.

She grabbed her purse and shoved open the car door to meet the rain.

As she did, she caught a movement in the second-story window. Just a flutter of curtain that had her glancing up. The woman wore white and had pale, pale hair that tumbled in lush waves over her shoulders and breasts. Through the gray curtain of rain, their eyes met briefly, no more than an instant, and Jude had the impression of great beauty and great sadness.

Then the woman was gone, and there was only the rain.

Jude shivered. The windy wet cut clean to the bone, and she sacrificed her dignity by loping to the pretty white gate that opened into a tiny yard made glorious by the rivers of flowers flowing on either side of a narrow white walk.

There was no porch, only a stoop, but the second story of the cottage pitched over it and provided much welcome cover. She lifted a brass knocker in the shape of a Celtic knot and rapped it against a rough wooden door that looked thick as a brick and was charmingly arched.

While she shivered and tried not to think of her bladder, she scanned what she could from under her shelter. It was like a doll’s house, she thought. All soft white with forest-green trim, the many-paned windows flanked by shutters that looked functional as well as decorative. The roof was thatched, a charming wonder to her. A wind chime made up of three columns of bells sang musically.

She knocked again, more sharply now. Damn it, I know you’re in there, and tossing manners aside, she stepped out in the rain and tried to peer through the front window.

Then she leaped back guiltily when she heard the friendly beep-beep of a horn.

A rusty red pickup with an engine that purred like a contented cat pulled in behind her car. Jude dragged dripping hair out of her face and prepared to explain herself when the driver popped out.

At first she took it to be a trim and tiny man with scarred, muddy boots, a filthy jacket, and worn work pants. But the face that beamed at her from under a dung-brown cap was definitely female.

And very nearly gorgeous.

Her eyes were as green as the wet hills surrounding them, her skin luminous. Jude saw tendrils of rich red hair tumbling out of the cap as the woman hurried forward, managing to be graceful despite the boots.

“You’d be Miss Murray, then. That’s fine timing, isn’t it?”

“It is?”

“Well, I’m running a bit behind today, as Mrs. Duffy’s grandson Tommy stuffed half his building blocks down the loo again, then flushed away. It was a hell of a mess altogether.”

“Hmmm,” was all Jude could think to say as she wondered why she was standing in the rain talking to a stranger about blocked toilets.

“Can’t you find your key?”

“My key?”

“To the front door. Well, I’ve mine, so we’ll get you in and out of the wet.”

That sounded like a wonderful idea. “Thank you,” Jude began as she followed the woman back to the door. “But who are you?”

“Oh, I beg your pardon, I’m Brenna O’Toole.” Brenna shot out a hand, gripped Jude’s and shook briskly. “Your granny told you, didn’t she, that I’d have the cottage ready for you?”

“My gran—the cottage?” Jude huddled under the overhang. “My cottage? This is my cottage?”

“It is, yes, if you’re Jude Murray from Chicago.” Brenna smiled kindly, though her left brow had arched. “You’ll be more than a bit tired by now, I’ll wager, after your trip.”

“Yes.” Jude rubbed her hands over her face as Brenna unlocked the door. “And I thought I was lost.”

“Appears you’re found. Ceade mile failte,” she said and stepped back so Jude could enter first.

A thousand welcomes, Jude thought. She knew that much Gaelic. And it felt like a thousand when she stepped into the warmth.

The foyer, hardly wider than the outside stoop, was flanked on one side by stairs polished by time and traffic. An arched doorway to the right led to the little living area, pretty as a picture with its walls the color of fresh biscuits, honey-toned trim, and lace curtains warmly yellowed with age so that everything in the room looked washed by the sun.

The furniture was worn and faded, but cheerful with its blue and white stripes and deep cushions. The gleaning tables were crowded with treasures—bits of crystal, carved figures, miniature bottles. Rugs were scattered colorfully over the wide-planked floor, and the stone fireplace was already laid with what Jude thought must be hunks of peat.

It smelled earthy, and of something else faint and floral.

“It’s charming, isn’t it?” Jude pushed at her hair again as she turned a circle. “Like a playhouse.”

“Old Maude, she liked pretty things.”

Something in the tone had Jude stopping her circle, to look back at Brenna’s face. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know her. You were fond of her.”

“Sure, everyone loved Old Maude. She was a grand lady. She’ll be pleased you’re here, looking after the place. She wouldn’t want it standing alone and empty. Should I show you about, then? So you have your bearings.”

“I’d appreciate it, but first I’m desperate for the bathroom.”

Brenna let out a quick laugh. “A long ride from Dublin. There’s a little powder room right off the kitchen. My dad and I put it in for her out of a closet only three years back. Straight that way it is.”

Jude didn’t waste any time exploring. “Little” was exactly the word for the half bath. She could have rapped her elbows on the side walls by crooking her arms and lifting them. But the walls were done in a pale, pretty rose, the white porcelain gleamed from fresh scrubbing, and there were sweetly embroidered fingertip towels hung neatly on the rack.

One glance in the oval mirror over the sink told Jude that yes, she looked every bit as bad as she’d feared. And though she was of average height and build, beside the fairylike Brenna she felt like a galumphing Amazon.

Annoyed with herself for the comparison, she blew her frizzed bangs off her brow and went back out.

“Oh, I would have gotten those.”

Already the efficient Brenna had unloaded her luggage and hauled it into the foyer. “You’ve got to be ready to drop after your travels. I’ll get your things upstairs. I imagine you’ll want Old Maude’s room, it’s pleasant, then we’ll put the kettle on so you can have some tea and I’ll start your fire. It’s a damp day.”

As she spoke she carried Jude’s two enormous suitcases up the stairs as if they were empty. Wishing she’d spent more time in the gym, Jude followed with her tote, her laptop, and her portable printer.

Brenna showed her two bedrooms, and she was right—Old Maude’s, with its view of the front gardens, was the more pleasant. But Jude got only a hazy impression, for one look at the bed and she succumbed to the jet lag that dropped into her body like a lead weight.

She only half listened to the cheerful, lilting voice explain about linens, heat, the vagaries of the tiny fireplace in the bedroom as Brenna set the peat to light. Then she followed as if walking through water as Brenna clattered downstairs to put on tea and show her how the kitchen operated.

She heard something about the pantry being freshly stocked and how she should do her marketing at Duffy’s in the village when she needed supplies. There was more—stacks of peat outside the back door, as Old Maude had preferred it, but wood as well in case she herself preferred that, and how the telephone had been hooked back up again and how to light the fire in the kitchen stove.

“Ah, there, now, you’re asleep on your feet.” Sympathetic, Brenna pressed a thick blue mug into Jude’s hands. “Take that on up with you and have a lie-down. I’ll start the fire down here for you.”

“I’m sorry. I can’t seem to focus.”

“You’ll do better after some sleep. My number’s here by the phone if you’re needing anything. My family’s barely a kilometer from here, my mother and dad and four sisters, so if there’s anything you need, you’ve only to call or come by the O’Tooles’.”

“Yes, I—four sisters!”

Brenna laughed again as she led Jude back down the hall. “Well, my dad kept hoping for a boy, but that’s the way of it. Surrounded by females, he is, even the dog. Up you go, now.”

“Thank you so much. Really, I’m not usually so. . . vague.”

“Well, it’s not every day you fly over the ocean now, is it? Do you want anything before I go?”

“No, I . . .” She leaned on the banister, blinked. “Oh, I forgot. There was a woman in the house. Where did she go?”

“A woman, you say? Where?”

“In the window.” She swayed, nearly spilled the tea, then shook her head clear. “There was a woman in the window upstairs, looking out when I got here.”

“Was there now?”

“Yes. A blond woman, young, very lovely.”

“Ah, that would be Lady Gwen.” Brenna turned, slipped into the living room, and lit the stack of peat. “She doesn’t show herself to just everyone.”

“Where did she go?”

“Oh, she’s still here, I imagine.” Satisfied that the peat had caught, Brenna rose, brushed off the knees of her trousers. “She’s been here three hundred years, give or take. She’s your ghost, Miss Murray.”

“My what?”

“Your ghost. But don’t trouble yourself about her. She won’t be after harming you any. Hers is a sad tale, and a story for another time, when you’re not so tired.”

It was hard to concentrate. Jude’s mind wanted to shut down, her body to shut off, but it seemed important to clear up this one point. “You’re trying to say the house is haunted?”

“Sure and it’s haunted. Didn’t your granny tell you?”

“I don’t believe she mentioned it. You’re telling me you believe in ghosts.”

Brenna lifted her brow again. “Well, did you see her or didn’t you? There you are,” she said when Jude merely frowned. “Have yourself a nap, and if you’re up and about later, come on down to Gallagher’s Pub and I’ll buy you your first pint.”

Too baffled to concentrate, Jude merely shook her head. “I don’t drink beer.”

“Oh, well now, that’s a bloody shame,” Brenna said, sounding both shocked and sincere. “Well, good day to you, Miss Murray.”

“Jude.” She murmured it and could do nothing but stare.

“Jude, then.” Brenna flashed her gorgeous smile and slipped out the door into the rain.

Haunted, Jude thought, as she started up the stairs with her head circling lazily several inches over her shoulders. Fanciful Irish nonsense. God knew, her grandmother was full of fairy stories, but that’s all they were. Stories.

But she’d seen someone . . . hadn’t she?

No, the rain, the curtains, the shadows. She set down the tea that she’d yet to taste and managed to pull off her shoes. There weren’t any ghosts. There was just a pretty house on a charming little hill. And the rain.

She fell facedown on the bed, thought about dragging the spread over her, and tumbled into sleep before she could manage it.

• • •

And when she dreamed, she dreamed of a battle fought on a green hill where the sunlight flashed on swords like jewels, of faeries dancing in the forest where the moonlight lay as tears on the leaves, and of a deep blue sea that beat like a heart against the waiting shore.

And through all the dreams, the one constant thing was the sound of a woman’s quiet weeping.

TWO

WHEN JUDE WOKE it was full dark, and the little peat fire had burned down to tiny ruby lights. She stared at them, her eyes bleary with sleep, her heart leaping like a wild stag in her throat as she mistook the embers for watching eyes.

Then her memory snapped into place, her mind cleared. She was in Ireland, in the cottage where her grandmother had lived as a girl. And she was freezing.

She sat up, rubbing her chilled arms, then fumbled for the bedside lamp. A glance at her watch made her blink, then wince. It was nearly midnight. Her recovery nap had lasted close to twelve hours.

And, she discovered, she was not only cold. She was starving as well.

She puzzled over the fire a moment. Since it seemed basically out and she didn’t have a clue how to get it going again, she left it alone and went down to the kitchen to hunt up food.

The house creaked and groaned around her—a homey sound, she told herself, though it made her want to jump and look over her shoulder. It wasn’t that she was thinking about, even considering the ghost Brenna had spoken of. She just wasn’t particularly used to homey sounds. The floors of her condo didn’t creak, and the only red glow she might come across was the security light on her alarm system.

But she would get used to her new surroundings.

Brenna was as good as her word, Jude discovered. The kitchen was well stocked with food in the doll-size fridge, in the narrow little pantry. She might be cold, she mused, but she wouldn’t starve.

Her first thought was to open a can of soup and buzz it up in the microwave. So with can in hand, she turned around the kitchen and made a shocking discovery.

There was no microwave.

Well, Jude thought, that’s a problem. Nothing to do but rough it with saucepan and stove, she supposed, then hit the next dilemma when she realized there was no automatic can opener.

Old Maude had lived not only in another country, Jude decided as she pushed through drawers, but another century.

She managed to use the manual can opener that she found, and put the soup in a pan on the stove. After choosing an apple from the bowl on the kitchen table, she walked to the back door and opened it to a swirling mist, soft as silk and wet as rain.

She could see nothing but the air itself, the pale gray layers of it shifting over the night. There was no form, no light, only the wisps and shapes the mist chose to make of itself. Shivering, she took one step out and was instantly cloaked in it.

The sense of solitude was immediate and complete, deeper than any she’d ever known. But it wasn’t frightening or sad, she realized as she held an arm out and watched the mist swallow her hand to the wrist. It was oddly liberating.

She knew no one. No one knew her. Nothing was expected of her, except what she asked of herself. For tonight, one wonderful night, she was absolutely alone.

She heard a kind of pulse in the night, a low, drumming beat. Was it the sea? she wondered. Or was it just the mist breathing? Even as she started to laugh at herself, she heard another sound, quiet and bright, a tinkling music.

Pipes and bells, flutes and whistles? Enchanted by it, she nearly left the back stoop, nearly followed the magic of the sound into the fog like a dreamer walking in sleep.

Wind chimes, she realized, with another little laugh, a bit nervous around the edges now. It was only wind chimes, like the pretty bells at the front of the house. And she must still be half asleep if she’d considered dancing out of the house at midnight and wandering through the fog to follow the sound of music.

She made herself step back inside, firmly shut the door. The next sound she heard was the hiss of the soup boiling over.

“Damn it!” She rushed to the stove and switched off the burner. “What’s wrong with me? A twelve-year-old could heat up a stupid can of soup, for God’s sake.”

She mopped up the mess, burned the tips of two fingers, then ate the soup standing up in the kitchen while she lectured herself.

It was time to stop bumbling around, to yank herself back in line. She was a responsible person, a reliable woman, not one who stood dreaming into the mist at midnight. She spooned up the soup and ate it mechanically, a duty to her body with none of the foolish pleasure a midnight snack allowed.

It was time to face why she’d come to Ireland in the first place. Time to stop pretending it was an extended holiday during which she would explore her roots and work on papers that would cement the publishing end of her not very stellar university career.

She’d come because she’d been mortally afraid she was on the verge of some kind of breakdown. Stress had become her constant companion, gleefully inviting her to enjoy a migraine or flirt with an ulcer.

It had gotten to the point where she wasn’t able to face the daily routine of her job, to the point where she neglected her students, her family. Herself.

More, worse, she admitted, where she was coming to actively dislike her students, her family. Herself.

Whatever the cause of it—and she wasn’t quite ready to explore that area—the only solution had been a radical change. A rest. Falling apart wasn’t an option. Falling apart in public was out of the question.

She wouldn’t humiliate herself, or her family, who’d done nothing to deserve it. So she had run—cowardly, perhaps, but in some odd way the only logical step she’d been able to think of.

When Old Maude had graciously passed on at the ripe old age of a hundred and one, a door had opened.

It had been smart to walk through that door. It had been responsible to do so. She needed time alone, time to be quiet, time to reevaluate. And that was exactly what she was going to do.

She did intend to work. She would never have been able to justify the trip and the time if she hadn’t had some sort of plan. She intended to experiment with a paper that combined her family roots and her profession. If nothing else, documenting local legends and myths and conducting a psychological analysis of their meaning and purpose would keep her mind active and give her less time for brooding.

She’d been spending entirely too much time brooding. An Irish trait, her mother claimed, and the thought of it made Jude sigh. The Irish were great brooders, so if she felt the need to indulge from time to time, she’d picked the best place in the world for it.

Feeling better, Jude turned to put her empty bowl in the dishwasher and discovered there wasn’t one.

She chuckled all the way upstairs to the bedroom.

She unpacked, meticulously putting everything away in the lovely creaky wardrobe, the wonderful old dresser with drawers that stuck. She set out her toiletries, admired the old washbasin, and indulged in a long shower standing in the claw-foot tub with the thin plastic curtain jangling around her on its tarnished brass hooks.

She dived into flannel pajamas and a robe before her teeth started chattering, then got down to the business of lighting bricks of peat. Surprised at her success, she lost twenty minutes sitting on the floor with her arms wrapped around her knees, smiling into the pretty glow and imagining herself a contented farmer’s wife waiting for her man to come in from the fields.

When she snapped back from her daydream she went off to explore the second bedroom and consider its potential as an office.

It was a small room, boxlike, with narrow windows facing front and side. After some deliberation, Jude chose to set up facing south so she could see the rooftops and church steeples of the village and the broad beach that led down to the sea.

At least, she assumed that would be the view once daylight broke and the fog lifted.

The next problem was what to set up on, as the little room had no desk. She spent the next hour hunting up a suitable table, then hauling that from the living room up the stairs and placing it exactly in the center of the window before she hooked up her equipment.

It did occur to her that she could write on the kitchen table, by the cozy little fire with the wind chimes singing to her. But that seemed too casual and disorganized.

She found the right adaptor for the plug, booted up, then opened the file that she intended to be a daily journal of her life in Ireland.

April 3, Faerie Hill Cottage, Ireland I survived the trip.

She paused a moment, laughed a little. It sounded as though she’d been through a war. She started to delete it, start again. Then she stopped herself. No, the journal was only for herself, and she would write what came into her mind, as it came.

The drive from Dublin was long, and more difficult than I’d imagined. I wonder how long it will take me to grow used to driving on the left. I doubt I ever will. Still, the scenery was wonderful. None of the pictures I’ve seen begin to do the Irish countryside justice. To say it’s green isn’t enough. Verdant somehow isn’t right either. It, well, shimmers is the best I can do.

The villages seem charming, and so unbelievably tidy that I imagined armies of elves slipping in every night to scrub the sidewalks and polish the buildings.

I saw a bit of the village of Ardmore, but it was pouring rain by the time I arrived, and I was too tired to form any real impressions other than that habitual tidiness and the charm of the wide beach.

I came across the cottage by sheer accident. Granny would call it fate, of course, but it was really just blind luck. It’s so pretty sitting here on its little hill with flowers flooding right up to the front door. I hope I can care for them properly. Perhaps they have a bookstore in the village where I’ll find books on gardening. In any case, they’re certainly thriving now, despite the damp chill in the air.

I saw a woman—thought I saw a woman—at the bedroom window, looking out at me. It was an odd moment. It seemed that our eyes actually met, held for a few seconds. She was beautiful, pale and blond and tragic. Of course it was just a shadow, a trick of the light, because there was no one here at all.

Brenna O’Toole, a terrifyingly efficient woman from the village, pulled up right after me and took things over in a way that was somehow brisk and friendly—and deeply appreciated. She’s gorgeous—I wonder if everyone here is gorgeous—and has that rough, mannish demeanor some women can adopt so seamlessly and still be perfectly female.

I imagine she thinks I’m foolish and inept, but she was kind about it.

She said something about the house being haunted, which I imagine the villagers say about every house in the country. But since I’ve decided to explore the possibility of doing a paper on Irish legends, I may research the basis for her statement.

Naturally, my time clock and my system are turned upside down. I slept the best part of the day away, and had a meal at midnight.

It’s dark and foggy out. The mist is luminous and somehow poignant. I feel cozy of body and quiet in my mind.

It’s going to be all right.

She sat back, let out a long sigh. Yes, she thought, it was going to be all right.

At three A.M., when spirits often stir, Jude huddled in bed under a thick quilt with a pot of tea on the table and a book in her hand. The fire simmered in the grate, the mist slid across the windows. She wondered if she’d ever been happier.

And fell asleep with the light burning and her reading glasses slipping down her nose.

In the daylight, with the rain and mist whisked away by the breeze, her world was a different place. The light glowed soft and turned the fields to an aching green. She could hear birds, which reminded her that she needed to dig out the book she’d bought on identifying species. Still, at the moment it was so nice just to stand and listen to that liquid warbling. It didn’t seem to matter what bird was singing, so long as it sang.

Walking across the thick, springy grass seemed almost like a sacrilege, but it was a sin Jude couldn’t resist.

On the hill beside the village, she saw the ruin of the once grand cathedral dedicated to Saint Declan and the glorious round tower that ruled over it. She thought briefly of the figure she’d thought she’d seen there in the rain. And shivered.

Foolish. It was just a place, after all. An interesting and historical site. Her grandmother, and her guidebook, had told her about the ogham inscriptions inside and the Romanesque arcading. She would go there and see for herself.

And to the east, if memory served, beyond the cliff hotel, was the ancient Saint Declan’s Well with its three stone crosses and stone chair.

She would visit the ruins, and the well, climb the cliff path, and perhaps walk around the headland one day soon. Her guidebook had assured her the views were spectacular.

But today she wanted quieter, simpler things.

The waters of the bay shimmered blue as they flowed into the deeper tones of the sea. The flat, wide beach was deserted.

Another morning, she thought, she would drive to the village just to walk alone on the beach.

Today was for rambling over the fields, just as she’d imagined, away from the village with her eyes on the mountains. She forgot she’d only meant to check on the flowers, to orient herself to the area just around the cottage before she attended to practical matters.

She needed to arrange for a phone jack in the spare bedroom so she could access the Net for research. She needed to call Chicago and let her family know she was safe and well. Certainly she needed to go into the village and find out where she could shop and bank.

But it was so glorious out, with the air gentle as a kiss, the breeze just cool enough to clear the last of the travel fatigue from her mind, that she kept walking, kept looking until her shoes were wet from the rain-soaked grass.

Like slipping into a painting, she thought again, one animated with the flutter of leaves, the sounds of birds, the smell of wet, growing things.

When she saw another house it was almost a shock. It was nestled just off the road behind the hedgerows and rambled front, back, and sideways as if different pieces of it had been plopped down carelessly on a whim. And somehow it worked, she decided. It was a charming combination of stone and wood, juts and overhangs with flowers rioting in both the front yard and the back. Beyond the gardens in the rear was a shed—what her grandmother would have called a cabin—with tools and machines tumbling out the door.

In the driveway she saw a car, covered with stone-gray paint, and looking as though it had come off the assembly line years before Jude had been born.

A big yellow dog slept, in a patch of sunlight in the side yard, or she assumed it slept. It was on its back with its feet in the air like roadkill.

The O’Tooles’ house? Jude wondered, then decided it must be so when a woman came out the back door with a basket of laundry.

She had brilliant red hair and the wide-hipped, sturdy frame that Jude would imagine in a woman required to carry and birth five children. The dog, proving she was alive, rolled over to her side and thumped her tail twice as the woman marched to the clothesline.

It occurred to Jude that she’d never actually seen anyone hang clothes before. It wasn’t something even the most dedicated of housewives tended to do in downtown Chicago. It seemed like a mindless and thereby soul-soothing process to her. The woman took pegs from the pocket of her apron, clamped them in her mouth as she bent to take a pillowcase from the basket. Snapped it briskly, then clamped it to the line. The next item was dealt with in the same way and shared the second peg.

Fascinating.

She worked down the line, without any obvious hurry, with the yellow dog for company, emptying her basket while what she hung billowed and flapped wetly in the breeze.

Just another part of the painting, Jude decided. She would title this section Country Wife.

When the basket was empty, the woman turned to the facing line and unhooked clothes already hanging and dry, folding them until her basket was piled high.

She cocked the basket on her hip and walked back into the house, the dog prancing behind her.

What a nice way to spend the morning, she thought.

And that evening, when everyone came home, the house would smell of something wonderful simmering in the kitchen. Some sort of stew, Jude imagined, or a roast with potatoes browned from its juices. The family would all sit around the table, one crowded with bowls and plates wonderfully mismatched, and talk about their day and laugh and sneak scraps to the dog, who begged from under the table.

Large families, she thought, must be a great comfort.

Of course, there was nothing wrong with small ones, she added, immediately feeling guilty. Being an only child had its advantages. She’d gotten all her parents’ attention.

Maybe too much of their attention, a little voice murmured in her ear.

Considering that voice very rude, she blocked it out and turned to return to her cottage and do something practical with her time.

Because she felt disloyal, she immediately phoned home. With the time difference she caught her parents before they left for work, and squashed her guilt by chatting happily, telling them she was rested, enjoying herself, and looking forward to this new experience.

She was well aware that they both considered her impulsive trip to Ireland a kind of experiment, a quick forty-five-degree turn from the path she’d been so content to pursue for so long. They weren’t against it, which relieved her. They were just puzzled. She had no way to explain it to them, or to herself.

With family on her mind, she placed another call. There was no need to explain anything to Granny Murray. She simply knew. Lighter of heart, Jude filled her grandmother in on every detail of the trip, her impressions, her delight with the cottage while she brewed a pot of tea and made a sandwich.

“I just had a walk,” she continued, and with the phone braced on her shoulder, set her simple lunch on the table. “I saw the ruins and the tower from a distance. I’ll have a closer look later.”

“It’s a fine spot,” Granny told her. “There’s a lot to feel there.”

“Well, I’m very interested in seeing the carvings and the arcading, but I didn’t want to wander that far today. I saw the neighbor’s house. It must be the O’Tooles’.”

“Ah, Michael O’Toole. I remember him when he was just a lad—a quick grin Mick had and a way of talking you out of tea and cakes. He married that pretty Logan girl, Mollie, and they had five girls. The one you met, Brenna, she’d be the oldest of the brood. How’s she faring, pretty Mollie?”

“Well, I didn’t go over. She was busy with laundry.”

“You’ll find no one’s too busy to take a moment, Jude Frances. Next time you’re roaming you stop in and pay your respects to Mollie O’Toole.”

“I will. Oh, and Gran?” Amused, she smiled as she sipped her tea. “You didn’t tell me the cottage was haunted.”

“Sure and I did, girl. Haven’t you listened to the tapes, or read the letters and such I gave you?”

“No, not yet.”

“And you’re thinking there goes Granny again, with her make-believe. You just go through the things I sent along with you. The story’s there about Lady Gwen and her faerie lover.”

“Faerie lover?”

“So it was said. The cottage is built on a faerie hill with its raft, or palace, beneath, and she waits for him still, pining because she turned off happiness for sense, and he losing it for pride.”

“That’s sad,” Jude murmured.

“Well, it is. Still, it’s a good spot, the hill, for looking inside yourself to your heart’s desire. You look inside yours while you’re there.”

“Right now I’m just looking for some quiet.”

“Take as much of it as you need, there’s plenty to go around. But don’t stand back too long and watch the rest of the world. Life’s so much shorter than you think.”

“Why don’t you come out, Gran, stay here with me?”

“Oh, I’ll come back, but this is your time now. Pay attention to it. You’re a good girl, Jude, but you don’t have to be good all the time.”

“So you’re always telling me. Maybe I’ll find some handsome Irish rogue and have a reckless love affair.”

“It wouldn’t hurt you any. Put flowers on Cousin Maude’s grave for me, will you, darling? And tell her I’ll come see her when I’m able.”

“I will. I love you, Gran.”

Jude didn’t know where the time went. She’d meant to do something productive, had really intended to go out to play with the flowers for a few minutes. To pick just a handful to put in the tall blue bottle she’d found in the living room. Of course she’d picked too many and needed another bottle. There didn’t seem to be an actual vase in the house. Then it had been such fun sitting on the stoop arranging them and wishing she knew their names that she’d whiled away most of the afternoon.

It had been a mistake to carry the smaller squat green bottle up to her office to put on the table with her computer. But she’d only meant to lie down for a minute or two. She’d slept for two solid hours on top of the little bed in her office, and woke up groggy and appalled.

She’d lost her discipline. She was lazy. She’d done nothing but sleep or piddle for more than thirty hours now.

And she was hungry again.

At this rate, she decided as she foraged for something quick in the kitchen, she’d be fat, slow, and stupid in a week.

She would go out, drive down to the village. She’d find a bookstore, the bank, the post office. She’d find out where the cemetery was so that she could visit Old Maude’s grave for her grandmother. Which is what she should have done that morning. But this way it would be done and she could spend the next day going through the tapes and letters her grandmother had given her to see if there was a paper in them.

She changed first, choosing trim slacks, a turtleneck, and a blazer that made her feel much more alert and professional than the thick sweater and jeans she’d worn all day.

She attacked her hair—“attack” was the only term she could use to describe what she had to do to tame it into a thick, bound tail when all it wanted to do was frizz up and spring out everywhere at once.

She was cautious with makeup. She’d never been handy with it, but the results seemed sufficient for a casual tour of the village. A glance in the mirror told her she didn’t look like a day-old corpse or a hooker, both of which could and had happened on occasion.

Taking a deep breath, she headed out to attempt another session with the leased car and the Irish roads. She was behind the wheel, reaching for the ignition when she realized she’d forgotten the keys.

“Ginkgo,” she muttered as she climbed back out. “You’re going to start taking ginkgo.”

After a frustrated search, she found the keys on the kitchen table. This time she remembered to turn a light on, as it might be dark before she returned, and to lock the front door. When she couldn’t remember if she’d locked the back one, she cursed herself and strode around the cottage to deal with it.

The sun was drifting down in the west and through its light a thin drizzle was falling when she finally put the car in reverse and backed slowly out into the road.

It was a shorter drive than she remembered, and a much more scenic one without rain lashing at the windshield. The hedgerows were budded with wild fuchsia in drops red as blood. There were brambles with tiny white flowers that she would learn were blackthorn and friesia hazed and yellow with spring.

As the road turned she saw the tumbled walls of the cathedral on the hill and the spear of the tower lording over the seaside village.

No one walked there.

Eight hundred years they had stood. That, Jude thought, was a wonder of its own. Wars, feast and famine, through blood and death and birth, the power remained. To worship and to defend. She wondered if her grandmother was right, and if so, what one would feel standing in their shadow on soil that had felt the weight of the pious and the profane.

What an odd thought, she decided, and shook it off as she drove into the village that would be hers for the next six months.

THREE

INSIDE GALLAGHER’S PUB the light was dim and the fire lively. That’s how the customers preferred it on a damp evening in early spring. Gallagher’s had been serving, and pleasing, its customers for more than a hundred and fifty years, in that same spot, by providing good lager or stout, a reasonable glass of whiskey that wasn’t watered, and a comfortable place to enjoy that pint or glass.

Now when Shamus Gallagher opened his public house in the Year of Our Lord 1842, with his good wife, Meg, beside him, the whiskey might have come cheaper. But a man has to earn his pence and his pound, however hospitable he may be. So the price of the whiskey came dearer than once it had, but it was served with no less a hope of being enjoyed.

When Shamus opened the pub, he’d sunk his life’s hopes and his life’s savings into it. There had been more thin times than thick, and once a gale wind had whipped over the sea and lifted the roof clean off and carried it to Dungarvan.

Or so some liked to say when they’d enjoyed more than a glass or two of the Irish.

Still, the pub had stood, with its roots dug into the sand and rock of Ardmore, and Shamus’s first son had moved into his father’s place behind the old chestnut bar, then his son after him, and so forth.

Generations of Gallaghers had served generations of others and had prospered well enough to add to the business so more could come in out of the damp night after a hard day’s work and enjoy a pint or two. There was food as well as drink, appealing to body as well as soul. And most nights there was music too, to appease the heart.

Ardmore was a fishing village and so depended on the bounty of the sea, and lived with its capriciousness. As it was picturesque and boasted some fine beaches, it depended on the tourists as well. And lived with their capriciousness.

Gallagher’s was one of its focal points. In good times and bad, when the fish ran fast and thick or when the storms boiled in and battered the bay so none dared venture out to cast nets, its doors were open.

Smoke and fumes of whiskey, steam from stews and the sweat of men had seeped deep into the dark wood, so the place forever carried the smell of living. Benches and chairs were covered in deep red with blackened brass studs to hold the fabric in place.

The ceilings were open, the rafters exposed, and many was the Saturday night when the music was loud enough that those rafters shook. The floor was scarred from the boots of men, the scrape of chair and stool, and the occasional careless spark from fire or cigarette. But it was clean, and four times a year, needed or not, it was polished glossy as a company parlor.

The bar itself was the pride of the establishment, a rich, dark chestnut bar that old Shamus himself had made from a tree folks liked to say had been lightning-struck on Midsummer’s Eve. In that way it carried a bit of magic, and those who sat there felt the better for it.

Behind the bar, the long mirrored wall was lined with bottles for your pleasure. And all were clean and shiny as new pennies. The Gallaghers ran a lively pub, but a tidy one as well. Spills were mopped, dust was chased, and never was a drink served in a dirty glass.

The fire was of peat because it charmed the tourists, and the tourists often made the difference between getting by and getting on. They came thick in the summer and early fall to enjoy the beaches, sparser in winter and at the dawn of spring. But they came nonetheless, and most would stop in at Gallagher’s to lift a glass, hear a tune, or sample one of the pub’s spiced meat pies.

Regulars trickled in soon after the evening meal, as much for conversation or gossip as for a pint of Guinness. Some would come for dinner as well, but usually on a special occasion if it was a family. Or if it was a single man, because he was tired of his own cooking, or wanted a bit of a flirt with Darcy Gallagher, who was usually willing to oblige.

She could work the bar or the tables and the kitchen as well. But the kitchen was where she least liked to be, so she left that to her brother Shawn when she could get away with it.

Those who knew Gallagher’s knew it was Aidan, the eldest, who ran the show now that their parents seemed bent on staying in Boston. Most agreed he seemed to have settled down from his wanderlust past and now tended the family pub in a manner that would have made Shamus proud.

For himself, Aidan was content in where he was, and what he did. He’d learned a great deal of himself and of life during his rambles. The itchy feet were said to come from the Fitzgerald side, as his mother had, before she married, traveled a good bit of the world, with her voice paying the fare.

He’d strapped on a knapsack when he was barely eighteen and traveled throughout his country, then over into England and France and Italy and even Spain. He’d spent a year in America, being dazzled by the mountains and plains of the West, sweltering in the heat of the South, and freezing through a northern winter.

He and his siblings were as musical as their mother, so he’d sung for his supper or tended bar, whichever suited his purposes at the time. When he’d seen all he longed to see, he came home again, a well-traveled man of twenty-five.

For the last six years he’d tended the pub and lived in the rooms above it.

But he was waiting. He didn’t know for what, only that he was.

Even now, as he built a pint of Guinness, drew a glass of Harp, and tuned in with one ear to the conversation in case he was obliged to comment, part of him sat back, patient and watchful.

Those who looked close enough might see that watchfulness in his eyes, eyes blue as a lightning bolt under brows with the same dark richness as the prize bar where he worked.

He had the rawboned face of the Celts, with the wild good looks that the fine genes of his parents had blended, with a long, straight nose, a mouth full and shamelessly sensual, a tough, take-a-punch chin with just a hint of a cleft.

He was built like a brawler—wide of shoulder, long of arm, and narrow of hip. And indeed, he had spent a good portion of his youth planting his fists in faces or taking them in his own. As much, he wasn’t shamed to admit, for the fun of it as for temper.

It was a matter of pride that unlike his brother, Shawn, Aidan had never had his nose broken in battle.

Still, he’d stopped looking for trouble as he’d grown from boy to man. He was just looking, and trusted that he’d know what it was when he found it.

When Jude walked in, he noticed—first as a publican, and second as a man. She looked so tidy, with her trim jacket and bound-back hair, so lost with her big eyes scanning the room as a doe might consider a new path in the forest.

A pretty thing, he thought, as most men do when they see an attractive female face and form. And being one who saw many faces in his career, he noted the nerves as well that kept her rooted to the spot just inside the door as if she might turn and flee at any moment.

The look of her, the manner of her, captured his interest and a low and pleasant hum warmed his blood.

She squared her shoulders, a deliberate move that amused him, and walked to the bar.

“Good evening to you,” he said as he slid his rag down the bar to wipe up spills. “What’s your pleasure?”

She started to speak, to ask politely for a glass of white wine. Then he smiled, a slow, lazy curving of lips that inexplicably set her insides a fluttering and turned her mind into a buzzing mess of static.

Yes, she thought dimly, everyone was gorgeous here.

He seemed in no particular hurry for her answer, only leaned comfortably on the bar, bringing that truly wonderful face closer to hers, cocking his head and his brow at the same time.

“Are you lost, then, darling?”

She imagined herself melting, just sliding onto the floor in a puddle of hormones and liquid lust. The sheer embarrassment of the image snapped her back to herself. “No, I’m not lost. Could I have a glass of white wine? Chardonnay if it’s available.”

“I can help you with that.” But he made no move to, just then. “You’re a Yank, then. Would you be Old Maude’s young American cousin come to stay in her cottage awhile?”

“Yes. I’m Jude, Jude Murray.” Automatically she offered her hand and a careful smile that allowed her dimples a brief appearance in her cheeks.

Aidan had always had a soft spot for dimples in a pretty face.

He took her hand, but didn’t shake it. He only held it as he continued to stare at her until—she swore she felt it—her bones began to sizzle. “Welcome to Ardmore, Miss Murray, and to Gallagher’s. I’m Aidan, and this is my place. Tim, give the lady your seat. Where are your manners?”

“Oh, no, that’s—”

But Tim, a burly man with a mass of hair the color and texture of steel wool, slid off his stool. “Beg your pardon.” He shifted his gaze from the sports event on the television over the end of the bar and gave her a quick, charming wink.

“Unless you’d rather a table,” Aidan added as she continued to stand and look mildly distressed.

“No, no, this is fine. Thank you.” She climbed onto the stool, trying not to tense up as she became the center of attention. It was what troubled her most about teaching, all those faces turned to hers, expecting her to be profound and brilliant.

He finally released her hand, just as she expected it to dissolve in his, and took the pint glass from under the tap, to slide it into welcoming hands. “And how are you finding Ireland?” he asked her as he turned to take a bottle of wine from the mirrored shelf.

“It’s lovely.”

“Well, there’s no one here will disagree with you on that.” He poured her wine, looking at her rather than the glass. “And how’s your granny?”

“Oh.” Jude was amazed that he’d filled the glass perfectly without so much as a glance at it, then set it precisely in front of her. “She’s very well. Do you know her?”

“I do, yes. My mother was a Fitzgerald and a cousin to your granny—third or fourth removed, I’m thinking. So, that makes us cousins as well.” He tapped a finger on her glass. “Slainte, cousin Jude.”

“Oh, well . . . thank you.” She lifted her glass just as the shouting started from the back. A woman’s voice, clear as church bells, accused someone of being a bloody, blundering knothead with no more brains than a turnip. This was answered, in irritated male tones, that he’d rather be a bleeding turnip than dumb as the dirt it grew in.

No one seemed particularly shocked by the shouts and curses that followed, nor by the sudden crash that had Jude jolting and spilling a few drops of wine on the back of her hand.

“That would be two more of your cousins,” Aidan explained as he took Jude’s hand yet again and efficiently dried it. “My sister, Darcy, and my brother, Shawn.”

“Oh. Well, shouldn’t someone see what’s the matter?”

“The matter with what?”

She only goggled as the voices in the back rose.

“You throw that plate at my head, you viper, and I swear to you, I’ll—”

The threat ended on a vicious curse as something crashed against the wall. Seconds later, a woman swung out of the door behind the bar, carrying a tray of food and looking flushed and satisfied.

“Did you nail him, Darcy?” someone wanted to know.

“No, he ducked.” She tossed her head, sending a cloud of raven-black hair flying. Temper suited her. Her Kerry blue eyes snapped with it, her generous mouth pouted. She carried the tray with a sassy twitch of hip to a family of five crowded at a low table. And when she served, bending down to catch whatever the woman at the table murmured to her, she threw back her head and laughed.

The laughter suited her just as well as the temper, Jude noted.

“I’ll be taking the price of the plate out of your pay,” Aidan informed her when she strolled over to the bar.

“That’s fine, then. Worth every penny, more if I’d hit the mark. The Clooneys are needing two more Cokes, a ginger ale and two Harps—a pint and a glass.”

Aidan began to fill the order. “Darcy, this is Jude Murray from America, come to stay in Old Maude’s cottage.”

“Pleased to meet you.” The temper was quickly replaced by a lively interest in Darcy’s eyes. The pout gave way to a quick and dazzling smile. “Are you settling in well?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“It’s Chicago, isn’t it, where you’re from? Do you love it there?”

“It’s a beautiful city.”

“And loaded with fine shops and restaurants and the like. What do you do in Chicago, for your living?”

“I teach psychology.” Taught, Jude thought, but that was too hard to explain, especially since attention had once again focused on her.

“Do you, now? Well, and that’s very handy.” Darcy’s beautiful eyes gleamed with humor, and just a touch of malice. “Perhaps you could examine my brother Shawn’s head when you’ve time. There’s been something wrong with it since birth.”

She picked up the tray of drinks Aidan nudged toward her, then grinned at him. “And it was two plates. I missed both times, but I nearly caught him at the ear the second round.”

She sauntered off to serve drinks and take orders from the tables.

Aidan exchanged glasses for pounds, set another two under the taps for building, then lifted a brow at Jude. “Is the wine not to your taste?”

“What?” She glanced down, noting that she’d barely sipped at it. “No, it’s nice.” She drank to be polite, then smiled so her dimples fluttered shyly to life again. “Lovely, actually. I was distracted.”

“You needn’t worry about Darcy and Shawn. Shawn’s fast on his feet, true enough, but our sister’s an arm like a bullet. If she’d meant to hit him, she likely would have.”

Jude made a noncommittal sound as someone in the front corner began to play a tune on a concertina.

“I’ve cousins in Chicago.” This came from Tim, who continued to stand behind her, waiting patiently for his second pint. “The Dempseys, Mary and Jack. You wouldn’t happen to know them?”

“No, I’m sorry.” Jude shifted on her stool, tipped her face up to his.

“Chicago’s a big place. My cousin Jack and I were boys together, and he went over to America to work with his uncle on his mother’s side, in a meat-packing plant. Been there ten years now and complains bitter about the wind and the winters, but makes no move to come back home.”

He took the pint from Aidan with a thanks and slid the coins for it over the bar. “Aidan, you’ve been to Chicago, haven’t you?”

“Passed through, mostly. The lake’s a sight, and seems big as the sea. The wind coming off it’s like knives through the skin and into the bone. But you can get a steak there, if memory serves, that will make you weep with gratitude that God created the cow.”

He was working as he spoke, filling another order for his sister’s tray, keeping the taps going, opening a bottle of American beer for a boy who looked as if he should still be sucking on milk shakes.

The music picked up, a livelier pace now. When Darcy lifted the tray from the bar this time, she was singing in a way that made Jude stare with admiration and envy.

Not just at the voice, though it was stunning enough with its silver-bright clarity. But at the kind of ease of self that would allow someone to simply break into song in public. It was a tune about dying an old maid in a garret, which Jude concluded from the glances of the males in the room, ranging from the Clooney boy of about ten to an ancient skeleton of a man at the farthest end of the bar, was a fate Darcy Gallagher would never face.

People joined in the chorus, and the taps began to flow more quickly.

The first tune blended into a second, with barely a change of rhythm. Aidan picked up the lyrics, singing of the betrayal of the woman wearing the black velvet band so smoothly that Jude could only stare. He had a voice as rich as his sister’s and as carelessly beautiful.

He pulled a pint of lager as he sang, then winked at her as he slid it down the bar. She felt heat rush into her face—the mortification of being caught openly staring—but she trusted the light was dim enough to mask it.

She picked up her glass, hoping she looked casual, as if she often sat in bars where song broke out all around her and men who looked like works of art winked in her direction. And discovered her glass was full. She frowned at it, certain that she’d sipped away at least half the wine. But as Aidan was halfway down the bar and she didn’t want to interrupt his work or the song, she shrugged and enjoyed the full glass.

The door of what she assumed was the kitchen swung open again. She could only be grateful that no one was paying attention to her, because she was sure she goggled. The man who came through it looked as though he’d stepped out of a movie set—some film about ancient Celtic knights saving kingdoms and damsels.

He had a loose and lanky build that went well with the worn jeans and dark sweater. His hair was black as night and wove its way over the collar of the sweater. Eyes a dreamy lake blue sparkled with humor. His mouth was like Aidan’s, full and strong and sensual, and his nose was just crooked enough to spare him from the burden of perfection.

She noted the nick on his right ear and assumed this was Shawn Gallagher, and that he hadn’t ducked quite quickly enough.

He moved gracefully across the room to serve the food he carried on the tray. Then, in a lightning move that made Jude catch her breath and prepare for the battle, he grabbed his sister, yanked her to face him, then spun her into a complicated dance.

What kind of people, Jude wondered, could swear at each other one minute, then dance around a pub together laughing the next?

The patrons whistled and clapped. Feet pounded. The dance whirled close enough to Jude for her to feel the breeze of spinning bodies. Then when it stopped, Darcy and Shawn cozily embraced and grinned at each other like fools.

After he’d kissed his sister smartly on the mouth, he turned his head and studied Jude in the friendliest of manners. “Well, who might this be, come out of the night and into Gallagher’s?”

“This is Jude Murray, cousin to Old Maude,” Darcy told him. “This is my brother Shawn, the one in dire need of your professional help.”

“Ah, Brenna told me she’d met you when you arrived. Jude F. Murray, from Chicago.”

“What’s the ‘F’ for?” Aidan wanted to know.

Jude swiveled her head to look at him, found it was just a little light. “Frances.”

“She saw Lady Gwen,” Shawn announced, and before Jude could swivel her head back again, the pub had gone quiet.

“Did she, now?” Aidan wiped his hands on his cloth, set it aside, then leaned on the bar. “Well, then.”

There was a pause, an expectant one. Fumbling, Jude tried to fill it. “No, I just thought I’d seen . . . it was raining.” She picked up her glass, drank deeply, and prayed the music would start again.

“Aidan’s seen Lady Gwen, walking the cliffs.”

Jude stared at Shawn, then back at Aidan. “You’ve seen a ghost,” she said in carefully spaced words.

“She weeps as she walks and as she waits. And the sound of it stabs into your heart so it bleeds from the inside out.”

Part of her simply wanted to ride on the music of his voice, but she blinked, shook her head. “But you don’t actually believe in ghosts.”

He lifted that handsome eyebrow again. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“Because . . . they don’t exist?”

He laughed, a rich and rolling sound, then solved the mystery of her never empty glass by topping off the wine. “I’ll be wanting to hear you say that after living here another month. Didn’t your granny tell you the story of Lady Gwen and Carrick of the faeries?”

“No. Well, actually, I have a number of tapes she made for me, and letters and journals that deal with legends and myths. I’m, ah . . . considering doing a paper on the subject of Irish folklore and its place in the psychology of the culture.”

“Isn’t that something.” He didn’t trouble to hide his amusement, even when he saw the frown cloud over her face. To his mind she had as pretty a pout as he’d ever seen. “You’ve come to a good place for material for such a fine project.”

“You should tell her about Lady Gwen,” Darcy put in. “And other stories, Aidan. You tell them best.”

“I will, then, another time. If you’re interested, Jude Frances.”

She was miffed, and she realized with some distress, just a little drunk. Mustering her dignity as best she could, she nodded. “Of course. I’d like to include local color and stories in my research. I’d be happy to set up appointments—at your convenience.”

His smile came again, slow, easy. Devastating. “Oh, well, we’re not so very formal around here. I’ll just come around one day, and if you’re not busy, I’ll tell you some stories I know.”

“All right. Thank you.” She opened her purse, started to get out her wallet, but he laid a hand over hers.

“There’s no need to pay. The wine’s on the house, for welcome.”

“That’s very kind of you.” She wished she had a clue as to just how much welcome she’d put into her bloodstream.

“See that you come back,” he said when she got to her feet.

“I’m sure I will. Good night.” She scanned the room, since it seemed polite to make it a blanket statement, then looked back at Aidan. “Thank you.”

“Good night to you, Jude Frances.”

He watched her leave, absently getting a glass as another beer was called for. A pretty thing, he thought again. And just prim enough, he decided, to make a man wonder what it would take to relax her.

He thought he might enjoy taking the time to find out. After all, he had a wealth of time.

“She must be rich,” Darcy commented with a little sigh.

Aidan glanced over. “Why do you say that?”

“You can tell by her clothes, all simple and perfect. The little earrings she had on, the hoops, those were real gold, and the shoes were Italian or I’ll marry a monkey.”

He hadn’t noticed the earrings or the shoes, just the overall package, that understated and neat femininity. And being a man, he had imagined loosening that band she’d wrapped around her hair and setting it free.

But his sister was pouting, so he turned and flicked a finger down her nose. “She may be rich, Darcy my darling, but she’s alone and shy as you never are. Money won’t buy her a friend.”

Darcy pushed her hair back over her shoulder. “I’ll go by the cottage and see her.”

“You’ve a good heart.”

She grinned and picked up her tray. “You were looking at her bum when she left.”

He grinned back. “I’ve good eyes.”

After the last customer wandered his way home, and the glasses were washed, the floor mopped, and the doors locked, Aidan found himself too restless for sleep, or a book, or a glass of whiskey by his fire.

He didn’t mind that last hour of the day spent alone in his rooms over the pub. Often he treasured it. But he treasured just as much the long walks he was prone to take on nights where the sky was thrown open with stars and the moon sailed white over the water.

Tonight he walked to the cliffs, as they were on his mind. It was true enough what his brother had said. Aidan had seen Lady Gwen, and more than once, standing high over the sea, with the wind blowing her pale hair behind her like the mane of a wild horse and her cloak billowing, white as the moon overhead.

The first time, he’d been a child and initially had been filled with excited terror. Then he’d been moved beyond measure by the wretched sound of her weeping and the despair in her face.

She’d never spoken, but she had looked at him, seen him. That he would swear on as many Bibles as you could stack under his hand.

Tonight he wasn’t looking for ghosts, for the spirit memory of a woman who’d lost what she loved most before she’d recognized it.

He was only looking for a walk in the air made chilly by night and sea, in a land he’d come back to because nowhere else had ever been home.

When he climbed up the path he knew as well as the path from his own bed to his bath, he sensed nothing but the night, and the air, and the sea.

The water beat below, its endless war on rock. Light from the half moon spilled in a delicate line over black water that was never quite calm. Here he could breathe, and think the long thoughts he rarely had time for in the day-to-day doing of his work.

The pub was for him now. And though he’d never expected the full weight of it, it sat well enough on his shoulders. His parents’ decision to stay in Boston rather than to remain only long enough to help his uncle open his own pub and get it over the first six months of business hadn’t come as that much of a surprise.

His father had missed his brother sorely, and his mother had always been one for moving to a new place. They’d be back, not to live, perhaps, but they would be back to see friends, to hold their children. But Gallagher’s Pub had been passed on from father to son once again.

Since it was his legacy, he meant to do right by it.

Darcy wouldn’t wait tables and build sandwiches forever. He accepted that as well. She stored her money away like a squirrel its nuts. When she had enough to content her, she’d be off.

Shawn was happy enough for the moment to run the kitchen, to dream his dreams and to have every other female in the village pining over him. One day he would stumble over the right dream, and the right woman, and that would be that as well.

If Aidan intended Gallagher’s to go on—and he did—he would have to think about finding himself a woman and going about the business of making a son—or a daughter, for that matter, as he wasn’t so entrenched in tradition he couldn’t see passing what he had on to a girl.

But there was time for that, thank Jesus. After all, he was only thirty-one, and he didn’t intend to marry just for responsibility. There would be love, and passion, and the meeting of minds before there were vows.

One of the things he’d learned on his travels was what a man could settle for, and what he couldn’t. You could settle for a lumpy bed if the alternative was the floor, and be grateful. But you couldn’t settle for a woman who bored you or failed to stir your blood, no matter how fair her face.

As he was thinking that, he turned and looked out over the roll of land, over to the soft rise where the white cottage sat under the sky and stars. There was a thin haze of smoke rising from the chimney, a single light burning against the window.

Jude Frances Murray, he thought and found himself bringing her face into his mind. What are you doing in your little house on the faerie hill? Reading a good book perhaps, one with plenty of weight and profound messages. Or do you sneak into a story with fun and foolishness when no one’s around to see?

It’s image that worries you, he mused. That much he’d gotten from the hour or so she’d spent on one of his stools. What are people thinking? What do they see when they look at you?

And while she was thinking that, he mused, she was absorbing everything around her that she could see or hear. He doubted she knew it, but he’d seen it in her eyes.

He thought he would take some time to find out what he thought of her, what he saw in her, and what was real.

She’d already stirred his blood with those big sea goddess eyes of hers and that sternly bound hair. He liked her voice, the preciseness of it that seemed so intriguingly at odds with the shyness.

What would she do, pretty Jude, he wondered, if he was to ramble over now and rap on her door?

No point in frightening her to death, he decided, just because he was restless and something about her had made him want.

“Sleep well, then,” he murmured, sliding his hands into his pockets as the wind whirled around him. “One night when I go walking it won’t be to the cliffs, but to your door. Then we’ll see what we see.”

A shadow passed the window, and the curtain twitched aside. There she stood, almost as if she’d heard him. It was too far away for him to see more than the shape of her, outlined against the light.

He thought she might see him as well, just a shadow on the cliffs.

Then the curtain closed again, and moments later, the light went out.

FOUR

RELIABILITY, JUDE TOLD herself, began with responsibility. And both were rooted in discipline. With this short lecture in her head, she rose the next morning, prepared a simple breakfast, then took a pot of tea up to her office to settle down and work.

She would not go outside and take a walk over the hills, though it was a perfectly gorgeous day. She would not wander out to dream over the flowers, no matter how pretty they looked out the window. And she certainly wasn’t going to drive into the village and spend an hour or two roaming the beach, however compelling the idea.

Though many might consider her notion of exploring the legends handed down from generation to generation in Ireland a flighty idea at best, it was certainly viable work if approached properly and with clear thinking. The oral storytelling art, as well as the written word, was one of the cornerstones in the foundation of culture, after all.

She couldn’t bring herself to acknowledge that her most hidden, most secret desire was to write. To write stories, books, to simply open that carefully locked chamber in her heart and let the words and images rush out.

Whenever that lock rattled, she reminded herself it was an impractical, romantic, even foolish ambition. Ordinary people with average skills were better off contenting themselves with the sensible.

Researching, detailing, analyzing were sensible, things she’d been trained to do. Things, she thought with only a whisper of resentment, she’d been expected to do. The subject matter she’d selected was rebellion enough. So she would explore the psychological reason for the formation and perpetuation of the generational myths particular to the country of her ancestors.

Ireland was ripe with them.

Ghosts and banshees, pookas and faeries. What a rich and imaginative wonder was the Celtic mind! They said the cottage stood on a faerie hill, one of the magic spots that hid the gleaming raft below.

If memory served, she thought the legend went that a mortal could be lured, or even snatched, into the faerie world below the hill and kept there for a hundred years.

And wasn’t that fascinating?

Seemingly rational, ordinary people on the cusp of the twenty-first century could actually make such a statement without guile.

That, she decided, was the power of the myth on the intellect, and the psyche.

And it was strong enough, powerful enough, that for a little while, when she’d been alone in the night, she’d almost—almost believed it. The music of the wind chimes and the wind had added to it, she thought now. Songs, she mused, played by the air were meant to set the mind dreaming.

Then that figure standing out on the cliffs. The shadow of a man etched against sky and sea had drawn her gaze and caused her heart to thunder. He might have been a man waiting for a lover, or mourning one. A faerie prince weaving magic into the sea.

Very romantic, she decided, very powerful.

And of course—obviously—whoever it had been, whoever would walk wind-whipped cliffs after midnight, was lunatic. But she hadn’t thought of that until morning, for the punch of the image had her sighing and shivering over it into the night.

But the lunacy, for lack of a better word, was part of the charm of the people and their stories. So she would use it. Explore it. Immerse herself in it.

Revved, she turned to her machine, leaving the tapes and letters alone for the moment, and started her paper.

They say the cottage stands on a faerie hill, one of the many rises of land in Ireland under which the faeries live in their palaces and castles. It’s said that if you approach a faerie hill, you may hear the music that plays in the great hall of the castle under the deep green grass. And if you walk over one, you take the risk of being snatched by the faeries themselves and becoming obliged to do their bidding.

She stopped, smiled. Of course that was all too lyrical and, well, Irish a beginning for a serious academic paper. In her first year of college, her papers had been marked down regularly for just that sort of thing. Rambling, not following the point of the theme, neglecting to adhere to her own outlines.

Knowing just how important grades were to her parents, she’d learned to stifle those colorful journeys.

Still, this wasn’t for a grade, and it was just a draft. She’d clean it up later. For now, she decided, she would just get her thoughts down and lay the foundation for the analysis.

She knew enough, from her grandmother’s stories, to give a brief outline of the most common mythical characters. It would be her task to find the proper stories and the structure that revolved around each character of legend and then explain its place in the psychology of the people who fostered it.

She worked through the morning on basic definitions, often adding a subtext that cross-referenced the figure to its counterpart in other cultures.

Intent on her work, she barely heard the knocking on the front door, and when it registered she blinked her way out of an explanation of the Pisogue, the Irish wise woman found in most villages in earlier times. Hooking her glasses in the neck of her sweater, she hurried downstairs. When she opened the door, Brenna O’Toole was already walking back to her truck.

“I’m sorry to disturb you,” Brenna began.

“No, you’re not.” How could a woman wearing muddy work boots intimidate her? Jude wondered. “I was in the little room upstairs. I’m glad you stopped by. I didn’t thank you properly the other day.”

“Oh, it’s not a problem. You were asleep on your feet.” Brenna stepped away from the gate, walked back toward the stoop. “Are you settling in, then? You have all you need?”

“Yes, thanks.” Jude noticed that the faded cap Brenna squashed down over her hair carried a small winged figure pinned just over the bill. More faeries, Jude thought, and found it fascinating that such an efficient woman would wear one as a charm.

“Ah, would you like to come in, have some tea?”

“That would be lovely, thanks, but I’ve work.” Still, Brenna seemed content to linger on the little garden path. “I only wanted to stop and see if you’re finding your way about, or if there’s anything you’d be needing. I’m back and forth on the road here a time or two a day.”

“I can’t think of anything. Well, actually, I wonder if you can tell me who I contact about getting a telephone jack put into the second bedroom. I’m using it as an office, and I’ll need that for my modem.”

“Modem, is it? Your computer?” Now her eyes gleamed with interest. “My sister Mary Kate has a computer as she’s studying programming in school. You’d think she’d discovered the cure for stupidity with the thing, and she won’t let me near it.”

“Are you interested in computers?”

“I like knowing how things work, and she’s afraid I’ll take it apart—which of course I would, for how else can you figure out how a thing works, after all? She has a modem as well, and sends messages to some cousins of ours in New York and friends in Galway. It’s a marvel.”

“I suppose it is. And we tend to take it for granted until we can’t use it.”

“I can pass your need on to the right party,” Brenna continued. “They’ll have you hooked up sooner or later.” She smiled again. “Sooner or later’s how ’tis, but shouldn’t be more than a week or so. If it is, I can jury-rig something that’ll do you.”

“That’s fine. I appreciate it. Oh, and I went into the village yesterday, but the shops were closed by the time I got there. I was hoping to find a bookstore so I could pick up some books on gardening.”

“Books on it.” Brenna pursed her lips. Imagine, she thought, needing to read about planting. “Well, I don’t know where you’d find such a thing in Ardmore, but you could likely find what you’re looking for over in Dungar-van or into Waterford City for certain. Still, if you want to know something about your flowers here, you’ve only to ask my mother. She’s a keen gardener, Ma is.”

Brenna glanced over her shoulder at the sound of a car. “Well, here’s Mrs. Duffy and Betsy Clooney come ’round to say welcome. I’ll move my lorry out of your street so they can pull in. Mrs. Duffy will have brought cakes,” Brenna added. “She’s famed for them.” She waved cheerfully to the two women in the car. “Just give a shout down the hill if you’ve a need for something.”

“Yes, I—” Oh, God, was all Jude could think, don’t leave me alone with strangers. But Brenna was hopping back in her truck.

She zipped out with what Jude considered a reckless and dashing disregard for the narrow slot in the hedgerows or the possibility, however remote, of oncoming traffic, then squeezed fender to fender with the car to chat a moment with the new visitors.

Jude stood mentally wringing her hands as the truck bumped away down the road and the car pulled in.

“Good day to you, Miss Murray!” The woman behind the wheel had eyes bright as a robin’s and light brown hair that had been beaten into submission. She wore it in a tight helmet of waves under a brutal layer of spray. It glinted like shellack in the sun.

She popped out of the car, ample breasts and hips plugged onto short legs and tiny feet.

Jude pasted a smile on her face and dragged herself toward the garden gate like a woman negotiating a walk down death row. As she rattled her brain for the proper greeting, the woman yanked open the rear door of the car, chattering away to Jude and to the second woman, who stepped out of the passenger side. And, it seemed, to the world in general.

“I’m Kathy Duffy from down to the village, and this is Betsy Clooney, my niece on my sister’s side. Patty Mary, my sister, works at the food shop today or she’d’ve come to pay her respects as well. But I said to Betsy this morning, why if she could get her neighbor to mind the baby while the two older were in school, we’d just come on up to Faerie Hill Cottage and say good day to Old Maude’s cousin from America.”

She said most of this with her rather impressive bottom, currently covered by the eye-popping garden of red poppies rioting over her dress, facing Jude as she wiggled into the back of the car. She wiggled out again, face slightly flushed, with a covered cake dish and a beaming smile.

“You look a bit like your grandmother,” Kathy went on, “as I remember her from when I was a girl. I hope she’s well.”

“Yes, very. Thank you. Ah, so nice of you to come by.” She opened the gate. “Please come in.”

“I hope we gave you time enough to settle.” Betsy walked around the car, and Jude remembered her from the pub the night before. The woman with her family at one of the low tables. Somehow even that vague connection helped.

“I mentioned to Aunt Kathy that I saw you at the pub last night, at Gallagher’s? And we thought you might be ready for a bit of a welcome.”

“You were with your family. Your children were so well behaved.”

“Oh, well.” Betsy rolled eyes of clear glass green. “No need to disabuse you of such a notion so soon. You’ve none of your own, then?”

“No, I’m not married. I’ll make some tea if you’d like,” she began as they stepped inside the front door.

“That would be lovely.” Kathy started down the hall, obviously comfortable in the cottage. “We’ll have a nice visit in the kitchen.”

To Jude’s surprise, they did. She spent a pleasant hour with two women who had warm ways and easy laughs. It was simple enough to judge that Kathy Duffy was a chatterbox, and not a little opinionated, but she did it all with great good humor.

Before the hour was over, Jude’s head swam with the names and relations of the people of Ardmore, the feuds and the families, the weddings and the wakes. If there was something Katherine Anne Duffy didn’t know about any soul who lived in the area during the last century, well, it wasn’t worth mentioning.

“It’s a pity you never met Old Maude,” Kathy commented. “For she was a fine woman.”

“My grandmother was very fond of her.”

“More like sisters than cousins they were, despite the age difference.” Kathy nodded. “Your granny, she lived here as a girl after she lost her parents. My own mother was friends with the pair of them, and both she and Maude missed your granny when she married and moved to America.”

“And Maude stayed here.” Jude glanced around the kitchen. “Alone.”

“That’s the way it was meant. She had a sweetheart, and they planned to marry.”

“Oh? What happened?”

“His name was John Magee. My mother says he was a handsome lad who loved the sea. He went for a soldier during the Great War and lost his life in the fields of France.”

“It’s sad,” Betsy put in, “but romantic too. Maude never loved another, and she often spoke of him when we came to visit, though he’d been dead nearly three-quarters of a century.”

“For some,” Kathy said with a sigh, “there’s only one. None comes before and none after. But Old Maude, she lived happy here, with her memories and her flowers.”

“It’s a contented house,” Jude said, then immediately felt foolish. But Kathy Duffy only smiled and nodded again.

“It is, yes. And those of us who knew her are happy one of her own is living here now. It’s good you’re getting around the village, meeting people and acquainting yourself with some of your kin.”

“Kin?”

“You’re kin to the Fitzgeralds, and there are plenty of them in and around Old Parish. My friend Deidre, who’s in Boston now, was a Fitzgerald before she married Patrick Gallagher. You were at their place last night.”

“Oh, yes.” Aidan’s face immediately swam into Jude’s mind. The slow smile, the wildly blue eyes. “We’re cousins of some sort.”

“Seems to me your granny was first cousin to Deidre’s great-aunt Sarah. Or maybe it was her great-granny and they were second cousins. Well, hardly matters. Now the oldest Gallagher lad”—Kathy paused long enough to nibble on one of her cakes—“you had your eye on him at one time, didn’t you, Betsy?”

“I might have glanced his way a time or two, when I was a lass of sixteen.” Betsy’s eyes laughed over her cup. “And he might’ve glanced back as well. Then he went off on his rambles, and there was my Tom. When Aidan Gallagher came back . . . well, I might have glanced again, but only in appreciation for God’s creation.”

“He was a wild one as a lad, and there’s a look about him that says he could be again.” Kathy sighed. “I’ve always had a soft spot for a wild heart in a man. Have you no sweetheart in the States, then, Jude?”

“No.” She thought briefly of William. Had she ever considered her husband her sweetheart? “No one special.”

“If they’re not special, what would the point be?”

No point at all, Jude thought later when she showed her guests to the door. She couldn’t claim he’d been her great love, as John Magee had been to Maude. They hadn’t been special to each other, she and William.

They should have been. And for a time, he’d been the focus of her life. She’d loved him, or had believed she loved him. Damn it, she’d wanted to love him and had given him her best.

But it hadn’t been good enough. It was mortifying knowing that. Knowing how easily, how thoughtlessly he’d broken still fresh vows and dismissed her from his life.

But neither, she could admit, would she have grieved for him for seventy years if he’d died in some heroic or tragic fashion. The fact was, if William had died in some freak accident, she could have been the stalwart widow instead of the discarded wife.

And how horrible it was to realize she’d have preferred it that way.

What had hurt more? she wondered now. The loss of him or the loss of her pride? Whichever was true, she wouldn’t allow such a thing to happen again. She wouldn’t simply fall in line—into marriage, then out again, because it was asked of her.

This time around, she would concentrate on herself, and being on her own.

Not that she had anything against marriage, she thought as she loitered outside. Her parents had a solid marriage, were devoted to each other. It might not have had that cinematic, wildly passionate scope some imagined for themselves, but their relationship was a fine testament to a partnership that worked.

Perhaps she’d pretended she would have something near to that with William, a quiet and dignified marriage, but it hadn’t hit the mark. And the fault was hers.

There was nothing special about her. She was more than a little ashamed to admit that she’d simply become a habit to him, part of his routine.

Meet William for dinner Wednesday night at seven at one of three favored restaurants. On Saturday, meet for a play or a film, followed by a late supper, followed by tasteful sex. If both parties are agreeable, extend evening to a healthy eight hours’ sleep, followed by brunch and a discussion of the Sunday paper.

That had been the pattern of their courtship, and marriage had simply slipped into the scheme of it.

And it had been so easy, really, to end the pattern altogether.

But God, God, she wished she’d done the ending. That she’d had the guts or the flair for it. A torrid affair in a cheap motel. Moonlighting as a stripper. Running away to join a motorcycle gang.

As she tried to imagine herself slithering into leather and hopping on the back of a motorcycle behind some burly, tattooed biker named Zero, she laughed.

“Well, now, sure that’s a fair sight for a man on an April afternoon.” Aidan stood at the break in the hedgerows, hands comfortably in his pockets, grinning at her. “A laughing woman with flowers at her feet. Now some might think, being where we are, that they’d stumbled across a faerie come out to charm the blossoms to blooming.”

He strolled toward the gate as he spoke, paused there. And she was certain she’d never seen a more romantic picture in her life than Aidan Gallagher with his thick, rich hair ruffled by the breeze, his eyes a clear, wild blue, standing at the gate with the distant cliffs at his back.

“But you’re no faerie, are you, Jude Frances?”

“No, of course not.” Without thinking she lifted a hand to make sure her hair was still tidy. “I, ah, just had a visit from Kathy Duffy and Betsy Clooney.”

“I passed them on the road when I was walking this way. They said you had a nice hour over tea and cakes.”

“You walked? From the village?”

“It’s not so very far if you like to walk, and I do.” She was looking just a bit distressed again, Aidan mused. As if she wasn’t quite sure what to do about him.

Well, he supposed that made them even. But he wanted to make her smile, to watch her lips curve slow and shy and her dimples come to life.

“Are you going to ask me into your garden or would you rather I just kept walking?”

“No, sorry.” She hurried to the gate and reached for the latch just as he did. His hand closed over hers, warm and firm, so they lifted the latch together.

“What were you thinking of that made you laugh?”

“Oh, well . . .” Since he still had her hand, she found herself backing up. “Just something foolish. Mrs. Duffy left some cakes, and there’s still tea.”

He couldn’t recall ever having seen a woman so spooked just by speaking to him. But he couldn’t say that her reaction was entirely displeasing. Testing, he kept her hand in his, continued forward as she walked back.

“And I imagine you’ve had your fill of both for now. Truth is, I need the air from time to time, so I go on what people call Aidan’s rambles. Unless you’re in a hurry to go back in, we could just sit on your stoop awhile.”

His free hand reached out, pressed her hip and stopped her retreat. “You’re about to step on your flowers,” he murmured. “A shame it would be to crush them underfoot.”

“Oh.” Cautious, she edged away. “I’m clumsy.”

“I wouldn’t say so. A bit nervy is all.” Despite the odd pleasure of seeing her flustered, he had an urge to smooth those nerves away and put her at ease.

With his fingertips curled to hers, he shifted, turned her with such fluid grace she could only blink to find herself facing the other way. “I wondered,” he went on as he led her toward the stoop, “if you’re interested in hearing the stories I know. For your paper.”

“Yes, very much.” She let out a relieved breath and lowered herself to the stoop. “I started on it this morning—the paper—trying to get a feel for it, formulate an outline, the basic structure.”

She wrapped her arms around her knees, then tightened them as she glanced over and saw him watching her. “What is it?”

He lifted a brow. “It’s nothing. I’m listening. I like listening to you. Your voice is so precise and American.”

“Oh.” She cleared her throat, stared straight ahead again as if she had to keep a close eye on the flowers so they didn’t escape. “Where was I . . . the structure of it. The different areas I want to address. The fantasy elements, of course, but also the social, cultural, and sexual aspects of traditional myths. Their use in tradition as entertainment, as parables, as warnings, in romance.”

“Warnings?”

“Yes, mothers telling children about bog faeries to keep them from wandering into dangerous areas, or relating tales of evil spirits and so forth to influence them to behave. There are as many—more actually—grotesque legends as there are benevolent ones.”

“Which do you prefer?”

“Oh, well.” She fumbled a little. “Both, I suppose, depending on the mood.”

“Do you have many?”

“Many what?”

“Moods. I think you do. You have moody eyes.” There, he thought, that’s made her look in my direction again.

Those long, liquid pulls started up again in her belly, so she looked away again. Quickly. “No, actually, I’m not particularly moody. Anyway, hmmm. You have babies being snatched from their cradles and replaced with changelings, children devoured by ogres. In the last century we’ve changed passages and endings in fairy tales to happy-ever-after, when in reality their early forms contained blood and death and devouring. Psychologically, it mirrors the changes in our cultures, and what parents want their children to hear and to believe.”

“And what do you believe?”

“That a story’s a story, but happy-ever-after is less likely to give a child nightmares.”

“And did your mother tell you stories of changelings?”

“No.” The idea of it had Jude laughing. “But my grandmother did. In a very entertaining fashion. I imagine you tell an entertaining one, too.”

“I’ll tell you one now, if you’ve a mind to walk down to the village with me.”

“Walk?” She shook her head. “It’s miles.”

“No more than two.” Suddenly he wanted very much to walk with her. “You’ll work off Mrs. Duffy’s cakes, then I’ll feed you supper. We have beggarman’s stew on the menu tonight, and it sits well. I’ll see you get a ride home after a bit.”

She slid her gaze toward him, then away again. It sounded wonderfully spontaneous, just stand up and go, no plans, no structure. Which, of course, was exactly why it wouldn’t do.

“That’s tempting, but I really should work a little longer.”

“Then come tomorrow.” He took her hand again, drawing her to her feet as he rose. “We have music at Gallagher’s of a Saturday night.”

“You had music there last night.”

“More,” he told her. “And a bit more. . . structured you’d say, I suppose. Some musicians from Waterford City, the traditional sort. You’ll enjoy it and you can’t write about Ireland’s legends, can you, without its music? So come down to the pub tomorrow night, and I’ll come to you on Sunday.”

“Come to me?”

He smiled again, slow, deliberate, delightful. “To tell you a story, for your paper. Will Sunday in the afternoon do for you?”

“Oh, yes, that would be fine. Perfect.”

“Good day to you, then, Jude Frances.” He strolled to the gate, then turned. His eyes were bluer, more intense when they met hers, held hers. “Come on Saturday. I like looking at you.”

She didn’t move a muscle, not when he turned to open the gate, not when he walked through and down to the road. Not even after he was well beyond the high hedge and away.

Looking at her? What did he mean by that? Exactly.

Was that some sort of casual flirtation? His eyes hadn’t looked casual, she thought as she began to pace up and down the narrow path. Of course, how would she know, really, when this was only the second time she’d seen him?

That was probably it. Just an offhand, knee-jerk flirtation from a man used to flirting with women. More, when you considered the situation, a friendly remark.

“ ‘I’d like to see you in the pub on Saturday, come on by,’” she murmured. “That’s all he meant. And damn it all to hell and back, why do I have to pick everything apart?”

Annoyed with herself, she strode back into the house, closed the door firmly. Any sensible woman would have smiled at him when he’d said it, flirted back a little. It was a harmless, even conditioned response. Unless you were a neurotic tight-ass.

“Which, Jude F. Murray, is exactly what you are. A neurotic tight-ass. You couldn’t just open your idiot mouth and say something like, ‘I’ll see what I can do. I like looking at you, too.’ Oh, no, you just stand there like he’d shot you between the eyes.”

Jude stopped, holding up both hands, shutting her eyes. Now she wasn’t just talking to herself. She was scolding herself as if she were two different people.

Taking deep breaths, she calmed herself and decided she really wanted another of those little frosted cakes, just to take the edge off.

She marched into the kitchen, ignoring the prissy little voice in her head that told her she was compensating with oral gratification. Yeah, so what? When some gorgeous man she barely knew had her hormones erupting, she was damn well going to comfort herself with sugar.

She snatched up a cake with pale pink frosting, then whirled around at the loud thud against the back door. At the sight of the hairy face and long teeth, she cut loose with a squeal and the cake sailed up, bounced off the ceiling, then landed with a plop—frosting side down—at her feet.

It took her only the amount of time the cake was airborne to realize it wasn’t a monster at the back door but a dog.

“Jesus! Jesus Christ, what’s with this country? Every two minutes something’s coming to the door.” She dragged her fingers through her hair, setting curls free, then she and the dog eyed each other through the glass.

She had big brown eyes, and Jude decided they looked hopeful rather than aggressive. Her teeth were showing, true, but her tongue was lolling out, so what choice did they have? Huge paws had already smeared the glass with mud, but when she let out a friendly woof, Jude caved.

As she moved to the door, the dog disappeared. But there she was when Jude opened it, sitting politely on the back stoop, thumping her tail and gazing up at her.

“You’re the O’Tooles’ dog, aren’t you?”

She seemed to take this for an invitation and shoved her way in to clomp around the kitchen, spreading mud. Then she did Jude the favor of cleaning up the dropped cake before walking to the fire and sitting on her haunches again.

“I didn’t feel like starting the fire in here today.” She walked over, holding out her hand to see what the dog would do about it. When she sniffed it politely, then gave it a nudge with her nose so it landed on her head, Jude laughed.

“Clever, aren’t you?” Obligingly, she scratched between her ears. She’d never had a dog, though her mother had two ill-tempered Siamese cats that were pampered like royalty.

She imagined the dog had visited Old Maude regularly, had curled up by the kitchen fire and kept the old woman company from time to time. Did dogs feel grief when a friend had died? she wondered, then remembered she’d yet to keep her promise to take flowers to Maude’s grave.

She’d inquired about the location in the village the night before. Maude was buried east of the village, above the sea, beyond the path that ran near the hotel, and back to the ruins and the oratory and the well of Saint Declan.

A long and scenic walk, she mused.

On impulse, Jude pulled the flowers she’d put on the kitchen counter out of their bottle, then cocked her head at the dog.

“Want to go visit Old Maude?”

The dog gave another woof, got to her feet, and as they walked out the back door together, Jude wondered who was leading whom.

It felt very rural and rustic. As she hiked over hills with the yellow dog, flowers in her hand for an ancestor’s grave, Jude imagined it as part of her weekly routine. The Irish country woman with her faithful hound, paying respects to a distant cousin.

It would be something she would make a habit—well, if she actually had a dog and really lived here.

It was soothing, being out in the air and the breeze, watching the dog race off to sniff at God knew what, catching all those glorious signs of spring in the blooming hedges, the quick dart and trill of a bird.

The sea rumbled. The cliffs brooded.

As she approached the steeply gabled oratory, the sun shot through the clouds and splashed over the grass and the stone. The three stone crosses stood, casting their shadows, with the well holding its holy water under them.

Pilgrims had washed there, she remembered from her guidebook. And how many, she wondered, had secretly poured a bit of water on the ground for the gods, hedging their bets?

Why take chances, she thought with a nod. She’d have done both herself.

It was a peaceful place, she thought. And a moving one that seemed to understand life and death, and what connected them.

The air seemed warmer, almost like summer despite the wind, with the fragrance of flowers that scattered through the grass and lay on the dead suddenly wild and sweet. She heard the hum of bees and birdsong, the sound of it clear and musical and ripe.

The grass grew tall and green and just a little wild over uneven ground. A handful of small, rough stones, she noted, that marked ancient graves settled into it. And with them, the single new. Old Maude had chosen to be buried here, nearly alone, on a hill that looked over the gameboard-neat village, the blue skirt of sea, and the roll of green that led to mountain.

Tucked into a stone shelf in the ruins was a long plastic pot filled with deep red flowers. The sight of them touched Jude’s heart.

So often people forgot, she thought. But not here. Here, people remembered, and honored those memories with flowers for the dead.

“Maude Alice Fitzgerald,” the simple marker read. “Wise Woman” had been carved under her name, and below that the dates of her long, long life.

It was an odd epitaph, Jude mused as she knelt beside the gentle slope. There were flowers there already, a tiny clutch of early violets just beginning to fade. Jude lay her bouquet beside them, then sat back on her heels.

“I’m Jude,” she began, “your cousin Agnes’s granddaughter. The one from America. I’m staying in your cottage for a while. It’s really lovely. I’m sorry I never met you, but Granny used to talk about the times you spent together, in the cottage. How you were happy for her when she married and went to America. But you stayed here, at home.”

“She was a fine woman.”

With her heart leaping into her throat, Jude jerked her head up and looked into deep blue eyes. It was a handsome face, young and smooth. He wore his black hair long, nearly to his shoulders. His mouth tipped up at the corners in a friendly fashion as he stepped closer to face Jude across the grave.

“I didn’t hear you. I didn’t know you were here.”

“One walks soft on a holy place. I don’t mean to frighten you.”

“No.” Only half to death, she thought. “You just startled me.” She pushed at the hair the wind had loosened and sent dancing around her face. “You knew Maude?”

“Sure and I knew Old Maude, a fine woman as I said who lived a rich and generous life. It’s good that you’re bringing flowers to her, for she favored them.”

“They’re hers, out of her garden.”

“Aye.” His smile widened. “That makes them all the better.” He laid his hand on the head of the dog that sat quietly at his side. Jude saw a ring glint on his finger, some deep blue stone that winked in a heavy setting of silver. “You’ve waited a long time to come to your beginnings.”

She frowned at him, blinking against the sun, which seemed stronger now, strong enough to make her vision waver. “Oh, you mean to come to Ireland. I suppose I have.”

“It’s a place where you can look into your heart and see what matters most.” His eyes were like cobalt now. Intense, hypnotic. “Then choose,” he told her. “Choose well, Jude Frances, for ’tisn’t only you who’ll be touched by it.”

The scent of flowers, grass, earth whirled in her head until she felt drunk from it. The sun blinded her, shooting up fiery facets that burned and blurred. The wind rose, a sudden, dazzling burst of energy.

She would have sworn she heard pipes playing, rising notes flying on that fast wind. “I don’t know what you mean.” Woozy, she lifted a hand to her head, closed her eyes.

“You will.”

“I saw you, in the rain.” Dizzy, she was so dizzy. “On the hill with the round tower.”

“That you did. We’ve been waiting for you.”

“Waiting? Who?”

The wind stilled as quickly as it had risen, and the music faded away into silence. She shook her head to clear it. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”

But when she opened her eyes again, she was alone with the quiet dead and the big yellow dog.

FIVE

AIDAN DIDN’T OBJECT to paperwork. He bloody well hated it.

But three days a week, rain or shine, he spent an hour or more at the desk in his upstairs rooms laboring over orders and overhead, payroll and profits.

It was a constant relief to him that there was a profit. He’d never concerned himself overmuch with money before Gallagher’s had been passed into his hands. And he often wondered if that was part of the reason his parents had pushed it there. He’d had a fine time living from hand to mouth when he’d traveled. Scraping by, or just scraping. He hadn’t saved a penny or felt the need to.

Responsibility hadn’t precisely been his middle name.

After all, he’d grown up comfortable enough, and certainly he’d worked his share during his childhood and adolescence. But mopping up, serving pints, and singing a tune was a far cry from figuring how much lager to order, what percentage of breakage—thank you very much, sister Darcy—the business could bear, the juggling of numbers into ledgers, and the calculation of taxes.

It gave him a headache every blessed time, and he had no more love for sitting inside with books than he had for having a tooth pulled, but he learned.

And as he learned, he realized the pub meant more to him because of it. Yes, parents were clever creatures, he decided. And his knew their son.

He spent time on the phone with distributors trying to wangle the best price. That he didn’t mind so much, as it was a bit like horse trading. And something he discovered an aptitude for.

It pleased him that musicians from Dublin, from Waterford, from as far away as Clare and Galway were not only willing but pleased to do a turn at Gallagher’s. He took pride in knowing that in his four years at the head of it, he’d helped polish the pub’s reputation as a place for music.

And he expected the summer season, when the tourists flowed in, to be the best they’d had.

But that didn’t make the adding and subtracting any less a chore.

He’d thought about a computer, but then he’d have to learn the goddamn thing. He could admit, without shame, that the very idea of it frightened him beyond speech. When he broached the idea to Darcy, that she could perhaps learn the ins and outs of it, she’d laughed at him until tears ran down her pretty cheeks.

He knew better than to ask Shawn, who wouldn’t think to change a lightbulb if he was reading in the dark.

He wasn’t about to hire the chore out, not when Gallagher’s had managed its own since the doors had opened. So it was either continue to labor with pencil and adding machine or gather the courage to face technology.

He imagined Jude had knowledge of computers. He wouldn’t mind having her teach him a thing or two. He’d certainly enjoy, he thought with a slow smile, returning the favor in a different area altogether.

He wanted his hands on her. He’d already wondered what he would find in taste, in texture, in that lovely wide mouth of hers. It had been some time since a woman had put this hum in his blood, and he was enjoying the anticipation of it, the wondering of it.

She put him in mind of a young mare not quite sure of her legs. One who shied at the approach of a man even as she hoped for a nice, gentle stroke. It was an appealing combination, that hesitant manner with the clever mind and educated voice.

He hoped she would come that evening, as he’d asked her.

He hoped she’d wear one of her neat outfits, with her hair tidied back so he could imagine the pleasure of mussing her up.

If Jude had had a clue where Aidan’s thoughts were traveling, she would never have found the courage to leave the cottage. Even without that added complication, she’d changed her mind about going half a dozen times.

It would be impolite not to after she’d been asked.

It would look as if she expected his time and attention.

It was simply a nice way to spend a friendly evening.

She wasn’t the type of woman who spent evenings in bars.

Her own vacillation irritated her so much she decided to go on principle for one hour.

She dressed in stone-gray slacks and jacket, jazzing them up with a vest with thin burgundy stripes. It was Saturday night after all, she thought, and added silver earrings that dangled cheerfully. There would be music, she remembered, as she toyed with going crazy and adding a pair of thin silver bangle bracelets.

She had a secret and passionate love affair with jewelry.

As she slipped the bangles on her wrist, she thought of the ring the man in the cemetery had worn. That flash of sapphire in deeply carved silver, so out of place in the quiet countryside.

He’d been so odd, she thought now, coming and going so quietly it was almost as if she’d dreamed him. But she remembered his face and voice very clearly, as clearly as that sudden burst of scent, the quick kick of wind and the dizziness.

Just a sugar crash, she decided. All those cakes she’d eaten had leaped into her system and then away, leaving her momentarily giddy.

She shrugged it off, leaning forward to the mirror to make sure she hadn’t smeared her mascara. She would probably see him again, in the pub tonight or when she took flowers to Maude the next time.

With her bracelets jangling cheerfully and giving her confidence, she headed downstairs. She remembered her keys before she got all the way to the car this time, which she considered good progress. Just as she considered it a good sign that her palms didn’t sweat while she negotiated the road in the dark.

Pleased with herself, anticipating a quiet and enjoyable evening, she parked at the curb just down from Gallagher’s. Smoothing her hair as she went, she walked to the door, breathed in, pulled it open.

And was nearly knocked back again by the blast of music.

Pipes, fiddle, voices, then the wild roar of the crowd on the chorus of “Whiskey in the Jar.” The rhythm was so fast, so reckless it was a blur of sound and that sound grabbed her, yanked her inside, then surrounded her.

This wasn’t the dark, quiet pub she’d stepped into before. This one was crowded with people, spilling over at the low tables, jammed into the bar, milling about with glasses full and glasses empty.

The musicians—how could only three people make such a sound?—were shoehorned into the front booth, taking the space over in their workingmen’s clothes and boots as they played like demon angels. The room smelled of smoke, yeast, and Saturday-night soap.

For a moment she wondered if she’d walked into the wrong place, but then spotted Darcy, her glorious cloud of dark hair tied back with a sassy red ribbon. She carried a tray loaded with empty glasses, bottles, overflowing ashtrays while she flirted skillfully with a young man whose face was as red as her ribbon with embarrassed delight and whose eyes were filled with desperate admiration.

Catching Jude’s eye, Darcy winked, then gave the infatuated young man a pat on the cheek and nudged her way through the crowd. “Pub’s lively tonight. Aidan said you’d be coming in and to keep an eye out for you.”

“Oh . . . that was nice of him, of you. I wasn’t expecting so . . . much.”

“The musicians are favored around here, and they draw a good crowd.”

“They’re wonderful.”

“They play a fine tune, yes.” Darcy was more interested in Jude’s earrings, and wondered where she’d bought them and what the price might have been. “Here now, just keep in my wake and I’ll get you to the bar safe enough.”

She did just that, winding and wending, nudging now and then with a laugh and a comment addressed to this one or that one by name. She headed for the far end of the bar, where she slipped her tray through bodies to the order station.

“Good evening, Mr. Riley, sir,” Darcy said to the ancient man at the very last stool.

“Good evening to you as well, young Darcy.” He spoke in a reedy voice, smiled at her out of eyes that looked half blind to Jude as he sipped his thick, dark Guinness. “If you marry me, darling, I’ll make you a queen.”

“Then marry we will Saturday next, for a queen I deserve to be.” She gave him a pretty kiss on his papery cheek. “Will Riley, let the Yank here have your seat next to your grandda.”

“Pleasure.” The thin man hopped off the stool and beamed a smile at Jude. “You’re the Yank, then. Sit down here, next to me grandda, and we’ll buy you a pint.”

“The lady prefers wine.” Aidan, the glass already in his hand, stepped into her vision and offered it.

“Yes. Thank you.”

“Well, then, put it on Will Riley’s tab, Aidan, and we’ll drink to all our cousins across the foam.”

“That I’ll do, Will.” He spread that slow smile over Jude, said, “Stay awhile, won’t you?” Then moved off to work.

She stayed awhile. Because it seemed polite, she drank toasts to people she’d never heard of. Because it required little effort on her part, she had a conversation with both Rileys about their relations in the States and their own visits there—though she knew she disappointed them both when she admitted she’d never been to Wyoming and seen an actual cowboy.

She listened to the music, because it was wonderful. Tunes both familiar and strange, both rousing and heartbreaking flowed through and over the crowd. She let herself hum when she recognized the song and smiled when old Mr. Riley piped out words in his thin voice.

“I was sweet of heart on your cousin Maude,” Mr. Riley told Jude. “But she was only for Johnny Magee, rest his soul.” He sighed deep and sipped his Guinness in the same fashion. “And one day when I went to her door with my hat in my hand once again, she told me I’d marry a lass with fair hair and gray eyes before the year was out.”

He paused, smiling to himself as if, Jude thought, looking backward. She leaned closer to hear him over the thunder of music. “And before a month had passed I met my Lizzie, with her fair hair and gray eyes. We were married in June and had nearly fifty years together before she passed on.”

“That’s lovely.”

“Maude, she knew things.” His faded eyes looked into Jude’s. “The Good People often whispered in Maude’s ear.”

“Did they?” Jude said, amused now.

“Oh, aye, and you being her blood, they may come whispering in yours. See that you listen.”

“I’ll do that.”

For a time they sipped companionably and listened to the music. Then tears filmed Jude’s eyes when Darcy slipped her arm around the old man’s bony shoulders and matched her glorious voice to his on a song of endless love and loss.

When she saw Brenna pouring whiskey and pulling the taps behind the bar, Jude smiled. For once the cap was missing, and Brenna’s mass of red curls tumbled down as they chose.

“I didn’t know you worked here.”

“Oh, now and again, when there’s need. What’s your pleasure there, Jude?”

“Oh, this is Chardonnay, but I really shouldn’t—”

But she was talking to Brenna’s back and before she knew it the woman had turned around and filled her glass again. “Weekends can be busy at Gallagher’s,” Brenna went on. “And I’ll lend a hand over the summer season as well. It’s fine music tonight, isn’t it?”

“It’s wonderful.”

“And how’s it all going then, Mr. Riley, my darling?”

“It’s going well, pretty Brenna O’Toole. And when are you going to be my bride and stop my heart from aching?”

“In the merry month of May.” Smoothly, she replaced his empty pint with a full one. “Watch this rogue, mind you, Jude, or he’ll be after toying with your affections.”

“Take the other end, will you, Brenna?” Aidan slipped behind her, tugged on her bright hair. “I’ve a mind to work down here so I can flirt with Jude.”

“Ah, there’s another rogue for you. The place is full of them.”

“She’s a pretty one,” Mr. Riley put in and Aidan winked at Jude.

“Which one of them, Mr. Riley, sir?”

“All of them.” Mr. Riley wheezed out a laugh and slapped his thin hand on the bar. “Sure and I’ve never seen a female face that wasn’t pretty enough for a pinch. The Yank here has witchy eyes. You mind your step, Aidan lad, or she’ll put a spell on you.”

“Maybe she has already.” He cleared glasses, put them in the sink under the bar, got fresh ones for the tap. “Have you been out of a midnight, Jude Frances, picking moonflowers and whispering my name?”

“I might,” she heard herself say, “if I knew which were moonflowers.”

This made Mr. Riley laugh so hard she feared he’d topple off his stool. Aidan only smiled, served his pints, took the coin. Then he leaned close, watched her eyes go wide and her lips tremble apart in surprise. “I’ll point out the moonflowers for you, the next I come to call.”

“Well. Hmmm.” So much for snappy repartee, she decided, and gulped down some wine.

Either the wine, or the intimacy of the look he sent her, went straight to her head. She decided she would have to approach both with a bit more caution and respect. This time when Aidan lifted the bottle, she shook her head and put her hand over her glass.

“No, thanks. I’ll just have water now.”

“You want the fizzy sort?”

“Fizzy? Oh, yes, that would be nice.”

He brought it to her in a short glass with no ice to speak of. She sipped it, watching as he set two more glasses under taps and began the methodical process of building a Guinness.

“It takes an awfully long time,” she said more to herself than him, but he glanced over, one hand still maneuvering the taps.

“Only as long as it takes to make it right. One day, when you’re in the mood for it, I’ll build you a glass and you’ll see what you’re missing by sipping that French business there.”

Darcy swung back to the bar, set down her tray. “A pint and a half, Smithwick, pint of Guinness and two glasses of Jameson’s. And when you’re done there, Aidan, Jack Brennan’s come to his limit.”

“I’ll see to it. What time do you have, Jude Frances?”

“Time?” She stopped staring at his hands—they were so quick and clever—and glanced down at her watch. “Lord, it’s after eleven. I had no idea.” Her hour had stretched into nearly three. “I need to get back.”

Aidan gave her an absent nod, a great deal less than she’d hoped for, and filled his sister’s order while Jude searched for the money to pay for her drinks.

“My grandson’s paying.” Mr. Riley laid a fragile hand on her shoulder. “He’s a good lad. You put your money away, darling.”

“Thank you.” She offered a hand to shake, then found herself charmed when the old man lifted it to his lips. “I enjoyed meeting you.” She slid off her stool, sent a smile to the younger Riley. “Both of you.”

Without Darcy to clear the path, getting to the door was a little more problematic than getting to the bar had been. When she got there, her face was flushed from the heat of bodies, and her blood dancing to the hot lick of the fiddle.

She considered it one of the most entertaining evenings of her life.

Then she stepped outside into the cool night air. And saw Aidan just as he ducked under the violent swing of an arm the width of a tree trunk.

“Now, Jack,” he said in reasonable tones as a giant of a man with shocking red hair bunched hamlike fists again. “You know you don’t want to hit me.”

“I’ll do it! I’ll break your interfering nose this time, by Jesus, Aidan Gallagher. Who are you to tell me I can’t have a fucking drink in the fucking pub when I’ve a fucking mind to?”

“You’re well and truly pissed, Jack, and you need to go home now and sleep it off.”

“Let’s see if you can sleep this off.”

He charged, and while Aidan prepared to pivot and easily avoid the bull rush, Jude let out a short scream of alarm. It took only that to distract Aidan enough to have Jack’s wild punch connect.

“Well, hell.” Aidan wiggled his jaw, blew out a breath as Jack’s lumbering charge sent the man sprawling facedown on the sidewalk.

“Are you all right?” Terrified, Jude rushed over, skirting the sprawled form that was approximately the size of a capsized ocean liner. “Your mouth’s bleeding. Does it hurt? This is awful.” She fumbled in her bag for a tissue as she stuttered.

Aidan was irritated enough to tell her the blood was as much her fault for screaming as it was Jack’s for throwing the punch. But she looked so pretty and distressed, and was already dabbing at his painfully cut lip with the tissue.

He started to smile, and as that hurt like twice the devil, he winced.

“Oh, what a bully! We need to call the police.”

“For what?”

“To arrest him. He attacked you.”

Sincerely shocked, Aidan gaped at her. “Now, why would I want to have one of my oldest friends arrested just for bloodying my lip?”

“Friend?”

“Sure. He’s just nursing a broken heart with whiskey which is foolish but natural enough. The lass he thought he loved went off with a Dubliner, two weeks ago last Wednesday, so he’s taken to drinking out his sorrows the past few days, then causing a ruckus. He doesn’t mean anything by it.”

“He hit you in the face.” Perhaps if she said it slowly, clearly, the meaning would get through. “He said he was going to break your nose.”

“That’s only because he’s tried to break it before and hasn’t found success. He’ll be sorry for it in the morning, nearly as sorry as he’ll be because his aching head won’t just roll off his shoulders and leave him in peace.”

Aidan did smile now, but cautiously. “Were you worried for me, darling?”

“Apparently I shouldn’t have been.” She said it primly and balled up the bloody tissue. “As you appear to enjoy brawling in the street with your friends.”

“Was a time I enjoyed brawling in the street with strangers, but with maturity I prefer my friends.” He reached out, as he’d been wanting to, and toyed with the ends of her bound-back hair. “And I thank you for having concern for me.”

He stepped forward. She stepped back.

And he sighed. “One day you won’t have quite so much room to back away. And I won’t have poor drunk Jack at me feet to deal with.”

Philosophically he bent down and, to Jude’s astonishment, picked up the enormous semiconscious man and swung him handily over his shoulder.

“Is that you, then, Aidan?”

“Aye, Jack.”

“Did I break your nose?”

“No, you didn’t, but you bloodied my lip a bit.”

“Fucking Gallagher luck.”

“There’s a lady present, you knothead.”

“Oh. Begging pardon.”

“You’re both ridiculous,” Jude decided and turned away to march to her car.

“Jude, my darling?” Aidan grinned, hissed as his lip split again. “I’ll see you tomorrow, say at half-one.” He only chuckled when she continued to walk, heels clicking briskly, then turned to give him a fulminating look as she got into her car.

“Is she gone now?” Jack wanted to know.

“She’s going. But not far,” Aidan murmured as she drove decorously down the street. “No, she won’t go far.”

• • •

Men were baboons. Obviously. Jude shook her head, tapped her finger on the wheel in a disapproving manner as she drove home. Drunken brawls on the street were not amusing pastimes, and anyone who thought they were was in dire need of therapy.

God, he’d made her feel like an idiot. Standing there grinning at her while she dabbed at the blood on his mouth and babbled. An indulgent grin, she thought now, from the big, strong man to the foolish, fluttery female.

Worse, she had been foolish and fluttery. When Aidan had tossed that enormous man over his shoulder as if he was a bag of feathers, her stomach had definitely fluttered. If she hadn’t tightened up that very instant and stalked away, she might well have whimpered in admiration.

Mortifying.

And had he been the least bit embarrassed at getting a fist planted in his face in front of her? No, indeed. Had he blushed to introduce the drunken fool at his feet as an old and close friend? No, he had not.

He was very likely behind the bar again right this minute, entertaining his customers with the story, making them laugh over her scream of alarm and trembling hands.

Bastard.

She sniffed once, and felt better for it.

By the time she pulled in the drive she’d convinced herself that she’d behaved in a scrupulously dignified and reasonable manner. It was Aidan Gallagher who’d been the fool.

Moonflowers, indeed. She slammed the door of her car sharply enough to send the echo ringing down to the valley.

After huffing out another breath and smoothing down her hair, she headed for the gate. And when her gaze was drawn up, she saw the woman in the window.

“Oh, God.”

The blood drained out of her head. She felt each individual drop of it flow out. Moonlight shimmered gently on the pale fall of hair, on the white cheeks, against the deep green eyes.

She was smiling, a beautiful, heart-wrenching smile that hooked Jude’s soul and all but ripped it out.

Gathering courage, she shoved the gate back and ran for the door. When she yanked it open it occurred to her that she’d neglected to lock it. Someone had gone in while she’d been in the pub, she told herself. That was all.

Her knees trembled as she dashed up the stairs.

The bedroom was empty, as was every other room when she hurried through the house. All that was left was the faint sighing scent of woman.

Uneasy, she locked the doors. And when she was in her bedroom again, she locked that as well from the inside.

After she undressed and huddled in bed, she left the light burning. It was a long time before she slept. And dreamed of jewels bursting out of the sun and tumbling through the sky to be caught in a silver bag by a man riding a winged horse white as snowfall.

They swooped out of the sky, over the fields and mountains, the lakes and rivers, the bogs and the moors that were Ireland. Across the battlements of castles and the humble thatched roofs of cottages, with the white wings of the horse singing against the wind.

They came to a flashing stop, hooves striking ground at the front of the cottage on the hill with its white walls and deep-green shutters and flowers spilling from the door.

She came out to him, her hair the palest of golds around her shoulders, her eyes green as the fields. And the man, with hair as dark as hers was light, wearing a silver ring centered with a stone no less brilliant than his eyes, leaped from the horse.

He walked to her and spilled the flood of jewels at her feet. Diamonds blazed in the grass.

“These are my passion for you,” he told her. “Take them and me, for I would give you all I have and more.”

“Passion isn’t enough, nor are your diamonds.” Her voice was quiet, contained, and her hands stayed folded at her waist. “I’m promised to another.”

“I’ll give you all. I’ll give you forever. Come away with me, Gwen, and a hundred lifetimes I’ll give you.”

“ ’Tisn’t fine jewels and lifetimes I want.” A single tear slipped down her cheek, as bright as the diamonds in the grass. “I can’t leave my home. Won’t change my world for yours. Not for all your diamonds, for all your lifetimes.”

Without a word, he turned from her and mounted his horse. And as they rose up into the sky, she walked away into the cottage, leaving the diamonds on the ground as if they were no more than flowers.

And so they became flowers and covered the ground with fragrance, humble and sweet.

SIX

JUDE AWOKE TO the soft, steady patter of rain and the vague memory of dreams full of color and motion. She was tempted to snuggle under the covers and slide back into sleep, to find those dreams again. But that seemed wrong. Overindulgent.

More productive, she decided, to create and maintain a routine. A rainy Sunday morning could be spent on basic housekeeping chores. After all, she didn’t have a cleaning service here in Ardmore as she had in Chicago.

On some secret level she actually looked forward to the dusting and mopping, the little tasks that would in some way make the cottage hers. She supposed it wasn’t very sensible of her, but she actually enjoyed rooting through the cleaning supplies, selecting her rags and cloths.

She spent a pleasant portion of the morning dusting and rearranging the knickknacks Old Maude had scattered all over the house. Pretty painted fairies, elegant sorcerers, intriguing chunks of crystal had homes on every tabletop and shelf. Most of the books leaned toward Irish history and folklore, but there were a number of well-worn paperbacks tucked in.

Old Maude had liked to read romance novels, Jude discovered, and found the idea wonderfully sweet.

Rather than a vacuum, Jude unearthed an old-fashioned upright sweeper, and hummed along with its squeaky progress over rug and wood.

She scrubbed down the kitchen and found a surprising glow of satisfaction when chrome and porcelain gleamed. Gaining confidence as she went, she wielded her polishing cloth in the office next. She would get to the boxes in the tiny closet soon, she promised herself. Perhaps that evening. And she’d ship off to her grandmother anything that seemed worthwhile or sentimental enough to keep.

She stripped the bed in her room, gathered the rest of the laundry. She found it slightly embarrassing that she’d never done laundry before in her life. But surely it couldn’t be that complex a skill to learn. It occurred to her that she should have started the wash before she started the cleaning, but she’d remember that next time.

In the cramped room off the kitchen, she found the basket, which she realized she should have taken upstairs in the first place, and dumped the laundry in it.

She also discovered there was no dryer. If she wasn’t mistaken, that meant she had to hang clothes out on a line. And though watching Mollie O’Toole as she did so had been enjoyable, doing it herself, for herself, would be a little more problematic.

She’d just have to learn. She would learn, Jude assured herself. Then, clearing her throat, she took a hard look at the washing machine.

Hardly new, it had a spray of rust spots over the white surface. The controls were simple. You got cold water or hot, and she assumed if you wanted something clean, you used hot and plenty of it. She read the instructions on the box of detergent and followed them meticulously. The sound of water pouring into the tub made her beam with accomplishment.

To celebrate she put on the kettle for tea and treated herself to a handful of cookies from the tin.

The cottage was tidy. Her cottage was tidy, she corrected. Everything was in place, the laundry was going so . . . Now there was no excuse not to think about what she’d seen the night before.

The woman at the window. Lady Gwen.

Her ghost.

There was no reasonable way to deny she’d seen that figure twice now. It had been too clear. So clear she knew she could, even with her rudimentary skills, sketch the face that had watched her from the window.

Ghosts. They weren’t something she’d been brought up to believe in, though part of her had always loved the fancy of her grandmother’s tales. But unless she had suddenly become prone to hallucinations, she’d seen a ghost twice now.

Could it be she’d tumbled off the edge of the breakdown that had been so worrying her when she left Chicago?

But she didn’t feel so unsteady now. She hadn’t had a tension headache or a queasy stomach or felt the smothering weight of oncoming depression in days.

Not since she’d stepped over the threshold of Faerie Hill Cottage for the first time.

She felt . . . good, she decided after a quick mental check. Alert, calm, healthy. Even happy.

So, she thought, either she’d seen a ghost and such things did exist, which meant readjusting her thinking to quite an extent . . .

Or she’d had a breakdown and the result of it was contentment.

She nibbled thoughtfully on another cookie and decided she could live with either situation.

At the knock on the front door she quickly brushed crumbs from her sweater and glanced at the clock. She had no idea where the morning had gone, and she had deliberately put Aidan’s promised visit out of her head.

Apparently he was here now. That was fine. They’d work in the kitchen, she decided, shoving pins back into her hair as she walked down the hall to the door. Despite her initial, well, chemical reaction to him, her interest in him was purely professional. A man who fought with drunks on the street and flirted so outrageously with women he barely knew had no appeal to her whatsoever.

She was a civilized woman who believed in using reason, diplomacy, and compromise to solve disputes. She could only pity someone who preferred using force and bunched fists.

Even if he did have a beautiful face and muscles that just rippled when put into use.

She was much too sensible to be blinded by the physical.

She would record his stories, thank him for his cooperation. And that would be that.

Then she opened the door, and he was standing in the rain, his hair gleaming with it, his smile warm as summer and just as lazy. And she felt about as sensible as a puppy.

“Good day to you, Jude.”

“Hello.” It was a testament to his effect on her that it took her a full ten seconds to so much as notice the enormous man beside him clutching flowers in his huge hand. He looked miserable, she noted, the rain dripping off the bill of his soaked cap, his wide face pale as moonlight, his truck-grill shoulders slumped.

He only sighed when Aidan rammed an elbow hard into his ribs.

“Ah, good day to you, Miss Murray. I’m Jack Brennan. Aidan here tells me I behaved badly last night, in your presence. I’m sorry for that and hope to beg your pardon.”

He shoved the flowers at her, with a pitiful look in his bloodshot eyes. “I’d had a bit too much of the drink,” he went on. “But that’s no excuse for using strong language in front of a lady—though I didn’t know you were there, did I?” He said that with a slide of his eyes toward Aidan and a mutinous set to his mouth.

“No.” She kept her voice stern, though the wet flowers were so pathetic they melted her heart. “You were too busy trying to hit your friend.”

“Oh, well, sure Aidan’s too fast for me to plant a good one on him when I’m under the influence, so to speak.” His lips curved, for just a moment, into a surprisingly sweet smile, then he hung his great head again. “But despite circumstances being what they were, it’s no excuse for behaving in such a manner in front of a lady. So I’m after begging your pardon and hoping you don’t think too poorly of me.”

“There now.” Aidan gave his friend a hearty slap on the back. “Well done, Jack. Miss Murray’s too kindhearted to hold a grudge after so pretty an apology.” He looked back at her, as if they were sharing a lovely little joke. “Aren’t you, Jude Frances?”

Actually she was, but it irritated her to be so well pegged. Ignoring Aidan, she nodded at Jack. “I don’t think poorly of you, Mr. Brennan. It was very considerate of you to come by and bring me flowers. Would you like to come in and have some tea?”

His face brightened. “That’s kind of you. I wouldn’t mind—”

“You’ve got places to go, Jack.”

Jack’s brows drew together. “I don’t. Particularly.”

“Aye, you do. This and the other. You take my car and be about it. You’ll remember I told you Miss Murray and I have business to tend to.”

“All right, then,” he muttered. “But I don’t see how one bloody cup of tea would matter. Good day, Miss Murray.” Shoulders hunched, cap dripping, he lumbered back to the car.

“You might have let him come in out of the rain,” Jude commented.

“You don’t seem to be in any great hurry to ask me in out of it.” Aidan angled his head as he studied her face. “Maybe you hold a grudge after all.”

“You didn’t bring me flowers.” But she stepped back to let him come inside and drip.

“I’ll see that I do next time. You’ve been cleaning. The house smells of lemon oil, a nice, homey scent. If you get me a rag, I’ll wipe up this wet I’m tracking in to your nice, clean house.”

“I’ll take care of it. I have to go up and get my tape recorder and so forth. We’ll work in the kitchen. You can just go ahead back.”

“All right, then.” His hand closed over hers, making her frown. Then he slipped the flowers out of her fingers. “I’ll put these in something for you so they don’t look quite so pitiful.”

“Thank you.” The stiffly polite tone was the only defense she could come up with against six feet of wet, charming male in her hallway. “I’ll only be a minute.”

She was barely longer than that, but when she walked into the kitchen he already had the flowers in one of Maude’s bottles and was handily brewing a pot of tea.

“I started a fire there in your hearth to take the chill off. That all right, then?”

“Of course.” And she tried not to be annoyed that every one of the tasks he’d done took her three times as long to accomplish. “Have a seat. I’ll pour the tea.”

“Ah, it needs to steep a bit yet.”

“I knew that.” She mumbled it as she opened a cupboard for cups and saucers. “We make tea in America, too.” She turned back, set the cups on the table, then hissed out a breath. “Stop staring at me.”

“Sorry, but you’re pretty when you’re all flustered and your hair’s falling down.”

Mutiny ripe in her eyes, she jammed pins back in violently enough to drill them into her scalp. “Perhaps I should make myself clear. This is an intellectual arrangement.”

“Intellectual.” Wisely he controlled the grin and kept his face sober. “Sure it’s a fine thing to have an interest in each other’s minds. You’ve a strong one, I suspect. Telling you you’re pretty doesn’t change that a bit, does it?”

“I’m not pretty and I don’t need to hear it. So if we can just get started?”

He took a seat because she did, then cocked his head again. “You believe that, don’t you? Well, now, that’s interesting, on an intellectual level.”

“We’re not here to talk about me. My impression was that you have a certain skill as a storyteller and are familiar with some of the myths and legends particular to this area.”

“I know some tales.” When her voice went prim that way it just made him want to lap at her, starting anywhere at all. So he leaned back in his chair. If it was intellectual she wanted, he figured they could begin with that . . . then move along.

“Some you may know already, in one form or another. The oral history of a place may shift here and there from teller to teller, but the heart of it remains steady. The shape-shifter is told one way by the Native Americans, another by the villagers of Romania, and still another by the people of Ireland. But the same threads weave through.”

While she continued to frown, he lifted the pot to pour the tea himself. “You have Santa and Father Christmas and Kris Kringle—one may come down the chimney, another fills shoes with candy, but the basis of the legend has its roots in the same place. Because it does, time after time, country after country, the intellect comes to the conclusion that the myth has its core in fact.”

“You believe in Santa Claus.”

His eyes met hers as he set the pot down again. “I believe in magic, and that the best of it, the most true of it, is in the heart. You’ve been here some days now, Jude Frances. Have you felt no magic?”

“Atmosphere,” she began, and turned her recorder on. “The atmosphere in this country is certainly conducive to the forming of myths and the perpetuation of them, from paganism with its small shrines and sacrifices to the gods, Celtic folklore with its warnings and rewards and the addition of culture seeded in through the invasions of the Vikings, the Normans, and so on.”

“It’s the place,” Aidan disagreed. “Not the people who tried to conquer it. It’s the land, the hills and rock. It’s the air. And the blood that seeped into all of it in the fight to keep it. ’Tis the Irish who absorbed the Vikings, the Normans, and so on, not the other way around.”

There was pride there that she understood and respected. “The fact remains that these people came to this island, that they mated with the women here, passed down their seed, and brought with them their superstitions and beliefs. Ireland absorbed them, too.”

“Which came first, the tale or the teller? Is that part of your study then?”

He was quick, she thought. A sharp mind and a clever tongue. “You can’t study one without studying the other. Who tells and why, as much as what’s told.”

“All right, I’ll tell you a story that was told to me by my grandda, and to him by his father, and his by his for as far back as any knows, for there have been Gallaghers on this coast and in these hills for longer than time remembers.”

“The story came down paternally?” Jude interrupted and was met with that quirked brow. “Very often stories come down the generations through the mother.”

“True enough, but the bards and harpists of Ireland were traditionally male, and it’s said one was a Gallagher who wandered to this place singing his stories for coin and ale, that he saw some of what I’ll tell you with his own eyes, heard the rest from the lips of Carrick, prince of the faeries, and from that told the story himself to all who cared to listen.”

He paused, noting the amused interest in Jude’s eyes. Then began. “There was a maid known as Gwen. She was of humble birth but a lady in her heart and in her manner. She had hair as pale as winter sunlight, and eyes as green as moss. Her beauty was known throughout the land, and though she carried herself with pride, for she had a slim and pleasing form, she was a modest maid who, as her blessed mother had died in the birthing of her, kept the tidy cottage for her aging father. She did as she was bid and what was expected and was never heard to complain. Though she was seen, from time to time, walking on the cliffs of an evening and staring out over the sea as if she wished to grow wings and fly.”

As he spoke, a silent stream of sunlight shimmered through the rain, through the window, to lie quietly on the table between them.

“I can’t say what was in her heart,” Aidan continued. “Perhaps this is something she didn’t know herself. But she kept the cottage, cared for her father, and walked the cliffs alone. One day, when she was taking flowers to the grave of her mother, for she was buried near the well of Saint Declan, she met a man—what she thought was a man. He was tall and straight, with dark hair waving to his shoulders and eyes as blue as the bluebells she carried in her arms. By her name he called her, and his voice was like music in her head and set her heart to dancing. And in a flash like a lightning strike, they fell in love over her dear mother’s grave with the breeze sighing through the tall grass like faeries whispering.”

“Love at first sight,” Jude commented. “It’s a device often used in fables.”

“Don’t you believe that heart recognizes heart?”

An odd and poetic way to put it, she thought, and was glad she’d have the question recorded. “I believe in attraction at first sight. Love takes more.”

“You’ve had the Irish all but drummed out of you,” he said with a shake of his head.

“Not so much I don’t appreciate the romance of a good story.” She sent him a smile, a hint of dimples. “What happened next?”

“Well, however heart recognized heart, it was not the simple matter of a maid and a man taking hands and joining lives, for he was Carrick, the faerie prince who lived in the silver palace under the hill where her cottage sat. She feared a spell, and she doubted both his heart and her own. And more her heart yearned, more she doubted, for she’d been taught to beware of the faeries and the rafts where they gathered.”

His voice, rising and falling like music on the words, lulled Jude into propping her elbows on the table, resting her chin on her fists.

“Even so one night, when the moon was ripe and full, Carrick lured Gwen from the cottage and onto his great winged horse to fly with her over the land and the sea and show her the wonders he would give her if only she would pledge to him. His heart was hers and all he had he would give her.

“And it happened that her father, wakeful with aches in his bones, saw his young Gwen swirl out of the sky on the white winged horse with the faerie prince behind her. In his fear and lack of understanding he thought only to save her from the spell he was sure she was under. So he forbade her to have truck with Carrick again, and to ensure her safety he betrothed her to a steady young man who made his living on the water. And Lady Gwen, a maid with great respect for her father, dutifully tucked her heart away, ceased her walking, and prepared to be wed as was bid her.”

Now, the little slash of sunlight that danced across the table between them vanished, and the kitchen plunged into gloom lit only by the simmering fire.

Aidan kept his eyes on Jude’s, fascinated by what he saw in them. Dreams and sadness and wishes.

“On first hearing, Carrick gave way to a black temper and sent the lightning and thunder and wind to whip and crash over the hills and down to the sea. And the villagers, the farmers and fishermen trembled, but Lady Gwen sat quiet in her cottage and saw to her mending.”

“He could have just taken her into the raft,” Jude interrupted, “and kept her for a hundred years.”

“Ah, so you know something of how it’s done.” Those blue eyes warmed with approval. “True enough he could have snatched her away, but in his pride he wanted her to come to him willing. In this way the gentry aren’t so very different from ordinary people.”

He angled his head, studying her face. “Would you rather be snatched up and away without a choice or romanced and courted?”

“Since I don’t think one of the Good People is going to come along and do either in my case, I don’t have to decide. I’d rather know what Carrick did.”

“All right, then, I’ll tell you. At dawn Carrick mounted his winged horse and flew up to the sun. He gathered fire from it, formed dazzling diamonds from it, and put them in a silver sack. And these flaming and magic jewels he brought to her at her cottage. When she went out to meet him, he spilled them at her feet, and said to her, ‘I’ve brought you jewels from the sun. These are my passion for you. Take them, and me, for I will give you all I have, and more.’ But she refused, telling him she was promised to another. Duty held her and pride him as they parted, leaving the jewels lying among the flowers.

“And so they became flowers.”

When Jude shuddered, Aidan reached for her hand. “Are you cold, then?”

“No.” She forced a smile, deliberately freed her hand and picked up her tea, sipping slowly to soothe away the flutter in her throat.

She knew the story. She could see it, the magnificent horse, the lovely woman, the man who wasn’t a man, and the fiery blaze of diamonds on the ground.

She had seen it, all of it, in her dreams.

“No, I’m fine. I think my grandmother must have told me some version of this.”

“There’s more yet.”

“Oh.” She sipped again, made an effort to relax. “What happened next?”

“On the day she married the fisherman, her father died. It was as if he’d held on to his life, with all its pains, until he was assured his Gwen was safe and cared for. So, her husband moved into the cottage, and left her before the sun rose every day to go out and cast his nets. And their life settled into a contentment and order.”

When he paused, Jude frowned. “But that can’t be all.”

Aidan smiled, sampled his tea. Like any good storyteller, he knew how to change rhythm to hold interest. “Did I say it was? No, indeed, it’s not all. For you see, Carrick, he could not forget her. She was in his heart. While Gwen was living her life as was expected of her, Carrick lost his joy in music and in laughter. One night, in great despair, he mounted his horse once again and flew up to the moon, gathering its light, which turned to pearls in his silver bag. Once more he went to her, and though she carried her first child in her womb, she slipped out of her husband’s bed to meet him.

“ ‘These are tears of the moon,’ he told her. ‘They are my longing for you. Take them, and me, for I will give you all I have, and more.’ Again, though tears of her own spilled onto her cheeks, she refused him. For she belonged to another, had his child inside her, and would not betray her vow. Once more they parted, duty and pride, and the pearls that lay on the ground became moonflowers.

“So the years passed, with Carrick grieving and Lady Gwen doing what was expected of her. She birthed her children, and took joy in them. She tended her flowers, and she remembered love. For though her husband was a good man, he had never touched her heart in its deepest chambers. And she grew old, her face and her body aging, while her heart stayed young with the wistful wishes of a maid.”

“It’s sad.”

“ ’Tis, yes, but not yet over. As time is different for faeries than for mortals, one day Carrick mounted his winged horse and flew out over the sea, and dived deep, deep into it to find its heart. There, the pulse of it flowed into his silver bag and became sapphires. These he took to Lady Gwen, whose children had children now, whose hair had gone white and whose eyes had grown dim. But all the faerie prince saw was the maid he loved and longed for. At her feet, he spilled the sapphires. ‘These are the heart of the sea. They are my constancy. Take them, and me, for I will give you all I have, and more.’

“And this time, with the wisdom of age, she saw what she had done by turning away love for duty. For never once trusting her heart. And what he had done, for offering jewels, but not giving her the one thing that may have swayed her to him.”

Without realizing it, Aidan closed his fingers over Jude’s on the table. As they linked together, that little sunbeam danced back.

“And that it was the words of love—rather than passion, rather than longing, even rather than constancy—she’d needed. But now she was old and bent, and she knew as the faerie prince couldn’t, not being mortal, that it was too late. She wept the bitter tears of an old woman and told him that her life was ended. And she said that if he had brought her love rather than jewels, had spoken of love rather than passion, and longing and constancy, her heart might have won over duty. He had been too proud, she said, and she too blind to see her heart’s desire.

“Her words angered him, for he had brought her love, time and again, in the only way he knew. And this time before he walked away from her, he cast a spell. She would wander and she would wait, as he had, year after year, alone and lonely, until true hearts met and accepted the gifts he had offered her. Three times to meet, three times to accept before the spell could be broken. He mounted and flew into the night, and the jewels at her feet again became flowers. She died that very night, and on her grave flowers sprang up season to season while the spirit of Lady Gwen, lovely as the young maid, waits and weeps for love lost.”

Jude felt weepy herself and oddly unsettled. “Why didn’t he take her away then, tell her it didn’t matter?”

“That’s not the way it happened. And wouldn’t you say, Jude Frances, that the moral is to trust your heart, and never turn away from love?”

She caught herself, and realizing she’d been too wrapped up in the tale, even as her hand was in his, drew back. “It might be, or that following duty provides you with a long, contented life if not a flashy one. Jewels weren’t the answer, however impressive. He should have looked back to see them turn into flowers—flowers she kept.”

“As I said, you’ve a strong mind. Aye, she kept his flowers.” Aidan flicked a finger over the petals in the bottle. “She was a simple woman with simple ways. But there’s a bigger point to the tale.”

“Which would be?”

“Love.” Over the blooms, his eyes met hers. “Love, whatever the time, whatever the obstacles, lasts. They’re only waiting now for the spell to run its course, then she’ll join him in his silver palace beneath the faerie hill.”

She had to pull herself out of the story and into the reasoning, she reminded herself. The analysis. “Legends often have strings attached. Quests, tasks, provisions. Even in folklore the prize rarely comes free. The symbolism in this one is traditional. The motherless maid caring for her aging father, the young prince on a white horse. The use of the elements: sun, moon, sea. Little is said about the man she married, as he’s only a vehicle used to keep the lovers apart.”

Busily making notes, she glanced up, saw Aidan studying her thoughtfully. “What?”

“It’s appealing, the way you shift back and forth.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“When I’m telling it to you, you’re all dreamy-eyed and going soft, now here you are, sitting up straight and proper, all businesslike, putting pieces of the story that charmed you into little compartments.”

“That’s precisely the point. And I wasn’t dreamy-eyed.”

“I’d know better about that, wouldn’t I, as I was the one looking at you.” His voice warmed again, flowed over her. “You’ve sea goddess eyes, Jude Frances. Big and misty green. I’ve been seeing them in my mind even when you’re not around. What do you think of that?”

“I think you have a clever tongue.” She got up, without a clue what she intended to do. For lack of anything else, she carried the teapot back to the stove. “Which is why you tell a very entertaining story. I’d like to hear more, to coordinate them with those from my grandmother and others.”

She turned back around, jolted when she realized he was standing just behind her. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing at the moment.” Ah, boxed you in now, haven’t I? he thought, but kept his voice easy. “I’m happy enough to tell you tales.” Smoothly, he rested his hands on the edge of the stove on either side of her. “And if you’ve a mind to, you can come into the pub on a quiet night and find others who’ll do the same.”

“Yes.” Panic was beating bat wings in her stomach. “That’s a good idea. I should—”

“Did you enjoy yourself last night? The music?”

“Mmmm.” He smelled of rain, and of man. She didn’t know what to do with her hands. “Yes. The music was wonderful.”

“Is it that you don’t know the tunes?” He was close now, very close, and could see a thin ring of amber between the silky black of her pupils and the misty green of the iris.

“Ah, I know some of them. Do you want more tea?”

“I wouldn’t mind it. Why didn’t you sing then?”

“Sing?” Her throat was bone-dry, a desert of nerves.

“I had my eye on you, most of the time. You never sang along, chorus or verse.”

“Oh, well. No.” He really had to move. He was taking all her air. “I don’t sing, except when I’m nervous.”

“Is that the truth, then?” Watching her face, he moved in, sliding his body into an amazing fit against hers.

She knew what to do with her hands now. They lifted quickly to brace against his chest. “What are you doing?”

“I’ve a mind to hear you sing, so I’m making you nervous.”

She managed a stuttering laugh, but when she tried to shift she only succeeded in pressing more firmly against him. “Aidan—”

“Just a little nervous,” he murmured and lowered his mouth to nip gently at her jaw. “You’re trembling.” Another nip, teasing and light. “Easy now, I’m after stirring you up, not frightening you to death.”

He was doing both. Her heart was rapping against her ribs, ringing in her ears. While he slowly nibbled his way over her jaw, her hands were trapped against the solid wall of his chest. And she felt marvelously weak and female.

“Aidan, you’re . . . This is . . . I don’t think—”

“That’s fine, then, a fine idea. Let’s neither of us think for just a minute here.”

He caught her bottom lip—the wide, soft wonder of it—between his teeth. She moaned, quiet; her eyes clouded, dark. A spear of pure and reckless lust shot straight to his loins.

“Jesus, you’re a sweet one.” His hand lifted from the stove, fingers skimming over her collarbone. As he held her where he wanted her, he took her mouth. Sampling, then savoring, then wallowing in the taste of her.

Even as she slid toward surrender, he used his teeth to make her gasp. And went deeper than he’d intended.

Still she trembled, putting him in mind of a volcano poised to erupt, a storm ready to strike. Her hands remained trapped between them, but her fingers gripped his shirt now and held fast.

She heard him murmur something, a whisper against the wall of sound that was her blood raging. His mouth, so hot, so skilled, his body, so hard, so strong. And his hands, light as moth wings on her face. She could do nothing but give, and give, even as some shocking, unrecognizable part of her urged her to take.

And when he drew away it was as if her world tilted and spilled her out.

He kept his hands on her face, waited for her eyes to open, focus. He’d intended only to taste, to enjoy the moment. To see. But it had gone beyond intentions into something just out of his control. “Will you let me have you?”

Her eyes were huge, glazed with confusion and pleasure. And nearly brought him to his knees. He didn’t particularly care for the sensation.

“I . . . what?”

“Come upstairs and lie with me.”

Shock came a bare instant before she simply nodded her head. “I can’t. No. This is completely irresponsible.”

“Is there someone in America who has a hold on you?”

“A hold?” Why wouldn’t her brain function? “Oh. No, I’m not involved with anyone.” The sudden gleam in Aidan’s eyes had her straining back. “That doesn’t mean I’m going to just . . . I don’t sleep with men I barely know.”

“At the moment, I feel we know each other pretty well.”

“That’s a physical reaction.”

“You’re damn right.” He kissed her again, hard and hot.

“I can’t breathe.”

“I’m having a bit of trouble with that myself.” It was against his natural instincts, but he stepped away. “Well, what do we do about this, then, Jude Frances? Analyze it on an intellectual level?”

His voice might have carried the musical lilt of Ireland, but it could still slash. Because she wanted to wince, she straightened her shoulders. “I’m not going to apologize for not jumping into bed with you. And if I prefer to function on an intellectual level, it’s my business.”

He closed his mouth before the snarl escaped, then jammed his hands in his pockets and paced up and down the tiny room. “Do you always have to be reasonable?”

“Yes.”

He stopped, eyed her narrowly, then to her complete confusion, threw back his head and laughed. “Damn it, Jude, if you’d shout or throw something, we could have a nice bloody fight and end it wrestling on the kitchen floor. And, speaking for myself, I’d feel a hell of a lot more satisfied.”

She allowed herself a quiet breath. “I don’t shout or throw things or wrestle.”

He lifted a brow. “Ever?”

“Ever.”

His grin came fast this time, a flash of humor and challenge. “I bet I can change that.” He stepped toward her, shaking his head when she backed away. He caught a loose strand of her hair and tugged. “Will you wager on it?”

“No.” She tried a hesitant smile. “I don’t gamble either.”

“You walk around with a name like Murray, then tell me you don’t gamble. It’s a disgrace you are to your blood.”

“I’m a testament to my breeding.”

“I’ll put my money on the blood every time.” He rocked back on his heels, considering her. “Well, I’d best start back. A walk in the rain’ll clear my head.”

She steadied herself as he took his jacket from the hook. “You’re not angry?”

“Why would I be?” His gaze whipped to hers, bright and intense. “You’ve a right to say no, haven’t you?”

“Yes, of course.” She cleared her throat. “Yes, but I imagine a number of men would still be angry.”

“I’m not a number of men, then, am I? And, added to that, I mean to have you, and I will. It doesn’t have to be today.”

He flashed her another grin when her mouth fell open, then walked to the door. “Think of that, and of me, Jude Frances, until I get my hands on you again.”

When the door closed behind him, she stood exactly where she was. And though she did think of that, and of him, and of all the pithy, lowering, brilliant responses she should have made, she thought a great deal more of what it had been like to be held against him.

SEVEN

I ’M COMPILING STORIES, Jude wrote in her journal, and find the project even more interesting than I’d expected. The tapes my grandmother sent bring her here. While I’m listening to them, it’s almost as if she’s sitting across from me. Or, sweeter somehow, as if I were a child again and she had come by to tell me a bedtime story.

She prefaces her telling of the Lady Gwen tale by stating she’d never told me this story. She must be mistaken, as portions of it were very familiar to me while Aidan was relating it to me.

Logically, I dreamed of it because the memory of the story was in my subconscious and being in the cottage tripped it free.

Jude stopped typing, pushed back, drummed her fingers. Yes, of course, that was it. She felt better now that she’d written it down. It was exactly the exercise she always gave to her first-year students. Write down your thoughts on a certain problem or indecision, in conversational style, without filters. Then sit back, read, and explore the answers you’ve found.

So why hadn’t she documented her encounter with Aidan in her journal? She’d written nothing about the way he’d caged her between the stove and his body, the way he’d nibbled on her as she were something tasty. Nothing about how she felt or what she thought.

Oh, God. Just the memory of it had her stomach flipping.

It was part of her experience, after all, and her journal was designed to include her experiences, her thoughts and feelings about them.

She didn’t want to know her thoughts and feelings, she reminded herself. Every time she tried to think about it in a reasonable manner, those feelings took over and turned her mind to mush.

“Besides, it’s not relevant,” she said aloud.

She huffed out a breath, rolled her shoulders, and put her fingers back on the keys.

It was interesting to note that my grandmother’s version of the Lady Gwen tale was almost exactly the same as Aidan’s. The delivery of each was defined by the teller, but the characters, details, the tone of the story were parallel.

This is a clear case of well-practiced and skilled oral tradition, which indicates a people who respect the art enough to keep it as pure as possible. It also indicates to me, psychologically, how a story becomes legend and legend becomes accepted as truth. The mind hears, again and again, the same story with the same rhythm, the same tone, and begins to accept it as real.

I dream about them.

Jude stopped again, stared at the screen. She hadn’t meant to type that. The thought had slipped into her mind and down through her fingers. But it was true, wasn’t it? She dreamed about them almost nightly now—the prince on the winged white horse who looked remarkably like the man she’d met at Maude’s grave. The sober-eyed woman whose face was a reflection of the one she thought she’d seen—had seen, Jude corrected, in the window of the cottage.

Her subconscious had given them those faces, of course. That was perfectly natural. The events in the story were said to have happened at the cottage where she lived, so naturally the seeds had been planted and they bloomed in dreams.

It was nothing to be surprised by or concerned about.

Still, she decided she was in the wrong mood for journal entries or exercises and turned off the machine. Since Sunday she’d kept very close to the cottage—to work, she assured herself. Not because she was avoiding anyone. And though the work was satisfying her, fueling her in a way, it was time to get out.

She could drive into Waterford for some supplies and those gardening books. She could explore more of the countryside, instead of just roaming the hills and fields near her house. Surely the more she drove, the more comfortable she’d be with driving.

Solitude, she reminded herself, was soothing. But it could also become stifling. And it could make you forgetful, she decided. Hadn’t she had to look at the calendar that morning just to figure out if it was Wednesday or Thursday?

Out, she told herself while she hunted up her purse and her keys. Explore, shop, see people. Take photographs, she added, stuffing her camera in her purse, to send to her grandmother with the next letter home.

Maybe she would linger and treat herself to a nice dinner in the city.

But the minute she stepped outside, she realized it was here she wanted to linger, right here in the pretty garden with her view of the green fields and the shadowy mountains and wild cliffs.

What harm would it do to spend just half an hour weeding before she left? Okay, she wasn’t dressed for weeding, but so what? Did she or did she not know how to do her own laundry now?

Except for the sweater she’d managed to shrink to doll size, that little experiment had come off very well.

So she didn’t know a weed from a daisy. She had to learn, didn’t she? She just wouldn’t yank anything that looked pretty.

The air was so soft, the light so lovely, the clouds so thick and white.

When the yellow dog bounded up to dance at her gate, she gave in. Just half an hour, she promised herself as she walked over to let her in.

Jude delighted the dog with strokes and scratches until she all but dissolved at Jude’s feet in a puddle of devotion.

“Caesar and Cleo never let me pet them,” she murmured, thinking of her mother’s snobbish cats. “They have too much dignity.” Then she laughed as the dog sprawled on her back to expose her belly. “You just don’t have any dignity at all. That’s what I like about you.”

She’d made a mental note to include dog treats on her supply list when Brenna’s pickup bumped along the road and zipped into her drive.

“Well, you’ve met Betty, then.”

“Is that her name?” Jude hoped her grin wasn’t as foolish as it felt on her face as the dog nuzzled her nose into her hand. “She’s very friendly.”

“Oh, she has a fondness for the ladies, particularly.” Folding her arms on the open window, Brenna rested her chin there. She wondered why the woman seemed embarrassed to have been caught petting a dog. “So you’re fond of dogs, are you?”

“Apparently.”

“Whenever she wears out her welcome, you just shove her out the gate, and she’ll head home. Our Betty knows a soft touch, and she doesn’t mind taking advantage.”

“She’s wonderful company. But I suppose I’m keeping her from your mother.”

“She’s more on her mind than Betty’s presence at the moment. Refrigerator’s out again. I’m heading down to kick it for her. Haven’t seen you at the pub this week.”

“Oh. No, I’ve been working. I haven’t really been out.”

“But you’re heading off today.” She nodded her head toward Jude’s purse.

“I thought I’d drive into Waterford, hunt up those gardening books.”

“Oh, now there’s no need to go all that way, unless you’re set on it. Come down the house and talk to my mother while I’m banging on the icebox. She’d enjoy that, and it’d keep her from badgering me with questions.”

“She wouldn’t be expecting company. I wouldn’t want to—”

“Door’s always open.” The woman was so interesting, Brenna thought. And hardly said more than one short string of words at a time unless you bumped and nudged at her. If anyone could pry bits and pieces out of her, to Brenna’s mind, it was Mollie O’Toole.

“Come on, hop in,” she added, then whistled for the dog.

Betty yapped once, cheerfully, then bounded to the truck and leaped neatly into the back.

Jude searched for a polite excuse, but everything that came to mind seemed stilted and rude. Smiling weakly, she latched the gate and walked around the truck to the passenger side. “You’re sure I won’t be in the way.”

“Not a bit of it.” Pleased, Brenna beamed at her, waited until she climbed in, then roared backward out of the drive.

“God!”

“What?” Brenna slammed on the brakes, forcing Jude to slap her hands on the dash before her face plowed into it. She hadn’t had time to fasten her seat belt.

“You. . . ah.” Regulating her breathing, Jude hastily dragged the belt around her. “You don’t worry that a car might be coming?”

Brenna laughed, a rollicking sound, then gave Jude a friendly pat on the shoulder. “There wasn’t, was there? Don’t fret, I’ll keep you in one piece. Those are lovely shoes,” she added. Though Brenna didn’t see how they’d be as comfortable as a stout pair of boots. “Darcy wagers you wear shoes made in Italy. Is that the truth?”

“Um . . .” With a vague frown, Jude stared down at her neat black flats. “Yes, actually.”

“She’s a keen eye for fashion, Darcy does. Loves looking through the magazines and such. Dreamed through them even when we were girls together.”

“She’s beautiful.”

“Oh, she is, yes. The Gallaghers are a fine, handsome family.”

“It’s odd that such attractive people aren’t involved with anyone. Particularly.” Even as she said it, casually as she could, she cursed herself for prying.

“Darcy has no interest, never has, in the local lads. Above a bit of flirting, that is. Aidan—” She jerked a shoulder. “Seems married to the pub since he came back, else the man is very discreet. Shawn . . .”

A frown marred Brenna’s brow as she whipped the truck into the drive at her house. “He doesn’t look hard enough at what’s in front of his face, if you’re asking me.”

The dog leaped out of the truck and raced around the back of the house.

The frown vanished as Brenna hopped out. “If you’re of a mind to do some shopping in Waterford City, or Dublin, Darcy’s your girl. Nothing she likes better than wandering the shops and trying on clothes and shoes and playing at the paints and powders. But if your stove’s acting up, or you find a leak in your roof—” She winked as she led Jude to the front door. “You give me a call.”

There were flowers here, snugged together in color and shape into a lovely blanket outside the door, trailing and tangling up a trellis, spilling happily out of pots of simple red clay.

They seemed to grow as they chose, yet there was a tidiness, an almost ruthless neatness, Jude thought, to the entrance of the house. The stoop was scrubbed so clean it looked adequate as a table for major surgery. And Jude felt herself wince when Brenna carelessly left dirt from her boots over its surface.

“Ma!” Brenna’s voice rang out, down the pretty hallway, up the angled staircase, as a fat gray cat slid out of a doorway to wind around her boots. “I’ve brought company.”

The house smelled female, was Jude’s first thought. Not just the flowers, or the polish, but the underlying scent of women—perfume, lipstick, shampoo—the sort of candy-coated fragrance young women and girls often carried with them.

She remembered it from college, and wondered if that was why her stomach clutched. She’d been so miserably awkward and out of place among all those recklessly confident females.

“Mary Brenna O’Toole, I’ll let you know when my hearing’s gone, and then you can shout at me.” Mollie came down the hallway, tugging off a short pink apron.

She was a sturdy-looking woman, no taller than her daughter but certainly wider. Her hair was only slightly less brilliant than Brenna’s but quite a bit tidier. She had a plump, pretty face with an easy smile and friendly green eyes that beamed welcome even before she held out her hand.

“So you brought Miss Murray to see me. You’ve the look of your granny, a dear woman she is. I’m happy to meet you.”

“Thank you.” The hand that clasped Jude’s was strong and hard from a lifetime of making a home. “I hope I’m not catching you at a bad time.”

“Not at all. If it’s not one thing than for sure it’s another around the O’Tooles’. Come in and sit in the parlor, won’t you? I’ll fix us some tea.”

“I don’t want to put you to any trouble.”

“Of course you’re not.” Mollie gave her a comforting squeeze on the shoulder as she might to any of her girls if they felt out of place. “You’ll keep me company while the lass here is in the kitchen, banging and cursing. Brenna, I’m telling you just as I’ll tell your dad when I get hold of him. It’s time that refrigerator was hauled out of my house and another brought in.”

“I can fix it.”

“And so both of you say, time and time again.” She shook her head as she led Jude into the front parlor with its company chairs and fresh flowers. “It’s a cross to bear, Miss Murray, having those that are handy with things in your life, for nothing ever gets tossed away. It’s always ‘I can fix it,’ or ‘I have a use for it.’ Make Miss Murray at home, Brenna, while I see to the tea. Then you can have at it.”

“Well, I can fix it,” Brenna mumbled when her mother was out of earshot. “And if I can’t it’s good for parts, isn’t it?”

“Parts of what?”

Brenna glanced back, focused on Jude again and grinned. “Oh, for this and for that, or else for the other thing entirely. So I hear Jack Brennan came to beg your pardon with a fistful of posies Sunday last.”

“Yes, he did.” Jude perched on her chair and looked with some envy at the way Brenna slouched comfortably in hers. “He was very sweet and embarrassed. Aidan shouldn’t have made him do it.”

“It was one way to pay Jack back for the fat lip.” Twinkling now, she shifted in her chair, hooking one booted ankle over the other. “How did he manage it? It’s a rare thing for a fist slowed by whiskey to land on Aidan Gallagher.”

“It was my fault, I suppose. I called out—” Screamed, Jude thought in self-disgust. “I must have distracted him and then he had a fist in his face, and his head was snapping back, his mouth bleeding. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Haven’t you?” Fascinated, Brenna pursed her lips. Even in a female household, she’d grown up with the stray fist flying. It would often be her own. “Don’t they have the occasionally donnybrook in Chicago?”

It was a word that made Jude smile, and think for some reason of baseball. “Not in my neighborhood,” she murmured. “Does Aidan often have fistfights with his customers?”

“No, indeed, though he started his own fair share of brawls once upon a time. These days if someone’s reached his limit and is feeling a bit frisky, Aidan talks them around it. Most don’t want to push him in any case. Gallaghers are known for their dark moods and black temper.”

“Unlike the O’Tooles,” Mollie said dryly as she carted in a tea tray. “Who are of a sunny nature night and day.”

“That’s the truth.” Brenna leaped up and planted a loud kiss on her mother’s cheek. “I’ll see to your fridge, Ma, and have it working like new for you.”

“Hasn’t worked like new since Alice Mae was born, and she’s fifteen this summer. Go on then before the milk sours. She’s a good girl, my Brenna,” Mollie went on when Brenna strolled out. “All my girls are. Will you have some biscuits with your tea, Miss Murray? I baked yesterday.”

“Thank you. Please call me Jude.”

“I will, then, and you call me Mollie. It’s nice to have a neighbor in Faerie Hill Cottage again. Old Maude would be pleased you’ve come as she wouldn’t want the house sitting lonely. No, none for you, you great lump.” Mollie addressed this to the cat who leaped onto the arm of her chair. She nudged him off again, but not before scratching his ears.

“You have a wonderful house. I like looking at it when I’m walking.”

“It’s a hodgepodge, but it suits us.” Mollie poured the tea into her good china cups, smiling as she set the pot down again. “My Mick was always one for adding a room here and a room there, and when Brenna was big enough to swing a hammer, why the two of them ganged up on me and did whatever they liked to the place.”

“With so many children, you’d need room.” Jude accepted the tea and two golden sugar cookies. “Brenna said you have five daughters.”

“Five that sometimes seems like twenty when the lot of them are running around tame. Brenna’s the oldest, and her father’s apple. My Maureen’s getting married next autumn, and driving us all mad with it and her squabbles with her young man, and Patty’s just gotten herself engaged to Kevin Riley and will, I’m sure, be putting us through the same miseries as Maureen is before much longer. Then my Mary Kate’s at the university in Dublin, studying computers of all things. And little Alice Mae, the baby, spends all her time with animals and trying to talk me into taking in every broken-winged bird in County Waterford.”

Mollie paused. “And when they’re not here, underfoot, I miss them something terrible. As I’m sure your mother’s missing you with you so far from home.”

Jude made a noncommittal sound. She was sure her mother thought of her, but actively miss her? She couldn’t imagine it, not with the schedule her mother kept.

“It—” Jude broke off, goggling as harsh, vicious curses erupted from the rear of the house.

“Damn you to fiery hell, you bloody, snake-eyed bastard. I’ve a mind to drop your worthless hulk off the cliffs myself.”

“Brenna takes after her dad in other aspects as well,” Mollie continued, topping off the tea with a serene grace as her daughter’s curses and threats were punctuated by banging and crashing. “She’s a fine, clever girl, but a bit short of temper. So, she tells me you’ve an interest in flowers.”

“Ah.” Jude cleared her throat as the cursing continued. “Yes. That is, I don’t know much about gardening, but I want to keep up the flowers at the cottage. I was going to buy some books.”

“That’s fine, then. You can learn a lot from books, though for Brenna she’d rather be tied facedown on a hill of ants than have to read about the workings of a thing. Prefers to rip it apart for herself. Still, I’ve a bit of a hand with a garden myself. Maybe you’d like to take a walk around with me, take a look at what I’ve done. Then you could tell me what it is you’ve a need to know.”

Jude set down her cup. “I’d really like that.”

“Fine. Let’s leave Brenna alone so she can raise the roof without us worrying it’ll crash down on our heads.” She rose, hesitated. “Could I see your hands?”

“My hands?” Baffled, Jude held them out, found them firmly gripped.

“Old Maude had hands like yours. Of course, they were old and troubled with the arthritis, but they were narrow and fine, and I imagine her fingers were long and straight and slender like yours when she was young. You’ll do, Jude.” Mollie held her hands a moment longer, met her eyes. “You’ve good hands for flowering.”

“I want to be good at it,” Jude said, surprising herself.

And Mollie’s eyes warmed. “Then you will be.”

The next hour was sheer delight. Shyness and reserve melted away as Jude fell under the spell of the flowers and Mollie’s innate patience.

Those feathery leaves were larkspur that Mollie said would bloom in soft and showy colors, and the charming bicolored trumpets were columbine. Dancing around as they chose were flowers with odd and charming names like flax and pinks and lady’s mantel and bee balm.

She knew she’d forget names, or mix them up, but it was a wonder to be shown which bloomed in spring, what would flower in summer. What was hardy and what was delicate. What drew the bees and the butterflies.

She didn’t feel foolish asking what she was certain were almost childishly basic questions. Mollie would just smile or nod and explain.

“Old Maude, we would trade back and forth, a clump or a cutting or some seeds. So most of what I have here, you have at the cottage. She liked romantic flowers, and me the cheerful. So between us we ended up with both. I’ll walk up your way one day, if you wouldn’t mind, and take a look to see if there’s something you need to be doing that you’re not.”

“I’d appreciate that so much, especially knowing how busy you are.”

Mollie cocked her head; her face was bright, as cheerful as her gardens. “You’re a nice girl, Jude, and I’d enjoy spending some time with you now and again over the gardens. And you’ve a pretty bit of polish on you. I wouldn’t mind seeing some of it rub off on my Brenna. She’s a wide heart and a clever mind, but she’s rough on the edges.”

Mollie’s gaze drifted over Jude’s shoulder, and she sighed. “Speaking of it. Have you finally killed the beast, then, Mary Brenna?”

“It was a struggle, a battle of sweat and tears, but I won.” Brenna swaggered around the side of the house. There was a smear of grease on her cheek and a dry crust of blood over her left knuckles. “It’ll run for you now, Ma.”

“Damn it, girl, you know I’ve my heart set on a new one.”

“Ah, that one’s years left in it.” Cheerfully, she kissed her mother’s cheek. “I’ve got to get on now. I’ve promised to go by and see to fixing the windows in Betsy Clooney’s house. Do you want to ride back with me, Jude, or would you rather stay awhile?”

“I should get back. I really enjoyed myself, Mollie. Thank you.”

“You come back whenever you want a bit of company.”

“I will. Oh, I left my purse inside. I’ll just run in and get it, if that’s all right.”

“Go right on.” Mollie waited until the door shut. “She’s thirsty,” she murmured.

“Thirsty, Ma?”

“For doing. For being. But she’s afraid to drink too fast. It’s wise to take things in small sips, but once in a while . . .”

“Darcy thinks Aidan has his eye on her.”

“Oh, is that so?” Amused, Molly turned to wiggle her eyebrows at her daughter. “That would be some fine and fast drinking now, wouldn’t it?”

“Darcy told me she once spied on him while he was courting the Duffy girl, and when he’d finished kissing the lass, she staggered like a drunk.”

“Darcy’s no business spying on her brothers,” Mollie said primly, then slid her gaze back to Brenna. “Which Duffy girl? Tell me later,” she added quickly when Jude came out again.

“So you had a nice visit then,” Brenna began when they slid back into the truck.

“Your mother’s wonderful.” On impulse, Jude swiveled to wave as Brenna pulled out of the drive with her usual speed and enthusiasm. “I’ll never remember half of what she told me about gardening, but it’s a good start.”

“She’ll like having you to talk with. Patty has a hand with flowers, but she’s got her head in the clouds over Kevin Riley these days and spends most of her time sighing and looking moony.”

“She’s awfully proud of you and your sisters.”

“That’s part of a mother’s job.”

“Yes, but it doesn’t always glow out of them,” Jude decided. “You’re probably used to it, so you don’t really notice, but it’s a lovely thing to see.”

“Being what you are,” Brenna mused, “you pay more attention to such things. Do you learn that, or do you just have it in you?”

“I suppose it’s both—like the way I noticed that she was proud you’d been able to fix the refrigerator, even though she was hoping you couldn’t.”

Brenna turned her head to laugh into Jude’s eyes. “Nearly didn’t manage it this time, frigging temperamental heap. But the thing is, my dad’s wheeled a deal for a brand-new one, oh, and a beauty it is, too. But we can’t seal the bargain and have it delivered for another week or two. So if we’re to keep the pleasure of the surprise, that wheezing son of a bitch has to last a bit longer.”

“That’s so lovely.” Jude embraced the idea of it, then tried to imagine her mother’s reaction if she and her father surprised her with a new refrigerator.

Bafflement, Jude imagined, and not a little insult. Amused by the idea, she chuckled. “If I gave my mother a major appliance as a gift, she’d think I’d lost my mind.”

“But then, your mother’s a professional woman, as I recall.”

“Yes, she is, and she’s wonderful at her job. But your mother’s a professional woman, too. A professional mother.”

Brenna blinked, then her eyes gleamed with amused pleasure. “Oh, she’ll like that one. I’ll be sure to save that for the next time she’s ready to kick my ass over something. Well, look here at what’s strolling up the road, handsome as two devils and just as dangerous.”

Even as Jude’s lovely relaxation sprang into one sticky ball of tension, Brenna was braking at the narrow drive of the cottage and leaning out to call to Aidan.

“There’s a wild rover.”

“Never, no more,” he said with a wink, then took the hand she’d laid on the window to examine the skinned knuckles. “What have you done to yourself now?”

“Bloody bastard refrigerator took a bite out of me.”

He clucked his tongue, lifted the scrape to his lips. But his gaze drifted to Jude. “And where are you two lovely ladies bound for?”

“I’m just bringing Jude back from a visit with my mother, and I’m off to Betsy Clooney’s to bang on her windows.”

“If you or your dad has the time tomorrow, the stove at the pub’s acting up and Shawn’s sulking over it.”

“One of us’ll have a look.”

“Thanks. I’ll just take your passenger off your hands.”

“Have a care with her,” Brenna said as he walked around the truck. “I like her.”

“So do I.” He opened the door, held out a hand. “But I make her nervous. Don’t I, Jude Frances?”

“Of course not.” She started to climb out, then ruined the casual elegance she’d hoped for by jerking back again because she’d forgotten to unhook her seat belt.

Before she could fumble with it, Aidan released it himself, then simply nipped her by the waist and lifted her down. Since that tangled her tongue into knots, she didn’t manage to thank Brenna again before that young woman, with a wave and a grin, took the truck barreling down the road.

“Drives like a demon, that girl.” With a shake of his head, Aidan released Jude, only to take her hands. “You haven’t been down to the pub all week.”

“I’ve been busy.”

“Not so busy now.”

“Yes, actually, I should—”

“Invite me in and fix me a sandwich.” When she simply gaped at him, he laughed. “Or failing that, go walking with me. It’s a fine day for walking. I won’t kiss you unless you want me to, if that’s what’s worrying you.”

“I’m not worried.”

“Well, then.” He lowered his head, got within an inch of his pleasure when she stumbled back.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I was afraid of that.” But he eased away. “Just a walk then. Have you been up to Tower Hill to look at the cathedral?”

“No, not yet.”

“And with your curious mind? Then we’ll walk that way, and I’ll tell you a story for your paper.”

“I don’t have my recorder.”

Slowly, he lifted one of the hands he still held and brushed his lips over the knuckles. “Then I’ll make it a simple one, so you remember it.”

EIGHT

HE WAS RIGHT about the day. It was a perfect one for walking. The light glowed like the inside of a pearl. Luminous, with a slight sheen of damp. She could see, over the hills and fields rolling toward the mountains, a thin and silvery curtain that was certainly a line of rain.

Sunlight poured through it in beams and ripples, liquid gold through liquid silver.

It was the kind of day that begged for rainbows.

The breeze was just a teasing shimmer on the air, fluttering leaves growing toward their summer ripeness and surrounding her with the scent of green.

He held her hand with the careless, loose-fingered grip of familiarity and made her feel simple.

Relaxed, at ease, and simple.

Words rolled off his tongue to charm her.

“Once, it’s said, there was a young maid. Fair as a dream was her face, with skin white and clear as milk and hair black as midnight, eyes blue as a lake. More than her beauty was the loveliness of her manner, for a kind maid was she. And more than her manner was the glory of her voice. When she sang, the birds stilled to listen and the angels smiled.”

As they climbed the hill, the sea began to sing as backdrop, or so it seemed, to his story.

“Many’s the morning her song would carry over the hills, and the joy of it rivaled the sun,” he continued, and tugged her along the path. As they walked on, the breeze turned to wind and danced merrily over sea and rock.

“Now the sound of it, the pure joy of it, caught the ear and the envy of a witch.”

“There’s always a catch,” Jude commented and made him chuckle.

“Sure and there’s a catch if the story’s a good one. Now this witch had a black heart and the powers she had she abused. She soured the morning milk and caused the nets of the fisherfolk to come up empty. Though she could use her arts to disguise her vile face into beauty, when she opened her mouth to sing, a frog’s croaking was more musical. She hated the maid for her gift of song, and so cast a spell on her and rendered her mute.”

“But there was a cure—involving a handsome prince?”

“Oh, there was a cure, for evil should always be confounded by good.”

Jude smiled because she believed it. Despite all logic, she believed in the happy-ever-after. And such things seemed more than merely possible here, in this world of cliffs and wild grass, of sea with red fishing trawlers streaming over deep blue, of firm hands clasped warm over hers.

They seemed inevitable.

“The maid was doomed to silence, unable to share the joy in her heart through her songs, as the witch trapped it inside a silver box and locked it with a silver key. Inside the box, the voice wept as it sang.”

“Why are Irish stories always so sad?”

“Are they?” He looked sincerely surprised. “It’s not sad so much as . . . poignant. Poetry doesn’t most usually spring from joy, does it, but from sorrows.”

“I suppose you’re right.” She brushed absently at her hair as the wind tugged tendrils free. “What happened next?”

“Well, I’ll tell you. For five years the maid walked these hills and the fields, and the cliffs as we walk them now. She listened to the song of the birds, the music of the wind in the grass, the drumbeat of the sea. And these she stored inside her, while the witch hoarded the joy and passion and purity of the maid’s voice inside the silver box, so only she could hear it.”

As they reached the top of the hill with the shadow of the old cathedral, the sturdy spear of the round tower, Aidan turned to Jude, whisked her hair back from her face with his fingers. “What happened next?” he asked her.

“What?”

“Tell me what happened next.”

“But it’s your story.”

He reached down to where little white flowers struggled to bloom in the cracks of tumbled rocks. Picking one, he slid it into her hair. “Tell me, Jude Frances, what you’d like to happen next.”

She started to reach up for the flower, but he caught her hand, lifted a brow. After a moment’s thought, she shrugged. “Well, one day a handsome young man rode over the hills. His great white horse was weary, and his armor dull and battered. He was lost and injured from battle, and a long way from home.”

She could see it, closing her eyes. The woods and shadows, the wounded warrior longing for home.

“As he moved into the forests, the mists swirled in so he could hear nothing but the labored breathing of his own heart. With each beat counted, he understood he came closer to the last.

“Then he saw her, coming toward him through the mists like a woman wading through a silver river. Because he was ill and in need, the maid took him in and tended his wounds in silence, nursed him through his fevers. Though she was unable to speak to comfort him, her gentleness was enough. So they fell in love without words, and her heart almost burst from the need to tell him, to sing out her joy and her devotion. And without hesitation, without regret, she agreed to go with him to his home far away and leave behind her own, her friends and family and that part of herself locked tight in a silver box.”

Because she could see it, feel it, even as she spoke, Jude shook her head, moved through the tilted gravestones to lean back against the round tower. The bay swept out below, a spectacular blue where the red boats bobbed, but she was caught in the story.

“What happens next?” she asked Aidan.

“She mounted the horse with him,” he continued, picking up the threads she’d left for him as if they’d been his own. “Bringing with her only her faith and her love, and asking for nothing but his in return. And at that moment, the silver box, still clutched in the greedy hands of the witch, burst open. The voice trapped inside flew out, a golden stream that winged its way over the hills and into the heart of the maid. And as she rode off with her man, her voice, more beautiful than ever, sang out. And the birds stilled to listen, and the angels smiled again.”

Jude sighed. “Yes, that was perfect.”

“You’ve a way with telling a story.”

The words thrilled her, rocked her, then made her feel shy all over again. “No, not really. It was easy because you’d started it.”

“You filled in the middle part, and in a lovely way that makes me think not all the Irish has been drummed out of you after all. There now,” he murmured, pleased. “You’ve a laugh in your eyes and a flower in your hair. Let me kiss you now, will you, Jude Frances?”

She moved fast. Caution, she told herself, sometimes had to be quick. Ducking under his arm, she scooted around him. “You’ll make me forget why we walked here. I’ve read about round towers, but I’ve never seen one up close.”

Patience, Gallagher, he thought, and tucked his thumbs in his pockets. “Someone was always trying to invade and conquer the jewel of Ireland. But we’re still here, aren’t we?”

“Yes, you’re still here.” She turned a slow circle, studying hill and cliff and sea. “It’s a wonderful spot. It feels old.” She stopped, shook her head. “That sounds ridiculous.”

“Not at all. It does feel old—and sacred. If you listen well, you can hear the stones sing of battle and of glory.”

“I don’t think I have the ear for singing stones.” She wandered, skirting the carved markers, the graves laden with flowers, and picked her way over the rough ground. “My grandmother told me she used to come up here and sit. I bet she heard them.”

“Why didn’t she come with you?”

“I wanted her to.” She brushed her hair back as she turned to face him. He fit here, she thought, with the old and the sacred, with the songs of battle and glory.

Where, she wondered, did she fit?

She walked inside the old ruin where the sky soared overhead for a roof. “I think she’s teaching me a lesson—how to be Jude in six months or less.”

“And are you learning?”

“Maybe.” She traced her fingers over the ogham carving, and for a moment, just a moment, felt them tingle with heat.

“What does Jude want to be?”

“That’s too general a question, with too many simple answers like happy, healthy, successful.”

“Aren’t you happy?”

“I. . .” Her fingers danced over the stones again, dropped away. “I wasn’t happy teaching, in the end anyway. I wasn’t good at it. It’s discouraging not to be good at what you’ve chosen as your life’s work.”

“Your life is far from done, so you’ve more than time enough to choose again. And I’ll wager you were better at it than you decided to believe.”

She glanced up at him, then began to walk out again. “Why would you think so?”

“Because in the time I’ve spent with you I’ve listened to you, and learned.”

“Why are you spending time with me, Aidan?”

“I like you.”

She shook her head again. “You don’t know me. If I haven’t figured myself out yet, you can’t know me.”

“I like what I see.”

“So it’s a physical sort of attraction.”

That quick brow quirked again. “And is that a problem for you, then?”

“Yes, actually.” But she managed to turn and face him. “One I’m working on.”

“Well, I hope you work fast because I want the pleasure of you.”

Her breath clogged and had to be released slowly and deliberately. “I don’t know what to say to that. I’ve never had a conversation like this in my life, so obviously I don’t know what to say to that, except something that’s bound to sound incredibly stupid.”

He frowned as he stepped toward her. “Why would it sound stupid if it’s what you’re thinking?”

“Because I have a habit of saying stupid things when I’m nervous.”

He slipped the flower stem deeper into her hair as the wind wanted to tug it free again. “I thought you sang when you were nervous.”

“One or the other,” she muttered, moving backward to keep what she thought was a safe distance.

“You’re nervous now?”

“Yes! God!” Knowing she was close to stuttering, she held her hands up to hold him off. “Just stop. I’ve never had anything tie me up like this. Instant attraction. I said I believe in it, and I do, but I’ve never felt it before. I have to think about it.”

“Why?” It was a simple matter to reach out, grab her by the wrists, and tug her forward against him. “Why not just act on it when you know it’ll feel good? Your pulse is jumping.” His thumbs skimmed over her wrist. “I like feeling it leap like that, seeing your eyes go cloudy and dark. Why don’t you kiss me this time and see what happens next?”

“I’m not as good at it as you are.”

Now he laughed. “Jesus, woman, you’re quite the package. Let me decide for myself if you’re good at it or not. Come on and kiss me, Jude. Whatever happens next is up to you.”

She wanted to. Wanted to feel his mouth against hers again, the shape and texture and flavor of it. Just now his lips were curved, and the light of fun was in his eyes. Fun, she thought. Why couldn’t it just be fun?

With his fingers still lightly braceleting her wrists, she leaned toward him. And he watched her. She rose onto her toes, still his eyes stayed on hers. Tilting her head just slightly, she eased up to brush her lips over his.

“Do it again, why don’t you?”

So she did, mesmerized when his eyes stayed open, compelling hers to do the same. She lingered longer this time, brushing left, then right. Fascinating. Experimenting, she scraped her teeth lightly, over his bottom lip and heard her own quiet sound of pleasure as from a great distance.

His eyes were so blue, as vivid as the water that stretched to the horizon. It seemed her world turned that single, marvelous color. Her heart began to pound, her vision to blur as it had that first time at Maude’s grave.

She said his name, just one sigh, then threw her arms around him.

The jolt rocked him to the soles of his feet, the sudden heat, the abrupt burst of power that whipped out of her and snaked around him like rope.

His hands streaked up, over her hips, her back, into her hair to grip hard and fast. The kiss changed from a coy brush and nibble to a wild war of tongues and teeth and lips where body strained to body and pulse thundered against pulse.

In that warm cascade of sensation, she lost herself. Or perhaps she found the Jude that had been trapped inside her—like a voice locked in a silver box.

Later, she would swear she heard the stones sing.

She buried her face in the curve of his neck and gulped in the scent of him like water.

“This is too fast.” Even as she said it she locked her arms around him. “I can’t breathe, I can’t think. I can’t believe what’s going on inside my body.”

He gave a weak laugh and nuzzled her hair. “If it’s anything to what’s going on inside mine, we’re likely to explode any second here. Darling, we could be back at the cottage in minutes, and I’d have you in bed in the blink of an eye. I promise you we’d both feel a good deal better for it.”

“I’m sure you’re right, but I—”

“Can’t go quite that fast, or you wouldn’t be Jude.”

Though it cost him, he drew her back to study her face. More than pretty, he thought now, but solid as well. Why was it, he wondered, she didn’t seem to know just how pretty or just how solid she was?

Because she didn’t, more time and more care were needed.

“And I like Jude, as I’ve said before. You need some courting.”

She couldn’t say if she was stunned, amused, or insulted. “I certainly don’t.”

“Oh, but you do. You want flowers and words, and stolen kisses and walks in soft weather. It’s romance Jude Frances wants, and I’m the one to give it to you. Well, now, look at that face.” He caught her by the chin as an adult might a sulky child, and she decided insult won. “You’re pouting now.”

“I certainly am not.” She would have jerked her face free, but he tightened his grip, then leaned down and kissed her firm on the mouth.

“I’m the one who’s looking at you, sweetheart, and if that’s not a fine pout, I’m a Scotsman. It’s that you’re thinking I’m making fun of you, but I’m not, or not much anyway. What’s wrong with romance then? I’d like some myself.”

His voice went warm and rich, like whiskey by the fire. “Will you give me long looks and warm smiles from across the room, and the brush of your hand on my arm? A hot, desperate kiss in the shadows? A touch”—he skimmed his fingertips over the curve of her breast and all but stopped her heart—“in secret?”

“I didn’t come here looking for romance.”

Hadn’t she? he thought. With her myths and legends and tales. “Looking or not, you’ll have it.” On that score his mind was made up. “And when I make love with you, the first time, it’ll be long and slow and sweet. That’s a promise. Walk back with me now, before the way you’re looking at me makes me break that promise as soon as I’ve made it.”

“You just want to be in charge. In control of the situation.”

He took her hand again in the friendliest and most annoying of manners. “I suppose I’m accustomed to being so. But if you want to take over and seduce me, darling Jude, I can promise to be weak and willing.”

She laughed, damn it, before she could stop herself. “I’m sure we both have work to do.”

“But you’ll come see me,” he continued as they walked. “You’ll sit and have a glass of wine in my pub so I can look at you and suffer.”

“God, you’re Irish,” she whispered.

“To the bone.” He lifted her hand and nipped her knuckle. “And Jude, by the way, you’re damn good at kissing.”

“Hmmm,” was the safest response she could think of.

But she went to the pub, and sat and listened to stories. Over the next days as spring took a firmer hold on Ardmore, Jude could often be found at the pub for an hour or two in the evening, or the afternoon. She listened, recorded, took notes. And as the word spread, others with stories came to tell them, or to be entertained by them.

She filled tapes and reams of pages and dutifully transcribed and analyzed them at her computer while she sipped at what was becoming her habitual cup of tea.

If sometimes she dreamed herself into the stories of romance and magic, she thought it harmless enough. Even useful if she stretched things a bit. After all, she could understand the meanings and the motives all the better if the stories and the actions in them became more personal.

It wasn’t as if she was going to waste time actually writing it that way. An academic paper had no room for fancies or fantasies. She was only exploring until she found the core of her thesis, then she’d tidy up the language and delete the ramblings.

What the hell are you going to do with it, Jude? she asked herself. What do you really think you’re going to do even if you polish and perfect and hammer it until it’s dry as dust? Try to have it published in some professional journal absolutely no one reads for pleasure? Use it to try to kick off a lecture tour?

Oh, the idea of that happening, however remote the possibility, felt like an entire troop of Boy Scouts tying knots in her stomach.

For an instant she nearly buried her face in her hands and gave in to despair. Nothing was ever going to come of this paper, this project. It was self-defeating to believe differently. No one was ever going to stand around at a faculty function and discuss the insights and interests of Jude F. Murray’s paper. Worse, she didn’t want them to.

It was no more than a kind of therapy, a way to pull her back from the edge of a crisis she couldn’t even identify.

What good had all those years of study and work accomplished if she couldn’t even find the right terms for her own crises?

Poor self-esteem, bruised ego, a lack of belief in her own femininity, career dissatisfaction.

But what was under all of that? Really under it. Blurred identity? she mused. Maybe that was part of it. She’d lost herself somewhere along the line until whatever was left, whatever she’d been able to recognize, had been so pale, so unattractive, that she’d run from it.

To what?

Here, she thought and was more than a little surprised to realize that her fingers were racing over the keyboard, her thoughts were speeding out of her head and onto the page.

I ran here, and here I feel somehow more real, certainly more at home than I ever did in the house William and I bought, or the condo I moved into after he’d grown tired of me. Certainly more at home than in the classroom.

Oh, God, oh, God, I hated the classroom. Why couldn’t I ever admit it, just say it out loud? I don’t want to do this, don’t want to be this. I want something else. Nearly anything else would do.

How did I become such a coward, and worse, so pitifully boring? Why do I, even now with no one to answer to but myself, question this project when it pleases me so much? When it gives me such satisfaction. Can’t I, just for this little piece of time, indulge myself with something that doesn’t have any solid, guaranteed-practical purpose or goal?

If it’s therapy, it’s time I let it work. It’s not doing any harm. In fact, I think—I hope—it’s doing me some good. I feel attracted to the writing. That’s an odd term to use, but it fits. Writing attracts me, the mystery of it, the way words fit together on a page to make an image or a point or just to be there, sounding.

Seeing my own words on the page is thrilling. There’s a wonderful kind of conceit in reading them, knowing they’re mine. Part of that terrifies me because it’s so incredibly exciting. For so much of my life I’ve turned away, backed away, hidden away from anything that’s frightening. Even when it is thrilling as well.

I want to feel substantial again. I yearn for confidence. And under it all, I have a deep and nearly crushed-out delight in the fantastic. How it was nearly crushed and by whom isn’t really important. Not now that I find the glimmer of it’s still there, inside me. Enough of a glimmer for me to be able to write, at least in secret, that I want to believe in the legends, in the myths, in the faeries and the ghosts. What harm is there in that? It can’t possibly hurt me.

No, she thought, leaning back again, resting her hands in her lap. Of course it can’t hurt me. It’s harmless and it makes me wonder. It’s been too long since I really let myself wonder.

Letting out a long breath, she closed her eyes and felt nothing but the sweetness of relief. “I’m so glad I came here,” she said aloud.

She rose to look out the window, satisfied that she’d used her writing to fight off the threat of despair. Her days here, nights here, were soothing some threatening storm inside her. These little moments of joy were precious.

She turned away from the window, wanting the air and the outdoors. There she would ponder the other aspect of her new life.

Aidan Gallagher, she thought. Gorgeous, somehow exotic, and inexplicably interested in solid, sensible Jude F. Murray. Talk about the fantastic.

Perhaps the time spent with Aidan wasn’t quite so soothing, she admitted, though she was careful enough to arrange things so they were never alone. Still, the lack of privacy didn’t stop him from flirting, from indulging himself in those long looks he’d spoken of, or the slow, secret smiles, the lazy brush of a hand over her arm, her hair, her cheek.

And what was wrong with that? she asked herself as she carried a fresh bouquet of flowers over the hill to Maude’s grave. Every woman was entitled to a flirtation. Maybe, unlike the blossoms in her hand, she was a slow bloomer, but better late than never.

She badly wanted to bloom. The idea of it was as thrilling, as frightening, as exciting as writing.

Wasn’t it wonderful to discover that she liked being flirted with, being looked at as if she was pretty and desirable. For God’s sake, if she stayed in Ireland the full six months, she’d be thirty before she saw Chicago again, so it was high time she felt pretty, wasn’t it?

Her own husband had never flirted with her. And if memory served, his highest compliment on her appearance had been telling her she looked quite nice.

“A woman doesn’t want to be told she looks nice,” Jude muttered as she sat down beside Maude’s grave. “She wants to be told she’s beautiful, sexy. That she looks outrageous. It doesn’t matter if it’s not true.” She sighed and laid the flowers against the headstone. “Because for the moment, when the words are said and the words are heard, it’s perfect truth.”

“Then may I say you’re as lovely as the flowers you carry on this fine day, Jude Frances.”

She looked up quickly and into the bold blue eyes of the man she’d met once before in this same spot. Eyes, she thought uneasily, that she so often saw in dreams. “You move quietly.”

“It’s a place for a quiet step.” He crouched down with the soft grass and bright flowers adorning Maude’s grave between them.

The water of the ancient well murmured like a pagan chant.

“And how are you faring in Faerie Hill Cottage?”

“Very well. Do you have family here?”

His bright eyes clouded as they skimmed over the stones and high grass. “I have those I remember, and who remember me. I once loved a maid and would have offered her everything I had. But I forgot to offer her my heart first and last. Forgot to give her the words.”

When he looked up, his expression was more quizzical than confident. “Words are important to a woman, aren’t they?”

“Words are important, to everyone. When they’re not said, they leave holes.” Deep, dark holes, Jude thought now, where doubts and failures breed. Unsaid words were as painful as slaps.

“Ah, but if the man you’d married had said them to you, you wouldn’t be here today, would you now?” When she blinked at him in shock, he only smirked. “He wouldn’t have meant them, so they would have just been convenient lies. You already know he wasn’t the one for you.”

A little lick of fear worked up her spine. No, not fear, she realized, breathless. A thrill. “How do you know about William?”

“I know about this, and I know about that.” He smiled again, easily. “I wonder why you take upon yourself the blame for something that wasn’t your doing. But then, women have always been a charming puzzle to me.”

She supposed her grandmother had spoken to Maude, and Maude to this man, though she didn’t care for the fact that her personal life, and embarrassments, had been discussed over the teapot by strangers. “I can’t imagine that my marriage and its failure is of particular interest to you.”

If the cold chill in her voice affected him, his breezy shrug didn’t show it. “Well, I’ve always been a selfish sort, and in the long scheme of things what you’ve done and do may have bearing on what I most want. But I apologize if I’ve offended you. As I said, women are puzzles to me.”

“I suppose it doesn’t matter.”

“It does as long as you let it. I wonder if you would answer a question for me?”

“Depends on the question.”

“It seems a simple one to me, but again, it’s a woman’s perspective I’m wanting. Would you tell me, Jude, if you’d rather a handful of jewels, such as this . . .”

He turned over an elegant hand, and mounded in it was the blinding brilliance of diamonds and sapphires, the aching gleam of creamy pearls.

“My God, how—”

“Would you take them as they’re offered from the man who knows he holds your heart, or would you rather the words?”

Dazzled, she lifted her head. The fire and spark still sheened her vision, but she saw how dark, how fiercely intent was his gaze as he studied her. She said the first thing that came into her head, because it seemed the only thing.

“What are the words?”

And he sighed, long and deep, his proud shoulders slumping, his eyes going soft and sad. “So it’s true, then, they matter so much. And these . . .”

He opened his fingers and let the shimmer, the fire, the glow of the stones sift through and sprinkle over the grave. “Are nothing but pride.”

She watched, her breath coming short, her head going light, as the jewels melted into puddles of color, and those puddles sprang into simple young flowers.

“I’m dreaming,” she said softly, while her head reeled. “I’ve fallen asleep.”

“You’re awake if you’ll let yourself be.” He spoke sharply now, with an impatience ripe and ready. “Look beyond your nose for a change, woman, and listen. Magic is. But its power is nothing beside love. It’s a hard lesson I’ve learned, and a long time it’s taken me to learn it. Don’t make the same mistake. More than your own heart lies on the line now.”

He got to his feet while she stood frozen. On his hand the stone he wore shot sparks, and it seemed his skin began to glow.

“Finn save me, I’ve to depend on a mortal to begin it all, and a Yank at that. Magic is,” he said again. “So look at it, and deal with it.”

He shot her one last look of smoldering impatience, lifted both hands toward the sky in a sweeping gesture of drama. And vanished into the air.

Dreaming, she thought giddily as she staggered to her feet. Hallucinating. It was all the time she was spending listening to fairy tales, all the time she spent alone in the cottage reviewing them. She’d told herself they were harmless, but obviously they’d pushed her over some edge.

She stared down at the grave, the new flowers in their colorful dance over the mound. When a flash caught her eye, she bent down, reached carefully among the pretty petals, and plucked out a diamond as big as a quarter.

Real, she thought, struggling to steady her breathing. She could see it, feel the shape and the cold heat it held inside.

She was either crazy, or she’d just had her second conversation with Carrick, prince of the faeries.

Shivering, she rubbed her free hand over her face. Okay, either way she was crazy.

Then why did she feel so damn good?

She walked slowly, fingering the priceless jewel as a child might a pretty stone. She needed to write it all down, she decided. Carefully, concisely. Exactly how he’d looked, what he’d said, what had happened.

And after that, she would try to get some sort of perspective on it. She was an educated woman. Surely she would find a way to make sense of it all.

When she came down the slope toward her cottage, she saw the little blue car in the drive and Darcy Gallagher just getting out.

Darcy was wearing jeans and a bright red sweater. Her hair tumbled down her back like wild black silk. One glance had Jude sighing with envy even as she cautiously tucked the diamond into the pocket of her slacks.

To once, she thought—just once—look that carelessly gorgeous, that absolutely confident. She fingered the jewel absently and thought it would be worth the price of diamonds.

Darcy spotted her and shaded her eyes with the flat of one hand while she waved with the other. “There you are. Out for a walk, are you? It’s a fine day for it, even if they’re calling for rain tonight.”

“I’ve been visiting Maude.” And I talked to a faerie prince who left me a diamond that could probably buy a small Third World country before he vanished into thin air. With a weak smile, Jude decided she’d keep that little bit of information to herself.

“I just went a couple rounds with Shawn and took a drive to cool off.” Darcy skimmed her gaze over Jude’s shoes, casually, she hoped, to try to gauge how close in size they were to what she wore herself. The woman, Darcy thought, had fabulous taste in shoes. “You’re looking a bit pale,” she noted when Jude walked closer. “Are you all right?”

“Yes, I’m fine.” Self-consciously, she pushed at her hair. The breeze had teased strands out of the band. Which, she thought, would make her look unkempt rather than wonderfully tousled like Darcy. “Why don’t we go in and have some tea?”

“Oh, that would be nice, but I’ve got to get back. Aidan’ll already be cursing me.” She smiled then, a dazzle of charm. “Maybe you’d like to come back with me for a time, and then he’d be distracted with you and forget to skin my ass for walking out.”

“Well, I . . .” No, she thought, she didn’t think she was up to dealing with Aidan Gallagher when her head was already light. “I really should work. I have notes to go over.”

Darcy pursed her lips. “You really enjoy it, don’t you? Working.”

“Yes.” Surprise, surprise, Jude thought. “I enjoy the work I’m doing now very much.”

“If it was me, I’d find any excuse in the world to avoid working.” Her brilliant gaze scanned the cottage, the gardens, the long roll of hill. “And I’d die of loneliness out here all by myself.”

“Oh, no, it’s wonderful. The quiet, the view. Everything.”

Darcy shrugged, a quick gesture of discontent. “But then you’ve got Chicago to go back to.”

Jude’s smile faded. “Yes. I have Chicago to go back to.”

“I’m going to see it one day.” Darcy leaned back against her car. “All the big cities in America. All the big cities everywhere. And when I do, I’ll be going first class, make no mistake.” Then she laughed and shook her head. “But for now, I’d best be getting back before Aidan devises some hideous punishment for me.”

“I hope you’ll come back when you have more time.”

Darcy shot her that dazzling look again as she climbed into her car. “I’ve the night off, thank the Lord. I’ll come by with Brenna later, and we’ll see what kind of trouble we can get you in. You make me think you could use a bit of trouble.”

Jude opened her mouth without a clue how to respond, but was saved the trouble when Darcy gunned the motor and shot out into the road with scarcely more care than Brenna took.

NINE

T HERE ARE THREE maids, Jude wrote, as she nibbled on a shortbread biscuit, and each represents some particular facet of traditionally held views of womanhood. In some tales two are wicked and one good, as in the Cinderella myth. In others, the three are blood sisters or fast friends, poor and orphaned or caring for one sickly parent.

Some variations have one or more of the female characters possessing mystical powers. In nearly all, the maidens are beautiful beyond description. Virtue, i.e., virginity, is vital, indicating that innocence of physical sexuality is an essential ingredient to the building of legend.

Innocence, a quest, monetary poverty, physical beauty. These elements repeat themselves in a number of perpetuated tales that become, over generations, legends. The interference, for good or ill, of beings from the otherworld—so to speak—is another common element. The mortal or mortals in the story have a moral lesson to learn or a reward to glean from their selfless behavior.

Almost as often simple beauty and innocence are equally rewarded.

Jude sat back and closed her eyes. She struck out there, didn’t she? Since she wasn’t beautiful or innocent, had no particular power or skill, it didn’t look like she was going to be whisked away into a fairy tale with a happy ending.

Not that she wanted to be. The mere idea of coming face-to-face with the inhabitants of a faerie hill or a sky castle, or a witch, wicked or otherwise, made her shaky.

Shaky enough, she admitted, to imagine jewels turning into flowers. Warily, she slipped her hand into her pocket and pulled the bright stone out to examine it yet again.

Just glass, she assured herself, beautifully faceted certainly, sparkling like sunlight. But glass.

It was one thing to accept that she was sharing the cottage with a three-hundred-year-old ghost. That had been leap enough. But she could reason that out as there had been studies on that particular phenomenon, documentation. Parapsychology wasn’t universally accepted, but some very reputable scientists and respected minds believed in the energy forms that laymen called ghosts.

So she could deal with that. She could rationalize what she had seen with her own eyes.

But elves and faeries and . . . whatever. No. Saying you wanted to believe and stating you did believe were two different matters. That was when the indulgence of it all stopped being harmless and became a psychosis.

There were no handsome faeries wandering the hills, visiting graveyards to hold philosophical discussions, then becoming annoyed with people who happened by.

And those nonexistent faeries didn’t go around tossing priceless jewels at strange American women.

Since logic didn’t seem to apply to the situation, she had to assume that her imagination, always a bit of a problem, had tipped out of control.

All she had to do was yank it back on track, do her work. It was very possible she’d had some sort of episode. A fugue state during which she’d incorporated various elements from her research. The fact that she felt almost ridiculously healthy didn’t enter into it. The stress of the past few years could have caught up with her, and while her body was fine, her mind could be suffering.

She should go to a good neurologist and have a full workup to rule out a physical problem.

And visit a reputable jeweler to have the diamond—the glass, she corrected herself—examined.

The first idea frightened her and the second depressed her, so she defied logic and put both notions on hold.

Just for a few days, she promised herself. She would do the responsible thing, but not quite yet.

All she wanted to do was work, to pour herself into the stories. And she would resist the urge to wander down to the pub, to spend the evening pretending not to watch Aidan Gallagher. She’d stay at home with her papers and notes, then drive into Dublin in a few days and find both jeweler and doctor.

She’d shop, buy books, do a bit of sight-seeing.

One solid evening of work, she told herself. After that, she would take a few days to explore the countryside and the cities, the villages and the hills. She’d take a logical step back from the stories she was gathering and studying, and that would help her with her own perspective before she went to Dublin.

At the knock on the front door her fingers fumbled on the keys of the computer. And her heart jumped. Aidan, was her first thought, and that alone irritated her. Of course it wasn’t Aidan, she told herself, even as she dashed to the mirror to check her hair. It was well after eight, and he’d be busy at the pub.

Still, when she hurried downstairs to answer, her heart was beating just a little fast. She opened the door and barely had time to blink.

“We brought food.” Brenna strolled in, a brown grocery sack propped on her hip. “Biscuits and crisps and chocolate.”

“And best of all, wine.” Darcy clinked the three bottles she carried as she casually booted the door closed behind her.

“Oh. Well. . .” Jude hadn’t taken Darcy seriously, hadn’t been able to think of a reason either she or Brenna would want to come over. But they were already heading toward the kitchen in a flurry of movement and chatter.

“Aidan tried to have me work another shift tonight to make up for walking out today. I told him to bugger it,” Darcy said cheerfully as she set the wine on the counter. “The man’d have me chained to the taps if I wasn’t fast on my feet. We’ll need a corkscrew.”

“There’s one in the—”

“Got it,” Brenna interrupted and simply shot a quick grin at Jude as she plucked it out of the drawer. “You should’ve seen the black looks Aidan sent us when we left the pub. ‘Why can’t you fetch her down and drink here,’ he wants to know, grumbling and muttering all the while.”

“Then he sees I’m taking three bottles,” Darcy continued, rooting out glasses while Brenna opened the wine. “And he’s blathering on about how Jude Frances doesn’t have much of a head for spirits and we’re not to get you sick. Like you were some puppy we were going to give too many table scraps to on the sly. Men are such pea-brains.”

“Now that’s a fine thing to drink to first off.” With a flourish, Brenna poured three glasses. “To the tiny brains of the male of the species,” she stated, thrusting a glass at Jude and lifting her own.

“Bless them every one,” Darcy added and drank. Then her eyes sparkled brilliantly at Jude, who’d done little more than stare. “Drink up, darling, then we’ll sit around and discuss the highs and lows of our sex lives just to get better acquainted.”

Jude took one long gulp, blew out a breath. “I won’t have a great deal to contribute to that area of discussion.”

Darcy laughed, a throaty sound of amusement. “Aidan’s after changing all that, now, isn’t he?”

Jude opened her mouth, shut it again, then decided the best thing to do with it was drink after all.

“Don’t tease her so, Darcy.” Brenna ripped open the bag of potato chips and dug in. Then winked. “We’ll get her drunk first, then pry it all out of her.”

“When she’s drunk I’m going to talk her into letting me try on all her clothes.”

They were talking so fast, Jude couldn’t keep up. “My clothes?”

“You’ve wonderful clothes.” Darcy dropped into a chair. “We’re not that far from coloring and size, so I’m thinking some may fit me well enough. What size shoe do you wear?”

“Shoe?” Jude looked down blankly at the half boots she wore. “Um, seven and a half, medium.”

“That’s American sizing, let me think. . .” Darcy shrugged, sipped. “Well, close enough, take those off and let me see how they work on me.”

“Take my shoes off?”

“Your shoes, Jude.” Darcy’s eyes twinkled as she slipped off her own. “A couple more drinks and we’ll try on the trousers.”

“You may as well,” Brenna advised around another mouthful of potato chips. “She’s a demon about clothes, our Darcy, and she’ll hound you to death about it.”

Feeling as mystified as she had by Maude’s graveside that afternoon, Jude sat and took off her shoes.

“Oh!” Darcy stroked the boot like an indulgent mother her child’s cheek. “They’re like butter, aren’t they?” She looked up, her face stunning and filled with sheer female delight. “This is going to be fun.”

“So he has it in his head that because I let him take me to dinner a time or two, and let him stick his tongue in my mouth, which was not nearly as exciting as he thought it was, that I’d be pleased and proud to strip naked and let him bounce on me. Sex is a fine pastime,” Darcy continued as she licked chocolate from her fingers. “But half the time or more, you’re better off just painting your nails and watching the telly.”

“Maybe it’s the men you let lap at you.” Brenna gestured with her wineglass. “They’re all so dazzled they end up fumbling. What you need, Darcy my girl, is a man who’s as bone-deep cynical and self-absorbed and vain as you are yourself.”

Jude choked on her wine, certain the insult would cause an argument, but Darcy merely smiled craftily. “And when I find him, and providing he’s rich as Midas, I’ll wrap him tidily around this finger here.” She held up her right index finger. “And allow him to treat me like a queen.”

Brenna snorted, reached for more chips. “And the moment he does, he’ll bore you to tears. Darcy’s a perverse creature,” she told Jude. “That’s what we love about her. Now me, I’m a simple, straightforward sort. I’m after a man who’ll look me straight in the eye, see what and who I am . . .” She drank, snickered. “Then fall to his knees and promise me everything.”

“They never see what you are.” Shocked, Jude glanced around to see who’d spoken, then realized she had.

“Don’t they?” Brenna wanted to know, lifting her brow as she topped off Jude’s glass yet again.

“They see a reflection of their own perception. Whore or angel, mother or child. Depending on their view, they’re compelled to protect or conquer or exploit. Or you’re a convenience,” she murmured. “Easily discarded.”

“And you say I’m cynical,” Darcy said with a smirk for Brenna. “Have you been discarded then, Jude?”

There was a pleasant buzz in her blood, a lovely spin in her head. The logical part of her said it was the wine. But the heart of her, the needy heart, said it was the company. Girls. She’d never had a foolish girl night in her life.

She picked up a chip, examined it, nibbled, sighed. “Three years ago next June I was married.”

“Married?” Both Brenna and Darcy leaned closer.

“Seven months later, he came home and calmly told me he was very sorry, but he was in love with someone else. He thought it best for all parties involved if he moved out that night, and we filed for divorce immediately.”

“Why, the cad!” In sympathy, Brenna poured wine all around. “The bastard!”

“Not really. He was honest about it.”

“Fuck honesty. I hope you skinned him.” Darcy’s eyes sparkled with malice. “Hardly more than six months into marriage and he’s in love with someone else? The snake barely waited long enough to change the sheets on the marriage bed. What did you do about it?”

“Do?” Jude’s brows drew together. “I filed for divorce the next day.”

“And took him for everything he had.”

“No, of course not.” Sincerely shocked at the notion, she gaped at Darcy. “We just each took what was ours. It was very civilized.”

Because Darcy appeared to have been struck speechless, Brenna took up the torch. “If you’re asking me, civilized divorces are why there are so many bloody marriages that end in it. Me, I’d rather a good fight, screaming and broken crockery, fists flying. If I loved a man enough to vow to be part of him for life, I’d damn well make him pay in blood and flesh if he threw me over.”

“I didn’t love him.” The minute the words were out, Jude’s mouth dropped open. “I mean—I don’t know if I loved him. My God, that’s just awful, that’s horrible! I just realized it. I have no idea if I loved William at all.”

“Well, I say he was a bastard and you should have kicked his ass, then set it out for the dogs, love or not.” Darcy selected one of Mollie O’Toole’s homemade brownies and bit into it with gusto. “I promise you this—in fact, I take an oath on it here and now—whatever man I’m with, whenever I’m with him, it’ll be me who ends it. And if he should try to close it off before I’m ready, he’ll pay for it the rest of his days.”

“Men don’t leave women like you,” Jude put in. “You’re the kind of woman they leave me for.” She caught her breath. “I didn’t mean—I only meant—”

“Don’t worry yourself. I think there was a compliment in there.” And being more pleased than offended, Darcy patted Jude’s arm. “And I’m also thinking if your tongue’s that loose, you’ve had enough wine that you’ll let me play with your clothes. Let’s take all this upstairs.”

Jude didn’t know what to make of it. Perhaps it was because she’d never had any sisters to casually raid her closet. None of her friends had shown particular interest in her wardrobe, other than the usual comments on a new jacket or suit.

She’d never considered herself especially fashion-wise and tended to lean toward classic lines and good fabrics.

But from the muffled sounds coming from where Darcy’s head was buried in the armoire, Jude’s wardrobe had taken on the sheen of Aladdin’s treasure.

“Oh, just look at this jumper! It’s cashmere.” Darcy yanked out a hunter-green turtleneck and pleasured herself by rubbing it against her cheek.

“It’s a good layering piece,” Jude began, then watched openmouthed as Darcy stripped off her own sweater.

“Might as well make yourself comfortable.” Brenna stretched out on the bed, crossed her ankles, and sipped her wine. “She’ll be a while at this.”

“Soft as a baby’s bum.” Darcy all but cooed as she posed in front of the mirror. “Gorgeous, but the color’s a bit deep for me. More you, I’m thinking, Brenna.” Cheerfully, she stripped it off and tossed it on the bed. “Give it a look.”

Absently, Brenna fingered the sleeve of the sweater. “Got a nice feel to it.”

Lowering herself to the bed, Jude watched Darcy try on a cream-colored silk blouse. “Ah, there’s more in the other bedroom.”

Darcy’s head came up like a wolf scenting sheep. “More?”

“Yes, um, lighter-weight clothes and a couple of cocktail things I brought along in case—”

“Be right back.”

“Now you’ve done it.” Brenna spoke in dire tones as Darcy dashed out of the room. “You’ll never be rid of her now.” Setting her wine aside, she flipped open the buttons of her shirt. As a delighted squeal was emitted from the next room, Brenna rolled her eyes and tugged the sweater over her head.

“Oh, this is lovely.” Surprised by the pleasure the soft wool brought to her skin, Brenna got up to take a look in the mirror. “The way it fits, it almost looks as if I have tits.”

“You have a wonderful figure.”

Though she’d never be accused of vanity, Brenna twisted and turned in the mirror. “Be nice to have breasts, though. My sister Maureen got mine, I think. I should have had the breasts, by right as the oldest.”

“You need a decent bra,” Darcy claimed as she came back in a black cocktail dress and carrying a heap of clothes. “Make use of what God gave you instead of letting it flop about. Jude, this dress is brilliant, but you really need to whack an inch or two off the hem.”

“I’m taller than you.”

“Hardly a bit. Here, put it on and let’s have a look.”

“Well, I—” But Darcy was already wriggling out of it. Faced with a woman holding out a little black number while dressed in bra and panties, Jude took the dress. She took a deep gulp to swallow her modesty and stripped.

“I knew you had good legs,” Darcy said with a nod of approval. “Why are you after hiding them in a dress like this? Needs a good inch off, don’t you think, Brenna?” Still half naked, Darcy knelt down and folded up the hem, pursing her lips as she studied the result. “Inch and a half, and you wear it with those spiky black shoes with the open toes. You’ll be a killer.”

She nodded, then got up to try on a pair of gray pipestem trousers. “Just put the dress over there, and I’ll hem it for you.”

“Oh, really, you don’t have to—”

“As payment,” Darcy said with a wicked gleam, “for you letting me borrow your clothes.”

“Darcy’s a fine hand with a needle,” Brenna assured her. “You don’t have to worry.” Getting into the spirit, she found a charcoal blazer and topped the sweater with it.

“Try this vest to jazz it up,” Jude suggested and dug out one with tiny checks in green and burgundy.

“You’ve a good eye.” Darcy beamed approval and added to it by giving Jude a quick one-armed hug. “Now, Brenna, you finish that with a really short excuse for a skirt and men’ll be falling all over you.”

“I don’t want them falling all over me. You just have to boot them out of the way again.”

“When enough of them fall, you just climb over their prone bodies and go on to the next.” Darcy found a suit in slate blue and wiggled into the skirt. “You are going to give Aidan a tumble, aren’t you, Jude?”

“A tumble?”

“Skirt needs to be lifted here, too. A tumble,” she continued. “You haven’t slept with him yet, have you?”

“I—” She stepped back to pick up her wine again. “No. No, I haven’t.”

“Didn’t think so.” Darcy swiveled to check the line of the jacket from the back. “Figured you’d have more a gleam in your eye if you’d wrestled with him.” Experimenting, she scooped her hair up, turning this way and that, and imagined borrowing those pretty silver dangles she’d seen Jude wear on her ears. “You’re going to sleep with him, aren’t you?”

“Darcy, you twit, you’re embarrassing her.”

“Why?” Darcy let her hair fall so she could choose from two pairs of bone-colored heels. “We’re all of us female and none of us virgins. Nothing wrong with sex, is there, Jude?”

Don’t blush, Jude ordered herself. You will not blush. “No, of course not.”

“Aidan’s supposed to be damn good at it, too.” She laughed when Jude gulped down more wine. “So, when you do the deed with him, Brenna and I would appreciate some of the details as, at the moment, neither of us has a particular man we’re after tumbling with ourselves.”

“Talking about sex is the next best thing to having it.” Brenna spotted a striped shirt in the armoir and pulled it out. “Of the three of us, you look most likely to be having it in the foreseeable future. The closest I’ve come in nearly a year is when I had to punch Jack Brennan for copping a feel last New Year’s Eve—and I’m still not sure he wasn’t just reaching for another pint as he claimed to be.”

Discarding the shirt, she sat down in her underwear and poured more wine.

“I, for one, know when a man’s reaching for me or for his beer.” Darcy cocked her head in the mirror. She looked rather elegant, she thought. Like a lady who had lovely places to go and wonderful things to do. “What do you wear a suit like this for, Jude?”

“Oh, for meetings, lectures, luncheons.”

“Luncheons.” Darcy sighed and did a slow turn. “In some fancy restaurant or ballroom, with waiters in white jackets.”

“And this week’s miserable chicken surprise,” Jude answered with a smile. “Along with the most tedious luncheon speaker the committee could dig up.”

“That’s just because you’re used to them.”

“So used to them, I’d live happily with the knowledge I never have to attend another. I was a poor academic.”

“Were you now?” Brenna topped off Jude’s wine before reclaiming her own sweater.

“Terrible. I hated planning courses, having to know the answers, and judging papers. On top of that, the politics and the protocol.”

“Then why did you do it?”

Distracted, Jude glanced back at Darcy. The woman was so confident, Jude thought, so completely comfortable with herself even as she stood there in a cotton bra and another woman’s skirt. How could anyone so sure of who and what she was understand what it was not to know. Just not to know.

“It was expected,” Jude said at length.

“And did you always do what was expected?”

Jude let out a long breath and picked up her wine again. “I’m afraid so.”

“Well, now.” Swept along by affection, Darcy grabbed Jude’s face in her hand and kissed her. “We’ll fix that.”

By the time the second bottle of wine was emptied, the bedroom was a disaster. Brenna had the wit to start a fire, then to hunt up cheese and biscuits. She sat on the floor, vaguely disappointed that Jude’s shoes were too big for her. Not that she had any place to wear them, but they were awfully smart.

Jude lay sprawled on the bed, her head propped on her fists as she watched Darcy try on endless variations of outfits. The goofy expression on her own face made Jude wonder if she were drunk or just soft in the head.

Every now and then she gave a quiet hiccough.

“The first time,” Darcy was saying, “was with Declan O’Malley and we swore we would love each other ever and a day. We were sixteen and fumbling at it. We did it on a blanket on the beach one night when we both snuck out of the house. And let me tell you, there’s nothing a bit romantic about rolling around on the sand, even when you are sixteen and stupid as a turnip.”

“I think it’s sweet,” Jude said dreamily, imagining the moonlight and the crash of waves and two young bodies gleaming with love and discovery. “What happened to Declan O’Malley?”

“Well, forever and a day lasted about three months for the pair of us, and we went on to other things. Two years back he got Jenny Duffy in trouble, so they married and have a second daughter to go with the first. And seem happy enough.”

“I’d like to have children.” Jude rolled over to find her wine. It had begun to taste like ambrosia. “When William and I discussed it—”

“Discussed it, did you?” Brenna put in, and as guardian of the bottle, took Jude’s glass to refill it.

“Oh, yes, in a very logical, practical, and civilized manner. William was always civilized.”

“I think William needed a boot in the arse.” Brenna handed the glass back, ducking so the wine that slopped as Jude laughed missed splashing on her hair.

“His students call him Dour Powers. That’s his name, William Powers. Of course, being a modern professional woman, I kept my own name, so I didn’t have all that fuss with the divorce. Anyway . . . what was I saying?”

“How civilized Dour Powers is.”

“Oh, yes. William decided that we’d wait five to seven years. Then, if circumstances were acceptable, we would discuss having a child again. If we decided to go ahead with it, we would research and choose the proper day care, preschool facilities, and once we knew the sex of the child, we’d determine which educational plan to put into action straight up to college.”

“College?” Darcy turned. “Before the baby’s born?”

“William was very forward-thinking.”

“For a man with his head up his bum.”

“He’s probably not as bad as I’m making him out to be.” Jude frowned into her wine. “Probably. He’s much happier with Allyson.” To her shock, tears sprang to her eyes. “He just wasn’t happy married to me.”

“The bastard.” Swamped with sympathy, Darcy abandoned the closet and sat on the bed to wrap an arm around Jude’s shoulders. “He didn’t deserve you.”

“Not for a bloody minute,” Brenna agreed, patting Jude’s knee. “Stuffy, stub-nosed, philandering bastard. You’re a hundred times better than any Allyson.”

“She’s blond,” Jude said with a sniffle. “And has legs up to her ears.”

“Blond from a bottle, I’ll wager,” Darcy said staunchly. “And you have wonderful legs. Gorgeous legs. I can’t keep me eyes off them.”

“Really?” Jude swiped a hand under her nose.

“They’re fabulous.” Brenna gave Jude’s calf a bolstering stroke. “He’s probably going to bed each night steeped in regret for losing you.”

“Oh, hell.” Jude exploded. “He was a boring son of a bitch. Allyson’s welcome to him.”

“He probably can’t even get her off,” said Darcy, and Jude snorted with glee.

“Well, I certainly never heard the angels sing. This is great.” She rubbed the heels of her hands over her face to dry it. “I never had friends to come over and get drunk and toss my clothes around before.”

“You can count on us.” Darcy gave her a hard squeeze.

Sometime during the third bottle of wine, Jude told them about what she’d seen—thought she’d seen—in the old cemetery.

“It comes down through the blood,” Darcy said with a knowing nod. “Old Maude had the sight, and it’s often she talked to the Good People.”

“Oh, come on.”

Darcy only lifted one elegant brow at Jude’s comment. “And this from the woman who’s just described two meetings with a faerie prince.”

“I never said that. I said I met this odd man twice. Or thought I did. I’m afraid I have a brain tumor.”

Brenna grimaced at the very idea. “Nonsense. You’re healthy as a horse.”

“If not that, if there’s no physical cause, then I’m just crazy. I’m a psychologist,” she reminded them. “Well, I was one, a mediocre one, but still, I have enough training to recognize the symptoms of a serious mental disfunc-tion.”

“Why should that be?” Brenna demanded. “As far as I can tell, you’re the most sensible of women. My ma thinks because of that, and your ladylike manner, you’ll be good for me.” Cheerfully, Brenna gave Jude a light punch on the shoulder. “And despite that I like you anyway.”

“You really do, don’t you?”

“Of course I do, and so does Darcy, and not just for your fine clothes.”

“Of course I don’t just like our Jude for her clothes.” Darcy’s tone radiated insult at the very idea. “I like her for her baubles, too.” With that, she collapsed in laughter. “I’m joking. Sure we like you, Jude. You’re fun to be with and a wonderful puzzle to listen to half the time.”

“That’s so nice.” Her eyes welled up again. “It’s so nice to have friends, especially when you’re either dying of brain cancer or acting like a raving lunatic.”

“You’re neither. You saw Carrick of the faeries,” Brenna announced. “Wandering the hills above his raft until Lady Gwen joins him.”

“Do you really believe that?” It seemed possible now, in a way it hadn’t—a way she hadn’t let it—only a few hours before. “Believe in faerie forts and ghosts and spells that last centuries? You’re not just saying that to make me feel better?”

“I’m not, no.” Wrapped in Jude’s thick robe, Brenna dipped into what was left of the chocolate. “I believe in lots of things until it’s proved otherwise. So far as I know, no one’s ever proved there absolutely aren’t faerie forts under the hills hereabouts, and people say there are more often than not.”

“Yes!” Even blurred by wine, Jude’s enthusiasm was ripe as she slapped Brenna on the shoulder. “Exactly my point. Legends are perpetuated, and often take on the sheen of truth by the repetition. Arthur of history becomes Arthur of legend with additions of magic swords and Merlin. Vlad the Destroyer becomes a vampire. The wise women, the healers, of villages become witches, and so on. The human tendency to expound, to extrapolate, to garnish with fantasy to make a tale more entertaining in turn makes the tale a legend that certain groups then take into their culture as fact.”

“Just listen to her. She sure talks fancy and fine.” Darcy, delighted to be wearing one of the cashmere sweaters, pursed her lips in thought. “And I’m sure, Jude darling, there’s something in what you just said that’s profound and miraculous, even for one who claims to have been a mediocre psychologist. But it sounds like bullshit to me at the moment. Did you or did you not see Carrick of the faeries this very day?”

“I saw someone. He didn’t tell me his name.”

“And did this someone vanish into the air before your very eyes?”

Jude scowled. “It seemed he did, but—”

“No, no buts, just the facts. That’s how it’s done, isn’t it, logically speaking? If he talked to you, he wants something from you, as I haven’t heard of him talking to anyone but Old Maude in my lifetime. Have you, Brenna?”

“No, I can’t say as I have. Were you frightened of him, Jude?”

“No, of course not.”

“That’s good, then. I think you’d know if he meant to cause you harm or mischief. I think he’s just lonely and wanting his lady beside him. Three hundred years,” she said longingly. “It’s a kind of comfort to know love can last.”

“You’re such a romantic, Brenna.” Darcy yawned and curled up in a chair. “Love lasts easy as long as there’s yearning. Put the two of them together, and it’s just as like they’d be sniping and snarling at each other in six months’ time.”

“You’ve just never had a man courageous enough to take a good hold of your heart.”

Darcy shrugged and snuggled down. “And I don’t intend to ever give one the chance. Holding theirs keeps you on top of things. Let them get a grip on yours, and you’re sunk.”

“I think I’d like to be in love.” Jude’s eyes drifted shut. “Even if it hurt. You couldn’t feel ordinary if you were in love, could you?”

“No, but you can surely feel stupid,” Brenna muttered, and Jude laughed lightly as she slipped into sleep.

TEN

TINY DANCERS WEARING sturdy clogs were doing a brisk step-toe inside Jude’s head when she woke. She could count the beats, each little shuffle-stomp-kick against her temples. It was more baffling than unpleasant, and her eyes twitched as she cautiously opened them.

Hissed at the light, closed, then much more cautiously slitted them open again.

Clothes were everywhere. At first she thought there’d been some sort of violent storm, a kind of Dorothy out of Oz tornado that had swooped in and swirled her things every which way around the room.

That would have explained why she was lying crosswise, half naked, and facedown on the bed.

At a soft snuffling sound beneath the bed she caught her breath, then it came fast. She imagined rodents at best; at worst she was sure it was one of those maniacal little dolls that come to life and carry knives and like to slash at people’s hands and feet if they’re unwary enough to let them hang over the bed at night.

She’d had nightmares about those hideous dolls since childhood and never, ever let any part of her hang over the bed. Just in case.

Whatever was down there, she was alone with it and had to defend herself. Fortunately, there happened to be a navy suede pump on her pillow. Without questioning the why of that, Jude gripped the shoe like a weapon and steadied herself

With gritted teeth, she crawled closer to the edge of the bed, peered over, and prepared to do what had to be done.

Brenna was on the floor, wrapped like a mummy in Jude’s thick robe, with her head pillowed on a stack of sweaters and an empty wine bottle at her feet.

Jude stared, squeezed her eyes tightly shut, then popped them open to stare again.

The evidence was there, she thought. It was irrefutable. Wine bottles, glasses, empty bowls, scattered clothes.

She hadn’t been invaded by rodents or evil dolls. She had hosted a drunken party.

The snicker snuck up on her, and she quick had to bury her face in the tangled sheets for fear of waking Brenna up and then having to explain why she was hanging over the bed and laughing like a loon.

Oh, wouldn’t her friends, relations, and associates be shocked if they could see the morning-after here? Holding her aching stomach, she rolled over and stared happily at the ceiling. The entertaining she’d done in Chicago had always involved scrupulously planned dinners or get-togethers, with the background music as carefully selected as the proper wine.

And if anyone had one too many, it was always dealt with discreetly. The hostess never passed out on the bed, no, indeed, but graciously saw each of her guests to the door, then responsibly tidied up the disarray.

She’d never had anyone curl up to sleep on her floor, and she’d never awakened the next morning with what was surely a hangover.

She liked it.

She liked it so much that she wanted to write about it in her journal right away. She climbed out of bed, wincing, then grinning when her head pounded. Her very first hangover. It was marvelous!

She tiptoed out, thrilled at the thought of noting it all down in her journal. Then she’d have a shower, and make coffee. Make a huge breakfast for her guests.

Guests, she remembered abruptly. Where in the world was Darcy?

Jude had her answer the minute she stepped into her little office. The lump under the covers on the little bed was bound to be Darcy, which meant the journal entry would have to wait a bit longer.

No matter, Jude thought, amused and delighted that her new friends had felt at home enough to settle in for the night. Despite her aching head, she all but danced into the shower.

It had been the best night of her life. She didn’t care how pathetic that sounded, she thought as she ducked her head under the hot spray. It had been wonderful—the talk and the laughter, the foolishness. These two interesting women had come to her, enjoyed her, made her feel part of what they had together.

A friendship. Just as easy as that. And none of it had hinged on where she’d gone to school, what she did for a living, where she’d grown up. It was all about who she was, what she had to say, how she felt.

And not a little to do with her wardrobe, she added with a giggle. But her clothes were a reflection of who she was, weren’t they? At least a reflection of how she saw herself. And why shouldn’t she be flattered that a beautiful woman like Darcy Gallagher admired her clothes?

Still smiling, she stepped out to dry off, then took a couple of aspirin out of the medicine cabinet. She wrapped the towel around her, figuring she could find something to wear just by cruising her bedroom floor, then with her hair a dripping mass of curls she stepped out into the hall.

Her first shriek could have cracked glass—it certainly scored her throat and caused her abused head to reel. The second came out more like a yip as she clutched at the towel and gaped at Aidan.

“Sorry to startle you, darling, but I did knock—front and back—before letting myself in.”

“I was—I was in the shower.”

“So I see.” And what a treat for the eyes she was, he decided, with her all pink and damp and her hair dripping in wet ropes about her shoulders. A dense, glossy brown it was against that pink and white skin.

It took all a man’s will not to just step forward and take a bite somewhere.

“You—you can’t just come in.”

“Well, the back door was unlocked, as back doors usually are hereabouts.” He continued to smile, to look directly into her eyes. Though it was tempting—more than tempting—to let his gaze go wandering. “And I saw Brenna’s lorry parked in your street, so I figured she and Darcy were still here. They are still here, aren’t they?”

“Yes, but—”

“I need to fetch Darcy. She has the lunch shift today and she tends to forget such matters.”

“We’re not dressed.”

“I’ve seen that for myself, darling, and I’ve tried not to comment on it overly. But since you mention it, I’d like to say you’re looking lovely this morning. Fresh as a rose and. . .” He stepped a little closer and sniffed at her. “Twice as fragrant.”

“How’s a body to sleep with all that yammering going on!” Jude jolted as Brenna’s voice erupted from the bedroom. “Kiss her, for sweet Christ’s sake, Aidan, and stop talking her ear off.”

“Well, now, I was working my way along to it.”

“No!” The squeal was so foolish, Jude immediately wished to be buried alive. The best she could do was dash to the bedroom and snatch up a sweater. Before she’d pushed her way through the piles for trousers, Aidan had come in behind her.

“Mother of God, what secret female ritual results in this?”

“Jesus, Aidan, put a cork in it, will you? Me head’s falling off me shoulders.”

He crouched down beside the tangle of red hair. “You know wine gives you a bad head, lass, if you overindulge.”

“There wasn’t any beer,” Brenna muttered.

“Then what’s a body to do, after all? I brought along the Gallagher Fix.”

“Did you?” She rolled, turning her white face and bleary eyes up to him and grasping at his hand. “Truly? God bless you, Aidan. The man’s a saint, Jude. A saint, I tell you. There should be a monument to him in the square of Ardmore.”

“When you get yourself on your feet, crawl down to the kitchen. I brought a jug along just in case.” He gave Brenna a light kiss on the forehead. “Now where’s my sister?”

“She’s in my office, the second bedroom,” Jude told him with what she hoped was cool dignity as she clutched the clothes to her breast.

“Is there much breakable in there?”

“I beg your pardon?”

Aidan straightened. “Just pay no mind to the screams and crashes. I’ll do my best to keep the property damage to a minimum.”

“What does he mean by that?” Jude hissed the question at Brenna the moment he was out of the room, even as she rushed to drag on the slacks.

“Oh.” Brenna yawned hugely. “Just that Darcy doesn’t wake cheerful.”

At the first scream, Brenna clutched her head and moaned. Shocked, Jude yanked the sweater over her head and rushed toward the sound of the thumps and curses.

“Get your hands off me, you blackhearted baboon. I’ll kick your ass from here to Tuesday.”

“It’s your ass that’ll be kicked if you don’t get it out of bed and to work, my girl.”

If the words and the vicious tone in which they were delivered had shocked her, it was nothing to the visual impact. Jude burst into the room in time to see Aidan, his face grim and set, drag Darcy, dressed in nothing but her bra and panties, from the bed to the floor.

“Why, you brute! Stop that this minute!” Driven to protect her new friend, Jude leaped forward. The order and the movement managed to distract Aidan just long enough for Darcy to ball her fist, bare her teeth, and deliver a short-armed punch straight to his crotch.

Jude wasn’t sure the sound he made was human. Torn between yet another layer of shock and a wave of pure female amusement that she wasn’t the least bit proud of, she watched Aidan crumple to his knees and Darcy fall on him like a she-wolf.

“Ouch. Jesus! Bloody hell!” He did what he could to defend himself as his sister thumped, yanked, and bit exactly as he’d taught her, and still wheezing from that first blow, he finally managed to pin her.

“One of these days, Darcy Alice Mary Gallagher, I’m going to forget you’re a female and plant one on you.”

“Go ahead, you great bully.” She thrust out her chin, blew her hair out of her eyes. “Plant one now.”

“I’d likely break my hand on that face of yours. However pretty it is, it’s stretched over a skull made of rock.”

Then they were grinning at each other, and he was rubbing his hand over her face with what surely was as much affection as exasperation. Jude just kept staring as they got to their feet.

“Put some clothes on, you shameless hussy, and get in to work.”

Darcy pushed at her hair and didn’t seem in the least bothered by the recent tumble. “Jude, can I borrow the blue cashmere jumper?”

“Um, yes, of course.”

“Oh, you’re a sweetheart, you are.” She danced by, giving Jude a peck on the cheek. “Don’t worry, I’ll tidy up what I can before I go.”

“Oh, well, that’s all right. I’ll make coffee.”

“That would be lovely. Tea even better if you have it.”

“Coffee?” Aidan said when Darcy had sauntered out the door. “I think you owe me a cup at least.”

“Owe you?”

He stepped toward Jude. “That’s the second time you’ve distracted me in battle and caused me to take a blow I’d have dodged otherwise. Oh, and very well you might bite your cheek to hold back the grin, but I see your eyes laughing clear enough.”

“I’m sure you’re mistaken.” Jude looked deliberately aside. “But I’ll make the coffee.”

“And how’s your head faring this morning?” he asked as he followed her out and down the stairs.

“It’s fine.”

He lifted a brow. “No ill effects due to squeezing a bit too much of the grape?”

“Maybe a little headache.” She was too proud of it to be embarrassed. “I took some aspirin.”

“I’ve better than that for you.” He rubbed a hand casually over the back of her neck, miraculously hitting just the spot that made her want to purr, then moved to the counter as they entered the kitchen. The jar he picked up was filled with some dark and dangerous-looking red liquid.

“Gallagher’s Fix. It’ll set you up right and tight.”

“It looks awful.”

“Not a half-bad taste all in all, though some say it needs a bit of acquiring.” He took a glass from the cupboard. “When a man serves drinks for a living, he’s honor-bound to have a cure for the morning after.”

“It’s only a little headache.” She studied the glass he poured dubiously.

“Then drink only a little, and I’ll fix you some breakfast.”

“You will?”

“A bit of this, a bit of that, and a little lie-me-down.” He nudged the glass on her. She was a bit pale and her eyes were shadowed. He wanted to cuddle her until she felt herself again. “You’ll wake up forgetting you had a hedonistic orgy last night.”

“It wasn’t an orgy. There weren’t any men.”

He grinned, fast and bright. “Next time invite me. Here now, sip a little and start the coffee, and some tea as well. I’ll see to the rest.”

It seemed like a nice connection to the evening to have a handsome man cooking breakfast in her kitchen. That was one more thing that had never happened to her before.

It was amazing, she thought, just how quickly, and how completely, a life could change. Jude sipped carefully, found the brew more tolerable than expected. Drinking the rest, she put on the kettle.

“Jude, you’ve no sausage. You’ve no bacon.”

The quiet shock in his voice amused her. “No, I don’t really eat it.”

“Don’t eat it? How do you cook breakfast?”

Because the shock wasn’t so quiet now, she couldn’t resist fluttering at him. Imagine, she thought, flirting before breakfast. “Usually by putting a piece of whole wheat bread in the toaster and pressing down the little lever.”

“A single piece of toast?”

“And a half a grapefruit or a cup of whatever fresh fruit I have on hand. But now and then, I confess, I go wild and have an entire bagel with low-fat cream cheese.”

“And this is what a sensible person calls breakfast?”

“Yes, a healthy one.”

“Yanks,” Aidan shook his head, as he took out eggs. “Why is it you think you’ll live forever and why do you want to, I’d like to know, when you deny yourselves so many of the basic pleasures in life?”

“Somehow I manage to get through day after day without gnawing on greasy pig meat.”

“A little testy in the morning, are we? Well, you wouldn’t be if you’d eat a proper breakfast. But we’ll do what we can for you.”

She turned, prepared to snarl at him, but with the hand that wasn’t holding the eggs, he cupped the back of her neck and nudged her up against him, then nipped her bottom lip. Before she’d recovered from that, he was following up the quick bite with a long, soft kiss that drained what few thoughts were left in her head.

“Do you have to do that before breakfast?” Brenna complained.

“Aye.” Aidan ran that wonderful hand down Jude’s spine, then up again. “And after, if I have my way about it.”

“Bad enough you come in, stomping about and waking a body up.” Scowling, and wearing the robe she’d wrapped herself in the night before, Brenna headed straight for the jar and poured some Gallagher’s Fix into a glass. Gulping it down, she eyed Aidan narrowly. “Are you making breakfast then?”

“I’m about to. You’re looking a bit peaked this morning, Mary Brenna. Do you want a kiss as well?”

She sniffed, then grinned at him. “I wouldn’t mind it.”

He obliged her by putting the eggs aside and stepping up to lift her off the floor by her elbows. When she whooped, he planted a loud, smacking kiss on her lips. “There you have it, and some roses back in your cheeks as well.”

“That’s from two punches of a fix by Gallagher,” she said and made him laugh.

“We aim to please. Is my sister still on her feet?”

“She’s in the shower, and still cursing you. As I would be if you weren’t so free with your kisses.”

“If God didn’t want a woman’s lips to be kissed, he wouldn’t have made them so easy to reach. Are there potatoes in the larder, Jude?”

“I think—yes.”

Free with his kisses? She’d been warmly entertained watching the easy and affectionate byplay, but now she stood worrying about just what “free with his kisses” meant while Aidan scrubbed off some potatoes and put them in a pot to boil. Did that mean he just went around scooping up women with both hands? He certainly had the charm for it.

The skill for it.

The looks for it.

What did it matter? They didn’t have what anyone would call a relationship. She didn’t want a relationship. Not really.

She just wanted to know if she was one of a pack, or if—for once—she was something more special. Just once something special to someone.

“Where have you gone off dreaming?” Aidan asked her.

Jude jerked back, ordered herself not to flush. “Nowhere.” She busied herself with the coffee and tried not to feel odd when Brenna rummaged through the cupboards for plates and flatware.

She’d never had people make themselves so easily at home in her house. It surprised her to realize she liked it. It made her feel a part of something friendly and simple.

It didn’t matter if Brenna was efficient enough to intimidate a well-programmed robot. It didn’t matter if Darcy was so beautiful every other woman looked dull by comparison.

It didn’t even matter if Aidan kissed a hundred women before breakfast every day of the week.

Somehow within a few short weeks, they were her friends. And they didn’t appear to expect her to be anything but what she was.

It was a small but precious miracle.

“Why don’t I smell bacon cooking?” Darcy demanded as she strolled in.

“Jude didn’t have any,” Aidan told her.

Jude beamed as Darcy helped herself to coffee. “I’ll get some. For next time.”

• • •

The feeling stayed with her all day, the warmth and quiet joy of it. Over breakfast she made plans to drive to Dublin and shop with Darcy, to have Sunday dinner at the O’Tooles’, and she scheduled another storytelling session with Aidan.

She wasn’t asked to come down to the pub that evening. It was understood that she would. And that was so much better. When you were part of something, she reflected, you didn’t need to be asked.

The kitchen smelled of fried potatoes and coffee. The wind chime outside the door sang in the breeze. As she rose to get more coffee, she spotted Betty outside running wildly after a bounding rabbit over hills sprinkled with wildflowers.

Jude imprinted it all on her mind, promising herself she’d take the moment out again when she was feeling low or lonely.

Later, when she was alone and settling down to work, it seemed to her the house still held all that warmth and energy. So she wrote in her journal:

It’s odd that I never realized this is so much what I want. A home. A place where people I enjoy and who enjoy me will come when they like. Will feel comfortable and easy. Maybe it wasn’t solitude I was looking for after all when I so rashly flew to Ireland. It was what I’ve had over these last hours. Companionship, laughter, foolishness, and well, romance.

I suppose I didn’t realize it because I never let myself really wish for it. Now without even the wish, here it is.

That’s a kind of magic, isn’t it? Every bit as much as faeries and spells and winged horses. I’m accepted here, not for what I do, or where I come from, or where I went to school. I’m accepted for who I am. For who, more importantly, I’m finally letting myself become.

When I have dinner at the O’Tooles’ I won’t be shy or feel awkward. I’ll have fun. When I go shopping with Darcy I’m determined to buy something extravagant and useless. Because it’ll be fun.

And when next Aidan comes through my garden gate, I may take him as a lover. Because I want him. Because he makes me feel something I’ve never felt before. Outrageously and completely female.

And because, damn it, it’ll be fun.

With a satisfied nod she switched documents and settled back to review some of her work. Scanning the screen, sifting through written notes, she slid into the routine of research and analysis. She was deep into the study of a story on a crofter’s changeling when her phone rang.

With her mind circling the crofter’s dilemma, she picked up the receiver. “Yes? Hello.”

“Jude. I hope I’m not interrupting your work.”

Jude blinked at the screen and tuned in to her mother’s voice. “No, nothing important. Hello, Mother. How are you?”

“I’m very well.” Linda Murray’s voice was cultured and smooth, and just a little cool. “Your father and I are about to take advantage of the end of the semester. We’re going to New York for a few days to attend an exhibit at the Whitney and see a play.”

“That’s nice.” It made her smile, thinking how much her parents enjoyed each other’s company. A perfect meeting of minds. “You’ll enjoy that.”

“Very much. You’re welcome to fly in and join us if you like, if you’ve had enough of country living.”

A perfect meeting of minds, Jude thought again. And she’d never quite been able to mesh with that lovely unity. “I appreciate the offer, but I’m fine. I really love it here.”

“Do you?” There was faint surprise in the tone. “You always took after your grandmother, who sends her love, by the way.”

“Send mine right back to her.”

“You’re not finding the cottage a bit too rustic?”

Jude thought of her initial reaction—no microwave, no electric can opener—and grinned to herself. “I have everything I need. There are flowers blooming outside the windows. And I’m starting to recognize some of the birds.”

“That’s nice. You do sound rested. I hope you’re planning on spending some time in Dublin while you’re there. They’re supposed to have marvelous galleries. And of course you’ll want to see Trinity College.”

“As a matter of fact, I’m going to Dublin for the day next week.”

“Good. Good. A little respite in the country is all well and good, but you don’t want your mind to stagnate.”

Jude opened her mouth, shut it again, then took a long breath. “I’m working on my paper now, as a matter of fact. I’m finding no end of material here. And I’m learning to garden.”

“Really? That’s a lovely hobby. You sound happy, Jude. I’m so glad to hear it. It’s been too long since you sounded happy.”

Jude closed her eyes and felt the burgeoning resentment fade away. “I know you’ve been worried about me, and I’m sorry. I really am happy. I suppose I just needed to get away for a while.”

“I’ll admit both your father and I were concerned. You seemed so listless and dissatisfied.”

“I suppose I was both.”

“The divorce was hard on you. I understand that, better I think, than you knew. It was so sudden and so final, and it took all of us by surprise.”

“It certainly took me by surprise,” Jude said dryly. “It shouldn’t have. Wouldn’t have if I’d been paying attention.”

“Perhaps not,” Linda said, and Jude winced at her mother’s easy agreement. “But that doesn’t change the fact that William wasn’t the man any of us thought he was. And that’s one of the reasons I called, Jude. I felt it would be better if you heard this from me rather than through the gossip mill or some letter from an acquaintance.”

“What is it?” Something inside her belly clenched. “Is it about William? Is he ill?”

“No, quite the contrary. He appears to be thriving.”

Jude gaped at the sudden and undisguised bitterness in her mother’s voice. “Well, that’s fine.”

“You have a more forgiving nature than I do,” Linda snapped back. “I’d prefer it if he’d contract some rare debilitating disease or at least go bald and develop a facial twitch.”

Stunned as much by the uncharacteristic violence in her mother’s voice as by the sentiment, Jude burst out laughing. “That’s terrible! I love it! But I had no idea you felt that way about him.”

“Your father and I did our best to maintain a polite front, to make things easier for you. It couldn’t have been comfortable for you, facing your mutual friends and colleagues. You remained dignified. We were proud of you.”

Dignity, Jude mused. Yes, they’d always found pride in her dignity. So how could she have disappointed them by going into wild rages or having public snits? “I appreciate that.”

“I think it showed enormous strength, the way you held your head up. And I can only imagine how much it cost you to do so. I suppose leaving your position at the university and going away like this was necessary. To rebuild.”

“I didn’t think you understood.”

“Of course we did, Jude. He hurt you.”

As simple as that, Jude realized and felt her eyes sting. Why hadn’t she trusted her family to stand behind her? “I thought you blamed me.”

“Why in the world would we blame you? Honestly, your father actually threatened to strike William. It’s so rare for that Irish blood to surface, and it took quite some doing to calm him down again.”

Jude tried to imagine her dignified father plowing into the dignified William. But it would not compute. “I can’t tell you how much better that makes me feel.”

“I never said anything because you seemed so determined to keep it all civilized. And I hope this doesn’t upset you, but I don’t want you to hear it from some other source.”

Jude’s belly seized up again. “What is it?”

“William and his new wife are taking advantage of semester’s end as well. They’re going to the West Indies for a couple of weeks. Of all places. William is cheerfully telling anyone who’ll listen that they want this exotic holiday before they have to settle in. Jude, they’re expecting a baby in October.”

Whatever had clutched in her belly sank, dropped through clean to her toes. “I see.”

“The man’s acting like a fool about it. He actually has a copy of the sonogram and is showing it off like a family photo. He bought her this gaudy emerald ring to celebrate. He’s behaving as if she’s the first woman to conceive.”

“I’m sure he’s just very happy.”

“I’m glad you can take it well. For myself, I’m infuriated. We have several mutual friends and this, well, glee of his, is very awkward in social situations. You’d think he would show more tact.”

Linda paused, obviously to get her temper under control. When she spoke again, it was gently. “He wasn’t worth a moment of your time, Jude. I’m sorry I didn’t realize that before you married him.”

“So am I,” she murmured. “Please don’t worry about it, Mother. It’s history. I’m just sorry it’s embarrassing for you.”

“Oh, I can manage. As I said, I didn’t want you to hear it from someone else. I can see now I needn’t have been concerned that you’d be upset or hurt again. Honestly, I wasn’t sure you were completely over him. I’m relieved you’re so sensible. As always.”

“Yes, sensible Jude,” she said, even as something hot lodged in her throat. “Absolutely. In fact, be sure to give him my best wishes the next time you see him.”

“I’ll do that. I really am glad you’re happy, Jude. Your father or I will be in touch once we’re back from New York.”

“Good. Have a wonderful time. Give Father my love.”

“I will.”

When she hung up, Jude felt paralyzed. Frozen. Her skin was chilled, her blood frigid. All the warmth and pleasure, the simple delight that had carried over from the morning iced up in what she assumed was despair.

William flying off to some charming island in the West Indies with his pretty new wife. Sliding into sparkling blue water, strolling along sugar-white sand under a full moon with hands clasped and eyes dreamy.

William giddy over the prospect of fatherhood, bragging about his pretty pregnant wife, poring through baby books with Allyson, compiling lists of names. Pampering the mother-to-be with emerald rings and flowers and lazy Sunday mornings in bed with freshly squeezed orange juice and croissants.

She could visualize it perfectly, a curse of her well-honed imagination. The characteristically buttoned-down William, gleefully nuzzling the lovely Madonna as they lounged on the beach. The usually reserved William telling perfect strangers about the upcoming blessed event.

The notoriously frugal William shelling out the price of an emerald ring. A gaudy one.

The bastard.

She snapped the pencil she held in two, heaved both parts at the wall. It wasn’t until she’d leaped out of her chair, knocking it to the floor with a resounding crash, that she realized it wasn’t despair she felt. It was fury. Blazing, blistering fury.

Her breath came in pants, her fists were clenched. There was nothing to pound on, nothing to beat senseless. The rage building inside her was so black, so fierce, she looked around wildly for somewhere to put it before it exploded out of her chest.

She had to get out, to move, to breathe, before the force of anger came out in a scream that shattered every window in the cottage. Blindly she whirled toward the door and raced out, down the stairs, out of the house.

She ran over the hills until she couldn’t catch her breath, until her sides stung and her legs trembled. A soft rain began to fall through the sunshine, sparkling the air and dewing the grass. The wind came up strong and sounded like a woman weeping. Through it, like a whisper, was the music of pipes.

Finding herself on the path to Ardmore, Jude continued to walk.

ELEVEN

A RAINY EVENING at the pub had people snuggled into their chairs and doing as much dreaming as talking. Young Connor Dempsey played wistful tunes on the squeeze-box while his father sipped his Smithwick’s and discussed the state of the world with his good friend Jack Brennan.

Since Jack’s heart was mending now, he paid as much attention to the conversation as he did his own beer.

From behind the bar, Aidan kept an eye on him nonetheless. Jack and Connor Dempsey Senior often disagreed on the state of the world and occasionally felt the need to use their fists to bring the point home.

Aidan understood the need well enough, but he didn’t care to have the debate rage in his place.

He checked the progress of the football game on the bar set now and then. Clare was outscoring Mayo and he gave them a quick mental cheer, as he had a small wager on the outcome.

He anticipated a quiet night and wondered if he could call upon Brenna to cover for him. He had an urge to see if Jude would like another meal with him. In a restaurant this time, with flowers and candles on the table and a nice straw-colored wine in pretty glasses.

It would be the sort of thing she was more accustomed to, he imagined, than scrambled eggs and fried potatoes dished up in her own kitchen.

Shy and sweet she might be, but she was a sophisticated woman. City-bred and upper class. The men she was used to would take her to the theater and fancy restaurants. They would wear ties and well-cut suits and talk of literature and cinema in weighty tones.

Well, he wasn’t exactly ignorant, was he? He read books and enjoyed films. He’d traveled more than most and had seen great art and architecture firsthand. He could hold his own against any Chicago dandy in conversation.

When he caught himself scowling, he shook his head. What was he doing, for Christ’s sake, setting himself up in competition with some imaginary man? It was pathetic the way he couldn’t seem to hold three thoughts in his head unless one of them centered on Jude Murray.

It was likely just sexual frustration, he decided. He hadn’t slid his hands over a woman’s body in a considerable amount of time. Every time he imagined doing so, it was Jude’s body under his hands. And thanks to that morning, he had a much clearer picture of just what that body of hers included.

All that soft white skin that tended to show a rosy flush so easily. Long, slim legs, and a tiny, sexy mole just at the rise of her left breast. She had such pretty shoulders, shoulders that just seemed to cry out for the trail of a man’s lips.

The way she shied, then melted when he touched her. Was it any wonder he was fixated on her? A man would have to be dead a decade not to be stirred.

A part of him—one that he wasn’t particularly proud of—wished he could just charm her into bed and be done with it. Release and relief and a pleasure for both of them. Another part admitted, just a bit uneasily, that he was just as fascinated by her mind and her manner as he was by the package wrapped around it.

Quiet and shy, tidy and polite. She just made a man want to keep rubbing away at the sheen of composure until he found everything that lay hidden beneath.

The door opened. Aidan glanced over casually, then he looked again, eyes widening in something close to shock.

Jude stepped in. No, it was more a stalking. She was wet down to the skin, her hair wild and dripping around her shoulders. Her eyes were dark, and though he told himself it was a trick of the light, they looked dangerous. He would have sworn they sent off sparks as she strode up to the bar.

“I’d like a drink.”

“You’re soaking wet.”

“It’s raining, and I’ve been walking in it.” Her voice was clipped with an undertone of heat. She shoved at her wet, heavy hair. She’d lost her band somewhere along the run. “That’s the usual result. Can I have a drink or not?”

“Sure, I’ve the wine you like. Why don’t you take it over by the fire there, and warm yourself a bit. And I’ll get you a towel for your hair.”

“I don’t want the fire. I don’t want a towel. I want whiskey.” She issued it like a challenge and dropped a fisted hand on the bar. “Here.”

Her eyes still made his think of a sea goddess, but it was a vengeful one now. He nodded slowly. “As you like.”

He got out a short glass and poured two fingers of Jameson’s into it. Jude snatched it up, tossed it back like water. Her breath exploded out of the sudden fire dead center of her chest. Her eyes watered but stayed hot.

A wise man, Aidan kept his face carefully blank. “You’re welcome to go upstairs to my rooms if you’d like to borrow a dry shirt.”

“I’m fine.” Her throat felt as if someone had raked hot needles down it, but there was a rather pleasant little fire simmering in her gut now. She set the glass back down on the bar, nodded to it. “Another.”

Experience had him leaning casually on the bar. With some you could empty the bottle and no one was the worse for it. With others you nudged them out the door before they bent their elbow once too often. And there were some who needed to pour out their troubles more than they needed the publican to pour the whiskey.

He recognized which he was dealing with here. Added to that, if a glass and a half of wine gave her a buzz, two shots of whiskey would put her under. “Why don’t you tell me what the trouble is, darling?”

“I didn’t say there was any trouble. I said I wanted another glass of whiskey.”

“Well, you won’t get one here. But I’ll make you some tea and a seat by the fire.”

She drew in a breath, then let it out with a shrug. “Fine, forget the whiskey.”

“There’s a lass.” He patted the fist still bunched on his bar. “Now you go and sit, and I’ll bring you tea. Then you can tell me what’s the matter.”

“I don’t need to sit.” She tossed her wet hair out of her face, then leaned forward as he was. “Come closer,” she ordered. When he obliged and their faces were only inches apart, she took a handful of his shirt. She spoke clearly, concisely, but still had the wit to keep her voice low. “Do you still want to have sex with me?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“You heard me.” But it gave her a dark thrill to repeat herself. “Do you want to have sex or not?”

Even as his nerves jangled, he went hard. It was beyond his power to control either reaction. “Right this minute?”

“What’s wrong with now?” she demanded. “Does everything have to be planned and patterned and tied up in a damn bow?”

She forgot to keep her voice down this time, and several heads turned and eyebrows wiggled. Aidan laid a hand over the one still clutching his shirt and patted gently.

“Come on back in the snug, why don’t you, Jude?”

“In the what?”

“Come on, back here.” He patted her hand again, then pried her fingers off. With a gesture he pointed out a door at the end of the bar. “Shawn, come out here and man the bar for a moment, would you?”

He lifted the flap at the end of the bar so Jude could pass through, then nudged her through the door.

The snug was a small, windowless room furnished with two sugan chairs that had been his grandmother’s and a table his father had made that wobbled just enough to be endearing. There was an old globe lamp that Aidan switched on, and a decanter of whiskey that he ignored.

The snug was a place designed for private conversations and private business. He couldn’t think of anything more private than dealing with the woman he’d been fantasizing about asking him if he wanted to have sex.

“Why don’t we—” “Sit down” was what he’d intended to say, but his mouth was too busy being devoured by hers. She had his back up against the door, her hands fisted in his hair, and her lips hotly, hungrily fastened on his.

He managed one strangled groan, then lost himself in the pleasure of being attacked by a wet and willful woman. She was pressed against him. Jesus, plastered against him, and her body was like a furnace. He wondered that her clothes didn’t simply steam away.

Her heart was racing, or maybe it was his. He felt the frantic, nervous beat pound and pitch between them. She smelled of the rain and tasted of his whiskey, and he wanted her with a fervor that was like a sickness. It crawled through him, clawed at him, reeled in his head, burned in his throat.

Dimly, he heard his brother’s voice, an answering laugh, the faint tune played by a young boy. And he remembered, barely, where they were. Who they were.

“Jude. Wait.” The blood was roaring in his head as he tried to ease her back. “This isn’t the place.”

“Why?” She was desperate. She needed something. Him. Anything. “You want me. I want you.”

Enough that he would easily imagine reversing their positions and mounting her where they stood like a stallion covering a ready mare. With fire in the blood, and no heart at all.

“Stop now. Let’s catch our breath here.” He stroked a hand over her hair, a hand that was far from steady. “Tell me what’s the matter.”

“Nothing’s the matter.” Her voice cracked and proved her a liar. “Why does something have to be the matter? Just make love with me.” Her hands shook as she fought with the buttons of his shirt. “Just touch me.”

Now he did reverse positions, pressed her against the door and firmly took her face in his hands to lift it. Whatever his body was telling him, his heart and mind gave different orders. He was a man who preferred following the heart.

“I might touch, but I’ll never reach you if you don’t tell me what’s troubling you.”

“There’s nothing troubling me,” she hissed at him. Then burst into tears.

“Oh, there now, darling.” It was less worrisome to comfort a woman than to resist one. Gently, he gathered her in, cradled her against his chest. “Who hurt you, a ghra?”

“It’s nothing. It’s stupid. I’m sorry.”

“Of course it’s something, and not stupid at all. Tell me what’s made you sad, mavourneen.”

Her breath hitched, and desolate, she pressed her face into his shoulder. It was solid as a rock, comforting as a pillow. “My husband and his wife are going to the West Indies and having a baby.”

“What?” The word came out like a bullet as he jerked her back. “You’ve a husband?”

“Had.” She sniffled, and wished her head could be on his shoulder again. “He didn’t want to keep me.”

Aidan took two long breaths, but his head still reeled as though he’d swallowed a bottle of Jameson’s. Or been clobbered by one. “You were married?”

“Technically.” She fluttered a hand. “Do you have a handkerchief?”

Staggered, Aidan dug in his pocket, handed it to her. “I think we’ll start back at some beginning, but we’ll get you some dry clothes and some hot tea before you catch a chill.”

“No, I’m all right. I should—”

“Just be quiet. We’ll go upstairs.”

“I’m a mess.” She blew her nose savagely. “I don’t want people to see me.”

“There’s no one out there who hasn’t shed a few tears of their own, and some right here in this pub. We’ll go out and through the kitchen and up.”

Before she could argue, he took her arm and pulled her to the door. Then even as the first wave of embarrassment hit, he continued to pull her, into the kitchen, where Darcy looked over in surprise.

“Why, Jude, whatever’s the matter?” she began, then closed her mouth as Aidan gave a quick shake of his head and nudged Jude up a narrow staircase.

He opened a door at the head of it and stepped into his small, cluttered living room. “The bedroom’s through there. Take whatever works best for you, and I’ll put on the tea.”

She started to thank him, apologize, something, but he was already moving through a low doorway. There was enough tension in his wake to bow her spirits even lower.

She stepped into the bedroom. Unlike the living room, it was neat as a pin and sparsely furnished. She wished she had the time, and the right, to poke about a bit. But she moved quickly to the little closet, giving herself time only to scan the single bed with its navy cover, the tall chest of drawers that looked old and comfortably worn at the hinges, the faded rug over an age-darkened wood floor.

She found a shirt, as gray as her mood. While she changed she studied the walls. There he had indulged in his romantic side, she thought. Posters and prints of faraway places.

Street scenes of Paris and London and New York and Florence, stormy seascapes and lush islands. Towering mountains, quiet valleys, mysterious deserts. And of course, the fierce cliffs and gentle hills of his own country. They were tacked up edge to edge, like a fabulous, eccentric wallpaper.

How many of those places had he been? she wondered. Had he been to them all, or had he places still to go?

She let out a huge sigh, not caring that the sound was ripe with self-pity, and carrying her wet sweater, went back into the living room.

He was pacing, and stopped when she came in. She was dwarfed by his shirt and looked small and miserable and not nearly up to dealing with the emotions swinging around inside him. So he said nothing, not yet, merely took her sweater and carried it into the bath to hang over the shower rod and drip.

“Sit down, Jude.”

“You’ve every right to be angry with me, coming in this way, behaving as I did. I don’t know how to begin to—”

“I wish you’d be quiet for a minute.” He snapped it at her, telling himself when she winced that he wasn’t made of stone. Then he stalked into the kitchen to deal with the tea.

She’d been married, was all he could think. That was quite a detail she’d neglected to mention.

He’d thought her to have had little experience with men, and here she’d been married and divorced and was obviously still pining for the bastard.

Pining for some fancy man in Chicago who wasn’t true enough to keep his vows, and all the while Aidan Gallagher had been pining for her.

If that wasn’t enough to burn your ass, what was?

He poured the tea strong and black and added a healthy drop of whiskey to his own.

She was standing when he came back, the fingers of her hands twisted together. Her damp hair curled madly, and her eyes were drenched. “I’ll go downstairs and apologize to your customers.”

“For what?”

“For making a scene.”

He set the cups down and drew his brows together to study her with as much bafflement as irritation. “What do I care about that? If we don’t have a scene in Gallagher’s once a week we wonder why. Will you sit down, damn it, and stop looking at me as if I was about to take a strap to you?”

He sat after she did, then picked up his own tea. Jude sipped, burned her tongue, then hastily set her cup down again.

“Why didn’t you tell me you’d been married?”

“I didn’t think of it.”

“Didn’t think of it?” His cup clattered as he snapped it down on the table. “Did it mean so little to you?”

“It meant a great deal to me,” she returned with a quiet dignity that had him narrowing his eyes. “It meant considerably less to the man I married. I’ve been trying to learn to live with that.”

When Aidan said nothing, she picked up her tea again to give herself something to do with her hands. “We’d known each other several years. He’s a professor at the university where I taught. On the surface, we had a great deal in common. My parents liked him very much. He asked me to marry him. I said yes.”

“Were you in love with him?”

“I thought I was, yes, so that amounts to the same thing.”

No, Aidan thought, it didn’t amount to the same thing at all. But he let it pass. “And what happened?”

“We—he, I should say, planned it all out. William likes to plan carefully, considering details and possible pitfalls and their solutions. We bought a house, as it’s more conducive to entertaining and he had ambitions to rise in his department. We had a very small, exclusive, and dignified wedding with all the right people involved. Meaning caterers, florists, photographers, guests.”

She breathed deep and, since her tongue was already scalded, sipped the tea again. “Seven months later, he came to me and told me he was dissatisfied. That’s the word he used. ‘Jude, I’m dissatisfied with our marriage.’ I think I said, ‘Oh, I’m sorry.’”

She closed her eyes, let the humiliation settle along with the whiskey in her stomach. “That grates, knowing my first instinct was to apologize. He accepted it graciously, as if he’d been expecting it. No,” she corrected, looking at Aidan again. “Because he’d been expecting it.”

It was hurt he felt from her now, quivering waves of it. “That should tell you that you apologize too much.”

“Maybe. In any case, he explained that as he respected me and wanted to be perfectly honest, he felt he should tell me that he’d fallen in love with someone else.”

Someone younger, Jude thought now. And prettier, brighter.

“He didn’t want to involve her in a sordid and adulterous affair, so he requested that I file for divorce immediately. We would sell the house, split everything fifty-fifty. As he was the instigator, he would be willing to give me first choice in any particular material possessions I might want.”

Aidan kept his eyes on her face. She was composed again, eyes quiet, hands still. Too composed, to his thinking. He decided he preferred it when she was passionate and real. “And what did you do about it?”

“Nothing. I did nothing. He got his divorce, he remarried, and we all got on with our lives.”

“He hurt you.”

“That’s what William would call an unfortunate but necessary by-product of the situation.”

“Then William is a donkey’s ass.”

She smiled a little. “Maybe. But what he did makes more sense than struggling through a marriage that makes you unhappy.”

“Were you unhappy in it?”

“No, but I don’t suppose I was really happy either.” Her head ached now, and she was tired. She wished she could just curl into a ball and sleep. “I don’t think I’m given to great highs of emotions.”

He too was drained. This was the same woman who’d thrown herself lustfully into his arms, then wept bitterly in them only moments before. “No, you’re a right calm one, aren’t you, Jude Frances?”

“Yes.” She whispered. “Sensible Jude.”

“So, being such, what set you off today?”

“It’s stupid.”

“Why should it be stupid if it meant something to you?”

“Because it shouldn’t have. It shouldn’t have meant anything.” Her head snapped up again, and the glitter that came into her eyes didn’t displease him in the least. “We’re divorced, aren’t we? We’ve been divorced for two years. Why should I care that he’s going to the West Indies?”

“Well, why do you?”

“Because I wanted to go there!” she exploded. “I wanted to go somewhere exotic and wonderful and foreign on our honeymoon. I got brochures. Paris, Florence, Bim-ini. All sorts of places. We could have gone to any of them, and I would have been thrilled. But all he could talk about was—was—”

She circled her hand, as words momentarily failed her. “The language difficulties, the cultural shocks, the different germs, for God’s sake.”

Furious all over again, she leaped out of the chair. “So we went to Washington and spent hours—days—centuries—touring the Smithsonian and going to lectures.”

He’d been fairly shocked before, but this one did it. “You went to lectures on your honeymoon?”

“Cultural bonding,” she spat out. “That’s what he called it.” She threw up her hands and began to stalk around the room. “Most couples have impossibly high expectations for their honeymoon, according to William.”

“And why shouldn’t they?” Aidan murmured.

“Exactly!” She whirled back, her face flushed with righteous fury. “Better to meet the minds on common ground? Better to go to an environment that is recognizable? The hell with that. We should’ve been having crazy sex on some hot beach.”

A part of Aidan was simply delighted that that hadn’t occurred. “Sounds to me like you’re well rid of him, darling.”

“That’s not the point.” She wanted to tear her hair out, nearly did. Jude’s Irish was up now, bubbling, boiling in a way that would have made her grandmother proud. “The point is, he left me, and his leaving crushed me. Maybe not my heart, but my pride and my ego, and what difference does it make? They’re all part of me.”

“It makes no difference at all,” Aidan said quietly. “You’re right. No difference.”

The fact that he agreed, without a second’s hesitation, only added fuel to her temper. “And now, the bastard, he’s going where I wanted to go. And they’re having a baby, and he’s thrilled. When I talked about having children, he brought up our careers and lifestyles, the population, college costs, for Christ’s sake. And he made a chart.”

“A what?”

“A chart. A goddamn computer-generated chart, projecting our finances and health, our career status and time management over the next five to seven years. After that, he told me, if we met our goals, we could consider—just consider—conceiving a single child. But for the next several years, he had to concentrate on his career, his planned advancements, and his stupid portfolio.”

Fury was a living thing now, clawing viciously at her chest. “He decided when and if we would have a child. He decided should that eventuality take place there would be only one. If he could have managed it, he’d have decided on the sex of the projected baby.

“I wanted a family, and he gave me pie charts.”

Her breath hitched, and her eyes filled again. But when Aidan rose to go to her, Jude shook her head frantically. “I thought he didn’t want foreign travel and babies. I thought, well, he’s just set in his ways, and he’s so practical and frugal and ambitious. But that wasn’t it. It wasn’t it at all. He didn’t want to go to the West Indies with me. He didn’t want to make a family with me. What’s wrong with me?”

“There’s nothing wrong with you. Nothing at all.”

“Of course there is.” She dug out his handkerchief as her voice rose and fell and broke. “If there wasn’t, I’d never have let him get away with it. I’m dull. He was bored with me almost as soon as we were married. People get bored with me. My students, my associates. My own parents are bored with me.”

“That’s a foolish thing to say.” He went to her now, taking her arms to give her a little shake. “There’s nothing dull about you.”

“You just don’t know me well enough yet. I’m dull, all right.” She sniffled, then nodded for emphasis. “I never do anything exciting, never say anything brilliant. Everything about me is average. I even bore myself.”

“Who put these ideas in your head?” He would have shaken her again, but she looked so pitiful. “Did it ever occur to you that this William with his bloody pie charts and cultural whatever it was is the boring one? That if your students weren’t enthusiastic it was because teaching wasn’t what you were meant to do?”

She shrugged. “I’m the common factor.”

“Jude Frances, who’s come to Ireland on her own, to live in a place she’s never been, with people she’s never met and to do work she’s never done?”

“That’s different.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m just running away.”

He felt both impatience and sympathy for her. “Boring you’re not, but hardheaded you are. You could give a mule lessons. What’s wrong with running away if where you were didn’t suit you? Doesn’t it follow you’re running to something else? Something that does suit you?”

“I don’t know.” And she was too tired and achy to think it through.

“I’ve done some running myself. To and from. In the end I landed where I needed to be.” He bent down to press a kiss to her forehead. “And so will you.”

Then he drew her away, rubbed a tear from her cheek with his thumb. “Now, sit down here while I go clear up a few things in the pub. Then I’ll see you home.”

“No, that’s all right. I can walk back.”

“You’ll not be walking in the rain and the dark and when you’re feeling sad. Just sit and drink your tea. I won’t be long.”

He left her alone before she could argue, then stood on the stairs for a few minutes to get his own mind in order.

He was trying not to be angry with her for not telling him about the marriage. He was a man who took such commitments seriously, because of his faith and his own sen-sibilities. Marriage wasn’t something you wound in and out of as you pleased, but something that cemented you.

Hers had crumbled through no fault of her own, but she should have told him. It was the principle of it.

And he’d just have to get by it, Aidan warned himself. He’d also have to do some careful treading over the sensitive areas of her that circumstance had rubbed so raw. He didn’t want to be responsible for pinching where it already hurt.

Jesus, he thought, rubbing the back of his neck as he headed down to the pub. The woman was a bucket of work.

“What’s the matter with Jude?” Darcy demanded the minute he stepped into the kitchen.

“She’s all right. She had some news from home that upset her is all.” He picked up the receiver on the wall phone to call Brenna.

“Oh, not her granny.” Darcy set down the order she’d just picked up, and her eyes were full of concern.

“No, nothing like that. I’m going to call Brenna and see if she can cover for me a couple of hours. I want to drive Jude home.”

“Well, and if she can’t, Shawn and I will manage.”

Aidan paused with the phone in his hand and smiled. “You’re a sweetheart when you want to be, Darcy.”

“I like her and I think she needs a bit of fun in her life. Seems to be there’s been precious little up to now. And having her husband leave her for another woman before her bridal bouquet was dry is bound to—”

“Wait now—hold on a minute. You knew she was married?”

Darcy lifted a brow. “Of course.” She hefted the order, sauntered toward the door with it. “It’s not a secret.”

“Not a secret,” he muttered, then with gritted teeth dialed Brenna’s number. “The whole village likely knew, but not me.”

TWELVE

BY THE TIME Aidan came back and they walked down to his car, Jude had time to calm down, and to review.

Mortification didn’t begin to cover it. She had burst into the pub, then had sexually assaulted the man in his place of business. Perhaps in time—twenty or thirty years, she estimated—she would find that particular memory fascinating, and even amusing. But for now it was just humiliating.

Then she had compounded that by raging, weeping, blubbering, and cursing. All in all, she couldn’t think of anything she might have done that could have shocked them both more unless it was stripping naked and dancing a jig on his bar.

Her mother had congratulated her on maintaining her dignity while under terrible stress. Well, Mother, she thought, don’t look now.

And after all that, Aidan was driving her home because it was dark and rainy, and he was kind.

She imagined he couldn’t wait to be rid of her.

As they bumped up her little road, she tried out a dozen different ways to smooth over the embarrassment, and every one sounded stilted or silly. Still, she had to say something. It would be cowardly, and rude, not to.

So she took a deep breath, then let it out in a rush.

“Do you see her?”

“Who?”

“In the window.” Jude reached out, gripping his arm as she stared at the figure in the window of her cottage.

He looked up, smiled a little. “Aye. She’s waiting. I wonder if time stretches out for her, or if a year is only a day.”

He switched off the engine so they sat with the rain drumming until the figure faded away.

“You did see her. You’re not just saying that.”

“Of course I saw her, as I have before and will again.” He turned his head, studied Jude’s profile. “You’re not uneasy, are you, staying out here with her?”

“No.” Because the answer came so easily, she laughed. “Not at all. I should be, I suppose, but I’m not the least bit uneasy here, or with her. Sometimes . . .”

“Sometimes what?”

She hesitated again, telling herself she shouldn’t keep him. But it was so cozy there in the warmth of the car with the rain pattering and the mists swirling. “Well, sometimes I feel her. Something in the air. Some—I don’t know how to explain—some ripple in the air. And it makes me sad, because she’s sad. I’ve seen him too.”

“Him.”

“The faerie prince. I’ve met him twice now when I’ve gone to put flowers on Maude’s grave. I know it sounds crazy—I know I should probably see a doctor for some tests, but—”

“Did I say it sounded crazy?”

“No.” She released another pent-up breath. “I guess that’s why I told you, because you wouldn’t say it. You wouldn’t think it.”

And neither did she, not any longer.

“I met him, Aidan.” She shifted on her seat, her eyes bright with excitement as she faced him. “I talked to him. The first time I thought he was someone who just lived around here. But the second, it was almost like a dream or a trance or . . . I have something,” she said following impulse. “I’d like to show you. I know you probably want to get back, but if you have just a minute.”

“Are you asking me in?”

“Yes. I’d—”

“Then I’ve time enough.”

They got out of the car and walked through the rain. A little nervous, she pushed at her damp hair as they stepped inside the cottage. “It’s upstairs. I’ll bring it down. Do you want some tea?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Just, well, wait,” she said and hurried upstairs to her bedroom where she’d buried the stone among her socks.

When she came down, holding it behind her back, Aidan was already lighting the fire. The glow of it shimmered over him as he crouched by the hearth, and Jude’s heart gave a pleasantly painful little lurch.

He was as handsome as the faerie prince, she thought. See the way the fire brings out the deep red tones in his hair and shifts and plays over the angles of his face, shoots gold into those wonderful blue eyes of his.

Was it any wonder she was in love with him?

Oh, God, she was in love with him! The force of it struck like a blow in the belly, nearly made her groan. How many more idiotic mistakes could she make in one single day?

She couldn’t afford to fall in love with some gorgeous Irishman, to break her heart over him, to make a fool of herself. He was looking for something entirely different, and had made no pretenses about it. He wanted sex and pleasure, fun and excitement. Companionship, too, she imagined. But he didn’t want some moony-eyed woman in love with him, particularly one who’d already failed at the only serious relationship she’d allowed herself.

He wanted a love affair, which was a world away from love. And if she wanted to succeed here, with him, to give herself the pleasure of a relationship with him, she would have to learn to separate the two.

She would not complicate this. She would not overanalyze this. She would not ruin this.

So when he rose and turned, she smiled at him. “It’s lovely having a fire on a rainy night. Thanks.”

“Then come closer to it.” He held out a hand.

She was walking into the fire all right, she thought. And she wouldn’t give a damn if she got burned. She crossed to him, kept her eyes on his. Slowly, she brought her hand from behind her back, spread her fingers. The diamond nestled in the center of her palm, shooting light and glory.

“Sacred heart of Jesus.” Aiden stared at it, blinked. “Is that what I think it is?”

“He poured them like candy out of his bag. Jewels so bright they hurt my eyes. And I watched as they bloomed into flowers over Maude’s grave. Except for this one that stayed as it was. I shouldn’t believe it,” she murmured, thinking as much of love as of the stone in her hand. “But here it is.”

He took it from her hand to hold it in the light of the fire. It seemed to pulse, then lay quiet. “It holds every color of the rainbow. There’s magic here, Jude Frances.” He lifted his gaze to hers. “What will you do with it?”

“I don’t know. I was going to take it to a jeweler, have it analyzed, the same way I was going to have myself analyzed. But I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want it tested and studied and documented and appraised. It’s enough just to have it, don’t you think? Just to know it is. I haven’t taken enough on faith in my life. I want to change that.”

“That’s wise. And brave. And perhaps the very reason it was given into your keeping.” He took her hand, turned the palm up. After laying the stone on her palm, he curled her fingers around it. “It’s for you, and whatever magic it holds. I’m glad you showed it to me.”

“I needed to share it.” She held the stone firmly, and though she knew it was foolish, thought she gathered courage from it. “You’ve been so understanding, and very patient with me. My outrageous behavior, then the way I dumped all my neuroses on you. I don’t know how to repay you.”

“I’m not keeping a balance sheet.”

“I know. You wouldn’t. You’re the kindest man I know.”

He managed not to wince. “Kind, is it?”

“Yes, very.”

“And understanding and patient as well.”

Her lips curved. “Yes.”

“Like a brother might be.”

She managed to keep the smile in place. “Well, I . . . hmmm.”

“And are you in the habit of throwing yourself into the arms of men you think of like a brother?”

“I have to apologize for that, for embarrassing you.”

“Haven’t I told you that you apologize too often? Just answer the question.”

“Um, well . . . Actually I’ve never thrown myself into anyone’s arms but yours.”

“Is that the truth then? Well, it’s flattered I am, though you were in some distress at the time.”

“Yes. Yes, I was.” The stone felt like a lead weight in her hand now. She turned, grateful to have her back to him for a moment, and laid it on the mantel.

“Are you in distress at the moment?”

“No. No, thank you, I’m fine.”

“Then let’s try it again.” He spun her around, and as her lips parted in surprise, captured them. Her body jerked, that instant of shock he always found so arousing. “Are you thinking I’m kind and patient now?” he muttered and bit lightly at the curve of her neck.

“I can’t think at all.”

“Good.” If there was anything more potent than a woman stumbling over her own passion, he’d yet to come across it. “I like you better that way.”

“I thought you’d be angry, or—”

“You’re thinking again.” He nibbled his way up to her temple. “I’ll have to ask you to stop that.”

“All right. Okay.”

Her breathy agreement made him yearn. “Mavourneen dheelish. Let me have you tonight.” His mouth came back to hers and sent her already scattered thoughts spinning. “Let it be tonight. I can’t go on just dreaming of you.”

“You still want me?” The stunned pleasure in her voice nearly dropped him to his knees. It humbled him, her complete lack of vanity.

“I want all there is of you. Don’t ask me to go tonight.”

She’d followed her heart to this place, and had found him. Now she would follow her heart again. “No.” She tangled her fingers in his hair, met his mouth with all the newly discovered love and passion in her. “No, don’t go.”

He could have lowered her to the floor, taken her there and delighted them both in front of the fire. Neither of them was a child, and both were eager. But he remembered a promise made and scooped her up in his arms. When he saw the dazed surprise on her face, he knew it was right.

“I told you that the first time it would be slow and sweet. I’m a man of my word.”

No one had ever carried her before. The romance of it was stunning, an erotic fantasy with gilt edges. Her heartbeat drummed in her ears like thunder as he carried her up the steps, down the little hall into the bedroom.

She was grateful for the dark. It would be easier not to be shy in the dark. When he sat her on the edge of the bed, she closed her eyes. Then they sprang open again when he turned on the bedside light.

“Pretty Jude,” he murmured, and smiled down at her. “Just sit a moment, and I’ll light the fire.”

A fire, she thought. Of course, a fire would be good. She linked her hands together and tried to settle the nerves, smooth out the needs. It would add atmosphere as well as warmth. He’d want atmosphere. Oh, God, why couldn’t she think of something to say? Why didn’t she have some wonderful negligee or lingerie to change into and dazzle him?

Speechless, she watched him straighten from the fire once it began to flame, then begin to light the candles scattered around the room.

“I was going to call you tonight and ask you to dinner.”

The idea was such a surprise, such an intriguing one, she stared. “You were?”

“That’ll have to wait for another time now.” He kept his eyes on her, seeing her nerves, enjoying them a bit, as he switched off the lamp again. And the room was washed in shadows and shifting light.

“I’m not very hungry.”

He laughed. “I’m after changing that, right quickly then.” To her complete shock, he crouched down and began to untie her shoes. “I’ve had an appetite for you since you first walked into the pub.”

She swallowed. Hard. It was the best she could do. Then he ran a finger lightly over the arch of her bare foot and the breath strangled in her throat.

“You’ve pretty feet.” He said it casually, with a laugh in his eyes as he lifted her foot and nibbled on her toes. The breath that had caught exploded out again, and her fingers dug like spikes into the mattress.

“But I have to admit, after seeing them this morning all damp and rosy I have a preference for your shoulders.”

“My—oh . . .” He gave his attention to her other foot and wiped her brain clean. “What?”

“Your shoulders. I fancy them.” Because it was true enough, he rose, and lifted Jude to her now tingling feet. “They’re graceful, but they’re strong.” As he spoke, he unbuttoned the shirt she’d borrowed. To torment them both a little longer, he didn’t remove it, but only nudged it off her shoulders so he could do as he’d imagined and trail his tongue along the curve.

“Oh, God.” The sensation drizzled into her system like gold dust until everything inside her sparkled. When she gripped his hips for balance, he worked his way up the side of her neck to her jaw, like a man slowly sampling his way through a variety of dishes at a banquet.

His mouth brushed over hers, a teasing taste that stirred the juices of her own hunger. He heard it in her quiet moan and came back for a second, longer taste.

Her hands slid up his back, and she moved her body against his in a dreamy rhythm as her head fell back in surrender.

Slow, he said, and sweet. It was exactly right. With the candlelight dancing and the rain softly pattering and her own sighs filling her head, soft kisses grew longer, and deeper. It seemed her body was alive with the taste of him now, rich and male and perfect.

When he tugged his shirt off she gave a low sound of pleasure and let her hands roam over his back, knead into the muscles.

His heart leaped against hers. Those slow, hesitant strokes of her hands were maddening. Wonderful. Her mouth was so soft, so giving. And the way she shivered—nerves and anticipation—when he unhooked her slacks and let them slide to the floor flashed fresh heat into his blood. Gaelic endearments burned in his brain, tumbled off his tongue as he took his mouth over her face, down her throat, once again over those glorious shoulders until her shivers became shudders and her sighs gasps.

Slow down, slow down, he ordered himself. But how could he have known that the need for her would rear up and snap into his soul with jagged teeth? Afraid he would frighten her, he pressed his lips to the curve of her throat and just held her until the rage of it settled again.

She was floating, too tangled in sensations to note the changes of rhythm. Dreamily, she turned her head, found his mouth with hers and slid them both into the kiss. It seemed her bones were dissolving, and the pressure in her belly was glorious. Everywhere he touched, a part of her lit up.

This was making love, was all she could think. At last, this. How could she have mistaken anything else for this?

He had to have more. He slipped the shirt aside and found himself charmed by the simple white bra. To please himself, he trailed a fingertip along the top edge, circled the tiny mole.

Her legs buckled. “Aidan.”

“When I saw this little dot this morning,” he murmured, watching her face, “I wanted to bite you.” When she only blinked at him, he grinned and flicked open the hook of her bra. “It made me wonder what other sexy little secrets you hide under those tidy clothes of yours.”

“I don’t have any sexy secrets.”

The bra fell to the floor. Aidan lowered his gaze, watched the faint flush work over her skin and found it sinfully erotic. “You’re wrong about that,” he said quietly, then cupped her breasts in his hands.

There, that quick jerk of shock, and the glimmer of surprise in her eyes. Experimentally, he rubbed his thumbs over her nipples and watched those sea-green eyes blur.

“No, don’t close them,” he said as he lowered her to the bed. “Not yet. I want to see what my touching you does to you.”

So he watched her face as he enjoyed her, as he learned the secrets she’d claimed not to have. Silky skin and tumbled hair, all smelling of rain. Soft curves, subtle dips. When his workingman’s hands skimmed over her, she would quiver. And each secret he discovered was a pleasure to them both.

When he tasted her, the world slipped away until there was nothing but the rage of her own pulse and the hot glory of his mouth on her skin.

Ripe for release, she arched against his hand when he covered her. Moved against him as the ache sweetened and the sweetness became unbearable. His mouth came down on hers, catching her cry of pleasure. He gave her more, more until her breath was sobs and her body molten.

The eyes that so fascinated him were blind now, and her skin glowing and damp. It wasn’t only her world that had slipped away, but his as well. She was all that was left in it.

He said her name once, then slid into her. Heat into heat, need into need, strong and deep. Holding there, holding, until she wrapped herself around him.

Joined now, they moved together, long, slow strokes that fed the soul. Dazzled, she smiled. Light shimmered, like the brilliance of the diamond as his lips curved in response and met hers.

This, she thought, was the real magic. The most powerful. And clinging to it, she leaped off the edge of the world with him.

Candlelight fluttered. The fire hissed and rain pinged on the windows. There was a gorgeous, exciting, fascinating, and wonderfully naked man in her bed.

Jude felt like a cat who’d just been given the keys to the milking parlor.

“I’m so glad William’s having a baby.”

Aidan turned his head, found his face buried in her hair, and angled it away again. “What the devil does William have to do with it?”

“Oh. I didn’t realize I’d said that out loud.”

“It’s no worse than thinking about another man when I’ve yet to get my breath back after loving you.”

“I wasn’t thinking of him like that.” Appalled, she sat up, too mortified to remember she was naked. “I was just thinking that if he wasn’t having a baby, my mother wouldn’t have told me, and I wouldn’t have gotten upset and come down to the pub and—it all led to here, to this,” she finished weakly.

He still had the energy for arrogance. Lifting a brow, he said, “I’d have gotten you here eventually.”

“I’m glad it was tonight. Now. Because it was so perfect. I’m sorry. It was a stupid thing to say.”

“You’re going to have to stop assuming every stray thought that comes out of your mouth is stupid. And since there’s a logic to the pattern you just mentioned, I say we drink a toast to the timing of William’s virility.”

Relieved, she beamed at him. “I suppose we could, though he’s not half as good in bed as you are.” Instantly her cheery grin became a look of horror. “Oh, what a thing to say!”

“If you think I’m insulted by that, you’re mistaken.” Chuckling, Aidan sat up as well, and kissed her soundly. “I’d say it’s worth another toast. To William’s stupidity in not recognizing the jewel he had so she could fall into my hands.”

Jude threw her arms around him, hugged hard. “No one’s ever touched me the way you did. I didn’t think anyone would ever want to.”

“I’m already wanting to again.” He nuzzled into the curve of her neck. “Why don’t we go down and have that wine, and a bit of soup or whatever. Then we’ll come back and start all over again?”

“I think that’s a wonderful idea.” She ordered herself not to feel awkward as she climbed out of bed to dress. He’d already seen all of her there was to see, so it was foolish to be shy now.

Still, she was relieved when she was covered in the borrowed shirt and her slacks. But when she reached for a band for her hair, Aidan laid a hand on her shoulder and made her jump.

“Why are you tying it back?”

“Because it’s awful.”

“I like it wild.” He played his fingers through it. “Sort of rioting around in this lovely dense color.”

“It’s brown.” And she’d always considered it as original as tree bark.

“So’s mink, darling.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “What’ll we do with you, Jude Frances, if you ever take the blinders off and really look at yourself? I think you’ll be a terror. Come on now and leave it be,” he added and began to tug her toward the door. “I’m the one who’s looking at it, after all.”

She was too pleased to argue, but took a stand once they were in the kitchen. “You cooked breakfast, so I’ll fix dinner,” she said and got out the wine. “I’m not much of a cook, so you’ll have to make do with my fallback meal.”

“And what might that be?”

“Soup from a can and grilled cheese sandwiches.”

“Sounds like just the trick on a rainy night.” He took the wine and settled at a chair at the kitchen table. “Plus I get the pleasure of watching you make it.”

“When I first saw this kitchen, I thought it was charming.” She moved to the hearth and lit the fire with an ease that surprised Aidan a little. “Then I realized there wasn’t a dishwasher, or a microwave, or so much as an electric can opener or coffee machine.”

Laughing, she got a can of soup out of the pantry and set to opening it with her little manual opener. “I was a bit appalled, let me tell you. And I’ve done more in this kitchen and enjoyed what I’ve cooked here more than anything I ever put together in my condo. And that kitchen’s state of the art. Jenn-Air range, sub-zero refrigerator.”

As she spoke, she started the soup, ducked into the refrigerator for cheese and butter. “Of course, I haven’t tackled anything complicated. I’m gathering the courage to try to make soda bread. It seems fairly basic, and if I don’t mess it up too badly, I could work up to actually baking a cake.”

“Have you a yen to bake, then?”

“I think I do.” She smiled over her shoulder as she spread butter on bread. “But it’s rather daunting when you’ve never done it before.”

“You won’t know if you like it unless you try.”

“I know. I hate failing at things.” She shook her head as she heated the skillet. “I know it’s a problem. It’s the reason I haven’t tried a lot of the things I think about trying. I always convince myself I’ll muck it up anyway, so I don’t try. It comes from being an awkward child of graceful parents.”

She laid the sandwiches in the skillet, pleased when they sizzled cheerfully. “But I make pretty good cheese sandwiches, so you won’t starve.” She turned and bumped solidly into his chest.

His mouth was on hers again. Hot, a little rough and very exciting. When he let her breathe again, he nodded. “Nothing awkward about that, or the rest of you, as far as I’ve seen.”

Satisfied, he went back to the table and his wine.

Jude recovered in time to keep the soup from boiling over.

He stayed through the night so that she could curl warm against him. At sunrise, when the light glided through the window to shimmer on the air, he reached for her again, making lazy love to her that left her steeped in dreams.

When next she woke, he was sitting on the bed beside her, holding a cup of coffee and stroking her hair.

“Oh. What time is it?”

“Past ten, and I’ve ruined your reputation.”

“Ten?” She sat up quickly, surprised and grateful when he handed her the coffee. “My reputation?”

“Beyond redemption now. I meant to leave at dawn so my car wouldn’t be in your street. But I was distracted.”

She sighed deeply. “I remember.”

“There’ll be talk now, about that Gallagher lad cozying up to the Yank.”

Her eyes glittered. “Will there, really? How wonderful.”

He laughed, tugged on her hair. “I thought somehow you might enjoy that.”

“I’d like it better if I ruined your reputation. I’ve never ruined anyone’s reputation before.” She touched his face, delighted that she could, and trailed her finger down over the narrow cleft in his chin. “I could be that loose American woman who’s stolen the owner of Gallagher’s from under the noses of all the local ladies.”

“Well, now, if you’ve decided to be a loose woman, I’ll be back tonight after closing, and you can take unfair advantage of me.”

“I’d be glad to.”

“Keep a light burning for me, darling.” He leaned forward to kiss her, then lingered over it long enough to make himself uncomfortable. “Bloody paperwork,” he muttered. “I have to go deal with it. Miss me, will you, Jude?”

“All right.”

She settled back against the pillows when he left, listened to the sound of the door closing behind him, then of his car starting.

For an hour she did nothing but sit in bed and hum.

THIRTEEN

I’M HAVING A love affair.

Jude Frances Murray is having a passionate affair with a gorgeous, charming, sexy Irishman.

I just love writing that.

I can barely resist behaving like a schoolgirl and writing his name over and over again in a notebook.

Aidan Gallagher. What a marvelous name.

He’s so handsome. I know it’s completely shallow to dwell on someone’s physical appearance, but . . . Well, if I can’t be shallow in the pages of my own journal, where can I be?

His hair is a deep, rich chestnut, and the sunlight teases out the red in it. He has wonderful eyes, a dark and brilliant blue, and when he turns them on me, just looks at me as he often does, everything inside me goes hot and soft. His is a strong face. Good bones, as Granny would say. His mouth smiles slow and easy, and there’s just the slightest of clefts in his chin.

His body . . . I can hardly believe I’ve had it over mine, under mine. It’s so hard and firm, with muscles like iron. Powerful, I suppose is the word.

My lover has a very powerful build.

I suppose that’s enough wallowing in the superficial.

All right . . . done.

His other qualities are just as impressive. He’s very kind and has a lively sense of humor. He listens. That’s a skill in danger of being lost, and Aidan’s is well honed.

His family ties are deep and strong, his work ethic admirable. I find his mind fascinating, and his skill in storytelling entertaining. The truth is, I could listen to him for hours.

He’s traveled extensively, seen places I’ve only dreamed of seeing. Now that his parents have settled in Boston, he’s taken over the family business and slipped into the role of head of the family with a calm and rather casual authority.

I know I shouldn’t be in love. What Aidan and I have is a satisfying physical relationship, and a lovely and affectionate friendship. Both are precious, and should be more than enough for anyone.

But I can’t help being in love with him.

I’ve come to realize that everything ever written about falling in love is absolutely true. The air’s sweeter, the sun brighter. I don’t think my feet have touched the ground in days.

It’s terrifying. And it’s wonderful.

Nothing I’ve ever experienced is like this. I had no idea I had such feelings inside me. Passionate and giddy and absolutely foolish feelings.

I know I’m the same person. I can look in the mirror and it’s still me looking back. Yet somehow there seems to be more of me. It’s as if pieces that were hidden or unacknowledged have suddenly tumbled into place.

I realize the physical and emotional stimuli, the charge of endorphins and . . . oh, the hell with that. This doesn’t need to be analyzed and slotted. It just has to be.

It’s so outrageously romantic, the way he walks to my cottage at night. Coming through the gloom or the moonlight to knock at my door. He brings me wildflowers or seashells or pretty stones.

He does things to my body I’ve only read about. Oh, God, reading has definitely taken second place.

I feel wanton. I have to laugh at myself. Jude Frances Murray has a sex drive. And it shows no signs of abating.

I’ve never had so much fun in my entire life.

I had no idea romance could be fun. Why didn’t someone tell me?

When I look in the mirror, I feel beautiful. Imagine that. I feel beautiful.

Today I’m picking Darcy up and we’re going to Dublin to shop. I’m going to buy extravagant things for no reason at all.

The Gallagher house was old and lovely and sat on the edge of the village, up a steep little hill and facing the sea. If Jude had asked, she would have been told that Shamus’s son, another Aidan, had built the house there the same year he married.

The Gallaghers didn’t make their living on the sea, but they enjoyed the look of it.

Other generations had added bits and pieces to the house over the years, as money and time had allowed. And now that there were many rooms, most of them had a view to the sea.

The house itself was dark wood and sand-colored stone that seemed to be cobbled together in no particular style. Jude found it intriguing and unique. It was two stories, with a wide front porch that needed a coat of paint and a narrow stone walk worn by traffic. Its windows were in diamond-shaped panes she imagined were the devil to keep clean.

She thought it was caught somewhere between grand and quaint, with just enough of both. And with the light morning fog just burning off around it, it held a bit of mystery as well.

She wondered what it had been like for Aidan to grow up there, in the big, rambling house, a stone’s throw from the beach and cozy enough to the village to have swarms of friends.

The gardens needed work, to Jude’s newly experienced eye, but they had a nice, wild way about them.

A lean black cat stretched out on the walkway gave Jude a steely stare out of golden eyes as she approached. Hoping he wouldn’t take a swipe at her, she crouched down tentatively to scratch between his ears.

He rewarded the attention by narrowing those eyes and letting out a purr that rumbled like a freight train.

“That’s Bub.” Shawn stood in the front doorway and shot Jude a grin. “Short for Beelzebub, as he’s a devil of a cat by nature. Come in and have some tea, Jude, for if you’re expecting Darcy to be ready on time, you don’t know her.”

“There’s no hurry.”

“That’s a good thing, as she’ll primp an hour just to run out for a quart of milk. God knows how long she’ll be admiring herself for a trip to Dublin.”

He stepped back to let Jude in, then tossed a shout over his shoulder toward the stairs. “Jude’s here, Darcy, and she says to get your vain ass moving if you expect a ride to Dublin City.”

“Oh, but I didn’t,” Jude burst out, flustered, and had Shawn laughing as he drew her firmly inside.

“She won’t pay any mind. Can I get you some tea, then?”

“I’m fine, really.” She glanced around, noting that the living room spilling off the little foyer was cluttered and comfortable.

Home, she thought again. It said home and family. And welcome.

“Aidan’s down the pub seeing to deliveries.” Shawn took her hand in a friendly manner and tugged her into the living room. He’d been wanting to have some time with her, to take stock of the woman who had his brother so enchanted. “So you’ll have to make do with me.”

“Oh. Well, that doesn’t sound like a hardship.”

When he laughed again she realized she’d never have flirted so easily, so harmlessly with a man a few months before. Certainly not one with a face like a wicked angel.

“My brother hasn’t given me opportunity to have more than a word with you up to now.” Shawn’s eyes twinkled. “Keeping you to himself as he is.”

“You’re always in the kitchen when I come into the pub.”

“Where they keep me chained. But we can make up for it now.”

He was flirting right back with her, she realized, just as harmlessly. It didn’t make her nervous. It didn’t give her those odd and lovely liquid pulls that flirting with Aidan did. It just made her comfortable.

“Then I’ll start by saying you have a lovely house.”

“We’re happy with it.” He led her to a chair, and when she sat, made himself comfortable on the arm of it. “Darcy and I rattle about well enough.”

“It’s made for more people. A big family, lots of children.”

“It’s held that more often than it hasn’t. Our father was one of ten.”

“Ten? Good God!”

“We’ve uncles and aunts and cousins scattered all over and back again—Gallaghers and Fitzgeralds. You being one of them,” he added with a grin. “I remember as a boy having packs of them coming in and out of the house from time to time, so I was always sharing me bed with some lad who was my cousin from Wicklow or Boston or Devonshire.”

“Do they still come back?”

“Now and then. You did, cousin Jude.” He liked the way she smiled at that, sweet and a little shy. “But it’s Darcy and me in the house most times now. And will be until the first of the three of us decides to marry and start a family. The house’ll go to the one who does.”

“Won’t the other two mind?”

“No. That’s the Gallagher way.”

“And you’ll know you’ll always be welcome here, that it’ll still be home.”

“That’s right.” He said it quietly because he read tones and nuances well, and could see she was yearning for a home of her own. “Do you have a house in Chicago?”

“No. It’s a condo like a glorified flat,” she added, then suddenly restless, rose. Flat, she thought again, was precisely how it seemed to her now. “This is a wonderful spot. You can watch the sea.”

She started to walk to a window, then stopped by a battered old piano. The keys were yellowed, and several of them chipped, and over the scarred wood sheet music was scattered. “Who plays?”

“All of us.” Shawn came up beside her, put his long fingers over the keys and played a quick series of chords. Battered the instrument might have been, but its notes rang sweet and true. “Do you play as well?”

“A little. Not very well.” She blew out a breath, reminding herself not to be such a moron. “Yes.”

“Which is it?”

“Yes, I play.”

“Well, then, let’s hear it.” He gave her a nudge, hip against hip, that surprised her into sitting down on the bench.

“I haven’t played in months,” she began, but he was already riffling through the sheet music, setting a piece in front of her before joining her on the bench.

“Try this one.”

Because she only intended to play a few chords, she didn’t bother digging her reading glasses out of her purse. Without them, she had to lean closer and squint a little. She felt the skitter of nerves, wiped damp palms on her thighs, and told herself it wasn’t one of the childhood recitals that had scared her into desperate nausea.

Still, she had to take two deep breaths, which made Shawn’s lips twitch before she began to play.

“Oh!” She flowed from the first bar into the second. “Oh, this is lovely.” She forgot her nerves in sheer pleasure as the notes drifted out dreamily, as her throat began to ache from it. “It’s heartbreaking.”

“It’s meant to be.” He cocked his head, listening to the music as he studied her. He could see easily why she’d caught his brother’s eye. The pretty face, the quiet manner, and those surprising expressive and misty eyes.

Yes, Shawn mused, the combination would draw Aidan’s interest, then wind around his heart. As for her heart, it was a yearning one. That he understood well.

“You play very well indeed, Jude Frances. Why did you say you didn’t?”

“I’m used to saying I don’t do things well, because I usually don’t.” She answered absently, losing herself in the music. “Anyone could play this well. It’s wonderful. What’s it called?”

“I haven’t named it yet.”

“You wrote it?” She stopped playing to stare at him. Artists of all kinds, any kind, left her awestruck. “Really? Shawn, it’s gorgeous.”

“Oh, don’t start flattering the man. He’s irritating enough.” Brenna strode into the room and stuffed her hands into the pockets of her baggy jeans.

“The O’Toole here has no appreciation for music unless it’s a rebel song and she’s drinking a pint.”

“When you write one, I’ll lift a glass to you as well.”

They sneered companionably at each other.

“What are you doing here? There’s nothing broken that I know of.”

“Do you see my toolbox in my hand?” Would he never just look at her? she wondered. The bloody bat-blind moron. “I’m going to Dublin with Jude and Darcy.” Brenna lifted a shoulder. “I got weary of Darcy badgering me about it, so I’ve surrendered.” She turned and shouted up the stairs, “Darcy, for sweet Jesus’ sake, what’s taking you so bloody long? I’ve been waiting an hour.”

“Now you’ll have to confess that lie to Father Clooney,” Shawn told her, “as you just walked in the house.”

“It’s only venial, and it may get her down here before next week.” She dropped into a chair. “Why aren’t you down to the pub helping Aidan? It’s delivery day.”

“Because, Mother, he asked me to stay and see to Jude until Darcy made her entrance. But since you’re here, I’ll be off. You’ll come back and play again, Jude Frances.” He smiled as he rose. “It’s a pleasure to hear my tunes played by someone who appreciates music.”

He started out, pausing by Brenna’s chair long enough to tug the bill of her cap over her eyes. She yanked it back up as the front door slammed behind him.

“He acts as if I were still ten and kicking his ass at football.” Then she gave a twinkling grin. “It’s a fine ass, too, isn’t it?”

Jude laughed and rose to straighten the sheet music. “The rest of him isn’t bad, either. And he writes wonderful music.”

“Aye, he’s a rare talent in him.”

Jude turned, lifted her eyebrows. “You didn’t seem to think so a minute ago.”

“Well, if I told him, he’d just get all puffed up about it and be more unbearable than usual.”

“I suppose you’ve known him forever.”

“Forever and a day, it seems,” Brenna agreed. “There’s four years between us, and he came along first.”

“And you’ve been in this house too many times to count. You can walk into it as though it’s your own, because that’s the kind of house it is.”

Jude rose to wander, to look at family photographs scattered here and there in frames that didn’t match, an old pitcher with a chipped lip that held a brilliant array of spring flowers. The wallpaper was faded, the rug worn.

“I suppose I’ve run as tame here as Darcy and her brothers have in my own house,” Brenna told her. “Sure, Mrs. Gallagher’s laid the flat of her hand across my bottom with as much enthusiasm as she did her own children.”

Jude marveled a little at that. No one had ever laid the flat of their hand across her bottom. Reason was always employed in discipline, and passive-aggressive guilt laid. “It would have been wonderful, don’t you think, to grow up here, surrounded by music.”

She circled the room, noting the comfortably faded cushions and old wood, the clutter and the patterns of light through the windows. It could use some sprucing, without a doubt, she mused. But it was all here. Home, family, continuity.

Yes, this was the place for family, for children, the way her cottage was the place for solitude and contemplation.

She imagined the walls in this house held the echos of too many voices raised in temper, in joy, to ever be truly quiet.

The clatter on the stairs had her turning to see Darcy race down them, her hair billowing out. “Are you just going to laze around all day?” Darcy demanded. “Or are we off to Dublin?”

It was a much different trip to Dublin than it had been from. The car was full of chatter, leaving Jude barely any room for nerves. Darcy was full of village gossip. It seemed young Douglas O’Brian had gotten Maggie Brennan in trouble and there was to be a wedding the minute the banns were called. And James Brennan had been so outraged by the idea of his daughter sneaking out to wrestle with Douglas, he’d gotten drunk as three princes and spent the night sleeping in the dooryard, as his wife locked him out of the house.

“I heard that Mr. Brennan went hunting for young Douglas, and the lad hid out in his father’s hayloft—where the smart wagers are the deed was first done—until the crisis passed.” Brenna stretched out like a lazy cat in the backseat, with the bill of her cap over her eyes. “Maggie’s going to have second thoughts soon enough, when she finds her belly swelled and that feckless Douglas with his boots under the bed.”

“The pair of them not yet twenty,” Darcy added with a shake of her head. “It’s a sorry way to start a life.”

“Why do they have to get married?” Jude wanted to know. “They’re too young.”

Darcy just stared at her. “Well, they’re having a baby, so what else is to be done?”

Jude opened her mouth, shut it before she could logically point out the variety of alternatives. This, she reminded herself, was Ireland. Instead, she tried another route. “Is that what you’d do?” she asked Darcy. “If you found yourself pregnant?”

“First, I’d be careful not to have sex with someone I wasn’t prepared to live with should the need arise. And second,” she said after some thought, “I’m twenty-four and employed, and not afraid of village gossip so much that I wouldn’t raise the child on my own if I’d made a blunder.”

She turned her head then, lifted a brow at Jude. “You’re not pregnant, are you?”

“No!” Jude nearly swerved off the road before she recovered. “No, of course not.”

“Why ‘of course not’ when you’ve been sleeping with Aidan every night for the past week? Protection’s all well and good, but it’s not infallible, is it?”

“No, but . . .”

“Ah, stop scaring her, Darcy. You know you’re just jealous because she’s having regular sex and you’re not.”

Darcy tossed a sneering look toward the backseat. “And neither are you, my girl.”

“And more’s the pity.” Brenna shifted, came forward to prop her arms on the back of the front seats. “So tell us poor deprived women about sex with Aidan. There’s a pal, Jude.”

“No.” She said it with a laugh.

“Oh, don’t be a prude.” Brenna poked her shoulder. “Tell me, does he take his sweet time about it, or is he a member of the Irish Foreplay Club?”

“The Irish Foreplay Club?”

“Ah, you’ve not heard of it,” Brenna said soberly as Darcy snickered. “Their battle cry is ‘Brace yourself, Bridget.’ Then they’re in and out before their lager’s gone warm.”

Surprising herself, Jude all but screamed with laughter. “He doesn’t call me Bridget unless I call him Shamus.”

“She’s made a joke.” Darcy wiped an imaginary tear from her eye. “Our Jude. What a proud moment this is.”

“And a fine one,” Brenna agreed. “But tell us, Jude, does he take his time with it, sort of sliding around and nibbling in the right places, or is it all hot and fast and over with before you can call out you’ve seen God?”

“I can’t talk about sex with Aidan with his sister in the car.”

“Well, then, let’s dump her out so you can tell me.”

“Why can’t you talk of it?” Darcy demanded, with barely a pause for a glare at Brenna. “I know he has sex. The bastard. But if it troubles you, don’t think of me as his sister for the moment, but as your friend.”

Exasperated, Jude blew out a breath. “All right, I’ll just say it’s the best I’ve ever had. Although with William it was like . . . a precise military march,” she decided, shocking herself again. “And before him there was only Charles.”

“Charles, was it? Brenna, our Jude has a past.”

“And who was Charles?” Brenna prompted.

“He was in finance.”

“So he was rich.” Darcy pounced eagerly on the magic word.

“His family was. We met during my last year of college. I suppose the physical relationship with him was . . . Well, let’s say that when it was done all the figures added up, but it was a rather tedious process. Aidan’s romantic.”

Her companions made oohing noises that had her giggling helplessly. “Oh, stop. I’m not saying another word about it.”

“What a bitch to tease us that way.” Brenna tugged on Jude’s hair. “Sure you can give us just one little example of his romantic side as relates to good sex.”

“One?”

“Just one and we’ll be satisfied, won’t we, Darcy?”

“Why, of course. We wouldn’t pry into her personal life, would we?”

“All right. The first time, he picked me up right off the floor at the cottage and carried me upstairs. All the way upstairs to the bedroom.”

“Like Rhett carried Scarlett?” Darcy asked. “Or over the shoulder like you were a sack of potatoes?”

“Like Rhett and Scarlett.”

“That’s a good one.” Brenna pillowed her cheek on her arms. “He gets high marks for that.”

“He treats me like I’m special.”

“Why shouldn’t he?” Darcy demanded.

“No one ever has. And, well, since we’re on the subject, and it’s not exactly a secret what’s going on, I don’t have anything . . . well, pretty, sexy. Lingerie and that kind of thing. I thought maybe you could help me pick some out.”

“I know just the place for it.” Darcy all but rubbed her hands together.

“I spent two thousand pounds on underwear.”

Dazed, Jude walked down bustling Grafton Street. There were people everywhere, swarming. Shoppers, tourists, packs of teenagers, and every few feet, it seemed, musicians playing for coins. It was dazzling, the noise and colors and shapes. But nothing was more dazzling than what she’d just done.

“Two thousand. On underwear.”

“And worth every penny,” Darcy said briskly. “He’ll be a slave to you.”

They were loaded with shopping bags, and though Jude had gone into the foray determined to buy recklessly, her idea of reckless was Darcy’s notion of conservative. Somehow, within two hours she accumulated what seemed like an entire wardrobe, with accessories, all at Darcy’s ruthless instigation.

“I can’t carry anything else.”

“Here.” Stopping, Darcy snatched some of the bags from Jude and shoved them at Brenna.

“I didn’t buy anything.”

“So you have free hands, then, don’t you? Oh! Look at those shoes.” Darcy barreled through the crowd gathered around a trio of fiddlers, homing in on target. “They’re darling.”

“I want my tea,” Brenna muttered, then scowled at the strappy black shoes with four-inch heels that Darcy was drooling over. “You’d have blisters and calf cramps before you’d walked a kilometer in those things.”

“They’re not for walking, you idiot. I’m having them.” Darcy breezed through the door of the shop.

“I’ll never get my tea,” Brenna complained. “I’ll die of starvation and dehydration and the pair of you won’t even notice as I’ll be buried under a mountain of shopping sacks, in which, I’ll add, is not a single thing of my own.”

“We’ll have tea as soon as I try on the shoes. Here, Jude, these are for you.”

“I don’t need any more shoes.” But she was weak and collapsed in a chair and found herself studying the pretty bronze-toned pumps. “They’re lovely, but then I’d need a bag to go with them.”

“A bag. Jesus.” Brenna rolled her eyes back in her head and slid out of the chair in a heap.

She bought the shoes and a bag, then a wonderful jacket from the shop just down the street. Then there was a silly straw hat that she simply had to have for gardening. Because they were so overloaded, they took a vote and with Brenna the only nay hauled their purchases back to the car to lock them in the trunk before hunting up a place for a meal.

“Thank Mary and all the saints.” Brenna sprawled in a booth in a tiny Italian restaurant that smelled gloriously of garlic. “I’m faint with hunger. I’ll have a pint of Harp,” she ordered the second the waiter shuffled over, “and a pizza with everything on it but your kitchen sink.”

“No, you won’t.” Darcy flipped out her napkin and shot the waiter a smile that had him tumbling directly into love. “We’ll get a pizza and we each pick two of the toppings. I’ll have a Harps as well, but just a glass.”

“Well, then, I want mushrooms and sausage for my picks.”

“Fine.” Darcy nodded across the booth at Brenna. “And I’ll have black olives and green peppers. Jude?”

“Ah, mineral water and . . .” She caught Brenna’s eye, kept her face sober as her friend desperately mouthed pepperoni and capers. “Pepperoni and capers,” she ordered dutifully.

She sighed, sat back and took inventory. Her feet hurt miserably, she couldn’t remember half of what she’d just bought, she had a vague headache from lack of food and presence of constant conversation, and she was joyously happy about all of it.

“It’s the first day I’ve spent in Dublin,” Jude began. “I haven’t been to one museum or gallery, or taken a single picture. I didn’t walk St. Stephen’s Green or go to Trinity College to see the library or the Book of Kells. It’s shameful.”

“Why? Dublin’s not going anywhere.” Darcy pulled herself away from her flirtation with the waiter. “You can come back and do all that whenever you like.”

“I suppose I can. It’s just that normally, that’s what I would have done. And I’d have planned it all out, pored over the guidebooks and made up an itinerary and a schedule, and while I would have figured in some shopping time for mementoes, that would have been at the bottom of the list.”

“So you just turned the list around, didn’t you?” Darcy offered the waiter another beaming smile when he served their drinks.

“Everything’s turned around. Wait.” She gripped Brenna’s wrist before she could lift her pint.

“Jude, my throat’s dry as an eighty-year-old virgin. Have pity.”

“I just want to say that I’ve never had friends like you.”

“Sure and there aren’t any the likes of us.” Brenna winked, then rolled her eyes as Jude held her wrist down.

“No, I mean . . . I’ve never had any really close women friends that I could have ridiculous conversations about sex with, or share pizza with, or who help me pick out black lace underwear.”

“Oh, God, don’t go misty now, there’s a good girl, Jude.” A little desperate, Brenna turned her hand over to pat Jude’s. “I have sympathetic tear ducts, and no control over them.”

“Sorry.” But it was too late. Her eyes were already filled and shimmering. “I’m just so happy.”

“There now.” Sniffling herself, Darcy passed out paper napkins. “We’re happy, too. To friendship, then.”

“Yes, to friendship.” Jude let out an unsteady sigh as glasses clinked. “Slainte.”

She saw some of Dublin after all as they walked off the pizza. Jude finally dug out her camera and delighted herself with shots of the graceful arch of bridges over the grand River Liffey, and the charm of the shady greens, the lush baskets of flowers decking the pubs.

She watched a street artist paint a sunrise over the sea, then on impulse bought it for Aidan.

She had Brenna and Darcy pose a dozen times and bribed them with eclairs from a sweet shop to explore just a bit longer.

Even when they trudged back to the car park, her energy level was high. She thought she could go on endlessly. When they drove away from Dublin the western sky was splashed with the colors of sunset that seemed to last forever in the long spring evening.

And the moon rose as they approached Ardmore, to sprinkle the fields with light and to spread white swords over the sea.

Even after she’d dropped her friends at home and helped Darcy cart in her packages, she wasn’t tired. She almost danced into her cottage and, hauling her own bags upstairs, called out cheerfully.

“I’m back, and I had a wonderful time.”

She wasn’t planning on having it end. Her toughest decision, she thought, would be to choose just what to wear under her new silk blouse.

She was going to extend the evening with a visit to Gallagher’s before closing. To flirt openly and outrageously with Aidan.

FOURTEEN

HE WAS SWAMPED. There’d been a step-dance exhibition at the school that evening, and it seemed half the village had decided to drop into Gallagher’s afterward to hoist a pint. Several of the young girls had changed back into their dancing shoes to reprise the show for his customers.

It made for a happy sound, and a full pub.

He was pulling pints with both hands, holding three conversations at once and manning the till. He wanted to shoot himself for giving Darcy the day off.

Shawn slipped in and out of the kitchen as time allowed and lent a hand at the bar and with the serving. But he’d get caught up in the dancing and forget to come back as often as not.

“It’s not a bleeding party,” Aidan reminded him, again, when Shawn strolled back behind the bar.

“Sure it sounds like one to me. Everyone’s happy enough.” Shawn nodded to the crowd that circled three dancers. “The Duffy girl’s the best of the lot, to my thinking. She’s got a way with her.”

“Leave off watching them, would you, and get down to the other end of the bar.”

The abrupt tone only made Shawn smile. “Missing your lady, are you? Can’t blame you for it. She’s a sweetheart.”

Aidan sighed and passed brimming glasses into eager hands. “I haven’t time to miss anything when I’m up to my ass in beer.”

“Well, then, that’s a pity, as she just walked in and looking fresh and pretty as a dewdrop despite the hour,” Shawn added when Aidan’s head whipped around.

He’d tried not to think of her. In fact, he’d made a concerted effort on it, mostly to see if he could manage it. He’d done fairly well, only finding himself distracted by thoughts of her a couple dozen times that day.

Now here she was, with her hair bound back and her smile all for him. By the time she’d squeezed her way to the bar, her smile was a laugh, and he’d forgotten about the Guinness he was building.

“What’s going on?” She had to lift her voice to a near shout and lean in close, so close that he caught her scent, the mystery of it that lingered on her skin.

“A bit of a party, it seems. I’ll get you some wine when I’ve got a free hand.” He’d rather have used that free hand, both hands, to snatch her up, haul her over the bar, and gather her in.

You’re well and truly hooked, Gallagher, he thought, and decided he rather enjoyed the sensation.

“Did you have a fine time in Dublin, then?”

“Yes, a wonderful time. I bought everything that wasn’t nailed down. And if I started to resist, Darcy talked me into it.”

“She’s good at spending money,” Aidan began, then caught himself. “Darcy? She’s back. Oh, thank the Lord. Another pair of hands might get us through the rest of the night without a riot.”

“You can have mine.”

“Hmm?”

“I can take orders.” The idea took root in her head and bloomed. “And serve.”

“Darling, I can’t ask you to do that.” He shifted as someone elbowed to the bar to order pints and glasses and fizzy water.

“You’re not asking. And I’d like it. If I bungle it, everyone will just think the Yank’s a bit slow, then you can call Darcy.”

“Have you ever waitressed before?” He gave her an indulgent smile that instantly put her back up.

“How hard can it be?” she snapped back and to prove her point, turned and muscled her way toward one of the little tables to get started.

“Didn’t take a pad or a tray.” Aidan looked at his customer for sympathy as he filled the order. “And if I was to call Darcy now, that one would have my head for breakfast.”

“Women,” he was told, “are dangerous creatures at the best of times.”

“True enough, true enough, but that one is normally of a calm nature. That’s five pounds eight. And,” he continued as he took the money and made change, “it’s the ones with the calm natures who can cut your throat the quickest when riled.”

“You’re a wise man, Aidan.”

“Aye.” Aidan took a breath in a moment’s lull. “Wise enough not to call Darcy and have two females bashing at me.”

Still, he figured it wouldn’t take Jude more than a quarter hour to realize she was over her head. She was a practical woman, after all. And later he could smooth her feathers by saying it was a rare night in the pub in any case, and how thoughtful it had been of her to offer to help, and so on and so forth until he got her naked and in bed.

Pleased with the image, Aidan served the next cheerfully. And he had a smile waiting for Jude as she wove her way back to the bar. “I’ll get you that wine now,” he began.

“I don’t drink on the job,” she said smartly. “I need two pints of Harp and a glass of Smithwick’s, two whiskeys, um, Paddy’s, two Cokes, and a Baileys.” She offered a smug smile. “And I could use one of those little aprons if you have one handy.”

He started the order, cleared his throat. “Ah, you don’t know the prices.”

“You have a list of them, don’t you? Put them in the apron. I can add, and quite well, too. If you have a tray, while you’re filling that order, I can clear off some of the empties before they end up broken on the floor.”

A quarter hour, he thought again, and dug out a menu, an apron, laid them both on a tray and passed it over. “It’s kind it is of you to pitch in, Jude Frances.”

She lifted her brows. “You don’t think I can do it.” With this, she flounced away.

“Does it hurt?” Shawn asked from behind him.

“What?”

“Shoehorning your foot in your mouth that way. I bet it cracks the jaw something fierce.” He only snickered when Aidan jabbed him sharply, elbow into ribs. “She has a way with her, too,” he added, watching as Jude cleared off one of the low tables and chatted with the family who sat there. “I’d be happy to take her off your hands if . . .”

He trailed off, a little daunted by the vicious look Aidan shot at him. “Just joking,” he muttered and slipped back to the other end of the bar.

Jude came back, began unloading the empties, loading the first order. “A pint and a glass of Guinness, two Or-angeens, and a cup of tea with whiskey.”

Before Aidan could speak, she’d hefted the tray, just un-steadily enough to make him hold his breath, and moved off to serve.

She was having the time of her life. She was in the middle of it all, part of it all. Music and movement and shouted conversation and laughter. People called her by name and asked how it was all going. No one seemed the least surprised that she was taking orders and emptying ashtrays.

She knew she didn’t have Darcy’s graceful efficiency and style, but she was handling it. And if she’d almost poured a pint of beer on Mr. Duffy, the operative word was “almost.” He’d caught it himself with a wink and grin and said he’d sooner have it in him than on him.

She managed the money, too, and didn’t think she made any important mistakes. In fact, one of her apron pockets was bulging with tips that had her glowing with pride.

When Shawn breezed by and swung her into a quick dance, she was too surprised to be embarrassed. “I don’t know how.”

“Sure you do. Will you come by and play my music again, Jude Frances?”

“I’d like that. But you have to let go. I’m running out of breath and stepping all over your feet.”

“If you were to give me a kiss, you’d have Aidan boiling with jealousy.”

“I would not. Really?” His grin was irresistible. “I’ll just kiss you because you’re so pretty.”

When he gaped in shock at that, she kissed his cheek. “Now, I’m supposed to be working. The boss will dock my pay if I keep dancing with you.”

“Those Gallagher lads are shameless,” Kathy Duffy told her as Jude cleared more glasses. “Bless them for it. A pair of good women would settle them down, but not so much they wouldn’t be interesting.”

“Aidan’s married to the pub,” Kevin Duffy said as he lit a cigarette. “And Shawn to his music. It’ll be years yet before either of them’s taking on a wife.”

“Nothing to stop a clever lass from trying, is there?” And Kathy winked at Jude.

Jude managed a smile as she moved to another table. She managed to keep it in place as she took the orders. But her mind was whirling.

Is that what people thought? she wondered. That she was trying to wrangle Aidan into marriage? Why it had never crossed her mind. Not seriously. Hardly at all.

Did he think that was what she was aiming for?

She stole a glance at him, watched him nimbly pulling pints as he talked to two of the Riley sisters. No, of course he didn’t. They were both just enjoying themselves. Enjoying each other. If the thought of marriage had crossed her mind, it was natural enough. But she hadn’t dwelled on it.

The fact was, she didn’t want to. She’d been down that road and had been smeared on the pavement.

Fun was better. The lack of commitment and expectations was liberating. They had mutual affection and respect, and if she was in love with him, well . . . that just made it all the more romantic.

She wasn’t going to do anything to spoil it. In fact, she was going to do everything she could to enhance it, to squeeze every drop of pleasure out of the time she had.

“When you come back from your trip there, Jude, I’ll have another pint before closing.”

“Hmm?” Distracted, she looked down at the wide, patient face of Jack Brennan. “Oh, sorry.” She picked up his empty, then frowned at him.

“I’m not pissed,” he promised. “My heart’s all mended. Fact is, I don’t know why I got in such a state over a woman. But if you’re worried, you can ask Aidan if I can stand another pint.”

He was so sweet, she thought, and holding back on an urge to pat his head as she might that of a big, shaggy dog. “No urge to break his nose?”

“Well, now, I’ll admit I’ve always half wanted to just because it’s never been managed. And he broke mine some time back.”

“Aidan broke your nose?” It was appalling. It was fascinating.

“Not on actual purpose,” Jack qualified. “We were fifteen and playing football and one thing led to another. Aidan’s never been much of a one for bloodying his mates unless . . .”

“One thing leads to another?”

“Aye.” Jack beamed at her. “And I don’t think he’s had himself a good mix-up in months. Due for one most like, but he’s too busy courting you to find time for a scuffle.”

“He isn’t courting me.”

Jack pursed his lips on an expression caught between concern and puzzlement. “Aren’t you sweet on him, then?”

“I—” How did she answer that? “I like him very much. I’d better get you that pint. It’s nearly closing time.”

“You’ve been run off your feet,” Aidan said when he closed the door behind the last straggler. “Sit down now, Jude, and I’ll get you a glass of wine.”

“I wouldn’t mind it.” She had to admit it had been work. Delightful but exhausting. Her arms ached from carting heavy trays. It was no wonder, she decided, that Darcy’s arms were so beautifully toned.

And her feet, it didn’t bear thinking about how much her feet were throbbing.

She sank onto a stool, rolled her shoulders.

In the kitchen Shawn was cleaning up and singing about a wild colonial boy. The air was blue with smoke, and ripe still with the smells of beer and whiskey.

She found it all very homey.

“If you decide to give up psychology,” Aidan said as he set a glass in front of her. “I’m hiring.”

Nothing he said could have pleased her more. “I did all right, didn’t I?”

“You did brilliantly.” He took her hand, kissed it. “Thanks.”

“I liked it. I haven’t given that many parties. They make me so nervous. The planning keeps me in a constant state of anxiety. Then the hostessing, making sure everything’s running smoothly. This was like giving a party without all the nerves. And . . .” She jingled the coins in her apron pocket. “I got paid.”

“Now you can sit and tell me about your day in Dublin while I clean up here.”

“I’ll tell you about it while I help you clean up.”

He decided not to risk her good mood by arguing again, but intended to have her do nothing more complex than clearing empties and setting them on the bar. But she was quicker than he’d thought and had her sleeves rolled up while he was still dealing with behind-the-bar work and the till.

With a pail and a rag she’d gotten from Shawn, she began to mop down the tables.

He listened to her, the way her voice flowed up and down as she described what she’d seen and what she’d done that day. The words weren’t so important, Aidan thought. It was just so soothing to listen to her.

She seemed to bring such blessed quiet with her wherever she went.

He started on the floors, working around and with her. It was amazing, he mused, how smoothly she slid into his rhythm. Or was he sliding into hers? He couldn’t tell. But it seemed so natural, the way she clicked into his place, his world. His life, for that matter.

He’d never pictured her carting trays or making change. Of course it wasn’t what she was meant for, but she’d done it well. A lark for her, he supposed. She certainly wasn’t fashioned to be wiping up spilled beer every night. But she did so with such practical ease he had an urge to cuddle her.

When he followed it, wrapping his arms around her waist and drawing her back against him, she settled right in.

“This is nice,” she murmured.

“It is, yes. Though I’m keeping you up late doing dirty work.”

“I like it. Now that everything’s quiet, and everyone’s gone home to bed, I can think about what Kathy Duffy said to me, or the joke Douglas O’Brian told, and listen to Shawn singing in the kitchen. In Chicago I’d be sleeping by now, after finishing papers and reading a chapter of a good book that received bright literary reviews.”

She closed her hands over his, relaxed. “This is much better.”

“And when you go back . . .” He laid his cheek on the top of her head. “Will you find a neighborhood pub and spend an evening or two there instead?”

The thought of it brought a dark, thick wall shuttering down on her future. “I have lots of time before that’s an issue. I’m enjoying learning to go day by day.”

“And night by night.” He turned her, glided her into a waltz that followed the tune Shawn was singing.

“Night by night. I’m a terrible dancer.”

“But you’re not.” Hesitant was what she was, and not yet sure of herself. “I watched you dance with Shawn, then kiss him in front of God and country.”

“He said it would make you boil with jealousy.”

“So it might have if I didn’t know I could beat him senseless if need be.”

She laughed, loving the way the room revolved as he circled her. “I kissed him because he’s pretty and he asked me. You’re pretty, too. I might kiss you if you asked me.”

“Since you’re so free with your kisses, let me have one.”

To tease—and wasn’t it wonderful she’d discovered she could tease a man—she placed a chaste kiss on his cheek. Then placed another, just as soft, on his other cheek. When he smiled, when he circled her, she slid her hand from his shoulder into his hair, and keeping her eyes on his, rose to her toes to press her lips warmly to his.

This time it was his body that jerked. She ruled the kiss, taking him unawares, moving it from warm to hot, from soft to deep, sighing so that his mouth, his blood, his brain were filled with the taste of her.

Staggered, he fisted his hand at the back of her blouse and let her strip his mind clean.

“Looks as if it’s past time for me to leave.”

Aidan lifted his head. “Lock up as you go, Shawn,” he said without taking his eyes off Jude’s face.

“I will. Good night to you, Jude.”

“Good night, Shawn.”

Whistling now, he clicked locks and discreetly closed the door behind him while Aidan and Jude stood in the middle of the freshly mopped floor.

“I have a terrible need for you.” He drew the hand he still held to his mouth, kissed it.

“I’m so glad.”

“It makes it hard, now and again, to be gentle.”

“Then don’t be.” Excitement spurted through her in one hot gush. Thrilled with her own boldness, she stepped back and began unbuttoning her blouse. “You can be whatever you want. Have whatever you want.”

She’d never undressed in front of a man, not in a way designed to arouse. But the nerves that jumped in her belly were tangled with excitement, then swallowed by pure female delight as she saw his eyes go dark.

The black lace bra was cut low, an erotic contrast against the milky skin it was designed to showcase.

“Jesus.” He let out an unsteady breath. “You’re trying to kill me.”

“Just seduce you.” She toed off her shoes. “It’s a first for me.” More from inexperience than design, she slowly unhooked her trousers. “So . . . I hope you’ll excuse any missteps.”

His mouth went dry with anticipation of what was next. “I see nothing missing at all. Seems to me you’re a natural at it.”

Her fingers were a little stiff, but she pried them away and let the trousers fall. More black lace, an excuse for a triangle that veed down over the belly and rose high on the hips.

She hadn’t had the nerve to try the matching garter and sheer black hose Darcy had talked her into, but seeing the expression on Aidan’s face, she thought she would next time.

“I did a lot of shopping today.”

He wasn’t sure he could speak. She stood in the pub lights, her hair tidied back, her sea goddess eyes dreamy, wearing nothing but black lace that screamed sex.

Which part of her was a man supposed to listen to?

“I’m afraid to touch you.”

Jude braced herself, then stepped out of the trousers and toward him. “Then I’ll touch you.” Heart hammering, she slid her arms around his neck and lifted her mouth to his.

It was so arousing to press up against him when she was all but naked and he still fully dressed. It was so powerful to feel his body quiver against hers as if he were fighting some fierce and violent urge.

It was so freeing to realize she wanted him to set that fierceness, that violence, loose.

“Take me, Aidan.” She nipped his bottom lip and all but slithered against him. “Take whatever you want.”

He heard his own control snap like a cannon boom inside his head. He knew he was rough and could do nothing about it as his hands bruised and his mouth feasted. Her gasp of shock was only more fuel as he dragged her to the floor.

He rolled with her, wild to have his hands on her, everywhere. Mad for more, he closed lips and teeth over the lace at her breast.

She arched up, bowed with pleasure, tingling from the nip of pain. It was power that flooded into her, the punch of the knowledge that she had pushed him beyond the civilized.

Just by being. Just by offering.

As crazed as he to touch, she tugged and tore at his shirt until she had her hands on flesh.

Then her lips, then her teeth.

Hot and frantic, with greedy hands they drove each other, pleased and pleasured. This wasn’t the patient man and the shy woman, but two who had stripped down to the primitive. She gloried in it, absorbing each sharp sensation and fighting to give it back.

The first orgasm burst through her like a sun.

More was all he could think. More and still more. He wanted to eat her alive, to devour so that the suddenly wild taste of her would always be inside him. Each time her body shuddered, each time she cried out, he thought again. And again and again.

The need to mate was a fever in his blood. He plunged into her, his pace all the more frenzied when she came and called out his name. Then she was rising and falling with him, driving even as she was driven. His vision hazed so that her face, her eyes, her tumbled hair were behind a soft mist.

Then even that vanished as the animal inside him leaped out and swallowed them both.

She lay sprawled over him, exhausted, aching, smiling. He lay beneath, stunned and speechless.

Their opposing reactions had the same root.

He’d taken her on the pub floor. He hadn’t been able to help himself; he’d had no control whatsoever. No finesse, no patience. It hadn’t been making love but mating, just as recklessly primitive as that.

His own behavior shocked him.

Jude’s thoughts ran along the same lines. But his behavior, and her own, thrilled her.

When he heard her long, windy sigh, he winced and decided he had to do whatever he could to make her comfortable.

“I’ll take you upstairs.”

“Mmmm.” She certainly hoped so, so they could do it all over again.

“Maybe you’d like a hot bath and a cup before I see you home.”

“Hmmm.” She sighed again, then pursed her lips. “You want to take a bath?” The idea was intriguing.

“I thought it might make you feel a bit better.”

“I don’t think it’s possible to feel any better, not on this plane of existence.”

He shifted, and since she was limp as a noodle, found it fairly easy to turn her around so she was cradled in his arms. When she only smiled and dropped her head on his shoulder, he shook his head.

“What’s come over you, Jude Frances Murray? Wearing underwear designed to drive me crazy, then letting me have my way with you on the floor?”

“I have more.”

“More what?”

“More underwear,” she replied. “I bought bags of it.”

It was his turn to drop his head weakly on her shoulder. “Sweet Jesus. I’ll be waked in a week.”

“I started with the black because Darcy said it was foolproof.”

He only choked at that.

Pleased with his reaction, she snuggled closer. “You were putty in my hands. I liked it.”

“She’s gone shameless on me.”

“I have, so I’ll tell you I want you to carry me upstairs. I love when you do that because it makes me feel all female and fluttery. Then take me to your bed.”

“If I must, I must.” He glanced around, noting the scatter of clothes. He would come back for them, he told himself. Later.

And when he did, quite some time later, he fingered the bits of lace as he carried them back upstairs. She was full of surprises, was Jude Frances, he thought. Just as much surprising to herself, if he was any judge.

The shy rose was blooming.

Now she was sleeping, cozy as you please, in his bed. She looked right there, he decided as he sat down on the edge to watch her sleep. Just as she’d looked right serving drinks in his pub, or working in her garden, or walking the hills with the O’Tooles’ dog beside her.

She had, indeed, clicked neatly into his life. And why, he wondered, shouldn’t she stay a part of it? Why should she go back to Chicago when she was happy here, and he was happy with her?

It was time he had a wife, wasn’t it? And started a family. He’d found no one who made the prospect of that a sunny one until Jude.

He’d been waiting for something, hadn’t he? And here she had walked right into his pub one rainy night. Destiny took no more than that.

She might think otherwise, but he’d talk her around it.

It didn’t mean she had to give up her work, though he’d have to puzzle on exactly how she could do what most satisfied her. She was a practical woman, after all, and would want her options spelled out.

She had strong feelings for him, he thought as he toyed with her hair. As he had for her. She had roots here, as did he. And anyone with eyes could see that now she’d found those roots she was blooming.

There was a logic to it all that he was sure would appeal to her. Maybe it made him a little jumpy in the gut, but that was natural enough when a man contemplated such a big change in his life, along with the responsibility, the permanence of a wife and children.

So if his palms were a bit sweaty, it was nothing to be concerned about. He’d work it out in his head for her, then they’d move on from there.

Satisfied, he slipped into bed beside her, drew her against his side where he liked her best, and let his mind drift into sleep.

While he slept, Jude dreamed of Carrick, astride a white winged horse, skimming over sky and land and water. And as he flew he was gathering jewels from the sun, tears from the moon, and the heart of the sea.

FIFTEEN

IT WAS A bold step, but she’d taken a lot of them lately. There wasn’t anything wrong with it. Maybe it was foolish and impractical, but it wasn’t illegal.

Still, Jude glanced around guiltily as she carried a table out to the front garden. She’d already chosen the spot, right there at the curve of the path where the verbena and cranesbill nudged against the stones. The table wobbled a little on the uneven ground, but she could compensate for it.

A little wobbling was nothing compared to the view and the air and the scents.

She went back for the chair she’d selected, arranged it precisely in back of the table. When no one came along to demand what the devil she thought she was doing, she dashed back for her laptop.

She was going to work outside, and the prospect had her giddy with delight. She’d angled her work area so that she could see the hills as well as the hedgerows, and the hedgerows were blooming wildly with fuchsia. The sun gleamed softly through the cloud layers so that the light was a delicate tangle of silver and gold. There was the most fragile of breezes to stir her flowers and bring their fragrance to her.

She made a little pot of tea, using one of Maude’s prettiest pots. A complete indulgence with the little chocolate biscuits she’d arranged on a plate. It was so perfect it was almost like cheating.

Jude vowed to work twice as hard.

But she sat for just a moment, sipping her tea and dreaming out over the hills. Her little slice of heaven, she thought. Birds were singing, and she caught the bright flash of a duet of magpie, at least she thought they were magpies.

One for sorrow, she mused, two for joy. And if she saw a third it was three for . . . She could never remember, so she’d just have to stick with joy.

She laughed at herself. Yes, she’d stick with joy. It would be hard to be any happier than she was at that moment. And what was better to prolong happiness but a fairy tale?

Inspired, she got down to work.

The music of birds trilled around her. Butterflies flitted their fairy wings over the flowers. Bees hummed sleepily while she drifted into a world of witches and warriors, of elves and fair maidens.

It surprised her to realize how much she had accumulated already. More than two dozen tales and fables and stories. It had been so gradual, and so little like work. Her analysis of each was far from complete, and she would have to buckle down there. The trouble was her words seemed so dry and plain next to the music and magic of the tales.

Maybe she should try to incorporate some of that . . . lilt, she supposed . . . into her work. Why did the analysis have to be so stilted, so scientific? It wouldn’t hurt to jazz it up a little, to put in some of her own thoughts and feelings, and even a few of her experiences and impressions. To describe the people who’d told her the story, how they’d told it and where.

The dim pub with music playing, the O’Tooles’ busy kitchen, the hills where she’d walked with Aidan. It would make it more personal, more real.

It would be writing.

She clasped her hands together, palm pressed hard to palm. She could let herself write the way she’d always wanted to. As she thought of it, let herself touch the shining idea of it, she could almost feel that lock inside her slide open.

If she failed, what did it matter? She had been, at best, an average teacher. If she turned out to be no more than an average writer, at least she would be average at something she desperately wanted to do.

Excitement whipping through her, she placed her hands on the keys, then quickly jerked them back. Self-doubt, her oldest companion, pulled up a chair beside her.

Come now, Jude, you don’t have any talent for self-expression she told herself. Just stick with what you know. No one’s going to publish your paper anyway. You’re already indulging yourself outrageously. At least stick with the original plan and be done with it.

Of course no one was going to publish it, she admitted on a long breath. It was already much too long for a paper or an article or a treatise. Two dozen stories was too many. The logical thing to do was pick out the best six, analyze them as planned, then hope some publication on the fringes of academia would be interested.

That was sensible.

A butterfly landed on the corner of the table, fanned wings blue as cobalt. For a moment, it seemed to study her as curiously as she studied it.

And she heard the drift of music, pipes and flutes and the weeping rush of harp strings. It seemed to flood down the hills toward her, making her lift her gaze to all that shimmering green.

Why in such a place did she have to be sensible Jude? Magic had already touched her here. She had only to be willing to open herself to more.

She didn’t want to write a damn paper. She wanted, oh, God, she wanted to write a book. She didn’t want to stick with what she knew or what everyone expected of her. She wanted, finally, to reach for what she wanted to know, for what she’d never dared expect from herself. Fail or succeed, to have the freedom of the experience.

When self-doubt muttered beside her, she rudely elbowed it aside.

The rain fell and mists swirled outside the windows. A fire glowed in the little hearth in my cottage kitchen. On the counter were flowers drenched from the rain. Cups of tea steamed on the table between us as Aidan told me this tale.

He has a voice like his country, full of music and poetry. He runs the pub in the village of Ardmore that his family has owned for generations, and runs it well so that it’s a warm and friendly place. I’ve often seen him behind the bar, listening to stories or telling them while music plays and customers drink their pints.

He has charm in abundance and a face that draws a woman’s eye and that men trust. His smile is quick, his temper slow, but both are potent. When he sat in the quiet of my kitchen on that rainy afternoon, this is what he told me.

Jude lifted her hands, pressed them to her lips. Over them, her eyes were bright and shining with discovery. There, she thought. She’d begun. She’d begun and it was exhilarating. It was hers. God, she felt almost drunk on it.

Drawing another steadying breath, she tapped keys until she’d moved Aidan’s tale of Lady Gwen and Prince Carrick under her introduction.

She reread the story, this time inserting how he’d spoken, what she’d thought, the way the fire had warmed the kitchen, the beam of sunlight that had come and gone in a slant over the table.

When she was done, she went back to the beginning and added more, changed some of her phrasing. Driven now, she opened a new document. She needed a prologue, didn’t she? It was already rushing through her head. Without pausing to think, she wrote what pushed from her mind to her fingers.

Inside her head there was a kind of singing. And the lyrics were simple and wondrous. I’m writing a book.

Aidan stopped at the garden gate and just looked at her. What a picture she made, he thought, sitting there surrounded by all her flowers, banging away on the keys of that clever little machine as if her life depended on it.

She had a silly straw hat perched on her head to shade her eyes. Glasses with black wire rims were perched on her nose. A brilliant blue butterfly danced over her left shoulder as if reading the words that popped up on the screen.

Her foot was tapping, making him think there was music in her head. He wondered if she was aware of it, or if it played there as background to her thoughts.

Her lips were curved, so her thoughts must be pleasing her. He hoped she’d let him read them. Was it the influence of love, he wondered, or did she really look stunningly beautiful, somehow glowing with power?

He had no intention of disturbing her until she was done, so he simply leaned against the gate with what he’d brought her tucked in the curve of his arm.

But she stopped abruptly, snatching her hands from the keys and pressing one to her heart as her head whipped around. Her eyes met his, and even with the distance he could see the variety of sensations play in them. Surprise at seeing him, and the pleasure. Then the faint embarrassment that seemed to cloud them all too often.

“Good day to you, Jude Frances. I’m sorry to interrupt your work.”

“Oh, well . . .” She’d felt him there, felt something, she thought, however ridiculous that sounded. A change in the air. Now she was caught. “It’s all right.” She fumbled with the keys to save and close, then took off her glasses to lay them on the table. “It’s nothing important.” It’s everything, she wanted to shout. It’s the world. My own world. “I know it’s odd to be set up out here,” she began as she rose.

“Why? It’s a lovely day for being outside.”

“Yes . . . yes, it is.” She turned off the machine to save the battery. “I lost track of time.”

Because she said it as if confessing a sin to a priest, Aidan laughed as he unlatched the gate with his free hand. “You seemed to be enjoying yourself, and getting things done. Why worry about the time?”

“Then I’ll just say it’s the perfect time for a break. I imagine the tea’s cold now, but . . .”

She trailed off as she noted what he carried. Her eyes lit with delight and she hurried toward him. “Oh, you have a puppy. Isn’t it sweet!”

It had been lulled to sleep during Aidan’s walk from the village, but stirred now as the voices woke it. The fierce yawn came first, then dark brown eyes blinked open. He was a ball of black and white fur, all floppy ears and big feet, with a thin whip of a tail curled between his legs.

He let out an excited yip and immediately began to wriggle.

“Oh, aren’t you adorable, aren’t you pretty? And so soft,” she murmured when Aidan passed the puppy into her hands. When she nuzzled his fur, he immediately covered her face with adoring licks.

“Well, now, there’s no need to ask if the two of you like each other. It’s the love at first sight that our Jude claims not to believe in.”

“Who could resist him?” She lifted the pup into the air, where he wiggled in ecstasy.

“The Clooneys’ bitch had a litter a few weeks back, and I thought this one had the most character. He’s just weaned and ready for his new home.”

Jude crouched, setting the puppy down so he could climb up and over her legs and tumble onto his back for a belly rub. “He looks ready for anything. What will you name him?”

“That’ll be up to you.”

“To me?” She glanced up, then laughed as the pup nipped at her fingers for more attention. “Greedy, aren’t you? You want me to name him for you?”

“For yourself. I brought him to you, if you’re wanting him. I thought he could keep you company on your faerie hill.”

Her hands stilled. “You brought him to me?”

“You’re fond of the O’Tooles’ yellow hound, so I thought you might like having a dog of your own, from the ground up, so to speak.”

Since she only stared, Aidan backtracked. “If you’re not inclined to dealing with one, I’ll take him myself.”

“You brought me a puppy?”

Aidan shifted his feet. “I suppose I should have asked you first if you were interested in one. My thought was to surprise you, and—”

He broke off when she sat abruptly on the ground, gathered the puppy into her arms, and burst into tears.

He didn’t mind tears as a rule, but these had come without warning and he hadn’t a clue of their direction. The more the puppy squirmed in her embrace and licked at her face, the tighter she held him and the harder she wept.

“Oh, now, darling, don’t take on so. There now a ghra, there’s no need for all this.” He squatted down, digging out his handkerchief and patting at her. “Hush, now, it’s all my fault entirely.”

“You brought me a puppy.” She all but wailed it and sent the pup into sympathetic howls.

“I know, I know. I’m sorry. I should have thought it through first. He’ll be happy at the pub. It’s not a problem at all.”

“He’s mine!” She curled herself around the pup when Aidan reached down. “You gave him to me, so he’s mine.”

“Aye.” He said it cautiously. God above, a woman was a puzzle. “You’re wanting him, then?”

“I always wanted a puppy.” She sobbed it out, rocking back and forth.

Aidan dragged a hand through his hair and gave up. He sat down with her. “Have you, now? Well, then, why didn’t you have one?”

Finally, she lifted her tear-drenched face. Her eyes continued to brim and spill over with tears. “My mother has cats,” she managed and hiccoughed.

“I see.” As much, he supposed, as he could see through a fog of pea soup. “Well, a cat’s a nice thing. We’ve one of our own.”

“No, no, no. These are like royalty. They’re gorgeous and aloof and prissy and sleek. They’re purebred Siamese, and really beautiful, but they never liked me. I just wanted a silly dog that would get on the furniture and chew up my shoes and—and like me.”

“I think you can depend on this one for all of that.” Relieved, Aidan stroked her cheek, wet with tears and puppy kisses. “So you won’t curse me when he leaves a puddle on your floor or gnaws one of the nice Italian shoes Darcy’s always admiring?”

“No. It’s the most wonderful present I’ve ever had.” She reached out for Aidan, sandwiching the delighted puppy between them. “You’re the most wonderful man in the world.”

Much as the dog had done to her, she covered Aidan’s face with adoring kisses.

Perhaps he’d brought the dog to charm her, but there was no point in feeling guilty about it because it had worked, was there? How could he have known he would be filling a deep childhood longing with a flop-eared mongrel pup?

He tucked the uneasy sensation away and managed to cover her enthusiastic mouth with his.

He wanted her happy, he reminded himself. That was the important thing.

“I need a book,” she murmured.

“A book?”

“I don’t know how to train a puppy. I need a book.”

Because it was such a typical reaction, he grinned and drew back. “First off, I’d recommend a lot of newspapers to cut down on those puddles, and a stout hunk of rope to save your shoes.”

“Rope?”

“So he’ll chew on that instead.”

“That’s clever.” She beamed now. “Oh, and he’ll need food and a collar and toys and shots. And . . .” She lifted the pup into the air again. “Me. He’ll need me. Nothing ever has before.”

I do. The words were in his mind, struggling their way to his tongue, but she leaped up, to whirl herself and the pup in a circle.

“I have to put my things back inside and run down to the village and get him everything he needs. Can you wait and drive down with me?”

“I can, yes. I’ll put the things inside. You stay out and acquaint yourself with your new friend there.”

As Aidan walked to her table, he let out an unsteady breath. It was best he hadn’t said it, he told himself. It was too soon for both of them to change the level of things. There was plenty of time to bring up marriage.

Plenty of time to figure how it would best be done.

She bought him a red collar and leash, and dishes of bright blue. Aidan found her some rope and tied it into a sturdy hank. Still, she filled a sack with other things she deemed essential to her puppy’s happiness and well-being.

She took him for a walk around the village, or tried to. He spent most of the time trying to shake off the leash or tangling himself in it or chewing on it. She resolved to get her hands on a training manual as soon as possible.

She met Brenna as her friend was loading a toolbox into the back of her lorry outside the village bed-and-breakfast.

“Good day, Jude, and what have you there? Isn’t that one of the Clooney pups?”

“Yes, isn’t he wonderful? I’m calling him Finn after the great warrior.”

“Great warrior, is it?” Brenna crouched down to give Finn a friendly scratch. “Aye, you’re a fierce one I’ll wager, mighty Finn.” She laughed as he leaped up to lap at her face. “He’s a lively one, isn’t he? You made a nice choice. I’d say he’ll be nice company for you, Jude.”

“That’s what Aidan thought. He gave him to me.”

Lips pursed, Brenna glanced over. “Did he, now?”

“Yes, he brought him to the cottage this afternoon. It was so sweet of him to think of me. Do you think Betty will like him?”

“Sure and Betty loves company, too.” After a last pat for Finn, Brenna straightened. “She’ll be pleased to have the pup to play with. I was just about to stop in the pub for a pint. Do you want to join me? I’m buying.”

“Thanks, but . . . No, I should get Finn home. He must be hungry by now.”

The minute they parted, Brenna made a beeline for the pub. She caught Darcy’s eye, gave a quick jerk of her head, then moved off to a corner table where she could have some privacy.

Darcy brought along a glass of Harp. “What are you bursting with?”

“Sit down a minute.” She kept her voice low and her eye on Aidan over Darcy’s shoulder when Darcy sat. “I just saw Jude walking her new puppy down the street.”

“She’s got a puppy, does she?”

“Shh. Keep your voice down or he’ll hear we’re talking of it.”

“Who’ll hear we’re talking of what?” Darcy asked in a hissing whisper.

“Aidan’ll hear we’re talking of how he picked out one of the Clooney bitch’s litter—handsome one, too—and took it up to Jude at her cottage for a present.”

“He—” Darcy caught herself as Brenna shushed her again, then leaned forward conspiratorially. “Aidan gave her a puppy? He didn’t say a word to me about it, or anyone else as far as I know.”

Since it was news both fresh and surprising, Darcy pondered over it. “He’s been known to give a lass a trinket from time to time, but that’s usually for an occasion.”

“That’s what I’m thinking as well.”

“And flowers,” Darcy continued. “He’s always been one for taking flowers to a woman who’s caught his eye, but this is different altogether.”

“Exactly different.” Brenna slapped the table lightly for emphasis. “This is a live and permanent thing. A sweetheart sort of thing, it is, not just the I’m-enjoying-myself-in-your-bed sort of thing.” To punctuate the opinion, she lifted her glass and drank.

“Well, she gave him that painting she bought in Dublin, and he’s taken with it out of all proportion if you ask me. Maybe he was after giving her something back, and just happened on the pup.”

“If it was to give her something back in kind for the painting—and I thought it a lovely painting—he’d have given her a trinket or a bauble or something of the sort. A token for a token,” Brenna said firmly. “A puppy is several steps up from a token.”

“You’re right about that.” Darcy drummed her fingers, narrowing her eyes at her brother as he worked the bar. “You think he’s in love with her?”

“I’d risk a wager on it that he’s heading in that direction.” Brenna shifted. “We ought to be able to find out, and if not us, Shawn could. And we can wheedle it out of him easy enough, for he never thinks twice about what’s coming out of his mouth.”

“No, but he’s fierce loyal to Aidan. I’d like her for a sister,” Darcy considered. “And seems to me she suits Aidan down to the ground. I’ve never seen him look at a woman as he does our Jude. Still, Gallagher men are notorious slow to move to marriage once the heart’s engaged. My mother said she had to all but pound my father over the head with orange blossoms before he came to ask her.”

“She’s planning to be here more than three months more.”

“We’ll need to move him along faster than that. They’re both the marrying kind, so it shouldn’t be that hard. We’ll give this some thought.”

Aidan was right. Finn was good company. He walked the hills with Jude, entertaining himself when she stopped to admire wildflowers or pluck the buttercups and cowslips that flourished as May coasted to June. Summer came to Ireland on a lovely stream of warmth, and to Jude the air was like poetry.

When the weather was soft, with the rain falling like silk, she kept her wandering short so she could tuck herself cozy in the cottage.

And when days were dry, she indulged herself and Finn with those long walks in the morning so he could run wild circles around an indulgent Betty.

Whenever she did, rain or shine, she thought of the man she’d seen on the road from Dublin, walking with his dog. And how she had dreamed of doing the same whenever and wherever she wanted.

Like the dog she’d imagined, Finn slept by the hearth when she made her first attempt at soda bread. And he whimpered when he woke lonely at three in the morning.

When he dug at her flowers, they had to have a serious talk, but he made it through two full weeks without chewing on her shoes.

Except that one time they’d agreed to forget.

She let him walk and race until he was tuckered out, then when weather allowed, she set out her table and worked outdoors in the afternoons while he napped under her chair.

Her book. It was so secret, she’d yet to fully acknowledge to herself just how much she wanted to sell it, to see it with a beautiful cover, one with her name on it, on the shelf of a bookstore.

She kept that almost painful hope buried and threw herself into the work she’d discovered she loved. To add to it, she often took an hour or two in the evening to sketch out illustrations to go with the stories.

Her sketches were primitive at best, in her opinion, and awkward at worst. She’d never considered the art lessons her parents had insisted on to be particularly fruitful. But the drawing entertained her.

She made certain they were all tucked away whenever anyone came by to visit. Now and then, it took some scrambling.

She was in the kitchen going over the latest sketch of the cottage, the one she considered the best of a mediocre lot, when she heard the quick knock on her door, then the sound of it slamming.

She jumped up, sending Finn into a fit of barking, and hastily shoved the sketches into the folder she used to file them.

She barely got it closed and stuffed into a drawer before Darcy and Brenna strolled in.

“There’s the fierce warrior dog.” Brenna dropped down on the floor to engage in her usual wrestling match with Finn.

“Do you have something cold for a weary friend, Jude?” Darcy slid into a chair at the table.

“I have some soft drinks.”

“Were you working?” Darcy asked as Jude opened the refrigerator.

“No, not really. I’ve finished most of what I’d planned to do this morning.”

“Good, for Brenna and I have plans for you.”

“Do you?” Amused, Jude set out the drinks. “You can’t possibly want another shopping spree so soon.”

“I’m always wanting another shopping spree, but no, that’s not it. You’ve been with us for three months now.”

“More or less,” Jude agreed and tried not to think that her time was half over.

“And Brenna and I’ve decided it’s time for a ceili.”

Interested, Jude sat as well. She’d always enjoyed hearing her grandmother talk of the ceilis she’d been to as a girl. Food and music and dancing all spilling out of the house. People crowded into the kitchen, flooding out into the dooryard. “You’re going to have a ceili?”

“No.” Darcy grinned. “You’re having it.”

“Me.” With something akin to terror, Jude gaped. “I couldn’t. I don’t know how.”

“There’s nothing to it,” Brenna assured her. “Old Maude used to have one every year at this time, before she took poorly. The Gallaghers will give you the music, and there are plenty more who’ll be more than happy to play. Everyone brings food and drink.”

“All you have to do is open the door and enjoy,” Darcy assured her. “We’ll all help you put things together and make sure the word gets out. We thought a week from Saturday, as that’s the solstice. Midsummer’s Eve’s a fine night for a ceili.”

“A week?” Jude croaked it out. “But that’s not enough time. It can’t be enough time.”

“More than enough.” Darcy winked at her. “We’ll help you with everything, so don’t worry a bit. Do you think I can borrow that red dress of yours? The one with the little straps and the jacket.”

“Yes, of course, but I really can’t—”

“You’re not to fret.” Brenna climbed into a chair. “My mother’s all set to lend a hand as well. She’s been looking for distractions since Maureen’s making her crazy about the wedding. Now my advice would be to have the music in the parlor, the main of it anyway, and the kegs and that outside the back door. That gives you a nice flow from one to the other.”

“We’ll need to move some of the furniture for dancing,” Darcy put in. “And if it’s a fine night, we could set some chairs outside as well.”

“The moon will just be coming full. My mother had the thought of setting candles about outdoors, to make it festive and to keep people from tripping over things.”

“But I—”

“Can you get Shawn to make colcannon, Darcy?” Brenna interrupted before Jude could get the protest out.

“Sure he’ll make plenty, and the pub will donate a keg and some bottles. Maybe your mother would make some of her stew pies. No one has a finer hand at it.”

“It’ll please her to do it.”

“Really.” Jude felt as if she were going under for the third time, and her friends were smiling indulgently after tossing her an anchor instead of a rope. “I couldn’t ask—”

“Aidan’ll close the pub for the night, so I’ll be able to come along early and help with anything that needs it.” Darcy let out a satisfied breath. “There, we’re all but done with it.”

All Jude could do was lay her head on the table.

“I think that went well,” Darcy said as she and Brenna climbed back in the lorry.

“I feel a bit guilty, running over her that way.”

“It’s for Jude herself we’re doing it.”

“We’ve left her stuttering and pale, but it went well enough.” With a laugh, Brenna started the engine. “I’m glad I recalled how my father proposed to my mother at a ceili right here in this cottage. It’s a fine omen.”

“Friends look out for friends.” Some might have called her flighty, but there was no firmer friend once made than Darcy Gallagher. “She’s mad in love with him and too shy to push him where she wants him. We’ll see they have the night and the music, and I’ll come around early enough to hold her down and work on her until she’s so lovely Aidan’s eyes will fall out on his boots. If that doesn’t do the trick, well, then, he’s hopeless.”

“As far as I’ve been able to judge, Gallagher men are as hopeless as they come.”

SIXTEEN

“AND HOW,” JUDE asked, “am I supposed to give a party when I don’t know how many people are coming? When I have no menu, no time schedule? No plan?”

Since Finn was the only one within earshot, and he didn’t appear to have the answer, Jude dropped into a chair in her now spotless living room and shut her eyes. She’d been cleaning for days. Aidan had laughed at her and told her not to take on so. No one was going to hunt up dust in the corners and have her deported for the shame of it.

He didn’t understand. He was, after all, only a man.

How the cottage looked was the only aspect of the entire business she could control.

“It’s my house,” she muttered. “And a woman’s house reflects the woman. I don’t care what millennium we’re in, it just does.”

She’d entertained before, and she’d managed to hold reasonably satisfactory parties. But they’d been weeks, if not months, in the planning. She’d had lists and themes and caterers and carefully selected hors d’oeuvres and music.

And gallons of antacids.

Now she was expected to simply throw open her doors to friend and stranger alike.

At least a half a dozen people she’d never laid eyes on had stopped her in the village to mention the ceili. She hoped she’d looked pleased and said the appropriate thing, but she’d all but felt her eyes wheeling in her head.

This was her first ceili. It was the first real party she’d given in her cottage. The first time she’d entertained in Ireland.

She was on a different continent, for God’s sake. How was she supposed to know what she was doing?

She needed an aspirin the size of Ardmore Bay.

Trying to calm herself again, to put things into perspective, she laid her head back and closed her eyes. It was supposed to be informal. People were bringing buckets and platters and mountains of food. She was only responsible for the setting, and the cottage was lovely.

And who was she trying to fool? The entire thing was headed straight for disaster.

The cottage was too small for a party. If it rained she could hardly expect people to stand outside under umbrellas while she passed them plates of food out the window. There simply wasn’t room to stuff everyone inside if even half the people who’d spoken to her showed up.

There wasn’t enough floor space or seating space. There wasn’t enough air in the house to provide everyone with oxygen, and there certainly wasn’t enough of Jude F. Murray to go around as hostess.

Worse, she’d gotten lost in the writing of her book several times over the last few days and had neglected to keep the party preparation list she’d made up on schedule. She’d meant, really she had, to stop writing at one o’clock. She’d even set a timer after the first time she ran over. Then she turned it off, intending only to finish that one paragraph. And the next time she surfaced it was after three, and neither of her bathrooms had been scrubbed as planned.

Despite all that, in a matter of hours, people she didn’t know would be swarming into her house expecting to be entertained and fed.

She wasn’t to worry about a thing. She’d been told that over and over again. But of course she had to worry about everything. It was her job. She had to think about the food, didn’t she? It was her house, and damn it, she was neurotic, so what did people expect?

She’d attempted tarts that had come out hard as rock. Even Finn wouldn’t touch them. The second effort was an improvement—at least the dog had nibbled on them before spitting them out. But she was forced to admit that she would never win gold stars for her pastry baking.

She had managed to put together a couple of simple casseroles following a recipe in one of Old Maude’s cookbooks. They looked and smelled good enough. Now she could only hope no one came down with food poisoning.

She had a ham in the oven. She’d already called her grandmother three times to check and recheck the process of baking it. It was so big, how could she possibly be sure it was done? It would probably be raw in the center and she’d end up giving her guests food poisoning. But at least she’d serve it in a clean house.

Thank God it didn’t take any talent to scrub a floor or wash windows. That, at least, she knew was well done.

It had rained during the night, and fog had slithered in from the sea. But the air had cleared that morning to bright sun and summer warmth that lured out the birds and the blossoms.

All she could do now was hope the weather held.

She had those sparkling windows open wide to keep the house airy and welcome. The scents of Old Maude’s roses and sweet peas tangled together and slipped through the screens. The fragrance smoothed out Jude’s stretched nerves.

Flowers! She bolted out of the chair. She hadn’t cut any flowers to arrange in the house. She raced into the kitchen for the shears, and Finn raced after her. He lost purchase on the newly waxed floor, skidded, and ran headfirst into the cabinets.

Of course then he needed to be cuddled and comforted. Murmuring reassurances, Jude carried him outside. “Now, there’ll be no digging in the flower beds, will there?”

He gave her an adoring look, as if the thought never crossed his mind.

“And no chasing butterflies through the cornflowers,” she added and set him down with a little pat on the butt.

She picked up a basket and began to select the best flowers for cutting.

It was a task that relaxed her, always. The shapes, the scents, the colors, finding the most interesting mix. Wandering through the banks and flows on the narrow rock path with the hills stretched to forever and the country quiet sweet as the air.

If she were to make her home here, permanently, she thought, she would extend the gardens in the back. She’d have a little rock wall built on the east side and cover it with rambling roses or maybe a hedge of lavender. And in front of that, she’d plant a whole river of dahlias. And maybe she’d put an arbor on the west side and let some sweet-smelling vine climb and climb until it arched like a tunnel.

She’d have a path through it, so that she could walk there—with camomile and thyme and nodding columbine scattered nearby. She would wind her way through flowers, under them, around them, whenever she set out to walk the hills and fields.

There’d be a stone bench for sitting. And in the evenings, when work was done, she’d relax there and just listen to the world she’d made.

She’d be the expatriate American writer, living in the little cottage on the faerie hill with her flowers and her faithful dog. And her lover.

Of course, that was fantasy, she reminded herself. Her time was already half gone. In the fall she’d go back to Chicago. Even if she had the courage to pursue the idea of actually submitting the book to a publisher, she would have to get a job. She could hardly live off her savings forever. It was . . . wrong.

Wasn’t it?

It would have to be teaching, she supposed. The idea of private practice was too daunting, so teaching was the only option. Even as depression threatened at the thought, she shook it off. Maybe she could look for a position in a small private school. Someplace where she could feel some connection with her students. It would give her time to continue writing. She simply couldn’t give that up now that she’d found it.

She could move to the suburbs, buy a small house. There was nothing forcing her to stay in the condo in Chicago. She’d have a studio there. A little space just for her writing, and she would have the courage to submit the book. She wouldn’t allow herself to be a coward about something that important. Not ever again.

And she could come back to Ireland. A couple of weeks every summer. She could come back, visit her friends, rejuvenate her spirit.

See Aidan.

No, it was best not to think about that, she warned herself. To think of next summer or the summer after and Aidan. This time, this . . . window she’d opened was magic, and it needed to be cherished for what it was. All the more precious, she told herself, because it was temporary.

They would both move on. It was inevitable.

Or he would move on, and she would go back. But she had the pleasure of knowing she’d never go back to just how things had been. She wasn’t the same person anymore. She knew she could build a life now. Even if it wasn’t one of her fantasies, it could be satisfying and productive.

She could be happy, she thought. She could be fulfilled. The last three months had shown her she had potential. She could, would, finish what she’d started.

She was mentally patting herself on the back when Finn barked joyfully and dashed to the garden gate right through her pansies.

“Good day to you, Jude.” Mollie O’Toole let herself in, and Finn out so that he could leap on Betty. The two dogs dashed happily toward the hills. “I thought I’d stop by and see if I could do anything for you.”

“Since I don’t know what I’m doing, your guess is as good as mine.” She glanced down at her basket and sighed. “I’ve already cut too many flowers.”

“You can never have too many.”

Mollie, Jude thought with gratitude and admiration, always said just the right thing. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

Mollie waved that off even as her cheek pinkened with pleasure. “Well, isn’t that nice of you to say?”

“I mean it. I always feel calmer around you, like nothing can go too terribly wrong when you’re nearby.”

“Well, I’m flattered. Is there something you’re afraid’s gone terribly wrong?”

“Only everything.” But Jude smiled as she said it. “Would you like to come inside while I put them in water? Then you can point out the six dozen things I’ve forgotten to do.”

“I’m sure you’ve forgotten nothing at all, but I’d love to come in and help you with the flowers.”

“I thought I’d scatter them through the house in different bottles and bowls. Maude didn’t have a proper vase.”

“She liked to do the same. Put little bits of them everywhere. You’re more like her than you realize.”

“I am?” Odd, Jude thought, how the idea of being like a woman she’d never met pleased her.

“Indeed. You pamper your flowers, and take long walks, nest down in your little house here, and keep the door open for company. You’ve her hands,” she added. “As I told you before, and something of her heart as well.”

“She lived alone.” Jude glanced around the tidy little house. “Always.”

“It was what suited her. But alone she wasn’t lonely. There was no man she loved after her Johnny, or as Maude used to say, there was no man she loved in this life once he was gone. Ah.” Mollie took a sniff of the air as they went inside. “You’ve a ham in the oven. It smells lovely.”

“Does it?” Jude sniffed experimentally as they started toward the kitchen. “I guess it does. Would you take a look at it, Mollie? I’ve never made one and I’m nervous.”

“Sure, I’ll take a peek.”

She opened the oven, did her inspection while Jude set down her basket and stood gnawing her lip.

“It’s fine. Nearly done, too,” she pronounced after a quick check to see how easily the skin tugged free. “From the smell of it, you won’t have a scrap left for your lunch tomorrow. My Mick’s fond of baked ham, and will likely make more of a pig of himself than where this one came from.”

“Really?”

With a shake of her head, Molly closed the oven. “Jude, never have I known a woman who’s always so surprised at a compliment.”

“I’m neurotic.” But she said it with a smile rather than an apology.

“Well, you’d know, I suppose. You’ve shined this cottage up like a penny, too, haven’t you now? And left not a thing for a neighbor to do but give you a bit of advice.”

“I’ll take it.”

“When you finish with your flowers and take your ham out to cool, put it up high enough that your pup can’t climb up and sample it. I’ve had that experience, and it’s not a pretty one.”

“Good point.”

“After that, go on up and give yourself the pleasure of a long, hot bath. Put bubbles in it. The solstice is a fine time for a ceili, and it’s a finer time for romance.”

In a maternal gesture, Molly patted Jude’s cheek. “Put a pretty dress on for tonight and dance with Aidan in the moonlight. The rest, I promise you, will take care of itself.”

“I don’t even know how many people are coming.”

“What difference does it make? Ten or a hundred and ten?”

“A hundred and ten?” Jude choked out and went pale.

“Every one of them is coming to enjoy themselves.” Mollie got down a bottle. “And that’s what they’ll do. A ceili’s just hospitality, after all. The Irish know how to give it and how to take it.”

“What if there isn’t enough food?”

“Oh, that’s the least of your worries.”

“What if—”

“What if a frog jumps over the moon and lands on your shoulder.” With amused exasperation, Mollie lifted her hands. “You’ve made your home pretty and welcoming. Do the same with yourself, and the rest, as I told you, will take care of itself.”

It was good advice, Jude decided. Even if she didn’t believe a word of it. Since a bubble bath was a fail-safe method of relaxation, she took one in her beloved claw-foot tub, indulging herself until her skin was pink and glowing, her eyes drooping, and the water going cold.

Then she opened the cream she’d bought in Dublin and slathered herself in it. It never failed to make her feel female.

Totally relaxed, she toyed with the idea of a short pre-party nap. Then walked into the bedroom and shrieked.

“Finn! Oh, God!”

He was in the middle of her bed, waging a fierce and violent war with her pillows. Feathers flew everywhere. He turned to her, tail thumping triumphantly as he held the vanquished pillow in his teeth.

“That’s bad. Bad dog!” She waved feathers away and rushed to the bed. Sensing fun, he leaped down, tearing off with the pillow. Feathers leaked out and left a downy trail in his wake.

“No, no, no! Stop. Wait. Finn, you come back here this minute!”

She rushed after him, robe flapping as she tried to scoop up feathers. He made it all the way downstairs before she caught up, then she made the mistake of grabbing the pillow instead of the pup.

His eyes went bright with the notion of tug-of-war. Snarling playfully, teeth dug in, he shook his head and sent more feathers billowing.

“Let go! Damn it, look what you’re doing.” She made a grab, and between the wax and the feathers on the floor, went skidding. She managed one short scream as she sailed, belly-first, across the living room.

She heard the door open behind her, glanced over her shoulder, and thought, Perfect. Absolutely perfect.

“What are you up to there, Jude Frances?” Aidan leaned on the jamb while Shawn peeked in over his shoulder.

“Oh, nothing.” She blew hair and feathers out of her eyes. “Nothing at all.”

“Here I thought you’d be slaving away polishing the polish and scrubbing the scrubbing as you’ve been every day for a week, and I find you’re lazing about playing with the dog.”

“Ha ha.” She untangled herself into a sitting position, rubbing the elbow that had banged against the floor. Finn bounced over and generously spit the pillow at Aidan’s feet.

“Oh, that’s right. Give it to him.”

“Well, you’ve killed it, haven’t you, boy-o? Deader than Moses.” After giving Finn a congratulatory pat, Aidan crossed the room to offer Jude a hand. “Have you hurt yourself, darling?”

“No.” She sent him a sulky look. “It’s not a laughing matter.” She slapped his hand aside, spreading the glare out to Shawn as he began to chuckle. “There are feathers everywhere. It’ll take me days to find them all.”

“You could start with your hair.” Aidan reached down, gripped her by the waist, and hauled her up. “It’s covered with them.”

“Fine. Thanks for the help. Now I have work to do.”

“We’ve brought some kegs from the pub. We’ll set them around back for you.” He blew a feather off her cheek, then leaned in to sniff her neck. “You smell perfect,” he murmured as she shoved at him. “Go away, Shawn.”

“No, don’t you dare. I don’t have time for this.”

“And close the door behind you,” Aidan finished and pulled Jude closer.

“I’ll just take the dog, too, since he’s finished here. Come on, you terrible beast.” Shawn clucked to the dog and dutifully shut the door behind them.

“I have to clean up this mess,” Jude began.

“There’s time for that.” Slowly, Aidan walked her backward.

“I’m not dressed.”

“That’s something I noticed.” When he had her back to the wall, he ran his hands down her body, and up again. “Give us a kiss, Jude Frances. One that will hold me through the longest day.”

It seemed a perfectly reasonable request, at least when his eyes were holding hers so intimately, and his body was so hard and warm and close. To answer it she lifted her arms to wrap them around his neck. Then, on impulse, she moved quickly, yanking him around until it was his back to the wall and her body pressed firm to his, her mouth crushed hard and hot to his.

The sound he made was like a man drowning, and drowning willingly. His hands gripped her hips, fingers digging in to remind her of the night he’d lost all patience and control. The thrill of it whipped through her, potent and strong with a snap of the possessive.

He was hers, as long as it lasted. To touch, to take, to taste. It was her he wanted. Her he reached for. She was the one who made his heart thunder.

It was, she realized, the truest power in the world.

The door opened, slammed. Jude kept her mouth fused to his. She didn’t care if every man, woman, and child in the village trooped in.

“Jesus Mary and holy Joseph,” Brenna complained. “Can’t the pair of you think of something else to do? Every time a body turns around, you two are locked at the lip.”

“She’s just jealous,” Jude said, nuzzling at Aidan’s neck.

“I’ve better things to be jealous of than some softheaded woman kissing a Gallagher.”

“She must be mad at Shawn again.” Aidan buried his face in Jude’s hair. He wasn’t sure he was breathing. He knew he didn’t want to move for another ten years or so.

“Men are all boneheads, and your worthless brother’s bonier than most.”

“Oh, leave off complaining about Shawn,” Darcy ordered as she breezed in. “What happened in here? The place is full of feathers. Jude, let go of that man, you have to get dressed, don’t you? And so do I. Aidan, get out there and help Shawn with the kegs. You can’t be expecting him to deal with all that himself.”

Aidan merely turned his head to lay his cheek on Jude’s hair. The look on his face gave his sister such a jolt, she stared a full ten seconds, then began to shove Brenna toward the kitchen. “We’ll just put these dishes in the kitchen and fetch a broom.”

“Stop pushing. Bloody hell, I’ve had it to the ears with Gallaghers for the day.”

“Quiet, quiet. I have to think.” Flustered, Darcy dropped the dishes she carried onto the counter and paced. “He’s in love with her.”

“Who?”

“Aidan, with Jude.”

“Well for pity sake, Darcy, so you already thought. Isn’t that why we’re fussing here for a ceili?”

“But he’s really in love with her. Didn’t you see his face? I think I should sit down.” She did so abruptly, then blew out a breath. “I didn’t realize, not really. It was all more of a kind of game. But just now, when he was holding her. I never thought to see him look like that, Brenna. A man looks like that over a woman, she could hurt him, slice right into the heart.”

“Jude wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

“She wouldn’t mean to.” Darcy’s stomach was fluttering with worry. Aidan was her rock, and she’d never thought to see him defenseless. “I’m sure she cares for him, too, and she’s all caught up in the romance of it.”

“Then what would the problem be? It’s just as we said.”

“No, it’s nothing of what we said.” Hadn’t she avoided the desperation of love long enough to recognize it when it bashed her own brother on top of the head? “Brenna, she’s got that fancy education with initials after her name, and a life in Chicago. Her family is there, and her work, and her fine home. Aidan’s life is here.” Genuine distress poured out of her heart and into her eyes. “Don’t you see? How can he go, and why would she stay? What was I thinking, putting them together like this?”

“You didn’t put them together. They were together.” Because what Darcy was saying was beginning to trouble her as well, Brenna got out the broom. She thought better when her hands were busy. “Whatever happens happens. We’ve done nothing more than push her into giving a party.”

“On the solstice,” Darcy reminded her. “Midsummer’s Eve. We’re tempting the fates, and if it blows wrong, we’re to blame.”

“If we’ve tempted the fates, then it’s up to the fates. There’s nothing else to be done,” Brenna announced and began to sweep.

Jude decided on the blue dress, another Dublin acquisition she’d never have bought if Darcy hadn’t badgered her. The minute she slipped it on, she blessed Darcy and her own lack of will.

It was a long sweep of a dress, very simple, without a frill or a flounce as it dropped square at the bodice from thin straps and fell with just the most subtle of flares to the ankles. The color, a silvery blue, echoed the hue of midsummer moonlight. She wore small pearl drops at her ears. More moon symbols, she thought.

She very much wanted to take the rest of Mollie’s advice and dance with Aidan under the glow of the full moon.

But on this, the longest day of the year, just as evening drifted in, the sky remained light and lovely. Color shimmered outside the cottage window, blues and greens achingly vivid. The air seemed painted with fragrance.

Nature had decided Midsummer’s Eve would be one of her triumphs.

All Jude could think as she watched and listened and absorbed was that there was music playing in her living room, bouncing in it. Soaring through it. There were people crowded together in her house, dancing and laughing.

Nature’s triumph, she thought, was nothing against her own.

Already more than half of her ham had been devoured.

No one seemed to show any ill effects because of it. She’d managed a bite or two herself, but for the most part was too excited to do more than nibble, or sip now and then from her glass of wine.

Couples were dancing in her hallway, in the kitchen, or out in the yard. Others juggled babies or just cozied in for a gossip. She’d tried to play hostess for the first hour, moving from group to group to make certain everyone had a glass or a plate. But no one seemed to need her to do anything in particular. They all helped themselves to the banquet of dishes jammed into the kitchen or set out on the board stretched across sawhorses that some clever soul had set up in the side yard.

There were children racing around or tucked onto laps. A baby might fuss for some milk or attention, and both were cheerfully provided. More than half the faces that passed through were strange to her.

She finally did what she realized she’d never tried at one of her own parties. She sat down and enjoyed it.

She was jammed up between Mollie and Kathy Duffy, half listening to the conversation and forgetting the slice of cake on a plate in her lap.

Shawn was playing a fiddle, bright, hot licks that made her wish desperately she knew how to dance. Darcy, radiant in the borrowed red dress, teased out notes on a flute while Aidan pumped music from a small accordion. Every now and again, they switched instruments, or brought out another. Pennywhistles, a bodham drum, a knee harp, slipping from hand to hand without a break in rhythm.

She liked it best when they added their voices, producing such intricate, intimate harmony it made her heart ache.

When Aidan sang of young Willie MacBride being forever nineteen, Jude thought of Maude’s lost Johnnie, and didn’t care that she shed tears in public.

They moved from the heartbreaking to the foot-stomping, never letting the pace flag. Each time Aidan would catch her eye or send her that slow smile, she was as starstruck as a teenager.

When Brenna settled down at Jude’s feet and rested her head against her mother’s leg, Jude passed her down the plate of cake.

“He’s a way with him when he’s into his music,” Brenna murmured. “Makes you forget—nearly—he’s a bonehead.”

“They’re wonderful. They should record. They should be doing this onstage, not in a living room.”

“Shawn plays for his own pleasure. If ambition came up and knocked him on the head with a hammer, it wouldn’t make a dent.”

“Not everyone wants to do everything at one time,” Mollie said mildly. But she stroked Brenna’s hair. “Like you and your father.”

“The more you do, the more gets done.”

“Ah, you’re Mick through and through. Why aren’t you dancing like your sisters instead of brooding? Lord, girl, you’re O’Toole to the bone.”

“Oh, I’ve some Logan in me.” Brightening, Brenna leaped up and grabbed her mother’s hand. “Come on, then, Ma, unless you’re feeling too old and feeble.”

“I can dance you breathless.”

A cheer went up as Mollie began a quick, complicated series of steps. Other dancers gave way with claps and whistles.

“Mollie was a champion step dancer in her day,” Kathy told Jude. “And she passed it along to her daughters. They’re a pretty lot, aren’t they?”

“Yes. Oh, just look at them!”

One by one, Mollie’s girls joined in until they were three by three facing each other. They were six small women, a mix of the fair-haired and the bright, with hands sassily on hips and legs flying. The faster the music, the faster their feet until Jude was out of breath just from watching.

It wasn’t just the skill and the dazzle, Jude thought, that caught at her throat with both envy and admiration. It was the connection. Female to female, sister to sister, mother to daughter. The music was just one more bond.

It wasn’t only legends and myths that made up the traditions of a culture. Aidan had been right, she realized. She couldn’t forget the music when she wrote of Ireland.

War drums and pub songs, ballads and great, whirling reels. She would have to research them as well, their sources, their irony, their humor and despair.

She hugged the new inspiration to her, and let the music sweep her away.

By the time they were done, the room was crammed with those who’d wandered in from other areas of the house or outside. And the last note, the last sharp stomp of feet were greeted by wild applause.

Brenna staggered over and dropped at Jude’s feet again. “Ma’s right, I can’t keep up with her. The woman’s a wonder.” Swiping an arm over her brow, she sighed. “Someone have mercy and get me a beer.”

“I’ll get it. You earned it.” Jude got to her feet and tried to squeeze her way through to the kitchen. She received several requests for a dance that she laughingly declined, compliments on her ham that gave her a dazzled glow and on her looks that made her think several of her guests had been enjoying the kegs quite a bit.

When she finally reached the kitchen, she was surprised that Aidan was behind her and already had her hand caught in his. “Come outside for a breath of air.”

“Oh, but I told Brenna I’d get her a beer.”

“Jack, take our Brenna a pint, will you?” he called it out as he pulled Jude through the back door.

“I love listening to you play, but you must be tired of it by now.”

“I never mind making a few hours of music. It’s the Gallagher way.” He continued to pull her along, past the pack of men huddled near the back door, toward the curving path of candles nestled in the grass and garden. “But it hasn’t given me time to be with you, or to tell you how lovely you’re looking tonight. You left your hair down,” he said, tangling his fingers in the tips of it.

“It seemed to go better with the dress.” She shook it back and lifted her face to the sky. It was a deep, deep blue now, the color of a night that would never fully become night because of the white ball of moon.

A magic night of shadows and light when the faeries came out to dance.

“I can’t believe what a state I got myself into over this. Everyone was right. They said it would just happen, and it did. I guess the best things do.”

She turned when they reached the spot where she’d imagined putting an arbor. Behind them the house—her house, she thought with warm pride—was lit up bright as Christmas. The music continued to pour out, tangled with voices and laughter.

“This is how it should be,” she murmured. “A house should have music.”

“I’ll give you music in it whenever you like.” When she smiled and slipped into his arms, he guided her into a dance, just as she’d dreamed he would.

It was perfect, she thought. Magic and music and moonlight. One long night where the darkness was only a brief flicker.

“If you came to America and played one song, you’d have a recording contract before you’d finished it.”

“That’s not for me. I’m for here.”

“Yes, you are.” She leaned back to smile at him. Indeed, she couldn’t imagine him anywhere else. “You’re for here.”

And it was the magic and the music and the moonlight that pushed him before he had the words ready. “And so are you. There’s no reason for you to go back.” He eased her away. “You’re happy here.”

“I’ve been very happy here. But—”

“That’s enough right there to keep you. What’s wrong with just being happy?”

His abrupt tone had her smile turning puzzled. “Nothing, of course, but I need to work. I have to support myself.”

“You can find work to content you here.”

She had, she thought. She’d found her life’s work in writing. But old habits die hard. “There doesn’t seem to be much call for psychology professors in Ardmore at the moment.”

“You didn’t like doing that.”

He was starting to make her nervous. A chill slid up her arms and made her wish for a jacket. “It’s what I do. What I know how to do.”

“So you’ll figure out how to do something else. I want you here with me, Jude.” Even as her heart gave one wild leap at the words, he continued on. “I need a wife.”

She wasn’t sure if the thud was her heart dropping again, or just simple shock. “Excuse me?”

“I need a wife,” he repeated. “I think you should marry me, then we’ll figure out the rest of the business later.”

SEVENTEEN

“YOU NEED A wife,” she repeated, keeping her voice calm, spacing the words evenly.

“I do, yes.” It wasn’t precisely how he’d meant to put it, but it was too late now. “We need each other. We mesh well, Jude. There’s no point in you going back to a life that didn’t satisfy you, when you can have one here that does.”

“I see.” No, she didn’t see, she thought. It was like trying to look through dark, murky water. But she was trying to see. “So, you think I should stay here and marry you because you need a wife and I need . . . a life?”

“Yes. No.” There was something wrong with how she’d phrased that. Something not quite right about the tone of it. But he was too flustered to figure it out. “I’m saying I could support you well enough until you find the kind of work you enjoy doing, or if you’d just rather work at making a home instead, that’s fine as well. The pub does well enough. I’m not a pauper, and though it may not be the style of living you’re accustomed to, we’d manage it all right.”

“We’d manage it. While you . . . support me in the style I’m not quite accustomed to. Support me, until I bumble around and find what I might be good at doing?”

“Look.” Why couldn’t he get the words to line up the right way? “You have a life here, is what I’m saying. You have one with me.”

“Do I?” She turned away as she struggled to hold back something dark and bubbling that wanted to spew out of her. She didn’t recognize it, wasn’t sure she wanted to, but she sensed it was dangerous. The Irish, she mused, were supposed to be poets, to have the most charming of words flow right off the tongue.

And here, for the second time in her life, she was being told she should marry a man because it would be good for her.

William had needed a wife, too, she remembered. To help cement his position, to entertain, to look presentable. And of course, she’d needed a man to tell her what to do and when and how to do it. A wife for one, a life for the other. What could be more logical?

The first time she’d been told that, she’d obeyed. Quietly, almost meekly. It infuriated and it shamed to remember that. It infuriated and it shamed to realize how much a part of her wanted to do the same with Aidan.

But there was more to her now. More than she’d realized. She was making something of herself, and by God, she intended to finish. Without being guided gently along because she was so inept at finding her own way.

“I’ve had time here, Aidan.” Face composed, voice level, she turned back to study his face in the silvered light of the swimming moon. “I’ve had time with you. These months don’t make a life, and it’s my life I’m trying to figure out, so I can build on it, make something of it. And of myself.”

“Make it with me.” The quick jolt of desperation stunned him, left him floundering. “You care for me, Jude.”

“Of course I do.” Somehow she managed to keep her voice pleasant when she said it, though that dark and bubbling brew was still churning inside her. “Marriage is a serious business, Aidan. I’ve been there, and you haven’t. It isn’t a commitment I intend to make again.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“I haven’t finished.” Her voice was chilly now, ice over steel. “It isn’t a commitment I intend to make again,” she repeated, “until I trust myself, and the man, and the circumstances enough to believe it’s forever. I won’t be cast aside again.”

“Do you think I would do such a thing as that?” Angry now, he gripped her arms, held tight. “You’d stand here and compare me to that bastard who broke his vows to you?”

“I have nothing else to compare you to, or this to. I’m sorry that annoys you. But the fact is, marriage isn’t in my plans at this time. I thank you for the thought. Now I really should go back inside. I’m neglecting my guests.”

“The hell with them. We’ll settle this.”

“We have settled it.” Keeping that same rigid smile on her face, she shoved his hands away. “If I didn’t make myself clear, I’ll try again. No, I won’t marry you, Aidan, but thank you for asking.”

As she said it, thunder boomed over the hills and a lance of lightning exploded, shooting a flash of thin white cracks across the bowl of the sky. She turned to walk into the house while the wind reared up to slap the air and send her chimes into a wild and bitter song.

Odd, she thought, that her heart felt just the same. Wild and bitter.

Aidan only stared after her. She’d said no. He simply hadn’t prepared himself for the possibility she would say no. He’d made up his mind that they would marry. She was the one. For him there would only ever be one.

The sudden fury of the wind streamed through his hair, and the air stung with ozone from the next hurled spear of lightning. He stood in the midst of the oncoming storm struggling to clear his head.

She just needed a bit more time and persuading. That was it. Had to be it, he thought as he rubbed the heel of his hand over his heart. The ache in it was a new and panicky feeling he didn’t care for. She’d come around, of course she would. Any fool could see they needed to be together.

He just had to make her see she’d be happy here, that he would take good care of her. That he wouldn’t let her down as she’d been let down before. She was just being cautious, that was all. He’d taken her by surprise, but now that she knew his intentions, she’d grow used to them. He’d see to it.

A Gallagher didn’t retire the field at the first volley, he reminded himself. They stuck. And Jude Frances Murray was about to find out just how hard and how long a Gallagher could stick.

Face set, he strode back to the house. If he’d glanced up, he might have seen the figure in the window above. The woman stood, her pale hair around her shoulders, and a single tear, bright as a diamond, sliding down her cheek.

• • •

Jude managed to get through the rest of the party. She laughed and she danced and she chatted. It took no effort to keep herself surrounded by people and avoid another confrontation with Aidan. It took more to nudge him out the door when people began to leave, to make smiling excuses to him about being exhausted. She needed to sleep, she told him.

Of course she didn’t. The minute her house was empty, she rolled up her sleeves. She didn’t want to think, not yet, and the best way to avoid it was good, solid work.

She gathered up plates and glasses from all over the house, then washed and dried and put away every one of them. It took hours, and her body was as exhausted as she’d claimed. But her mind refused to rest, so she continued to push herself, wiping, scrubbing, tidying.

Once she thought she heard the sound of a woman’s weeping drift down the stairs, but she ignored it. The despair in it made her own eyes sting, and that wouldn’t do. Her own tears wouldn’t help Lady Gwen. They wouldn’t help anyone.

She dragged furniture back into place, then hauled out the sweeper and vacuumed the floors. Her face was pale with fatigue, her eyes dark with it by the time she climbed the stairs to her bedroom.

But she hadn’t wept, and the sheer manual labor had burned off everything but a reeling physical exhaustion. Still fully dressed, she lay down on the bed, turned her face into the pillow, and willed herself to sleep.

Dreaming of dancing with Aidan under the silver light of a magic moon with flowers sweeping out, colorful and gay as faeries, and the air charmed by their scents.

Riding with him, on the broad back of a white winged horse, over glistening green fields, stormy seas, and placid lakes of impossible blue.

This is what he offered her. She heard him tell her. This, a country that fascinates and calms. A home waiting to be built. A family waiting to be made.

Take them, and me.

But the answer was no, had to be no. It was not her country. Not her home. Not her family. Couldn’t be until there was strength in her, trust in them, love from him.

Then she was alone in the dream, standing at the window while the rain washed the glass, because in all the promises he’d made, there had not been a single word of love.

When she awoke, the sun was streaming bright, and the sound of the woman’s weeping was her own.

Her mind was fuzzy from lack of sleep, and her body felt frail, as if she’d awakened old and ill. Self-pity, Jude thought, recognizing the symptoms all too well. Encroaching depression. After her marriage had been yanked out from under her feet, she’d fallen into that pattern for weeks.

Restless nights, endless unhappy days, clouds of misery and embarrassment.

Not this time, she promised herself. She was in control now, making her own decisions. And the first was not to wallow, not even for an hour.

She gathered up flowers, tied a pretty ribbon around their stems, and with Finn and Betty for company set out on the walk to Maude’s grave.

The storm that had threatened the night before had never struck. Though there were still some clouds brooding in the southwest, the air was beautifully warm. The sea sang out its song, and on the hills, the buttercups sunned their faces. She spotted a white-tailed rabbit seconds before the yellow hound scented it. Betty took off, a sleek bullet after the bounding white blur, only to romp back moments later. Her tongue lolled in a sheepish expression as if she was embarrassed to have once again been lured into the chase.

Five minutes of watching the puppy race around Betty, tumble, and yip put Jude in a better mood.

By the time she reached the grave site, she was soothed, and sat down as was now her habit to tell Maude the latest news.

“We had a wonderful ceili last night. Everyone said it was good to have music in the cottage again, and people. Two of Brenna O’Toole’s sisters came with their young men. They look so happy, all four of them, and Mollie just beams when she looks at them. Oh, and I danced with Mr. Riley. He seems so old and frail I was afraid I’d just shatter him, but I could barely keep up.”

Laughing, she shook her hair back, then settled down on her heels for the visit. “Then he asked me to marry him, so I know I’m accepted here. I baked a ham. It was the very first time I ever did, and it worked. I didn’t even have scraps left for the dogs. Late in the evening Shawn Gallagher sang ‘Four Green Fields.’ There wasn’t a dry eye. I’ve never given a party where people laughed and cried and sang and danced. Now I don’t know why anyone gives any other kind.”

“Why don’t you tell her about Aidan?”

Jude looked up slowly. It didn’t surprise her to see Carrick standing on the other side of Maude’s grave. Another wonder, she supposed, that such a thing didn’t seem the least odd to her now. But she raised her brows because there was temper glittering in his eyes and a snarl on his mouth.

“Aidan was there,” she said calmly. “He played and sang beautifully, and brought enough beer from the pub to float a battleship.”

“And the man took you out in the moonlight and asked you to be his wife.”

“Well, more or less. He took me out in the moonlight and said he needed a wife and I would fill the bill.” Jude glanced down as her puppy sniffed around Carrick’s soft brown boots.

“And what was your answer?”

Jude folded her hands on her knee. “If you know that much, you know the rest.”

“No!” The word exploded out of him, and the grass shivered and lay flat. “You tell him no because you haven’t the sense of a carrot.” He jabbed a finger at her, and though they were feet apart she still felt the impatient stab of it against her shoulder. “I took you for a bright woman, one with a fine mind and manner, with a good strong heart as well. Now I see you’re fickle and fainthearted and mulish.”

“Since you think so little of me, I won’t subject you to my company.” She got to her feet, jerked up her chin, then gasped when she turned and rapped straight into him.

“You’ll stay where you are, madam, until you’re given leave otherwise.”

For the first time, she heard royalty in his tone, the threat and power of it. Because she wanted to tremble, she stood her ground. “Leave? I’m free to come and go as I please. This is my world.”

As his eyes flashed with fury, the skies shuddered and went storm-dark. “It’s been mine since your kind still huddled in caves. It will be mine long after you’re dust. Have a care and remember that.”

“Why am I arguing with you? You’re an illusion. A myth.”

“And as real as you.” He gripped her hand, and his flesh was firm and warm. “I’ve waited for you, a hundred years times three. If I’m wrong, and must wait for another to begin it, I’ll know why. You’ll tell me now why you said no when the man asked you to wife.”

“Because that was my choice.”

“Choice.” He let out a half laugh and turned away from her. “Oh, you mortals and your blessed choices. They’re always such a matter to you. Fate will have you in the end anyway.”

“Maybe, but we’ll choose our own direction in the meantime.”

“Even if it’s the wrong direction.”

She smiled a little as he turned back to her. His handsome face was such a study in honest puzzlement. “Yes, even if it’s wrong. It’s our nature, Carrick. We can’t change our nature.”

“Do you love him?” When she hesitated, it was his turn to smile. “Would you bother to lie, colleen, to an illusion and a myth?”

“No, I won’t lie. I love him.”

He threw up his hands and groaned. “But you won’t belong to him?”

“I won’t be anyone’s convenience ever again.” Her voice rose, snapped with a different kind of power. “The belonging, if it ever happens, will be on both sides, and be complete. I gave myself once to a man who didn’t love me, because it seemed the sensible thing to do and because . . .”

She closed her eyes a moment, realizing she’d never admitted it, never once even to herself. “Because I was afraid no one ever would. I was afraid I’d always be alone. Nothing seemed more frightening to me than being alone. That’s just not true anymore. I’m learning how to be alone, and to like myself, to respect who I am.”

“So the fact that you can be alone means you must be?”

“No.” She threw up her hands this time, whirled around to pace. “Men,” she muttered. “Why does everything have to be explained step by step to men? I don’t have to be married to be happy. And I’m certainly not going to change the life I’ve just started, risk marriage again and throw myself into someone else’s vision unless I damn well want to. Until I know I come first for a change. Me, Jude Frances Murray.”

Her voice rose as she jabbed a hand at her own heart. And Carrick’s eyes went narrow and thoughtful.

“I’m not settling for one inch less than all. Just because I’m in love with Aidan, just because we’re lovers, doesn’t mean I’m going to swoon from the thrill of being told he’s decided he needs a goddamn wife and I’m the one he’s picked out. I’ll do the picking out this time, thank you very much.”

Flushed and out of breath, she glared at Carrick. And there, she realized, was everything she hadn’t put into words before. Hadn’t understood was inside her to be put into words. She would never, never again settle for less than everything.

“I thought it was mortals I didn’t understand,” Carrick said after a moment. “But I’m thinking now it’s just female mortals I don’t understand. So explain this to me, would you, Jude Frances? Why isn’t love enough?”

She let out a quiet sigh. “It is, when it is.”

“Why are you speaking in riddles?”

“Because until you solve it yourself, it doesn’t do any good to be told. And when you do solve it, you don’t need to be told.”

He muttered something in Gaelic, shook his head. “Heed this—a single choice can build destinies or destroy them. Choose well.” Then, flicking his wrists, he vanished in a ripple on the air.

Aidan was no less frustrated with women than Carrick at that moment. If someone had told him his ego was badly bruised, he would have laughed at them. If someone had told him that was panic that kept sneaking up to tickle the back of his throat, he would have cursed them as a lying fool. If they’d mentioned that the clutching around his heart was hurt, he’d have snarled them out of the pub.

But it was all those things he felt, and confusion along with them.

He’d been so certain that he understood Jude. Her mind and heart as well as her body. It was lowering to realize he’d missed a step somewhere. It was true enough he’d jumped his fences, so to speak. But he hadn’t expected her to be so cool and casual in her response to his proposal.

For Christ’s sake, he’d proposed marriage to a woman, to the woman, and she’d smiled and said no thank you as pretty as you please, then gone back to the ceili.

His sweet and shy Jude Frances hadn’t stammered and blushed, but had eyed him with cool consideration, then had turned him down flat. It didn’t make a bit of sense when any fool could see they belonged together.

Like two links in a long and complicated chain. It was a chain he could envision perfectly, one of sturdy continuity and tradition. Man to woman, generation to generation. She was the one he was meant to be with, so that together they could forge the next links on that long chain.

A different approach altogether was needed, he told himself as he paced his rooms instead of finishing up the day’s paperwork. He knew how to woo and win a woman, didn’t he? He’d wooed and he’d won plenty before.

Of course that had been for entirely different purposes, he thought and began to worry again. But not so much he admitted to himself—not yet—that he was a babe in the woods in the matter of wooing a woman into a wife.

He heard footsteps on the stairs minutes before Darcy, as was her habit, breezed in without knocking. “Shawn’s down the kitchen and, considering me his errand girl, sent me up to see if you’ve ordered potatoes and carrots, and if we’ve any more whitefish coming in from Patty Ryan by week’s end as he’s plans for it.”

“Patty promised us fresh fish tomorrow, and the rest will be coming by middle week. He hasn’t starting cooking tonight’s menu already, has he? It’s barely half one.”

“No, but he’s fussing about, studying some recipe one of the ladies gave him last night at the ceili, and leaving the bulk of the serving to me. Are you coming down to man the bar or are you just going to sit around up here and stare at the walls?”

“I was working,” he said, more than a little put out, for he’d been spending considerable time staring at the walls. “Anytime you want to take over the paperwork here, sweetheart, you just say the word.”

The tone of his voice had her wondering. Knowing she was leaving Shawn and their afternoon help in the lurch, she flopped down in a chair and tossed her legs over the arm. “I leave the figuring to you, since you’re so wise and clever.”

“Then leave me to it and go down and do your part.”

“I’ve a ten-minute break coming, and since I find myself here, here I’m taking it.” She smiled at him, much too sweetly to be trusted. “What are you brooding about, then?”

“I’m not brooding.”

She only lifted a hand and casually examined her nails. He paced to the window, back to the desk and to the window again when the silence did the job. “You’ve gotten close to Jude the past couple of months.”

“I have, yes.” Her smile sharpened. “Not as close as you, in a manner of speaking. Did you have a spat? Is that what’s got you pacing about up here and scowling?”

“No, we didn’t have a spat. Exactly.” He jammed his hands in his pockets. Oh, it was humiliating, but what choice did he have? “What does she say about me?”

Darcy didn’t snicker out loud, but her head filled with laughter as she batted her eyelashes at her brother. “That would be telling. I’m no blabbermouth.”

“An extra hour off Saturday next.”

Instantly Darcy sat up, and her eyes were crafty. “Well, why didn’t you say so? What do you want to know?”

“What does she think of me?”

“Oh, she thinks you’re handsome and charming, and nothing I can say will turn her mind to the truth of it. You’ve swept her off her feet with the romance of it. That carrying her up the stairs was a fine move.” She did laugh when she saw his pained expression. “Don’t ask what women talk of together if you don’t want to know.”

He managed one careful breath. “She didn’t go on about . . . the after of it.”

“Oh, every sigh and murmur.” Unable to stop herself, she jumped up, grabbed his face and kissed him. “Of course not, you pea-brain. She’s too discreet for that, though Brenna and I did pump her a bit. What’s worrying you? As far as I can tell, Jude thinks you’re the greatest lover since Solomon took Sheba.”

“Is that all it is, then? Sex and romance and being swept along for a few months. Nothing but that?”

The amusement faded from her eyes as she looked into his. “I’m sorry, darling. You’re truly upset. What happened?”

“I asked her to marry me last night.”

“You did?” Instantly she leaped on him, wrapping her legs around his waist, her arms around his neck, squeezing like a delighted boa constrictor. “Oh, but this is wonderful! I couldn’t be happier for you!” Laughing, she gave him smacking kisses on both cheeks. “Let’s go down to the kitchen and tell Shawn, and call Ma and Dad.”

“She said no.”

“They’ll want to come back and meet her before the wedding. And then we’ll all . . . What?”

His heart sank deeper in his chest as Darcy gaped at him. “She said no.”

Guilt all but swallowed her. “She couldn’t have. She didn’t mean it.”

“She said it clear enough and was polite and added a thank you.” Oh, and that thank you was a bitter pill.

“Well, what the devil’s wrong with her?” Abruptly furious, Darcy wiggled down and planted fists on her hips. Rage, as she knew well, was always a more comfortable fit than guilt. “Of course she wants to marry you.”

“She said she didn’t. She said she didn’t want marriage at all. It’s the fault of that bloody bastard who left her. Compared me to him, and when I called her there, she said how she had nothing else to compare to. Well, compare me to no one, by Christ. I’m who I am.”

“Of course you are, and ten times the man that William is.” Her fault, she thought again. She’d seen the fun of it, but hadn’t counted on the pain. “It wasn’t—it wasn’t just that she didn’t want to leave her life in America, then?”

“We never got that far. And why wouldn’t she when she’s happy here as she never was there?”

“Well. . .” Darcy huffed out her breath and tried to think it through. “It hadn’t occurred to me that she wouldn’t want marriage.”

“She’s just not thinking beyond what happened before. I know it hurt her, and I’d like to wring the man’s neck for it.” Emotions swirled into his eyes. “But I won’t hurt her.”

No, he would treasure and tend, as he did all the things he loved, Darcy thought, aching for him.

“Maybe it is, in part, a wound that isn’t quite healed. But the fact is, not all women want a ring and a baby under the apron.”

She wanted to get up and stroke and hug him into some comfort, but could see there was too much temper in his eyes yet for him to accept petting. “I understand her feelings on that, Aidan. On the borders of it, the finality.”

“It’s not an end but a beginning.”

“For you it would be, but it isn’t for everyone.” Darcy sat back, drummed her fingers. “Well, I’m a good judge, and I’m saying our Jude’s the marrying kind, whether she believes it or not at the moment. A nester she is who’s never had a chance to make that nest if you’re asking me, before she came here on her own. Maybe we moved a bit faster than we should.”

“We?”

“You, I mean,” Darcy corrected as she thought of the plotting she’d done with Brenna. No need to mention that, she decided, since it seemed the mess made wasn’t her fault—entirely. “But it’s too late to change that, so you’ll just have to move forward. Persuade her.” She smiled again. “Take some time on it, but let her see what she’d be giving up if she didn’t grab what you’re offering. You’re a Gallagher, Aidan. Gallaghers get what they want sooner or later.”

“You’re right.” Pieces of his shattered ego began to slide back into place. “There’s no moving back now. I’ll just have to help her get used to the idea.”

Relieved to see the gleam back in his eyes, Darcy patted his cheek. “My wager’s on you.”

EIGHTEEN

SHE WOULDN’T BE expecting him, not so early in any case. But since Darcy was being so cooperative, Aidan had taken off a couple of hours before closing to walk the road to Jude’s cottage.

The night was balmy with the breeze from the sea. Clouds sailed briskly over the sky so that patches of stars winked out, glimmered, then vanished. The moon was round and fat, its light gentle.

A fine night, Aidan thought, for romancing the woman you intended to marry.

He’d brought her a clutch of fairy roses in delicate pink that he’d stolen from Kathy Duffy’s garden. He didn’t think the woman would mind the loss when it was going to such a good cause.

There were lights glowing in her windows, a warm and welcome sight to him. He imagined that in years to come, when they were married and settled, it would be the same. He’d walk home after work and she’d be waiting with the lights burning to guide his step. It no longer surprised him how much he wanted that, or how clearly he could see it all. Night following night, year following year, toward a lifetime.

He didn’t knock. Such formalities had already slipped away between them. He noted that she’d already tidied from the party. It was so like her, he thought with affection. Everything was neat and orderly and just as it should be.

He heard music drifting down the stairs and walked up toward it.

She was in her little office with the radio playing soft and the pup snoring at her feet under the table. Her hair was bound back, her fingers moving briskly over computer keys.

He had an urge to scoop her into his arms and gobble her whole. But he didn’t think that was the right move under the circumstances.

Persuasion, he reminded himself, didn’t come from the fast and the hot, but the slow and the warm.

He crossed to her, moving quietly, then bent down to brush a soft kiss on the nape of her neck.

She jolted, but he’d anticipated that and, chuckling, wrapped his arms around her so the flowers were under her chin and his mouth was at her ear.

“You look so pretty sitting here, a ghra, working away into the night. What tale are you spinning out?”

“Oh, I . . .” Her heart was in her throat. He was right that she hadn’t expected him. Not just so early, but at all. She knew she’d been abrupt and rude, and even cold, and had convinced herself that what had been between them was done. She’d even begun to mourn for it.

Yet here he was, bringing her flowers and speaking softly in her ear.

“It’s, ah, the story of the pooka and Paddy McNee that Mr. Riley told me. These are lovely, Aidan.” Since she was far from ready for anyone to see her work, she tipped the top of the computer down, then sniffed the roses.

“I’m glad you like them as they’re stolen goods and the garda may come by at any moment to arrest me.”

“I’ll pay your bail.” She turned in the chair to look at him. He wasn’t angry, she noted with puzzled relief. A man couldn’t smile like that if he was angry. “I’ll go put them in water, and make you some tea.”

When she rose the pup turned over with a grumble and a groan and recurled himself.

“As a guard dog he’s a pure failure,” Aidan commented.

“He’s just a baby.” She took the flowers as they walked downstairs. “And I’ve nothing to guard anyway.”

It was such a pleasure to slide back into routine, the friendliness and flirtation. Part of her wanted to bring up what happened the night before, but she tucked it away. Why mention something that put them at odds?

He was probably regretting that he’d asked her, and relieved that she’d said no. For some reason that line of thinking had that dark, nasty brew bubbling inside her again. She ordered herself to settle down and tucked the pink roses into a pale blue bottle.

As she did, she noticed the time and frowned. “It’s barely ten o’clock. Did you close the pub?”

“No, I took a couple hours. I’m entitled now and then. And I missed you,” he added, laying his hands on her waist. “For you didn’t come see me.”

“I was working.” I didn’t think you’d want to see me. Weren’t we angry with each other? she wondered even as he bent down to brush his lips over hers.

“And I’ve interrupted. But since that deed is done . . .” He drew back. “Come walking with me, won’t you, Jude Frances?”

“Walking? Now?”

“Aye.” He was already circling her toward the back door. “A lovely night it is for walking.”

“It’s dark,” she said, but she was out the door.

“There’s light. Moon and stars. The best kind of light. I’ll tell you a story of the faerie queen who only came out from her palace at night, when there was a moon to guide her steps. For even faeries can have spells cast on them, and hers was that she was cursed to take the form of a white bird during the day.”

As they walked, her hand linked with his, he spun it out for her, painting the picture of the lonely queen wandering by night and the black wolf she found wounded at the base of the cliffs.

“He had eyes of emerald green that watched her warily, but her heart couldn’t resist and overcame any fear. She tended to him, using her art and her skill to heal his hurts. From that night he became her companion, walking the hills and the rock with her night after night until as dawn shimmered over the sea she left him with a flutter of white wings and a sorrowful call that came from her broken heart.”

“Was there no way to break the spell?”

“Oh, there’s always a way, isn’t there?” He lifted their joined hands to his lips, kissed her knuckles, then drew her along toward the cliff path where the sea began to roar and the wind fly.

Moonlight splattered on the high, wild grass, and the path cut between it, turned pebbles into silver coins and weathered stone into hunched elves. She let Aidan guide her up while she waited for him to start the story again.

“One morning, a young man was hunting in the fields, for he was hungry and had no more than his quiver of arrows and his bow to feed him. Game had been scarce for many days, and that day, as others, the rabbits and deer eluded him until it came to afternoon and his hunger was great. It was then he saw the white bird soaring, and thinking only of his belly, he notched his arrow in his bow, loosed the arrow, and brought her down. Mind your step here, darling. That’s the way.”

“But he can’t have killed her.”

“I’ve not finished yet, have I?” He turned to pull her up. Then he held her there a moment, just held her as she fit so well against him.

“She let out a cry, filled with pain and despair that ripped at his heart even as his head reeled from lack of food. He raced to her, and found her watching him with eyes blue as a lake. His hands trembled, as they were eyes he knew, and he began to understand.”

Turning Jude, tucking her under his arm, he began to walk again under the splattering light of star and moon. “Though he was half starved, he did what he could to heal the wound he’d made and took the bird to the shelter of these cliffs. And building a fire to warm her, he sat guarding her and waited for sunset.”

When they reached the top, Aidan slipped an arm around her so they could look out at the dark sea together. Water rolled in, then back, then in again, a rhythm constant, primitive, sexual.

And understanding that Aidan’s stories had their rhythm too, Jude lifted a hand to cover his. “What happened next?”

“What happened was this. As the sun dipped, and night reached out for day, she began to change, as did he. So woman became bird and man wolf, and for one instant they reached for each other. But hand passed through hand, and the change was complete. So it went through the night, with her too feverish and weak to heal herself. And the wolf never left her side, but stayed to warm her with his body and guard her with his life if need be. Are you cold?” he asked, as she shivered.

“No,” she whispered. “Touched.”

“There’s more yet. Night passed into day again, and again day into night, and each time they had only that instant to reach for each other and be denied. He never left her side to eat, as man or as wolf, and so was near to dying himself. Sensing it, she used what power she had left to strengthen him, to save him rather than herself. For the love she felt for him meant more than her life. Once again dawn shimmered in the sky, and the change began. Once again they reached for each other, knowing it was hopeless, and her knowing she would never see another sunrise. But this time, the sacrifice they’d both made was rewarded. Hands met, fingers clasped, and they looked on each other, finally, man to woman, woman to man. And the first words they spoke were of love.”

“Happy-ever-after?”

“Better. He who had been a king in his own right of a far-off land took his faerie queen to wife. Never did they spend a single sunset or a single sunrise apart for the rest of their days.”

“That was lovely.” She laid her head on his shoulder. “And so is this.”

“It’s my place. Or so I thought of it when I was a boy and would come clambering up here to look out at the world and dream of where I’d go in it.”

“Where did you want to go?”

“Everywhere.” He turned his face into her hair and thought that now, here was everywhere enough for him. But for her, it was different. “Where do you want to go, Jude?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never really thought about it.”

“Think now, then.” He shifted her, then settled down with her on a rock. “Of all the places there are, what do you want to see?”

“Venice.” She didn’t know where that had come from, and laughed at herself to realize it had been in her mind ready to pop out. “I think I’d like to see Venice with its wonderful buildings and grand cathedrals and mysterious canals. And the wine country in France, all those acres of vineyards with grapes ripening, the old farmhouses and gardens. And England. London, of course, for the museums, the history, but the countryside more. Cornwall, the hills and the cliffs, to breathe the air where Arthur was born.”

No tropical islands and baking beaches or exotic ports of call for his Jude Frances now, Aidan noted. It was romance and again tradition with the hint of legend that she wanted.

“None of those places is so very far from where we’re sitting now. Why don’t you come away with me, Jude, and we’ll see them?”

“Oh, sure, we’ll just fly off to Venice tonight and wend our way back through France and England.”

“Well, now, tonight might be a bit of a problem, but the rest is what I had in mind. Would you mind waiting till September?”

“What are you talking about?”

A honeymoon was what he nearly said, but he thought it best to be cautious for the time being. “About you coming away with me.” He had her hand again, nibbling along her fingers as he smiled at her over them. “About you flying off with me to places of romance and mystery and legend. I’ll show you Tintagal, where Arthur was conceived the night Merlin worked his magic on Uther so Ygraine thought she was greeting her own husband. And we’ll stay in one of those farmhouses in France and drink their wine and make love in a big feather bed. Then we’ll stroll along the canal in Venice and wonder at the grand cathedrals. Wouldn’t you like that, sweetheart?”

“Yes, of course.” It sounded glorious, magical. Like another of his stories. “It’s just impossible.”

“Why would that be?”

“Because . . . I have work, and so do you.”

He chuckled, then switched his attentions from her fingers to the side of her jaw. “And do you think my pub would crumble or your work vanish? What’s two weeks or so in the grand scheme of things, after all?”

“Yes, that’s true, but—”

“I’ve seen those places you spoke of.” He moved to her mouth to quietly seduce. “Now I want to see them with you.” His hands skimmed over her face, and he began to lose himself in her, the tastes and textures of her. “Come away with me, a ghra.” He murmured it, drawing her closer when she shivered.

“I . . . I’m supposed to go back to Chicago.”

“Don’t.” His mouth grew hotter, more possessive. “Be with me.”

“Well . . .” Her thoughts wouldn’t line up. Every time she tried to align one, it tumbled down, scattering others. “Yes, I suppose . . .” What was a couple of weeks, after all? “In September. If you’re sure—”

“I’m sure.” He got to his feet, then plucked her off the rock, grinning when she gave a gasp and locked her arms around his neck. “Are you thinking I’d be dropping you, now that I’ve got you? I take better care of what’s mine than that.”

Of what was his? The phrase worried her a bit, but before she could think of how to respond, she saw the figure behind them.

“Aidan.” Her voice was barely more than a breath.

He tensed, tucked her under his arm to defend, then turning, relaxed again.

The lady barely made a ripple on the air as she walked. But her pale hair gleamed in the moonlight, as did the tears.

“Lady Gwen, out looking for the love she lost.” Pity stirred in his heart when he saw the tears glittering on her cheeks.

“As he does. I saw him again today. I spoke with him.”

“You’re becoming right chummy with faeries, Jude Frances.”

She felt the wind on her face, could smell the sea. Aidan’s arm was strong and warm around her. Yet it seemed like an illusion that would vanish the moment she blinked. “I keep thinking I’ll wake up in my own bed in Chicago, and this, all of this, would have been some long, complex dream. I think it would break my heart.”

“Then your heart’s safe.” He bent his head to kiss her. “This is no dream, and you’ve my word on it.”

“It must hurt her to see lovers here.” She looked back. The lady’s gilded hair was flying, and her cheeks were wet. “They don’t have even that instant at dawn or sunset to reach out.”

“A single choice can build destinies, or destroy them.”

When she looked up at him, startled to hear him echo Carrick’s words to her, he stroked her hair. “Come, let’s go back. She makes you sad.”

“Yes, she does.” Jude clung to Aidan’s hand now, for going down was trickier than going up. “I wish I could talk to her, and I can’t believe I’m casually saying I wish I could talk to a ghost. But I do. I’d like to ask her what she feels and thinks and wishes, and what she would change.”

“Her tears tell me she would change everything.”

“No, women cry for all manner of reasons. To change everything, she’d have to give up the children she’d carried inside her, raised and loved. I don’t think she could do that. Would do that. Carrick asked too much of her, and he doesn’t understand that. Maybe one day he will, then they’ll find each other.”

“He only asked what he needed, and would have given all he had.”

“You’re thinking like a man.”

“Well, it’s a man I am, so how else would I think?”

It made her laugh, that hint of irritated pride in his voice. “Exactly as you do. And because a woman thinks like a woman, it explains why the two species are as often at odds as they are in sync.”

“I don’t mind being at odds off and on, as it keeps things more interesting. And since I’m thinking like a man right now . . .” He swept her up into his arms and muffled her surprised gasp with his mouth.

How could a kiss be gentle and searing at the same time? she wondered. So gentle it had tears swimming to her eyes, so hot it liquefied the bones. She let herself slide into it, a warm pool with flames licking at the edges.

“Do you want me, Jude? Tell me you want me.”

“Yes, I want you. I always want you.” She was already neck-deep in that pool, and slipping under.

“Make love with me here.” He chewed restlessly on her bottom lip. “Here in the moonlight.”

“Mmmm.” She started to consent, then surfaced with a shot, an incautious diver clawing into the air. “Here? Outside?”

He would have been amused by her reaction, but the seduction he’d begun had circled around to claim him. “Here, on the grass, with the night breathing around us.”

Still holding her, he knelt. And with his mouth roaming her face, murmured to her, “Give yourself to me.”

“But what if someone comes by?”

“There’s no one but us, in the whole world, no one else.” His hands moved over her, and his mouth. Even as she opened her own to protest, he spoke again. “I’ve such a need for you. Let me show you. Let me have you.”

The grass was so soft, and he was so warm. To be needed was such a miracle, so much more important than sense and modesty. There was a tenderness in his hands as he stroked her, slowly, slowly, heating her blood. His mouth brushed over hers, whispering of promises.

And suddenly there was no one else in the world, and no need for there to be.

Lazily, she lifted her arms as he drew off her sweater. when he trailed his fingertips down her body, her eyes grew heavy, her body slumberous. He slipped off her shoes, her slacks, undressing her without hurry and letting his hands touch and linger where they liked until it seemed her skin hummed.

She lay naked in the grass, moonlight sprinkling over her. When she reached for him, he drew her up.

“I want to unbind your hair, to watch it tumble down.” He kept his eyes on hers as he freed it. “Do you remember the first time?”

“Yes, I remember.”

“Now I know what pleases you.” He pressed his lips to her shoulder, then let her hair riot down to curtain his face and smother him with silk and scent. “Lie back on the grass and let me pleasure you.” His teeth scraped lightly down the side of her neck as he lowered her again. “I’ll give you all I have.”

He could have feasted, but instead he only sipped. Long, luxurious kisses that shuddered into the soul and drew soft moans from it. And at each moan he went deeper.

He could have ravished, but instead he seduced. Slow, tender caresses that slid over the skin and sent it quivering. And at each quiver, he lingered.

She lost herself in him, in the delightfully dizzy mix of senses and sensations. Cool grass and warm flesh, fragrant breezes and husky whispers, strong hands and patient lips.

She watched the moon soar overhead, a gleaming white ball against a deep blue sky, chased by tattered wisps of clouds. She heard the call of an owl, a deep, demanding cry, and felt the echo of it leap into her blood as he urged her up and up to that first rippling crest.

She sang out his name, floating as the high, warm wave cascaded through her.

“Go higher.” He was desperate to watch her fly, to know that he could send her up until her eyes were wild and blind and her body quaking. “Go higher,” he demanded again, and drove her there more ruthlessly than he’d intended.

Heat flashed into her, a star exploding. The shock of pleasure was so intense, so unexpected after the tenderness, her body reared up, half in protest, half in delight. This time it wasn’t a moan that escaped her, but a scream.

“Aidan.” She gripped him for balance as her world went mad and they rolled over. “I can’t.”

“Again.” He dragged her head back by the hair and savaged her mouth. “Again, until we’re both empty.” The hands that had been so gentle dug into her hips, lifted her. “Tell me you want me inside you. Me and no one else.”

“Yes.” She was frantic, all but weeping as her body bowed back. “You and no one else.”

“Then take me.”

He drew her down until she was filled with him, until the glory of it burst through her. Her breath tore from his throat as she arched back, her body silvered by the moonlight. Her hair rained back in a dark tangle. She lifted her arms, a gesture of abandon, tangling her own fingers in those tumbling curls.

Then her body began to rock, to move, to seek.

The power was hers now, the control of each whip of pleasure. As his body rose and fell to her pace, she let herself take. His muscles trembled as she stroked her hands over him. His eyes seemed dark as the night as she leaned close to torment his mouth as he had hers. The low groan she ripped from him had her laughing in triumph.

“Higher.” She braced herself over him. “This time I’ll take you higher.” Boldly she took his hands, closed them over her breasts. “Touch me. Touch me everywhere while I take you.”

She guided his hands where she wanted them, reveling in the feel of them over her slickened skin as she rode him closer and closer to the edge.

She felt his body plunge helplessly under her, heard his breath strangle in a gasp, and thrilled with what she’d done to him, let herself leap after.

It was he who shuddered, he whose hands slid limply away when she lowered to nuzzle her mouth to his. When she pressed her lips to his throat, she felt the wild beat of his pulse.

Then with a sound of triumph, she drew back and threw her arms high. “Oh, God, I feel wonderful! People should always make love outside. It’s so . . . liberating.”

“You look like a faerie queen yourself.”

“I feel like one.” She shook her hair back, then looked down to smile at him. “Full of magic and marvelous secrets. I’m so glad you’re not angry with me. I was sure you would be.”

“Angry? How could I be?” He gathered enough energy to sit up so he could hold her, torso to torso. “Everything about you delights me.”

She snuggled closer, still flying on the pleasure of the moment. “You weren’t delighted with me last night.”

“No, I can’t say I was, but since we’ve straightened it all out, it’s nothing to worry us.”

“Straightened it out?”

“Aye. Here, let’s get you back into your jumper before you get cold.”

“What do you mean—” She broke off as he dragged her sweater over her head.

“There, that’s all you’ll need, as I’m going to get it off you again as soon as we get inside.” He began to gather clothes and bundle them into her arms.

“Aidan, what do you mean we’ve straightened it all out?”

“Just that we have.” Smiling easily, he picked her up and carried her toward the cottage. “We’ll be married in September.”

“What? Wait.”

“I am, till September.” He nudged open her garden gate.

“We’re not getting married in September.”

“Oh, we are, yes. Then we’ll go off to the places you want to see.”

“Aidan, that’s not what I meant.”

“It was what I meant.” He smiled at her again, pleased he’d found just the way to handle the situation. “I don’t mind if you need to wiggle around it for a while, darling. Not when we both know it’s what’s meant.”

“Put me down.”

“No, not quite yet.” He carried her inside and started up the stairs.

“I’m not marrying you in September.”

“Well, it’s only a few months away, so we won’t have long to see who’s right in the matter.”

“It’s insulting, and it’s infuriating that you simply assume I’ll fall in line with your plans. And that I’m too stupid to know what I want for myself.”

“I don’t think you’re stupid at all.” He walked down to the bathroom. “Fact is, darling, I believe you’re one of the smartest people I know. A bit stubborn is all, but I don’t mind that.” He hitched her up a bit, so he could reach out and turn on the shower.

“You don’t mind that,” she repeated.

“Not at all. Just as I don’t mind having your eyes shoot darts at me as they are at the moment. I find it . . . stimulating.”

“Put me down, Aidan.”

“All right.” He obliged by setting her in the tub, right under the stream from the shower.

“Damn it!”

“Don’t worry about the jumper, I’ll take care of it.” And laughing while she shoved and wiggled, he stripped it off and tossed it with a wet plop onto the floor.

“Keep your hands off me. I want to settle this.”

“You’ve settled it in your mind just as I have in mine. I say I want my way more than you want what you’re thinking is yours. But . . .” He brushed the wet hair out of her face. “If you’re so sure of yourself, you’ve nothing to worry about, and we can just enjoy the time we spend together.”

“That isn’t the point—”

“Are you saying you don’t enjoy being with me?”

“Yes, of course I do, but—”

“Or that you don’t know your own mind?”

“I certainly know my own mind.”

He pressed still curved lips to her brow, her temples. “Well then, what’s wrong with giving me at least the chance to change it?”

“I don’t know.” But there had to be something wrong with it. Didn’t there? Reason, she decided. Cool reason. Even if she was standing naked in the shower. “We’re not talking about a whim here, Aidan. I take all of this very seriously, and I don’t intend to change my mind.”

“All right, then, in the fine Irish tradition, we’ll wager on it. A hundred pounds says you will.”

“I’m not betting on such a thing.”

He lifted a shoulder carelessly, then picked up the soap. “If you’re afraid to risk your money . . .”

“I’m not.” She hissed out at him, trying to see exactly where he’d turned things around and trapped her. “Make it two hundred pounds.”

“Done.” He kissed the tip of her nose to seal it.

NINETEEN

IT WAS RIDICULOUS. She had actually bet money on whether or not she would marry Aidan. It was laughable. And annoying. And not a little embarrassing.

Temper had pushed her into it, which was odd in itself. She usually had such a mild and easily controllable temper.

She would forget the bet entirely, of course, when the time came. What point would there be in making herself or Aidan feel foolish by bringing it up?

For now she had chores and work to concentrate on. She needed to take Finn for a walk, and return the dishes that Mollie O’Toole had brought to her party. It was time to call home and check in with her family. Then, if the weather held, she’d set up her outside work area.

She wanted to write down the story Aidan had told her the night before. Already she had the rhythm of it in her head, and the images of the white bird and the black wolf. She doubted she would do them justice, but she needed to try.

She gathered the dishes, along with a container of sugar cookies she’d baked. Ready to set out, she glanced around for the dog just in time to see him squat under the kitchen table and pee. Naturally he’d missed the paper by two feet.

“Couldn’t have waited one more minute, could you?” She only chuckled when he cheerfully thumped his tail, then she set the dishes down again to deal with the puddle.

He had to leap and lick at her face and make growling sounds while she scrubbed it up, which made her forget to scold him. Since cuddling him made her as happy as it made him, she spent ten minutes nuzzling, wrestling, and scratching his belly.

She’d spoil him, of course, Jude admitted. But who could have known she had all this love inside her she needed to give?

“I’m nearly thirty,” she murmured as she stroked Finn’s long, silky ears. “I want a home. I want a family. I want them with a man who loves me outrageously.” She cuddled as Finn wiggled around to lick her hand. “I can’t settle again. I can’t take a life in pieces just because it looks like the best I can get. So . . .”

She picked Finn up to rub her nose against his. “For right now, it’s just you and me, pal.”

The minute she opened the back door, he was off like a spotted arrow. It delighted her to see him race even if his first sprint was directly toward her flowers. He stopped, skidding and tumbling, when she called his name sharply. She considered it progress that he flattened only one row of ageratum.

Finn darted ahead of her, darted back, raced in circles around her feet, then zigged and zagged off to sniff at everything of interest. She imagined how he’d look when he grew into his feet, a big, handsome dog with a whipcord tail who loved to run the hills.

What in God’s name was she going to do with him in Chicago?

Shaking her head, she pushed that worry aside. There was no point in thinking of something that would spoil the pleasure of her walk.

The air was crystal, with the sun sliding and streaming through clouds on their way to England. She caught glimpses of Ardmore Bay, rolling dark green toward shore. If she stopped, concentrated, she could almost hear its music in the shimmering silence. Tourists would flock to the beaches today, and some of the locals as well if they had an hour or two to spare.

Young mothers, she thought, letting their toddlers dip their toes in the surf, or fill their red plastic buckets with sand. Castles would be built today, then washed away by the sea.

The hedgerows that lined the road were ripe with summer blossoms, and the grass beneath her feet was springy and sparkled with morning dew. To the north, the mountains hulked under the clouds that covered their peaks. And between them and Jude, it seemed the green, glorious hills rolled forever.

She loved the look of them, the simple and sheer beauty of land, the tumble of old castles that had been swamped not by sea but by time and enemy. They made her think of knights and maidens, of kings both petty and grand, of merry servants and clever spies. And of course of magic and witchcraft and the songs of faeries.

More tales to be told, she mused, of sacrifices for love and glory, of the triumph of the heart and of honor, of spells cast and broken.

In a place like this, a storyteller could spend years collecting them, creating them, and passing them on. She could spend silvery mornings like this one roaming and imagining, rainy afternoons writing and compiling. Evenings would be for curling up after a satisfying day and finding pictures in the turf fire, or wandering into the pub for noise and company and music.

It would be such a lovely life, full of interest and beauty and dreams.

She stopped short, startled by the thought, more startled yet that the thought had been in her head at all. She could stay, not just for three more months but forever. She could write stories. The ones that were told to her and the ones that seemed always forming in her head.

No, of course she couldn’t. What was she thinking of? She let out a laugh, but it was edgy and weak. She had to go back to Chicago as planned, to find work in some area of the field she knew to support her sensibly while she pursued the dream. To consider anything else was completely irresponsible.

Why?

She’d only taken two more steps when that question struck out.

“Why?” She said it out loud, flustered. “Of course there’s a reason why. A dozen reasons why. I live in Chicago. I’ve always lived in Chicago.”

There was no law that said she had to live in Chicago. She wouldn’t be chained in a dungeon for relocating.

“Of course not, but . . . I have to work.”

And what have you been doing these past three months?

“That’s not work, not really.” Her stomach began to jitter, her heart to flutter toward her throat. “It’s more of an indulgence.”

Why?

She closed her eyes. “Because I love it. I love everything about it, so that must make it an indulgence. And that is incredibly stupid.”

It might have been an odd place for an epiphany, on a shaggy hill in the middle of the morning. But she decided it was the perfect place for hers.

“Why can’t I do something I love without putting restrictions on it? Why can’t I live somewhere that’s so much more home than anywhere else? Who’s in charge of my life,” she said on a baffled laugh, “if I’m not?”

With her knees a little shaky, she began to walk again. She could do it; if she could dig down and find the courage. She could sell her condo. She could do what she’d been avoiding out of fear of failure and send a sample of her work to an agent.

She could finally stick, win or lose, with something she wanted for herself.

She would think about it, seriously, carefully. Walking faster, she ignored the voice in her head that urged her to act now, right away, before she could find excuses. It would be a big move, she reasoned, an enormous step. A sensible person thought through big moves and enormous steps.

Jude was grateful when she saw the O’Toole cottage over the hill. She needed the distraction, something to take her mind off herself for a while.

Clothes were already drying on the line, making her wonder if Mollie did laundry twenty-four hours a day. The gardens were in glorious bloom and the little shed as stuffed and jumbled as ever. Betty rose from her morning nap in the yard and gave a welcoming woof that sent Finn into devoted yips as he streaked down the hill toward her.

Jude started after and had just reached the edge of the yard when the kitchen door opened.

“Well, good morning to you, Jude.” Mollie sent her a wave. “You’re up and about early today.”

“Not as early as you, from the looks of things.”

“You have yourself a houseful of chattering girls and a man who likes his tea before his eyes are open, you don’t have much chance to stay in bed. Come in, have some tea and visit with me while I make my bread.”

“I brought your dishes back, and some of the sugar cookies I made yesterday. I think they’re better than the last batch.”

“We’ll sample them with the tea and see.”

She held the door open wide, and Jude walked into the warmth and the scents and the clatter of Brenna wielding tools under the kitchen sink.

“I’ve about got it now, Ma.”

“So you’d better.” Mollie moved to the stove. “I tell you, Jude, I’m the shoemaker’s wife in this house. Off himself goes, as does this girl here, fixing and fiddling with everyone else’s matter, while I live with drips and rattles day and night.”

“Well, you don’t pay a body a living wage, now do you?” Brenna said and earned a light kick from her mother.

“A living wage, is it? And who ate a mountain of eggs and a tower of toast and jam just this morning?”

“I only did so I’d have my mouth full and not tell Maureen to stop her harping on the wedding plans. The girl’s driving us all batty, Jude, fussing and whining and bursting into tears for no reason at all.”

“Getting married’s plenty of reason for all of the above.” Mollie set out the tea and cookies, nodded for Jude to sit, then plunged her hands back into the ball of dough she was kneading. “And when your time comes you’ll be worse yet.”

“Ha. If I was thinking of marriage, I’d haul the man before the priest, say the words and be done with it,” Brenna declared. “All this fancy work—dresses and flowers and just which song needs to be played just when. Months in the making for one single day, for a dress that will never be worn again, flowers that will fade and wither, and songs you could sing any damn time.”

She scooted out from under the sink and gestured with her wrench. “And the cost of it all is sinful.”

“Ah, Brenna, you romantic fool.” Mollie sprinkled more flour onto her dough and turned it. “That one single day is the start of a life, and worth every minute of time and every penny that goes into it.” But she sighed a little. “Still, it does get wearying, dealing with her nerves.”

“Exactly.” Brenna put the wrench in her dented toolbox and rose to snatch one of the cookies. “Look at our Jude here. Calm as you please. You don’t hear her blathering on about whether she’ll have white roses or pink in her bouquet.” Brenna bit into the cookie and dropped into a chair. “You’re a sensible woman.”

“Thank you. I try. But what are you talking about?”

“The difference between you and my flighty sister. The both of you have weddings coming up, but are you pacing around the room wringing your hands and changing your mind about the flavor of the cake every two minutes? Of course not.”

“No,” Jude said slowly. “I’m not, because I don’t have a wedding coming up.”

“Even if you and Aidan have a small ceremony—though how you’d pull that off when he knows every second soul for a hundred kilometers—it’s still a wedding.”

Jude had to take a breath, then another. “Where did you get the idea that I’m marrying Aidan?”

“From Darcy.” Brenna leaned forward for another cookie. “She had it straight from the horse’s mouth.”

“The horse’s ass is more apt.”

At the snap of her tone, Brenna blinked and Mollie paused in her kneading. Before Brenna could speak, Mollie shot out a warning look. “Fill your mouth with that biscuit, lass, before you put the rest of your foot in it.”

“But Darcy said—”

“Perhaps Darcy misunderstood.”

“No, I don’t imagine she did.” Temper leaped into Jude’s throat. When she couldn’t choke it down again, she shoved away from the table and got to her feet. “Where does a man get that kind of nerve, that much arrogance?”

“Most are born with it,” Brenna said, then ducked her head and winced at her mother’s hiss.

“I have to say, Jude, that I myself thought that’s where the two of you were heading, seeing the way you are with each other.” Mollie kept her voice soothing, and her eyes keen on Jude’s face. “When Brenna told us at dinner last night, not one of us was surprised, but we were pleased.”

“Told you. . . at dinner.” Jude stopped at the table, braced her palms on it and leaned into Brenna’s face. “You told your whole family?”

“Well, I didn’t see how—”

“Who else? How many people have you told this ridiculous story to?”

“I . . .” Brenna cleared her throat. Having a rare temper herself, she recognized the danger signs when they were stuck in her face. “I can’t recall, precisely. Not many. A few. Hardly anyone at all. We were so pleased, you see, Darcy and myself. As we’re so fond of you and Aidan, and knowing how Aidan can plod about before he gets to the center of things, hoped that the ceili might give him a bit of a boost.”

“The ceili?”

“Aye, Midsummer’s Eve and the moon and such. You remember, Ma?” She turned to Mollie with a desperate look in her eye. “Remember how you told us the way Dad proposed to you when you were dancing in the moonlight at a ceili? And at Old Maude’s cottage, too.”

“I do, yes.” And she began to see. With a quiet smile, she patted her daughter’s shoulder. “You meant well, didn’t you?”

“Yes, we—ow!” Wincing, Brenna grabbed the nose her mother had just twisted.

“That’s to remind you to keep that nose of yours out of other people’s business however well meant.”

“It’s not her fault.” Jude lifted her hands to her hair and barely resisted pulling it out. “It’s Aidan’s fault. What is he thinking of, telling his sister we’re getting married? I said no, didn’t I? Very plainly and several times.”

“You said no,” Brenna and Mollie said together, with mirror looks of shock.

“I see what he’s doing, I see what he’s up to.” She whirled away to stalk around the room again. “He needs a wife and I’m available, so that’s it. I’m just to fall in line because, after all, I obviously have no backbone. Well, he’s wrong about that. I’ve got one. Maybe I haven’t used it much, but it’s there. I’m not marrying him or anyone. I’m never going to be told what to do again, or where to live or how to live or what to be. Not ever, ever again.”

Mollie studied the flushed face, the fisted hands and nodded slowly. “Well, now, good for you. Why don’t you take a bit of a breath now, darling, and sit down here, drink your tea and tell us, as we’re all friends, exactly what happened.”

“I’ll tell you what happened. Then you,” she added, jabbing a finger at Brenna. “You can go down to the village and tell everyone just what a brainless fool Aidan Gallagher is and that Jude Murray wouldn’t have him on a platter.”

“I can do that,” Brenna agreed with a cautious smile.

“Fine.” Jude took that breath, then sat down to tell the tale.

• • •

It helped a great deal to vent to friends. It took the sharpest edge off her temper, strengthened her resolve, and gave her the satisfaction of having two other women outraged at Aidan’s behavior.

By the time she left, she’d been given pats and hugs and congratulations on her stand against a bully. Of course she had no way of knowing that the minute she left, mother and daughter dug out twenty pounds each to lay on Aidan.

It wasn’t that they didn’t sympathize with Jude, or believe she had sense enough to know what she wanted. It was simply that they believed in destiny—and a good wager.

With the stake in her pocket, Brenna drove into town to tell Darcy what a great boob her brother was—and to start the pool.

Fortunately ignorant of this, Jude walked back to her house feeling lighter of heart and stronger in the spine. She wasn’t going to bother confronting Aidan. She told herself it wasn’t worth the time or effort. She would be calm, she would remain firm, and this time he would be the one humiliated.

Pleased with herself, she went directly to the phone in her kitchen and took the next step without a moment’s hesitation.

Thirty minutes later, she sat at the table and laid her head on her arms.

She’d done it. She’d actually done it.

Her condo was going on the market. As the couple Jude had rented to had already made inquiries about the possibility of buying it, the realtor was optimistic that it would sell quickly and with a minimum of fuss. She’d booked a flight for the end of the month so that she could go through her possessions, ship or store what she wanted to keep, and sell or give away the rest.

So much, she thought, for a life she’d built on other people’s expectations. She stayed as she was, holding her breath to see what reaction would set in.

Panic? Regret? Depression?

But it was none of those. It was done, so easily, too, and there was a huge weight off her shoulders at the idea of it. Relief was what she felt. Relief, anticipation, and a wicked little thrill of accomplishment.

She no longer lived in Chicago. She lived in Faerie Hill Cottage, County Waterford, Ireland.

Her parents were going to faint.

At the thought of that, she sat up, pressed both hands to her mouth to hold back the wild laughter. They’d think she’d lost her mind. And would never, ever understand that what she’d done was found it. She’d found her mind, and her heart and her home.

And, she thought, a little dizzy herself, her purpose.

“Gran, I found me. I found Jude F. Murray in six months or less. How about that?”

The call to New York was harder. Because it was more important, Jude realized. Beyond the symbolism of the sale of the condo. That only meant money. The call to New York equaled her future, the future she was giving herself.

She wasn’t certain whether her acquaintance from college had remembered her or had simply pretended to out of politeness. But she’d taken the call, and she’d listened. Jude couldn’t quite remember what she’d said, or what Holly had said back. Except that Holly Carter Fry, literary agent, told Jude F. Murray she very much liked the sound of her book and instructed Jude to send a sample of her work in progress.

Because the thought of doing so made her stomach pitch crazily, Jude made herself get up, walk up the stairs. Her fingers might have trembled as she sat down to type the cover letter. But she clicked her mind over to logical and wrote what she thought was both polite and professional.

She only had to stop to put her head between her knees once.

She gathered the first three stories, and the prologue, words she’d labored over, poured her heart into. She could feel herself getting weepy as she slid the drawings into a folder, packaged everything in a padded envelope.

She was sending her heart across the ocean, risking having it shattered. Easier not to, she thought, stepping away to rub her chilled arms and stare out the window. Easier to just go on pretending she meant to, one day. Easier still to go back to convincing herself it was just an indulgence, an experiment she had no real stake in.

Because once she mailed that envelope, there was no going back, no more pretending, no more safety net.

That was it, had been it all along, she realized. It was easier to tell herself she wasn’t very good at something. Safer to believe she wasn’t clever or quick. Because if you had confidence enough to try something, you had to have courage enough to fail.

She’d failed with her marriage, and ultimately with her teaching—two things she’d been certain she was suited for.

But there were so many other things she’d wanted, dreamed of, that she’d locked away. Always telling herself to be sensible because people expected her to be.

But more, deep down more, the knowing if she failed, she’d have to live with it. And she hadn’t had the courage for it.

She glanced back at the envelope, squared her shoulders. She had it now. This time, with this dream, if she didn’t try, she couldn’t live with it.

“Wish me luck,” she murmured to whatever drifted through her house, and grabbed the envelope.

She didn’t let herself think on the drive to town. She was going to mail it, then forget it, she told herself. She would not spend every day agonizing, fretting, projecting. She would know when she knew, and if it wasn’t good enough . . . somehow she’d make it better.

While she was waiting, she would finish the book. She would polish it until it gleamed like a diamond. Then, well, she’d start another. Stories that came out of her head this time. Mermaids and shape-changers and magic bottles. She had a feeling that now that she’d popped the cork on her imagination, things would spurt out so quickly she wouldn’t be able to keep up.

There was a roaring in her ears as she parked in front of the post office. Her heart was beating so fast and so thick her chest hurt. Her knees wanted to buckle, but she made herself cross the sidewalk and open the door.

The postmistress had snowy white hair and skin as dewy as a girl’s. She sent Jude a cheery smile. “Hello, there, Miss Murray. How’s it all going, then?”

“Very well, thank you.” Liar, liar, liar chanted in her head. Any second she would lose the battle with nausea and humiliate herself.

“To be sure it’s a lovely day. The finest summer we’ve had in many a year. Maybe you’ve brought us luck.”

“I like to think so.” With a smile that felt like a death grimace on her face, Jude set the envelope on the counter.

“Are you sending something to a friend in America, then?”

“Yes.” Jude kept the smile in place while the woman read the address. “An old college friend of mine. She lives in New York now.”

“My grandson Dennis and his wife and family live in New York City. Dennis, he works in a fancy hotel and makes a good wage hauling people’s luggage up and down the elevator. He says some of the rooms are like palaces.”

Jude was afraid her face might crack, but she continued to smile. She’d learned enough in three months to know one didn’t just scoot in and out of the post office, or anywhere else in Ardmore, without a bit of conversation.

“Does he enjoy his work?”

“Aye, that he does, and his pretty wife worked doing hair and such until the second baby came along.”

“That’s nice. I’d like this to get to New York as soon as possible.”

“If you’re wanting to send it special that way, it’ll be a bit dear.”

“That’s all right.” She felt as if she were moving through clear syrup as she reached into her bag for her wallet. In a daze she watched the weight and cost calculated, passed over the pounds and took the coins in change.

“Thank you.”

“It’s not a problem. No problem at all. Will your friend from New York be coming in for the wedding?”

“What?”

“No doubt your family will, but it’s nice to have old friends as well, isn’t it?”

The roaring in her head became a harsh buzzing. Nerves were so quickly smothered by blank fury, she could only stare.

“My John and I’ve been married near fifty years now, and still I remember so clear the day we wed. It rained a torrent, but it didn’t matter in the least to me. All my family was there, and John’s as well, packed into the little church so the smell of wet wool fought with the scent of the flowers. And me da, rest him, he wept like a baby when he walked me down the aisle, for I was his only daughter.”

“That’s lovely,” Jude managed when she had her breath back. “But I’m not getting married.”

“Oh, now, did you and Aidan have a lovers’ spat already?” The postmistress tut-tutted kindly. “Don’t take on about that, darling, it’s natural as the rain.”

“We didn’t have a spat.” But she had a feeling they were going to have the world’s champion of spats very soon. “I’m just not getting married.”

“You make him work for it,” she said with a wink. “Doesn’t hurt them a bit, and makes for a better husband in the end. Oh, and you should talk to Kathy Duffy about the wedding cake. She makes a fine one, pretty as a picture.”

“I don’t need a cake,” Jude said between her teeth.

“Now, then, just because it’s your second time doesn’t mean you don’t deserve a cake. Every bride does. And for the dress you should talk to Mollie O’Toole, as she found a lovely shop in Waterford City for her daughter’s.”

“I don’t need a cake or a dress,” Jude said, waging a vicious war for patience, “because I’m not getting married. Thank you.”

She turned on her heel and marched to the door.

When she stepped out on the sidewalk, sucked in air, she glared at the sign for Gallagher’s.

She couldn’t go in now, couldn’t possibly. She’d kill him if she did.

And why the hell shouldn’t she? He deserved to die.

Long, purposeful strides ate up the ground until she reached the pub. And flung the door open.

“Aidan Gallagher!”

The room filled to bursting with locals and the tourists who’d stopped in for a bite to eat or a drink went dead quiet at her outburst.

At the bar Aidan paused in the draft he was drawing. When she stalked to the bar, the gleam in her eye laser-bright, he set the pint aside. She didn’t look a thing like the soft, sleepy woman he’d left shortly after dawn. That woman had looked silky and satisfied.

And this one looked murderous.

“I want a word with you,” she told him.

He didn’t think it was going to be a good word. “All right, then, give me a minute here and we’ll go upstairs where we can be private.”

“Oh, now he wants privacy. Well, forget it.” She turned to the room. The stares and interested faces didn’t embarrass her this time, didn’t give her that hollow feeling in the belly. This time they fueled an already black temper.

“You’re all welcome to listen to what I have to say, since every one of you who lives in the village is already discussing my business by now. Let me make it very clear. I am not marrying this baboon disguised as a man.”

There were a few snickers, and when she saw the kitchen door slit open, she spun back again. “Don’t stand behind the door, Shawn, come right on out. It’s not you I’m after.”

“And thank God for it,” he muttered, but being a loyal brother he came out to stand beside Aidan.

“Pretty as a picture, the pair of you. And you, too,” she said, pointing at Darcy. “I hope you both have more brains than your brother, who seems to think because he’s got a handsome face women are going to swoon at his feet at the first sign of attention.”

“Now, Jude darling.”

“Don’t you darling me.” She reared up over the bar to rap a fist on his chest. “And don’t call me Jude in that patient, infuriatingly placating tone, you. . . bloody moron.”

His own eyes flashed and temper threatened. He jerked his thumb at Shawn to take over the taps and nodded to Jude. “We’ll go upstairs and finish this.”

“I’m going nowhere with you.” She rapped her fist on his chest again, enjoying the violence of it. “I will not be bullied.”

“Bullied? Who’s bullying you, I’d like to know, when you’re the one pounding on me?”

“I can do worse.” She was suddenly, thrillingly, sure of it. “If you think that by telling everyone who’ll listen I’m going to marry you, you’ll pressure me into it, or embarrass me into it, or just wear me down, you’re in for a surprise. I have no intention of being told what to do with my life, not by you, not by anyone.”

She spun around again. “And everyone here better understand that. Just because I’m sleeping with him doesn’t mean I’m shopping for a wedding cake when he snaps his fingers. I’ll sleep with whomever I please.”

“I’m available,” someone called out and brought on hoots of laughter.

“That’s enough.” Aidan slammed a hand on the bar, and the glasses jumped. “This is private business.” He shoved past Shawn to flip up the pass-through. “Upstairs, Jude Frances.”

“No.” She kept her chin up. “And since that appears to be a word you have trouble with, I’ll ask which part of no you don’t understand.”

“Upstairs,” he said again, and took a firm grip on her arm. “This isn’t the place.”

“It’s your place,” she reminded him. “And it’s your doing. Take your hand off me.”

“We’ll discuss this in private.”

“I’m done discussing it.” When she tried to yank her arm free, he simply started hauling her toward the back. The fact that he could, that people parted way for them, that he was strong enough to drag her wherever he chose snapped something inside her. And the last lock of that dark, bubbling brew broke clean.

“I said take your hand off me, you son of a bitch.” She couldn’t quite remember doing it, not with the red haze coating her vision, but she felt the impact sing up her free arm as her fist connected with his face.

“Holy Christ.” Stars exploded in his head, and the pain was as awesome as the sheer shock of what she’d done. Instinctively he pressed a hand under his nose as blood began to pour.

“And keep them off,” she said with great dignity, as the pub once again fell silent. She turned and walked out seconds before the applause erupted.

“Here, try this.” Shawn passed him over a rag. “That’s a hell of a right jab our Jude has.”

“Aye.” He had to sit down and did so as Darcy pulled him toward a vacated stool. “What hell got into her?” He ignored the new bets being laid in the marriage pool, and took, with gratitude, the ice Shawn brought him.

He stared at the bloody rag with both amazement and disgust. “The woman’s managed what hasn’t been done in thirty-one years. She’s broke my goddamn nose.”

TWENTY

“I’M NOT GOING after her, chasing her like a puppy.”

Shawn continued to fry up fish and chips while Aidan iced down his abused nose in the kitchen. “So you’ve said, ten or twelve times in the last twenty minutes.”

“Well, I’m not.”

“Fine. Be a bloody brick-headed idiot.”

“Don’t you start on me.” Aidan lowered the ice pack. “I can hit you back.”

“And so you have, more times than I care to count. Doesn’t make you less of an idiot.”

“Why am I an idiot? She’s the one who comes swaggering in here, peak hour, too, looking for trouble, badgering me, poking at me, and breaking me fucking nose.”

“That’s got you, doesn’t it?” Shawn slid the golden hunks of fish and servings of chips onto plates, added a scoop of slaw, and garnished them with a bit of parsley. “That after all these years and all the fine battles, it’s a woman half your size who did the deed.”

“’Twas a lucky punch,” Aidan muttered as his pride throbbed in time with his nose.

“Sucker punch, more like,” Shawn corrected. “And you’re the sucker,” he added as he swung out the door with the orders.

“So much for family loyalty.” Disgusted, Aidan got up to root through cupboards for some aspirin. His face ached like a bitch in heat.

Under other circumstances, he supposed he’d have admired Jude for her fine show of temper, and her aim. But he couldn’t find it in him at the moment.

She’d hurt him, face, pride, and heart. He’d never had a woman break his heart before, and didn’t know what the devil to do about it. He’d understood, at least in part, that he’d bungled things the night of the ceili. But he’d been so sure, so confident, that he had fixed all that the night before.

Romance and teasing, perseverance and persuasion. What else did the damn woman want, damn it to the devil and back again? They fit together, anyone could see that.

Everyone, it seemed, but Jude Frances Murray herself.

How could she not want him when he wanted her so much he could barely breathe? How could she not see the life they’d make together when he could see it clear as glass?

It was all to do with that first marriage of hers, he thought darkly. Well, he’d gotten over it, why couldn’t she?

“She’s just being stubborn,” he said to Shawn when his brother came back in.

“That makes her a perfect match for you, then.”

“It’s not being stubborn to go after what you know is right.”

Shawn shook his head and began to build the sandwiches needed out in the pub. The place was a madhouse, he mused, with people staying long past their usual time, and others coming in as they got word of the situation. They’d asked Michael O’Toole and Kathy Duffy to lend a hand at the bar, and Brenna was on her way. He didn’t think Aidan would be in the mood for pulling pints and making conversation for a bit longer yet.

“No, I suppose it’s not,” he said after a moment. “But there are ways and ways of going about it with a woman.”

“A lot you know about women.”

“More than you, I wager, as I’ve never had one plant her fist in my face.”

“Neither have I up till now.” Even half frozen from the ice, his nose was pounding like a kettledrum. “It’s not the reaction a man expects when he asks a woman to marry him.”

“It wasn’t the asking, I’d say, but the way of asking.”

“How many ways do you ask?” Aidan demanded. “And why is this my fault, I’d like to know?”

“Because it’s pitiful obvious that she loves you, and needs love in return. So if you hadn’t made a mess of it, she wouldn’t have said no and broken your nose.”

While Aidan gaped at him, Shawn strode out to deliver the next order. He started to leap up and follow, then calculated he’d spread enough of his personal business out into the pub and village that day. So he paced impatiently and waited for Shawn to come back in.

He carried empty plates this time and slid them into the sink. “Make yourself useful and wash up, would you? I’ve more fish and chips wanted.”

“Maybe I made a mess of it the first time,” Aidan began. “I admit that. I even talked it over with Darcy.”

“Darcy?” All Shawn could do was roll his eyes to heaven. “Now I can say without a doubt you are an idiot.”

“She’s Jude’s friend, and a woman.”

“Without a single romantic bone in her body. Forget the washing, I’ll tend to it later,” he continued as he dredged fish in flour. “Sit down and tell me how you went about it.”

He wasn’t used to his younger brother issuing directions, and he wasn’t sure how it sat with him. But he was a desperate man ready to take desperate measures. “Which time?”

“However many there were, starting with the first.” Shawn slid the fish and potatoes into the oil and began to make a fresh batch of slaw.

He listened without a word while he worked. When the order was finished before his brother was, he held up a finger, surprising Aidan into silence, and went out again to serve it.

“Now, then.” When he came back, he sat, folded his arms on the table, and gave Aidan a level look. “I’m taking ten minutes here to tell you what I think. But first I have a question. In all this telling her what you wanted and how it would be and what should be done, did you happen to mention that you love her?”

“Of course I did.” Hadn’t he? Aidan shifted in his chair, moved his shoulder. “She knows I love her. A man doesn’t ask a woman to be his wife unless he loves her.”

“First off, Aidan, you didn’t ask her at all, but told her, and that’s a different matter entirely. Plus it seems to me the one who asked her before didn’t love her, else he wouldn’t have broken his vows to her before a year was up. Certainly she’d have no reason to think he loved her, would she?”

“No, but—”

“Did you tell her or not?”

“Maybe I didn’t. It’s not so easy just to blurt such a thing out.”

“Why?”

“It just isn’t,” Aidan muttered. “And I’m not some bloody Yank who’d leave her that way. I’m an Irishman who keeps his word, a Catholic who thinks of marriage as a sacrament.”

“Oh, well, then, that’ll convince her. If she marries you it’ll be a matter of your honor and your religion that keeps you with her.”

“That’s not what I meant.” His head was starting to spin. “I’m just saying she should trust me not to hurt her the way she’s been hurt.”

“Better, Aidan, she trusts you to love her as she’s never been loved.”

Aidan opened his mouth, shut it again. “When did you get so smart?”

“Nearly thirty years of watching people, and avoiding the situation you find yourself in. I don’t think she’s a woman who’s been given love and respect in equal measure. And she needs them.”

“I have both for her.”

“I know you do.” Sympathy stirred and Shawn gave Aidan’s arm a squeeze. “But she doesn’t. It’s time to humble yourself. That’s the hardest thing for you, I know. She’ll know it, too.”

“You’re saying I have to grovel.”

Now Shawn flashed a grin. “Your knees’ll take it.”

“I suppose they will. Can’t be more painful than a broken nose.”

“Do you want her?”

“More than anything.”

“If you don’t tell her just that, if you don’t give her your heart, Aidan, if you don’t bare it for her and give her the time to trust what she sees there, you’ll never have her.”

“She might turn me away again.”

“She might.” Shawn rose, laid a hand on Aidan’s shoulder. “It’s a risk. I don’t recall you ever being afraid of taking a chance.”

“Then here’s another first for you.” Aidan reached up, laid his hand on his brother’s. “I’m terrified.” A little shaky in the gut, he rose. “I’ll take a walk if you can hold things here. Get my mind clear before I go see her.” Then he touched his fingers gingerly to his nose. “How bad is it?”

“Oh,” Shawn said cheerfully. “It’s bad. And it’ll get worse.”

Her hand hurt like six devils. If she hadn’t been so busy cursing, she would have worried she’d broken something in it. But as she could still make a fist, she assumed it was only jarred from ramming into the concrete block that disguised itself as Aidan Gallagher’s head.

The first thing she did was grab the phone and change her airline reservations. She was leaving the very next day. Not that Aidan was running her off—oh, no indeed. She just wanted to get to Chicago, handle what needed to be handled quickly, efficiently, and personally before she came back.

Then she would plant herself in Faerie Hill Cottage and live a long and happy life doing as she chose, when she chose, and with whom she chose. And the single person who was not on that list of choices was Aidan Gallagher.

She called Mollie and arranged for her to dog-sit Finn.

Already missing him and riddled with guilt for leaving him behind, she picked him up and hugged him.

“You’ll have a wonderful time at the O’Tooles’. You’ll see. And I’ll be back before you know I’m gone. I’ll bring you a present.” She kissed his nose.

Since she was in no mood to work, she went upstairs to pack. She wouldn’t need much. Even if the business of relocating took a week or two, she had clothes in Chicago. She’d make do with no more than her carry-on and her laptop and feel very cosmopolitan.

Once she was on the plane, she’d settle back with a glass of celebratory champagne and make a list of all that needed to be done.

She’d persuade her grandmother to come back with her, to spend the rest of the summer. She would even try to convince her parents that they should come visit so they could see that she was settled and happy.

Everything else was just practical. Selling her car, the furniture, shipping the few things she loved. It was surprising how little of what she’d collected in the past few years she really loved.

Closing bank accounts, she mused as she set her carry-on beside the closet door. Finalizing paperwork. Arranging for a permanent change of address. A week, she calculated. Ten days at most, and it would be behind her.

The sale of the condo could be completed by mail and by phone.

It was all arranged, she thought. She’d take Finn and the keys to the cottage to Mollie in the morning, then drive to Dublin. Then she looked around and wondered what she would do with herself until morning.

She would work in the garden for now, so she could leave it in absolutely perfect shape, without a single weed or faded bloom. Then she’d go visit Maude one more time just to let her know she was going away for a few days.

Pleased with the idea, Jude gathered her gardening tools and gloves, slapped her hat on her head, and went out to work.

Aidan hadn’t intended to walk by Maude’s grave; but he usually followed impulse. When his feet took him there, he loitered, hoping, he supposed, to find inspiration—or at least a bit of sympathy for his situation.

He crouched down to trail his fingers over the flowers Jude had left there.

“She comes to see you often. She has a warm heart, and a generous one. I have to hope it’s warm enough, generous enough, to spare a bit for me. She’s your blood,” he added. “And though I didn’t know you as a young woman, I’ve heard tales that tell me you had a quick temper and a hard head—begging your pardon. I’ve come to see she takes after you, and I have to admire her for it. I’m going to see her now, and ask her again.”

“Then don’t make the same mistakes I did.”

Aidan looked up, and into sharp green eyes. He straightened slowly. “So, you’re real as well.”

“As real as the day,” Carrick assured him. “Twice she’s said no. If she says so again, you’re of no use to me, and I’ve wasted my time.”

“I’m not asking her to be of use to you.”

“Still and all, I’ve only one chance left. So have a care, Gallagher. I can’t weave a spell here. It’s forbidden, even to me. But I’ve a word of advice.”

“I’ve had plenty of that today, thanks.”

“Take this as well. Love, even when pledged, isn’t enough.”

Annoyed, Aidan dragged a hand through his hair. “Then what the devil is?”

Carrick smiled. “It’s a word that still sticks a bit in my throat. It’s called compromise. Go now while she’s being charmed by her own flowers. It might give you an edge.” The smile widened into a grin. “The way you’re looking right now, you’ll need all the help you can come by.”

“Thanks very much,” Aidan muttered even as his visitor vanished in a silver shimmer of air.

Shoulders hunched, he started toward the cottage. “My own brother calling me a brickhead. Sneering faeries insulting me. Women punching me in the face. How much more am I to swallow in one bloody day?”

As he spoke, the sky darkened, and thunder rumbled ominously. “Oh, go ahead, then.” Aidan glanced up with a scowl. “Shake your fist. This is my life I’m dealing with here.”

He jammed his hands in his pockets and tried to forget that his face ached like one huge bad tooth.

He came around the back, had nearly knocked on the kitchen door when he remembered Carrick had said she was with her flowers. Since she wasn’t at the ones there, it meant she was in the front.

Breathing slow to steady his nerves, he circled the house.

She was singing. In all the time he’d known her, he’d never heard her sing. And though she’d claimed to do so only when nervous, he didn’t think that was what brought her voice out.

She was singing to her flowers, and it stirred his heart. She had a sweet and a tentative voice that told him she didn’t trust it, not even when she thought no one could hear.

It was a pretty sight she made, kneeling by her blossoms, singing quietly of being alone in a festive hall, with her foolish straw hat tipped over her face and the pup curled sleeping on the path behind her.

She didn’t seem to notice the dark clouds brewing overhead, the threat of storms grumbling. She was a steady and bright spot in a magic little world, and if he hadn’t already loved her, he would have tumbled at that moment. But he didn’t know how to explain to either of them the why of it.

His heart was simply hers. He knew stepping forward with nothing to guard it was the greatest risk a man could take.

He stepped forward, and said her name.

Her head whipped up, her eyes met his. He was sorry to see that soft and content expression vanish from her face, to be replaced by a cold and steely anger. But it wasn’t entirely unexpected.

“I’ve finished talking to you.”

“I know it.”

Finn woke and with a joyful bark, scrambled to greet him. That’s what he’d expected of her, he realized. That she would always be happy to see him, that she would rush forward eager for his attention.

It was hardly a wonder, he thought, she’d given him the boot when he’d treated her a bit like a puppy.

“I have a few things to say to you. The first of them being I’m sorry.”

That threw her off, but not enough to soften her. It might have taken her years to learn how to use her spine, but she knew now. “Fine. Then I’ll apologize for hitting you.”

His nose was swollen, and bruising was already spreading under his eyes. Had she actually done that? She found the fact horrifying and shamefully thrilling.

“You broke my nose.”

“I did?” Shock struck first, and she took a step toward him before she snapped herself back. “Well, you deserved it.”

“I did, yes.” He tried a smile. “You’ll be the talk of the village for years.”

Because she discovered a dark place inside her that found delight in that, she spoke primly. “I’m sure everyone will find something more interesting to talk about soon. Now, if that’s all, you’ll have to excuse me. I need to finish this and see to a number of other things before I leave tomorrow.”

“Leave?” He recognized panic now when it grabbed him by the throat. “Where are you going?”

“I’m going back to Chicago in the morning.”

“Jude—” He started forward, stopped short, warned back by the flash in her eye. He wanted to kneel, to beg and plead, imagined he would before it was done. “Is your mind set on it?”

“Yes, it is. I’ve made the arrangements.”

He turned away to gather himself. He looked out over the hills, and toward the village, the sea. Home. “Would you tell me if you’re going because of me, or because it’s what you want?”

“It’s what I want. I’m just—”

“All right, then.” Shawn had said he’d be humbled, and so he was. He turned back, walked toward her slowly. “I’ve things to say, things to tell you. I’m only asking you to listen.”

“I am listening.”

“I’m getting to it,” he muttered. “You could give a man a moment when he’s changing his life right in front of your eyes. I’m asking for another chance, even if I don’t deserve it. I’m asking you to forget the way I put things twice before and listen to how I put them now. You’re a strong woman. That’s something you’re just finding out, but you’re not a hard one. So I’m asking you to put aside your anger for just a moment so you can see . . .”

When he trailed off, looking perplexed and flustered, she only shook her head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I accepted your apology, you accepted mine.”

“Jude.” He grabbed her hand, squeezed hard enough to have her eyes widen in surprise. “I don’t know how to do this. My stomach’s in knots over it. It never mattered before, don’t you see? I’ve got words. I’ve barrels of words, but I don’t know the ones to use with you, because my life’s in the balance.”

She’d hurt him, Jude realized. Not just physically. She’d slapped his ego, humiliated him in front of his friends and family. And still he was sorry. Part of her did soften now. “You’ve already said it, Aidan. We’ll put it aside, just as you said, and forget it happened.”

“I’ve never said it, and that’s the problem.” There was temper in his eyes again, and the edge of it in his voice. Overhead, thunder crashed like balls of lead. “Words have magic. Spells and curses. Some of them, the best of them, once said change everything. So I haven’t said them, hoping, in a cowardly way, that you would change first, and I’d just tend to you after. I’m sorry for that, too. I do want to take care of you.” He lifted a hand to her cheek. “I can’t help it. I want to give you things and show you places, and to see you happy.”

“You’re a kind man, Aidan,” she began.

“It has nothing to do with kindness. I love you, Jude.”

He saw her eyes change, and the fact that it was shock and wariness that came into them only showed him how far he’d gone wrong. There was nothing left to do but bare his heart. “I’m lost in love with you. I think I was the moment I saw you, maybe somehow before I ever did. You’re it for me. There was never one before, there’ll never be another after.”

She felt a desperate need to sit down, but there was only the ground and it seemed much too far away. “I’m not sure . . . I don’t know. Oh, God.”

“I won’t rush you the way I did before. I’ll give you all the time you need. I’m only asking you to give me the chance. I’ll settle things here, then come to Chicago. I can open a pub there.”

She had to press a hand to her head to make certain it stayed on her shoulders. “What?”

“If that’s where you need to be, that’s fine.”

“Chicago?” It didn’t matter about her head now. Nothing mattered but the man gripping her hand and looking into her eyes as if everything in the world he wanted was centered there. “You’d leave Ardmore and come to Chicago?”

“I’d go anywhere to be with you.”

“I need a minute.” She tugged her hand free to walk to the garden gate, lean on it while she caught her breath.

He loved her. And because of it he would give up his home, his legacy, his country to follow her. Not asking her to be what he wanted, what he expected. Because she was enough just as she was.

And more, he was offering to be what she wanted. What she expected.

A miracle.

No, no, she wouldn’t think of loving and being loved in return just as strongly, just as deeply, just as desperately as a miracle. They deserved each other, and the life they would make.

So she would just consider it right.

She’d found Jude Murray, all right. And a great deal more.

Her heart was steady when she turned back. Steady and quiet and calm. He didn’t quite know what to make of the little smile on her face.

“You said you needed a wife.”

“And I do, so long as she’s you. I’ll wait as long as you need me to wait.”

“A year?” She lifted her brows. “Five, ten?”

The knots in his stomach twisted like snakes. “Well, I’ll hope I can persuade you sooner.”

Dreams took risks, she thought. And courage. Her deepest dream was standing, waiting for her answer.

“Tell me again that you love me.”

“With all my heart, with everything I am or will be, I love you, Jude Frances.”

“That’s very persuasive.” With her eyes on his, she walked back down the garden path. “When I realized you were attracted to me, I thought I would have an affair, something hot and reckless and daring. I’d never had one before, and here was this big, gorgeous Irishman more than willing to cooperate. Isn’t that what you wanted, too?”

“I did—thought I did.” Panic snuck back up on him. “Damn it, it isn’t enough.”

“That’s convenient, because the trouble was—is—” she corrected, “I’m just not built for reckless affairs, not in the long run. So even before that first night, when you carried me upstairs, I was in love with you.”

“A ghra.” But when he reached for her, she shook her head and stepped back.

“No, there’s more. I’m going back to Chicago, not to leave but to sell my condo and settle my business so that I can move here permanently. It wasn’t for you, and it still isn’t for you that I’ve chosen to do this. It’s for me. I want to write. I am writing,” she corrected. “A book.”

“A book?” Everything in his face went brilliant, with a pride, she realized, that astonished her. And sealed everything. “That’s wonderful. Oh, it’s what you’re meant to do.”

“How do you know?”

“Because just saying it makes you happy. It shows. And you’ve a lovely way of telling a story. I said so before.”

“Yes,” she said quietly. “Yes, you did. You said it before I could.”

“I’m so pleased for you.”

“I’ve always wanted to, but I didn’t have the courage to do it, to even consider it. Now I do.” Now, she understood, she had the courage for anything. For everything. “I want to write, and I’m going to be good at it. I want to write here. This is my place now. This is my home.”

“You weren’t leaving?”

“Not for long, but I was determined not to come back to you. I found my place here. My place, Aidan. It had to be mine first. And I found a purpose. That had to be mine, too.”

“I understand that.” He reached out, just touched the ends of her hair. “I do, for I was the same. Can you accept that I know that, and want all of that for you, and still want the rest?”

“I can accept that I found my place, my purpose, and now I’ve found you. So it’s you I’ll come back to. And I’m going to be good, very good, at all of it.” This time she reached out, took his hand. “You’ve given me the words, Aidan, and the magic of them. I’ll give them back to you. Because what we start here, today, we start on even ground.”

She paused, waiting for the fears and the doubts, but all that came into her was joy. “There was never one before,” she said quietly. “Though I wanted there to be, tried to make myself into someone so that there would be, because I was afraid to be alone. Now I’ve learned how to be alone, and trust myself, to like myself. I won’t be coming to you weak and malleable and willing to always do what I’m told so as not to make trouble.”

With his heart humming, he touched a finger lightly to his battered nose. “I think I’ve got that part, darling.”

She laughed, and wasn’t the least bit sorry. “Once I take you, there’ll never be one after.” She held out her other hand. “Forever, Aidan, or never.”

“Forever.” He took her hands, bringing first one, then the other to his lips, then on a deep breath, he knelt at her feet.

“What are you doing?”

“Doing it proper, finally. There’s no pride here,” he told her, and his heart was in his eyes for her. “I don’t have a bag of jewels taken from the sun to pour at your feet. I’ve only this.”

He reached into his pocket to take out a ring. The band was thin, and old. The little diamond in its center caught a stray beam of light and sparkled between them, a promise once kept, waiting to be given and kept again.

“It was my mother’s mother’s, and the stone is small, the setting simple. But it’s lasted. I’ll ask you to take it, and me, for my love for you is beyond measure. Belong to me, Jude, as I belong to you. Build a life with me, on even ground. Whatever that life is, wherever it is, is ours.”

She promised herself she wouldn’t cry. At such a moment she wanted her eyes clear. The man she loved was kneeling at her feet, and offering her . . . everything.

She knelt with him. “I’ll take it, and you, and treasure both. I’ll belong to you, Aidan, as you belong to me.” She held out her hand so he could slip the ring on, a circling promise to the heart. “And the life we build starts now.”

As he slid the ring on her finger, the clouds whisked away and the sun poured out light bright as jewels.

And kneeling there among the flowers, they didn’t notice the figure watching from the window, or the wistful way she watched them.

They reached for each other. Lips met. And as fresh pain exploded, Aidan sucked in his breath.

“Oh! It hurts.” Jude eased back, struggling not to laugh as she stroked his cheek. “Come inside, we’ll put some ice on it.”

“I’ve a better cure than that.” He rose and scooped her up into his arms. “Just have a bit of a care, and we’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure it’s broken?”

He slanted her a look. “Aye, since it happens to be attached to my face, I’m sure. And there’s no need to look so pleased about it.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead as he paused at the front door. “And I’m thinking, since you are, this might be just the time to remind you, Jude Frances, you’re owing me two hundred pounds.”

“And I’m thinking you’ll make it worth my while.”

She lifted her hand, watched the way the little diamond sparkled in the sun. Then reaching out, reaching forward, she opened the door herself.

This novel is a work of fiction.

Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination

or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons,

living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

TEARS OF THE MOON

A Jove Book / published by arrangement with the author

All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2000 by Nora Roberts.

Excerpt from Heart of the Sea copyright © 2000 by Nora Roberts.

This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

Making or distributing electronic copies of this book constitutes copyright infringement

and could subject the infringer to criminal and civil liability.

For information address:

The Berkley Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Putnam Inc.,

375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

The Penguin Putnam Inc. World Wide Web site address is

http://www.penguinputnam.com

ISBN: 1-101-14613-3

A JOVE BOOK® Jove Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,

a division of Penguin Putnam Inc.,

375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

JOVE and the “J” design are trademarks belonging to Penguin Putnam Inc.

First edition (electronic): June 2001

CONTENTS

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN

SEVENTEEN

EIGHTEEN

NINETEEN

TWENTY

Dear Reader,

Those who dream by day bring beauty to the world. The art and the music, the stories and the heart. Ireland holds its dreamers dear. Still, along with its poets and artists, the Irish can be a practical lot. In one hand they hold their magic, and in the other the sweat of their labor.

In Tears of the Moon , I’ve clasped those hands together with the dreamer Shawn Gallagher and the clearminded Brenna O’Toole. Carrick, Prince of Faeries, has his work cut out for him with these two if he is to bring them together and take the next step toward breaking the spell that separates him from his own love, and his own destiny.

He has a gift for them, but they must accept it and each other with selfless hearts. Pride and ambition must be outweighed by love and generosity. Two people who have known one another all their lives will have to look at each other with different eyes.

High above the tidy village of Ardmore, on a windy cliff near the well of an ancient saint, there is magic and music in the air. Have a seat on the bench here, and listen for it.

Nora Roberts

Praise for Nora Roberts’s previous novels . . .

RIVER’S END

Her most seductively suspenseful tale yet—a story of one woman’s shattered innocence, the terrifying search for truth and a heart’s journey toward healing . . .

“A PAGE-TURNER.”

—The Washington Post Book World

“Roberts keeps the suspense building . . . Her fans will love this book.”

—Chicago Sun-Times

“AN ENTERTAINING TALE . . . Strong characters and lively writing.”

—The Indianapolis Star

“River’s End moves at a frantic pace . . . Great descriptions . . . Heart-stopping encounters between Olivia and the obviously smitten Noah.”

—Chicago Tribune

“Roberts has a fluid way with dialogue and description, and creates characters that are eminently believable.”

—The Cleveland Plain Dealer

“A plot that delivers both suspense and romance.”

—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

THE REEF

On a search for treasure in the depths of the Caribbean, marine archaeologist Tate Beaumont is forced into an uneasy alliance with salvager Matthew Lassiter, a man who stirs up danger—and desire . . .

“SUSPENSEFUL.”

—People

“Roberts has created another PAGE-TURNING novel.”

—USA Today

“Having made waves with romantic suspense on the coast and at sea, Roberts now takes a satisfying plunge into the deep. . . . Roberts will keep fans’ appetites alive to the end . . . ”

—Publishers Weekly

“An engaging cast of characters with the enticing mystery of coral reefs and sunken treasure. The Reef IS A PERFECT BOOK TO CURL UP WITH.”

—The Denver Post

“A thrilling treasure hunt with a trademark edge. One of her most suspenseful tales to date.”

—Booklist

“Roberts’s legion of fans will swarm to this.”

—Kirkus Reviews

continued on next page . . .

SANCTUARY

Jo Ellen Hathaway knows you can’t go home again—but to discover the truth behind her mother’s mysterious death, she has no choice . . .

“[NORA ROBERTS] IS AT THE TOP OF HER GAME.”

—People

“Sometimes the atmosphere of a novel is so powerfully rendered that the setting assumes the importance of another character. Anne Rivers Siddons has this knack, and so does Nora Roberts.”

—Chicago Tribune

“Her most seductive and tempestuous work to date.”

—Tulsa World

“[Roberts] delivers believable characters and keeps the story moving.”

—Minneapolis Star Tribune

“Roberts has a talent for vivid description: The sounds and smells of this verdant island waft from the page.”

—Publishers Weekly

“WHAT A GREAT ESCAPIST READ! . . . Be sure to turn the stove off and the answering machine on, because you may find the fifteen minutes you planned to sit down with this book will mysteriously expand to an hour or two.”

—The Free Lance-Star

“A STRONG STORY LINE.”

—The Cedar Rapids Gazette

And don’t miss Nora Roberts’s bestselling trilogies . . .

SEA SWEPT

RISING TIDES

INNER HARBOR

The breathtaking trilogy of the lives and loves of three brothers on the windswept shores of the Chesapeake Bay.

BORN IN FIRE

BORN IN ICE

BORN IN SHAME

Three novels featuring the Concannon sisters of Ireland— women of ambition and talent, bound by the timeless spirit and restless beauty of their land.

DARING TO DREAM

HOLDING THE DREAM

FINDING THE DREAM

The saga of three women who shared a home and a childhood— but grew to fulfill their own unique destinies . . .

Titles by Nora Roberts

HOT ICE

SACRED SINS

BRAZEN VIRTUE

SWEET REVENGE

PUBLIC SECRETS

GENUINE LIES

CARNAL INNOCENCE

DIVINE EVIL

HONEST ILLUSIONS

PRIVATE SCANDALS

BORN IN FIRE

BORN IN ICE

BORN IN SHAME

HIDDEN RICHES

TRUE BETRAYALS

DARING TO DREAM

HOLDING THE DREAM

FINDING THE DREAM

MONTANA SKY

SEA SWEPT

RISING TIDES

INNER HARBOR

SANCTUARY

HOMEPORT

THE REEF

RIVER’S END

JEWELS OF THE SUN

TEARS OF THE MOON

FROM THE HEART ( anthology )

Titles written as J. D. Robb

NAKED IN DEATH

GLORY IN DEATH

IMMORTAL IN DEATH

RAPTURE IN DEATH

CEREMONY IN DEATH

VENGEANCE IN DEATH

HOLIDAY IN DEATH

CONSPIRACY IN DEATH

WITNESS IN DEATH

For Bruce,

my personal man of all work

Ah, kiss me, love, and miss me, love,

and dry your bitter tears.

—IRISH PUB SONG

ONE

IRELAND IS A land of poets and legends, of dreamers and rebels. All of these have music woven through and around them. Tunes for dancing or for weeping, for battle or for love. In ancient times, the harpists would travel from place to place, playing their tunes for a meal and a bed and the loose coins that might come with them.

The harpists and the seanachais —the storytellers—were welcome where they wandered, be it cottage or inn or campfire. Their gift was carried inside them, and was valued even in the faerie rafts beneath the green hills.

And so it is still.

Once, not so long ago, a storyteller came to a quiet village by the sea and was made welcome. There, she found her heart and her home.

A harpist lived among them, and had his home where he was content. But he had yet to find his heart.

There was music playing in his head. Sometimes it came to him soft and dreamy, like a lover’s whisper. Other times it was with a shout and a laugh. An old friend calling you into the pub to stand you for a pint. It could be sweet or fierce or full of desperate tears. But it was music that ran through his mind. And it was his pleasure to hear it.

Shawn Gallagher was a man comfortable with his life. Now there were some who would say he was comfortable because he rarely came out of his dreaming to see what was happening in the world. He didn’t mind agreeing with them.

His world was his music and his family, his home and the friends who counted. Why should he be bothered overmuch beyond that?

His family had lived in the village of Ardmore in the county of Waterford, in the country of Ireland for generations. And there the Gallaghers had run their pub, offering pints and glasses, a decent meal and a fine place for conversation as long as most cared to remember.

Since his parents had settled in Boston some time before, it was up to Shawn’s older brother, Aidan, to head the business. That was more than fine with Shawn Gallagher, as he didn’t quibble to admit he had no head for business whatsoever, or the desire to get one. He was happy enough to man the kitchen, for cooking relaxed him.

The music would play for him, out in the pub or inside his head, as he filled orders or tweaked the menu of the day.

Of course, there were times when his sister, Darcy— who had more than her share of the family energy and ambition—would come in where he was working up a stew or building some sandwiches and start a row.

But that only livened things up.

He had no problem lending a hand with the serving,especially if there was a bit of music or dancing going on. And he cleaned up without complaint after closing, for the Gallaghers ran a tidy place.

Life in Ardmore suited him—the slow pace of it, the sweep of sea and cliff, the roll of green hills that went shimmering toward shadowed mountains. The wanderlust that the Gallaghers were famed for had skipped over him, and Shawn was well rooted in Ardmore’s sandy soil.

He had no desire to travel as his brother, Aidan, had done, or as Darcy spoke of doing. All that he needed was right at his fingertips. He saw no point in changing his view.

Though he supposed he had, in a way.

All of his life he’d looked out his bedroom window toward the sea. It had been there, just there, foaming against the sand, dotted with boats, rough or calm and every mood in between. The scent of it was the first thing he’d breathe in as he leaned out his window in the morning.

But when his brother had married the pretty Yank Jude Frances Murray the previous fall, it seemed right to make a few adjustments.

In the Gallagher way, the first to marry took over the family home. And so Jude and Aidan had moved into the rambling house at the edge of the village when they returned from honeymooning in Venice.

Given the choice between the rooms above the pub and the little cottage that belonged to the Fitzgerald side of Jude’s family, Darcy had decided in favor of the rooms. She’d browbeaten Shawn, and whoever else she could twist around her beautiful finger, into painting and hauling until she’d turned Aidan’s once sparse rooms into her own little palace.

That was fine with Shawn.

He preferred the little cottage on the faerie hill with its view of the cliffs and the gardens, and its blessed quiet.

Nor did he mind the ghost who walked there.

He’d yet to see her, but he knew she was there. Lady Gwen, who wept for the faerie lover she had cast away and waited for the spell to run its course and free them both. Shawn knew the story of the young maid who’d lived three hundred years before in that very same cottage on that very same hill.

Carrick, prince of the faeries, had fallen in love with her, but instead of giving her the words, offering his heart, he had shown her the grandeur of the life he would give her. Three times he brought her a silver bag of jewels, first diamonds cast from the fire of the sun, then pearls formed from tears dripped from the moon, and finally sapphires wrung from the heart of the sea.

But doubting his heart, and her own destiny, she refused him. And the jewels he poured at her feet, so legend had it, became the very flowers that thrived in the dooryard of the cottage.

Most of the flowers slept now, Shawn thought, bedded down as winter blew over the coast. The cliffs where it was said the lady often walked were stark and barren under a brooding sky.

A storm was biding its time, waiting to happen.

The morning was a raw one, with the wind knocking at the windows and sneaking in to chill the cottage. He had a fire going in the kitchen hearth and his tea was hot, so he didn’t mind the wind. He liked the arrogant music it made while he sat at the kitchen table, nibbling on biscuits and toying with the lyrics for a tune he’d written.

He didn’t have to be at the pub for an hour yet. But to make sure he got there at all, he’d set the timer on the stove and, as a backup, the alarm clock in his bedroom. With no one there to shake him out of his dreams and tell him to get his ass moving, he tended to forget the time altogether.

Since it irritated Aidan when he was late, and gave Darcy an excuse to hammer at him, he did his best to stay on schedule. The trouble was, when he was deep enough in his music, the buzzing and beeping of the timers didn’t register and he was late in any case.

He was swimming in it now, in a song of love that was young and sure of itself. The sort, to Shawn’s thinking, that was as fickle as the wind but fun while it lasted. A dancing tune, he decided, that would require fast feet and flirting.

He would try it out at the pub sometime, once it was polished a bit, and if he could convince Darcy to sing it. Her voice was just right for the mood of it.

Too comfortable to bother going into the parlor where he’d jammed the old piano he bought when he moved in, he tapped his foot for rhythm and refined the lyrics.

He didn’t hear the banging at the front door, the clomp of bootsteps down the hallway, or the muttered curse.

Typical, Brenna thought. Lost in some dream world again while life went on around him. She didn’t know why she’d bothered to knock in the first place—he rarely heard it, and they’d been running tame in each other’s houses since childhood.

Well, they weren’t children anymore, and she’d as soon knock as walk in on something she shouldn’t.

He could have had a woman in here, for all she knew. The man attracted them like sugar water attracted bees. Not that he was sweet, necessarily. Though he could be.

God, he was pretty. The errant thought popped into her head, and she immediately hated herself for it. But it was hard not to notice, after all.

All that fine black hair looking just a bit shabby, as he never remembered when it was time for a trim. Eyes of a quiet and dreamy blue—unless he was roused by something, and then, she recalled, they could fire hot and cold in equal measure. He had long, dark lashes that her four sisters would have sold their soul for and a full, firm mouth that was meant, she supposed, for long kisses and soft words.

Not that she knew of either firsthand. But she’d heard tell.

His nose was long and just slightly crooked from a line drive she’d hit herself, smartly, when they’d been playing American baseball more than ten years before.

All in all, he had the face of some fairy-tale prince come to life. Some gallant knight on a quest. Or a slightly tattered angel. Add that to a long, lanky body, wonderfully wide-palmed hands with the fingers of an artist, a voice like whiskey warmed by a turf fire, and he made quite the package.

Not that she was interested, particularly. It was just that she appreciated things that were made well.

And what a liar she was, even to herself.

She’d had a yen for him even before she’d beaned him with that baseball—and she’d been fourteen to his nineteen at the time. And a yen tended to grow into something hotter, something nervier, by the time a woman was twenty-four.

Not that he ever looked at her like she was a woman.

Just as well, she assured herself, and shifted her stance. She didn’t have time to hang around mooning over the likes of Shawn Gallagher. Some people had work to do.

Fixing a thin sneer on her face, she deliberately lowered her toolbox and let it fall with a terrible clatter. That he jumped like a rabbit under the gun pleased her.

“Christ Jesus!” He scraped his chair around, thumped a hand to his heart as if to get it pumping again. “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing.” She continued to sneer. “Butterfingers,” she said sweetly and picked up her dented toolbox again. “Give you a start, did I?”

“You damn near killed me.”

“Well, I knocked, but you didn’t bother to come to the door.”

“I didn’t hear you.” He blew out a breath, scooped his hair back, and frowned at her. “Well, here’s the O’Toole come to call. Is something broken, then?”

“You’ve a mind like a rusty bucket.” She shrugged out of her jacket, tossed it over the back of a chair. “Your oven there hasn’t worked for a week,” she reminded him with a nod toward the stove. “The part I ordered for it just came in. Do you want me to fix it or not?”

He made a sound of assent and waved his hand toward it.

“Biscuits?” she said as she walked by the table. “What kind of breakfast is that for a man grown?”

“They were here.” He smiled at her in a way that made her want to cuddle him. “It’s a bother to cook just for myself most mornings, but if you’re hungry I’ll fix something up for the both of us.”

“No, I’ve eaten.” She set her toolbox down, opened it, started to rummage through. “You know Ma always fixes more than enough. She’d be happy to have you wander down any morning you like and have a decent meal.”

“You could send up a flare when she makes her griddle cakes. Will you have some tea in any case? The pot’s still warm.”

“I wouldn’t mind it.” As she chose her tools, got out the new part, she watched his feet moving around the kitchen. “What were you doing? Writing music?”

“Fiddling with words for a tune,” he said absently. His eye had caught the flight of a single bird, black and glossy against the dull pewter sky. “Looks bitter out today.”

“ ’Tis, and damp with it. Winter’s barely started and I’m wishing it over.”

“Warm your bones a bit.” He crouched down with a thick mug of tea, fixed as he knew she liked it, strong and heavy on the sugar.

“Thanks.” The heat from the mug seeped into her hands as she cupped them around it.

He stayed where he was, sipping his own tea. Their knees bumped companionably. “So, what will you do about this heap?”

“What do you care as long as it works again?”

He lifted a brow. “If I know what you did, I might fix it myself next time.”

This made her laugh so hard she had to sit her butt down on the floor to keep from tipping over. “You? Shawn, you can’t even fix your own broken fingernail.”

“Sure I can.” Grinning, he mimed just biting one off and made her laugh again.

“Don’t you concern yourself with what I do with the innards of the thing, and I won’t concern myself with the next cake you bake in it. We each have our strengths, after all.”

“It’s not as if I’ve never used a screwdriver,” he said and plucked one out of her kit.

“And I’ve used a stirring spoon. But I know which fits my hand better.”

She took the tool from him, then shifting her position, stuck her head in the oven to get to work.

She had little hands, Shawn thought. A man might think of them as delicate if he didn’t know what they were capable of doing. He’d watched her swing a hammer, grip a drill, haul lumber, cinch pipes. More often than not, those little fairy hands of hers were nicked and scratched or bruised around the knuckles.

She was such a small woman for the work she’d chosen, or the work that had chosen her, he thought as he straightened. He knew how that was. Brenna’s father was a man of all work, and his eldest daughter took straight after him. Just as it was said Shawn took after his mother’s mother, who had often forgotten the wash or the dinner while she played her music.

As he started to step back, she moved, her butt wriggling as she loosened a bolt. His eyebrows lifted again, in what he considered merely the reflexive interest of a male in an attractive portion of the female form.

She did, after all, have a trim and tidy little body. The sort a man could scoop up one-handed if he had a mind to. And if a man tried, Shawn imagined Brenna O’Toole would lay him out flat.

The idea made him grin.

Still, he’d rather look at her face any day. It was such a study. Her eyes were lively and of a sharp, glass green under elegant brows just slightly darker than her bright red hair. Her mouth was mobile and quick to smile or sneer or scowl. She rarely painted it—or the rest of her face, come to that—though she was thick as thieves with Darcy, who wouldn’t step a foot out of the house until she was polished to a gleam.

She had a sharp little nose, like a pixie’s, that tended to wrinkle in disapproval or disdain. Most times she bundled her hair under a cap where she pinned the little fairy he’d given her years before for some occasion or other. But when she took the cap off, there seemed miles of hair, a rich, bright red that sprang out in little curls as it pleased.

It suited her that way.

Because he wanted to see her face again before he took himself off to the pub, Shawn leaned back casually on the counter, then tucked his tongue in his cheek.

“So you’re walking out with Jack Brennan these days, I’m hearing.”

When her head came up swiftly and connected with the top of the oven with a resounding crack, Shawn winced, and wisely swallowed the chuckle.

“I am not!” As he’d hoped, she popped out of the oven. There was a bit of soot on her nose, and as she rubbed her sore head, she knocked her cap askew. “Who said I am?”

“Oh.” Innocent as three lambs, Shawn merely shrugged and finished his tea. “I thought I heard it somewhere, ’round and about, as such things go.”

“You’ve a head full of cider and never hear a bloody thing. I’m not walking out with anyone. I’ve no time for that nonsense.” Annoyed, she stuck her head back in the oven.

“Well, then, I’m mistaken. Easy enough to be these days when the village is so full of romance. Engagements and weddings and babies on the way.”

“That’s the proper order, anyway.”

He chuckled and came back to crouch beside her again. In a friendly way, he laid a hand on her bottom, but he didn’t notice when she went very still. “Aidan and Jude are already picking out names, and she’s barely two months along yet. They’re lovely together, aren’t they?”

“Aye.” Her mouth had gone dry with that yen that was perilously close to need. “I like seeing them happy. Jude likes to think the cottage is magic. She fell in love with Aidan here, and started her new life, wrote her book, all the things she says she was afraid even to dream of once happened right here.”

“That’s lovely, too. There’s something about this place,” he said half to himself. “You feel it at odd moments. When you’re drifting off to sleep, or just waking. It’s a . . . a waiting.”

With the new part in place, she eased out of the oven. His hand slid up her back lazily, then fell away. “Have you seen her? Lady Gwen?”

“No. Sometimes there’s a kind of movement on the air, just at the edge of your vision, but then nothing.” He pulled himself back, smiled carelessly, and got to his feet. “Maybe she’s not for me.”

“I’d think you the perfect candidate for a heartbroken ghost,” Brenna said and turned away from his surprised glance. “She should work fine now,” she added, giving the dial a turn. “We’ll just see if she heats up.”

“You’ll see to that for me, won’t you, darling?” The oven timer buzzed, startling them both. “I’ve got to be going,” Shawn said, reaching over to shut it off.

“Is that your warning system, then?”

“One of them.” He lifted a finger, and on cue there came the cheerful bell from the clock by his bed. “That’s the second round, but it’ll go off on its own in a minute as it’s a windup. Otherwise, I found I’d be having to run in and slap it off every bloody time.”

“Clever enough when it suits you, aren’t you?”

“I have my moments. The cat’s out,” he continued as he took his own jacket from the hook. “Take no pity on him should he come scratching at the door. Bub knew what he was after when he insisted on moving out here with me.”

“Did you remember to feed him?”

“I’m not a complete moron.” Unoffended, he wrapped a scarf around his neck. “He has food enough, and if he didn’t, he’d go begging at your kitchen door. He’d do that anyway, just to shame me.” He found his cap, dragged it on. “See you at the pub, then?”

“More than likely.” She didn’t sigh until she’d heard the front door close behind him.

Yearnings in the direction of Shawn Gallagher were foolishness, she told herself. For he would never have the same aimed her way. He thought of her as a sister— or worse, she realized, as a kind of honorary brother.

And that was her fault as well, she admitted, glancing down at her scruffy work pants and scarred boots. Shawn liked the girlie type, and she was anything but. She could flounce herself up, she supposed. Between Darcy and her own sisters, and Jude for that matter, she would have no limit of consultants on beautifying Brenna O’Toole.

But beyond the fact that she hated all that fuss and bother, what would be the point in it? If she polished and painted and cinched and laced to attract a man, he wouldn’t be attracted to what she was in any case.

Besides, if she put on lipstick and baubles and some slinky little dress, Shawn would likely laugh his lungs out, then say something stupid that would leave her no choice but to punch him.

There was hardly a point in that.

She’d leave the fancy work to Darcy, who was the champion of being female. And to her sisters, Brenna thought, who enjoyed such things. As for herself—she’d stick with her tools.

She went back to the oven, running it at different temperatures and checking the broiler for good measure. When she was satisfied it was in good working order, she turned it off, then packed up her tools.

She meant to go straight out. There was no reason to linger, after all. But the cottage was so cozy. She’d always felt at home there. When Old Maude Fitzgerald had lived in Faerie Hill Cottage, for more years than Brenna could count, Brenna had often stopped in for a visit.

Then Maude had died, and Jude had come to stay for a while. They’d become friends, so it had been easy to fall back into the routine of stopping in now and then on her way home, or into the village.

She ignored the urge to stop in more often than not now that Shawn was living there. But it was hard to resist. She liked the quiet of the place, and all the pretty little things Maude had collected and left sitting about. Jude had left them there, and Shawn seemed content to do the same, so the little parlor was cheery with bits of glass and charming statues of faeries and wizards, homey with books and a faded old rug.

Of course, now that Shawn had stuffed the secondhand spinet piano into the dollhouse space, there was barely room to turn around. But Brenna thought it only added to the charm. And Old Maude had enjoyed music.

She’d be pleased, Brenna thought as she skimmed her finger over the scarred black wood, that someone was making music in her house again.

Idly, she scanned the sheet music that Shawn forever left scattered over the top of the piano. He was always writing a new tune, or taking out an old one to change something. She frowned in concentration as she studied the squiggles and dots. She wasn’t particularly musical. Oh, she could sing out a rebel song without making the dog howl in response, but playing was a different kettle of fish altogether.

Since she was alone, she decided to satisfy her curiosity. She set her toolbox down again, chose one of the sheets, and sat down. Gnawing her lip, she found middle C on the keyboard and slowly, painstakingly, picked out the written notes, one finger at a time.

It was lovely, of course. Everything he wrote was lovely, and even her pitiful playing couldn’t kill the beauty of it completely.

He’d added words to this one, as he often did. Brenna cleared her throat and attempted to match her voice to the proper note.

When I’m alone in the night, and the moon sheds its tears, I know my world would come right if only you were here. Without you, my heart is empty of all but the memories it keeps. You, only you, stay inside me in the night while the moon weeps.

She stopped, sighed a little, as there was no one to hear. It touched her, as his songs always did, but a little deeper this time. A little truer.

Moon tears, she thought. Pearls for Lady Gwen. A love that asked, but couldn’t be answered.

“It’s so sad, Shawn. What’s inside you that makes such lonely music?”

As well as she knew him, she didn’t know the answer to that. And she wanted to, had always wanted to know the key to him. But he wasn’t a motor or machine that she could take apart to find the workings. Men were more complicated and frustrating puzzles.

It was his secret, and his talent, she supposed. All so internal and mysterious. While her skills were . . . She looked down at her small, capable hands. Hers were as simple as they came.

At least she put hers to good use and made a proper living from them. What did Shawn Gallagher do with his great gift but sit and dream? If he had a lick of ambition, or true pride in his work, he’d sell his tunes instead of just writing them and piling them up in boxes.

The man needed a good kick in the ass for wasting something God had given him.

But that, she thought, was an annoyance for another day. She had work of her own to do.

She started to get up, to reach for her toolbox again, when a movement caught the corner of her eye. She straightened like a spike, mortified at the thought of Shawn coming back—he was always forgetting something—and catching her playing with his music.

But it wasn’t Shawn who stood in the doorway.

The woman had pale gold hair that tumbled around the shoulders of a plain gray dress that swept down to the floor. Her eyes were a soft green, her smile so sad it broke the heart at first glance.

Recognition, shock, and a giddy excitement raced through Brenna all at once. She opened her mouth, but whatever she intended to say came out in a wheeze as her pulse pounded.

She tried again, faintly embarrassed that her knees were shaking. “Lady Gwen,” she managed. She thought it was admirable to be able to get out that much when faced with a three-hundred-year-old ghost.

As she watched, a single tear, shiny as silver, trailed down the lady’s cheek. “His heart’s in his song.” Her voice was soft as rose petals and still had Brenna trembling. “Listen.”

“What do you—” But before Brenna could get the question out, she was alone, with only the faintest scent of wild roses drifting in the air.

“Well, then. Well.” She had to sit, there was no help for it, so she let herself drop back down to the piano bench. “Well,” she said again and blew out several strong breaths until her heart stopped thundering against her rib cage.

When she thought her legs would hold her again, she decided it was best to tell the tale to someone wise and sensible and understanding. She knew no one who fit those requirements so well as her own mother.

She calmed considerably on the short drive home. The O’Toole house stood back off the road, a rambling jigsaw puzzle of a place she herself had helped make so. When her father got an idea for a room into his head, she was more than pleased to dive into the ripping out and nailing up. Some of her happiest memories were of working side by side with Michael O’Toole and listening to him whistle the chore away.

She pulled in behind her mother’s ancient car. They really did need to paint the old heap, Brenna thought absently, as she always did. Smoke was pumping from the chimneys.

Inside was all welcome and warmth and the smells of the morning’s baking. She found her mother, Mollie, in the kitchen, pulling fresh loaves of brown bread out of the oven.

“Ma.”

“Oh, sweet Mary, girl, you gave me a start.” With a laugh, Mollie put the pans on the stovetop and turned with a smile. She had a pretty face, still young and smooth, and the red hair she’d passed on to her daughter was bundled on top of her head for convenience.

“Sorry, you’ve got the music up again.”

“It’s company.” But Mollie reached over to turn the radio down. Beneath the table, Betty, their yellow dog, rolled over and groaned. “What are you doing back here so soon? I thought you had work.”

“I did. I do. I’ve got to go into the village yet to help Dad, but I stopped by Faerie Hill to fix the oven for Shawn.”

“Mmm-hmm.” Mollie turned back to pop the loaves out of the pan and set them on the rack to cool.

“He left before I was done, so I was there by myself for a bit.” When Mollie made the same absent sound, Brenna shifted her feet. “Then, ah, when I was leaving . . . well, there was Lady Gwen.”

“Mmm-hmm. What?” Finally tuning in, Mollie looked over her shoulder at Brenna.

“I saw her. I was just fiddling for a minute at the piano, and I looked up and there she was in the parlor doorway.”

“Well, then, that must’ve given you a start.”

Brenna’s breath whooshed out. Sensible, that was Mollie O’Toole, bless her. “I all but swallowed me tongue then and there. She’s lovely, just as Old Maude used to say. And sad. It just breaks your heart how sad.”

“I always hoped to see her myself.” A practical woman, Mollie poured two cups of tea and carried them to the table. “But I never did.”

“I know Aidan’s talked of seeing her for years. And then Jude, when she moved into the cottage.” Relaxed again, Brenna settled at the table. “But I was just talking to Shawn of her, and he says he’s not seen her—sensed her, but never seen. And then, there she was, for me. Why do you think that is?”

“I can’t say, darling. What did you feel?”

“Other than a hard knock of surprise, sympathy, I guess. Then puzzlement because I don’t know what she meant by what she said to me.”

“She spoke to you?” Mollie’s eyes widened. “Why, I’ve never heard of her speaking to anyone, not even Maude. She’d have told me. What did she say to you?”

“She said, ‘His heart’s in his song,’ then she just told me to listen. And when I got back my wits enough to ask her what she meant, she was gone.”

“Since it’s Shawn who lives there now, and his piano you were playing with, I’d say the message was clear enough.”

“But I listen to his music all the time. You can’t be around him five minutes without it.”

Mollie started to speak, then thought better of it and only covered her daughter’s hand with her own. Her darling Mary Brenna, she thought, had such a hard time recognizing anything she couldn’t pick apart and put together again. “I’d say when it’s time for you to understand, you will.”

“She makes you want to help her,” Brenna murmured.

“You’re a good lass, Mary Brenna. Perhaps before it’s done, help her is just what you’ll do.”

TWO

AS THE AIR was raw and the wind carried a sting, Shawn set out the makings for mulligan stew. The morning quiet of the pub’s kitchen was one of his favorite things, so as he chopped his vegetables and browned hunks of lamb, he enjoyed his last bit of solitude before the pub doors opened.

Aidan would be in soon enough asking if this had been done or that had been seen to. Then Darcy would begin to move about upstairs, feet padding back and forth across the floor and the ghost echo of whatever music her mood called for that day drifting down the back stairs.

But for now Gallagher’s was his.

He didn’t want the responsibility of running it. That was for Aidan. Shawn was grateful he’d been born second. But the pub mattered to him, the tradition of it that had been passed down generation to generation from the first Shamus Gallagher, who with his wife beside him had built the public house by Ardmore Bay and opened its thick doors to offer hospitality, shelter, and a good glass of whiskey.

He’d been born the son of a publican and understood that the job was to provide comfort of all sorts to those who passed through. Over the years, Gallagher’s had come to mean comfort, and it became known for its music—the seisiun , an informal pub gathering of traditional music—as well as the more structured sets provided by hired musicians from all over the country.

Shawn’s love of music had come down to him through the pub, and so through the blood. It was as much a part of him as the blue of his eyes, or the shape of his smile.

There was little he liked better than working away in his kitchen and hearing a tune break out through the doors. It was true enough that he was often compelled to leave what he was doing and swing out to join in. But everyone got what they’d come for sooner or later, so where was the harm?

It was rare—not unheard of, but rare—for him to burn a pot or let a dish go cold, for he took a great measure of pride in his kitchen and what came out of it.

Now the steam began to rise and scent the air, and the broth thickened. He added bits of fresh basil and rosemary from plants he was babying. It was a new idea of his, these self-grown herbs, one he’d taken from Mollie O’Toole. He considered her the best cook in the parish.

He added marjoram as well, but that was from a jar. He intended to start his own plant of that, too, and get himself what Jude had told him was called a grow light. When the herbs were added to his satisfaction, he checked his other makings, then began to grate cabbage for the slaw he made by the gallons.

He heard the first footsteps overhead, then the music. British music today, Shawn thought, recognizing the clever and sophisticated tangle of notes. Pleased with Darcy’s choice, he sang along with Annie Lennox until Aidan swung through the door.

Aidan wore a thick fisherman’s sweater against the cold. He was broader of shoulder than his brother, tougher of build. His hair was the same dark, aged chestnut as their bar and showed hints of red in the sunlight. Though Shawn’s face was leaner, his eyes a quieter blue, the Gallagher genes ran strong and true. No one taking a good look would doubt that they were brothers.

Aidan cocked a brow. “And what are you grinning at?”

“You,” Shawn said easily. “You’ve the look of a contented and satisfied man.”

“And why wouldn’t I?”

“Why, indeed.” Shawn poured a mug from the pot of tea he’d already made. “And how is our Jude this morning?”

“Still a bit queasy for the first little while, but she doesn’t seem to mind it.” Aidan sipped and sighed. “I’m not ashamed to say it makes my own stomach roll seeing how she pales the minute she gets out of bed. After an hour or so, she’s back to herself. But it’s a long hour for me.”

Shawn settled back against the counter with his own mug. “You couldn’t pay me to be a woman. Do you want me to take her a bowl of stew later on? Or I’ve some chicken broth if she’d do better with something more bland.”

“I think she’d handle the stew. She’d appreciate that, and so do I.”

“It’s not a problem. It’s mulligan stew if you want to fix the daily, and I’ve a mind to make bread-and-butter pudding, so you can add that as well.”

The phone began to ring out in the pub, and Aidan rolled his eyes. “That had best not be the distributor saying there’s a problem again. We’re lower on porter than I like to be.”

And that, Shawn thought, as Aidan went out to answer, was just one of the many reasons he was glad to have the business end of things in his brother’s keeping.

All that figuring and planning, Shawn mused, as he calculated how many pounds of fish he needed to get through the day. Then the dealing with people, the arguing and demanding and insisting. It wasn’t all standing behind the bar pulling pints and listening to old Mr. Riley tell a story.

Then there were things like ledgers and overhead and maintenance and taxes. It was enough to give you a headache just thinking of it.

He checked his stew, gave the enormous pot of it a quick stir, then went to the bottom of the steps to shout up for Darcy to move her lazy ass. It was said out of habit rather than heat, and the curse she shouted back down at him was an answer in kind.

Satisfied altogether with the start of his day, Shawn wandered out to the pub to help Aidan take the chairs off the tables in preparation for the first shift.

But Aidan was standing behind the bar, frowning off into space.

“A problem with the distributor, then?”

“No, not at all.” Aidan shifted his frown to Shawn. “That was a call from New York City, a man named Magee.”

“New York City? Why, it can’t be five in the morning there as yet.”

“I know it, but the man sounded awake and sober.” Aidan scratched his head, then shook it and lifted his tea. “He has a mind to put a theater up in Ardmore.”

“A theater.” Shawn set the first chair down, then just leaned on it. “For films?”

“No, for music. Live music, and perhaps plays as well. He said he was calling me as he’d heard that Gallagher’s was in the way of being the center of music here. He wanted my thoughts on the matter.”

Considering, Shawn took down another chair. “And what were they?”

“Well, I didn’t have any to speak of, being taken by surprise that way. I said if he wanted he could give me a day or two to think on it. He’ll ring me back end of week.”

“Now why would a man from New York City be thinking of building a musical theater here? Wouldn’t you set your sights on Dublin, or out in Clare or Galway?”

“That was part of his point,” Aidan answered. “He wasn’t a fount of information, but he indicated he wanted this area in particular. So I said to him perhaps he wasn’t aware we’re a fishing village and little more. Sure, the tourists come for the beaches, and some to climb up to see Saint Declan’s and take photographs and the like, but we’re not what you’d call teeming with people.”

With a shrug, Aidan came around to help Shawn set up. “He just laughed at that and said he knew that well enough, and he was thinking of something fairly smallscale and intimate.”

“I can tell you what I think.” When Aidan nodded, Shawn continued. “I think it’s a grand notion. Whether it would work is a different matter, but it’s a fine notion.”

“I have to weigh the this and that of it first,” Aidan murmured. “Likely as not, the man will reconsider and head for somewhere more lively in any case.”

“And if he doesn’t, I’d talk him ’round to building it back of the pub.” As it was part of the routine, Shawn gathered up ashtrays and began to set them out on the tables. “We’ve that little bit of land there, and if his theater was in the way of being attached to Gallagher’s, we’d be the ones to benefit most.”

Aidan set down the last chair and smiled slowly. “That’s a good notion altogether. You’re a surprise to me, Shawn, working your mind around to the business of it.”

“Oh, I’ve a thought in my head every once in a while.”

Still, he didn’t give it much of another thought once the doors were open and the customers rolling in. He had time for a quick and entertaining spat with Darcy, giving him the pleasure of seeing her flounce out of his kitchen vowing never to speak to him again until he was six years in his grave.

He doubted he’d have luck enough for that.

He scooped up stew, fried fish and chips, built sandwiches thick with grilled ham and cheese. The constant hum of voices through the door was company enough. And for the first hour of lunch shift, Darcy kept her word, glaring silently as she swung in and out for orders, and giving new ones by staring at the wall.

It amused him so much that when she came in to dump empties, he grabbed her and kissed her noisily on the mouth. “Speak to me, darling. You’re breaking my heart.”

She shoved at him, slapped his hands, then gave up and laughed. “I’ll speak to you right enough, you bonehead. Turn me loose.”

“Only after you promise not to brain me with something.”

“Aidan’ll take the breakage out of my pay, and I’m saving for a new dress.” She tossed back her cloud of silky black hair and sniffed at him.

“Then I’m safe enough.” He set her down and turned to flip over a hunk of sizzling whitefish.

“We’ve a couple of German tourists who want to try your stew, with brown bread and slaw. They’re staying at the B and B,” she went on as Shawn got thick bowls. “Heading toward Kerry tomorrow, then into Clare, so they say. If it were me, and I had holiday in January, I’d be spending it in sunny Spain or some tropical island where you didn’t need anything but a bikini and a coating of sun oil.”

She wandered the kitchen as she spoke, a woman with a stunning face, clear, creamy skin, and brilliant blue eyes. Her mouth was full, unapologetically sexual whether it was sulking or smiling. She’d painted it hot red that morning to keep herself cheerful on a chill and dreary day.

She had a figure that left no doubt she was female, and her love affair with fashion had her outfit it in bold colors and soft fabrics.

She had the Gallagher yen to travel, and the determination to do so in the style to which she longed to become accustomed. Lavish.

Since today wasn’t the day for that, she picked up the order and started out just as Brenna came in. “What have you been into this time, then?” Darcy demanded. “You’ve black all over your face.”

“Soot.” Brenna sniffed and scrubbed the back of her hand over her nose. “Dad and I’ve been cleaning out a chimney, and a right mess it is. I got most of it off me.”

“If you think so, you didn’t look in a mirror.” Giving her friend a wide berth, Darcy went out.

“She’d spend all her days looking in one if she had her choice,” Shawn commented. “Are you wanting lunch, then?”

“Dad and I will have some of that stew. Smells fine.” She moved over, intending to ladle it up herself, but Shawn stepped between her and his precious stove.

“I’d just as soon do that for you, as you didn’t get off as much of that chimney as you might think.”

“All right. We’ll have some tea as well. And, ah, I need a word with you later.”

He glanced over his shoulder. “What’s wrong with now? We’re both of us here.”

“I’d rather do it when you’re not so busy. I’ll come back after the lunch shift if that suits you.”

“You know where to find me, don’t you?” He set the stew and the tea on a tray.

“I do, yes.” She took the tray from him and carried it out to the back booth where her father waited.

“Here we are, Dad. Stew hot from the pot.”

“And smelling like heaven.”

Mick O’Toole was a bantam of a man, small and spare of build with a thick thatch of wiry hair the color of sand and lively eyes that drifted like the sea between green and blue.

He had a laugh like a braying donkey, hands like a surgeon’s, and a soft spot for romantic tales.

He was the love of Brenna’s life.

“It’s good to be warm and snug now, isn’t it, Mary Brenna?”

“That it is.” She spooned up stew and blew on it carefully, though the scent of it made her want to risk a scalded tongue.

“And now that we are, and about to have our bellies filled as well, why don’t you tell me what’s worrying your mind.”

He saw everything, Brenna thought. That was sometimes a comfort, and other times a bit of a nuisance. “It’s not a worry so much. Do you know how you told us what happened when you were a young man and your grandmother died?”

“I do, yes. I was right here in Gallagher’s Pub. Of course, that was when Aidan’s father manned the bar, before he and his wife took off for America. You weren’t more than a wish in my heart and a smile in your mother’s eye. There I was, back where young Shawn is right now, in the kitchen. I was fixing the sink in there, as it had a slow and steady leak that finally made Gallagher give me a whistle.”

He paused to sample the stew, dabbing his mouth with his napkin, as his wife was fierce on table manners and had trained him accordingly.

“And as I was on the floor, I looked over and there was my grandma, wearing a flowered dress and a white apron. She smiled at me, but when I tried to speak to her, she shook her head. Then lifting a hand in a kind of farewell, she vanished. So I knew at that moment she’d passed over and that what I’d seen had been the spirit of her come to say good-bye. For I had been her favorite.”

“I don’t mean to make you sad,” Brenna murmured.

“Well.” Mick let out a breath. “She was a fine woman, and lived a good and long life. But it’s left to us still living to miss those who aren’t.”

Brenna remembered the rest of the story. How her father had left his work and run down to the little house where his grandmother, two years a widow, lived. And he found her in her kitchen, sitting at the table in her flowered dress and white apron. She’d died quiet and peaceful.

“And sometimes,” Brenna said carefully, “those who pass on miss others. This morning, in Faerie Hill Cottage, I saw Lady Gwen.”

Mick nodded, and shifted closer to listen as Brenna told him.

“Poor lass,” he said when she was finished. “It’s a long time to wait for things to come ’round for you.”

“Some of us do a lot of waiting.” Brenna glanced over as Shawn came out with a tray piled with food. “I want to speak to Shawn about this when the pub quiets down a bit. Darcy says there’s an outlet up in her rooms that isn’t working proper. I think I’ll go see to that after we’ve had our meal here, then take some time to talk to Shawn. Unless there’s something else you have for me to do today.”

“Today, tomorrow.” Mick lifted his shoulders. “What we don’t get to at one time, we’ll get to another. I’ll just take myself up to the cliff hotel and see if they’ve decided on which room they want renovated next.” He winked at his daughter. “We could have ourselves a nice piece of work there for the whole of the winter. Where it’s warm and it’s dry.”

“And where you can sneak down and check on Mary Kate in the offices where she’s fiddling with a computer all day.”

Mick grinned sheepishly. “I wouldn’t call it checking so much. But I’m grateful she decided to take a job close to home since she’s done with university. I expect she’ll find work that suits her better in Dublin or Waterford City before much longer. My chicks are all flying the coop.”

“I’m still roosting. And you’ll have Alice Mae for years yet.”

“Ah, but I miss the days when my five girls went tripping over me every time I turned around. Here’s Maureen a married woman, and Patty going for a bride come spring. Don’t know what I’ll do, darling, when you hitch yourself to a man and leave me.”

“You’re well stuck with me, Dad.” She crossed her booted feet as she finished off her stew. “Men don’t lose their heads or their hearts over women like me.”

“The right one will.”

It took all her effort not to let her gaze wander toward the kitchen. “I won’t be holding my breath. Besides, we’re partners, aren’t we, now?” She looked up and grinned at him. “So man or no man, it’s always O’Toole and O’Toole.”

Which, Brenna thought as she used Darcy’s bathroom to wash away the rest of the soot, was just the way she wanted it. She had work that pleased her, and the freedom to come and go that no woman could manage with a man attached to her.

She had her room at home as long as she wanted it. The companionship of family and friends. She’d leave the fussing with keeping a house and pleasing a husband to her sisters Maureen and Patty. Just as she’d leave office work and marking her time by a clock to Mary Kate.

All she needed to get by were her tools and her lorry.

And her wanting Shawn Gallagher brought her little but frustration and annoyance. She imagined that one day, eventually, it would pass.

Knowing Darcy well, Brenna made certain she cleaned up every spot of dirt. She left the little white sink gleaming and used her own rags to dry her hands and face rather than the frilly fingertip towels Darcy had on the rod. Which, to Brenna’s mind, were a complete waste of fabric, since no one who really needed to use them would dare.

Life would be simpler if everyone bought black towels. Then no one would shriek and curse when their fluffy white ones ended up grubby.

She spent a quiet few minutes replacing the broken outlet in the living area with the new box she’d brought along. She was just screwing on the cover when Darcy came in.

“I was hoping you’d get to that. It was irritating.” Darcy dumped her tip money in what she called her wish jar. “Oh, Aidan said to tell you that he and Jude want to have some work done in what will be the baby’s room. I’m going over to see Jude now, if you want to come along and see what she has in mind.”

“I’ve something to do first, but you can tell her I’ll come ’round in a bit.”

“Damn it, Brenna! You’ve left dirty boot prints all over the floor here.”

Brenna winced and hurried up with the screws. “Well, I’m sorry about that, Darcy, but I cleaned the sink.”

“Well, now you can clean the floor as well. I’m not scrubbing up behind you. Why the devil didn’t you use the loo in the pub? It’s Shawn’s week to clean up there.”

“I didn’t think of it. Stop bitching about it. I’ll see to it before I go, and you’re very welcome for the electrical work I’ve just done for you.”

“Thanks for that.” Darcy came back out, pulling on a leather jacket she’d splurged on as a Christmas gift for herself. “I’ll see you at Jude’s, then.”

“I suppose,” Brenna muttered, annoyed with the idea of washing the bathroom floor.

She muttered her way through the chore too, then cursed viciously when she noted she’d left little clumps of dirt and dried mud across the living room as well. Rather than risk Darcy’s wrath, she dragged out the vacuum and sucked it all up.

As a result, the pub was quiet when she came back down, and Shawn was nearly finished with the washing up.

“So, did Darcy hire you to clean her house as well?”

“I tracked mud in.” At home, she poured herself a cup of tea. “I didn’t mean to be so long. I don’t mean to keep you if you’ve something to do before you’re needed here again.”

“I’ve nothing in particular. But I want a pint. You sticking with tea?” he asked with a nod of his head.

“For the moment.”

“I’ll just draw me one. There’s a bit of pudding left if you want.”

She didn’t really, but having a weakness for such things, she dug out a few spoonfuls for a bowl. She was sitting and settled when he came back in with a pint of Harp.

“Tim Riley says the weather will be turning milder by tomorrow.”

“He always seems to know.”

“But we’re in for wet before much longer,” Shawn added and sat across from her. “So, what’s on your mind, then?”

“Well, I’ll tell you.” She’d tried out a dozen different ways in her mind, and settled on the one that seemed best. “After you’d gone off this morning, I stopped off in your parlor to check your flue.”

It was a lie, of course, and she was prepared to confess it to her priest. But she’d be damned if she’d tell him she’d been playing with his music. Her pride was worth the penance.

“It’s drawing well.”

“Aye.” She agreed and added a shrug. “But such things bear checking now and then. In any case, when I turned ’round, there she was, right in the parlor doorway.”

“There who was?”

“Lady Gwen.”

“You saw her?” Shawn set the pint down with a click of glass on wood.

“As clear as I’m seeing you now. She was standing there, sort of smiling at me in a sad way, and . . .” She didn’t want to tell him what had been said, but felt obliged. It was one thing to tell a little lie and another to deceive.

“And what?”

The rare show of impatience from him had Brenna bristling. “I’m getting to it. And then she spoke to me.”

“She spoke to you?” He pushed back from the table, paced around the kitchen, so uncharacteristically agitated that Brenna found herself gawking at him.

“What’s crawled up your arse here, Shawn?”

“I’m the one who’s living there, aren’t I? Does she show herself to me? Speak to me? No, she doesn’t. She waits until you come along to fix the oven and fiddle with the flue, then there she is.”

“Well, it’s sorry I am to have been the one preferred by your ghost, but I didn’t ask for it, did I?” Brenna heaped her spoon with pudding and filled her mouth with it.

“All right, all right, don’t get testy on me.” Scowling, he dropped back into his chair. “What did she say to you?”

Keeping her face bland, Brenna stared through him while she ate her pudding. When Shawn rolled his eyes at her, she picked up her tea and took a dainty sip. “I’m sorry, were you speaking to me? Or is there someone else about that you’ve decided to snap at through no fault of her own?”

“I’m sorry.” He flashed her a smile because it almost always worked. “Will you tell me what she said?”

“I will, since you’ve decided to ask politely. She said to me, ‘His heart’s in his song.’ I thought perhaps she meant the faerie prince, but when I was telling Ma of it, she said it meant you.”

“If she did, I don’t know what she meant by it.”

“I don’t know any more than you, but I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind me coming by now and then.”

“You already do,” he pointed out and made her squirm a little.

“If you don’t want me there, you’ve only to say so.”

“That’s not what I said, or what I meant. I’m just saying you do come ’round.”

“I thought I could come ’round when you weren’t there as well. Like today. Just to see if she’d come back. I could do a few chores for you while I was there.”

“You don’t need to find work to come by. You’re always welcome.”

It softened her, not only that he said it, but that he meant it. “I know, but I like keeping busy. So I’ll slip in from time to time since you don’t mind.”

“And you’ll tell me if you see her again?”

“You’ll be the first.” She rose to carry her bowl and mug to the sink. “Do you think . . .” She trailed off, shook her head.

“What?”

“No, it’s nothing. Foolish.”

He came up behind her, gave her neck a quick squeeze with his clever fingers. She wanted to arch and purr like a cat, but knew better. “If you can’t be foolish with a friend, who else is there?”

“Well, I was wondering if love really lasts like that, through death and time.”

“It’s the only thing that really lasts.”

“Have you ever been in love?”

“Not so it took root, and if it doesn’t, I suppose it’s not love at all.”

She let out a sigh that surprised them both. “If it takes root in one and not the other, it has to be the worst thing in the world.”

He felt a quiver in his heart that he took for sympathy. “There, Brenna darling, have you gone and fallen in love on me?”

She jerked, whirled, gaped at him. He was watching her with such—such bloody affection, such patience and sympathy, she could have beaten him black and blue. Instead, she just shoved clear of him and snatched up her toolbox. “Shawn Gallagher, you are truly a great idiot of a man.”

With her nose in the air and her tools clanking, she stalked out.

He only shook his head, then went back to his cleaning up. With that little quiver around his heart again, he wondered who it was that O’Toole had set her sights on.

Whoever, Shawn thought, slamming a cupboard door just a little too forcefully, the man had better be worthy of her.

THREE

BRENNA WASN’T IN the best of moods when she clomped into the Gallagher house. She didn’t knock— didn’t think to. She’d been breezing in and out of the old house, just as Darcy breezed in and out of the O’Tooles’, for as long as either could remember.

The house had changed here and there over the years. Hadn’t she and her father laid the new floor in the kitchen—as pretty a blue as a summer sky—not five winters back? And she herself had papered Darcy’s room with that lovely pattern of baby rosebuds the June before last.

But though there’d been a bit of fussing here and fussing there, the heart of the house remained the same. It was a welcoming place, and the walls seemed to ring with music even when no one was playing.

Now that Aidan and Jude lived there, fresh flowers were always tucked into vases and bowls and bottles, as Jude had a fondness for them. And Brenna knew Jude had plans to do more planting in the spring and had talked of having Brenna build her an arbor.

Something old-fashioned was needed, to Brenna’s mind, to suit the look of the house with its old stone and sturdy wood and carelessly sprawling lines. She had something in her head she thought would suit, and would get to it by and by.

Even as she entered the house with a scowl, the sound of Darcy’s laugh tripping down the steps had her lips twitching. Females, she thought as she headed upstairs, were so much more comfortable than men.

Most men, most of the time.

She found them in what had been Shawn’s room, though there was little left of him there save the bed and his old dresser. He’d taken the shelves that he’d had crammed with music with him to Faerie Hill, and his fiddle and bodhran drum as well.

The rug was still there, a faded old maroon. She’d sat on it countless times, pretending to be bored while he’d played some tune.

The first time she’d fallen in love, it had been with Shawn Gallagher’s music. So long ago, she thought now, she couldn’t remember the song or the time. It was more an always sort of thing. Not that she’d ever let him know that. To her way of thinking you got a body moving quicker with pokes than with strokes. Though God knew, so far neither had inspired the man to move off his butt and do a blessed thing with his tunes.

She wanted it for him, the mule of a man. Wanted him to do what he’d been destined to do and take his music to the world.

But, she reminded herself, it wasn’t her problem, and gnawing over it again in her mind wasn’t why she’d come here today.

This, she thought, pursing her lips, was Jude’s problem.

The walls were a mess, Brenna decided with a quick scan. Outlines where Shawn had hung pictures and whatnot stood out against the sun-faded paint. Dozens of nail holes pocked the walls as well, proving the man didn’t have a way with a hammer.

But she could recall that whenever his mother had a whim to deal with his room, he’d just smiled and told her not to bother. He liked it just as it was.

Brenna leaned against the doorjamb, already visualizing how to turn the neglected male space into a cheery nursery. And thinking, she let her gaze rest on her friends, who stood by the window looking out.

Darcy with her gorgeous hair falling wild and free, Jude with her deep, rich brown hair bound neatly back. They were a contrast in styles, she supposed, with Darcy bright as the sun, and Jude subtle as a moonbeam. They were about the same height, about average for a woman, Brenna mused. Which put them both a good three inches over her. Their builds were similar as well, though Darcy had more in the curve department and didn’t trouble to hide it.

They were both easily, unmistakably female.

It wasn’t something Brenna envied—of course it wasn’t. But she did wish, just now and again, that she didn’t feel like such a fool whenever she put on a skirt and girl shoes.

Since it wasn’t something she cared to dwell on, she stuck her hands in the pockets of her baggy pants and cocked her head.

“How are you going to figure out what you want done in here if you stare out the window all day?”

Jude turned, grinned so that her pretty, serious face lit up. “We’re watching Aidan on the beach with Finn.”

“The man ran out like a rabbit,” Darcy put in as Brenna strolled over, “the minute we started talking paper and paint and fabrics. Said he had to exercise the dog.”

“Well, now.” Brenna peeked out the window herself, spotted Aidan and the young dog, Finn, sitting on the beach and watching the water. “That’s a fine sight, anyway. A broad-shouldered man and a handsome dog on a winter’s beach.”

“He’s thinking deep thoughts, I’ll wager, on impending fatherhood.” Darcy shot her brother a last look of affection, then turned, hands on hips. “And it’s up to us to deal with the practicalities of the matter while he sits and philosophizes.”

Brenna gave Jude’s flat belly a friendly pat. “How’s it all going, then?”

“Fine. The doctor says we’re both healthy.”

“I heard you’re still queasy of a morning.”

Jude rolled her sea-green eyes. “Aidan fusses. You’d think I was the first woman to conceive a child since Eve. It’s just a little morning sickness. It’ll pass.”

“If it were me,” Darcy announced and flopped onto her brother’s old bed, “I’d play it up for all it was worth. Pampering, Jude Frances, you should rake in all the fussing and pampering you can manage. For when the baby comes, you’ll be too busy to remember your name. Remember when Betsy Duffy had her first, Brenna? She fell asleep every Sunday at Mass for two months running. With the second, she’d just sit there, wild-eyed and dazed, and by the time she had the third . . .”

“All right.” Jude laughed and swatted at Darcy’s feet. “I get the picture. Right now, I’m just dealing with preparing for one. Brenna . . .” She lifted her hands. “These walls.”

“Aye, they’re a sight, aren’t they? We can fix them up for you. Clean them up, patch the holes . . .” She flicked a finger over one as big as a penny. “Paint them proper.”

“I’d thought of papering, but I decided paint’s better. Something sunny and simple. Then we can hang prints. Fairy-tale prints.”

“You ought to hang your own drawings,” Brenna told her.

“Oh, I don’t draw that well.”

“Well enough to sell a book with your stories and your drawings in it,” Brenna reminded her. “I think your pictures are lovely, and it would mean more, wouldn’t it, to the baby as it grew to have something its mother had done hanging here.”

“Really?” Jude tapped a finger on her lips, the pleasure of the idea obvious in her eyes. “I suppose I could have some framed, see how they looked.”

“Candy-colored frames,” Brenna told her. “Babes like bright colors, or so Ma always says.”

“All right.” Jude took a deep breath. “Now these floors. I don’t want to cover them, but they’ll need to be sanded and revarnished.”

“That’s not a problem. Some of this trim needs to be replaced too. I can make some up to match the rest of it.”

“Perfect. Now, here’s this idea I’ve been mulling over. It’s a large room, so I thought what if we made this corner here a kind of play area.” Gesturing, Jude crossed the room. “Shelves up this wall for toys, a little table and chair that would fit right under the window.”

“We can do that. But if you were to come ’round the corner with the shelves, you’d make better use of your space, and have it more like a separate spot, if you know what I mean. And I can make them adjustable so you can change the look of them as needs be.”

“Around the corner . . .” Jude narrowed her eyes and tried to picture it. “Yes. I like that. What do you think, Darcy?”

“I think the two of you know just what’s needed here, but it’s up to me to get you into Dublin for some smartlooking maternity clothes.”

Instinctively, Jude laid a hand on her stomach. “I’m not showing yet.”

“Why wait? You’ll need them long before the baby needs shelves, and you’re already thinking of those, aren’t you? We’ll go Thursday next, when I’ve the day off.” And the portion of her pay she allotted herself for fun in her pocket. “That suit you, Brenna?”

Brenna was already taking her measuring tape out of her toolbox. “Suits me for the pair of you. I’ve too much work just now to take a day being dragged around Dublin shops and waiting while you gasp over the next pair of shoes you can’t live without.”

“You could do with a new pair of boots yourself.” Darcy skimmed her gaze down. “Those look like you wore them to march over to the west counties and back again.”

“They do fine for me. Jude, tell Shawn to find a place for his junk here, and I’ll start on this room first of next week.”

“ ’Tisn’t junk,” Shawn said from the doorway. “I spent many a happy night in that bed where Darcy’s making herself at home just now.”

“Well, junk’s what it is now,” Brenna shot back with a little sniff. “And in the way. And how many times, I’d like to know, do you have to hit a nail to put holes this size in a wall?”

“You put pictures over them, and it doesn’t matter how big the holes are.”

“Since that’s your thinking on it, if you’ve a mind to put up anything in the cottage, call someone who knows one end of a hammer from the other. You’ll want to make him swear to that, Jude,” Brenna warned, “else the cottage’ll be rubble by spring.”

“I’ll fix the damn holes meself if it’ll shut you up.” His tone was pleasant, dangerously so. And that was just enough to give Brenna’s heart a little jerk and make her cover the reaction with sarcasm.

“Oh, to be sure, you’ll fix them. Like you fixed the sink at the pub the last time it plugged up so I had to wade through an inch of water on the floor to repair the damage.”

When Darcy snickered, Shawn sent her a cool and silent look. “I’ll have what’s left of mine out by tomorrow, Jude, if that’s all right with you.”

Recognizing scraped male pride, she started to step forward quickly. “There’s no hurry, Shawn. We were just . . .” She trailed off as the room took a sick, slow spin.

Before she could stagger, Shawn darted across the room at a speed that had Brenna’s mouth falling open and scooped his sister-in-law into his arms.

“It’s nothing.” Her head already clearing, Jude patted his shoulder. “I was just dizzy for a minute, that’s all. It happens now and then.”

“You’re for bed,” he said, already striding out. “Get Aidan.” He tossed the order to Darcy over his shoulder.

“No, no, I’m fine. Shawn, don’t—”

“Get Aidan,” he repeated, but Darcy was already up and running.

Brenna stood where she was for a moment, her measuring tape in her hand. As the oldest of five, she’d seen her mother stretch right out on the floor during a dizzy spell while pregnant, so she wasn’t particularly alarmed by Jude’s behavior. What she was, was stunned by the fluid strength she’d just witnessed. Why the man had plucked Jude up as if she’d been weightless.

Where had that been hiding?

Shaking herself clear, she hurried into the master bedroom in time to see Shawn lay Jude gently on the bed and pull a throw over her.

“Shawn, this is ridiculous. I—”

“Lie down.” He jabbed a finger at her in a way that made Jude obey and Brenna goggle. “I’m calling the doctor.”

“She doesn’t need the doctor.” Brenna nearly flinched from the furious glare he aimed at her when he whirled around. But she also saw sheer male fear behind his eyes, and was touched by it. “It’s just a part of carrying, that’s all.” She moved to the bed to sit and pat Jude’s hand. “My mother used to lie right down on the kitchen floor when she had a spell, especially with Alice Mae.”

“I feel fine.”

“Of course you do. But a little rest doesn’t hurt. Why don’t you fetch our Jude some water, Shawn?”

“I think she should have the doctor.”

“Aidan’s likely to make her.” Because Jude looked so unhappy at the thought, Brenna gave her a look of quiet sympathy. “Oh, don’t take on now. Ma says that Dad did the same with her when she carried me. By the time the others came along, he was used to it. A man’s got a right to panic, after all. He doesn’t know what’s going on inside you the way you do, does he? Shawn, let’s have that water now.”

“All right, I’ll fetch it. But don’t let her get up.”

“I’m fine, really.”

“Of course you are. Your color’s back, your eyes are clear.” Brenna gave Jude’s hand another squeeze. “Do you want me to go out and head Aidan off, try to calm him down?”

“If you think—” She broke off as she heard the front door slam like a gunshot, and then footsteps rushing up the stairs. “Too late.”

Brenna got up and made it halfway across the room before Aidan came flying in. “She’s fine. Just a little expectant-mother spell. She’s—” Then she only sighed as Aidan dashed right past her.

“Are you all right? Did you faint? Did someone call the doctor?”

“We’ll leave it to her to calm him down.” Giving Darcy a little wave, Brenna nudged her out of the room and shut the door.

“Are you sure she’s all right? She looked so pale for a minute.”

“She’s fine, I promise you. And Aidan’ll likely keep her in bed the rest of the day no matter how she argues.”

“Bad enough a woman has to get fat as a cow with a baby. But add to that the hanging over the toilet every morning and fainting without a moment’s notice.” Darcy blew out a breath and ordered herself to calm down. “It’s a sorry state of affairs what a woman goes through. And you—” She stabbed a finger at Shawn as he walked down the hallway with a glass of water. “All the lot of you have to do is have your pleasure, whistle away nine months, then pass out smelly cigars.”

“It just goes to proving God’s a man,” he said with a weak smile.

Darcy’s lips quirked at that, but she shook her head. “I’m going to make Jude some tea and toast.”

She sauntered away, leaving Shawn staring at the bedroom door.

“Let’s give them a bit of privacy.” Brenna took his arm and tugged him toward the stairs.

“Shouldn’t I take her the water?”

“You drink it.” Feeling kindly toward him, Brenna reached up and touched his cheek. “You’re white as a sheet.”

“Scared ten years off my life, she did.”

“I can see that. But you acted fast and did just the right thing.” She slipped into the next room, picked up her measuring tape again. “She’s got all those changes going on inside her, and likely isn’t resting as much as she might. She’s all caught up in her plans,” she added, taking a measurement, writing it down in her little book. “So much new in her life in so short a time.”

“I guess it’s easier for women to take such matters in stride.”

“I suppose.” Brenna continued to measure and take notes. “You must remember when your mother was carrying Darcy.”

“Some.” He sipped at the water, as his throat was still dry with nerves. Brenna was calm enough, he noted, moving gracefully around the room in those thick old boots, taking measurements, writing things down, making little pencil marks and noting numbers right on the wall.

Some of her hair was falling out of her cap. Just a few long, spiraling red curls, loosened, he supposed, by her dash into the bedroom.

“What do you remember best?”

“Hmm?” He’d lost the thread somewhere, and now shifted his gaze from the red curl that teased her shoulder back to her face.

“About when your mother was pregnant with Darcy? What do you remember best?”

“Laying my head against her belly, feeling all those kicks and movements. It was like Darcy was fretting to get outside and get on with things.”

“That’s a nice one.” Brenna put her tape and notebook away, lifted her toolbox. “I’m sorry I snapped and snarled at you before. I was in a bit of a mood today.”

“You’re in a bit of a mood most days.” But he smiled and tapped the bill of her cap down over her eyes. “I’m too used to your nips to mind much.”

The problem was, she wanted to take a real nip—right there, just along his jaw. To see how it tasted. And if she tried it, she imagined he’d be the one to faint. “I won’t be able to get started in here until Monday or Tuesday, so there’s no real rush getting your things out. But . . .”

She lifted a finger, tapped it against his chest. “I meant what I said about hanging pictures at the cottage.”

He only laughed. “If I get the urge to pick up a hammer,” he began, then threw her off balance by bending down to place a quick, friendly kiss on her cheek. “I’ll be sure to call the O’Toole.”

“Aye, do that.” Irritated all over again, she started to stride out. Aidan, looking frazzled, came to the doorway.

“She’s fine. She says she’s fine. I called the doctor, and he says she’s fine. Just to rest a bit and keep her feet up.”

“Darcy’s making her some tea.”

“That’s good, that’s fine, then. Jude’s fretting some because she’d planned to take flowers to Old Maude this afternoon. I’d run them up myself, but—”

“I’ll do it,” Shawn told him. “You’ll feel better if you can stay with her a bit longer. I can drive up, have a bit of a visit with Old Maude, then be back in time for the pub.”

“I’d be grateful—am grateful,” he corrected, his face clearing a little now. “She told me how you picked her up and carted her off to bed. Made her stay there.”

“Just ask her not to go into a swoon around me again. My heart won’t take it.”

Shawn took flowers to Maude, the cheerful purple and yellow pansies that Jude had already gathered. He didn’t often come to the old cemetery. He’d lost no one truly close to him who’d been laid to rest there. But he thought since the cottage was close, he could take over the task from Jude until she was more up to the climb.

The dead were buried near the Saint Declan’s Well, where those who had made the pilgrimage to honor the ancient Irish saint had washed the travel from their hands and feet. Three stone crosses stood nearby, guarding the holy place, and perhaps, he thought, giving comfort to the living who came high on this hill to honor the dead.

The view was spectacular—Ardmore Bay stretched out like a gray swath under storm-ready skies. And the beat of the Celtic Sea, the heart that pulsed day and night, spread to the horizon. Between that drumming and the wind there was music, and birds, undaunted by winter, sang to it.

The sunlight was weak and white, the air damp and going raw. The wild grass that fought its way among the stones and cobbles was pale with winter. But he knew winter never had much of a march here, and soon enough fresh green shoots would brave their way among the old.

The cycle that such places stood for never ended. And that was another comfort.

He sat beside Maude Fitzgerald’s grave, folding his legs companionably and laying the pansies under her stone where the words “Wise Woman” were carved.

His mother had been a Fitzgerald before her marriage, so Old Maude had been a cousin of sorts. Shawn remembered her well. A small, thin woman with gray hair and eyes of a misty, far-seeing green.

And he remembered the way she’d sometimes looked at him, deep and quiet, in a manner that hadn’t made him uneasy so much as unsettled. Despite it, he’d always been drawn to her, and as a child had often sat at her feet when she’d come into the pub. He’d never tired of listening to her tell stories, and later, years later, had made songs out of some of them for himself.

“It’s Jude who sends you the flowers,” he began. “She’s resting now, as she had a bit of a spell with the baby. She’s fine, so there’s nothing to worry about. But as we wanted her to lie down for a while, I said I’d bring her flowers to you. So I hope you don’t mind.”

He fell silent a moment, letting his gaze wander. “I’m living in your cottage now that Aidan and Jude have moved into the house. That’s the Gallagher way, as I’m sure you know. And now with the baby coming, the cottage would be a wee bit small. Jude’s granny, that would be your cousin Agnes Murray, signed the cottage over to her as a wedding gift.”

He shifted to find more comfort on the ground, and his fingers began to tap on his knee in an unconscious match to the rhythm of the sea.

“I like living there, in the quiet. But I wonder that I haven’t seen Lady Gwen. Do you know she showed herself to Brenna O’Toole? You’ll remember Brenna, she’s the oldest of the O’Toole girls who live down from your cottage. She’s the redhead—well, most of the O’Toole girls are redheaded, but Brenna’s got like . . . sunfire at the edges of it. You’d think it would burn your fingers to touch it, and instead it’s just warm and soft.”

He caught himself, frowned a little, cleared his throat. “In any case, I’ve been living there near to five months now, and she hasn’t shown herself to me, not clearly. And there’s Brenna come by to fix the stove, and the lady not only shows herself but speaks to her as well.”

“Women are perverse creatures.”

Shawn’s heart gave one quick thud, as he hadn’t expected anyone to speak back to him in such a place. He looked up and saw a man with long black hair, eyes of piercing blue, and a smile wicked at the corners.

“So I’ve often thought myself,” Shawn said calmly enough, but his heart had decided one quick thud wasn’t enough and began to gallop in his chest.

“But we can’t seem to do without them, can we?” The man unfolded himself from the stone chair that crouched near the trio of crosses. His movements were graceful as he walked over grass and stone on soft leather boots, then sat on the opposite side of the grave.

The wind, the chilly snap of it, played through his hair, fluttered the short red cape tossed regally over his shoulders.

The light brightened, cleared so that everything— stones, grass, flowers—stood out in sharp relief. In the distance, entwined with the sound of sea and wind, came the dance of pipes and flutes.

“Not for any real length of time,” Shawn answered, kept his gaze level and hoped his heart rate would soon do the same.

The man laid his hand on his knees. He wore hose and a doublet of silver, both shot through with threads of gold. And on one hand was a silver ring with a brilliant blue stone. “You know who I am, don’t you, Shawn Gallagher?”

“I’ve seen pictures Jude’s drawn of you for her book. She’s clever with a sketch.”

“And well and happy now, is she? Wedded and bedded?”

“Aye, she’s all of that, Prince Carrick.”

Carrick’s eyes gleamed, both power and amusement alive in them. “Does it worry you to converse with the prince of the faeries, Gallagher?”

“Well, I’ve no desire to be taken off to a faerie raft for the next century or so, as I’ve things I prefer to do here.”

With his hands still resting on his knees, Carrick threw back his head and laughed. It was a full, rich sound. Seductive, engaging. “Some of the ladies in court would enjoy you, I’m certain, for your looks and your musical gifts. But I’ve a use for you here, on your side. And here you’ll stay, so don’t trouble yourself.”

He sobered abruptly, leaned forward. “You said Gwen spoke to Brenna O’Toole. What did she say to her?”

“Don’t you know?”

He was on his feet without seeming to move at all. “I’m not permitted in the cottage, nor past the borders of its gardens, though my home is beneath it. What did she say?”

Sympathy stirred in Shawn’s heart. The question had been more plea than command. “ ‘His heart is in his song.’ That’s what she said to Brenna.”

“I never gave her music,” Carrick said softly. He lifted an arm and with a flick of his wrist had the light blazing. “Jewels plucked from the fire of the sun. These I gave her, these I poured at her feet when I asked her to come with me. But she turned away from them, from me. From her own heart. Do you know what it is, Gallagher, to have the one you want, the only one you’ll ever want, turn from you?”

“No. I’ve never wanted like that.”

“There’s a pity for you, for you’re not alive until you do.” He lifted his other hand, and darkness fell with silver beams and sparkles. Fog, thin and damp, crawled over the ground. “Even so, even when she took another at her father’s bidding, I gathered the teardrops from the moon, and these I spilled into pearls at her feet. And still she wouldn’t have me.”

“And the jewels of the sun, the tears of the moon became flowers,” Shawn continued. “And these she tended, year after year.”

“What is time to me?” Impatience shimmering now, Carrick glared at Shawn. “A year, a century.”

“A year is a century when you’re waiting for love.”

Emotion swam into Carrick’s eyes before he closed them. “You’re clever with words as well as tunes. And you’re right.”

Once more he snapped his wrist and the sun was back, winter pale. “Still, I waited, and too long I waited, to go to her that last time. And from the sea, through the deep blue depths of it, I took its heart. And from this, hundreds of sapphires I gathered for her, and these, too, I poured at her feet. For my Gwen, all that I had and more for Gwen. But she told me she was old, and it was too late. For the first time, I saw her weep about it, weep as she told me if I’d once given her the words that were in my heart instead of jewels, instead of promises of eternities and riches, she might have been swayed to give up her world for mine, her duty for love. I didn’t believe her.”

“You were angry.” Shawn had heard the story too many times to count. When he’d been a boy, he’d often dreamed of it. The dashing faerie prince astride a white winged horse, flying to the sun, to the moon, to the sea. “Because you had loved her, and didn’t know how else to show it, how else to tell her.”

“What more can a man do?” Carrick demanded, and this time Shawn smiled.

“That I can’t tell you. But casting a spell that has you both waiting over the centuries was probably not the wisest action.”

“I’ve my pride, don’t I?” Carrick said, tossing his head. “And my temper. Three times I asked, and three times she refused. Now we wait until love meets love three times and accepts all. Flaws and virtues, sorrows and joys. You’re clever with words, Gallagher,” Carrick said, and the edgy smile was back. “I’ll be displeased if you take so long to make use of them as your brother did.”

“My brother?”

“Three times.” Carrick was on his feet now, his eyes dark and brilliantly blue. “And one is met.”

It was Shawn’s turn to rise, and his fists were bunched. “Are you speaking of Aidan and Jude? Are you telling me, you bastard, that you put a spell on them?”

Carrick’s eyes flashed, and thunder rumbled in answer. “You great fool of a man. Love spells are nothing but wives’ tales. You can’t play magic inside the heart, for it’s more powerful than any spell. Lust you can order up with a wink, desire with a smile. But love is love, and there is nothing can touch it. What your brother has with his Jude Frances is as real as the sun and the moon and the sea. You’ve my word on it.”

Slowly Shawn relaxed. “I’ll beg your pardon, then.”

“I’ll take no offense at a brother standing for a brother. If I did,” Carrick added with a thin sneer, “you’d be braying like a jackass. You’ve my word on that as well.”

“I appreciate your restraint,” Shawn began, then tensed up again. “Are you after thinking that I’ll be the second stage in the breaking of your spell? For if you are, you’re looking in the wrong direction.”

“I know where I’m looking well enough, young Gallagher. It’s you who doesn’t. But you will, soon enough. You will.” Carrick bowed gallantly. And vanished just as the skies opened and rain fell in a fury.

“Well, that’s perfect, isn’t it?” Shawn stood in the driving rain, angry and puzzled. And very late for work.

FOUR

HE WAS A man who liked to take his time with things. To mull and consider, to weigh and to measure. So that’s what he did, telling no one, for the moment, of his meeting with Carrick at the side of Old Maude’s grave.

It concerned him a bit. Oh, not the meeting with a faerie prince so much. It was in his blood to accept the existence of magic, and in his heart to appreciate it. The manner of the discussion was what worried him, and the direction it had taken.

He’d be damned if he’d find himself picking out, or being picked out by, a woman, and stumbling into love just to fall in line with Carrick’s plans and wishes.

He just wasn’t the marrying and settling-in sort, as Aidan was. He liked women, that he did. The smell of them, the shape of them, the heat of them. And there were, well, so many of them out there. All fragrant and rounded and warm.

As much as he tended to write about love, in all its delightful and painful varieties, on the personal level he preferred to skirt around its edges.

Love, the sort that grabbed the heart with both hands and took it over, was such a bloody responsibility. And life was so pleasant just as it was. He had his music and the pub, his friends and his family, and now the little cottage on the hill that was all his.

Well, except for the ghost, who didn’t appear to want his company in any case.

So he took his time, thinking it all through and going about his business. He had fish to fry and potatoes to slice and a great whopping shepherd’s pie cooking in the oven. The sounds of Saturday night were beginning to heat up in the pub beyond his kitchen door. The musicians from Galway that Aidan had booked were slipping into a ballad, and the tenor was doing a fine job singing about Ballystrand.

Since Darcy had gotten in her shopping fix with Jude in Dublin, she was in a rare mood, all smiles and cooperation. Orders she called out to him like a song, then danced back out with them when he’d finished his part. Why, they hadn’t had a hard word between them for the whole of the day.

He thought it might be a record.

When he heard the kitchen door swing open, letting in a flood of music, he slid a long slice of golden fish onto a plate. “I’ve all but got this last order done here, darling. And the pie needs only five minutes more.”

“I’d love some of it when it’s done.”

He glanced over his shoulder and beamed. “Mary Kate! I thought you were Darcy. And how are you, then, sweetheart?”

“I’m fine and well.” She let the door swing shut behind her. “And you?”

“The same.” He drained chips and arranged the orders even as he studied her.

Brenna’s younger sister had blossomed during her university years. He thought she’d be about one and twenty now, and pretty as a picture. Her hair was a sunnier, more golden red than Brenna’s, and she wore it in soft waves that fell just past her chin. Her eyes had a touch of gray over the green, and she smudged them up prettily. She wasn’t much taller than her oldest sister, but fuller at the bust and hip, and she wore a dark green Saturday-night dress to show off a very attractive figure.

“You look more than fine and well to me.” He tucked the orders under the warmer, then leaned back on the counter so they could have a little chat. “When did you manage to grow up on me? You must be flaying the lads off with sticks on a daily basis.”

She laughed, struggling to make the sound mature and female rather than the giggle that wanted to bubble out of her throat. The crush she’d developed on Shawn Gallagher was very recent, and very strong. “Oh, I’ve been too busy to do much flaying, what with working at the hotel and all.”

“You like your work there.”

“Very much. You should come ’round.” She stepped closer, trying to keep her movements both casual and seductive. “Have yourself a busman’s holiday and let me treat you to a meal there.”

“That’s a thought, isn’t it?” He gave her a wink that set her pulse skipping, then turned to open the oven and check his pie.

She moved closer. “That smells wonderful. You’ve such a hand with cooking. So many men are bumblers in the kitchen, it seems.”

“When a man, or a woman for that matter, bumbles about in the kitchen it’s usually because they know someone will come along and chase them out and deal with the matter to save the time and annoyance.”

“That’s wise.” She all but whispered it, with reverence. “But though you’re so good at it, I’ll bet you’d like to have someone fix you a meal now and then instead of always fussing with it yourself.”

“Sure and I can’t say as I’d mind it.”

When Brenna walked in the back door, the first and only thing she saw was Shawn Gallagher smiling into her sister’s dazzled eyes.

“Mary Kate.” Her voice was sharp as the tip of a whip, and at the sound of it her sister flushed and jerked back. “What are you doing?”

“I’m . . . just talking with Shawn.”

“You’ve no business being back here in the kitchen wearing your good dress and getting in Shawn’s way.”

“She’s not in the way.” Used to being scolded by his elders, Shawn gave Mary Kate a comforting pat on the cheek. And being a man, he didn’t see the dream clouds come into her eyes.

But Brenna saw them. Teeth gritted, she strode forward, took Mary Kate’s arm in an iron grip, and pulled her toward the door.

The humiliation of it whisked away the mature sophistication Mary Kate had worked so hard to display. “Let go of me, you gnat-assed bully.” Her voice spiked upward as she struggled. They very nearly plowed Darcy over when she came in while they were going out. “What’s the matter with you? You’ve no right hauling me about. I’m telling Ma.”

“Oh, fine, you go ahead.” Without breaking stride, or loosening her grip, Brenna yanked her sister into the snug at the end of the bar, then shut the door of the little private room. “You go right ahead, you lamebrain, and I’ll be sure to tell her how you were throwing yourself at Shawn Gallagher.”

“I was not.” Freed, Mary Kate sniffed, lifted her chin, and very meticulously smoothed down the sleeves of her best dress.

“You were all but biting his neck when I walked in. What’s got into you? The man’s nearly thirty, and you barely twenty. Do you know what you’re asking for when you rub your breasts up against a man that way?”

Mary Kate merely lowered her gaze to her sister’s baggy sweater. “At least I have breasts.”

It was a sore point, a very tender area, as Brenna had resented the fact that every one of her sisters, including young Alice Mae, had more bosom than she did. “That being the case, you ought to have more respect for them than to go shoving them into a man’s face.”

“I was not. And I’m not a child who needs to be lectured by the likes of you, Mary Brenna O’Toole.” She stiffened her spine, rolled back her shoulders. “I’m a grown woman now. I’ve been to university. I have a career.”

“Oh, that’s fine, then. I suppose it’s past time you jump the first man who catches your fancy and take a wild ride.”

“He’s not the first who’s caught it.” With a slow smile that made Brenna’s eyes go cold and narrow, Mary Kate tossed her hair. “But caught it he has, and there’s no reason not to let him know it. It’s my business, Brenna. And not yours.”

“Oh, you’re my business, all right. Are you still a virgin?”

The utter shock in Mary Kate’s eyes was enough to reassure Brenna that her sister hadn’t been throwing herself naked around the corridors of the university in Dublin. But before she could so much as sigh, Mary Kate’s temper lashed out. “Who the hell are you thinking you are? My romantic dealings are my business. You’re not my mother or my priest, so mind your own.”

“You are my own.”

“Just stay out of it, Brenna. I’ve a right to talk to Shawn or go out with him or anything else I choose. And if you think you’ll go running to Ma with tales on my behavior, well, we’ll just see what she thinks about how I came on you and Darcy playing poker with your holy cards.”

“That was years ago.” But Brenna felt a little panic at the thought. Her mother wouldn’t consider the years between. “Harmless girls’ foolishness. What I came in on in the kitchen isn’t harmless, Mary Kate, but it is foolish. I don’t want to see you hurt.”

“I can take care of myself.” Mary Kate gave one last toss of her head. “If you want to be jealous because I know how to attract a man instead of going about trying to be one, that’s your problem. Not mine.”

The slice came so fast and true, Brenna stood frozen, hardly realizing that she bled until Mary Kate stormed out and slammed the door behind her. Tears stung at her eyes and made her want to slide into one of the old sugan chairs and just let them come.

She wasn’t trying to be a man, she was just trying to be herself.

And she’d only wanted to protect her sister. To stop her before she did something that would hurt or embarrass her. Or worse.

It was all Shawn’s fault, she decided. The little voice inside her head that whispered differently was ignored. It was Shawn’s fault for luring her young and innocent sister into infatuation, and she was just going to deal with that right this minute.

She strode out, shaking her head as Aidan shifted to lay a hand on her arm and ask her what was the matter. When she stalked into the kitchen now, her eyes were bright. But not with tears. It was something closer to murder.

“Now, why did you go dragging Mary Kate out like that for, Brenna? We were just—”

He broke off because she’d marched up to him, the toes of her boots ramming hard against the toes of his, and her finger was drilling a hole in his chest. “You just keep your hands off my sister.”

“What on God’s green earth are you talking about?”

“You know damn well what I’m talking about, you bloody lecher. She’s barely twenty, hardly more than a girl.”

“What?” He shoved her hand away before she could stab straight into his heart. “What?”

“If you think I’m going to stand by idle while you add her to your string of ladies, then you’d best keep thinking.”

“My . . . Mary Kate?” Sheer shock came first. Then he remembered how the young girl—no, no, young woman, he corrected—had looked when she’d smiled and fluttered her pretty lashes. “Mary Kate,” he said, more thoughtfully, and with just a hint of a smile.

A hot red haze filled Brenna’s head. “You get that gleam out of your eye, Shawn Gallagher, or I swear I’ll blacken both of them.”

Because her fists were raised, he took a cautious step back and lifted his hands palms out. They were well beyond the stage where he could, in all conscience, wrestle with her. “Brenna, calm yourself down. I never touched her, never thought to. Never thought of her in the way you’re meaning until you mentioned it yourself. For Christ’s sake, I’ve known her since she was in nappies.”

“Well, she’s not in nappies now.”

“No, indeed, she’s not,” he said with perhaps an unwise hint of approval. So he supposed the fist that landed in his gut was his own fault. “Jesus, Brenna, a man can’t be faulted for appreciating.”

“You do that appreciating from a distance. If you make a move in that direction, I promise you I’ll break both your legs.”

It was rare for him to lose his temper, so he recognized that he was coming dangerously close. To solve the matter, he simply cupped his hands under her elbows and lifted her off her feet until their eyes were level. Both shock and fury fired in hers.

“Don’t you threaten me. If I had thoughts of that nature regarding Mary Kate, then I’d act on them and that would be between the two of us, and not you. Do you understand that?”

“She’s my sister,” Brenna began, then subsided when he gave her one hard shake.

“And that gives you the right to embarrass her and take punches at me when we’ve done no more than stand in my kitchen and talk? Well, I’m standing here talking to you, too, and have countless times before. Have I ripped your clothes off and had my way with you?”

He dropped her down on her feet again and stung her beyond belief by merely turning his back. “You should be ashamed where you’ve let your mind run,” he said quietly.

“I—” The tears were going to come after all. She struggled with them, swallowed viciously, then could only stare through them as Darcy came in. “I have to go,” was the best she could manage. Then she fled through the back door.

“Shawn.” Darcy dumped empties in the sink and turned to glare at him. “What the devil did you do to make Brenna cry?”

Guilt, anger, and emotions he didn’t care to explore waged an ugly war inside him. “Oh, just bugger it,” he snapped. “I’ve had enough of females for one night.”

She was mortified and full of misery. She’d upset, insulted, and embarrassed two people she cared about deeply. She’d butted in where it wasn’t her business.

No, she didn’t believe that. It was her business. Mary Kate had been flirting outrageously, and Shawn had been oblivious.

Typical.

But he wouldn’t have stayed oblivious. Her sister was beautiful, she was sweet, she was smart. And she was most definitely a young woman in full bloom.

Protecting her hadn’t been the mistake. But the method had been clumsy, and more than a little selfish. Because—and she had to face it—she’d also been a woman defending her territory.

Of which, Shawn was also oblivious.

All she could do now was mend her fences.

She’d taken a long walk on the beach. To cry it out, to think it through, to settle herself. And to ensure that when she did return home, her parents would most likely be tucked into their bed so that she could talk with Mary Kate alone.

There was a light on outside, shining over the porch, and another left burning in the front window. She left them both on, as she doubted her sister Patty would be back yet from her Saturday date.

Another wedding, she thought as she took off her jacket. More fussing and planning and cranky tears over flowers and fabric swatches.

She couldn’t for the life of her understand why a sensible person would want to go through all of that nonsense. Maureen had been a nervous wreck—and had set the entire family on its ear—before she’d finally walked down the aisle the previous autumn.

Not that she hadn’t looked lovely, Brenna thought as she hung her cap on the closet hook. All glowing and fresh in her billowy white dress and the lace veil their own mother had worn on her wedding day. Happiness had been like sunbeams, all but shining from her fingertips, and seeing that wash of love over her sister had made Brenna stop, for a short while, feeling like ten times a fool in her own fussy blue maid of honor gown.

Now if she herself ever took the plunge—and since she wanted children, what else could she do but marry eventually—simplicity would be the order of the day.

A church wedding would be fine, as she imagined her mother’s heart, and her father’s as well, would be set on that for all their daughters. But she’d be damned if she would spend months looking at dresses and searching through catalogs and discussing the pros and cons of roses over tulips or some such.

She’d wear her mother’s dress and veil, and maybe carry yellow daisies, as she had a fondness for them. And she’d walk down the aisle on her father’s arm to the sound of pipes rather than a fusty old organ. And after, they’d have a party right here at the house. A big, noisy ceili where everyone could loosen their ties and relax.

And what, she thought, shaking her head outside the door of the room that her youngest sisters, Mary Kate and Alice Mae, shared, was she doing dreaming of such things now?

She slipped into the room, stood in the candy-coated, female scent of it while her eyes adjusted, then picked her way over to the lump on the bed nearest the back window.

“Mary Kate, are you awake?”

“She is.” Alice Mae’s silhouette of a head and shoulders surrounded by a mass of wild curls popped up. “And I’m to tell you that she hates you like poison, always will until the day she departs this earth, and she’s not speaking to you.”

“Go back to sleep.”

“How can I manage that, with herself there coming in and burning my ears off with abuse of you? Did you really shove her out the kitchen at Gallagher’s, then curse at her?”

“I did not.”

“She did,” Mary Kate corrected in a stiff and formal voice. “And you’ll kindly tell her, Alice Mae, to remove her skinny ass from my bedroom.”

“She says you’re to remove—”

“I heard her, for Christ’s sake. And I’m not going.”

“Well, then, if she’s not going, I am.” Mary Kate started to get up, but found herself pinned.

At the sound of muffled curses and struggle, Alice Mae eagerly switched on her bedside lamp to watch the show. “Ah, you’ll never best her, Katie, for you fight like a girl. Did you never listen to anything she taught us?”

“Just hold still, you goose brain. How the hell can I apologize when you’re trying to bite me hand off?”

“I don’t want your flaming apology.”

“Well, you’re getting it, if I have to ram it down your throat.” Annoyed and at her wits’ end, Brenna did the simple thing. She sat on her sister.

“Brenna’s been crying.” Alice Mae, with the softest heart in Ireland, climbed out of bed to pad over to her sister. “There now.” Gently, she kissed both Brenna’s cheeks. “It can’t be as bad as all that, darling.”

“Little mother,” Brenna murmured, and nearly started crying again. Her baby sister wasn’t a baby any longer, but a slim and pretty girl on the verge of womanhood. And that, Brenna thought with a sigh, was a worry for another day. “Go back to bed, sweetheart. Your feet’ll get cold.”

“I’ll sit here.” She slid onto the bed, and plopped on Mary Kate’s legs. “And help you hold her down. If it was enough to make you cry, she should at least have the courtesy to listen to you.”

“Well, she made me cry,” Mary Kate protested.

“Yours were temper tears,” Alice Mae said primly, using one of their mother’s expressions.

“Part of mine were, too, I suppose.” With a sigh, Brenna snugged an arm around Alice Mae’s shoulders. “She had a right to be angry with me. I behaved badly. I’m so sorry, Katie, for the way I acted, and the things I said.”

“You are?”

“Truly.” Tears swam up again, into her throat, into her eyes. “I just love you.”

“I love you, too.” Mary Kate sobbed it out. “I’m sorry, too. I said awful things to you. I didn’t mean them.”

“Doesn’t matter.” She shifted so that Mary Kate could scramble up to be held. “I can’t help but worry about you,” she murmured against her sister’s hair. “I know you’re grown up, but it’s not easy to think of you that way. With Maureen and Patty it’s not so hard. Maureen’s barely ten months younger than me, and Patty came just a year after that. But with you two . . .” She opened her arms so Alice Mae could slip in as well. “I remember when each of you came along, so it’s different somehow.”

“But I wasn’t doing anything wrong.”

“I know.” Brenna closed her eyes. “You’re so pretty, Katie. And I suppose you have to test your skills. I just wish you’d test them on boys your own age.”

“I have.” With a watery laugh, Mary Kate lifted her head from Brenna’s shoulder and grinned. “I’m thinking I’m ready to move up a level.”

“Oh, Mother Mary.” Brenna closed her eyes. “Just answer me this. Do you fancy yourself in love with Shawn?”

“I don’t know.” She moved her shoulders restlessly. “I might be. It’s just that he’s so handsome, like a knight on a white charger. And he’s like a poet, so romantic and deep somehow. He looks at you, right in the eye. A lot of boys aim their eyes a bit lower, so you know they’re not thinking about you, but about the possibility of getting you out of your blouse. Have you ever noticed his hands, Brenna?”

“His hands?” Long, narrow, clever. Gorgeous.

“They’re an artist’s hands, and you just know, looking at them, how they might feel if he touched you.”

“Aye,” she said on a long breath, then caught herself. “What I mean to say is I can understand how he’d stir certain, well, juices, being as he’s pretty. I just want you to have a care, that’s all.”

“I will.”

“There, now, you’re all made up.” Alice Mae got up, kissed both of them. “Now will you go away, Brenna, so we can all get some sleep?”

Brenna didn’t sleep much, and when she did, there were dreams. Odd and jumbled dreams with moments of clarity that almost hurt the brain. A white-winged horse carrying a rider dressed in silver, with his long black hair flying away from a finely sculpted handsome face.

He flew through the night, with stars burning around him, higher and higher, toward the glowing white ball of a full moon. A moon that dripped light like tears, tears he gathered like pearls in his bag of shining silver. Pearls that he poured onto the ground at the feet of Lady Gwen as they stood outside the cottage on the faerie hill.

“These are the tears of the moon. They are my longing for you. Take them, and me.”

But she shed her own tears as she turned away from him, denied him, refused him. And the pearls glowed in the grass and the glowing became moonflowers.

And it was Brenna who picked them, by night, when their delicate white petals were open. She laid them on the little stoop by the cottage door, leaving them there for Shawn because she lacked the courage to take them inside. And to offer.

The lack of sleep and surplus of dreams left her holloweyed and broody the next day. After Mass she piddled around, taking apart the engine of the old lawn mower, changing the points and plugs on her truck, tuning it though it didn’t need tuning.

She was under her mother’s old car, changing the oil, when she saw her father’s boots.

“Your ma said I should come out here and see what’s weighing on your brain before you take it into your head to strip the engine out of this old tank.”

“I’m just seeing to some things need seeing to.”

“I see that.” He crouched down, then with a wheezy sigh, scooted under the car with her. “So you’ve nothing on your mind.”

“Maybe I do.” She worked a few moments in silence, knowing he would let her gather her thoughts. “Could I ask you something?”

“You know you can.”

“What is it a man wants?”

Mick pursed his lips, pleased to see how quick and competent his daughter’s hands were with a wrench. “Well, a good woman, steady work, a hot meal, and a pint at the end of day satisfies most.”

“It’s the first part I’m trying to figure here. What is it a man wants from a woman?”

“Oh. Well, now.” Flustered, and not a little panicked, he started to scoot out again. “I’ll get your mother.”

“You’re a man, she’s not.” Brenna caught his leg before he could escape. He was wiry, but she had a good grip. “I want, from a man’s own mind, what it is he’s looking for in a woman.”

“Ah . . . well . . . common sense,” he said a bit too cheerily. “That’s a fine trait. And patience. A man needs patience from a woman, truth be known. Time was, he wanted her to make him a nice comfortable home, but in today’s world—and as I have five daughters I have to live in today’s world—that’s more a give-and-take sort of arrangement. A helpmate.” He grabbed the word like a rope tossed over the edge of a very high cliff with a very narrow ledge that was rapidly crumbling under his feet. “A man wants a helpmate, a life’s companion.”

Brenna gave herself a little push so she could sit out beside the car. She kept her hand on his ankle, for she sensed he’d bolt if she gave him the chance. “I think we both know I’m not talking about common sense and patience and companionship.”

His face went pink, then white. “I’m not talking to you about sex, Mary Brenna, so get that idea right out of your head. I’m not having a conversation with my daughter about such a matter.”

“Why? I know you’ve had it, or I wouldn’t be here, would I?”

“Be that as it may,” he said and closed his lips.

“If I were a son instead of a daughter, we could discuss it?”

“You’re not, so we aren’t, and that’s the end of it.” Now he folded his arms as well.

Sitting as he was, he made Brenna think of an annoyed leprechaun, and she wondered if Jude had used him as a model for one of her sketches.

“And how am I to get my mind around something if it can’t be discussed?”

Since Mick didn’t give a hang about the logic of that at the moment, he simply scowled off into the distance. “If you must talk of such things, speak with your mother.”

“All right, all right, never mind, then.” She’d go at this from a different angle. Hadn’t he been the very one to teach her there was always more than one way to approach a job of work? “Tell me something else.”

“On another topic entirely?”

“You could say that.” She smiled at him, patting his leg. “I’m wondering, if there was something you wanted, had wanted for some time, what would you do about it?”

“If I’ve wanted it, why don’t I have it?”

“Because you haven’t made any real effort to get it as yet.”

“And why haven’t I?” He arched his sandy brows. “Am I slow or just stupid?”

Brenna thought it over, decided he couldn’t know he’d just insulted his firstborn. Then she nodded slowly. “Maybe a bit of both in this particular case.”

Relieved to have the conversation turn to a safe area, he gave her a fierce grin. “Then I’d stop being slow and I’d stop being stupid and I’d take good aim at what I wanted and not dawdle about. Because when an O’Toole takes aim, by Jesus, he hits his mark.”

That, she knew, was true enough. And was certainly expected. “But maybe you’re a bit nervous and not quite sure of your skill in this area.”

“Girl, if you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it. If you don’t ask, the answer’s always no. If you don’t step forward, you’re always in the same place.”

“You’re right.” She took his shoulders, transferring a little grease from her hands to his shirt as she kissed him soundly. “You’re always right, Dad, and that’s just what I needed to hear.”

“Well, that’s what a father’s for, after all.”

“Would you mind finishing up this business here?” She jerked a thumb under the car. “I don’t like to leave it half done, but there’s something I have to see to.”

“That’s not a problem.” He wiggled under the car and, delighted he’d put his daughter’s mind at ease, whistled while he worked.

FIVE

SHAWN STEEPED HIS tea until he could have danced the hornpipe on its surface, then unearthed the day-old scones left over from the pub. He had an hour before he had to be at work, and he intended to enjoy his little breakfast and read the paper that he’d picked up in the village after Mass.

The radio on the counter was playing traditional Gaelic tunes, and the kitchen hearth was crackling with fine turf fire. For him, it was a small slice of heaven.

Before long he’d be cooking for the Sunday crowds, and Darcy would be in and out of the kitchen at Gallagher’s, needling him about something or other. And this one or that would have something to say to him. He imagined Jude would slip in for an hour or two, and he’d make sure she had a good, healthy supper.

He didn’t mind any of that, not a bit. But if he didn’t grab a handful of alone time now and again, it felt as if his brain would explode. He could imagine himself living in the cottage for the rest of his life, with the badtempered black cat stretched out by the fire, wallowing in quiet morning after quiet morning.

His mind drifted along with the pipes and flutes flowing from the radio. His foot began to tap. And then the loud thud at his back door sent his heart shooting straight to his throat.

The big yellow hound grinned at him, her tongue hanging out and her massive paws pressed against the glass. Shawn shook his head, but he got up to go to the door. He never minded the O’Tooles’ Betty. She was fine company, and after a bit of a scratch and stroke she would curl up and settle into her own dreams.

Bub arched his back and hissed, but that was routine rather than true annoyance. When the patient Betty didn’t react, the cat merely turned his tail up and began to wash.

“Out and about, are you, now?” Shawn said as he let Betty in out of a brisk wind that hinted of rain. “Well, you’re welcome to share a scone and the fire, no matter what that devil there says about it.” But as he started to close the door again, he spotted Brenna.

His first reaction was a vague irritation, for here was someone who wouldn’t settle for a scratch and a stroke but would demand conversation. He kept the door open and stood between the wind and the warmth as he watched her.

A few coils of hair had come loose from her cap and were flying around, red as rubies. Her mouth was set, making him wonder if he, or someone, had done something to annoy her. Which, now that he thought of it, was such a simple matter. Still, it was a fine mouth if you took the time to look at it.

For such a small woman, she had a long stride, he noted. And a purposeful one. She was moving as if she had something to do and wanted it over and dealt with quickly. Knowing the O’Toole as he did, he had no doubt she’d let him know just what that was in the shortest of orders.

She skirted around the little patch of herbs he was thinking of expanding into a full kitchen garden. The wind had whipped color into her face, so when she lifted her head and caught his eye, her cheeks were rosy.

“Good day to you, Mary Brenna. If you’re out for a walk with your dog, it seems she’s had enough of it. She’s already sitting under my table here, and Bub’s ignoring her as if she isn’t worth his time.”

“She’s the one who wanted to walk with me.”

“Sure, and if you walked now and then instead of marching as you do, she might stay along with you longer. Come in out of the wind.” He started to move back as she stepped on the back stoop, then paused, sniffed. Smiled. “You smell of flowers and axle grease or some such thing.”

“It’s motor oil, and what’s left of the perfume Alice Mae caught me with this morning.”

“It’s quite the combination.” And very Brenna O’Toole, he thought as she strode past him. “Will you have some tea?”

“I will.” She peeled off her jacket, tossed it on a peg, then belatedly remembered her cap and removed that as well.

It always gave him a little jerk in the belly to watch all that hair spill out and down. Foolish, he thought as he moved to the pot. He knew it was up there, under that ugly cap. But each time she let it fall, it was a new surprise.

“I’ve scones.”

“No, but thanks.” She wanted to clear her throat, as it seemed coated with something thick and hot. Instead she sat at the table, casually kicked back. She’d decided as she’d walked over to ease her way into things, so to speak. “I wondered if you might want me to take a look at your car sometime this week. The last I heard it, it sounded sad.”

“I wouldn’t mind, if you’ve time.” He watched as Bub sidled over to rub against Brenna’s legs, then leap into her lap. The O’Toole was the only human person the cat had ever fancied. Shawn decided it was because they were both prickly creatures.

“Aren’t you busy at the house, doing the baby’s room for Jude?”

She stroked Bub’s head so he purred like a freight train. “I’ve time enough.”

He sat across from Brenna, and when Betty came begging, gave her half a scone. “How’s it coming, then?” And decided it was comfortable after all, sitting with her in the warm kitchen, with the animals milling about.

“Oh, it’s fine. It’s mostly just fiddling Jude wants, prettying up and the like. But in the way of women, now she’s thinking that when the one room’s fixed and polished, the others will look shabby against it. She’s thinking to spruce up the main bedroom now.”

“What’s wrong with it?”

Brenna lifted her shoulders. “Nothing I can see, but between Jude and Darcy they’ve come up with a dozen things. New paper for the walls, fresh paint for the trim, sanding the floors. Then I just mentioned how nice the view was from the front windows there, and Jude’s saying that she longs for a window seat. I said if she wanted one, it was just a matter of this and a matter of that, and before you can blink, she’s wanting me to do it.”

Absently, Brenna took the second half of the scone and nibbled on it. “I wager Dad and I will be going from room to room in that house, and top to bottom. She’s got the bit between her teeth now. Must be a nesting sort of thing.”

“Well, if it pleases her and Aidan doesn’t mind it . . .” Shawn trailed off, imagining how it would be to live in the midst of all that hammering and sawing. He’d rather be roasted over a slow fire.

“Mind it?” Brenna let out a quick snorting laugh. “He comes in during one of our discussions and just grins like a fool. The man’s besotted with her. I believe she could say, well, let’s just have Brenna turn this house around to face the other way and he’d never bat an eye.” She sighed and sipped her tea. “It’s lovely to see, really, the way they are together.”

“She was what he was waiting for.” At Brenna’s puzzled look, Shawn shook his head. “Sure he was waiting. You’d only to study on him to see it. When she walked into the pub that first night, that was it. A life change from that instant, though neither of them knew it.”

“But you did?”

“I can’t say I knew precisely, just that I knew things would change.”

Intrigued, she leaned forward. “And what are you waiting for?”

“Me?” His eyebrow quirked. “Oh, things are fine as they are for me.”

“That’s a problem with you, Shawn.” She jabbed a finger at him. “You walk the same line until it becomes a rut, and never notice, for your head’s in the clouds in any case.”

“If it’s a rut it’s mine, and I’m comfortable in it.”

“What you need to do is take charge.” She remembered her father’s words. “To move forward. If you don’t move forward you’re always in the same place.”

Eyes mild and amused, he lifted his tea. “But I like this place.”

“I’m ready for a change, for moving forward.” Her eyes narrowed as she studied him. “And I don’t mind being the one who takes charge if that’s the way it has to be.”

“And what do you have a mind to take charge of this time around?”

“You.” She sat back, ignoring his smirk as he sipped tea. “I think we should have sex.”

He choked, spilling hot tea over his hand and onto his paper as he coughed violently. She made a quick sound of annoyance and dislodged an irritated Bub to get up and thump Shawn briskly on the back. “It can’t be that horrible a thought.”

“Jesus!” was the best he could manage. “Sweet Jesus Christ!” When she plopped into her chair again, he simply goggled at her with eyes that continued to water. Finally he sucked in a breath and blew it out again. “What kind of thing is that to say?”

“It’s plain speaking.” Determined to hold back both nerves and temper, she hooked an arm over the back of her chair. “The fact is, I’ve a yen for you. I’ve had it for some time.” This time his mouth fell open, and the shock on his face teased her temper closer to the surface. “What do you think? Only men can scratch an itch when they have one?”

He didn’t, of course he didn’t. But neither did he believe that one just plopped down in someone’s kitchen and announced it. “What would your mother think, hearing you talk this way?”

Brenna inclined her head. “She’s not here, is she?”

He pushed the chair back, abruptly enough to have Betty leap to her feet. Since none of the thoughts whirling around in his head would settle, he just marched to the door. “I need air.”

For a moment Brenna sat where she was. She ordered herself to take long, slow breaths, to wait until she could be calm. To be reasonable and mature and clearheaded. Reason fought against temper for nearly ten seconds before it turned tail and deserted the field.

The nerve of the man! The bloody nerve of him. What was she, some kind of gargoyle a man couldn’t think of cozying up to? Did she have to strut around in short skirts with her face painted before Shawn Gallagher took notice? The hell with that.

She was up and out the door and striding into the wind. “You’re not interested, that’s fine. You just say so.”

She caught up with him, planted herself in front of him. He solved that problem by turning around and walking the other way.

And was a lucky man she didn’t have a weapon in her hands.

“Don’t you walk away from me, you yellow coward dog.”

He shot a look over his shoulder, his eyes a ripe, glittering blue. “You ought to be ashamed of yourself.” He looked away and kept walking.

He was mortified, right down to the bone. And God help him, he was . . . stirred as well. He refused to think of her that way. And always had. Well, if a time or two his thoughts had veered off in that direction, hadn’t he cut them off, sharp and fast? And that’s just what he was going to do now.

“Ashamed?” Her voice punched like a fist. “Who the hell are you to decide what should shame me?”

“I’m the man you just offered yourself to as easy as if you were offering me a pint and some crisps.”

She’d caught up with him again, but his words struck her, drained the color from her face. “Is that what you think? That it’s nothing more than that? Then it’s you who should be ashamed.”

He could see the hurt in her eyes, and it only added to the mass of confusion he found himself tangled in. “Brenna, you don’t just go around saying let’s have sex to a man. It’s just not right.”

“But it’s fine for a man to go around saying it to a woman?”

“No. I don’t think that either. It’s a . . . it should . . . Mother of God, I can’t have a conversation like this with you. You’re all but family.”

“Why is it the men I know can’t speak of sex as a normal human function? And I’m not family.”

It might have been cowardice, he thought, but it was also discretion. He stepped back from her. “Stay away from me.”

“If you don’t want to go to bed with me, you’ve only to say that I don’t appeal to you in that fashion.”

“I’m not thinking about you in that fashion.” He took another step back, right through the little herb bed. “You’re practically my sister.”

She bared her teeth, a sure sign of temper about to snap. “But I’m not your bloody sister, am I?”

The wind caught her hair, sent it streaming so that he wanted to take it in his hands—something he might have done a hundred other times, when it would have been a harmless gesture.

Now he was afraid nothing between them would ever be harmless again.

“No, you’re not. But I’ve thought of you—tried to think of you—that way most of my life. How do you expect me to just flip that about and . . . I can’t do it,” he said quickly when his blood began to stir again. “It’s just not right.”

“You don’t want to have sex with me, that’s your business.” She nodded coolly. “Others do.” With this she turned on her heel and started to march toward home.

“Wait a damn minute.” He could move fast when he needed to, and he had her arm before she’d taken three full strides. He whirled her around and took as firm a hold on her other arm. “If you think I’m going to let you walk off with that in your head, you’re badly mistaken. I’m not about to have you go off and throw yourself at some man because you’re mad at me.”

The flash in her eyes should have been a warning, but her voice was so calm, so cool, he missed it. “You think far too much of yourself, Shawn Gallagher. If I want to be with a man, with him I’ll be. You’ve nothing to say about it. It may come as a shock to you, but I’ve had sex before, and I like it. I’ll have it again when I please.”

She might as well have plowed the business end of a sledgehammer into his gut. “You—who . . .”

“That’s a matter of my concern,” she interrupted with a smug look in her eye. “And none of yours. Now let go of me. I’ve nothing more to say to you.”

“Well, I’ve plenty more to say to you.” But he couldn’t think of a thing, not with images of Brenna wrapped around some faceless man burning into his brain.

She tossed back her head, and her eyes burned once more into his. “Do you want to have sex with me or not?”

Truth or lie? He was suddenly certain that either answer would send him straight to hell. But he thought the lie safer. “No.”

“Then that’s the end of it.” Humiliated, furious, she shoved away. Then—perhaps it was pride, or perhaps it was just need, but she acted before she thought.

In one easy leap, she was in his arms, her legs locked around his waist, her mouth fused to his. She thought she heard Betty bark—once, twice, three times in rapid succession, almost like a laugh. She clung like a bur when Shawn staggered, then bit, not so lightly, his bottom lip. Someone moaned, she didn’t know or care who, and she poured everything she had into that fierce and hot mating of lips.

She’d caught him by surprise. That was why he didn’t shake her loose. Of course it was. It was simply an instinctive reaction to grip that wonderfully tight bottom in his hands, then to let them slide up her back and get lost in her hair.

And that quick intake of breath had been shock. It wasn’t his fault that the scent and flavor of her assaulted him and because of it, made his head spin.

He had to stop. For her sake, he had to stop this now . . . in just a moment. Sooner or later.

The wind spun around them in chilly ribbons. The sun buried itself behind clouds, shimmering out fragile light as a soft, soft rain began to fall. He all but felt the blood draining downward out of his head, leaving it empty but for the image of carrying her back inside and up the stairs so he could tumble her into bed and have more.

Then she was shoving him again, jumping down. Through the lust clouding his vision, he saw her sharp sneer. “I thought you should have a sample of what you’ve turned away.”

While he stood there, aroused beyond speech, she brushed off the sleeve of her shirt. “I’ll have a look at your car when I have a bit of time to spare. You’d best get down to the village. You’re running late for work.”

He didn’t speak when she strolled away, and was still standing in the quiet rain when she and the yellow dog disappeared over the rise.

“You’re late,” Aidan said the minute Shawn came in the kitchen door of the pub.

“Then fire me or get out of my way.”

At the unusually surly response Aidan lifted his eyebrows, watching as Shawn wrenched open the refrigerator and started pulling out eggs and milk and meat. “It’s hard to fire a man who owns as much of the business as I do myself.”

Shawn banged a pot onto the stove. “Then buy me out, why don’t you?”

When Darcy pushed into the kitchen, Aidan held up a hand, shook his head, and motioned her back. She didn’t look pleased about it, but she stepped back out again.

“What’s the matter?”

“Nothing’s the matter. I’ve things on my mind and work to do.”

“I’ve never known you not to be able to work and run your mouth at the same time.”

“I’ve nothing to say, and meat pies to make. What the hell’s with women, anyway?” he demanded, spinning away from the stove to scowl at his brother. “First it’s one thing, then it’s another, and you never know which way they’ll be coming at you next.”

“Oh, well, then.” Aidan’s concern melted into amusement. He helped himself to tea and leaned back on the counter while Shawn muttered and worked. “We could talk all day and half the night and not come close to solving that particular puzzle. ’Tis a thorny one. But it’s more pleasant to have a female causing you problems than to have no female at all, don’t you think?”

“No, not at the moment.”

Aidan only laughed. “Well, which one is it that’s causing you grief?”

“It’s no one. It’s nothing. It’s ridiculous.”

“Hmm, not saying.” Aidan sipped and considered. “Must be in the way of a serious matter, then.”

“Easy for you to smile and look smug,” Shawn tossed back with bitter annoyance. “All cozied up as you are with your Jude Frances.”

“I reckon it is.” Aidan nodded. “But it wasn’t always, and you gave me good advice when I was at my own wits’ end. Maybe you should take some time and give yourself some on this, if you don’t want to hear from me.”

“I don’t want a woman in my life just at the moment,” Shawn muttered. “And this particular one won’t do at all. Just won’t.”

He tried not to think of that wild and wicked kiss, or the way Brenna’s compact body had plastered itself to his.

“No, it won’t,” he said again, then adjusted the fire under the pot of meat filling with a sharp turn of his wrist.

“You’d know best what suits and what doesn’t. I’ll just say there comes a time when your head’s telling you one thing, and the rest of you just won’t listen. A man can be a child when it comes to a woman, wanting what he shouldn’t have and taking more than he can handle. Knowing something’s not good for you doesn’t stop you from wanting it.”

“I wouldn’t be good for her.” Calmer now, Shawn took out a bowl to make the pastry for the pies. “Even if there weren’t other factors involved, I wouldn’t be good for her. So that’s the end of it.”

With the flour and water mixed to a firm dough, he covered the bowl and stuck it into the refrigerator. “I’ll be making poundies,” he told Aidan while he creamed butter and suet for the next stage of the pastry. And I’ve some samphire that young Brian Duffy picked for me that I’ve pickled into jars, so we’ll have that tonight as well, as it goes nicely with the salmon you bought this morning. You tell Jude to come over so I can fix her a plate.”

“I will, thanks. Shawn—” He broke off as Darcy shoved through the door again, looking aggrieved.

“You ask me to come down early, then you push me back out the door. If the pair of you are going to stand in here and tell your little men’s secrets, I’m going back upstairs and do my nails, since we don’t open for nearly an hour as yet.”

“Let me pour you a cup, darling, for I’ve abused you something terrible.” Aidan gave her a little pat on the cheek, then pulled a chair out at the table with a flourish.

“Well, I’ll have a cup, but I want some biscuits with it.” She folded her hands on the table after she sat and gave her brother a challenging smile.

“Biscuits, then.” Aidan got down a tin and set it in front of her. “I need to talk to both of you, as it concerns the pub.”

“Then you’ll have to talk while I work.” Shawn retrieved the bowl from the refrigerator and began to roll out the pastry.

“Well, you were late, weren’t you?” Aidan said easily. “The man from New York, the Magee? It seems he’s interested in the idea of linking the theater he’s planning with Gallagher’s. It was my thought to lease him the land, long term, but he’s holding out to buy it outright. If we do that, we forfeit the land, and some of the control we might have.”

“How much will he pay?” Darcy asked and bit into a biscuit.

“We’ve only danced about the terms for the moment, but he’ll meet the price we set, I’m thinking. I’ll need to call Ma and Dad on this, but as the pub is in our hands now, the three of us need to decide what we want to do.”

“If he pays enough, I say sell it to him. We don’t use it for anything.”

“It’s land,” Shawn said, sending Darcy a glance as he covered the rectangle of rolled-out pastry with the mixture of suet and butter. “Our land. It’s always been ours.”

“And it’ll be money. Our money.”

“I’ve thought on both ends of that.” Aidan pursed his lips while he turned his cup of tea around and around. “If we don’t agree to sell, Magee could find himself another plot for his project. And the theater could be a benefit to the pub, if we keep some sort of handle on it. He strikes me as a sharp one, and one I’d rather deal with face-to-face than over the phone. But he says he can’t come here now, as he’s into some other business and can’t leave it until it’s done.”

“So send me to New York.” Darcy fluttered her inky lashes. “And I’ll charm him into opening his wallet wide.”

Aidan let out a quick hoot. “I don’t think charm is what works with this one. It’s a pounds-and-pence matter to him, to my thinking. I’ve a mind to ask Dad to take a trip into New York to meet with this Magee, as Dad’s as sharp as any Yank wheeler-dealer. But before we do that, what do we, we three here, want from this?”

“Profit,” Darcy said immediately and finished off a biscuit.

“That, yes, but what in the long term?”

“Reputation,” Shawn said, and Aidan looked up at him. “We’ve been working around to making Gallagher’s a center for music over the last few years. Have our name in the guidebooks, don’t we, as a place for good food and drink, and for the music we have or bring in? Haven’t you had bands calling you now, or the managers of them, inquiring about bookings?”

“Sure and we do well there,” Aidan agreed.

“If this man Magee has a mind to expand the entertainment, the music in Ardmore, and bring in more tourists, more customers, it’ll add to our reputation.”

Shawn folded the pastry into three, then sealed the ends before putting it back in the refrigerator to chill. “But it has to be done the Gallagher way, doesn’t it?”

Aidan leaned back in his chair as Shawn took potatoes from bin to sink and began to scrub them. “You’re a constant surprise to me, Shawn. Aye, the Gallagher way or no way at all. Which means traditional, understated, and Irish. We’ll have nothing flashy and foolish attached to our pub.”

“Which means you have to convince him we need to work together,” Shawn added. “As we know Ardmore and Old Parish and he doesn’t.”

“And for our input,” Aidan decided. “We’ll have a percentage of the theater. That was my thinking—and what I wanted to pass to Dad and have him work the Magee toward.”

Darcy drummed her fingers on the table. “So, we’ll sell him the land at our price or lease it long term, on the condition that we have a part in the building, the planning, and the profits of the theater.”

“Simply said.” Aidan gave her a wink. She had a cool and sharp brain for business, did Darcy. “It’s the Gallagher way.” Aidan rose from the table. “We’re agreed, then?”

“Agreed.” Darcy chose another biscuit. “Let’s see if this Magee can make us rich.”

Shawn slipped potatoes into boiling water. “Agreed. Now the pair of you get out of my kitchen.”

“Happy to.” Darcy blew Shawn a saucy kiss and sailed out, already dreaming how she’d spend the Yank’s money.

Because he considered that Aidan had it under control, Shawn didn’t give another thought to land deals and building and profits from either. He prepared the dishes he’d planned and had the kitchen warm and full of scent by the time the pub doors opened.

He kept up with the orders, fell into the easy routine, but the music that usually filled his head kept stalling on him. He’d start to play with a tune while he worked, let the notes and the rhythm go their own way. Then he’d be back in the soft rain, with Brenna wrapped around him, and the only music he heard was the hum in his own blood. And that he didn’t care for.

She was his friend, and a man had no business thinking about a friend in that manner. Even if she’d started it herself. He’d grown up teasing her as he had his own sister. Whenever he’d kissed her, and of course he had, it had always been a brotherly peck.

How the hell was he supposed to go back to that when he knew what she tasted like now? When he knew just how her mouth fit to his, and how much . . . heat there was inside that small package? And just how was he supposed to get rid of this hard, hot ball of awareness in his gut, an awareness he’d never asked for?

She wasn’t his type—no, not a bit. He liked soft women with female ways who liked to flirt and cuddle. And by God, women who let him make the moves. He was a man, wasn’t he? A man was supposed to romance a woman toward bed, not be told to jump into one because she had a—what had she called it? A yen. An itch.

He’d be damned if he’d be anyone’s itch.

He told himself he was going to steer well clear of Brenna O’Toole for the next bit of time. And that he wasn’t going to be looking around to see that ugly cap of hers or to hear her voice every time he walked from the kitchen into the pub.

Still, his eyes scanned the crowd, and his ears were pricked. But she didn’t come to Gallagher’s that Sunday evening.

He did his work, and those who sampled it walked home at closing with full bellies and satisfaction. When he’d put his kitchen to rights and headed home himself, his own belly felt empty despite the meal he’d had, and satisfaction seemed a long way off.

He tried to lose himself in his music again, and spent nearly two hours at the piano. But the notes seemed sour somehow, and the tunes jarring.

Once, as he ran his fingers over the keys, shaking his head when the chords gave him no pleasure, he felt the change in the air. The faintest shimmer of movement and sound. But when he looked up, there was nothing but his little parlor and the empty doorway leading to the hall.

“I know you’re here.” He said it softly, waited. But nothing spoke to him. “What is it you want me to know?”

As the silence dragged on, he rose to bank the fire, to listen to the whisper of the wind. Though he was sure he was too edgy to sleep, he went upstairs and prepared for bed.

Almost as soon as his head settled on the pillow, he drifted into dreams of a lovely woman standing in the garden while the moonlight silvered her pale gold hair. The wings of the white horse beat the air, then settled as hooves touched ground. The man astride it had eyes only for the woman. As he dismounted, the silver bag he carried sparkled, shot light like little sparks of flame.

At her feet he poured pearls as white and pure as the moonlight. But she turned away from him, never looked at the beauty of the gems. Behind the sweep of her nightrobe, the pearls bloomed into flowers that glimmered like ghosts in the night.

And in the night, surrounded by those moon-washed flowers, Shawn reached for the woman. The pale hair had turned to fire and the soft eyes became sharp and green as emerald. It was Brenna he drew into his arms, Brenna he surrounded with them.

In sleep, where reason and logic have no place, it was Brenna he tasted.

SIX

“HAND ME MY crooked stick, will you, darling?”

Brenna picked up her father’s level—he had affectionate names for most of his tools—and walked across the paint-splattered drop cloth to pass it to him.

The nursery was taking shape, and already in Brenna’s mind it was the baby’s room rather than Shawn’s old one. Some might not be able to see the potential of the finished project beyond the clutter of tools and sawhorses, the missing trim and the snowy shower of sawdust. The fact was, she loved the messy middle of a project every bit as much as she did the polished end of it.

She enjoyed the smells and the noises, the good, healthy sweat brought on by swinging a hammer or hefting lumber. Now as she stood back to watch her father snug the level onto the vertical length of the shelves they were building, she thought how much she liked the little pieces of work. Measuring, cutting, checking, rechecking until what you had built was the perfect mirror of what had been inside your head.

“Right on the money,” Mick said cheerfully, then propped his level in the corner. Without realizing it, they stood as a pair: hands on hips, legs comfortably spread, feet planted.

“And as it’s built by O’Toole, it’s built to last.”

“Aye, that’s the way of it.” He slapped her companionably on the shoulder. “Now there’s a good morning’s work here. How about we go down to the pub for a bit of lunch, then we’ll finish the unit this afternoon?”

“Oh, I’m not feeling hungry.” Avoiding his eyes, Brenna walked over to examine the trim they’d already made to frame the shelves. “You go ahead. I think I’ll just go on and trim this out.”

Mick scratched the back of his neck. “You’ve not been into Gallagher’s all the week.”

“Haven’t I?” She knew damn well she’d not set foot in the door since Saturday last. And she calculated she’d need another day or two before her humiliation level bottomed out enough for her to stroll in and see Shawn.

“No, you haven’t. Monday it was ‘Well, I brought something from home,’ and Tuesday it was ‘I’ll eat later.’ Then yesterday it was how you wanted to finish something up and would come down when you had— which you didn’t.” He angled his head, reminding himself she was a woman, and women had their ways.“Have you and Darcy had a fight?”

“No.” She was grateful he’d assumed that, and that she didn’t have to lie about it. “I just saw her yesterday when she dropped over here. You’d gone on to see about the Clooneys’ drainpipe.”

Keeping her voice and movements casual, she held up the trim. “I suppose I’m just anxious to see how this will all look when we’re done. And I had a big breakfast. You go on and get your lunch, Dad. If I feel peckish after a while, I’ll go downstairs and raid Jude’s kitchen.”

“As you like, then.” His daughters, bless them all, were often a puzzle to him. But for the life of him he couldn’t think of a thing that could be wrong with his Mary Brenna. So he winked at her as he pulled on his jacket. “We get this done, the least we can do is lift a pint at the end of the day.”

“Sure, and I imagine I’ll be thirsty.” And she would find some excuse to head straight home.

When he was gone, she set the trim in place with the glue gun, then pulled nail and hammer from the tool belt slung around her waist. She wouldn’t brood, that she’d promised herself. And by going about her daily business, she’d be over whatever these feelings were for Shawn soon enough.

There were plenty of things she wanted she couldn’t have. A kind and generous heart like Alice Mae, a tidy nature like Maureen, the patience of their mother. Another bloody few inches in height, she added as she dragged the stepladder over so she could secure the top of the trim.

She lived without all that, didn’t she, and managed very well. She could live without Shawn Gallagher. She could live without men altogether if it came to that.

And one day she’d build her own home with her own hands, and would live her own life her own way. She’d have a herd of nieces and nephews to spoil and no one cluttering up the place with demands and complaints.

A body couldn’t ask for more than that, could she?

She wouldn’t be lonely. Brenna fit the next piece of trim in place, precisely matching the edges. Why, she didn’t think she’d been lonely a single day of her life, so why should she start now? She had her work and her friends and her family.

Damn it, she missed the bastard something fierce.

There’d been hardly a day in her twenty-four years when she hadn’t seen him. In the pub, around the village, in his house or her own. She missed the conversations, the sniping, the look and the sound of him. Somehow she had to quash this wanting of him so they could go back to being friends.

It was her own fault, her own weakness. She could fix it. With a sigh, she rested her cheek on the smooth trim. She was good at fixing things.

The minute she heard footsteps in the hall, she jerked herself back and began to hammer busily again.

“Oh, Brenna!” Jude stepped into the doorway and glowed. “I can’t believe how much you’ve gotten done in just a few days. It’s wonderful!”

“Will be,” Brenna agreed. She climbed down from the ladder to get the next piece of trim. “Dad’s just gone off to have some lunch, but we’ll have the shelves done today. I think it’s coming along fine.”

“So’s the baby. I felt him move last night.”

“Oh, well, now.” Brenna turned away from her work. “That’s lovely, isn’t it?”

Jude’s eyes misted over. “I can’t describe it. I never thought I’d have all these feelings, or be so happy, have someone like Aidan love me.”

“Why shouldn’t you have all that and more?”

“I never felt good enough, or smart enough, or clever enough.” Resting a hand on her belly, she wandered over to run a finger down the new trim. “Looking back now, I can’t see why I felt so, well, inadequate. No one made me feel that way but myself. But you know, I think I was meant to be that way, feel that way, so that step by step my life would lead me right here.”

“Now that’s a fine and Irish way to look at things.”

“Destiny,” Jude said with a half laugh. “You know, sometimes I wake up at night, in the dark, in the quiet with Aidan sleeping beside me, and I think, here I am. Jude Frances Murray. Jude Frances Gallagher,” she corrected with a smile that brought out the dimples in her cheeks. “Living in Ireland by the sea, a married woman with a life growing inside me. A writer, with a book about to be published and another being written. And I barely recognize the woman I was in Chicago. I’m so glad she’s not me anymore.”

“She’s still part of you, or you wouldn’t appreciate who you are now, and what you have.”

Jude lifted her brows. “You’re absolutely right. Maybe you should have been the psychologist.”

“No, thanks all the same. I’d much sooner hammer at wood than at someone’s head.” Brenna set her teeth and whacked a nail. “With a few minor exceptions.”

Ah, Jude thought, just the opening she’d been hoping for. “And would my brother-in-law be at the top of that list of exceptions?”

At the question Brenna’s hand jerked, missing the mark and bashing her thumb with the hammer. “Bloody, buggering hell!”

“Oh, let me see. Is it bad?”

Brenna hissed air through her teeth as pain radiated and Jude fluttered around her. “No, it’s nothing. Clumsy, flaming idiot. My own fault.”

“You come down to the kitchen, put some ice on it.”

“It’s not much of a thing,” Brenna insisted, shaking her hand.

“Down.” Jude took her arm and pulled her toward the door. “It’s my fault. I distracted you. The least I can do is nurse it a little.”

“It’s just a bump.” But Brenna let herself be towed down the stairs and back to the kitchen.

“Sit down. I’ll get some ice.”

“Well, it won’t hurt to sit a minute.” She’d always been easy in the Gallagher kitchen. Little had changed in it since she’d been a girl, though Jude was adding her mark here and there.

The walls were cream-colored, and looked almost delicate against the dark wood that trimmed them. The windowsills were thick and wide, and Jude had set little pots of herbs along them to catch the sun. The old cabinet with its glass front and many drawers that ran along the side wall had always been white and comfortably shabby. Now Jude had painted it a pale, pale green so it looked fresh and pretty and somehow female.

The good dishes were displayed behind the glass— dishes the Gallaghers had used for holidays and special occasions. They were white with little violets edging the plates and cups.

The small hearth was of cobbled stone, and the carved fairy that Brenna had given Jude for her thirtieth birthday guarded the fire that simmered there.

It had always been a home, Brenna thought, and a fine, warm one. Now it was Jude’s.

“This room suits you,” Brenna said as Jude carefully wrapped an ice-filled cloth around Brenna’s injured thumb.

“It does, yes.” Jude beamed, not noticing that she was already picking up the rhythm of Irish speech. “I only wish I could cook.”

“You do fine.”

“It’s never going to be one of my strengths. Thank God for Shawn.” She walked to the refrigerator, hoping to keep it casual. “He sent some soup home with Aidan last night. Potato and lovage. Since you didn’t go to the pub for lunch with your father, I’ll heat some up for both of us.”

She started to refuse, but her stomach was threatening to rumble, so she gave in. “Thanks for that.”

“I made the bread.” Jude poured soup into a pan and set it on to warm. “So I won’t guarantee it.”

Brenna eyed the loaf with approval when Jude took it out of the bread drawer. “Brown soda bread, is it? I favor that. It looks lovely.”

“I think I’m getting the hang of it.”

“Why do you bother, when you’ve only to have Shawn send some over for you?”

“I like it. The process of it. Mixing and kneading and rising.” Jude set the slices she’d cut on a plate. “It’s good thinking time, too.”

“My mother always says so. But for me, I’d rather take a nice lie-me-down to do my thinking. You go to all that trouble to cook something, and . . .” Brenna snatched a slice from the plate, bit in. “Gone,” she said with a grin.

“Watching it go is one of the cook’s pleasures.” Jude went to the stove, gave her heating soup a stir. “You’ve had a fight with Shawn, and not one of your usual squabbles.”

“I don’t know that it was really a fight, but I can’t say it was usual. It’ll pass, Jude. Don’t worry yourself over it.”

“I love you. Both of you.”

“I know you do. It’s a bit of nothing, I promise.”

Saying no more, Jude got out bowls and spoons. How much, she wondered, did one friend interfere in the business of another? Where was the line? Then sighing, she decided there simply wasn’t one. “You have feelings for him.”

Brenna’s nerves jittered at the quiet tone. “Well, sure, and I have feelings for the man. We’ve been in and out of each other’s pockets all our lives. Which is only one of the many reasons he irritates me so I want to bash him with a hammer more often than not.”

She smiled when she said it, but Jude’s face remained sober. “You have feelings for him,” Jude repeated, “that have nothing to do with childhood or friendship and everything to do with being a woman attracted to a man.”

“I . . .” Brenna felt the color rush hot to her cheeks— the curse of a redhead. “Well, that’s not . . .” Lies trembled on her tongue and simply refused to fall. “Oh, hell.” She rubbed her uninjured hand over her face, then stopped abruptly, fingers spread around eyes that went suddenly wide and appalled. “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, it shows?”

Before Jude could answer, Brenna was up, pacing, knocking the heels of her hands against the sides of her head, moaning out curses. “I’ll have to move away, leave my family. I can go to the west counties. I have some people, on my mother’s side, in Galway. No, no, that’s not far enough. I’ll have to leave the country entirely. I’ll go to Chicago and stay with your granny until I get on me feet. She’ll take me in, won’t she?”

She spun back, teeth gritted once again as Jude ladled soup into bowls and chuckled. “Oh, well, now, maybe you find this a laughing matter, Jude Frances, but to me it’s dire business. I’m humiliated in front of everyone who knows me, and all because I’ve an itch for some pretty-faced, soft-brained man.”

“You’re not humiliated, and I’m sorry to laugh. But your face . . . well.” Choking back another chuckle, Jude set the soup bowls on the table, then patted Brenna’s shoulder. “Sit down, take a deep breath. You don’t have to leave the country.”

When Brenna stood her ground, Jude took the deep breath herself. “I don’t think it shows, not obviously. But I’m used to watching people, analyzing, and on top of it I think, really, that when you’re in love you’re more tuned to emotions. Something . . . I don’t know, ripples in the air when the two of you are in the same room. After a while I realized it wasn’t the usual affectionate animosity that friends and family sometimes have, but something more, well, elemental.”

Brenna waved a hand in dismissal. She’d hooked on to only one point. “It doesn’t show?”

“No, not unless you look really close. Now sit down.”

“All right, then.” She blew out a breath now as she sat, but she didn’t feel completely relieved. “If Darcy’d noticed, she’d have said something. She wouldn’t be able to resist needling at me about it. So if it’s just you and Shawn that know, I can manage that.”

“You’ve told him?”

“It seemed time I did.” Without much interest, Brenna spooned up soup. “I’ve been having these urges, so to speak, for a long time where he’s concerned. Thinking on it just recently, it seemed to me that if we just went to bed together a time or two I’d get it out of my system.”

Jude set down her own spoon with a clatter. “You asked him to go to bed with you?”

“I did, and you’d think I’d smashed him in the balls with my wrench. So that’s the end of that.”

Jude folded her hands, leaned forward. “I’m going to pry.”

Brenna’s lips twitched. “Oh, you haven’t started that yet?”

“Not nearly. What exactly did you say to him?”

“I said, plain enough, that I thought we should have sex. And what’s wrong with that?” she demanded, gesturing with her spoon. “You’d think a man would appreciate clear, honest speaking.”

“Hmmm” was all Jude could think of. “I take it Shawn didn’t appreciate it.”

“Hah. I’m like a sister to him, he says. And how I should be ashamed. Ashamed,” she repeated, firing up. “Then he tells me right out he doesn’t want me in that way. So I jumped him.”

“You . . .” Jude coughed and picked up her spoon again. She needed something to soothe the tickle in her throat. “You jumped him.”

“Aye. Planted a kiss on him that he won’t forget anytime soon. And the man didn’t exactly fight me off like his life depended on it.” She tore a slice of bread in two, shoved half in her mouth. “After I was done with that, I left him standing there, looking shell-shocked.”

“I imagine. He kissed you back?”

“Sure he kissed me back.” She tossed that off with a shrug. “Men are predictable that way. Even if a woman isn’t to their taste, they’re likely to take a sample, aren’t they?”

“Um, yes, I suppose.” Unsure of her ground, Jude went back to hmmm.

“Now I’m steering clear of him for a while,” Brenna continued, “as I can’t decide if I’m more angry or embarrassed about the matter.”

“He’s been very distracted the last few days.”

“Has he now?”

“And short-tempered.”

Brenna found her appetite coming back. “I’m delighted to hear it. I hope he suffers, the donkey’s ass.”

“If I wanted a man to suffer, I think I’d want to watch him while he did it.” Jude swallowed more soup. “But that’s just me.”

“I suppose there’s no harm in stopping by the pub after work today.” Brenna sent Jude a quick and wicked grin. “Thanks.”

“Oh, anytime.”

Brenna went through the rest of her workday whistling, her mood bright and her hands nimble. She supposed it wasn’t very charitable of her to take such pleasure in the idea of another’s unhappiness. But she was human, after all.

When she walked into Gallagher’s, she was more cheerful than she’d been in days. It was early enough to be quiet, with only a scattering of the tables occupied. Far from being worked off her feet, Darcy was standing at the bar talking to big Jack Brennan.

“You go on and sit with your friends,” she told Mick when she spotted a couple of his cronies already planted by the fire with pints. “I’ll just sit at the bar and catch up with Darcy.”

“I’ll do that, and you’ll have her bring me a pint, won’t you, darling?”

“I will.” Brenna angled left and slid onto a stool beside Jack.

“Well, now, here’s a stranger.” Aidan automatically put a pint and a glass under the taps, as he knew the preferences of his regulars. “Where is it you’ve been hiding yourself, Mary Brenna?”

“In your own home. You have a look at your baby’s room when you get there, and let me know what you think.”

“That I’ll do.”

“We left your bride sighing and sniffling over the shelves we’ve just finished.” Even as she spoke, Brenna had one eye on the kitchen door. “And how are you, Jack?”

“I’m fine and well, Brenna, and you?”

“The same. You’re not falling in love with our Darcy here, now, are you?”

He blushed like a ripe beet. Jack had a face as big as the moon and shoulders wide as County Waterford, and he never failed to color like a schoolboy when teased about women.

“I’ve more sense than that. She’d squash my heart like a bug.”

“Ah, but you’d die a happy man,” Darcy told him.

“Don’t listen to her, Jack.” Aidan worked the taps as he spoke, expertly building the Guinness. “For she’s as fickle and flighty as they come.”

“All true,” Darcy agreed with a careless and beautiful laugh. “I’m holding out for a rich man, one who’ll set me on a pedestal and strew jewels at my feet. But in the meantime . . .” She played her fingertips over Jack’s flushed face. “I enjoy the attention of big and handsome men.”

“Ah, go on and take my father his pint, before our Jack here loses all power of speech.” Brenna cocked her boot on her knee and lifted the glass Aidan passed her. “You’re safe with me, Jack darling.”

“You’re as pretty as she is.”

“Don’t be saying such things loud enough for herself to hear you, or she’ll skin us both.” Touched and amused, she kissed his cheek. And Shawn came through the door.

It would have been comical, she decided, and was a pity that no one noticed but herself the way he stopped dead in his tracks, stared, then jolted when the door swung back and slapped him in the ass.

Secretly delighted, she merely lifted her eyebrows and left her hand cozily on Jack’s broad shoulder. “Good evening to you, Shawn.”

“Brenna.” So much was going on inside him he couldn’t separate one sensation from the other. He knew one was irritation, another was discomfort. And, damn it, another altogether was straight lust that had no business being there. But the rest of it was just a mess.

She sipped her beer, watched him over the foam. “I had some of your soup at lunch today with Jude. It had a fine flavor.”

“We’ve ciste on the menu tonight; Mrs. Laury butchered some pigs this week.”

“Well, that’ll stick to your ribs, won’t it, Jack?”

“That it will. Are you staying to eat, then, Brenna?”

“No, I’m for home after my Guinness.”

“If you change your mind, you can have a meal with me. I’ve a fondness for ciste , and Shawn makes it well.”

“He’s a hand in the kitchen, isn’t he?” She smiled when she said it, but the expression in her eyes was sharp and derisive. “Do you cook at all, Jack?”

“Sausage and eggs I can manage. And I can boil a potato.” Being Jack, he took her question seriously and furrowed his brow as he thought through his culinary repertoire. “I can make a sandwich well enough when I have the fixings about, though that’s not the same as cooking when it comes to it.”

“That’ll get you by.” She gave Jack’s shoulder a friendly pat. “You and me, we’ll leave the cooking for the likes of Shawn here. Aidan, will you be needing me at all this weekend for working the pub?”

“I could use your hands on Saturday night if you can fit it in. The band we’ve booked is a popular one, and your Mary Kate let us know there’s a tour group coming into the cliff hotel for Saturday as well. I’m thinking some of them will wander into Gallagher’s.”

“I’ll come at six, then.” She drained her glass, slid off the stool. “Will you be stopping in the pub here on Saturday, Jack?”

“I will, yes. I like the band.”

“I’ll see you then.” She glanced back, noted her father was deep into talk with his friends. An hour more, she calculated, then called to him, “I’m for home, Dad. I’ll tell Ma you’ll be along by and by. Darcy, you see that the man’s up and out within the hour now, won’t you?”

“I’ll show him the door.” Darcy carted a tray full of empties to the bar. “I’ve a date Tuesday next with a Dubliner who passed through here. He’s taking me into Waterford City for dinner. Why don’t you get yourself a man and come along?”

“I might do that.”

“Better, I’ll ask the Dubliner to bring a friend.”

“All right.” Brenna didn’t have any interest in having dinner in Waterford with strangers, but it was so satisfying to plan it with Shawn listening. “I’ll just stay with you after, as I expect we’ll get in late.”

“He’s picking me up at six, prompt,” Darcy called out as Brenna started to the door. “So be here on time and looking like a female.”

Jack sighed into his beer when Brenna strode out. “She smells of sawdust,” he said more to himself than otherwise. “It’s very pleasant.”

“What are you doing sniffing at her?” Shawn demanded. Jack just blinked at him.

“What?”

“I’ll be back in a minute.” He shoved up the passthrough on the bar, let it fall with a bang that had Aidan cursing him, then rushed through the door after Brenna.

“Wait a minute. Mary Brenna? Just a damn minute.”

She paused by the door of her truck, and for one of the first times in her life felt the warm glow of pure female satisfaction stream through her. A fine feeling, she decided. A fine feeling altogether.

Schooling her face to show mild interest, she turned. “Is there a problem, then?”

“Yes, there’s a problem. What are you doing flirting with Jack Brennan that way?”

She let her eyebrows rise up under the bill of her cap. “And what business might that be of yours, I’d like to know?”

“A matter of days ago you’re asking me to make love with you, and I turn around and you’re cozying up to Jack and making plans to have dinner with some Dubliner.”

She waited one beat, then two. “And?”

“And?” Flustered and furious, he glared at her. “And it’s not right.”

She only lifted a shoulder in dismissal, then turned to open the truck door.

“It’s not right,” he repeated, grabbing her again and turning her to face him. “I’m not having it.”

“So you said, in clear terms.”

“I don’t mean that.”

“Oh, well, if you’ve decided you’d like to have sex with me after all, I’ve changed my mind.”

“I haven’t decided—” He broke off, staggered. “Changed your mind?”

“I have. Kissing you wasn’t altogether what I thought it would be. So you were right and I was wrong.” She gave him a deliberately insulting pat on the cheek. “And that’s the end of it.”

“The hell it is.” He trapped her against the truck, quickly and firmly enough to have both excitement and annoyance rising inside her. “If I want you, I’ll have you, and that’s the end of it. Meanwhile, I want you to behave yourself.”

She couldn’t speak. She was certain that if she tried she would strangle on the words. So she did the only thing she could think of. She plowed her bunched fist into his gut.

It cost him some breath, and the color that temper had brought to his face drained completely. But he held his ground. The fact that he did, that he could, when she knew she had a solid punch, sent another trickle of excitement sliding through her.

“We’ll talk about this, Brenna, in private.”

“That’s fine. I’ve plenty to say.”

Satisfied that he’d made his point, he stepped back. “You can come by the cottage in the morning.”

Seething, she climbed into the truck, slammed the door. “I could,” she told him as she started the engine, “but I won’t. I came to you once, and you spurned me. I won’t be back.”

He stepped back again, to save his toes from being run over. If she wouldn’t come to him, he thought as she drove away, he’d find another way to get her alone so they could . . . come to terms, he supposed it was.

In private.

SEVEN

A BODY WOULD think the woman had never jumped into his arms and kissed him senseless. A man could start believing himself delusional and that she’d never sat across from him at his own kitchen table and suggested they have a romp in bed.

But she had done both of those things. He knew it because every time he came within a foot of her the muscles in his belly knotted.

Shawn didn’t care for it, not a bit. No more than he cared for how easy and bloody normal she was acting as they fell into the Saturday night routine at the pub. Every time he came out of the kitchen for one reason or another, she’d shoot him that look of hers that was caught somewhere between a sneer and a smile.

It made him wonder why he’d ever enjoyed seeing that selfsame expression on her face in the past.

Brenna worked the set of taps at one end of the long chestnut bar while Aidan manned those at the other end. She talked with the customers, laughed with old Mr. Riley, who was in the habit of asking every pretty young thing to be his bride. If the musicians played a tune she was fond of, she joined in the chorus.

She did everything, Shawn noted, that she’d done on a hundred other Saturday nights when the pub was crowded and the music was fine.

It should have been a relief—he told himself it was— that the two of them appeared to be back on even and familiar ground again.

It irritated the living hell out of him.

She wore jeans and a baggy sweater. He’d probably seen that same sweater on her twenty times or more. So why was it that it had never made him think of the trim little body under it until now? The kind of body that was quick and agile and strong, with breasts small and firm as peaches just before they ripen.

Distracted, he burned his fingers on the hot oil as he scooped out chips, and cursed himself for thinking, even for a minute, of sliding his hands up and over that body, those breasts.

That had been her plan, he decided. The devious witch. She’d planted the seed in his brain, stirred up his loins, as he was only a man, after all, and now she could torment him just by being in the same vicinity.

Well, two could play this game.

Rather than waiting for Darcy to pick up the orders, he carried them out himself. Just to show Brenna O’Toole that she didn’t trouble him in the least.

The perverse creature didn’t even glance his way as he swung into the pub and wound his way through the crowd to the tables. No, just to annoy him, he was sure, she pulled taps and continued a conversation with a couple of tourists as if they were all the best of mates and this was their Saturday night reunion.

She wore her hair down, tied back with a bit of black ribbon. In the muted light it burned like fire.

He wished he could keep his mind off her hair. He wished he had his hands in it.

“Hello, Shawn.” Mary Kate caught up with him just as he was serving the Clooney family their basket of chips. She angled as close as she dared, hoping he would like the new scent she was trying out. “Busy tonight.”

“The music’s lively. I think we’ve the whole of your tour group here.”

“They’re having a wonderful time of it.” She pitched her voice over the music, struggling to keep it sexy as the band kicked into a rousing rendition of “Maloney Wants a Drink.” “But I’d rather hear you play.”

He flashed her a grin as he tucked the empty tray under his arm. “You can hear that for free anytime you like. These Galway lads have a spark to them.” He glanced toward the front booth, admired the way the fiddler handled his bow. “Are you here with your family, then?”

Mary Kate’s ego took a nosedive. Why did he always think of her as one of the O’Toole girls? She was a grown woman now. “No, I’m not with anyone.” It wasn’t a lie, she assured herself. She may have come in with her parents and Alice Mae, but she wasn’t with them.

“That’s fine playing,” he murmured, forgetting her in his pleasure with the music. “Quick and clever and bright. It’s no wonder they’ve made a name for themselves. The tenor’s the strongest voice, but he knows how to blend in without overpowering his bandmates.”

He wondered what they would do with one of his own ballads and was brought back to the moment only when Mary Kate touched his arm. “You could make a name for yourself, too.” Her eyes were full of dreams when they met his. “A bigger one. A brighter one.”

He avoided answering, or thinking too deeply on the possibilities by giving her a light kiss on the cheek. “You’re a darling girl, Mary Kate. I’d best be back to the kitchen.”

He’d no more than let the door swing shut behind him when it burst open again and Brenna charged through. “I told you to stay away from my sister.”

“What?”

She planted herself in the stance he knew very well signaled a fight. “Didn’t I stand here a week ago and tell you what the situation was as regards my Mary Kate?”

She had, of course. And, Shawn admitted as he shoved a hand through his hair, he hadn’t given it another thought. “I just had a conversation with her, Brenna, nothing more than that. It was as harmless as tickling a baby.”

“She’s not a baby, and you kissed her.”

“Oh, Jesus Christ on the Cross, I’d kiss my own mother in the same fashion.”

“The Germans are hungry,” Darcy said brightly as she carted in a tray loaded with empty plates and bowls.“They’re after three servings of your stew and two of the fish. You’d think the lot of them hadn’t eaten since they left their homeland.”

Dumping the dishes, she measured the weight in the pocket of her apron with a drum of her fingers. “But, bless them, they tip often and they tip well, and only once did one of them give my bum a pat.”

When she started to deal with the dishes, Brenna took a steadying breath. “Darcy, would you mind seeing to those later? I need a word with Shawn, in private.”

Darcy glanced around, lifted an eyebrow. She could see it now, the tension running in waves from one to the other. As far as she was concerned, the two of them weren’t happy unless they were spatting. But this seemed . . . different. “Is something the matter?”

“The O’Toole thinks I’ve designs on Mary Kate and is warning me off.” He wrenched open the refrigerator to take out the fish he needed. But not before he saw Brenna flinch.

“I don’t.” Because she spoke without heat, without her usual bite, Shawn looked back at her. “But she’s designs on you.”

“Well, she’s a crush on him, to be sure,” Darcy confirmed. “Not that he’d ever notice.”

“All I did was talk to her.” Uncomfortable with two pairs of female eyes staring at him with both pity and disgust, Shawn turned on the fire to heat the oil. “Next time I’ll just give her a shove out of my way and keep going. Will that do for you?”

Darcy sighed. “You’re such a knucklehead, aren’t you, Shawn?” She gave Brenna’s arm a quick, supportive squeeze, then left them alone.

“I’m sorry I came barreling in and snapped at you.” Apologies came rarely off Brenna’s tongue, and had that much more impact because of it. “Everything’s so new for Mary Kate just now, with university behind her and her just getting her feet wet in her career. She looks at Maureen, all flushed with being newly married, and our Patty so excited about her own wedding coming this spring. And she . . .”

Helpless, she fluttered her hands. She was so bad at words when they mattered most. “She thinks she’s all grown up, you see, and ready for everything in her life to begin. Inside, her heart’s still a girl’s and romantic with it. And it’s tender, Shawn. You could bruise it.”

“I won’t.”

“You’d never mean to.” She smiled now, but it didn’t reach up into her eyes as it usually did. “You don’t have it in you.”

“I’d rather you were mad at me than sad. I don’t like seeing you unhappy. Brenna . . .” But when he reached out to touch her hair, she shook her head and backed away.

“No, now you’ll say something kind and sweet, and I’m too much in the mood for it. We’ve both work to do.”

“I think about you in a way I didn’t,” he said, his voice soft and quiet as she turned to go. “And I think about you often.”

She felt her heart shiver, and took a breath to steady herself. “Well, it’s a fine time you pick to bring up the subject. But then, you’ve never had the gift of timing except for your music.”

“I think about you often,” he repeated. He walked toward her, pleased when her eyes went wary.

“What are you about?” She was flustered, and she was never flustered by a man. Certainly not by Shawn. She could handle him, of course. She always had, always would. But she couldn’t seem to make her legs move.

Now wasn’t this interesting? he mused as he closed in. She looked nervous, and color was rising in her cheeks. “I never used to think about doing this.” He slid a long-fingered hand around to cup the back of her neck, eased her a step closer, all the while watching her eyes. “Now I’m thinking about it all the time.”

He played his mouth over hers. A teasing, whispering, devastating slide of lips.

She should have known he would kiss like this if he set his mind to it. Slow, soft, sexy, so a woman could barely keep a thought in her head. The hand at her neck squeezed and released, squeezed and released, and sent pulses dancing. Warmth washed into her, filling her throat, her breasts, her belly, loosening her knees until she felt herself begin to sway into him, into the seductive rhythm of her own pulse that he set with no more than his mouth.

She trembled. He absorbed the first glorious sensation of having Brenna O’Toole tremble against him. Then immediately wanted to feel it again.

But he gave way when she braced a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

“You took me by surprise when you kissed me last week,” he told her while her eyes gradually cleared. “I seem to have done the same to you now.”

Pull yourself together, girl, she ordered herself. This wasn’t the way to handle the man. “Then we’re in the way of being even.”

His eyes narrowed in speculation. “So is it a contest then, Brenna?”

More at ease with the faint irritation in his voice than she’d been with the smooth, seductive tone, she nodded. “I’ve always thought of it so. But, in the fortunate way of sexual matters, we can both win. I’ve customers to serve.”

Her lips still tingled from his as she walked out of the kitchen.

“Maybe we’ll both win,” he murmured, “but I don’t think I’ll be playing this your way, Brenna, my darling.”

Pleased with himself, he went back to his stove to make the German tourists happy.

The sun decided to shine on Sunday, and the sky was clear and blue. The smudge of gray far away to the east told him the storm hovering over England would likely put in an appearance by nightfall. But for now it was a fine, fresh day for walking the hills.

He thought if he happened to wander over to the O’Tooles’ he’d get himself invited in for some tea and biscuits. And he’d enjoy seeing how Brenna would react to having him sitting in her kitchen after what had passed between them the night before.

He thought he understood what was in her head. She was a woman who liked to get things done—her way. Step by step and at a smart pace. For some reason she’d set her sights on him, and he was starting to like the idea. Quite a little bit, if it came to that.

But he had his own way of getting things done. One step might not follow the other in such a straight line, and he preferred a meandering pace. After all, marching head-on you missed the little things that happened all around you.

He was one for treasuring the little things. Like the clear call of the magpie, or the shine of the sun on a particular blade of grass. And there, the way the cliffs stood strong against the incessant beat of the sea.

He could wander for hours, and did when he forgot himself. He was well aware that most people thought he got nothing done during his dreaming time, and they smiled indulgently. But in truth he got everything done. The thinking, the restoring, the watching.

And because he was watching, he didn’t see Mary Kate until she hailed him and ran in his direction.

“It’s a fine day for walking.” To be on the safe side, he tucked his hands into his pockets.

“Warmer than it’s been in days.” She smoothed her hair in case her little dash had mussed it. “I was just thinking I might walk down to your cottage, then here you are.”

“My cottage?” She’d changed out of her Sunday dress, he noted, but she wore what looked to be a new sweater, and she had on earrings, scent, fresh lipstick. All the little lures women use.

He was suddenly sure that Brenna had been right about the situation. And it terrified him.

“I was hoping to take you up on what you said last night.”

“Last night?”

“About how I could listen to your music anytime. I love hearing you play your tunes.”

“Ah . . . I was just coming over to your own house, to speak with Brenna about a matter.”

“She’s not home.” Deciding he needed a little encouragement, Mary Kate slid her arm through his. “Something needed to be fixed at Maureen’s, so off she went, and Ma and Patty with her.”

“A word with your father, then—”

“He’s not at home either. He took Alice Mae down to the beach to look for shells. But you’re welcome to come.”

Knowing it was bold, she let her hand run up and down his arm as they walked. The feel of muscle—a man’s arm, not a boy’s—had her pulse dancing. “I’ll be happy to fix you some tea, and a bite to eat.”

“That’s kind of you.” He was a dead man. He caught sight of the O’Toole house as they topped the hill. Though thin smoke plumed from the chimney, it had the general air of being empty.

Brenna’s lorry wasn’t parked in the street. The dog was nowhere to be seen. Apparently even Betty had deserted him in his hour of need.

The only choice left was a quick and cowardly retreat.

“What was I thinking?” He stopped short and clapped a hand to his forehead. “I’m supposed to be helping Aidan . . . at the house. Slipped my mind.” As quickly as he could manage, he untangled his arm, gently nudging her hand away, as he might a puppy who was inclined to nip. Down, girl. “Things are always slipping my mind, so I don’t suppose he’ll be surprised that I’m late.”

“Well, but if you’re already late . . .” She leaned toward him, nearly into him, in a gesture that even a distracted coward such as himself recognized as an invitation.

“He’ll be looking for me.” This time he patted her on the head, as he might a child, and saw from the pout beginning to form that she’d taken it as he’d meant it. “I’ll stop in for tea sometime soon. Give my best to your family, now, won’t you?”

He was twenty strides away before he let out a relieved breath. And what, he wondered, was this with the O’Toole girls all of a sudden? Now instead of a quiet walk, perhaps a cup of tea in a friendly kitchen, and a little time alone in the cottage working on his music, he was honor-bound to go into the village and find something to do at Aidan’s.

“What are you doing here?” Aidan asked him.

“It’s a long and complicated story.” Shawn glanced around cautiously as he stepped inside. “Is Jude at home?”

“She’s upstairs with Darcy. Our sister’s having some trouble deciding what to wear to drive this Dubliner she’s seeing crazy.”

“That should be keeping them busy for a while. Good. I’ve had enough of women lately,” he explained when Aidan looked at him questioningly. “Now there’s the handsome dog.” He bent down to give Finn’s head a scratch. “Growing into his feet, this one is, and fast.”

“He is that, and good-natured with it, aren’t you, lad?”

Finn turned adoring eyes on Aidan, and his tail swished with such enthusiasm that it drummed from Shawn’s knees to the table by the door. “He grows much more, he’ll be knocking lamps off the table with that whip of his. Can you spare a beer?”

“I can spare two, one for each of us. Women,” Aidan continued as they made their way into the kitchen, “as we were on the subject, are always going to be giving you grief of one sort or another. It’s that pretty face of yours.”

Amused, Shawn sat at the table while Aidan got two bottles of Harp and opened them. He laid a hand absentmindedly on Finn’s head when the dog bumped under it. “You did fair in the lady department yourself, as I recall. And you’re not nearly so pretty as I am.”

“But I’m smarter.” With a grin, Aidan passed his brother the bottle. “I held out for the best of them.”

“I can’t argue with that.” After tapping his bottle to Aidan’s, Shawn took a long, appreciative swallow. “Well, then, it wasn’t to talk about women that I came by, but to get away from them for a time.”

“If you’ve a mind to discuss business, I’ve some of that.” He got down a tin of crisps, set it between them before he sat. “I had a call from Dad this morning. He and Ma send their love. He was going to ring you as well.”

“I was out walking. I suppose I missed them.”

“Well, the immediate news is he’s off to New York next week to meet with the Magee.” Since his dog was looking at him hopefully, and Jude wasn’t around to disapprove, he tossed Finn a crisp. “He wants a feel for the man before we go any further on this deal.”

“No one sizes a man up quicker and more true than Dad.”

“Aye. And in the meantime, Magee is sending his man here, to do some sizing up of his own. His name is Finkle, and he’ll be staying at the cliff hotel. Dad and I agree we won’t discuss hard monetary terms with Finkle until we’ve got a better handle on this Magee.”

“You and Dad would know best about such matters. But . . .”

“But?”

“It seems to me that one of the handles we’re looking to grip would be what we’ll make out of the deal. In pounds, yes, but also in how this project of Magee’s will enhance the pub.”

“That’s a fact.”

“So the trick would be,” Shawn said after a contemplative sip of beer, “how to gain information without giving so much of it in return.”

“Dad’ll be working on that in New York.”

“Which doesn’t stop us from working on it here.” As easy a mark as Aidan, Shawn fed Finn another crisp. “What we have in our happy little family, Aidan, is the businessman”—Shawn tipped his beer toward his brother—“that would be you.”

“So it would.”

“And,” Shawn aimed a finger at the ceiling, “upstairs we have two lovely women. One, gracious and charming, has a shyness of manner that masks, to those who don’t look close enough, a clever brain. The other, flirtatious and beautiful, has a habit of wrapping men around her finger before they realize she has a steel spine.”

Aidan nodded slowly. “Go on.”

“Then there’s me, the brother who doesn’t have a brain cell working in his head for business. The affable one, who pays no attention to money matters.”

“Well, you’re an affable enough sort, Shawn, but you’ve as good a head for business as I do.”

“No, that I don’t, but I’ve enough of one to get by. Enough of one to know it’ll be you Finkle concentrates on.” He gestured absently toward Aidan with his beer as he thought it through. “And while he’s doing that, the rest of us can surround him and poke in, so to speak, in our own fashions. I think by the time the deed is done, we’ll know what we need to know. Then you make your deal, Aidan. And Gallagher’s will be the finest public house in the country, the place they speak of when they speak of Irish hospitality and music.”

Aidan sat back, his eyes dark and sober. “Is that what you want, Shawn?”

“It’s what you want.”

“That’s not what I’m asking you.” Before Shawn could lift the bottle again, Aidan gripped his wrist, held it firm enough that Shawn cocked his head in question. “Is it what you want?”

“Gallagher’s is ours,” Shawn said simply. “It should be the best.”

After a moment, Aidan released him, then restless, rose. “I never figured you for staying.”

“Where would I go? Why would I?”

“I always thought there’d come a day when you’d figure out what you wanted from your music, then you’d go to get it.”

“I have what I want from my music.” As the crisps were no longer coming his way, Finn settled under the table at Shawn’s feet. “It pleasures me.”

“Why have you never tried to sell it? Why have you never taken yourself off to Dublin or London or New York to play in the pubs there so it can be heard?”

“It’s not ready to sell.” It was an excuse, but all he had. The rest, at least, could be plain truth. “And I’ve no yearning to go to Dublin or London or New York, Aidan, or anywhere to sing for supper. This is my place. It’s where my heart is.”

He settled back, absently rubbing Finn’s side with his foot. “I’ve no wanderer’s thirst inside me like you had, or like Darcy and Ma and Dad. I want to see what I know when I wake in the morning, and hear sounds I’m familiar with. It centers me, you see,” he went on while Aidan studied him, “to know the names of the faces around me, and to be home no matter where I look.”

“You’re the best of us,” Aidan said quietly and made Shawn laugh with both surprise and embarrassment.

“Well, now, there’s a statement for the ages.”

“You are. You’ve the heart that draws in the land here, and the sea and the air and holds it with respect and with love. I couldn’t do that until I’d gone off to see all I could see. And when I left, Shawn, I’m telling you I didn’t think I’d be back. Not to stay.”

“But that’s what you did, what you’ve done.”

“Because I came to realize what you’ve always known. This is our place in the world. By rights, if we went by heart instead of birth order, you’d head the pub.”

“And run it into the ground within a year. Thanks, but no.”

“You wouldn’t, though. I haven’t always given you the credit you deserve.”

Shawn turned the Harp over in his hand, eyed it thoughtfully, and sent the dog at his feet a wink. “Just how many of these bottles did the man drink down before I got here, Finn, my lad?”

“I haven’t been drinking. I want you to understand my feelings and thoughts before things change on us again. And they will change if we make this deal.”

“They’ll change, but we’ll be the ones guiding the direction of it.”

“It’ll take more of your time.”

He’d thought of that, and what use he would make of the time it took. “I’ve time to spare.”

“And Darcy’s—she won’t be pleased with that.”

“No.” Shawn let out a breath. “But she’ll be pleased enough with the baubles and trinkets she can buy with the profits. And she’ll stand for Gallagher’s, Aidan.” Shawn met his brother’s eyes. “You can give her credit for that.”

“At least till she bags that rich husband.”

“After she does, and she deigns to visit with those of us who remain peasants, you could still ask her to put on an apron and pick up a tray.”

“And have her bash me head in with it.” But Aidan nodded, understanding. “Aye, she’d lend her hand if the need was there, I know it.”

“Don’t take this weight all on yourself—the deal and the worry and the work of it,” Shawn told him. “There’s three of us—well, four now that we’ve our Jude Frances. Gallagher’s is family. We’ll do well with this business, Aidan. I’ve a good feeling about it.”

“It’s good you came by. I’m clearer in my head than I was.”

“Well, then, that should be worth one more beer before I—” Shawn broke off as he heard voices, light and female. “Oh, blessed Mary, there’s the women. I’m off. I’ll use the back door.”

“Next time, I’ll get you drunk and pry out what’s got you so spooked over women.”

“If I don’t figure out what to do about it in the next little while, I’ll tell you.” With this, Shawn escaped out the back door.

EIGHT

THE TUNE WALTZING its way through Shawn’s head put him in the best of moods. While the smoke from his pots and pans drifted up, and the oil he was heating began to sizzle, he let it play through, bar to bar, then a key change for a bit of drama. The words weren’t clear to him yet, but they would come. It seemed to him a summer song, full of light. And the thinking of it, the listening to it inside his head, chased the winter gloom away.

The shared beer and conversation in Aidan’s kitchen the day before had settled him down. Which was just where Shawn preferred to be.

At the moment he couldn’t understand why he’d gotten so nervy about matters. Little Mary Kate was just going through one of those phases girls went through, and it would pass as quickly as it had reared up. He’d gone through phases himself, hadn’t he? He could remember clearly mooning and sighing over pretty Colleen Brennan when he’d been about eighteen. Fortunately, he’d never worked up the courage to do anything but moon and sigh, as pretty Colleen Brennan had been two and twenty at the time and engaged to marry Tim Riley.

He’d gotten over it in a matter of weeks, then had sighed over another pretty face. That was the way of things, after all. Eventually, of course, he’d done more than sigh and had discovered the rare wonder of having a woman naked under him. And that was a fine thing.

Still, he took care whom he touched and how he touched, so that when the time was over each could walk away happy with the experience. He wasn’t a man to take the act of love as a casual matter. Which he supposed, was why he hadn’t participated in that rare wonder for some months now.

And that, he imagined, was most likely why the O’Toole had set his glands to stirring.

Not that he was at all certain, as yet, if he intended to do anything about it. No, Brenna was a puzzle, and one he thought it might be best to leave unsolved. A little time, he decided, a little care, and the two of them would be back on their old familiar ground, if they could just let things be.

His mind would be quiet again, and life would slide along the way it was meant to.

All he had to do was forget how stimulating it was to have his mouth on hers.

He checked on the crubeens he was boiling with cabbage and jacketed potatoes. He added a bit more marjoram to the broth to flavor it up, a trick he’d learned by experimentation.

He particularly liked to present the dish when there were Yanks in the pub. Their varying reactions to being served pigs’ trotters was always an amusement to him. Jude was doing the waitressing tonight, and he didn’t think she’d disappoint him.

Meanwhile, he had fish to fry for the two hikers from Wexford. He slid the haddock into the oil, then glanced up as the back door opened.

Instantly his spine stiffened, his eyes narrowed, and a prickly ball bounced around in his gut.

“Smells good,” Brenna said easily and sniffed the air. “Would that be crubeens you’re doing there? I doubt we’ll have such fare in Waterford City.”

She was wearing paint, and sparkly things at her ears. And for God’s sake a dress—one that didn’t leave the matter of curves to a man’s imagination and showed a great deal of slim, well muscled leg.

“What are you doing, done up like that?”

“Having dinner with Darcy and her Dubliners.” She’d rather, much rather pull up a chair at the table, snag a portion and tuck into the crubeens, but she’d given her word. And that was that.

“You’re going out with a man you’ve never laid eyes on.”

“Darcy has, and I’d best go up and drag her away from her mirror or she’ll primp another hour and I’ll never get my dinner.”

“Just a damn minute.”

His tone alone would have stopped her, it was very sharp and un-Shawnlike. But even before she could turn back, he had her arm. “Well, what’s lit into you, then?”

“Perfume, too,” he said in disgust, as he got a good, heady whiff of her scent. “I should’ve known it. Well, you can just turn straight around and go back home. I’m not having you go off dressed like this.”

Temper would have snapped out, would have bitten him on the neck, but it couldn’t get through the thick wall of shock. “You’re not having it? Dressed like what?”

“I’m not, no. And you know very well dressed like what. It’s surprised I am that your mother let you out of the house this way.”

“I’m twenty-four, if you’ve forgotten. My mother stopped approving my choice of attire some years ago. And it’s surely no business of yours what I’m wearing.”

“I’m making it my business. Now go home and wash that stuff off your face.”

“I’ll do nothing of the sort.” The fact was, she’d used the lipstick and so forth only because she knew Darcy would have slathered twice as much on her if she’d shown up without it. But there was no reason to mention that, especially since that temper was busily gnawing through the shock.

“Fine, then, I’ll do for you here and now.” He hauled her up under one arm, ignoring her shrieked curse and the fist that swiped at his temple, and carted her toward the sink. He had a vision through the black haze of his fury of dumping her in headfirst and turning the water on full and ice cold.

He had his hand on the tap when Jude rushed in. “Shawn!”

The stunned and somehow maternal tone stopped him, but barely.

“What in the world are you doing? Put Brenna down this minute!”

“I’m doing what needs to be done. Look how she’s flaunted herself up, Jude, and all to go out with some strange man. ’Tisn’t right.”

Between curses, Brenna managed to turn her head and try for a good chomp out of his torso, but she only got a mouthful of flannel. She threatened to do something so particularly vile and vicious to his manhood that Shawn cautiously tightened his grip.

Well, well, Jude thought and struggled not to be amused. “Put her down,” she said quietly. “You should be ashamed of yourself.”

“ I should? She might as well be naked as wearing this dress, and I should be ashamed?”

“Brenna looks lovely.” Seeing no other choice, Jude walked up to him, carefully avoiding Brenna’s kicking feet and snagged him by the ear. “Put her down.”

“Ouch! Bloody hell.” The last woman to pinch his ear in such a manner had been his own mother—and he’d been every bit as unable to defend himself. “I’m only looking out for her. All right, leave off,” he said when Jude ruthlessly twisted.

He dumped Brenna back on her feet, then took the deep breath of the aggrieved. “You don’t understand the situation,” he began, then staggered when Brenna snatched up a pan and rapped it smartly over his head.

“Bastard. I’m not your dog in the manger, and don’t you forget it.”

He gripped the edge of the sink and watched triple Brennas march to the back stairs. “She coshed me.”

“You deserved it.” But Jude took him gently by the hand. “You should sit down. It’s lucky for you she didn’t grab the cast iron, or you’d be flat on your back.”

“I don’t want her going out with some Dubliner.” Dizzy, he let Jude nudge him into a chair. “I don’t want her going ’round looking that way.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t.”

Patient, and more sympathetic than she let him know, Jude ran her fingers delicately through his hair. “You don’t always get what you want. It didn’t break the skin, but you’re going to have a bump, a good one.” Jude tipped his face up to hers, and touched by the stubborn and miserable look in his eyes, kissed him lightly. “I never realized you had such a hard head. If you don’t want Brenna going out with someone else, why haven’t you asked her to go out with you?”

He shifted in his chair. “It’s not that way.”

This time she cupped his cheek. “Isn’t it?” Leaving him stewing over that, she walked over to turn off the fish that was already burned beyond redemption.

“I don’t want it to be that way.”

Her mouth tipped up at the corners. Keeping her back to him for now, Jude got out fresh portions of fish. “I’ll have to repeat, you don’t always get what you want.”

“I do.” He got to his feet, gave himself a moment for the room to settle. “I’m careful about what I want.”

“So was I once. Wanting more’s what got me here.”

“Well, I’m already where I want to be, so I can afford to be careful.”

Still holding the fish, she gave him a bland stare. “Hard head, indeed.”

“And that’s the way I like it as well. No, don’t trouble yourself there, I’ll do it.” He shoved the entire pan aside, and got out another to heat fresh oil. “Ask Aidan to serve the hikers another pint on me, with apologies for the delay in the meal, would you, darling?”

“All right.” She started out, then turned back. This family business was still so new. “Shawn, maybe you do like where you are, maybe it’s the right spot for you. But there are times when you have to make certain. Take a step forward or take one back. You’re not being fair to Brenna or to yourself by running in place.”

“Is that the psychologist talking?” He glanced back in time to see her wince, then lower her eyes. “I didn’t mean that in a hard way, Jude. And you’re right. I just haven’t figured which direction to take.” Brooding over it, he coated the fish. “The fact is, she gave me a push. I don’t care to be pushed. It makes me want to dig in my heels.”

“I can understand that, just as I can understand Brenna’s the type who needs to move things along. One way or the other.”

“Aye.” Scowling, he touched fingers cautiously to the bump on his head. “One way or the other.”

“If you can stand one more piece of advice, make yourself busy in the storeroom when you hear Brenna coming back down the steps.”

“You’re a wise woman.”

“It’s going well, isn’t it?” Darcy powdered her nose in the ladies’ room of the restaurant and slid her gaze to Brenna’s in the mirror.

“The food’s very good.”

“Well, that, yes, but I mean the whole of it. It’s so nice to be out with a man of some sophistication for a change. Matthew lived in Paris for an entire year,” Darcy went on, speaking of her date. “He speaks the language like a native. I think I’ll have him come up with the idea of taking me there for a weekend before much longer.”

Despite herself, Brenna had to laugh. “Oh, you’ll let him think he thought of it.”

“Naturally. Men prefer it that way. And Daniel’s very taken with you.”

“He’s pleasant enough.” Knowing Darcy would be ages yet before she deemed herself freshened up enough to go back to the table, Brenna took out her lipstick. Well, Mary Kate’s lipstick, copped from the bathroom, if the truth be known.

“He’s marvelous-looking and wealthy as sin. Why don’t we let them take us both to Paris?”

“I don’t have the time to go off to France, nor the inclination to pay for the journey in the way a man would expect.”

“We’ve nothing but time.” Darcy fluffed at her hair. “And a clever woman doesn’t pay, in any form, unless she wants to. I’m not after sleeping with Matthew.”

“I thought you liked him.”

“I do, yes. He just doesn’t give me a tug that way. But that could change,” she added cheerfully.

Lips pursed, Brenna studied the lipstick as she wound the tube up and down. “Have you ever wanted to sleep with a man who didn’t want to sleep with you?”

“I’ve never known a man who wouldn’t pull down his zipper at the least provocation. It’s the way they’re made, so you can’t blame them.”

“But there would be some, under certain circumstances, who just wouldn’t find a particular woman attractive in that way.”

“I suppose there are exceptions to every rule. But you’ve not to worry.” She gave Brenna a supportive pat on the shoulder. “Daniel finds you very attractive. I’m sure he’d be glad to sleep with you if you wanted.”

Heaving a breath, Brenna dropped the lipstick back in her bag. “Well, then, what a relief.”

She had a wonderful time. The best time she’d ever had in her life. A civilized meal in a civilized place with civilized people.

She’d been bored half to death but wasn’t ready to admit it.

With that block in place, she’d given Daniel her number and promised herself she’d go out with him again should he ring her to ask. He’d been polite and amusing, she reminded herself as she drove home from the pub, where she’d been let off after the date. He’d pretended to be interested in her work and had actually made the effort to find something they had in common. Which had turned out to be old American films, the noir type.

He had an extensive collection of them on video and had made casual mention of her coming up to Dublin, where they could have their own little film festival.

It might be something she’d enjoy. Just as she’d enjoyed the good-night kiss. He hadn’t been overly familiar with it, he hadn’t let his hands roam where they shouldn’t so early in an acquaintance.

A perfectly nice individual.

And damn Shawn Gallagher for ruining her palate for the taste of another man.

She slowed, then stopped as she came to his cottage, letting her lorry idle on the road while the fragile fog swam around it.

Oh, he was in there, all right, the snake in the grass. See there, the parlor light was on. He was likely playing at his music. If he’d had a window open, it would have drifted out into the night so she could hear it.

She wished she could.

Because knowing that made her feel soft, she deepened her scowl. She was tempted, sorely, to whip the truck into his street, march right in the door to give him a piece of her mind and the back of her hand.

But that would put too much importance on his earlier behavior. She’d rather shun him. The bastard.

What kind of man was it who could kiss you one night as if he’d happily spend eternity with his lips on yours, then behave like a furious father the next?

Wash her face indeed.

She sniffed, started to turn back in the seat to take the wheel when the movement in the upper window stopped her. For a moment she was terrified, mortified, that Shawn was there, looking out while she stared at his cottage.

But the embarrassed flush never had the chance to heat her cheeks as she saw the figure of a woman and the shine of pale hair in the delicate moonlight.

So now Brenna sighed, and rolling down her window, crossed her arms there and rested her chin on them.

How many nights, she wondered, had poor Lady Gwen stood there in that window, alone and lonely and heartbroken? All because of a man.

“Why do we bother with them, Gwen? Why do we let them get into our heads this way? When you push all the rest aside, they’re so bloody irritating.”

His heart’s in his song. Brenna heard the words as if they were whispered directly into her ear. And so are you. Listen.

She squeezed her eyes tight, as something frightening was trying to swell and shift in her head. “No, no, I’m done with that, and with him. I’m not giving more of my thoughts and more of my time to Shawn. He’s had enough of them, and for too long already.”

Almost violently, she shoved the truck back into gear and drove home.

He knew she was working alone because he’d checked. Mick O’Toole was seeing to some business up at the cliff hotel, and Jude was running some errands.

He could hear her banging away at something as he climbed the steps. Which meant, he realized, the woman was armed. It was a risk he’d have to take.

He’d spent most of the night thinking the situation over—which was becoming too much of a habit and costing him a great deal of sleep. He’d come to the conclusion that Jude was right. It was time to move one way or the other. He imagined the conversation to come would determine which direction he headed.

The banging, he noted, was from inside the baby’s closet. Following impulse, a rare thing for him, he closed the door, locked it, and pocketed the key. That, at least, would keep her from walking out on him until he’d finished.

Braced for the explosion he was sure he was inviting, he walked toward the closet.

“Jude? Back so soon? Well, have a look at these shelves here and see if they’re to your liking.” From the third step on her ladder, she looked over her shoulder and saw Shawn in the doorway.

He waited, but rather than blistering him with her tongue, she just looked through him, then turned back to work.

That, he thought, was a very dire sign indeed.

“I want to talk to you,” he began.

“I’m working. I’ve no time for chatting.”

“I need to talk to you.” He stepped in, laid a hand on her hip. It took a great deal of courage not to spring back when she stared down on him and took a fresh grip on her hammer. “Would you put that down?”

“No.”

He might have had courage, but he also had brains. In a quick move, he yanked the hammer out of her hand. “I’ve a knot the size of a fucking golf ball on my head. I’m not after a second one. I just want a few words with you, Brenna.”

“I’ve nothing to say to you, Shawn, and as I value the friendship we’ve had all our lives, I’ll ask you to leave me be for now.”

Dire indeed, he thought as a tongue of panic licked the inside of his throat. “I want to apologize to you.” She shifted on the ladder again, gave him her back and pulled out her measuring tape.

The woman brought out the worst in him, was all Shawn could think as he gripped her by the hips and lifted her down from the ladder. She came around swinging, and though he’d expected no less, he didn’t dodge the blow. Not after he’d caught the sheen of tears in her eyes.

“I’m sorry.” Panic was more than a sly lick now. It simply coated his throat. “Don’t cry. I can’t stand it.”

“I’m not crying.” She’d let the tears burn her eyes out of her head before she let a single one fall in his presence. “I asked you to leave me be. Since you won’t, I’ll leave you.”

She strode to the door, wrenched at the knob, then simply gaped in shock. “You locked the door!” She whirled back. “Have you lost your mind?”

“I know you—so I knew you wouldn’t listen. Now you have to.”

He saw her slide a look toward her toolbox, imagined she was thinking of the nice weapon supply inside. However sincere his apology, he wasn’t prepared to have holes hacked out of him, so he stepped over to put himself between Brenna and temptation.

“You say our friendship matters to you. It matters to me as well. It matters a great deal to me. You matter to me, Brenna.”

“Is that why you treated me like some tramp last night?”

Her voice broke, alarming him, so he bore down. “I suppose it was, yes. It’s not a regular thing, after all, for me to see you looking that way.”

Frustration had her throwing up her hands. “ What way?”

“Lovely.” He saw her eyes go round in shock, and took advantage of the moment to step a little closer. “You looked so polished up and female.”

“I am female, for God’s sake.”

“I know it, but you don’t usually trouble to make it an issue.”

“Why should it be?” she demanded. It was a sore point, and one she hated probing. “Just because I know how to hammer a nail or fix a pipe, I’m not allowed to be a woman as well? Wearing a dress and some lipstick makes me a tramp?”

“No, it makes me a fool for letting you think I meant that. Clumsy, foolish, and spiteful. And I’m sorry for it.”

When she said nothing, he stuck his hands in his pockets, pulled them out again. Best, he told himself, to get it all out and over. “The truth of it is, I was thinking of you, thinking about things when you walked in, looking the way you did and about to go off with another man. I was jealous. I didn’t realize it at the time, didn’t want to admit it later after my mind had cleared a bit. I’ve never been jealous before. I can’t say I cared for it.”

She’d calmed down enough to begin to speculate. And consider. “I didn’t like it much myself.”

“I told myself you’d done it—put on that dress and left your hair all falling down and made your mouth slick and wet to stir me up.”

Yes, she considered. And she nodded. “Sure I might’ve, if I’d thought of it. My mind just doesn’t work in those clever ways.”

“No, you’re a straightforward woman. I know it.” He stopped, angled his head. For every step he took she took one in evasion. “Why is it, Brenna, that when I come toward you now, you back away? Aren’t you the one who started it all?”

“Aye, I did, but I’ve had time to reconsider. Just keep your distance, will you, while I’m mulling it over,” she demanded when she caught the dark male amusement in his eyes. Not an expression to settle a woman’s nerves. “We’ve been friends a long time, and I don’t want to lose that part of my life. If we’d acted when I first mentioned sex, if you’d just grinned and said, ‘Well, Brenna, what a fine idea, let’s go up to bed,’ it would’ve been fine all around. We’d have enjoyed ourselves, kept it simple, and parted friends as always. But now it’s stopped being an impulsive sort of thing and it’s complicated.”

He solved the problem of keeping her still by reaching out, planting his palm on the wall just above her head. Before she could shift, he planted the other and caged her in. “You’ve a habit of acting on impulse, and I’m one for pondering over things. You move fast and I move slow.”

Her blood was beginning to hum. But pride kept her in place now, as sure as his arms. “Jesus, Shawn, a glacier moves with more speed than you.”

“But I get where I’m going just the same, don’t I? I’m thinking, Brenna, that weighing impulse and consideration, speed and caution, we can still meet somewhere in the middle of things.”

“It’s too . . . sticky now.”

“Your heart’s pounding,” he murmured as he eased closer. “I can almost hear it.” Watching her, he laid his hand between her breasts. Awareness snapped into her eyes, breath trembled between her lips, then drew in, soft and sharp when he let his fingers spread. “Now I can feel it. I’ve wanted to touch you.”

Her knees wanted to buckle. “You’d never have thought of it if I hadn’t mentioned it.”

“Sure and I can’t say I mind it being your idea, as I’m thinking of it now.” He lowered his head to nip lightly at her bottom lip. “And I’m finding it hard to think of much else. When I came up here today . . .” He shifted his head so his lips skimmed up along her jaw. “I thought I’d apologize, make things as right as I could between us. Then I was nearly sure, very nearly sure that I’d take a step back and leave it that way. But now I want to touch you.” He toyed delicately with the nipple that strained against her shirt. “I want to taste you.”

And finally, finally covered her mouth with his.

She gripped his hips, fingers digging in as she let her tongue dance with his, let her lips heat with his. She wanted faster, hotter, harder. She thought she might die from the gentle and glorious warmth.

“Wait.” Something was breaking loose inside her. A vital something that needed to stay firmly in place. “Wait. You think I need all the fancy work.” She turned her head, but that only meant his teeth found her ear.

Oh, Jesus, the man had the most magical of mouths.

“I don’t need it.” Her breath was coming hard and fast and making her dizzy. “Or seductions.”

“I do.” He tilted his head so he could nibble down her throat.

“If you’ve decided—and it appears to me you have— that we should have sex after all, we’ll take an hour now and go to your cottage.”

His chuckle was muffled against her skin, skin that was soft as sun-warmed silk. “Somewhere in the middle, Brenna. I want you.” He felt her shiver as his mouth found hers again. “But I’ve a mind to drive us both a bit crazy before I have you naked and under me.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s more enjoyable that way. Do you like it when I do this?” She drew in her breath in three short gasps when he feathered his fingers just under her shirt so the backs of them rubbed the curve of her breast. “I see you do. Your eyes are blurry.”

“I’m half blind. The hell with the cottage, we’ll just finish this right here.”

But when she locked her arms around his neck, he laughed and swung her in a circle. “Oh, no, we won’t. I won’t short myself or you of the pleasure.”

“It doesn’t seem like middle ground from where I’m standing. It’s leaning heavily toward your way of things.”

“Maybe, but you’ll thank me for it when we’re done.”

“So like a man,” she said when he set her on her feet. “Always thinking you know what’s best and how it all should be done.”

His teeth flashed. “Brenna, darling, if I wasn’t a man we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

She blew out a breath, settled her cap more firmly on her head. “Well, you’re right about that, aren’t you?”

“You told me you had an itch, well, I’ll scratch it for you, in my own time and my own way. That’s fair.”

She looked at him, nodded. “Frustrating, but fair.”

“And wherever we stand now or after, we walk away friends at the end of it. As much as I want you, I won’t touch you if we don’t take a vow here to walk away friends.”

How could she help but care for him, Brenna wondered, when he was the kind of man who would think of that? And would mean it. “Friends now, during, and after.” She offered her hand on it. “I’ll promise that to you.”

“And I to you.” He took her hand, held it. Then, just to see her reaction, brought it to his lips to nuzzle.

Her mouth fell open, delighting him into a rolling laugh.

“Mary Brenna, I believe you’re in for a few surprises along the way.”

“Maybe.” She tugged her hand free, put it behind her back, where it continued to tingle. “But I’m not without a few tricks of my own.”

“I’ll count on that.” Plucking the key from his pocket, he turned toward the door. “Why don’t you come down tonight and I’ll fix you supper, and I can show you some . . . surprises in the storeroom.”

“In the storeroom?” Before she could laugh, a thought took root. “Just how many women, might I ask, have you surprised in the storeroom?”

“ Mauverneen. ” He winked at her before he strolled out. “I’m not a man who counts.”

NINE

“MAGEE’S MAN FINKLE’S here.” Darcy hissed it as she scurried into the kitchen.

Shawn glanced up from the trio of bookmaker’s sandwiches he was making. “Is he now?”

“Big as life.” Out of habit, she checked her face and hair in the little mirror she’d hung beside the door. “ Aidan’s pulling him a pint of lager and chatting him up at the bar, though the Finkle looks to be all business.”

Knowing his sister’s skills, Shawn gestured with his knife. “Give me him in a hundred words or less.”

Darcy narrowed her eyes, tapped a finger to her lips. “Middle fifties and balding. Sensitive about it, as he does a comb-over. A prosperous belly that tells me he likes his food. Married, but not above casting an eye. An indoor man. A company man used to taking orders and giving them on down the line. Frugal, as Mary Kate tells me he bargained fierce on the room rate even though it’s on his expense account. Urban through and through and a bit of a dandy. I could pluck my eyebrows in the shine off his shoes.”

“Well done.” Shawn’s eyes glittered with anticipation. “You won’t have any trouble charming him, will you?”

With the smuggest of smiles, Darcy examined her nails. “Shooting fish in a barrel.”

“I’m not talking about leading him into temptation, Darcy, just making him stumble around the far edges of it.”

“Give me some credit. I said he was married. I’m not a homewrecker.”

“Sorry. It was the look in your eye. It’s a terror you are to mankind.”

She took a tube out of her tip pocket and freshened her lipstick, with her eye on Shawn’s in the mirror. “Mankind loves terrors like me.”

“I can’t argue with you there, as I’ve seen too many of the fallen. I’ll help you serve the sandwiches here, so the Finkle can get a look at the harmless brother.”

In harmony with him, Darcy helped Shawn load the tray. “He’s impatient, I’d say, to get a look at things, eye the land, talk his deal.”

“He’s in Ireland now,” Shawn said easily. “Rushing isn’t the Gallagher way.”

He put the orders together and got some bowls of crisps for the bar. “I wasn’t daydreaming,” he said to Darcy’s back, lifting his voice slightly as they passed through the kitchen door into the pub. “I was thinking.”

Following his lead, Darcy sighed. “You can’t put orders together in good time if your head’s in the clouds. Try staying on the ground with the rest of us now and again.”

Adopting a sulky expression, Shawn began to set bowls out on the bar.

“Shawn, come meet Mr. Finkle from New York City.” Shawn let his face clear and moved down the bar in Aidan’s direction, leaned on it to offer a friendly smile at the man with thinning hair and vaguely irritated black eyes.

“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Finkle. We’ve cousins in New York City, and friends as well. They say it’s a fast and busy place, with something doing every minute of every day. Aidan, you’ve been to New York City. Is that how you remember it as well?”

Because he had to swallow a chuckle, Aidan merely nodded. Shawn had thickened his accent, just enough to add atmosphere and a touch of country bumpkin.

“Aidan’s one for traveling. Sure, and it runs in the family, it does. But as for me, I’m one for staying where he’s planted.”

“Yes, well,” Finkle began, obviously prepared to dismiss Shawn and get back to important matters.

“So, have you come on holiday to Ardmore, Mr. Finkle? Sure, and it’s a fine spot for it. Quiet now, so you’re lucky,” Shawn went on. “By end of May, they’ll come swarming to the beaches since we’ve such fine ones, and then they pack into the pub so I can barely keep up with the orders. A body can get a bit of a rest in the winter at least.”

“I’m here on business.” Finkle spoke precisely, and the hard edge to his consonants Shawn recognized as native New Yorker. “For Magee Enterprise.”

At Shawn’s convincingly blank look, Aidan shook his head. “Shawn, I told you about the possibility of doing a deal with Mr. Magee. His theater?”

“Well, now, I never thought you were serious.” Shawn scratched his head. “A cinema in Ardmore?”

“Not a movie theater,” Finkle said with obvious impatience. “One for live entertainment.”

“I think it’s a wonderful idea.” Darcy sidled up to the bar, beamed approval at Finkle. “Just brilliant. You must come to the pub tonight, Mr. Finkle, so you can have a sample of the kind of local talent we could offer your theater.”

“What about the man from London?” Shawn sent baffled looks to Darcy, then Aidan. “The restaurant man?”

“We’ll talk about that later.” Aidan gave Shawn a small and very obvious nudge. “That’s not important.”

Finkle’s shoulders straightened, his eyebrows lowered. “Are you speaking with another investor, Mr. Gallagher?”

“It’s not a serious matter. Not at all. Why don’t I show you the land we’ll be discussing? Sure, you’ll want a look at it, won’t you? You’re not after buying a pig in a poke. Shawn, you man the bar here, there’s a lad.” Hastily, Aidan flipped up the pass-through. “We’ll have a walk about the place, Mr. Finkle, and see what’s what.”

“Please do come back, won’t you?” Darcy called out and had the satisfaction of seeing Finkle flush a little as he glanced back her way. “I’d love to sing for you.”

She waited until they were safely out and away. “The man from London,” she said, snickering. “That was inspired.”

“Just came to me. And I’ll wager a pound to a pence that the minute he gets back to a phone he’s ringing Magee in New York to tell him we’re playing two lines.”

“It could backfire, you know, Shawn, and have this Magee looking elsewhere.”

“Or it could pay off.” He reached over to tug her hair, surprised at how much fun he’d had playing the game. “Life’s a gamble, isn’t it?”

He looked up as Brenna and her father came in for their lunch hour. “And that’s half the fun of living. A good day to you, Mr. O’Toole,” he said when Mick strolled to the bar. “Mary Brenna. And what can we do for you?”

“I’ve a thirst, Shawn.” Mick sent Darcy a wink.

“We can help you there.” Knowing his man’s preferences, Shawn slid a pint glass under the tap and began the process of building a Guinness. “And for you, Brenna?”

“I’m more interested in that soup I see on your menu.” She nodded toward the daily board. “But there’s no hurry.”

“None at all,” Mick confirmed as he slid onto a stool. “We’re all but finished at your brother’s house this morning. My Brenna here will tidy it up by day’s end, then we’ll be back to renovating rooms at the hotel. Sure, and I’ll miss coming in here for your cooking, Shawn. Not that the hotel doesn’t serve a good meal, but no one has your touch.”

“Will you have some soup today, and a sandwich as well, Mr. O’Toole?” Darcy slipped behind the bar to pour the tea she assumed Brenna wanted. “A man works as hard as you, he needs his fuel.”

“Well, I will at that, Darcy darling. You’ll make some fortunate man the best of wives one day, as you’ll know how to tend to him.”

With a quick and wicked laugh, Darcy slid the tea across to Brenna. “I’m looking for one who’ll tend to me—and lavishly. Speaking of it, has Daniel rung you up, Brenna?”

“Daniel?” She caught Shawn’s raised brow and fought not to squirm. “He did, yes.”

“That’s fine, that. Matthew said he would. That’s a fine-looking and well-set-up young man has his eye on your daughter, Mr. O’Toole.”

“And why shouldn’t he? She’s a pretty thing.”

“All right, Dad.”

“Well, you are, and what’s wrong with saying so?” The slap on the shoulder he gave her was one most men would have given a son. “A man’d be fortunate indeed to snap up a lass like my Brenna, as she’s fair of face and a good worker too. A bit of a temper, maybe, but that only adds the spice. A man doesn’t go looking for a bland sort of woman, does he, Shawn?”

Shawn laid the next level of Guinness in the glass. “That would depend on the man.”

“Well, a smart one doesn’t, for he’d be bored brainless within a year. Not that I’m in a rush to see my Brenna here off and married. My chicks are leaving the nest quick enough now, with Maureen already wed and Patty looking to be a bride in a few months.” He sighed. “I don’t know what I’ll do without my Brenna when the time comes.”

“You won’t have to do without me, time or not. We’re partners. I’ll just go back and get the soup, since you’re shorthanded here.”

It was as good an excuse as any to get out of the spotlight and away from uncomfortable topics. She was behind the bar and through the kitchen door as quickly as she could manage without letting on she was in a hurry. When the door was behind her, she rolled her eyes heavenward and blew out a breath.

Her father was getting powerfully sentimental lately, and while she found it touching most times, this wasn’t one of them. She got down bowls and tried not to wince when she heard the door open again. She didn’t have to turn to know it was Shawn.

“I can get this. You’re busy.”

“And Darcy can man the bar as well as me—or anyone. Besides, your father wants a sandwich. You don’t build as well with bread and meat as you do with wood and nails.”

Because he wanted to, and because he knew it would fluster her, he came up behind, took her hips in his hands and bent down to nip at the back of her neck.

Heat flashed straight down to her toes. “What are you about? You’re to be working.”

“You’re work enough.” He turned her, then slid his hands up her sides.

“I’ve only time to get a bite to eat. I have to get back to the house and finish up.”

“I’ll feed you soon enough.” With his hands hooked under her arms, he boosted her onto the counter. “You feed me first. I’ve an appetite for you.”

She started to protest, though her heart wouldn’t have been in it, but then his mouth was nibbling on hers. “Someone could come in,” she managed, but her hands were already in his hair.

“And why would that bother you? Just put your mind to this for a minute.” He framed her face, tilted his head. And took her under.

He’d promised to drive her crazy, and she was forced to admit he was a man of his word. For days he’d kept her on a shaky sexual edge that was both frustrating and wonderful. It was never more than a kiss, long and slow and deep or fast and hard and hot. The bare, teasing brush of hand or fingertips. The quiet look that could send her pulse scrambling without a word spoken.

An appetite for her, he’d said. It must have been true, as he was sampling and savoring and consuming her in lazy, lingering bites. When she began to tremble he only made a sound of satisfied approval.

“Shawn.” The man made her light in the head and wild in the belly. “I can’t go on like this much longer.”

“I can.” He was dreaming in her. “I could go on like this for years.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.”

He chuckled, then drew back, pleased by the clouds of desire in her eyes. “What did you say to this Daniel?”

“Daniel who?”

His grin flashed, and her mind cleared. Swearing, she gave him a shove and jumped off the counter. “Damn you, Shawn, that’s what this was about. Just softening me up and fogging up my brain so I’d boost your ego a notch.”

“That was just a side benefit.” He got out the makings for a sandwich. “But the fact is, Brenna, I’ve an interest in knowing if you’re going out with the Dubliner again just now.”

“I ought to, just to slap at you.” She jammed her hands in her pockets. “That’s what Darcy would do.”

“Ah, but you’re not Darcy, are you, darling?”

“No, I’m not, and I haven’t the talent or the energy to juggle men like apples. I told the Dubliner I was seeing someone.”

Shawn glanced over, met her eyes. “Thanks for that.”

“What I’d like to know is when I’m going to be sleeping with someone.”

He added the spiced mustard he knew Mick O’Toole favored, and kept his brows lifted. “In all the years I’ve known you, never did I realize you had such an obsession with sex.”

“I wouldn’t be obsessed with sex if I was having sex.”

“Well, now, how can you be sure of that, as you’ve never had it with me?”

She wanted to pull her hair, decided to laugh instead. “Christ Jesus, Shawn, you’re enough to drive a woman to drink.”

“Go out and have Darcy pull you a pint on me,” he began, then his head came up again as he heard the sound of voices through the back door. “No, wait. Follow along here.”

“Follow what?”

“Ladle the soup.” He gave a wag of his hand toward the bowls. “And just follow along.”

The back door opened, and Aidan stepped back to let Finkle go through. “The kitchen’s Shawn’s territory, as you can see. We’ve added this and that as he’s felt a need for it. Oh, hello, Brenna. This is our friend and occasional employee, Brenna O’Toole. Brenna, Mr.Finkle from New York.”

“Pleased to meet you.” Clueless, Brenna put on a company smile and ladled the soup.

“Mr. Finkle’s here about adding a restaurant to the pub,” Shawn began.

“A theater,” Aidan said in a tone so sharp that Brenna nearly bobbled the bowl in surprise. “The theater, Shawn. You’re confused again.”

“Oh, aye, the theater. Sure and I can’t keep business dealings straight in my mind for five minutes at a run.”

“But you make a lovely soup.” Brenna gave him an encouraging look, one she might have sent to a slightly slow twelve-year-old. And hoped that was what he’d had in mind. “Would you care for a bowl of it now, Mr. Finkle, or have you eaten already?”

“No, I haven’t.” The kitchen smelled like someone’s devoted grandmother’s kitchen, and it had his mouth watering. “It’s very aromatic.”

“And tastes better, I can promise you. What kind of theater are you thinking of?”

“A small, tasteful entertainment arena. My employer wants something traditional.”

“People like to eat and lift a glass or two before or after the theater, don’t they?” Shawn dressed the sandwich with a bit of parsley and radish.

“As a rule.” Finkle scanned the room, the shining pots, the scrubbed counters, the tidy workstation. The stove was enormous and looked older than Zeus, but it appeared to be in good working order.

It might do, he thought. He would make a note of it in his report.

“Well, then, they couldn’t do better than Gallagher’s for that,” Brenna assured him. “Would you like to sit here in the kitchen, sir, or would you prefer a table?”

“A table, if you don’t mind,” he told Brenna. The better to observe the business flow.

“I’ll get you settled.” Smoothly Aidan gestured toward the door. “You just tell our Darcy what you’d enjoy for your lunch. On the house, of course.”

Aidan shot one triumphant look over his shoulder as he led Finkle out.

“What’s this about a theater? And why were you acting as though you’d misplaced a few brain cells since you woke up this morning?”

“Well, I’ll tell you. Go on and get your father his lunch, then come back and have your soup here, and I’ll give you the full story.”

When he had, Brenna sat back, gnawing her bottom lip as she did when thinking hard business. “I know this Magee.”

“Do you?”

“Well, not personal like, but I know of him. Them, actually. Father and son, they are, but the son is more in the way of doing the running of things now.”

“A family business,” Shawn mused. “Well, that’s something I can appreciate.”

“A well-established one at that. He builds beautiful things, does Magee. Mostly theaters and arenas and such. He’s very big in America, and in England too, I’m thinking. My mother’s cousin’s nephew Brian Cagney went to work for one of his construction teams in New York. He wrote me a year or two ago and said if I were to come over, I’d have a job in a wink, as Magee doesn’t look at how a carpenter’s skin is stretched when he hires on.”

“Are you thinking of going to New York?” It was such a shock, even the possibility of it, that he had to work to keep his tone level and casual.

“No.” Her mind already elsewhere, Brenna answered absently. “I work with Dad, and we work here. But Brian writes me now and again. He says Magee treats his people well, pays top of the scale, and has been known to swing a hammer himself when the mood strikes. But doesn’t suffer fools, and if you fuck up, you’re out and gone. I’ll write to Brian, see what he knows of this or can find out.”

Then her eyes sharpened, latched on to Shawn’s. “Is he bringing in his own crews or hiring local for this?”

“I wouldn’t know about it.”

“Well, he should hire local. That’s how it should be. You want to build in Ireland, then you use Irish hands. You build in Ardmore, you hire from the village and Old Parish. Dad and I could use a piece of this.”

“Where are you going?” Shawn demanded when she got up.

“To talk to Mr. Finkle.”

“Wait, wait. God, woman, you never let a fly land on your nose, do you? Now’s not the time.”

“Why isn’t it if I want to get in on the ground floor of it?”

“Let Aidan set the deal first.” He caught her hand. “It’s still in delicate stages. Once we have it as we want it, then you can move on into who should have the building of it.”

She hated to wait, hated that she saw the sense of what Shawn was saying. “I need to know the minute the deal’s done, then.”

“That I can promise.”

“I’ll show you how it should be.” She pulled a pencil out of her pocket and would have sketched right on the wall if he hadn’t grabbed her and shoved a pad of paper under her nose. “This is your north wall. You open that up, an oversized doorway.” She drew quickly, all lines and angles. “And you put a breezeway sort of thing here, for people to move from the pub to the theater and back again. You keep it as much the same as the pub as you can, the same wood, the same flooring, so you have a— what is it—a symmetry that leads to the lobby part. Better if the breezeway fans out, spreads as it goes so that the lobby becomes part of the pub, as on the other way, the pub would become part of the lobby.”

She nodded, glanced up. And narrowed her eyes. “And what might you be grinning at?”

“It’s just such an education watching you work.”

“If I have my way, you’ll be watching me work for months down the line, and Dad can slip into the pub daily for his lunch and pint. I’ve got to get on.”

“Can you take an hour later?” He caught her hand before she could turn to go.

“I suppose I could. It shouldn’t take longer than that for me to get your clothes off and finish with you.”

“I had something else in mind. As for the other, I don’t want timetables and deadlines.” He brought her hand to his lips, rubbed them over her knuckles. “Have a walk with me on the beach.”

It was so like him, she thought. An hour on a winter’s beach with the sea and the wind. “Come and fetch me at Jude’s. If you manage the time, so will I.”

“Then come on and kiss me good-bye.”

Willing to oblige, she rose to her toes, leaned in, and had just touched her lips to his when the door swung open.

“The Finkle believes he can fit in a bit of that soup and some—” Darcy stopped short, gaping at the sight of her dearest friend kissing her brother. “Well, for the sake of Jesus, what’s all this?”

“It was just what it appeared to be before you interrupted. You haven’t finished,” Shawn said to Brenna, and started to pull her back from the full foot she’d jumped in retreat.

“Yes, I have. I’ve work to do.” Considering it the best line of escape, she dashed out the back door.

“Soup, you say?” Casually, Shawn pivoted to the stove.

“Shawn, you were kissing Brenna.”

“So I was, though I had hardly gotten a taste before you came barging in and scared her off.”

“What are you thinking of, kissing Brenna?”

He glanced back, his face bland. “I was sure our mother explained such matters to you, but if you’re needing a refresher course on the subject, I’ll do what I can to educate you.”

“Don’t smart your mouth off at me.” But she was too baffled to work up the kind of temper that entertained them both. “She’s the next thing to a sister to me, and I won’t have you teasing her that way.”

He ladled soup into a thick, generous bowl. “Maybe you should have a word with her before you flay into me.”

“Don’t think I won’t.” She snatched up the bowl. “I know how you are with women, Shawn Gallagher.”

He inclined his head. “Do you now?”

“That I do.” She said it in her darkest, most forbidding tone, added a toss of her head, and stalked out.

The minute she’d served Finkle his bowl and fussed over him enough to bring a rise of color to his cheeks, Darcy informed Aidan she was taking a fifteen-minute break. And was out the door before he could tell her different.

In her hurry she forgot to take off her apron or grab her jacket, so her tip money jingled cheerfully in her pocket as she raced down to her family home.

As a result, she was out of breath and pink of cheek when she dashed through the door. She headed straight upstairs to the door of the nursery, where Brenna was rolling varnish onto the freshly sanded floor.

“I want to know what’s going on.”

“Well, I’m putting on this first coat of sealer. It takes a day or two to dry good and hard. Then I’ll put on another, and that will be that.”

“With you and Shawn. Damn it, Brenna, you can’t go around letting him kiss you that way. People’ll get the wrong impression.”

Brenna kept rolling. She hadn’t worked up the nerve to look at her friend. “Actually, I imagine they’d get the right one. I should’ve told you, Darcy, I just didn’t know how.”

Darcy braced herself with a hand on the doorjamb as the blood drained out of her face. “There’s—there’s something to tell me?”

“Well, not so much, really. But not for lack of trying on my part.” Time to face the music, Brenna told herself, and she turned around. “I want to sleep with him. That’s all.”

“You want to—” Because her throat had snapped shut, Darcy broke off and rubbed a hand over it. “You want to sleep with Shawn? Well, why?”

“The usual reasons.”

Darcy started to speak, then raised a hand to hold Brenna off while she gathered her own thoughts. “All right, I’m thinking. You’ve been in somewhat of a sexual drought just recently, so I can see you’d . . . No, no, I’m not quite seeing. It’s Shawn we’re speaking of here. Shawn who’s been a thorn in both our sides since we were babies.”

“Sure and it’s an oddity, I admit. But the thing here is, Darcy, I’ve had a bit of a . . . of a yen for him for . . . well, forever. I just thought it was time to act on it or I’d always have one, and where would that get me?”

“I’m sitting down.” She did so, right in the doorway. “You acted on it.”

“I did, and he was as surprised as you are by the idea, at least initially. And he wasn’t very flattering about it, either. But he’s in the way of interested now. It’s just that I’ve discovered this is yet one more thing you can’t rush Shawn over. And it’s fair to killing me.”

Meticulously, she coated her roller with varnish and spread it thin and smooth. “I’m sorry you’re upset about it. I’d hoped that we could just get it done, so to speak, with no one the wiser.”

“Don’t you have any feelings for him, then?”

“Of course I do.” Brenna’s head came up again. “Of course I do, Darcy. We’re all like family. This is just . . . it’s just different.”

“It’s different, that’s the truth.” Struggling to adjust, Darcy sighed out a breath. “I was going to protect you from him—knowing that he has a way with women that can make them softheaded over him, and him barely noticing half the time. But now that I’ve heard what you’ve said, Brenna, I have to turn that coin over.”

Genuinely surprised, Brenna set her roller on the end of the pan. “You think he needs protecting from me? Darcy, I’m not exactly your femme fatale sort of woman.” She spread her arms, knowing very well how she looked in her grubby work clothes and battered boots. “I think Shawn’s safe from the likes of me.”

“Then you don’t understand him, not in his heart. There’s romance in him, the kind of dreaminess that builds castles in the air. He has a delicacy of feeling. He’d cut off his arm before he’d cause hurt to another. Cut them both off because he caused a moment’s pain to someone he cared for. And he cares for you. It’s not so far a step from caring for to loving. What will you do if he falls in love with you?”

“He won’t.” She nearly took a step back, from the question and the idea. “Of course he won’t.”

“Don’t hurt him.” Darcy got to her feet. “Please don’t hurt him.”

“I—” But as Darcy had already turned away, Brenna had to hurry after her. “Darcy, you mustn’t worry so.” Brenna gripped the banister when Darcy turned, halfway down the stairs. “We both know what we’re about, I promise you. We’ve already taken a vow to stay friends through it.”

“Make sure it’s a vow you don’t break. You both mean a great deal to me.” She worked up a smile because her friend seemed to need it. “Sleeping with Shawn,” Darcy said with her usual bite. “What is the world coming to?”

TEN

AFTER CLOSING, WHEN the village was so quiet that only the heartbeat of the sea could be heard, the Gallaghers gathered around the kitchen table of their family home with tea and with whiskey.

“Here’s where we stand.”

“Aidan laid a hand over Jude’s as he spoke, and hers turned under his so their fingers linked. He had a sudden, vivid picture of his parents joining hands in exactly the same manner when they’d sat at table’s head for a family meeting.

The Gallagher way, he thought. One link leading to another in a chain of tradition.

“Well, where do we stand?” Darcy demanded.

“Sorry.” Aidan shook his head. “My mind went wandering. So, at the start. Finkle may be a Yank, but he’s no green one when it comes to horse trading. I wouldn’t believe as successful a man of business as Magee is reputed to be would send any but a sharp individual to look after his interests.”

“Be that as it may,” Shawn considered, “he fell for the man from London.”

Aidan grinned in appreciation and nodded. “Well, now, we’re not green either, come to that. And the Irish were horse traders before those looking for America ever found her. But that’s neither here nor there.”

He started to toss the patiently waiting Finn a biscuit, then remembered the presence of his wife and cleared his throat. “Finkle, he liked the look of the land, the setup, the location, and so forth. I’m sure of that, though he made little noises and grunts and pulled on his lip rather than commit. He said again how the Magee is set on buying, and I said again how that was easy to understand, and a man likes his own and so on and so forth. But how we’re set on leasing.”

“We’d have more money sooner, and could put it to work for us making more if we just sold,” Darcy piped up.

“That’s true enough.” Aidan nodded toward her. “

“And we’d have more control,” Shawn put in, “part of the profit, and a hand in what’s done with what’s ours if we hold the lease. Look ahead, Darcy, to ten years down the road. And twenty, and the legacy to your children.”

“Who says I’m having any?” She shrugged her shoulders. “But I see your point. It’s a hard thing for me to resist grabbing the money held out at the moment.”

“A hundred years’ lease is our offer.”

“A hundred?” Darcy’s eyes popped wide, and Aidan merely looked at his wife.

“A hundred’s the number of magic.”

“This is business, not fairy spells.”

“You use the fairies where you find them.” Shawn added a drop of whiskey to his tea. It seemed to go with these dealings. “If Magee is forward-thinking, a lease of a hundred years will appeal to him. Brenna knows something of his company.” He caught Darcy’s jerk to attention out of the corner of his eye at his mention of Brenna. “From what she told me, he’s a fair man, but far from green himself. So I’m thinking he’ll look even beyond the century.”

“As should we. A pound a year for a hundred years.”

“A pound?” Darcy threw up her hands. “Why not just give him the bloody land, then?”

“For that price we ask for fifty percent of his theater.”

Darcy settled again, her eyes sharpening. “And settle for?”

“Twenty. And at the end of the term the land, and the theater, are owned, equal shares. Gallagher and Magee.”

“It’s a sweet deal if the theater takes hold.” Darcy agreed. “And leaning heavily in our direction.”

“It’ll take hold,” Aidan said with a gleam in his eye. “With Gallagher luck and Magee money.”

“I’m willing to trust that. Now, why should he agree to those terms?”

“I—” Jude started to speak, then closed her mouth.

“No, have your say.” Aidan gave her hand a squeeze. “You’re part of this.”

“Well, I think he will agree. After some negotiations and posturing and perhaps a few more adjustments. You may have to give a bit more, but in the end you’ll have fairly close to what you’re after—because in the end, all parties want the same thing.”

“Magee wants his theater,” Darcy put in.

“More than that.” In an automatic gesture, Jude slapped Shawn’s hand before he could sneak Finn a biscuit. “He has a reason for choosing this place, and the kind of man who helms that successful a business can indulge himself from time to time. His people came from here,” she went on. “His great-uncle was engaged to my great-aunt.”

“Of course.” Shawn tapped a finger against the whiskey bottle as it came to him. “John Magee who was lost in the first great war. His youngest brother—Dennis, was it—went off to America to make his fortune. I didn’t put it together before now.”

“I don’t know how much sentiment is in the motive for this Magee selecting Ardmore,” Jude went on, “but it’s bound to be part of the motivation. If this Magee had anything like my background, he grew up on stories of Ireland, and of this area in particular. Now he wants a more tangible tie with the place his family came from. I understand that.”

“That Yank sentiment over ancestors.” Amused, Darcy helped herself to the whiskey. “I’ll never understand it. Ancestors . . . sure and they’ve been dead for long years, haven’t they? But if sentiment helps glue the deal, that’s fine with me.”

“That’ll be part of it, but—sorry, it’s the psychologist in me again—he’ll also have his eye on profit. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have one of the largest companies in the States. And for the same reasons, he’ll have his eye on his reputation.”

“And ours will be on our own.” Shawn lifted his glass.

“You’ve quite the reputation, don’t you?” Darcy sent Shawn a sour smile.

“Not as well rounded as yours, darling.”

“At least I don’t go around seducing childhood friends.”

Slowly, and with a dangerous gleam in his eye, he set his glass down again. Before feathers could fly, Aidan stretched an arm between them. “Now what? What’s all this?”

“Ah, she’s got her nose out of joint because I kissed Brenna.”

“Well, there’s nothing to squabble about . . .” Aidan’s hand dropped onto the table. “Brenna O’Toole?”

“Of course Brenna O’Toole.”

“What were you doing kissing our Brenna?”

“Aidan.” Jude tugged on his sleeve. “This is Shawn’s business.”

“It’s ours as it’s Brenna.”

“Mother of God. It’s not as if I grabbed her by the hair and dragged her to the kitchen floor to force myself on her in a carnal fashion while she tried to fight me off.”

“You were on the kitchen floor?”

“We were not.” At his wits’ end, Shawn pressed his fingers to his eyes. “A man can’t have a simple life in this family. I kissed Brenna, and not for the first time. Neither do I plan on it being the last. And I fail to see why that’s such a puzzlement to everyone who knows us. And an outrage as well.”

Darcy folded her hands. She’d learned something she’d hoped to by the poking at him. He hadn’t mentioned that it was Brenna who’d initiated the shift in relationship. With another man she’d chalk it up to ego. But with Shawn she knew it was instinctive protection of the woman involved.

The fact both pleased and worried her.

“It’s just . . . surprising,” Aidan said.

“I’m not outraged.” Darcy sent Shawn a sweet, sisterly look. “But puzzled I am. After all, Brenna’s seen you naked already—some years ago, to be sure, but still such things linger in the mind. And having had a good look at your equipment, I can’t think why she’d be the least bit interested.”

“That’s a question you’ll have to put to her.” He wanted to leave it at that, dignified, dismissive, but it rankled. “I wasn’t more than fifteen, and the water was cold. A man’s not at his best just out of frigid water, you know.”

“That’s your story, son, and you stick with it.”

“And you shouldn’t have been looking in that direction. But you always were a perverted sort.”

“Why shouldn’t I have looked? Everyone else was. He lost his trunks in the sea,” she explained to Jude, “and didn’t realize it till he was standing clear of the surf, jay naked. I’ve always regretted the lack of a camera.”

Jude glanced at Shawn with sympathy. “I used to regret being an only child. But there are some circumstances when—oh!”

“What is it?” Aidan was on his feet like a shot, prepared to haul his wife into his arms, when she pressed her finger to her belly. “There, you’ve upset her with your bickering.”

“No, no. The baby’s moving.” Thrilled, she grabbed Aidan’s hand and laid it over her middle. “Do you feel it? It’s like a rippling inside me.”

Panic shifted to awe, filling his eyes, his heart. “He’s lively.”

“It’s a family meeting, after all. Why shouldn’t he be part of it?” Shawn raised his glass again. “Slainte.”

He went to visit Maude. Since he’d been used to seeing her once or twice a week most of his life, Shawn saw no reason that should change after death. And her resting place was a good spot for thinking.

It had nothing much to do with the fact that he would stroll near the cliff hotel on his way. It wasn’t likely he’d see Brenna, but, well, if he didn’t walk in that direction, there was no chance at all of seeing her.

As he recalled, Maude Fitzgerald had been the romantic sort, and he thought she’d appreciate the logic of it.

The hotel sat dramatically on the cliffs, with the sea spread before it. And though the air was brisk with morning, a scattering of guests were out and about enjoying the view. Shawn gave himself the pleasure of it as well, and as he watched the boats bob and sail over the water, he thanked his ancestors for going into the business of a public house rather than fishing.

There was Tim Riley and his crew hauling in nets while the waves kicked and danced. There was a rhythm to it that had Shawn tapping his foot and set pipe against cello in a musical duel in his head.

Shawn imagined the tourists thought the boats looked picturesque. They probably viewed the idea of making a living from the sea as a kind of romantic venture steeped in history and tradition. But as he stood, wind flowing through his dark hair and doing its best to sneak under his sweater, he could only think it a cold and lonely and capricious life.

He’d take a warm pub and a busy kitchen any day of the week.

But it was romance that whirled through Mary Kate’s mind when she rushed out after spotting him. She had to press a hand to her heart, as it filled with images.

She looked at Shawn, standing on the cliffs, legs spread, eyes on the horizon, and she saw Heathcliff, Rhett Butler, Lancelot, and every other heroic fantasy that might fill an infatuated young woman’s dreams.

She was glad she’d borrowed her sister Patty’s new blue blouse that morning, though Patty wasn’t going to be pleased about it. Making a valiant attempt to smooth her hair, Mary Kate hurried forward.

“Shawn.”

When he turned and saw her coming toward him, Shawn cursed himself. He hadn’t thought of the possibility of running into Brenna’s sister, not when he’d been so busy thinking of Brenna.

Mind your step, Gallagher, he warned himself. “Good morning, Mary Kate. I was forgetting the hotel is full of O’Tooles just now.”

She had to untangle her tongue. His eyes were so clear in this light. If she looked into them deeply enough, she could see herself reflected back. It was so alluring.

“You should come in out of the wind. I’ve a break now, I’ll buy you some tea.”

“That’s a kind offer, but I’m on my way to see Old Maude. I was just watching Tim Riley pull in his nets, and they looked heavy with fish. I’ll have to go about bargaining with him later for some of his catch.”

“Why don’t you stop by on your way back?” She tilted her head, running a hand through her hair and looking up at him under her lashes in a look she’d practiced endlessly. “I can take my lunch most anytime.”

“Ah . . .” She had more skill in flirtation than he’d given her credit for. It was just a little frightening. “I’m due at the pub before long.”

“I’d love to be able to sit and talk with you.” She laid a hand on his arm. “When there’s not so much going on.”

“Well, that’s a thought, isn’t it? I’ve got to be going. You should go inside. You shouldn’t be standing out here in that thin blouse. You’ll catch a chill. My best to your family.”

As he made his escape, Mary Kate sighed. He’d noticed the blouse.

He’d handled that well, Shawn congratulated himself. Friendly, a sort of older brother to younger sister kind of thing. He was sure the little crisis had passed. And it was really rather sweet that she’d thought of him the way she had. A man had to be flattered, especially since he’d slipped through those sticky loops with no harm done.

But deciding a bit of backup wouldn’t be out of order, he dipped into Saint Declan’s Well and sprinkled the water on the ground.

“Superstitious? A modern-thinking man?”

Shawn’s head came up, and his eyes met the clever blue ones of Carrick, prince of the faeries. “A modernthinking man knows there’s a reason for superstitions, especially when he stands and finds himself having a conversation with the likes of you.”

Since he’d come for a purpose, Shawn walked away from the well and over to Maude’s grave. “So, tell me, are you always here and about? I’ve come to this spot all my life, and it’s only recently I’ve seen you.”

“There was no particular reason for you to see me before recently. I’ve a question for you, Shawn Gallagher, and I’m hoping you’ll be answering it.”

“Well, you have to ask it first.”

“So I will.” Carrick sat by the grave across from Shawn so their eyes were level. “What the bleeding, blistering hell are you waiting for?”

Shawn raised his eyebrows, rested his hands on his knees. “All manner of things.”

“Oh, that’s typical of you.” Disgust edged Carrick’s voice. “I’m speaking of Mary Brenna O’Toole, and why you haven’t taken her to your bed.”

“That would be between Brenna and myself,” Shawn said evenly, “and no concern of yours.”

“Of course it’s a concern of mine.” Carrick was on his feet now, the movement too fast for the human eye to catch. The ring on his finger glowed a deep, deep blue, and the silver pouch hanging from his belt glittered. “I judged you to have the kind of nature that would understand, but you’re more boneheaded than even your brother.”

“Sure and you aren’t the first to say so.”

“It’s in place, Gallagher the younger.”

Because Carrick was now standing beside Shawn rather than across from him, Shawn got to his feet. “And what would that be?”

“Your part, your destiny. Your choices. How is it you can look into your heart for making your music, and not for living your life?”

“My life is as I like it.”

“Boneheaded,” Carrick said again. “Finn protect me from the foolishness of mortals.” He threw up his hands, and thunder rumbled across the clear bowl of the sky.

“If you think to impress me with parlor tricks, you won’t succeed at it. That’s just your temper talking, and I’ve one of my own.”

“Would you dare match it to mine?” As a demonstration, Carrick waved a finger, and a bolt of blinding white light lanced into the ground in front of Shawn’s feet.

“Bully tactics.” Though Shawn had to fight the instinct to leap back. “And unworthy of you.”

Fury turned Carrick’s eyes nearly black, trembled from his fingertips in little licks of red flame. Then subsided as he threw back his head and laughed. “Well, now, you’ve more courage than I gave you credit for. Or it’s just stupid you are.”

“Wise enough to know you can cause mischief if you like, but no real harm. You don’t worry me, Carrick.”

“I could have you on your knees croaking like a bullfrog.”

“Which would hurt my pride but little else.” Not, Shawn thought, that he wanted to put the matter to the test. “What’s the point of this? Threats don’t endear you to me.”

“I’ve waited six of your lifetimes for something you could have in an instant, just by holding out your hand.” But this time he sighed. “Tears from the moon I gathered for her the second time.” As he spoke he took the pouch from his belt. “And at her feet I poured the pearls they formed. And all she saw was the pearls.”

Turning the pouch over, he poured a white waterfall of glowing white gems onto Maude’s grave. “They glowed in the grass, in the moonlight then, white and smooth as Gwen’s skin. But she didn’t see that it wasn’t pearls I’d poured at her feet, but my heart—the longing in it, and aye, the purity of that love as well. I didn’t know she needed to be told, or that it was already too late, as I hadn’t given her the part of me she wanted.”

Carrick’s voice was full of despair now, and so ripe with unhappiness that Shawn touched his arm. “What did she want?”

“Love. Just the word. A single word. But I gave her diamonds—jewels plucked from the sun, and these pearls, then the final time the stones you call sapphires that I harvested from the heart of the sea.”

“I know your story well.”

“Aye, you would. And your new sister, Jude, has put it in her book of tales and legends. The ending is still an unhappy one as I cast the spell over my Gwen, in anger and in pain—rashly, Gallagher. Three times love would find love, heart accept heart with all the failings and the foibles. And then, my Gwen and I will be free to be together. A hundred years times three I’ve waited, and my patience is sore tested. You’re a man who has words.”

Considering, Carrick circled Shawn and the grave. “You use them well with your music—music others should hear, but that’s another matter. A man who has such a gift of words is one who understands what’s inside a person, sometimes before that person knows. It’s a gift you have. I’m only asking you to use it.”

In a long flourish, he waved his hand over the grave, and the pearls blossomed into flowers. “The jewels I gave Gwen grew into flowers. Your Jude will tell you it was the flowers she kept. Some women want the simple things, Gallagher, so I’ve come to understand.”

He lifted his finger. Resting on the tip was a single perfect pearl. With a thin smile, he flicked it toward Shawn, then nodded, pleased, when Shawn snatched it from the air. “Take it, keep it, until you realize who it is you’re to give it to. When you do, give the words. They’re more of magic than what you have in hand.”

The air trembled, wavered, and Carrick disappeared into it.

“The man wears you out,” Shawn murmured, then sat beside Maude’s grave again. “It’s very unusual companions you have.”

Then, because he needed it, Shawn let himself fall into the quiet. He watched the moonflowers, blooms open despite the steam of sunlight, dance across the grave. He studied the pearl, rubbing it through his fingers. He put it in his pocket before reaching down to pick a single blossom.

“I don’t think you’ll mind, as it’s for Jude,” he said to Maude. He sat and kept her company another twenty minutes before going back home.

He didn’t knock. It had been his home too long for him to think of it. But Shawn did think, the minute he’d closed the door behind him, that he was very likely interrupting Jude’s work.

When she came to the top of the steps before he could decide if he should go back out again, he glanced up in apology. “You’ll be working. I’ll come back ’round later.”

“No, that’s all right. I don’t mind a break. Would you like some tea?” she asked as she started down.

“I would, yes, but I’ll fix it for both of us.”

“I won’t argue with that.” She smiled uncertainly when he held out the moonflower. “Thanks. Isn’t it the wrong time for this to be blooming?”

“In most places. It’s one of the things I’d like to speak with you about.” He started back toward the kitchen with her. “How are you feeling today?”

“Good. Really good, actually. I think the morning sickness is passing, and I’m not sorry to see it go.”

“And your work’s going well?”

It would be Shawn’s way, she thought, to wind his way around to the genuine purpose of the visit in his own time. So she found a little bottle for the blossom while he put on the kettle. “Yes, it is. I still have moments when I can’t believe I’m doing it. This time last year I was still teaching, and hating my work. Now I have a book on its way to being published, and another one coming to life every day. I’m a little nervous because this one’s a story out of my head instead of a compilation of others I’ve been told, but I really love the process of it.”

“Being a little nervous you’ll probably write a better story, don’t you think?” At home, he got out the biscuit tin and filled a plate. “Meaning, you’ll have more care with it.”

“I hope you’re right. Are you nervous when you’re writing your music?”

“Not the tunes,” he said after a moment’s thought. “The words sometimes. Trying to find the right way of saying what the music’s telling me. It can be frustrating.”

“How do you handle it?”

“Oh, I bang my head against it for a while.” After the pot was warmed he measured out the tea. “Then if all I get from that is a headache, I’ll take a walk to clear it, or think of something else entirely. Most times, after I do, the words are just there, as if they’d been waiting for me to pluck them.”

“I’m afraid to walk away when it’s not working. I always think if I do I won’t be able to write at all when I come back. Your way’s healthier.”

“Ah, but you’re the published author, then, aren’t you?” While the tea steeped, he got out cups.

“Do you want your music published, Shawn?”

“Maybe, one day. There’s no rush about it.” Which, he knew, he’d been saying for years already. “I write it to please myself, and that’s enough for now.”

“My agent might know someone in the music business. I’d be happy to ask.”

His stomach jumped like a rabbit under the gun. “Oh, there’s no need for that. Actually, Jude, I’ve come by to speak with you about another matter altogether.”

She waited, letting him bring the pot to the table, pour the tea. When he’d settled, and the fragrant steam rose between them, he still didn’t speak.

“Shawn, tell me what’s on your mind.”

“Well, I’m trying to figure out exactly how to say it. I’ll just start this way.” He reached in his pocket, and after drawing out the pearl, set it beside her cup.

“A pearl?” Puzzled, she started to reach for it, then her gaze whipped up to his, and her fingers stopped a whisper away from the round white gem. “Oh. Carrick.”

“He speaks fondly of you.”

“How odd. It’s so . . . odd.” Now she did pick up the pearl and cupped it in her palm. “And the moonflower. The rest of the pearls turned to moonflowers.”

“On Maude’s grave. What do you think of it all?”

“What does a modern, educated, fairly intelligent woman think of the existence of faeries?” She let the pearl roll in her palm, then shook her head. “I think it’s marvelous. Literally. This one’s arrogant and impatient, and a bit of a showoff, but coming into contact with him is one of the things that changed my life.”

“I think he’s of a mind to change mine. Or he wouldn’t have given me that.”

“Yes, I’m sure you’re right.” Jude gave the pearl back to Shawn. “And how do you feel about that?”

“That he’s got a long wait in store, as I like my life just as it is.”

“Are you . . .” Trailing off, Jude picked up her tea. “I never had siblings, so I don’t know what’s out of line. But I wonder if you’re thinking of Brenna.”

“I’ve given the O’Toole considerable thought. And I’ve given more than a passing one to the notion that Carrick sees my linking with her as the next step for him.”

“And?”

“Well, now.” Shawn picked up a biscuit, bit into it. “I’d say again, he has a long wait in store.” His lips twitched as Jude looked down into her tea. “Was that a bit of a matchmaker’s gleam I caught there in your pretty eyes, Jude Frances?”

She sniffed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I’m talking about a happily married woman taking a look at her bachelor brother-in-law and thinking to herself, ‘Well, now, wouldn’t it be fine if our darling Shawn found himself the right woman and settled down—and what might it be that I can do to help that along.’ ”

“I wouldn’t presume to interfere.” However prim her tone, the laugh showed in her eyes. “Hardly at all.”

“I appreciate it.” He slipped the pearl back into his pocket. “And just so you’re aware of my thoughts and feelings on this, I’ll tell you that if there comes to be anything between me and the O’Toole it’ll be because it’s something we both decide upon, not because some bullying member of the gentry’s decided for us. Or even because my new sister, whom I love dearly, wishes it so.”

“I only wish you to be happy.”

“I’ve plans to stay that way. And as I do, I’d best get into the pub so Aidan’s not duty-bound to break my head for being late.”

ELEVEN

BRENNA DIDN’T CONSIDER it spying. And she’d have challenged the one who accused her. It just so happened that she had a bit of work to do in Finkle’s room. He’d complained the shower was slow to drain, and since she was there in any case, the hotel had asked that she deal with it.

Was it her fault he was on the phone with his employer when she came ’round? Certainly not. And could the blame be laid on her that he wasn’t the sort of man who paid any mind to service people?

Unless, she imagined, they looked like Darcy, and then a man would have to be deaf and blind, and likely dead a year or so not to give her a long second look. But that was beside the point altogether.

He’d let her in himself, with a fussy and impatient wave of his hand. Then had simply gestured toward the bath and gone back to the phone. Such treatment didn’t hurt her feelings. She was there to do some plumbing, after all.

But she had ears, and was there any reason not to use them?

“I apologize for the interruption, Mr. Magee, the young man’s here to fix the plumbing.”

Young man? Brenna bit her tongue and rolled her eyes.

“I’ll fax the report as soon as I’ve put it all in a cohesive form. That may be after business hours in New York, sir, so I’ll send copies to your private line as well.”

In the bath, Brenna rattled her tools. From her angle she could see only Finkle’s polished shoes and a thin strip of dove-gray sock.

“No, I haven’t been able to get the name of the London firm that’s interested in the property. The elder brother, Aidan, brushes it off, claims the other one is confused. I’d have to say it’s more than possible for the younger to confuse things. He’s amiable enough, but doesn’t appear terribly bright.”

Brenna snorted, then began the business of snaking the drain. As quietly as manageable.

“However, judging from the reaction, the body language, and the speed with which this lapse was covered, I’d have to say there has been some negotiation in that corner.”

Finkle was silent for a moment. Brenna strained her ears and heard the light tap-tap of his fingers on wood. “Yes, it is a lovely place. Picturesque, unspoiled. ‘Simple’ would be my word. It’s also remote. Having seen it, and having spent this short time here, I would have to go back to my original opinion, sir. I hardly see this theater project being a financial success. Dublin would be a more logical choice. Or failing that—”

Silence again, then the faintest of sighs. “Yes, of course. I understand you have your reasons. I can assure you that the land the Gallaghers have is the best location in Ardmore. The pub appears to be just what you expected. It’s off-season, of course, but it does a steady business, and it’s well run under the elder Gallagher’s hand. The food is first-rate, which I admit surprised me. Not at all your average pub grub. The sister? Yes, she’s . . . she’s . . .”

The bumbling had Brenna biting the inside of her cheek to hold back a bark of laughter. Men were so predictable.

“She appears to be efficient. Actually, I went back for a short time last evening, at their request. Darcy, the sister, Miss Gallagher, has an exceptional singing voice. All three of them, for that matter, are quite musical, and that could be an advantage. If you’re determined to place this theater here, in Ardmore, connecting it with Gallagher’s Pub is, in my opinion, the most logical decision.”

Still on her hands and knees, Brenna wiggled her butt, since her hands were full and she couldn’t punch a fist in the air.

“Oh, you can trust me to negotiate them down from the percentage they’re asking. I know you’d prefer to buy the land outright, but this sentiment of theirs has thus far proven unassailable. In actual terms, the lease they offer is a less risky venture for you and would in the long term give you a tighter connection to the established business. I feel it’s to your advantage to use Gallagher’s, and the reputation it’s earned, to launch your theater.”

The finger tapping sounded again, and the shoes uncrossed, then recrossed at the ankle. “Yes, that’s understood. No higher than twenty-five percent. You can trust me there. I hope to have the deal settled within twentyfour hours. I’m sure I can convince the elder Gallagher that he’d get no better offer from a London firm, or any other.”

As she sensed the conversation was winding down, Brenna scrambled up and turned the taps on full and loud. She hummed to herself as she watched the water run. After she’d turned it off again, she did a bit more rattling, then hefted her toolbox and strolled into the adjoining room.

“Draining like a champ now, it is. Sorry for your inconvenience.”

He never so much as glanced up, but waved her away as he’d waved her in and hunched over the laptop on the little desk.

“And a good day to you, sir,” she called cheerfully and heard the keyboard clatter as she slipped out.

Once she was clear, she sprinted. Finkle wasn’t the only one who knew how to do a report.

“Well, now, the London bit seems to have been inspired.” Aidan gave his brother a slap on the shoulder and shot Brenna a look of approval. “It’s got them shagging their asses, doesn’t it?”

“Some people can’t resist the competition.” Since they were in the kitchen, Shawn turned to get four bottles of beer from the refrigerator. “I think we should drink to the O’Toole here, and her busy ears.”

“I just happened to be where I was when I was.” But she took the offered bottle.

“You’re a fine field soldier, Sergeant O’Toole.” Aidan clicked his bottle to hers, then to Shawn’s and Darcy’s in turn. “Twenty-five percent and no more. Pity for him he didn’t know we’d have settled for twenty without a whimper.”

“The man—the Magee,” Brenna explained. “He’s determined to have what he wants here, though Finkle doesn’t approve. But approve he does of Shawn’s cooking, Darcy’s face, and your managing hand, Aidan. Oh, and he thinks you’re none too bright, Shawn, but an amiable sort. And when he speaks of Darcy, he stutters.”

Delighted, Darcy laughed. “Give me another day or so, and when he speaks of me, he’ll babble. And we can get thirty percent.”

Aidan slung an arm around Darcy’s shoulders. “We’ll take the twenty-five and wrap the deal. I’ll let Finkle think he’s turned the thumbscrews to get it, for why shouldn’t he feel accomplished after all? I can tell you Dad likes what he’s seen of Magee so far. He called only this morning to tell me that, and that he’ll leave the details of the matter to us.”

“Then we’ll let Finkle wrangle over the terms.” Shawn raised his bottle. “Until he gives us what we’re after.”

“That’s exactly so. Well, it’s back to work for now. Brenna, my darling, do you think you could make yourself scarce ’round the pub until we’ve got it hammered?”

“I can, of course. But I’m invisible to the likes of him. He doesn’t see past my toolbox. Fact is, he thought I was a man.”

“Then he needs glasses.” Aidan tipped up her chin and kissed her. “I’m grateful to you.”

“I tell you I could get us thirty without much more effort,” Darcy claimed, but she followed Aidan out into the pub.

“She likely could,” Brenna commented.

“No need to be greedy. I’m grateful to you as well.”

She cocked her head, and the faintest of sneers twisted her lips. It was one of Shawn’s favorite expressions. “Are you going to kiss me, then, as Aidan did?”

“I’m thinking about it.”

“Sure and you think a long time about things.”

“No longer than it takes.” So he cupped her face in his hands, still enjoying the sneer, then tilting her head to please himself, laid his mouth on hers.

Slow, comfortably lazy, like a warm breeze on a summer morning. She relaxed against him, her lips just starting to curve at the easy sweetness. Then deeper, so gradually, so skillfully, he took her deeper, she was over her head before she realized she’d been going under.

She made a sound, caught somewhere between a sigh and a moan. As her heart battered against her ribs, she slid her hands up his back to grip his shoulders. Even as her body went on alert, braced for more, he was easing away.

“I can only be so grateful, at the moment.”

The man had made her dizzy, damn it. And had left her system screaming. “You did that on purpose.”

“Of course I did.”

“Bastard. I’m going back to work.” She reached down for her toolbox and, still off balance, rapped hard into the table when she turned for the door. Her head whipped around quickly, and her narrowed eyes warned him. But he was wise enough to keep his expression bland.

She sniffed, then strode around to wrench open the back door. There she paused, shot him one last look. ““You know, when you stop thinking, you do a fine job of the rest of it.”

He didn’t grin until she was gone. “That’s a fortunate thing, as I’ve about finished thinking altogether.”

Shawn stayed out of the way when Finkle came in that evening. But he fixed the man a king’s meal of baked plaice done with an herbed butter, served with cally potatoes to which he’d added a dash or so of thyme, and some curly kale.

Since word from Darcy when she popped in was that the man would have licked his plate if there’d been no one about to notice, Shawn felt he’d done his part.

So it was mischief, as much as business sense, that had him going out to take Finkle a portion of lemon cheesecake.

Relaxed from the meal, and Darcy’s attentions, Finkle offered Shawn what might have passed for a smile. “I don’t know when I’ve had better fish. You run a creative kitchen, Mr. Gallagher.”

“That’s kind of you to say, sir. I hope you’ll enjoy this. ’Tis me own recipe, fiddled about somewhat from that of my dear old granny. I don’t believe you’ll find better when you return to London.”

Finkle, just about to take the first bite, paused with his fork in the air. “New York,” he said, very precisely.

Shawn let himself blink. “New York? Oh, sure, and it’s New York I meant. The man from London was thin as a skate and wore little round glasses. You’d think I’d be able to keep it all straight, wouldn’t you, now?”

Keeping his expression pleasant, Finkle casually took a sample of the cake. “So . . . you’ve spoken to someone from London about a restaurant, was it?”

“Oh, Aidan, he does the talking. I’ve no head for business at all. Is the cake to your liking?”

“It’s excellent.” The man had a slow brain, Finkle mused, but no one could fault his cooking skills. “The man from London,” he pressed. “Would you happen to know his name? I have a number of acquaintances there.”

Shawn stared up at the ceiling, rubbed his chin. “Was it Finkle? Oh, no, that would be you.” With a sweet and harmless expression covering his face, he lifted empty hands. “I’ve a bad habit of forgetting names. But he was a very pleasant individual, as you are yourself, sir. If you find you’ve room for another portion of cake, just let Darcy know.”

He strolled back to the kitchen, catching Aidan’s eye with a wink.

Ten minutes later Darcy poked her head into the kitchen and hissed, “Finkle asked for a moment of Aidan’s time. They’ve gone into the snug.”

“That’s fine, then. Let me know if you need help at the bar.”

“Consider I’ve let you know. Frank Malloy’s come in with his brothers.”

“He had words with his wife again?”

“That’s the face he’s wearing. I’ll not be able to keep up with them, and the rest of the customers.”

“I’m coming, then.”

He was pulling the second pint for the Malloys—all of whom were burly-built men with straw-colored hair who made their living from the sea—when Aidan and Finkle stepped out of the snug.

He nodded good night to Aidan, then to Shawn. And for a moment as he glanced toward Darcy, his stern face fell into lines as soft as a hopeful puppy’s.

“Are you turning in for the evening so early, then, Mr. Finkle?” Darcy set her tray on the bar, then sent the poor man a smile that could have melted slab chocolate at twenty paces.

“I—” He had no choice but to tug at the meticulously knotted tie, as his throat was suddenly thick. “I’m afraid I must. I have a plane to catch in the morning.”

“Oh, you’re leaving us altogether?” She held out a hand for his. “I’m sorry you can’t stay longer, and hope you’ll come back again when you’re able.”

“I’m quite sure I’ll be back.” Unable to help himself, Finkle did something he’d never so much as considered doing before in his life, even with his wife. He kissed Darcy’s hand. “It’s been a great pleasure.”

A faint flush of pink riding on his cheeks, he left the pub.

“Well?” Darcy demanded, spinning around to Aidan. “

“Let’s give this a minute, just to be sure Finkle doesn’t turn about, rush back in, and throw himself to his knees to beg you to run off with him to Tahiti.”

Darcy chuckled and shook her head. “No, the man loves his wife. Now he might allow himself a misty dream about what the two of us might do in such a place, but that’s as far as it goes.”

“Then I’ll tell you.” He laid a hand on hers on the bar, placed the other on Shawn’s shoulder. “We’ve done the deal, as the three of us and Jude discussed, and we’ve shaken hands on it. He’s going back to New York, and the papers will be drawn up as soon as lawyers can manage it.”

“Twenty-five percent?” Shawn asked. “

“Twenty-five, and a say in approving the design for the theater. There are details yet, but between us, Magee, and the lawyers, we’ll iron them out.”

“So we’ve done it?” Shawn laid down the cloth he’d been using to wipe the bar.

“It appears we have, as I’ve given my word.”

“Well, then.” Shawn put his hand over the one Aidan held over Darcy’s. “I’ll tend the bar. Go on and tell Jude.”

“It’ll keep. We’re busy.”

“Good news is more fun when it’s fresh. I’ll handle it here, and close up as well. And as a return, you can give me the evening off tomorrow. If Kathy Duffy will take the kitchen. I haven’t had a free evening in some time.”

“Fair enough. I’ll call Dad as well,” he added as he flipped up the pass-through. “Unless you’d both rather I wait until morning when we can all speak to him.”

“Go on and call.” Darcy waved him out. “He’ll want to know straight off. He was distracted,” she said to Shawn when the door closed. “I’m not. Do you have something with Brenna in mind for tomorrow?”

Shawn merely took the empty glasses off her tray, set them in the bar sink. “You’ve customers, darling, and so have I.” And he leaned over a bit. “You’ve your business. And so have I.”

Miffed, Darcy jerked a shoulder. “It’s not your business I care a damn about. But Brenna. She’s a friend. You’re nothing but a brother, and an irritant at that.”

And knowing her irritant, she let it alone. She’d get nothing out of Shawn Gallagher, if he’d decided otherwise, with dynamite.

He had a plan. He was good at planning. That didn’t mean it always worked, but he was good at the figuring out of how it should work.

There was cooking involved, and so he was in his element. He wanted something simple, a dish he could put together, then leave to itself until it was needed. So he made a tomato sauce with a bit of bite and left it to simmer.

It required a setting of the stage. That was something he preferred and something he believed would give him an advantage. He thought a man could use every advantage when it came to Brenna O’Toole.

It required a phone call, which he made from the pub at the end of the lunch shift when he was certain Brenna would be up to her neck in whatever job she was doing.

Just as he knew that, being Brenna, she’d come by after her workday to take a look at the broken washing machine he’d reported.

So when he got home, the sauce he’d left warming added an appetizing scent to the air. He picked some of the petunias and pansies that were happy to winter over in the garden and put these in the bedroom along with the candles he’d bought at the market.

He’d already changed the sheets for fresh, which had given him the idea about the washing machine.

Next there was music. It was too much a part of his life not to include it in any venture. He selected the CDs he liked best, slipped them into the canny little player he’d bought himself months before, then left them going while he went down to the kitchen to see to the rest.

He put out the cat, who it seemed sensed something important was going on and so put himself in the way at every opportunity.

He didn’t expect to see her till near to six, which gave him enough time to put together a platter of finger food. He hunted up wineglasses, polished them out, then opened the bottle of red he’d taken from the pub, setting it on the counter to breathe.

After giving his sauce a last taste and stir, he glanced around and nodded in satisfaction. It was all fine and done. The clock showed ten minutes before six when he heard her lorry pull into his street.

“She’s a timely sort,” he murmured, and was taken by surprise when nerves set to dancing in his belly. “It’s only Brenna, for Christ’s sake,” he told himself. “You’ve known her all your life.”

Not in the way he was about to, he thought. Nor she him. He had a sudden wild urge to dash into the little mudroom and rip something off the washing machine and forget the rest.

And since when had a Gallagher been a coward? Especially with a woman? With this lecture playing in his head, he started toward the front door.

She was already coming in, carrying her toolbox. Her jeans had a fresh rip in them, just below the right knee. There was a faint smear of dirt across her cheek.

She closed the front door, took two steps, then saw him. And nearly jumped out of her work boots. “Jesus, Shawn, why not just cosh me over the head as scare the life out of me? What are you doing here this time of day?”

“I’ve the evening off. You parked behind my car, didn’t you?”

“I did, yes, but I figured you’d walked down or gotten a lift.” While she waited for her heart rate to return to normal, she sniffed the air. “Doesn’t smell as though you’ve taken advantage of a free evening. What are you cooking?”

“A sauce for spaghetti. I thought I’d try it out before we gave it a go at the pub. Have you eaten?” he asked, though he already knew.

“I haven’t, no. Ma’s expecting me shortly.”

She wasn’t, as Shawn had called down to tell Mollie he’d give Brenna a meal while she was there. “Have your dinner here instead.” He took her hand, leading her back to the kitchen. “You can judge the sauce for me.”

“I might do that, but let’s have a look at your machine first to see what the matter is.”

“There’s nothing the matter with it.” He took her toolbox, set it out of the way on the floor.

“What do you mean, there’s nothing the matter? Didn’t you call up the hotel and say it wouldn’t run for you at all?”

“I lied. Try this.” He plucked up a stuffed olive and popped it into her mouth.

“Lied?”

“I did, yes. And I’m counting on the sin being worth the penance.”

“But why would you . . .” Realization dawned slowly, and left her feeling awkward and edgy. “I see. So this is the time and the place that suits you.”

“Aye. I told your mother you’d be staying awhile, so you’ve no need to worry about that.”

“Hmm.” She looked around the kitchen, paying more attention. Fragrant sauce simmering, a pretty plate of fancy appetizers, a bottle of wine. “You might have given me a bit of notice. A little time to settle in to the notion.”

“You’ve time now.” He poured wine into the glasses. “I know wine tends to give you a head the next morning, but a glass or two shouldn’t hurt.”

She’d risk the hangover, if the wine managed to cool her throat. “You know you didn’t have to bother with all this fuss for me. I told you from the start I didn’t need it.”

“Well, I do, and you’ll just have to tolerate it.” He was more at ease again, because she wasn’t. He took a step toward her. “Take off your—” He nearly laughed when her eyes widened. “Your hat,” he finished, then did so himself, setting it and his wine aside so he could run his hands through her hair until it tumbled in a way that most pleased him. “Have a seat.”

He nudged her into a chair, sat across from her. “Why don’t you take off your boots?”

She leaned down, tugged on the laces, then sat up again. “Do you have to watch me? You make me feel foolish.”

“If you feel foolish with me watching you take off your boots, you’re going to feel like a real horse’s ass before much longer. Take off your boots, Brenna,” he said in a quiet voice that sent a ripple running up her spine. “Unless you’ve changed your mind about the matter.”

“I haven’t.” Annoyed, she bent down again to work on the boots. “I started this, and I finish what I start.”

But it wasn’t at all the way she’d imagined it. She’d simply pictured the two of them already naked, in bed, getting on with business. She hadn’t given a great deal of thought to the mechanics of arriving there.

She kicked her boots under the table and made herself look back at him, steadily back at him.

“Are you hungry?”

“No.” She couldn’t conceive of eating under the circumstances. “Dad and I had a late lunch.”

“All the better. We’ll eat later. Let’s take the wine upstairs.”

Upstairs. All right, they’d go upstairs. It had been her idea, after all. But when he took her hand this time, she had to force herself not to bolt. “This isn’t a fair way, Shawn. I’ve just come from working all day, and haven’t had a chance to clean up.”

“Would you like a shower, then?” As they walked up the back stairs, he rubbed the smudge from her cheek. “I’m happy to wash your back.”

“I’m just saying, that’s all.” She couldn’t shower with him, for God’s sake. Not just like that. The music drifted toward her, a whisper of harpsong. Her nerves were screaming.

She stepped into the bedroom, saw the flowers, the candles, the bed. And gulped her wine like water.

“Easy now.” He nipped the glass from her hand. “I don’t want you drunk.”

“I can handle my drink,” she began, then rubbed her damp palms on her thighs as he wandered around lighting candles. “There’s no need for that. It’s not full dark yet.”

“It will be. I’ve seen you in candlelight before,” he said easily as he touched the flame of the match to the candles he’d set on the narrow mantel over the fire he’d already set to glowing. “But I didn’t take time to appreciate it. I will tonight.”

“I don’t see why you have to make the situation romantic instead of what it is.”

“Not afraid of a little romance, are you, Mary Brenna?”

“No, but . . .” He turned, and the subtle and shifting lights of flame danced over his face, behind him, around him. He might have stepped out of one of the pictures Jude drew. Of faerie princes and valiant knights and poetic harpists.

“There’s something about the way you look,” she managed, “that makes my mouth water half the time. I don’t much care for it, to be honest with you, and I’d prefer getting it out of my system.”

“Well, now.” His voice was as smooth as hers was annoyed. “Why don’t we see what we can do about that?”

Keeping his eyes on hers, he crossed to her.

TWELVE

HOWEVER ODD THE situation, Brenna thought, it was still Shawn, a man she’d known and cared for all her life. However ridiculous it all seemed, she still wanted him.

Nerves were as out of place as the harpsong and the candlelight.

So when he laid his hands on her shoulders, when he ran them lightly down her arms to link with her hands, she tipped her head up. “If I laugh,” she told him, “it’s nothing personal. It’s just the whole business of this that strikes me funny.”

“All right.”

Since he only stood watching her, seemed to be waiting, she rose to her toes and took his mouth with hers. She didn’t mean to rush it, as she’d already concluded he wouldn’t allow that in any case. But at that first taste she wanted more, she wanted it all. And quickly. Her hands flexed in his as she chewed on his bottom lip.

“I’ve got this powerful urge for you. I can’t help it.”

“Who’s asking you to?” He wouldn’t rush, no, but it was tempting to pick up the pace. That fascinating little body of hers was already vibrating against his, and her mouth was like a fever. But he thought it would be much more satisfying all around to let her drive him crazy for a while yet.

“Come up here.” He let go of her hands to take her hips, to hitch her up so that her legs wrapped his waist as they’d done once before. “And kiss me again. I like it.”

Now she did laugh, and the nerves that had worried her flitted away. “Do you, now? Well, as I recall, the first time I did it . . .” She brought her mouth to within a breath of his, then drew back—once, twice. “You looked as though I’d coshed you over the head with my hammer.”

“That’s because I wasn’t expecting it, and you turned my brain upside down.” He gave her bottom an intimate, and friendly, squeeze. “Bet you can’t do it again.”

“Oh, so it’s a wager, is it?” Eyes glinting with the challenge, with the fun, she fisted her hands in his hair. “You’re about to lose.”

She put herself into her work, he had to give her that. He could all but feel his eyes roll back in his head as her mouth attacked his. There were times when surrender wasn’t a humbling experience at all. There was a hint of wine still on her tongue, warm and rich. Mixed with her own flavor, it spun into him, a lovely and intoxicating combination.

Harpsong and candlelight, a hot-blooded woman twined around him. He let both the passion and the romance pump into his system. Alluring. Arousing.Pleasure took on a fine, sharp edge.

She felt his fingers dig into her hips, heard his breath quicken like a man who’d done a fast sprint up a long hill. When he shifted, turning toward the bed, triumph flashed through her.

She would have him now. Her way. Fast and furious and done. Then this terrible pressure in her chest, her belly, her head, would find release. Her breath caught in a laughing gasp when he spilled her onto the bed, then covered her, pressed her into the mattress, tight body to tight body.

“I’ll have to give you that one.” There was a gleam in her eye that only sharpened when he pulled her hands over her head and cuffed her wrists. “But now it’s my turn. As I recall, the first time I kissed you, your eyes went blurry and blind.” He closed his teeth gently over her jaw. “And you trembled.”

Deliberately she arched her hips, pressed against him. “I’ll bet you can’t do it again.”

A man that aroused, that ready, wouldn’t dawdle. She was sure of it. Still, she braced herself. And still she trembled when his lips skimmed tenderly, tormentingly over hers. Her arms went limp, her mind blank as glass. The pressure that had built to crisis point slid into a glorious aching.

The first hint of the rising moon slipped into the room to shimmer silver against the gold of candle flames.

He cupped her breasts, his fingers tracing the shape of her against her work shirt, before moving to the buttons. She wore a man’s white T-shirt beneath. After he tugged the denim aside, Shawn found himself fascinated at just how sexy her small breasts looked, felt, under that simple white cotton.

“I’ve always liked your hands.” She had her eyes closed now, the better to absorb the little shocks of sensation.“I like them even better now.” But when he lowered again, when his mouth closed over her through the cotton, her eyes flew open. “Oh, sweet Jesus.”

He might have chuckled, if he could have found the breath for it. But his lungs were clogged, and his head already starting to reel. Where had this been all his life? This taste, this texture, this shape? How much more had he missed?

She was tugging off his sweater as he dragged her up. Breath ragged, they stared at each other. Whatever shock there was on both sides, she nodded as he did. “Too late,” was all he said and pulled the shirt over her head.

“Thanks be to God.”

They dived at each other.

His hands might have been faster now, and just a bit rough here and there. His mouth might have been hotter, more impatient than it had. But it didn’t stop him from being thorough. He wanted every bit of her, and would remember always, the taste of her flesh, that tender spot just under her breast, the way that angle went to curve from her rib cage to her hip, and the silken feel of it all under his palm and fingertips.

The strength of her was no small matter, and outrageously erotic as they rolled together, as he felt her muscles bunch. Erotic still when he made that strength waver toward weakness, feeling her shudder against him when he found some new spot that pleased her.

The music was flutes now, lilting and faerie-like, a rise of pipes beneath it. The moonlight strengthened, a pearl gleam on the air that was fragrant with candle wax and turf smoke.

She buried her face against his throat, fighting to catch her breath. “Shawn, for God’s sake. Now.”

“Not yet, not yet, not yet.” He said it like a chant. He wanted those small strong hands of hers never to stop running over him. He wanted to find more and still more of her with his own. Didn’t those lovely legs deserve his attention now that he’d tugged the ripped denim away? And the back of her shoulder was such a marvelous place to linger.

“For a little thing, there’s so much of you.”

Desperate, she sank her teeth into him. “I’ll die in a minute.”

“Here, now. Here.” And his mouth took hers again as he slid his hand between her legs, slipped his fingers into the heat.

She came in a flood, fast and full with her body bucking against him. He swallowed her cry of shock and release, absorbed it, savored it even as his blood burned for more.

Then she was pliant, soft as the wax that pooled at the base of his candles, and he was free to feast on her mouth, on her throat, on her breasts.

“Just let me have you for a while.”

The pressure built again, layer by layer, slick and slippery until she slid off the edge a second time. How could he bear it? she wondered. His flesh was damp as hers, his heart leaping as high and fast, his body as tensed and ready.

Once again she arched against him, once again she wrapped her legs tight around his waist. And their eyes met in the shifting light.

“Now.” He murmured it as he slipped into her, silky and smooth, as if they’d mated a thousand times before.

Her breath trembled in, then out. His hands covered hers, and she laced her fingers with his. They watched each other as they began to move.

Easy and lovely, like a dance remembered. Rising and falling, pleasure met with pleasure. Then, as if the music demanded it, a subtle quickening of pace. His eyes were darker now, that dreamy blue going opaque as he lost himself. When she tightened around him, when her eyelids fluttered closed and the moan rippled her throat, he held on, held on.

Then he buried his face in her hair and let himself go.

She was going to need a minute. Perhaps an hour. A day or two might be best. After that, she imagined she could move again, or at the very least think about moving. But for now it seemed like the finest of ideas to just stay as she was, sprawled over Shawn’s bed with him plastering her into the mattress.

Her body was absolutely golden. She imagined that if she had the energy to open her eyes and look, she’d see it glow in the dark.

It was just as she’d said before. Once the man stopped thinking, he did a fine job of things.

“You aren’t cold, are you?” His voice was muffled and sleepy.

“I doubt I’d be cold if we were lying naked on an ice floe heading for Greenland.”

“Good.” He shifted, settled in. “Let’s just be here for a little while yet.”

“Just don’t fall asleep on top of me.”

He made some sound, and nuzzled. “I like the way your hair smells.”

“Sawdust?”

There’s some of that. It’s nice enough. And there’s a hint of lemon with it.”

“It’s probably the shampoo I stole from Patty.” Her body was waking up again, and she began to take more notice to the way he fit against her, the way their legs were tangled. Even as interest began to stir, she also noticed the sheer weight of him.

“You’re heavier than you look.”

“Sorry.” He tucked an arm under her and rolled. “ Better?”

“It wasn’t so bad before.” But, now that he mentioned it, it was better to be able to cross her arms over his chest and look down at his face. It was so damn pretty, that face, that she didn’t even mind, for now, the smug way his lips were curved. “I have to say, Shawn, you’re better at the entire business than I figured on.”

He opened his eyes. The blue of them was dreamy again. “Well, I’ll admit to having some practice over the years.”

“I won’t complain about that, but there’s a problem just the same.”

“Is there?” He picked up a lock of her hair, twined the curl of it around his finger. “And what would it be?”

“Well, my idea, originally, was that we’d have sex.”

“I recall you mentioning it.” He let the curl unwind, then fall, then chose another. “And I have to admit, a fine idea it was.”

“That was the first part. I mentioned as well that I was looking to do that in order to get this urge I had for you out of my system.”

“I recall that as well. An itch, you said.” He ran his nails lightly down her back. “I’ve done my best to scratch it for you.”

“You did, and I’d never deny it. But that’s the problem part.” Watching him, she trailed a finger along his collarbone, up the side of his neck. And watched his lashes flutter until his eyes were a slit of blue behind them.

“Well, what’s your problem, then, O’Toole?”

“You see, it hasn’t appeared to work, as yet. It seems I’ve still got this itch. So we’ll just have to have sex again.”

“If we must, we must.” He sat up, taking her with him. “Let’s have a shower and a meal first, then we’ll see what can be done.”

Chuckling, she laid her hands on his cheeks. “We’re still friends, too, aren’t we?”

“We’re still friends.” He cuddled her closer, and intended for the kiss to be light and affectionate. But he sank into her.

Her mind was going fuzzy when he turned to lay her back on the bed. Her arms were reaching up for him as she said, “What about the shower and the meal?”

“Later.”

It was later, and a great deal later, and they both ate like starving wolves. Here it was easy to fall back into friendship, to be two people who’d shared meals hundreds of times before.

Did you know Betsy Clooney’s whole brood’s down with the chicken pox?

Have you noticed Jack Brennan’s eyeing Theresa Fitzgerald now that she and Colin Riley have broken things off?

Between bites she told him of her sister Patty’s latest flood of tears over whether to have pink or yellow roses in her bridal bouquet. And they lifted a glass to toast the closure of the deal with Magee.

“Are you thinking he’ll send a man out to get the lay of the land and design the theater?” Brenna got up to let Bub in when he came scratching at the door.

“If that’s his plan, it hasn’t come down to me as yet.” He watched the cat slink over to Brenna to rub against her leg.

“Sure, it’s the only way it can be done correctly.” She considered another serving, then decided if she gave in to greed on that, she’d suffer. With a little regret, she pushed her plate away. “He can’t be sitting up in his lofty office in New York City and design what should be here in Ardmore.”

“And how do you know he has a lofty office?”

“The rich are fond of lofty.” Grinning, she kicked back in her chair. “Ask Darcy if lofty isn’t an aim when she finds the rich man she’s hunting for. In any case, they have to see what we are and what we have before they set in their minds what we’ll be.”

“I’ll agree with that.” He rose to clear the table. “I liked your design. Maybe you could draw it up a little more formally. We could give Aidan a look at it. If he likes it as I do, there’s nothing stopping us from passing it onto the Magee for his consideration.”

For a moment she simply sat. “You’d do that?”

He glanced over his shoulder as he ran hot water and soap into the sink. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“It would mean a great deal. Even if Magee laughs it off and tosses it aside, it would matter to me. I’m not an architect or engineer or anything that . . . lofty,” she decided as she got to her feet. “But I’ve always had a yen to have a hand in the designing and the building of something, from the ground up.”

“You get a picture in your head,” he said. “An empty field or lot and what you’d put on it right down to the fancy work.”

“That’s right, yes. How did you know?”

“It’s not so different from building a song.”

Thinking of it, she frowned at his back. Never once had she considered that they had anything in common in that area. “I suppose you’re right. I’ll draw it up for you as best I can. Whether the Magee takes a look at it or not, I’m grateful to you for thinking of it.”

She helped him clean up, then as it was nearing midnight, said she had to go.

He walked her out, and they’d made it nearly to the front door before he changed his mind. He settled it by simply plucking her up, hauling her over his shoulder and carting her up to bed once again.

As a result it was half-one when she crept into her house. Creeping was about all she had the energy for. Who would have thought the man could near to wear her out?

She switched off the light her mother had left on for her. Even in the dark she knew which boards, which part of the steps, would creak underfoot. She made it upstairs and into her room without a sound.

And since she wasn’t a mother, she was comfortably unaware that her own had heard her despite the precautions.

Once she slipped into bed, she let out a long sigh, shut her eyes, and fell instantly asleep.

And in sleep dreamed of a silver palace beneath a green hill. Around it grew flowers and grand trees that stood out like paintings in the gilded light. A ribbon of river ran through them, with little diamonds sparkling on its surface in a flash here and there that shocked the eye.

A bridge arched over it, its stones marble-white. As she crossed it, she heard the click of her own boots, the bubble of the water below, and the quick skip of her own heart that wasn’t fear but excitement.

The trees, she saw, were heavy with golden apples,silver pears. For an instant she was tempted to pluck one, to bite into that rich flesh and taste. But even in dreams, she knew that if you visited a fearie raft, you could eat nothing, and drink only water, or you were bound there for a hundred years.

So she only watched the jeweled fruit glint.

And the path leading under them, from the white bridge to the great silver door of the palace, was red as rubies.

As she approached the door, it opened, and out of it spilled the music of pipes and flutes.

She stepped inside, into the music and into perfumed air where torches as tall as men lined the walls with flames that shot as high and true as arrows.

The hall was wide and filled with flowers. There were chairs, with curvy arms and deep cushions, all the color of precious gems. But she saw no one.

Following the music, she climbed the stairs, trailing her hand along a banister that was smooth as silk and glinted like a long, slender sapphire.

Still there was no sound but the music, no movement but her own.

At the top of the stairs there was another long corridor, as wide as the space two grown men would make were they laid head to foot. To her left as she traveled along the corridor was a door of topaz, and to the right, one of emerald. Straight ahead was a third that glowed white as pearls.

And it was from there that the music came.

She opened the white door and stepped inside.

Flowers twined and tangled up the walls. Tables the size of lakes groaned under the weight of platters filled with food. The scents were sensuous.

The floor was a mosaic, a symphony of jewels placed in random patterns.

There were chairs and cushions and plush sofas, but all were empty. All but the throne at the room’s head. There, lounging in the grandeur, was a man in a silver doublet.

“You never hesitated,” he said. “There’s courage in that. Not once did you think of turning around. You just walked straight into what’s unknown to you.”

He offered her a smile, and with a wave of his hand, the gold apple that appeared in it. “You may have a taste for this.”

“I may, but I haven’t a century to spare you.”

He laughed, and flicking his fingers, vanished the apple. “I wouldn’t have let you, as I’ve more use for you above than here.”

Curious, she turned in a circle. “Are you alone, then?”

“Not alone, no. Even faeries like to sleep. The light was to guide you. It’s night here, as it is in your world. I wanted to speak with you, and preferred to do so alone.”

“Well, then.” She lifted her arms, let them fall. “I’m here.”

“I’ve a question for you, Mary Brenna O’Toole.”

“I’ll try to answer it, Carrick, Prince of Faeries.”

His lips twitched again with amused approval, but his eyes were intense and sober as he leaned toward her. “Would you take a pearl from a lover?”

An odd question indeed, she thought. But after all, it was a dream, and she’d had stranger ones. “I would, if it was given freely.”

With a sigh, he tapped his hand on the wide arm of his throne. The ring he wore flashed silver and blue. “Why is it there are always strings attached to answers when dealing with mortals?”

“Why is it faeries are never satisfied with an honest answer?”

Humor brightened his eyes. “You’re a bold one, aren’t you? It’s a fortunate thing I’ve a fondness for mortals.”

“I know you have.” She walked closer now. “I’ve seen your lady. She pines for you. I don’t know if that heavies your heart or lightens it, but it’s what I know.”

Resting his chin on his feet, he brooded. “I know her heart, now that it’s too late for me to do much more than wait. Must there be pain in love before there’s fulfillment?”

“I haven’t the answer.”

“You’ve part of it,” he muttered, and straightened again. “You are part of the answer. Tell me now, what’s in your heart for Shawn Gallagher.” Before she could speak, he lifted a hand in warning. He’d seen the temper flash over her face. “Before you speak, mind this. You’re in my world here, and it’s the simplest of matters for me to make you speak truth. Only truth. We both prefer you answer of your own will.”

“I don’t know what’s in my heart. You’ll have to take that as your truth, for I’ve nothing more.”

“Then it’s time you looked, and time you knew, isn’t it?” He sighed again, not troubling to hide his disgust. “But you won’t till you’re ready. Go on to sleep, then.”

With a sweep of his arm, he was alone with his thoughts in the jeweled light. And Brenna slept, dreamlessly now, in her bed.

She got no more than four hours’ sleep, but went through the day fueled with energy. Most often a late night followed by an early morning left her out of sorts and cross most of the day. But in this case, she was so cheerful that her father commented on her bright mood more than once.

She didn’t feel she could tell him what she told herself. It was good, healthy sex that had her whistling through her work. As close as they were, and as much as she loved him, she doubted her father would want to know how she’d spent her evening.

She remembered the dream, remembered it so clearly, so precisely, that she wondered if she was filling in some blanks without meaning to. But it wasn’t anything she was going to muddle over for long.

“That’s about all for the day, wouldn’t you say, Brenna darling?” Mick straightened up, stretched his back, then glanced over to where his daughter was squatted down painting the floor molding. His lips pursed when he noted she was painting the same six inches over and over with lazy swipes of the brush.

“Brenna?”

“Hmm?”

“Don’t you think you might have just about enough paint on that space of wood by this time?”

“What? Oh.” She dipped the brush again, then made sure to hit the fresh wood. “My mind must’ve wandered.”

“It’s time to call it a day.”

Already?”

With a shake of his head, he gathered up brushes, rollers, and pans. “What was it your mother put in your oatmeal this morning to give you such pep? And why didn’t I have any?”

“The day went by fast, that’s all.” She got to her feet, looked around. With some surprise she noted just how much had been done. She’d gone through the day on automatic pilot, she supposed. “We’ve nearly finished in here.”

“By tomorrow, it’ll be on to the next. We deserve big portions of that roast your mother promised for tonight.”

“You’re tired, Dad. I’ll clean this up.” That, at least, would soften some of the guilt she was going to feel. “And you know, I was thinking I’d go on into the pub and see Darcy. Would you tell Ma I’ll be grabbing a sandwich there?”

He looked pained when she took the brushes from him. “You’re after deserting me, when you know sure as you’re born your mother and Patty will be into the wedding plans and buzzing around me ears.”

Brenna shot him a grin. She’d forgotten about that and the more genuine excuse not to go straight home. “Want to come to the pub with me?”

“You know I would, but then your mother’d have my head on her best china platter. At least give me your word that when your time comes ’round you won’t ask me if I like the lace or the silk best, then burst into tears when I pick the wrong one.”

“A solemn promise.” She kissed his cheek to seal it. “

“I’m holding you to it, girl.” He shrugged his jacket on. “And if things get over sticky at home, you may see me down at Gallagher’s after all.”

“I’ll buy you a pint.”

When he was gone, Brenna put more time and effort into the cleaning than she had to. It made her feel a little less guilty, though truth to tell, she would be seeing Darcy when she went to the village. If she saw Shawn as well, how could she help it. He worked there, didn’t he?

Despite the rationalization, Brenna made a point of seeking Darcy out the minute she walked into the pub.Since she was down at the end of the bar letting old Mr. Riley flirt with her, Brenna took the next stool, then leaned over to kiss the man’s papery cheek.

“And here I find you making eyes at another woman, when time and time again, you’ve said you had them for none but me.”

“Oh, now, darling, a man’s got to look in the direction his head’s pointed. But I’ve been waiting for you to come along and sit on my knee.”

The man was so thin, and she suspected, his bones so brittle, that an attempt to sit on his knee would shatter it. “Oh, we O’Toole women are jealous creatures, dear Mr. Riley. Now I’m after taking Darcy here aside and giving her a stern piece of my mind for trying to beat my time with you.”

When he cackled, she wandered to a table, gesturing for Darcy to follow. “I’m dying for a pint and a hot meal. What’s Shawn got for us tonight?”

Darcy narrowed bright-blue eyes, cocked a dark brow, then fisted a hand on her hip. “Well, then, you’ve gone and slept with him, haven’t you?”

“What are you talking about?” Though Darcy’s voice had been quiet, Brenna’s head swiveled in panicked embarrassment until she was assured no one was close enough to hear.

“You think I can’t look at a woman I’ve known since I was born and not see she’s had a tumble the night before? With Shawn, you can’t be sure, as he’s half the time got that dreaming look in his eyes. But you, that’s a different kettle.”

“So what if I did?” Brenna hissed it as she sat down. “I said I was going to. And no,” she said as soon as she caught the glint. “I won’t be telling you about it.”

“Who said I’d want to know?” But of course she did.She sat herself, leaned close. “One thing.”

“No, not even one.”

“One thing—we’ve had one thing no matter who or what our whole lives.”

“Damn it.” It was true, and to break tradition now would be breaking a bond. “Four times last night.”

“Four?” Eyes widened, Darcy looked toward the kitchen as if she could peer right through the door and pin her brother to the opposite wall. “Well, I have to give him a raise in my estimation. And it’s hardly a wonder you’re looking relaxed.”

“I feel wonderful. Does it really show?”

“You have to look for it. I’ve customers.” Reluctantly, Darcy rose. “I’ll get you a pint—and I’d try the poached chicken tonight. People have been pleased with it.”

“I will then, but I think I’ll see if I can’t have it back in the kitchen.”

“Fine. Get your own pint on your way. Do you want to stay up with me tonight? I’ll bet I can get a bit more out of you.”

“You probably could, as you’re a sneaky, nagging sort, but I need to go home early. I didn’t get much sleep last night.”

“Braggart,” Darcy said with a laugh and flounced off to take an order.

“And how are you, Brenna?” Aidan asked when she came behind the bar.

“Why? How do I look?”

He glanced over, as her response had been so sharp. “Well, you look fine to me.”

“I am fine.” Cursing herself under her breath, she drew a pint of Harp from the tap. “I’m a bit tired, I suppose. I thought I’d have this and a plate back in the kitchen, if it’s all right with you, before I head home.”

“You’re welcome, as always.”

“Ah, will you need an extra hand at all this week, Aidan?”

“I could use yours both Friday and Saturday nights, if you have them free.”

“They are. I’ll come ’round.” Casually, she hoped, she moved past and pushed open the kitchen door. “Can you spare a hungry woman a hot meal?”

He turned from the sink where he had the water running hot and full. His eyes warmed as she lifted her glass to his own lips. “I think I might have something you’ll like. I wondered if you’d wander my way tonight.”

“I wanted to see Darcy.” She laughed and sat down with her beer. “And maybe I don’t mind so much seeing you as well.”

He turned the water off, pulled at the cloth tucked into his waistband, and dried his hands. “And how would your system be?”

“Oh, my system’s doing well, thank you. Though there does seem to be a little bit of a hitch in it still.”

“Would you be wanting some help with that?”

I wouldn’t mind it.”

He walked to her chair, and leaning over the back of it, sent the system under discussion churning with his teeth on her ear. “Come home with me tonight.”

She shivered, couldn’t help it. There was something unspeakably erotic about the voice, the suggestion, when she couldn’t see his face. “I can’t. You know I can’t. It’d be too hard to explain to my family.”

“I don’t know when I can get another night off.”

Her vision wavered, doubled as he did something clever with his tongue behind her ear. “How about mornings?”

“It so happens all my mornings, for the foreseeable future, are free.”

“I’ll come by, the first chance I get.”

He straightened, then plucking off her cap, ran a hand down her hair in a way that made her want to stretch like a cat. And purr. “The door’s always open.”

THIRTEEN

THE MORNING WAS soft. Gentle rain pattered over flowers coming awake for spring. Fog, very thin and nearly white, skimmed along the ground and would be burned away at the first ray of sun to beam through the clouds.

Faerie Hill Cottage was quiet when Brenna stepped inside. Even faeries like to sleep, she remembered. Perhaps ghosts did as well, and chose gray and rainy dawns for their dreaming times.

For herself, she was full of energy, and she knew exactly how she planned to use it.

She sat at the base of the stairs to take off her boots, then decided it was as good a place as any to dispense with her jacket and cap as well. When she hung the cap on the newel post, she tapped a finger lightly to the little faerie pin she kept hooked there. It had outlasted a number of caps.

She wondered if anyone but Shawn would have thought to give it to her, as he had years before. Most, when they gave her gifts, chose something practical. A tool or a book, warm socks or a sturdy work shirt.

That was how most saw her, after all. How she saw herself if it came to it. A practical person with little time for the foolish or the pretty.

But from Shawn it had been a little silver faerie with slanted eyes and pointed wings.

And she wondered if someone else had given it to her, would she have worn it nearly every day since, without really thinking about it.

She didn’t know the answer to either, nor the meaning of either. So she shrugged, thinking that was just the way it was between them.

However it was, her pulse quickened as she climbed the stairs.

He was sleeping, all but buried under sheets and blankets, and dead center of the bed, like a man who was used to having the place to himself. The cat made a black circle on the foot of the covers, but opened his eyes, a cool, steady gleam, when Brenna stepped in.

“Guarding him, are you? Well, he’ll never hear it from me. Now then, unless you’re after being embarrassed, or envious, in very short order I’d take myself off somewhere else.”

Bub arched his back, then, as if it was an afterthought, leaped down to wind his way through Brenna’s legs. She reached to give him one long stroke. “Sorry, darling, but I’ve a mind to pet someone else this morning.”

The man surely made use of every inch of bed. Well, he was about to share it, she thought, and unbuttoned her shirt.

If he’d bothered to build a fire the night before, it had died to ash. Kindling one now to chase the chill away might wake him. She had plans to do that by other methods altogether.

He was a quiet sleeper, she noted as she stripped down to the skin. One who appeared to nestle into dreams without a lot of rolling about. As she recalled, he slept deep as well—hadn’t she heard Mrs. Gallagher shout him awake dozens of times when she’d spent the night with Darcy down the hall?

So they would soon see how much time and trouble it took to wake him by other means.

It was exciting to watch him when he didn’t know, when he was defenseless, when he had no idea of what she had in mind for him. His face held both strength and beauty, and, she supposed, a kind of innocence now. But then, she’d always considered Shawn a great deal more innocent than herself.

He believed in things. Believed they would just happen along at the right time without a body having to take a hand in it, put their back into it. That’s what bothered her the most about him when it came to his music. What did the man think, that someone would just wander into the cottage and buy up the tunes he had scribbled on papers?

It wasn’t enough to write them. Why didn’t he see that? Bone-lazy, she supposed, then shook her head. If she kept thinking of that, she’d work herself right out of the mood. And that would be a terrible waste of a morning.

Naked, she walked to the bed, slipped under the covers, and straddled him. Her mouth fit over his. She intended to start the process with a reverse on the waking of Sleeping Beauty. But she didn’t intend to stop with a kiss.

He was steeped in dreams, all a blur of color and shape. A pleasant place to be. Sensation slowly weaved its way through. The warm flavor of woman that stirred the blood and roused the mind. Then the scent of her— subtle, familiar, so that the next indrawn breath thickened the pulse. And the shape of her, the feel of flesh sliding along flesh.

He lifted a hand, lost it in that wonderfully wild tangle of hair. Even as he murmured her name, she was shifting over him, surrounding him, taking him in. The first burst of lust exploded inside him while he was still half sleeping.

He thrust up into her, helpless, trapped in a web of need woven while he’d been dreaming. For the first time in memory he could do nothing to finesse control over his own body. Nothing but let himself be taken.

When he opened his eyes, she rose over him in the soft gray light, her hair bright as fire, her eyes sharp and green. Then she bowed back, fisting her hands in her own hair as she rode them both to finish.

“Mother of God,” was all he could manage, and nothing could have pleased her more.

“Good morning to you.” She felt golden and bright. “

“And that’s all the time I have for you. I’ve got to be going.”

“What? Why?” He grabbed for her hand, but she slipped nimbly out of reach.

“Well, I’m finished with you, boyo, and I’ve work to do.”

“Come back.” He thought about sitting up, but only rolled to his side. “I’ll do better by you now that I’m waking up.”

“I did well enough by both of us.” She tugged her Tshirt on, then shrugged the flannel one over it. “And I’m expected at the hotel. As it is, I’ve got to take at least a quick look at your car, since I told Dad that was why I was coming by here first.”

“Tonight, then.” He only grunted when the cat leaped up on his ass and nipped it with his claws. “Find a way and stay here tonight.”

“Stay” was the word that made her uneasy, but she snuck a glance at him while she pulled on her work pants. His eyes were half closed. “I’m working at the pub tomorrow night. I can say I’m sleeping over with Darcy.”

“Why do you have to lie?”

“You know how people would talk if anyone knew we were seeing each other this way.”

“And that matters?”

“Of course it does.” This time when she looked over at him, she was surprised to note his eyes weren’t sleepy, but focused and alert.

“Is this something that shames you, then, Brenna?”

“No. But it’s private. I’ll have a look at your car now, and the fact is I’ll give it a good going-over first chance I have.” She leaned over to kiss him, then shoved back her hair. “I’ll be back ’round soon as I can.”

He rolled over onto his back, annoying Bub enough to set the cat to stalking off again. Alone, he stared at the ceiling until he heard her shut the front door behind her.

When, he wondered, had he started wanting more? Why should she be the one he wanted more from? What was this need that was growing inside him? Had it always been there?

Questions, he thought in disgust. Well, he seemed to have plenty of them, without the first answer.

He rolled out of bed and might have sulked off into the shower, but the sound of his own car starting up drew him to the window.

Brenna was just rounding to the bonnet, and as he watched she yanked it open, stuck her head under. He imagined she was already muttering curses because he’d neglected this or allowed that to get dirty. It never did him a bit of good to tell her that as far as he was concerned everything in there was dirty and mysterious and not of any particular interest to him. As long as the engine started when he turned the key, he didn’t give a rat’s ass what made the whole business possible.

She would, of course. A born tinkerer was Brenna. She was never happier than when she had something taken apart and all the pieces of it spread out for her examination. It made him think he should ask her to have a go at his toaster, as it was burning one side of everything he put in it.

Then she pulled her head out, slammed the bonnet smartly. She shot a look up at the window where he was standing, and her eyes, full of righteous annoyance, flashed to his. He sent her what he knew was a cheeky grin in return before she stomped off to her lorry. The way her mouth was moving, he assumed she was assigning him to the devil.

Rain sprinkled down on her as she hitched herself into her lorry. He watched as she, with her usual energy and carelessness, bulleted in reverse into the road, then zipped away over bumps.

But he was no longer smiling. Amusement had fallen away into sheer shock. He had one of the answers now, and he didn’t care for it one bit.

He was in love with her. “

“Bloody, stinking hell. What in the wide world am I supposed to do with that?” He started to jam his hands into his pockets, but got no satisfaction, as he was naked. He turned, intending to drown himself in the shower in the hopes the feeling would pass.

Lady Gwen stood just inside the doorway, her hands folded neatly, watching him.

“Sweet Jesus.” However foolish it was, he snatched the blanket from the bed and wrapped it around him. “A man’s entitled to his privacy in his own home.”

Flustered and fumbling, he stared back at her. She looked as real as he felt, and as lovely as all the legends professed. Now her eyes were full of quiet sympathy, and an understanding that had his gut churning uneasily.

She was there, no question that she was there, and the cat had come back to ribbon around her skirts and purr ferociously.

“So, is this what you were waiting for before you showed yourself to me? For me to realize something that hurts? Well, it’s said misery loves company, but I prefer to nurse my own wounds alone.”

She walked to him, graceful, dignified, those soft eyes swimming with emotion. He saw her lift a hand, and though he felt no pressure, no slide of skin to skin, he felt the touch of it against his cheek as gentle comfort.

Then she was gone.

He did what he usually did when he came up against something he didn’t want to deal with. He tucked it into a corner of his mind, trusting he’d work out some solution eventually, and dived into his music.

It balanced him, fed his heart. As close as he was to his family, he’d never been able to explain what it meant to him to be able to hear music in his head, to feel it inside him, then to be able to make it sound in the air.

It was the one thing he’d always had—and having, needed—and needing, feared losing.

Until Brenna.

He’d always had her as well, and needed her without realizing how deep that need was rooted. And now knowing, he feared losing her, and what he’d just discovered.

Thoughtfully, he opened the little box he’d put on the piano. Inside he’d placed the pearl he’d been given at Maude’s grave. He understood now what Carrick wanted him to do with it. But he was far from ready to offer that pearl, and himself, to Brenna.

Whatever others had planned for him, he would move in his own time, and in his own way. He’d promised Brenna friendship. He wouldn’t go back on his word, but he was beginning to understand just what keeping it would cost him if he couldn’t win the whole of her heart.

The woman who’d come to his bed that morning wasn’t looking for romance and the promise of a future. She was looking only at the moment and the pleasures it could bring.

He hadn’t been so different himself, at other times, with other women. It didn’t sit comfortably to be the one pining. Since comfort was important to him, he didn’t intend to pine for long.

It was just a matter of figuring which steps to take, in what order and in which direction. And as it was Brenna, he knew that he would get to his objective faster, and smoother, if he found a way to make her believe it was all her idea in the first place.

So . . . he ran his hands lightly over the keys. He just had to work it out so that he was in the position of being courted by Brenna O’Toole.

He was amused enough by the notion that his fingers began to move faster, to make the tune livelier. Even as he stopped to scribble down the notes, words began to jump into his head.

Come back ’round so you can catch me. I’ll give you a dance as long as you please. But circle back soon, my red-haired lovely, for it’s only you I’m wanting to tease. Now kiss me quick and say that you’ll love me from now till ever birds sing in the trees. I’m waiting right here so you can convince me the time’s come to get down on my knees.

It made him see the humor of it all, and smoothed out the knot of tension from the back of his neck. After all, how could anyone who knew the pair of them not see the absurdity of it?

She the planner, he the dreamer. Why, they rammed up against each other’s basic personalities at least as often as they meshed. Well, what did the heart know about the logic of things? And, he was wise enough to know that if he’d fallen for someone more like himself, they’d while their lives away without getting the first thing accomplished.

And though he couldn’t think of a man like Brenna, he imagined if she’d come across one, the two of them would hammer each other’s brains out within a week.

So, in the big scheme of things, by falling in love with her, and arranging for her to decide they should make what was between them a permanent thing, he was only saving her from a brief, and certainly violent, life.

Though he thought it might be best all ’round if he kept that opinion strictly to himself.

Satisfied, he closed the pearl back in its box, left his music scattered about, and went off to start his day of work.

• • •

He baked apple tarts with Brenna’s appetite in mind. If he was going to approach the business from a kind of role-reversal angle, baking one of her favorite weaknesses seemed rather canny.

He toyed with the idea of trying to talk himself out of being in love with her, as he imagined people did when the fit wasn’t as comfortable as they might prefer. He even imagined he could do a fair job of it, starting with listing all the reasons why it wasn’t a wise idea. The head of that would be the simple fact that he hadn’t planned on falling in love, not seriously, for years yet.

And when he imagined the woman on the receiving end, it was always a soft, feminine, gentle-natured sort. A comfortable woman, he thought as he trimmed his pastry. There was nothing comfortable about the O’Toole, for all she was a blessing in bed. After all, much as it appealed, a man couldn’t spend his life in bed with a hot-blooded, naked woman.

Which made him think about the morning, and the way she’d ridden him to a blind, sweaty finish before his brain had even waked up. Which made him a great deal less comfortable altogether. So, being Shawn, he put that thought away. For the time being.

It hadn’t been the sex he’d fallen in love with. That had simply been the key that opened him up so he’d see what had been waiting inside him for her. She’d never be an easy woman. God knew she’d poke and she’d prod at him until he was ready to throttle her. She would pick fights and would always find the way to put his own temper on the boil.

But Jesus, she could make him laugh. And she knew half of what was in his mind before he’d gotten the words out. There was treasure in that. She knew his every flaw, and didn’t hold any of them against him overmuch.

She didn’t think much of his music, and that stung more than a little. But he chose to think it just a lack of understanding. Just as he had no interest or knowledge of what mysteries were under the bonnet of his car.

Whatever the weight of the scale, for or against, didn’t matter. His heart was already hers. All he had to do was make her realize she wanted to keep it.

He fancied up the pastries, adding bits of dough in little designs, the way he’d seen in a picture somewhere. After brushing the lot of them with egg wash, he popped them into the oven.

When Darcy came in he was whistling over the Gallagher’s Irish stew he had simmering in his big pot.

“My larder’s bare as the top of Rory O’Hara’s head. I need a sandwich before shift starts.”

“I’ll make it.” Shawn cut her off before she could grab from the refrigerator. “You’ll just leave a mess for me to clean up otherwise.”

“I’ll have some of that roast beef if there’s any left.”

“There’s enough.”

“Well, then, don’t be stingy.” She sat, propping her legs on the chair beside her, as much to admire her new shoes as to rest her feet before the long shift ahead. When she noted the bowls he’d yet to wash, she sniffed the air. “Is that apple tarts you have in the oven?”

“It might be. And I might see there’s one left for you, if you don’t badger me.”

Experimentally, she ran a finger around the inside of the bowl that had held the filling and licked. “I seem to recall that Brenna favors apple tarts particularly.”

Shawn sliced the sandwich neatly in two, knowing Darcy would complain otherwise. “I recall that as well.” His expression bland, he slid the sandwich in front of her.

“Are you—” Darcy cut herself off, picked up the first half of her lunch. “No, I don’t want to know. My best friend and my brother,” she said over the first bite. “I never thought to have to work to keep that image out of my head.”

“Well, keep working at it.” Curious, he sat across from her. “You’re friends with Jude, and it never seemed to bother you that she and Aidan—”

“I was new friends with Jude.” Darcy stared at him over her sandwich with eyes that were blue and sulky. “It’s a different matter entirely. It has to be your face,” she decided. “Because she knows you through and through, so it’s certainly not your riveting personality. She’s just dazzled by the look of you, as there’s no denying you’ve a strong and handsome face.”

“You’re only saying that because we look so much alike.”

Her teeth flashed before she bit in again. “That’s true enough. But we can’t help being beautiful, can we, darling?”

“We can only do our best to bear the terrible weight of it. Then offer it up.” He said it ponderously and made her snicker.

“Well, it’s a burden I enjoy carrying. And if a man doesn’t want to look any further than my face, I’ve nothing to complain over. It’s enough that I know I’ve a mind behind it.”

“Is the Dubliner you’ve been seeing treating you like a pet, then?”

She moved a shoulder, annoyed with herself for being dissatisfied with a relationship that held so much potential. “He enjoys my company and takes me nice places in fine style.” And because it was Shawn, she could hiss out a breath. “Where he spends half the time bragging about himself and his work and expecting me to be impressed beyond speech. And the thing of it is, he’s not nearly as smart as he thinks he is, and owes most of his accomplishments, such as they are, to family connections rather than his own hard work or skill.”

“You’re tired of him.”

She opened her mouth, closed it again, then shrugged. “I am, yes. What’s wrong with me?”

“If I tell you, you’ll be after throwing that plate at me.”

“I won’t.” As a sign of truce, she pushed it aside. “This time.”

“All right, then, I’ll tell you what’s the matter. You underestimate yourself, Darcy, then you get annoyed when others do the same. You don’t have any respect for the men who fall at your feet, promising to give you the world on a platter. You’ve filled your own platter all your life and carried it with your own hands. And you know you can keep doing it.”

“I want more.” She said it fiercely, finding herself inexplicably on the verge of tears. “What’s wrong with wanting more?”

“Nothing. Nothing at all.” He reached out to close his hand over hers.

“I want to go places, see things. Have things.” She shoved away from the table, prowling the kitchen as if it were a cage. “I can’t help wanting it. Everything would be easier if I could be a little bit in love with him. Just a little would be enough. But I’m not, and I can’t talk myself into it. So I woke up this morning knowing I’d be breaking it off, and tossing away a lovely trip to Paris.”

“That’s the right thing to do.”

“I’m not doing it because it’s the right thing to do.” Frustrated, she threw up her hands. “I’m doing it because I’m not having my first trip to Paris spoiled by sharing it with a man who’d bore my brains out. Shawn.” She came back to the table, sat again, and leaning forward, spoke seriously. “I’m not a nice person.”

He took her hand again, patted it. “I love you anyway.”

It took her a minute, then her eyes lit with appreciation. “I should have known better than to expect you to list my virtues. But I feel better in any case.” Because she did, she dipped her finger in the bowl again, scooped out another smear of filling. “I wish I could find someone to have a bit of fun and frolic with, like you and Brenna.”

She might not have caught it, the quick change in the eyes before he rose to clear the table. But she knew him as well as, often better than, she knew herself. “Damn it all. I was afraid of this. You’ve gone and fallen for her, haven’t you?”

“It’s not for you to worry about.”

“It is, of course it is, when I love both of you. You great blockhead. Couldn’t you just enjoy yourself, like any other man?”

He thought of that morning, and licked a bit of apple filling himself. “I am enjoying myself.”

“And how long will that last now that you’ve fallen in love with her?”

Interested, he glanced back at her as he began to work. “Does the fun go out of such matters when love walks in?”

“It does when it only walks through one of the doors and the other stays shut.”

“You don’t have much confidence in me, for finding a way of opening a closed door if I put my mind to it.”

“Shawn, I don’t want to hurt you, and neither would Brenna, but she told me straight out that she only wanted to sleep with you.”

“She was clear enough about what she wanted.” This time he smiled. “I want more. What’s wrong with wanting more?”

“This isn’t the time to throw my own words back at my head. I’m worried for you.”

“Don’t be.” He washed the largest of the bowls by hand rather than crowd the dishwasher. “I know what I’m about. I can’t help my feelings. And before you say it,” he continued, “I know she can’t help hers either. But what’s wrong with doing what I can to change her feelings?”

“The minute she thinks you’re courting her—”

But I won’t be. She’ll be courting me.”

Darcy’s first response was a snort, but then she stopped, considered. “Aren’t you the clever one?” she murmured.

“Clever enough to know Brenna will prefer to do the persuading rather than be the persuaded.” He checked his tarts, adjusted the heat. “I expect what we’ve said here to stay here, between the two of us.”

“As if I’d go running off to tell Brenna what falls out of your mouth.” Insulted, she grabbed a tray. His stare from under raised brows made her relent. “All right, in the general way of things that’s what I do, but this is a different matter. You can trust me.”

He knew he could. She might try to fracture his skull with a flying plate, but Darcy would bite off her tongue before betraying a confidence. “I suppose that means you won’t be carrying back to me whatever she might have to say, about . . . certain things.”

“It does, indeed. Look for your spies elsewhere, my lad.” Nose in the air, she started to flounce out. Then there came a hiss of breath from her and she stopped. “She doesn’t think she’s built in a particularly attractive way.”

Since it was the last thing he’d expected to hear, Shawn merely stared until Darcy cursed under her breath.

“I’m only telling you because she never said it outright to me in just those words. But she thinks of her body as a practical thing, and not as female as it could be. She doesn’t think men find her particularly attractive—female-like. And that’s why the sex is just sex in her thinking. She doesn’t believe a man might look at her in a romantic or tender sort of way.”

She paused a moment, tried not to wonder if Brenna would forgive her if her friend knew she’d said such things. “A woman likes to be told . . . well, if you’ve any brain in your head, you should know what a woman likes to be told. And it’s not a matter of just grabbing hold of what’s different from yours, but telling . Now, close your mouth because you look half-witted.”

She let the door swing shut behind her.

FOURTEEN

“AND YOU’LL REMEMBER Dennis Magee who went off to America—well, neither of us remembers it precisely, as it’s been fifty years if it’s a day and we weren’t yet born, or barely so in my own case, at the time he left Old Parish. But you’ll remember hearing of it and how he made his fortune with land and building and such over in New York City.”

Kathy Duffy sat cozily in the O’Tooles’ kitchen, sipping tea and nibbling on iced cakes—though if truth be known the batter could have used just a splash more vanilla—while she shared news and gossip.

As she was used to having ten words to say for anyone else’s one, she didn’t notice her friend’s distraction, but kept chattering away with the hottest bulletin in Old Parish.

“Always a clever one, was Dennis. So everyone who knew him said. And he married Deborah Casey, who was a cousin of my mother’s and was reputed to have a good head on her shoulders as well. Off they went, across the foam with their firstborn still in short pants. They did well for themselves in America, built up a fine business. You know Old Maude was betrothed to the John Magee who was lost in the war, and he was brother to Dennis. In all these years,” Kathy went on as she licked a bit of icing from her finger, “it seems Dennis never did look back to Ireland, or the place where he was born. But he had himself a son, and the son a son. And that one, he’s looking right enough.”

She waited a beat, and Mollie roused herself to raise her eyebrows. “Is he?”

“He is, yes. And he’s got his sights set on Ardmore. Planning to build a theater here.”

“Oh, yes.” Mollie stirred the tea she’d yet to taste. “I heard Brenna talking about it.” Distracted she was, but not so deeply that she didn’t notice Kathy’s crestfallen expression. “I don’t have the details of it,” she said, to smooth her friend’s feathers.

“Well, then.” Delighted, Kathy edged forward. “There’s a deal being done between the Magees in New York City and the Gallaghers. The word ’round is they’ll be building the theater onto the pub. A kind of music hall if I’m hearing correctly. Imagine that, Mollie, a music hall right in Ardmore, and with the Gallaghers having their fingers in it.”

“If it’s to be, I’d be happier knowing one of our own had some say in the matter. Do you know if Dennis Magee, the younger, will be coming back to Ardmore?”

“I don’t see how the matter can be done otherwise.” Kathy sat back, patted her hair. Her niece had given her a home perm the week before, and she was well pleased with it. Each curl was like a soldier tucked up in his bedroll.

“Dennis and I had a bit of a flirt when we were both young and foolish and he came to visit one summer back some years.” Kathy’s eyes went dreamy as she looked back. “On his grand tour, was he, and wanted to see the place where his parents had been born and reared and where he himself spent the first years of his life. He was a fine-looking man, Dennis Magee, as I recall him.”

“The way I remember things, you had a bit of a flirt with every fine-looking man before you plucked the one you were after.”

Kathy’s eyes went bright with humor. “What’s the point of being young and foolish if you do otherwise?”

Because it was one of the things worrying her, Mollie managed a wan smile and let her old friend settle back into chattering.

Mollie was certain that her oldest daughter was having a great deal more than a flirtation with Shawn Gallagher. That wasn’t such a shock, not really, but the fact that Brenna wasn’t talking of it with her was both a shock and a concern. She’d raised her girls to know there was nothing they couldn’t share with their mother.

She’d known the night her Maureen had fallen in love, as the girl had come in flushed and laughing and full of the wonder of it. And when Kevin had asked her Patty to marry, she’d known the minute her girl had come into the house and thrown herself weeping into her mother’s arms. That was the way with them, Maureen laughing over joys and Patty weeping over them.

But Brenna, the most practical of her children, had done neither, nor had she, as Mollie had expected, sat down and spoken of what had changed with Shawn.

Hadn’t she left that very morning saying that she would be staying over with Darcy that night and not quite looking her mother in the eye when she lied? It hurt, knowing your child had the need to lie to you.

“Where have you gone off to?”

“Hmm?” Mollie focused on Kathy’s face again, shook her head. “I’m sorry. I can’t seem to keep my mind on things these days.”

“It’s no wonder. You’ve one daughter married only months ago, and another planning her wedding. Is it making you blue?”

“A little, I suppose.” Because she’d let her tea go cold and Kathy’s cup was empty, Mollie rose to pour hers down the sink and refill both cups with fresh. “I’m proud of them, happy for them, but . . .”

“They grow up so much faster than ever you think.”

“They do. One minute I’m scrubbing faces, and the next I’m buying wedding gowns.” To her surprise, helpless tears rushed to her eyes. “Oh, Kathy.”

“There, now, darling.” She took both of Mollie’s hands and squeezed. “I felt the same way when mine left the nest.”

“It’s Patty’s doing.” Sniffling, Mollie dug a handkerchief out of her pocket. “I never cried with Maureen except at the wedding. Thought I’d go mad from time to time as my Maureen wouldn’t settle for less than perfection, and her idea of it changed daily. But Patty, she gets weepy if we talk about what flowers she’ll have. I swear to you, Kathy, I live in fear that the child will bawl her way down the aisle to poor Kevin. People would think we’ve a gun to her head, forcing her to take her vows.”

“Oh, now, nothing of the sort. Patty’s your sentimentalone. She’ll make a lovely bride, tears and all.”

“Of course she will.” But Mollie indulged herself with a few tears of her own. “Then there’s Mary Kate. She’s taken to mooning about—over some boy, I’m sure—and brooding and closing herself off to write in her diary. Half the time she won’t let Alice Mae in the room.”

“Sure, there’s probably a lad at the hotel she fancies herself in love with. Is it worrying you?”

“Not overmuch, I suppose. Mary Kate’s a great brooder, and she’s of an age where having her younger sister in her pocket becomes a trial.”

“Just growing pains. You’ve done a fine job of mothering your girls, Mollie. They’re a credit to you, each and every one. Not that that stops a woman from worrying over her chicks. Well, at least Brenna’s not giving you any grief at the moment.”

Carefully, Mollie lifted her cup and sipped. “Brenna’s steady as a rock,” she said. There were some things you couldn’t share, even with a friend.

With the pub closed for an hour between shifts, Aidan stuck his head in the kitchen. “Can you leave that for a few minutes?”

Shawn cast a look around the general disorder caused by a busy afternoon crowd. “Without a second’s hesitation. Why?”

“There’s something to talk about, and I want a walk.” Shawn tossed his dishcloth aside. “Where?”

“The beach’ll do.” Aidan came through the kitchen and started out the back door. He paused there a moment, studying the slight rise of land, the tidiness of it before it gave way to a smattering of trees the wind had bent seaward.

“Second thoughts?” Shawn asked him. “

“No, not about this.” But he continued to look and measure. The shops and cottages that ran along the sides of his pub, the back gardens, the ancient dog who lay claim to a shady spot for a nap, the corner at the far end of their land where he’d kissed his first girl.

“It’ll change more than a little,” Aidan mused. “

“It will. It changed when Shamus Gallagher put up the walls of the pub. And every one of us since has changed it in one way or the other. This is your change.”

“Ours.” Aidan said it quickly, as it was very much on his mind. “That’s one of the things we’ll talk about. I didn’t catch Darcy. The girl was out of the place like a ball from a cannon. Do you remember playing out here?”

“I do.” Absently, Shawn rubbed his nose. “Aye, that I do.”

With a quick laugh, Aidan walked around the side. “I’d forgotten that. We had a ball game going out back from time to time, and that’s where Brenna rapped one right in your face. Christ, you bled like a pig.”

“The bat was as near as big as she was.”

“True enough, but the lass has always had an arm on her. I remember you lying there, cursing and bleeding, and when she saw it was no more than your nose that was broken, she told you to stop shouting and offer it up. We had some fine games back of the pub.”

“Impending fatherhood’s making you sentimental.”

“Maybe it is.” They crossed the street, quiet this time of day, this time of year. “Spring’s coming,” Aidan added as they worked their way down to the curve of beach. “And the tourists and holidayers come with it. Winter’s short in Ardmore.”

Shawn dipped his hands in his pocket. There was still a bit of bite to the wind. “You won’t hear me complaining over that.”

Sand crunched softly under boots as they walked west. Where it met the horizon, the water was a dreamy blue. Here, where it rolled to land, it fumed, white against green, driven by small, choppy waves. Their tips sparkled in the generous stream of sun.

They walked in silence, away from the boats already docked for the day, and the nets hung for drying, and toward the cliffs that layered their way up toward the sky.

“I spoke with Dad this morning.”

“He’s well? And Ma, too?”

“They’re well and fine. He’s expecting to meet with the lawyers early next week. Papers, at least some of them, should be ready to sign. He’s decided, while he’s about that, to have more drawn up. Papers that would put the pub in my name, in a legal way.”

“It’s time for that, as we’ve known they’ve found their spot in Boston.”

“I told him my thoughts, and I’ll tell you. I feel it would be better, and more fair, if the pub was titled between the three of us.”

When a shell caught his eye, Shawn bent, picked it up, examined it. “That’s not our way.”

Which had been precisely what his father had said. Aidan hissed out a breath, paced off, then back. “Christ, you’re more like him than any of us.”

“Sure, that doesn’t sound like a compliment to either our father or myself just at the moment.” Tickled, Shawn stood where he was while Aidan paced a bit more.

“It wasn’t meant as one. You’ve both heads like bricks about certain things. Wasn’t it you who just spoke of change as a good thing? If we can change the pub, why the devil can’t we change the way it’s passed down?”

Absently, Shawn tucked the shell in his pocket. “ Because some things you change, and some you don’t.”

“Who decides, I’d like to know?”

Shawn cocked his head. “We do. You’re outnumbered on this, Aidan, so let it go. Gallagher’s is yours, and you’ll pass it down to the child Jude’s already carrying. It doesn’t make it less ours, Darcy’s and mine, not the heart of it.”

“I’m talking about a legal matter.”

“Exactly. It’s going to be a fine, fresh evening,” Shawn said, considering the matter closed. “Business should be good.”

“What about your children when you have them?” Aidan asked. “Don’t you want them to have some legal standing in all of it?”

“So why does it have to get legal all of a sudden?”

“Because it’s changing, Shawn.” Exasperation sparked from him as he threw up his hands. “The theater changes Ardmore, changes Gallagher’s. Changes us.”

“It doesn’t, not the way you’re worrying right now. More people will come, for different reasons,” Shawn mused, trying to see it in his mind. “Another B and B might pop up along the way, and someone might be inclined to open another shop along the water. But Gallagher’s will still be serving food and drink, and offering music as it always has. One of us will man the bar. And while we’re about it, the boats will go out, nets’ll be cast. Life goes on as it means to, whatever you do about it.”

“Or whatever you don’t?” Aidan asked.

“Well, now, some might disagree with that. It’s the business of it that’s weighing on you, Aidan. And better you than me. I mean it sincerely. Carrying the Gallagher name is standing enough, legal or otherwise, for my needs.”

Shawn turned back so he could look at the pub, the dark wood, the cobbled stone, the etched glass that caught winks of sunlight. “It’s done well enough till now, hasn’t it? When the time comes, your children, and mine and Darcy’s, will work it out for themselves.”

“You might marry a woman with other ideas.”

Shawn thought of Brenna, shook his head. “If a woman didn’t believe in me and my family enough to trust in this, I’d have no business marrying her.”

“You don’t know what it is to be in love beyond reason. I’d have walked away from here, from this, from everyone, if she’d asked it of me or wanted it so.”

“She didn’t ask it of you, or want it so. You might have desired a woman who would have, Aidan, but you’d never have lost your heart to her.”

Aidan started to speak, then huffed out a breath first. “An answer for everything. And it’s not a little vexing that each one seems a right one.”

“I’ve given the matter some thought over time. Now you give me one, as I’ve a question. When you love a woman, beyond reason, does it hurt, or give you pleasure?”

“Both, very often at the same time.”

Shawn nodded as they started back. “I thought that might be the case, but it’s interesting to hear it confirmed.”

It was a fair and fresh evening, and business was brisk as the wind that tripped in over the sea. Music drew customers, some to listen while they sipped their pints, others to join in on the chorus, and more than a few who found the music pulled them to their feet to dance.

Despite the fast pace, Shawn found time to pop out now and then. And once, watching Brenna circling the tables in a pretty waltz with old Mr. Riley, he pondered an idea.

“I’ve a notion here, Aidan.” Shawn served two orders of fish and chips at the bar himself. He took a glass to pull himself a Harp and cut his thirst. “You see Brenna dancing there?”

“I do.” Aidan topped off the last layer of two Guinnesses. “But I don’t believe she’s running off with him to Sligo, no matter how often she promises.”

“Women are born to deceive a man.” Taking his moment, Shawn sipped, enjoying the way Brenna moved in the old man’s bony arms. “But I’m watching them, and the others who’ll get up now and then, and I wonder wouldn’t it be interesting if when we shuffle things about with the theater, we found someplace for dancing.”

“That’s what the stage is for now, isn’t it?”

“Not professional dancing, but this sort. You know, how they do in a beer garden, but I’m thinking more intimate.”

“Well, you’re thinking that’s for certain.” But Aidan paused long enough to watch, scan the faces, consider. “It’s something we might slide around with Magee when we get to the design of it all.”

“Ah, Brenna, she had a kind of design she sketched up. I have it in the kitchen still. Maybe you’d like to take a look, and if you like what you see, you might be interested in the more formal drawing I asked her to do.”

Intrigued, Aidan looked away from the dancing and into his brother’s eyes. “You asked her, did you?”

“I did, because I think she knows what we want and what Magee should build. Is that a problem for you?”

“Not a problem, no problem at all. It’s making me think, Shawn, that you had it right about the legalities of things not changing the heart. I’d like to see what our Brenna has in her mind.”

“That’s fine, then. And if you like what you see, you could send it off to Magee for his thoughts.”

“I could, but I’d think the man would have his own designers.”

“Then we’ll have to find a way to bring him ’round to it, if it’s what we want. Couldn’t hurt,” Shawn murmured, still watching Brenna, “to have our fingers in it early on.”

“It couldn’t,” Aidan agreed.

However prettily Brenna could dance, Aidan needed her back behind the bar shortly. He caught her eye, sent her a quick signal. But even as she acknowledged it, he saw her gaze slip past him to Shawn. Even though he was a bystander, Aidan felt the heat of it.

“I’ll thank you not to distract my bartender when we’re three-deep around here.”

“I’m just standing, drinking my beer.”

Well, stand and drink in the kitchen, unless you’re after having half the customers raising their eyebrows over the pair of you.”

“It wouldn’t bother me.” He held the look another moment, a kind of test. “But it does her.” Because it would annoy him if he dwelt on it, Shawn slipped back into the kitchen.

It wasn’t a problem to keep himself busy until closing, and he calculated another hour at least to clean up before he could call it a night.

He was scouring pots when one of the musicians strolled in. She was a pretty blonde named Eileen, with sharp features and hair chopped short to show them off. She had a fine, clear voice and a warm disposition. Shawn had admired the first and taken advantage of the second, in a friendly sort of way, when her band had been booked at Gallagher’s before.

“We did well by each other tonight.”

That we did.” He rinsed off the pot, and angling his body toward her, started on the next. “I liked the arrangement you’ve put together for ‘Foggy Dew.’ ”

“It’s the first time we’ve tried it outside of rehearsal.” She walked to him, turning to lean back against the sink while he worked. “I’ve been working on a couple of other numbers. I wouldn’t mind running them by you.” She ran her fingertip down his arm. “I don’t have to be back tonight. Would you care to put me up as you did last time?”

Last time, they’d enjoyed music and each other for half the night. The woman, Shawn recalled, wasn’t the least shy about her talents. The memory made him grin even as he contemplated the most polite way to turn her down.

The only thing Brenna saw—besides red—when she carted in the last tray of empties, was the way Shawn had his head tipped down and the way the blonde had her hand on him. She stalked over, slammed the tray down on the counter by the sink with enough force to make the glasses dance.

“Is there something you’re after in here?”

Eileen was quick enough to read the threat in the eyes that were burning over her face, and the meaning behind them. “Not anymore.” In a cheerful gesture, she patted Shawn’s arm. “I guess I’m heading back after all. Some other time, Shawn.”

“Ah . . . hmm.” He had a split second to make up his mind, and going with instinct, fixed a guilty, sheepish expression on his face. “Well.”

“Always a pleasure, coming to Gallagher’s,” Eileen added as she strolled to the door. She kept the snicker inside and wondered how the pint-size redhead was going to make Shawn suffer.

“Is this the last of it, then?” Shawn began scrubbing the pot again, as if he’d dedicated his life to that single purpose.

“It is. And what was that about, I’d like to know?”

“What?”

“You and the singer with the big breasts and boy’s hair?”

“Oh, Eileen.” Deliberately, he cleared his throat as he set the pot aside to deal with the glasses. “She was just saying good night.”

“Hah.” She skewered a finger into his side and made him jump. “If she’d been any closer, she’d have been inside your skin.”

“Well, now, she’s just a friendly sort.”

“Just keep this in mind, while you and I are rolling on the sheets, you keep your distance from the friendly sorts.”

Even while delight rippled through him, he straightened slowly. “Are you accusing me of something, Brenna?” It pleased him that he managed the right mix of hurt and insult. “Of making moves toward another woman while I’m with you? I didn’t realize how little you thought of me.”

“I saw what I saw.”

He studied her a moment, then began to wipe off counters with a moody and injured air. It would be interesting, he thought, to see how much she worked to bring him around.

“She had her hand on you.”

“I didn’t have mine on her, did I?”

“That’s not the—” Damn it. Brenna folded her arms, unfolded them and jammed her hands in her pockets. She’d wanted to shred the skin off the blonde’s face. Still did, she admitted, if it came to that. It wasn’t in character at all. Not that she’d back down from a fight, but she wasn’t one to start a brawl. And surely not over a man.

“You were smiling at her.”

“I’ll be sure not to smile at anyone unless you approve it first.”

“It looked overly cozy.” Her hand was still balled in her pocket. If she hadn’t felt so foolish, she might have given in to the urge to pop him with it. “I’ll apologize if I misunderstood.”

“Fine.” Leaving it at that, he walked over to push open the door and call out his good nights. When he turned back, she looked so frustrated and unhappy he nearly relented. But a man had to finish what he started. He spoke coolly, with just enough bite to let her know she had more making up to do. “Would you prefer staying over with Darcy?”

“No. No, I wouldn’t.”

“All right, then.” He crossed to the back door, opened it, waited. She got her cap and jacket from the hook by the door, then bundled them under her arm and stepped out into the chill.

They didn’t speak as they got into opposite sides of his car. She brooded out the window while he drove out of the village and up the road toward the cottage.

She told herself she’d had a perfectly normal reaction. And shifting in her seat, she told him the same. When he didn’t answer, she had to struggle not to squirm. “Can we agree this is new territory for both of us?”

Ah, he thought, just the direction he’d hoped for. He sent her one quiet look, then nodded.

“And we never, I suppose you could say, discussed the boundaries of it.”

“You wanted sex. You’re getting it.” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her flinch. Perfect.

“That’s true. That’s true,” she repeated in a mutter when he pulled up to his cottage. She was starting to feel a little sick to her stomach. “But I . . . it’s only that I—” She cursed and had to scramble out of the car to keep up with him. “Damn it, you can at least hear me out.”

“I’m listening to you. Do you want tea?” he asked, viciously polite as he walked inside.

“No, I don’t want tea. And take that stick out of your arse for one bloody minute. If you don’t have the sense to see that woman wanted to jump you, you’re blind as six bats and twice as dim.”

“More to the point would be what I wanted—and intended.” He started up the steps.

“She’s beautiful.”

“So are you. What does that have to do with it?”

As her mouth was hanging open, it took a minute to get her feet moving. In all the years she’d known the man, he’d never told her she was beautiful. It threw her off her stride. She could feel her mind trip as she tried to keep it on track.

“You don’t think of me that way, and that’s all right. It’s not what I’m trying to get to, anyway.”

He’d make sure they came back to it, but for now, he emptied the contents of his pockets onto his dresser. “What are you trying to get to, Brenna?”

“I know when we started this—when I started this—I never said what I expected.” Wishing she had his clever way with words, she dragged a hand through her hair. “What I mean is, that while we’re together this way, until one of us or both of us decide this has run its course, I wouldn’t consider being with another man.”

He sat on the trunk at the foot of the bed to take off his boots. “You’re meaning that this area of our relationship should be an exclusive one? That neither of us sees anyone else? Is that the way of it?”

“Aye, that’s my feeling on it.”

They would be exclusive to each other, and it was her idea—even demand. A strong first step, he thought, to where he wanted her to lead him. He took his time, letting her believe he was considering. “That fits in with my feeling on it as well. But . . .”

“But?”

How do we know, and who decides when that changes, Brenna?”

“I don’t have an answer to that. I never expected this to be complicated. I didn’t know it was until I saw that singer hanging all over you. I didn’t like it.”

“While I’m touching you, I’m touching no one else. You’ll have to trust me.”

“I can trust you, Shawn.” Easier now, she stepped toward him. “It’s the big-breasted blondes I have trouble with.”

“Recently, my taste is running strong for well-packed redheads.”

Because she was relieved that the chill had gone out of his eyes, she laughed. “Well-packed, my ass. Have we made up, then?”

“It’s a beginning.” He patted the space beside him. “Let’s have your boots off and we’ll make up some more.”

Happy to oblige, she sat, tugged on the laces. “I hurt your feelings. I’m sorry for that.”

“I don’t mind spatting with you, Mary Brenna.” He stroked a hand over her hair. “But I don’t like you thinking that I’d think of another woman in that way when I’m with you.”

“Then I won’t think it.” After toeing off her boots, she straightened, but her eyes went wary at the way he was staring at her. “What is it?”

“I like looking at you.”

“Nothing new to see here.”

“Maybe that’s part of it.” He framed her face, then combed his fingers through her hair, drawing it back and away. “I know this face,” he said quietly, “as well as I know my own. I can conjure it up in my mind, the way it runs from cheek to jaw.” He skimmed his lips along the sweep. “The shape and color of the eyes, and the moods of them.”

Just now, he noted, the mood was surprised, and not a little uneasy. “The mouth,” he continued, brushing it lightly, retreating just as hers softened. “The curves and dips of it. Such a lovely face. I don’t mind looking at it, even when you’re not around.”

“That’s an odd thing to . . .” She trailed off as he brought his mouth back to hers, lingered there.

“Then there’s the rest of you.” He skimmed his hands down, a light play of fingers. Then captured her hands before she could tug the sweater off. “No, let me.” He drew her to her feet, lifting the sweater, inch by inch. “It gives me pleasure to uncover you, to work my way through the layers to that amazing body of yours. It drives me mad the way you cover it up.”

She might have gaped if she hadn’t been so busy just trying to breathe. “It does?”

“I keep thinking, I know what’s under all that.” He loosened the hook of her trousers. “I’ve had that under me.” He let the trousers drop, pool at her feet. “Step out of those, darling,” he murmured, and toyed with the hem of her undershirt.

“I’m built like a twelve-year-old boy.”

“As one who’s been a twelve-year-old boy . . .” He slipped the undershirt over her head, then let his gaze run down her. “I can promise you that’s not the case. Milkmaid’s skin and strong shoulders.” He dipped his head, touching his lips to one, then the other. “And here.” Slowly, he trailed his hands from her waist to cup her breasts. Her breath caught, released, shuddered. “Soft and firm and sensitive.”

She started to drift along, to cruise on the wonderful slide of his hands. Then gasped, half in shock, half in amusement, when he lifted her, stood her on the little chest.

But the humor that sparked in her eyes went dark when he closed his mouth over her breast, caught her nipple delicately between his teeth. “Oh, God.”

“I want you to come.” He traced a finger along the edge of cotton that still covered her, and his mouth worked down. “I want you to call out my name when you do.” And slipped his finger under the cotton, inside her where she was already hot, already wet.

She rocked against him, a jerk of movement while her fingers dug into his shoulders. Pleasure rushed into her so fast it was almost a panic, built so high, so huge, she wondered her body could survive it.

And it was his name she called out.

Was she falling or flying? She felt her legs give way, like a melting of bone, tried to center herself again when she felt him lift her, carry her to the side of the bed.

“The light.”

He laid her on the bed, knelt over her. “We’ll see each other clearly this way. This time.” Watching her, he took off his shirt. “Do you know how arousing it is to know I can take you up, again and again? That you have that much inside you for me?”

She reached for him, drew him to her. “I want you inside me.”

“And I want you weak first.” His mouth began to taste, his hands to roam. “And sobbing my name.”

“You bastard.” The fact that she said it on a moan delighted him. “Just try to make me.”

He thought it a lovely challenge, and set about meeting it.

His hands were light as faerie wings one moment, hard as iron the next. And each touch was a separate thrill. He had a way about him that she’d never imagined when she’d fantasized about having him for a lover. The men she’d known before him hadn’t given her this, or lured her into giving so much back. There was a freedom here, with him. That odd mix of wicked surprise with easy recognition.

And trust. Absolute trust.

She opened herself to him willingly. Perhaps with his skill she’d have been helpless to do otherwise, but she was willing to take all he offered, and to match it.

Even as shocks of sensation lanced through her, she yielded. It was a surrender she’d given to no other.

As if he sensed it, he took her up again, slowly this time, almost torturously, so that her body was a raw, aching mass of nerves.

Her skin was damp and slick. The heat of her all but stopped his heart with need. She moved against him, under him, with a smooth and sinuous female rhythm that made him ache for joining. In the lamplight his eyes were narrowed, focused on her face as he strained against his own need and kept her shuddering on the edge.

Quaking, she sobbed out his name.

He drove himself into her, more violently than he meant to. But she arched up to meet him, accept him, matching the desperate pace that slapped flesh against flesh and had heart thundering against heart. Glorying in it, he lifted her hips, going deeper, pushing them both toward delirium.

“No one but you, Brenna.” The throbbing in his blood was a drumbeat, primitive, constant. “Say it back to me. Say it back.”

“No one but you.” As she said it, her world exploded. Swamped with love, he emptied himself into her.

FIFTEEN

IT WAS HER habit to wake early and get on with the business of the day. On the rare occasions when Brenna slept late, it was usually because she’d had more than her fair share to drink the evening past.

So as she’d had nothing but fizzy water the night before, it was a surprise to see the sun was well up when she opened her eyes. The second surprise came on the heels of the first when she noted the only thing keeping her from rolling off the bed was the arm that Shawn had banded around her.

He’d sprawled himself in the middle of the mattress, shoving her to the outer edge. But, she thought, at least he was considerate enough to see that she stayed there and didn’t fall on her face.

She tried to shift around, gave him a shove so that she could get free and climb out. But he tightened his grip and pulled her back until she was curved against him in the cozy spoon position.

“You might be the lazy sort who lies in bed half the morning, but I’m not.” She started to wiggle free, and wiggling, discovered the interesting fact that not all of him was asleep. “Wake up ready, do you?” She said it with a chuckle and pushed at his arms. “Well, I don’t. I want a shower and some coffee.”

His answer was a grunt, but his hand snuck up to cover her breast.

“And just keep your hands to yourself. I don’t want any of this fooling around until I’ve had my coffee.”

He simply parted her legs and proved her a liar. “Well.” His voice was thick with sleep, but the arm that slid under her was strong enough to hold her in place. “You can just lie there, then, while I use you.”

Later, when she staggered into the shower, she thought it wouldn’t be such a sacrifice to be used in such a way of a morning every now and again.

She turned the water on, keeping it on the cool side, as her skin was still hot and flushed. After stepping into the old claw-foot tub, she tugged the curtain around, then ducked her head under the stingy spray to wet her hair.

It wasn’t an easy business with so little water and so much hair, but she had nearly accomplished it when the curtain jingled back. She opened one eye and fixed it on Shawn.

“I don’t suppose you can give me much trouble in here so soon after that.”

“Care to wager on it?” he asked as he stepped in with her.

She’d have lost.

Her legs weren’t quite steady when she snapped down a towel. “Keep your distance now,” she warned, wrapping it around her while her hair dripped everywhere.“I’ve no more time for you. I’ve got to get home.”

“I suppose you don’t have time for any griddle cakes, then.”

She shoved wet hair out of her eyes. “You’d be making griddle cakes?”

“I had a mind to, but if you’re in such a rush, I’ll just scramble an egg for myself.”

He was already dried off and was brushing his teeth, an easy act of intimacy that barely registered. “I suppose I’m not in such a terrible rush. Have you a spare toothbrush around here?”

“I don’t, but I think under the circumstances you can use mine.”

She kept one at Darcy’s, along with a few other essentials, but she’d been too distracted to remember to gather them up the night before. “Would you mind if I left a few things here, for convenience sake?”

He leaned over the sink to rinse so she didn’t see the gleam of triumph in his eyes. Another step, he thought. “There’s room.” He handed her the toothbrush. “Use whatever you need for now. I’ll go down and put on some coffee.”

“Thanks.”

Leaving her to it, he stepped out to pull on jeans and a sweater. If he hadn’t been obliged to be at the pub, he would’ve found a way to talk her into spending the day with him. As it was, they only had an hour or so.

But he saw, clearly saw, how it could be with them. Mornings like this, begun with love and slipping into the easy routine of a meal before they went off on their ways. Brenna sitting in the pub kitchen for a while in the evening while he worked. Knowing she’d be waiting when he got home.

As he headed downstairs, he reminded himself there were a few steps left to take before they got there. But he couldn’t believe, wouldn’t believe, he could be so in love with someone and not find the way to spend his life with her.

They’d need their own house, one that belonged to them. A big kitchen, and bedrooms enough for the family they’d make. He had enough put by to see about acquiring some land. He put on water for coffee, and got out the makings for tea as well, as he preferred starting his day that way.

He assembled eggs, flour, buttermilk. Then nearly dropped the carton at the knock on the back door.

“I’m sorry.” With a laugh in her voice, Mary Kate opened the door. “I didn’t mean to give a start.” Her cheeks were pink from her walk to the cottage, her eyes bright and cheerful. “I was just out, it being my day off, and I thought I’d stop by for a moment.”

His mind raced for the way to get her out again, fast and smooth, with no harm done. Before he’d come up with anything other than yelling fire! it was too late.

“Why aren’t I smelling coffee?” Brenna demanded. “You wear a body out before ten in the morning, then can’t even . . .” Her voice simply died away as she walked in and saw her sister.

All the happy color in Mary Kate’s cheeks died, and her eyes went wide and dark with hurt. For a moment no one moved. Actors in a bad play waiting for the curtain, knowing that when it lifted disaster would follow.

Shawn reached out, laid a hand on Mary Kate’s arm. “Mary Kate.” He said it gently, and the sympathy in the tone snapped her out of her shock. She smacked his hand aside, turned for the door.

“Mary Kate, wait!” Brenna rushed forward, skidded to a halt when her sister turned. There was color in her face again, the wild, deep color that came from shame and fury.

“You’re sleeping with him. You’re a liar and a hypocrite.” She swung out, and as Brenna neither braced for nor tried to avoid the blow, the slap sent her sprawling. “And a whore as well.”

“That’s enough.” Grimly, Shawn grabbed Mary Kate’s arm. “You’ve no right to strike her or speak to her that way.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Brenna got to her knees. That was as far as the horrible weight on her chest would allow.

“It matters a great deal. Be as mad as you want at me,” he said to Mary Kate. “And I’m more sorry than I can say if I hurt you in any way. But what’s here is between me and Brenna and has nothing to do with you.”

She wanted to weep. She wanted to scream and was afraid she’d do both at once. Fighting viciously for one scrap of dignity, Mary Kate lifted her head, stepped back from him. “You didn’t have to make a fool of me. You knew I had feelings. I still do, only now I hate you. I hate both of you.”

She shoved the door open and fled.

“Jesus.” Shawn bent to help Brenna to her feet, laid a hand over the cheek that flamed an angry red. “I’m sorry, so sorry. She didn’t mean what she said.”

“She does. Right now she means it all from the bottom of her heart. I know how it is. I have to go after her.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“No.” A part of her heart ripped as she backed away from him. “I have to do it myself. It would only hurt more to see us together. What was I thinking?” She shut her eyes, pressed her fingers to them. “What was I thinking?”

“You were thinking of me. We were thinking of each other. We’ve a right to that.”

She dropped her hands, opened her eyes. “She thinks she loves you. I should have thought of that as well. I have to go do what I can.”

“While I stay here, doing nothing?”

“She’s my sister,” Brenna said simply, and left.

She ran, but Mary Kate had a good head start and longer legs. By the time Brenna caught sight of her, she was already heading down the slope to the backyard of their house, the big yellow dog hurrying behind like a rear guard.

“Mary Kate, wait!” Brenna kicked into a sprint and caught up at the edge of the yard. “Wait now. You have to let me explain.”

“Explain what? That you’ve been fucking Shawn Gallagher. That was clear enough by the way you waltzed into his kitchen with your hair still wet.”

“It’s not like that.” But wasn’t that exactly how it had started? Brenna thought. Hadn’t it been just like that at the beginning?

“The two of you must’ve had a fine laugh or two at my expense.”

“No, not ever. I never thought—”

“Never thought of me?” Mary Kate rounded on her, shouting so now that the dog slunk off to hide. “That’s fine, then, that makes it just fine. You go off playing whore with a man you know I have feelings for, but you didn’t give me a thought.”

The flash came into Brenna’s eyes. A warning. “You called me that before, and I took it. You knocked me on my ass, and I took that as well. You’ve had your say. Now I’ll have mine.”

“You can go to hell.” She gave Brenna one hard shove, spun on her heel, and marched toward the door.

Then let out a whoosh of air when Brenna tackled her from behind. “You want to settle this with slaps and shoves, that suits me.” She grabbed a fistful of Mary Kate’s hair and had just given one good, satisfying yank when their mother threw open the door and rushed out.

“What in sweet hell is this? Get off your sister this instant, Mary Brenna.”

“The minute she apologizes for calling me a whore twice in one morning.”

“Whore!” Tears of pain and rage blurred Mary Kate’s eyes, but she managed to shout it. “That makes three.”

They rolled into a vicious tangle of arms and legs, and without a minute’s hesitation, Mollie waded in, grabbed each by whatever she could snare, and hauled them apart. And since it was like separating spitting cats, she added a cuff on the side of the head to each to keep them there.

“It’s shamed I am, shamed of the pair of you. Now in the house, and one word before you have my leave, it’s the back of my hand for you.”

Mary Kate got to her feet, brushed herself off, lowered her head. And when she caught Brenna’s eye mouthed “whore.” She had the dark satisfaction of watching Brenna start a swing and get another cuff for the trouble.

“A grown woman,” Mollie muttered, herding her daughters toward the house, where Mick stood struggling to look disapproving, Alice Mae watched owlishly, and Patty stood peering over her father’s shoulder with her best I’m-above-it-all look on her face.

“Sit!” She jabbed a finger at the table, then shot a steely look at her other daughters. “Patty, Alice Mae, I believe you have other things to do. If not, I can find plenty to occupy your time.”

“She landed you a good one there, Brenna.” Alice Mae clucked her tongue as she studied Brenna’s cheek.

“She won’t a second time.”

“Quiet.” At patience’s end, Mollie snapped, “Out.” She pointed to the door.

“Come on, Alice.” Patty laid a hand on Alice Mae’s shoulder. “There’s no point in staring at the heathens.” And the minute they’d rounded the corner, both of them hunkered down to hear what they could.

But when Mick started to slither out the door, Mollie pinned him with a hard stare. “Oh, no, you don’t, Michael O’Toole, this baggage is as much yours as mine. Now.” She planted her hands on her hips. “What started this? Brenna?”

“It’s a personal problem between myself and Mary Kate.” Her eyes clicked to her mother, then to her father when he moved to the pot to pour himself more tea.

“When it’s a problem that has one sister calling another filthy names and the both of you tearing at each other like alley cats, it’s no longer personal. You may be near twenty-five years of age, Mary Brenna Catherine O’Toole, but you live under this roof, and I won’t tolerate such behavior.”

“I’m sorry for it.” Brenna set her hands on the table, folded them, and prepared to hold her ground.

“Mary Kate? What have you to say for yourself?”

“That if she lives under this roof I no longer care to.”

“That would be your choice,” Mollie said coldly now. “As all of my children are welcome here as long as they like.”

“Even whores?”

“Mind your tongue, girl.” Mick stepped forward. “You want to slap and wrestle, that’s one thing. But you’ll speak with respect to your mother, and you won’t use language like that about your sister.”

“Let her deny it.”

“Mary Kate.” Brenna’s voice was little more than a whisper, and more plea than warning.

Though Mary Kate’s lips trembled, she couldn’t fight off the rage. “Let her deny she spent the night in Shawn Gallagher’s bed.”

The teacup cracked as Mick fumbled and knocked it on the edge of the counter. All Brenna could do was close her eyes as shame and sorrow washed through her.

“I won’t deny it. I won’t deny I’ve been there before, and that every time I have, I went freely. I’m sorry that it hurt you.” She got shakily to her feet. “But it doesn’t make me a whore to care for him. And you know if you make me choose between you, I’ll let him go.”

It took all the courage she had left to turn and face her parents. The understanding in her mother’s eyes might have been a balm if not for the shock in her father’s. “I’m sorry for this, all of this. I’m sorry I haven’t been honest with you. I can’t talk about it anymore now. I just can’t.”

She hurried out, would have rushed right past her sisters, but Patty reached out. “It’s all right, darling.” She murmured it, giving Brenna a hard hug.

That broke her, set free the tears that were burning in her throat and the back of her eyes. Blinded by them, she rushed upstairs.

In the kitchen, Mollie kept her eyes on her younger daughter. Her heart was aching for both her girls, but comfort and discipline would have to be meted out separately.

The only sound now was Mary Kate’s ragged breathing. Holding the silence a moment longer, Mollie slipped into the chair Brenna had deserted.

No one noticed when Mick walked out the back door.

“I know what it is to have feelings for someone,” Mollie began quietly. “To see them as the brightest light, as the one who’ll answer all the questions and fill all the holes, whether you’re twenty or forty. I’m not doubting what you have in your heart, Katie.”

“I love him.” Defiance, still her only shield, edged her voice, but a single tear spilled over and slid down her cheek. “She knew.”

“It’s a hard thing to have those feelings for someone who doesn’t have them for you.”

“He might have, but she threw herself at him.”

“Katie, darling.”

There were many things she could have said. The man’s too old for you, this was infatuation and would pass, you’ll fall in love half a dozen times before it matters and takes a firm hold inside you. Instead, she took Mary Kate’s hand.

“Shawn looked at Brenna,” she said gently. “And has looked for a long time. And she at him. Neither of them is the careless sort who looks to hurt another. You know that.”

“They didn’t care about me.”

“They had their eyes on each other, and for a time they didn’t see you.”

It was worse, a hundred times worse, to be looked at with sympathy and still be made to feel like a fool. “You make it sound like it’s all right, them having at each other that way.”

Oh, a fine and shaky line, Mollie thought. “I’m not speaking of that, as that’s between Brenna and her conscience and her heart. It’s not for you to judge her, Mary Kate, nor for me. We cast no stones in this house.”

Tears came faster now, and with them resentment. “You’re taking her side in this, then.”

“You’re wrong, as I have two daughters hurt now and I love each in equal measure. If there’s sides to be taken, Brenna’s just taken yours. You’ve no way of knowing what her feelings are for Shawn or how deep they run, but she’ll turn away from him for you. Is that what you want, Mary Kate? Would that soothe your heart and your pride?”

The turmoil inside her swallowed her up. Laying her head on the table, she wept like a child.

There was no choice for a man, for a father, but to deal with such matters. Mick would have preferred having his fingers broken one at a time rather than using them to knock on the door of Faerie Hill Cottage.

But there was nothing else to be done.

His daughter had given herself to a man, been taken by one, and that had shattered his comfortable illusions about his firstborn. He wasn’t a stupid man. He knew that women, young ones and old ones and those in between, had certain needs. But when it was a matter of his pride and joy, he didn’t care to have those needs shoved in his face.

And he knew, as well as any, about the needs of a man. He might have had a deep affection for Shawn Gallagher, but that didn’t negate the fact that the bastard had put his hand on Michael O’Toole’s baby.

So he knocked, and he was prepared to handle the matter in a straightforward and civilized way.

When the door opened, Mick rammed his fist into Shawn’s face.

Shawn’s head snapped back, and he took two steps for balance, but he stayed on his feet. Tougher than he looks, Mick decided, lifting his balled fists again, for that had been a fine punch if he said so himself.

“Come on, then, defend yourself. Ya son of a bitch. I’ve come to wipe the floor with you.”

“No, sir.” Shawn’s head was ringing, and he wanted badly to swivel his jaw to make sure it wasn’t broken, but he merely stood there, arms at his sides. The man was half his size and nearly twice his age. “You can plant another on me if you must, but I won’t fight you.”

“So, you’re a coward, then.” Mick danced inside, a boxer prepping for the next round. He gave Shawn a quick rap in the chest, faked another toward his face. Reluctant admiration bloomed. The boy didn’t so much as flinch.

“You’re standing up for your daughter. I can’t fight what I’d do myself if I were you.” But a sudden horrible thought flew into his head, and now his hands did fist. “Did you raise your hand to her over this?”

Insult mixed with frustration. “Bloody hell, boy, never have I raised a hand to one of my girls. I leave that to their mother if they’ve a need for it.”

“She all right, then? Would you just tell me that she’s all right?”

“No, we took a bat to her and bashed her brains to Sunday.” With a windy sigh, Mick lowered his fists. He didn’t have the heart to use them again. But he was far from done. “You’ve some answering to do, young Gallagher.”

Shawn nodded. “Aye. Do you want me to do it here, in the doorway, or in the kitchen over whiskey?”

Thoughtfully, Mick rubbed his chin, measured his man. “I’ll take the whiskey.”

Temper was still bubbling under his skin, but he followed Shawn to the back, waited while the bottle was taken from the cupboard and good Jameson’s poured into short glasses.

“Will you sit, Mr. O’Toole?”

“Well, you’ve manners, don’t you, at such a time.” Scowling, Mick sat, picked up his glass, and eyed Shawn over the top of it. “You’ve had your hands on my daughter.”

“I have.”

Mick set his teeth. His hand fisted again, braced and ready. “And what are your intentions toward my Mary Brenna?”

“I love her, and I want to marry her.”

Mick’s breath hissed out. He dragged one hand through his hair as he gulped down the whiskey, then held out the glass for more. “Well, why the devil didn’t you say so?”

“Ah . . .” Gingerly, Shawn cupped his bruised jaw, moved it gently side to side. Not broken, he decided. Just battered. “It’s a bit of a dilemma.”

“And why would that be?”

“I haven’t brought the matter up to Brenna herself as yet. If I do, you see, she’ll determine to go the opposite way. I’ve been working at bringing the matter ’round so it seems her idea. That way, she’ll make my life hell till I agree to it.”

Mick stared, then shaking his head, set his whiskey down. “Well, Jesus, you do know her, don’t you?”

“I do. And I love her with all my heart. I want to spend my life with her. There’s nothing I want more. So . . .” Finished, and exhausted from it, Shawn knocked back his whiskey. “There you have it.”

“You know how to take the wind out of a man’s sails.” Mick drank again. “I love my girls, Shawn. Each one of them’s a jewel to me. When I walked my Maureen down the aisle and gave her away, I was proud, and my heart was breaking. You’ll know how that is one day. I’ve to do the same with Patty soon. Both of them chose men I’m pleased to call son.”

He held out his glass, waited while Shawn filled it again. “My Brenna has as good taste and sense as her sisters, if not better.”

“Thank you for that.” Relieved, Shawn took a second glass himself. “I’m wishing she’d come ’round to that sooner rather than later, but she’s a bit of work, if you don’t mind me saying.”

“I don’t. I’m proud of it.” Mick settled in, frowned a little. “This business that’s going on between you, I don’t approve of it.” He noted Shawn was man enough to meet his eye and wise enough to keep his thoughts to himself. By God, who’d have thought Brenna would meet her match in this one? “But she’s more than of age,” Mick continued, “and so are you. My approving or not isn’t going to stop you from . . . well, I don’t want to say any more on that particular thing.”

They drank in cautious silence.

“Mr. O’Toole.”

“I think, as things are coming ’round, you should call me Mick.”

“Mick, I’m sorry about Mary Kate. I swear to you, I never—”

Mick waved a hand before Shawn could finish. “I can’t blame you on that score. Our Katie has fancies, and a young and tender heart. I don’t like knowing it’s bruised, but there’s no blame.”

“Brenna’ll blame herself, and she’ll step back from me. If I didn’t love her, I could let her.”

“Time.” Mick polished off the next whiskey and thought it was a fine morning to get a bit of a drunk on. “When you get older, you come to trust in time. Not that I’m meaning you sit idle and let it pass.”

“I’m looking for land,” Shawn said abruptly. The whiskey was starting to work in his head, and he didn’t mind a bit.

“What’s that?”

“For land, to buy. For Brenna. She’ll want to build her house, don’t you think?”

Tears of sentiment gathered in Mick’s eyes. “It’s been a dream of hers to do that.”

“I know she’s a dream to have a hand in building something from the ground up, and I’m hoping she’ll have her chance with the theater.”

“Aye, I’ve been giving her a hand in the drawing of that.”

“Would you see that I get it, so I can pass it on? She may not feel as easy about giving it to me now.”

“You’ll have it tomorrow.”

“That’s fine, then. And the theater’s an important thing, for Brenna, for us, for Ardmore. But a home— that’s more important than a place of business.”

“It is, and would be to her as well as to you.”

“If you hear of something you think might suit, would you pass it on to me?”

Mick took out his handkerchief, blew his nose. And was pleased to see Shawn fill his glass without waiting to be asked. “That I’ll do.” Eyes narrowed and a bit bright from drink, Mick peered at Shawn’s jaw. “How’s the face, then?”

“Aches like a bitch in heat.”

Mick laughed heartily, tapped his glass to Shawn’s. “Well, that’s something, then.”

While Mick and Shawn bonded over Jameson’s, Mollie had her hands full. It took nearly an hour of strokes and pats and sympathy before she could tuck Mary Kate in for a nap. Her own head was feeling achy, but she pressed her fingers to her eyes to relieve some of the pressure before crossing to Brenna’s room.

She reminded herself she had wanted children, and a number of them besides. She’d been blessed. She was grateful.

And Blessed Mary, she was tired.

Brenna was curled on the bed, eyes shut. Sitting crosslegged beside her, Alice Mae stroked Brenna’s hair. At the foot of the bed, Patty sat dabbing at her eyes.

It was a sweet sight, all in all. Patty was a romantic and would automatically throw her heart to Brenna on this. Alice Mae, bless her, couldn’t bear to see anything or anyone in pain.

Mollie had only to gesture for Patty and Alice Mae to get up and take their leave. “I’ll speak to Brenna alone.” She shooed them out before questions could be asked and shut the door.

As Mollie crossed to the bed, she saw Brenna tense. “I’m sorry.” Brenna kept her eyes closed, and her voice was rough and strained. “I don’t know what else to say but I’m sorry. Don’t hate me.”

“Oh, what nonsense.” Using a brisker tone than she had with Mary Kate, Mollie sat, gave Brenna’s shoulder a little shake. “Why should I? Are you thinking I’m so old that I don’t understand what feelings churn around in a woman?”

“No, no.” Miserable, Brenna curled herself tighter, shifting so she could rest her head on her mother’s lap. “Oh, Ma, it’s all my fault. I started it. I wanted Shawn, so I went right up to him and said so. I kept at him until . . . well, he’s a man, after all.”

“Is that all there is between you, Brenna? Just the need and the act?”

“Yes. No.” She pressed her face into the comforting give of her mother. “I don’t know. It doesn’t matter now.”

“Nothing matters more.”

“I can’t be with him. I won’t see him that way anymore. If you knew how she looked at us, at me. All the hurt on her face before the anger came into it. I never thought of her.” She rolled onto her back now, stared at the ceiling. “I only thought of me and what went on inside me when I was with him. Because of it I lied to you and to Dad. How can you trust me again after this?”

“I’m not saying the lie was right, but I knew it was a lie when you told me.” She nearly smiled when Brenna’s gaze cut to hers. “Do you think I told my own mother that I was sneaking out of the house on a warm summer night to meet Michael O’Toole so he could make my head swim with kisses?” Her eyes warmed with humor and memory. “Twenty-six years we’ve been married, and five children we brought into the world, and to this day my mother believes I lay chaste in my bed every night before my wedding.”

With a long sigh, Brenna sat up, and wrapping her arms around Mollie, laid her head on her shoulder. “I have a need for him, Ma, and it’s so big. I thought after a bit it would quiet down, fade back and away, then we’d both get back to how things were before. But it isn’t quieting down at all. And I’ve ruined it because I didn’t say to Katie, ‘This one’s mine, so find another.’ Or whatever I could have said or done. Now I can’t go back to him.”

“Answer me this, as honest as you can.” Mollie drew her back, studied her face. “Would Shawn have looked in Mary Kate’s direction if you hadn’t been standing between?”

“But that’s not the—”

“Just answer, Brenna.”

“No.” She let out a painful breath. “But he’d never have hurt her if not for me.”

“Mistakes were made, there’s no denying it. But Mary Kate’s as responsible for her heart and its bruising as anyone. Martyring yourself won’t change what was or what is. Have a rest,” she said, pressing her lips to Brenna’s forehead. “You’ll think clearer when you’re head’s not aching. Shall I bring you some tea and toast?”

“No, but thanks. I love you so much.”

“There, now, don’t start crying again. Any more tears today and I’ll need an oar. Let’s have off your boots and tuck you in.”

As she had with Mary Kate, Mollie fussed and stroked and settled Brenna under the covers. She sat a little while, and when Brenna was quiet, she rose to let sleep do a bit of healing.

As she passed the window, she stopped, stepped back, stared down at the sight of her husband weaving and stumbling his way home.

“Saints in heaven, the man’s drunk and it’s not yet noon.” She pushed at her hair. “What a family this is.”

SIXTEEN

GETTING READY TO go to work was quite an undertaking. He was dressed already, which was a fortunate thing. Shaving was out of the question. Even if he’d wanted to deal with scraping a razor over his tender jaw, he was just sober enough to fear cutting his face to ribbons in the process.

So he left it as it was, and stumbling over his shoes, he thought it might be a fine idea to put them on.

Bub, being the perverse creature that he was, took the opportunity to crawl all over him, then laid stinging furrows over the back of Shawn’s hand when he tried to push him aside.

“Vicious bastard.” He and the cat eyed each other with mutual dislike and from a respectful distance. “I might have to take a swipe from Mick O’Toole, but I don’t have to take one from you, you black-hearted spawn of Satan.” He lunged, missed as the cat streaked away, and ended up rapping his already sore jaw on the floor. “Fuck me, that’s about enough.”

With his ears ringing, he managed to get to his hands and knees. The fiend of a cat was in for dire consequences. Later. He’d let the fiend believe he’d won the war, then seek revenge at an unexpected moment.

Still sulking over it, Shawn nursed his hand as he headed out of the house. As a matter of habit, he turned toward his car, then paused, balancing himself on the garden gate.

He was certain he could drive. He was a man who could hold his drink, wasn’t he? For Christ’s sake, his name was Gallagher. But the way things were going, he’d likely run off the road and smash his teeth out on the steering wheel.

Much better to walk, he decided. Clear his head, settle his thoughts. He started down the road, mindful of the ruts and bumps, singing to entertain himself on the journey.

He stumbled a time or two, but fell only the one time. Of course, the one time was enough to have his knee find the single sharp rock in the bloody road. He was picking himself up from that, not far from the village proper, when Betsy Clooney, with her car full of her children, stopped beside him.

“Shawn, what’s happened? You’ve had an accident?”

He smiled at her. She had a pretty brood of children, all of them fair of hair and blue of eye. The two in the back were squabbling, but the youngest, secured in her car seat, watched Shawn like a little owl as she sucked on a red lollipop.

“Well, hello, Betsy. How’s it all going, then?”

“Did you have a car crash?” She pushed open her door to hurry around to him, grinning as he was at her baby and weaving like a man who’d gone a hard round with the champ.

“I didn’t, no. I’ve been walking.”

“Your hand’s bleeding, and you’re bruised on the face. Your trousers are ripped at the knee.”

“Are they?” He glanced down, saw the mud and the tear. “Shit, look at that, will you? Begging pardon,” he said quickly, remembering the children.

But she was close enough now to see, and to smell, just what the matter was. “Shawn Gallagher, you’re drunk.”

“I am, I suppose, a little.” They’d gone to school together, so he patted her shoulder in a friendly manner. “You’ve darling children, Betsy, but your oldest girl there is trying to throttle her brother, and doing a damn fine job of it.”

Betsy merely glanced back and barked out one sharp warning. The children broke apart.

“My mother could do the same.” Sheer admiration shone on Shawn’s face. “Half the time it only took a look to curdle the blood in your veins. Well, I must be going.”

“Get in the back of the car, for heaven’s sake, and I’ll take you home.”

“Thanks, but I’m for work.”

She rolled her eyes, jerked open the car door. “Get in all the same, and I’ll drive you the rest of the way.” And let the Gallaghers deal with their own, she thought.

“That’s kind of you. Thanks, Betsy.”

The children were so entertained by drunk Mr. Gallagher that they behaved themselves until their mother dropped him off behind the pub.

He waved cheerfully, then opened the door, tripped over the threshold, and as his balance was already impaired, nearly went facedown on the floor for the second time that day. He caught himself, hung on to the side of the counter, and waited for the pub kitchen to stop revolving.

With the careful steps of the drunk, he walked over to the cupboard to get out a pan for frying, a pot for boiling.

He was weaving in front of the refrigerator, wondering what the hell he was supposed to do with what was inside it, when Darcy marched in. Fire in her eyes.

“You’re near to an hour late, and while you’re lazing in bed, we’ve got two bloody buses coming in full of tourists and nothing to put in their bellies but beer nuts and crisps.”

“Sure I’ll be dealing with that directly.”

“And what, I’d like to know, are we to put on the daily while you—” She broke off, took a good look at him. His eyes, she noted, were all but wheeling around in his head. “Look at the sight of you. Dirty and torn up and bleeding. You’ve been drinking.”

“I have.” He turned, gave her the sweet, harmless smile of the very drunk. “Considerably.”

“Well, you knothead, sit down before you fall down.”

“I can stand. I’m going to make fish cakes, I’m thinking.”

“I’ll bet you are.” Amused, she pulled him to the table and shoved him into a chair. She took a look at his hand, decided she’d seen worse. “Stay where you’re put,” she ordered and went out to get Aidan.

“What d’you mean, drunk?” Aidan said after Darcy hissed in his ear.

“I think you’re familiar with the term, but if you need refreshing on it, you’ve only to go into the kitchen and have a look at our brother.”

“Christ, I don’t have time for this.” The pub had only a scatter of customers, as the doors had barely opened, but within thirty minutes, there would be sixty piling in, hungry from the bus trip down from Waterford City.

“Mind the bar, then,” he told her.

“Oh, no, not for a million pounds would I miss this.” So saying, she followed him into the kitchen.

Shawn was singing in his break-your-heart voice, about the cold nature of Peggy Gordon. And with one eye closed, his body swaying gently, he dripped lemon juice into a bowl.

“Oh, fuck me, Shawn, you are half pissed.”

“More of three-quarters if the truth be known.” He lost track of the juice and added a bit more to be safe. “And how are you today, Aidan, darling?”

“Get away from there before you poison someone.”

Insulted, Shawn swiveled around and had to brace a hand on the counter to stay upright. “I’m drunk, not a murderer. I can make a goddamn fish cake in me sleep. This is my kitchen, I’ll thank you to remember, and I give the orders here.”

He poked himself in the chest with his thumb on the claim and nearly knocked himself on his ass.

Gathering dignity, he lifted his chin. “So go on with you while I go about my work.”

“What have you done to yourself?”

“The devil cat caught me hand.” Forgetting his work, Shawn lifted a hand to scowl at the red gashes. “Oh, but I’ve plans for him, you can be sure of that.”

“At the moment, I’d lay odds on the cat. Do you know anything about putting fish cakes together?” Aidan asked Darcy.

“Not a bloody thing,” she said cheerfully.

“Then go and call Kathy Duffy, would you, and ask if she can spare us an hour or so, as we have an emergency.”

“An emergency?” Shawn looked glassily around. “Where?”

“Come with me, boy-o.”

“Where?” Shawn asked again, and Aidan hooked an arm around his waist.

“To pay the piper.”

“If you’re taking him upstairs,” Darcy called out as she reached for the phone, “I’ll thank you to clean up whatever mess is made during the sobering.”

“Just call Kathy Duffy and mind the bar.” Aidan took Shawn’s weight and dragged him upstairs.

“I can cook, drunk or sober,” Shawn insisted. “I don’t know what you’re in such a taking over. It’s just fucking fish cakes.” And he pressed a noisy kiss to Aidan’s cheek.

“You always were a cheerful drunk.”

“And why not?” Shawn hooked an arm around Aidan’s shoulder, stumbled. “My life’s in the toilet, and it looks better through the whiskey.”

Making sympathetic noises, Aidan half carried him into Darcy’s tidy little bathroom. “You had words with Brenna, did you?”

“No, but with everyone else in God’s creation. I spent the night making love to the woman I want to marry. I tell you, Aidan, it’s a different matter altogether being inside a woman when you love her. Who knew?”

Aidan considered the trouble of getting Shawn out of his clothes, and the mess that would be made if he didn’t. So he propped his brother against the wall. “Just hold this up for a bit,” he said.

“All right.” Obligingly, Shawn braced his weight against the wall. “She thinks it’s just sex, you know.”

“Aye, well . . .” Working as fast as he could, Aidan crouched to take off Shawn’s boots, which, he noted in disgust, had been tied into nasty little knots. “Women are the oddest of creatures.”

“I’ve always liked them myself. There’s so many varieties. But this is like having a lightning bolt smash right into my heart so it’s all hot and bright and shaky. I’m not letting her go, and that’s the end of it.”

“That’s the spirit.” He got the boots off, and the jeans, and working briskly as a man with experience in such matters, efficiently stripped his brother down to the skin.

Knowing what was to follow, he shrugged out of his own shirt and tugged off his pants. “In you go.”

“I can’t go anywhere. I’m naked. I’ll be arrested.”

“I’ll post your bond, not to worry.” And not without sympathy, Aidan turned the shower on full cold and shoved his beloved brother under the heartless spray.

Oh, the scream all but peeled the skin off his face, and the curses that followed battered his ears. But Aidan held ground, dodged a fist when he had to, and clamping Shawn in a headlock, held him mercilessly under.

“You’re drowning me, you bastard.”

“Not yet.” In a ruthless move, Aidan used his free hand to yank Shawn’s head back by the hair so the icy spray showered his face. “Just shut your mouth and hold your breath, and you’ll live through it.”

“I’ll kill you dead as Abraham when I’m out of here.”

“You think I’m enjoying this, do you?” Laughter rose into his throat as he yanked Shawn’s head back again. “You’d be right. Head clearing?”

Since Shawn’s answer was a glug, Aidan gave it another minute, then switched off the spray. He was wise enough to move quickly out of range before tossing his brother one of Darcy’s fancy towels. “Well, you’re a sorry picture, but your eyes are clear. Are you going to be sick on me now?”

Though his limbs were weak as a baby’s, Shawn wrapped the towel around his waist and tried for dignity. “Drowning me’s one thing, insulting me’s another. I ought to break your face for it.”

Crisis passed, Aidan decided, then lifted a brow. “It appears someone tried to break yours. Did Brenna put that bruise on your chin?”

“No. Her father did.”

“Mick O’Toole?” Aidan paused in the act of drying his own chest. “Mick O’Toole popped you one?”

“He did. But we’ve come to terms now.” Shawn stepped out of the shower, annoyed that the blissful cushion of whiskey had been washed away, so now he could hurt all over—face, hand, leg. And heart.

“At a guess I’d say you got drunk together.”

“That was part of the process.” He flipped down the lid of the toilet, sat, and as he dressed again he filled Aidan in on the morning.

“You’ve had a busy day.” Aidan laid a hand on his shoulder. “I can ask Kathy Duffy to do the whole of the shift.”

“No, I can work. It’ll keep my hands busy while I figure out what to do next.” He stood up. “I mean to have her, Aidan, however it has to be done.”

“You gave me advice once, on matters of the heart. Now I’ll return the favor. Find the words, the right ones, and give them to her. I imagine there’s different ones for different women, but when it’s all cleared away, it means the same.”

•    •    •

Before he came down again, Shawn tidied himself up as best he could and did the same for Darcy’s bathroom. Nothing was worth the spitting lecture she’d spew over him if he left it as it was. Since he felt the beginnings of a filthy head coming on, he rooted out the makings of the hangover remedy his family called Gallagher’s Fix and downed a full glass of it.

He couldn’t say he was feeling his best, but he thought he could get through the day now without making a bigger muck of things.

From the look of sympathy that Kathy Duffy sent him when he entered the kitchen again, he imagined he wasn’t looking his best either.

“There now, lad.” She clucked over him and had a strong cup of tea ready. “You just drink this and gather your wits. I’ve got things under control for now.”

“I’m grateful to you. I know I left things turned ’round here.”

“If a body can’t indulge himself foolishly now and again, what’s the point?” She bustled around as she talked, dealing with the fry pan and the pot she had simmering. “I’ve got the fish cakes doing and they’re selling brisk. You had fresh cockles, so I did up the soup, and it’s ready for serving now if any’s a taste for it. Now most are wanting chips, but I’ve done up some pan boxty as well.”

“It’s a treasure you are, Mrs. Duffy.”

She pinked and fluttered at that. “Oh, go on with you. It’s nothing your dear mother wouldn’t have done for one of mine if the need were there.” She flipped fish cakes onto plates, spooned up chips that had drained, and added bits of parsley and pickled beets.

As if timed to a turn, Darcy came in to pick up the orders. “Well, the dead have arisen,” she said with a quick study of her brother. “Though you look like you need to be buried.”

“Oh, he’s just a little shaky on his pins is all. Don’t poke at him, Darcy, there’s a good girl.”

Shawn sent his sister a wide and sour grin behind Kathy’s back as she loaded her tray. “We’ll need two servings of your soup, Mrs. Duffy, and another of the fish cakes, with the boxty, and one further of fish and chips. And all would care for the green salad you were kind enough to make while my brother was indisposed.”

“In two shakes, darling.”

Darcy balanced her tray, and after shooting an evil look at Shawn, she headed out, singing “Whiskey for Breakfast.”

“I’ll deal with the frying, Mrs. Duffy, if you wouldn’t mind seeing to the salads.”

“Are you feeling up to it, lad?”

“I am, yes, thanks.”

“It’s best to keep busy, but mind your hand. Those are nasty scratches.” She gave him a little pat as they passed each other. “And when Brenna comes in later to work, the two of you will make it up, mark my words.”

If she’d smacked him over the head with the rolling pin, he’d have been less staggered. “Brenna?”

“I’m thinking the two of you had a bit of a spat,” Kathy went on, cheerfully scooping up salad. “Lovebirds don’t always sing pretty tunes.”

Recovering, Shawn narrowed his eyes at the door. “Darcy.” He said it darkly, bitterly, and with a hint of the violence he intended.

“Darcy?” With a rumbling laugh, Kathy lined up the bowls. “Now why would I need Darcy to be telling me what I can see with my own eyes? Wasn’t I in the pub myself last night?”

“I barely spoke to Brenna last night in the pub.” Sulking now, Shawn set the cakes to sizzling. “We were, the both of us, busy.”

“I might expect that sort of answer from most men, but you’re a poet, and you know very well just how much can be said with a look. The two of you clicked eyes together every blessed time you stepped out of the kitchen. Nothing I haven’t been expecting for years.”

“Oh, bloody hell.” He muttered it, well under his breath, but the woman had ears like a rabbit.

“Now, what’s the matter? It’s a pretty business seeing the two of you starting to dance in the same direction.”

And a mouth, Shawn thought, that flapped like a sheet in a gale. “Ah, the thing of it is, Mrs. Duffy—and I’m hoping you’ll take this as delicate as it’s meant—if, as things are, Brenna hears any talk of the two of us . . . dancing in the same direction, as you put it, she’ll do a very fast jig the opposite way.”

Judging the progress of the frying, she reached up for soup bowls. “And since when has Mary Brenna O’Toole heard anything if it didn’t please her to? The girl’s ears are as stubborn as the rest of her—and good luck to you with her.”

He shook the fry basket to drain more chips. “You’ve a point there, well taken.”

“I’ve known the two of you since you were both bumps under your mothers’ aprons.” She ladled up soup and was generous with dumplings. “And ten years back—aye ten, as I recall it was the summer my Patrick broke his arm falling off the cabin roof, where he had no business being in the first place. Ten years ago this summer I said to Mr. Duffy as we sat out in the pub of an evening, and Brenna sat with her family at a near table, and you were playing one of your tunes on the fiddle while your father worked the bar . . .”

She trailed off as she set the bowls aside for Darcy. “I said to him, as I watched her watching you, and saw that now and again a glance of yours would land in her direction, there’s something that will come around when the time’s right.”

“I never thought of her that way back then.”

“Of course you did,” Kathy said comfortably. “You just didn’t know it.”

When it was time for the evening shift, Darcy lay in wait for Brenna. And nearly missed her, as Brenna came in the front instead of the back.

“You missed a great crowd today.” Darcy sauntered over. It took only a strategic shift of her body to corner Brenna by the coatrack. “Shawn was late for work,” she continued in a whisper, “and was drunk besides. What’s going on?”

“I can’t talk about it now. I made a mess of things, I can say that much.”

Darcy laid a hand on Brenna’s shoulder until she finished her study. “You look terrible. Was it a big fight or a little one?”

“It wasn’t a fight at all with Shawn.” She glanced over at the kitchen door, wondering how they were going to deal with it all, and with each other, now. “Got drunk, did he? Well, now, I wish I’d thought of that. Let me go on to work, Darcy. It’s going to be a long night, and the sooner it’s started, the sooner it’s done.”

If anyone expected her to leave it at that, they didn’t know Darcy Gallagher. At the first opportunity, she was in the kitchen. She took a good look at her brother as she relayed orders. Though he was a bit rough around the edges still, he appeared sober and steady.

“Brenna’s come in.” Darcy noted with interest that Shawn’s steady motion with the rolling pin broke. “She looks unhappy. And so do you.”

He went back to rolling out the pastry for meat pies. “We’ll be all right.”

“I’ll help you.”

He flicked his eyes up. “Why?”

“Because she’s my oldest and dearest friend in all the world, and you, though an accident of fate, are my brother.”

Humor flickered across his face. “We’ll be all right, Darcy,” he repeated. “It’s for us to work it out.”

“You’re turning down the assistance of an expert in this particular field of battle.”

He began to score the dough, measuring it into neat squares. “I’ll hold you in reserve, if it’s all the same to you.”

“Well, it’s your choice, after all.” She started out, stopped, turned around. “Does she matter?”

Knowing how well his sister read faces, Shawn kept his head lowered. “Do you think I don’t know what comes out of my mouth goes in your ear, then off your tongue and into her ear?”

“It won’t. If you ask me.”

He looked up then. Loyalty was her finest trait, as far as he was concerned. And he knew she’d sooner break her arm than her word. “Then I’m asking you. I feel it’s my life up on a thin and slippery line. Step off one way, the ground’s solid, off the other it’s a bog. You sink in, and it’s over.”

“Then watch your step,” Darcy advised, and went back into the pub.

The noise level was already rising. It would be a din, hushed down once the music started, and peaking again at every break the band took. Brenna worked the taps with both hands, even while she listened to Jack Brennan lumber his way through a joke he’d heard about a princess and a frog. Though her heart wasn’t in it, she laughed at the end.

When the band began to set up, she ordered herself to pay no mind, no mind at all. But her gaze wandered over nonetheless and locked on the blond singer.

Just the type Shawn would drift back to, she thought. Shallow bastard. What would it take him? A month, a week, a bloody night before he rolled atop another woman?

“I’m almost afraid to ask,” Jude said as she slid onto a stool. “But can I have a mineral water?”

“You can.” Brenna got the glass, remembered ice as Jude had that Yank preference for it. “Why would you be afraid to ask?”

“Because you look as if you want to punch someone. I wouldn’t want it to be me.”

“It’d more likely be myself, or that blonde over there.”

“Eileen? Why?”

“To start, she has tits.” Brenna set the glass down, ordered herself to put the rest aside. “You look well tonight, Jude Frances. Well and happy.”

“I’m both. I’ve gained two more pounds. I can’t get my trousers hooked anymore.”

Brenna took orders and coin, continued to work the taps. “So you’ll make use of all those maternity clothes Darcy talked you into. Don’t you want a table—a chair for your back?”

“No, I’m fine here for now. I’m just staying long enough for the first set, and a bowl of soup.”

“You want a meal?” It came out as an accusation, making Jude stare.

“Well, I’d considered it.”

“You’ll want a table,” Brenna said briskly. If Jude ordered from a table it would be Darcy’s job to go into the kitchen.

“No, I don’t. I’ve gotten some bits and pieces about trouble between you and Shawn. You can’t deal with it, Brenna, if you can’t so much as open that door and shout out an order for soup.”

“Maybe I don’t want to deal with it.” When Jude only folded her hands on the bar, Brenna hissed out a breath. “You know, I’m finding married women a pain in the ass.” She finished building a Guinness, pulled a pint and a glass of lager, and exchanged them for the price. “You’ve got fairy tales on your brain,” she continued. “That’s not how it is here.”

“I might agree with you but for one thing. Well two things. Carrick and Lady Gwen.”

Brenna snorted and started another pair of pints. “They’ve nothing to do with me. I’ll tell you how I’d end a fairy tale,” she continued, thinking of Jack Brennan’s joke. “In mine, the princess doesn’t kiss the frog, but dines well on frog legs at end of day. I’ll get your damn soup.”

Spoiling for a fight, she strode to the door, shoved it open. Shawn was at the stove, a wooden spoon in one hand, a spatula in the other. The heat had his hair curling just a bit, and he needed a trim. He hadn’t bothered to shave, which was an odd thing for Shawn. But under the day’s growth on his jaw was unmistakable bruising.

Before she could speak, the warm, liquid voice of the blond singer drifted into the room. It didn’t matter if it was unreasonable. It didn’t matter if it was uncalled for.

It just pissed her off.

“I need an order of soup.”

“It’s hot and ready,” he said easily, because he gauged her mood. “I’ve my hands a bit full here, if you wouldn’t mind spooning it up yourself.”

“Everyone’s hands are full,” she muttered, but she got down a bowl. “What happened to your face?”

He swiveled his jaw. “I wasn’t watching my step.”

“Aye. I heard you got yourself a snootful. Well, that’s no answer.”

Since she’d decided to snipe at him, Shawn reasoned, she wasn’t going to wallow and brood. Much better all around. “It served at the time.”

She filled the bowl, set it on a plate. “And now?”

He wanted to lean over, just lean to her while both their hands were occupied and close his mouth over hers. Instead, he lifted a shoulder. “And now I’ll have to be more careful where I step.” For the hell of it, he began to hum in harmony with Eileen’s lovely voice.

“You think it’s as easy as that, do you? Well, it’s not. We’ll talk about this after closing.”

He let her have the last word since it was exactly what he’d intended to say to her. When she stalked out, her face fierce, he went back to work with a lighter heart.

A couple of tourists from Cleveland overindulged. Brenna helped Aidan steer them toward the B and B, on foot, as it was feared they’d break their necks if they attempted to ride their bikes even that far.

Gauging his timing, Shawn slipped out. “Ah, well, you got them off, then. I was thinking you might need an extra pair of hands.”

“No, they should be able to stumble their way into bed.” Aidan watched them lurch and weave down the street and shook his head at their off-key rendition of “Whiskey, You’re the Devil.” “A pair of Yanks straight out of school. Well, but what’s a Grand Tour without one drunken night in an Irish pub, after all?” He caught Shawn’s eye, figured the meaning. “It’s been a long one, so we’ll call it a night. Thanks for helping out, Brenna.”

“It’s not a problem. Good night, Aidan.”

“It’s been longer for you and me,” Shawn said when he and Brenna were alone on the street.

“It has, but it’s not done. I’d like a walk on the beach if it’s the same to you.”

“All right.” He didn’t take her hand, but walked beside her, his own hands in his pockets. “It’s a fresh night. Full of moon.”

“That’s lucky. We won’t freeze or fall on our faces.”

He had to laugh. “You’re such a romantic fool, Mary Brenna.”

“A fool, from time to time. I was foolish with you, knowing my sister’s feelings.”

“With or without you, I couldn’t give her what she thinks she wants from me. There’s no getting past that. I’m sorry she’s hurt, and sorrier still that it was you she struck out at. But in thinking it through, I don’t know if there was a way it could’ve been avoided.”

“I could have waited until her feelings for you faded off, as they will.”

“So, I’m the forgettable sort.”

She glanced up at him, then away. “That scores your pride, but it’s the way it is. She’s barely twenty and can’t see through the stars in her eyes.”

“But there’re none in yours.”

“I see clear enough. I started this with you, and I’d end it. I was prepared to end it. But that’s not the way to solve the matter. Mary Kate won’t forgive and forget just because I step away from you. If she’s to grow up, she needs to learn how to face the hard things.”

“So, you’ve decided for all of us, then.”

Because he stopped, she turned to him. Moonlight streamed at his back, spilling over sand and sea like liquid pearls. And in its light she saw his eyes weren’t calm and easy, but very near to furious.

“Someone has to.”

“And it’s always you? Maybe I’ve had enough of you. Maybe I prefer having my life on balance instead of being in the middle of two women who want to bite and scratch.”

Nearly as shocked as she was offended, she snapped at him. “I don’t bite and scratch, and I wasn’t looking to fight Mary Kate or anyone over the likes of you. It just happened. And as far as you having enough of me,” she added, “that’s a different tune you’re singing than the one I heard only this morning.”

“I know a variety of tunes. And as you think so little of me, I’d suspect you’d be relieved to part ways in this area. Both of us can find sex elsewhere when we’re in the mood for it.”

“It’s not just sex.”

Ah, he thought, finally. “Isn’t it?” He stepped closer, backing her toward the sea. “Isn’t that what you said you wanted from me?”

“Yes.” What was going on in those eyes of his? she wondered. They were black as night, with thoughts and feelings she couldn’t read. “But we have a caring for each other. I won’t have you cheapen what’s between us that way.”

“But you’ll say what I’ll have and won’t, what I’ll do and don’t?” He snatched her up seconds before she backed into the surf. “Why would you want a man touching you who could be so easily ordered about?”

“Shawn.” He had her up, her feet dangling inches above the ground. Her heart began to boom. “Set me down.”

“You want me to touch you. Even now, thinking you can point and I’ll go here, or I’ll go there, you want my hands on you.”

“It’s nothing to be proud of.”

He jerked her up another inch. “Fuck pride.”

And when his mouth crushed down on hers, it was rough and ruthless. She might have resisted, might have shoved and struggled. But she did none of those things.

She gave, because he so rarely demanded. She gave, because she needed to. As her body began a fevered quaking, she said his name.

“I could have you, right here and now.” He dropped her abruptly on her feet. “Think about why that is. I have.”

She couldn’t think at all, not with her insides churning and the blood roaring in her head like the sea at her back.

“I’m going home.”

“Go, then. I won’t stop you.” He tucked his hands back in his pockets so he wouldn’t be tempted to do just that. “Mind this, Brenna. I won’t come to you. Once you work out what’s inside you yourself, you know where to find me.”

She walked away. Shawn could say what he would about pride, but she needed herself. She didn’t start running until her boots hit the street.

“That’s the way you charm the ladies, is it?” Carrick stood in the shallow surf and lifted the silver pipe he held to his lips to play a quick tune. “What strange ways you mortals have.”

“I know what I’m about here.”

“I’m sure you think you do. You pea-brain. If you love the woman, why do you let her wiggle away like that?”

“Because I love her.” The fury he’d barely held in check broke out now as he rounded on Carrick. “And you didn’t do so very well in your own time with your own woman, did you?”

Carrick’s eyes flashed, a wild blue that matched the lightning that split the star-strewed sky. “You’re looking to take on the likes of me now, Gallagher the younger?” He stepped out of the surf on boots that were soft and dry. “Didn’t your dear mother ever warn you about what comes of challenging the Good People?”

“You don’t worry me, Carrick. You need me. It’s come down to you, with all your power and all your tricks, needing a mortal man. So hold your threats and your light shows. They don’t impress me.”

Temper simmered, settled. “Hah. The woman thinks she knows what’s in you, but she’s yet to dig deep enough. Have a care you don’t show her too much too quickly and scare her off.”

“Go to the devil.”

Carrick flashed his teeth. “He won’t have me,” said he, and faded away to the tune of his pipe.

SEVENTEEN

BRENNA WENT TO early Mass. The little church with cool morning light coming through the glass smelled of candle wax and holy water. It always seemed to her that holy water carried a faint metallic scent. When Brenna was a child Mollie told her it was the blessings in it. She often remembered that, found comfort in that, whether she dipped her fingers in the church font or the water of Saint Declan’s Well.

A baby was fussing in the back pew, little fretful squawls that his mother tried to hush with murmurs and pats. Brenna didn’t mind it. It was rare to sit at Mass and not hear a baby whimpering or wailing, or children squirming, starched clothes scratching against worn wooden pews.

She liked the familiarity of it, as much as the ritual. It was a fine time and place for thinking, which to her mind was the same as praying half the time.

She had choices to make. And if she wanted to repair the damage that had been done, she had to make them quickly. When there was a crack in something it only widened if you didn’t tend to it. Let it go long enough, a crack became a break, and you had a hell of a mess on your hands.

There was damage now to her relationship with Mary Kate, a split that could undermine the foundation of blood and heart. She’d had a part in causing it. Left as it was, that damage could run through and fracture the bond of her entire family. How it was repaired would determine whether that bond held firm or showed the scars.

The same was true of Shawn. There was a foundation there, built over a lifetime of affection and shared memories and friendship. She wouldn’t stand aside and watch it crumble.

Choices, she thought, of where to begin the repairs and how to go about them. Each choice took steps, and only she could take them. Best if she began now.

She slipped out a few minutes before the service ended. That way she avoided anyone who wanted to chat or gossip or ask after her family. She drove home, a bit nervous in the stomach regions, but with her mind made up as to which step to take first.

“There you are.” Mollie, dressed for church, met her at the door. “I heard you go out earlier.”

“I’ve been to Mass.”

“Oh, well, the lot of us are about to go ourselves.”

“Mary Kate’ll have to go later.” Brenna moved in and started up the stairs. “She can use my lorry.”

“Brenna, I want no fighting in this house on the Lord’s day.”

“There won’t be,” Brenna promised. She had a mind to fight elsewhere, should it be necessary.

She got to the top of the steps just as her father came out of his room. His face was red and glowing from his shave, his hair showing the forks of his comb like little furrows in a sandy field. Her heart all but broke with love for him.

“Dad.”

It was awkward, and he imagined it would be so between them for a little while yet. But there were tears swimming into her eyes. That he couldn’t bear. “Your mother’s gathering us up for Mass.”

“I’ve already been.”

“Ah, well.” He shifted his feet. “I’m after an early start in the morning. Those back steps of O’Leary’s finally fell through, as we’ve been telling them they would. Of course, O’Leary fell through with them, which is no more than he deserves for letting them rot as he did. We’ll start there first thing.”

She understood that either of them could have dealt with the job alone. That he was having them work together healed the widest crack in her heart. “I’ll be ready. Dad—”

“We’ll be late for Mass if you don’t shake out the lead,” Mollie called up.

“Tomorrow’s as good as today,” was all Mick said, and touched his hand lightly to Brenna’s arm as he passed her.

She took a deep breath. “Not for everything,” she muttered, and pushed open the door to her sisters’ room.

Alice Mae sat patiently on the side of the bed, her good shoes polished, her hair brushed to a rose gold gleam. Mary Kate primped in front of the mirror, adding a coat of mascara to her lashes. Her eyes were still a little swollen from weeping, but her mouth formed a thin sharp line when she saw Brenna.

“Alice, darling, Ma’s calling. Go on now.”

Mary Kate gave her hair one more toss. “I’m coming with you, Alice Mae.”

“No, you’re not,” Brenna corrected and stepped in front of the doorway. “You’ll have to make a later Mass.”

“I don’t have to do anything you say.”

“You can come with me and have this out away from the house, as I’ve promised Ma there’d be no fighting in it. Or you can sulk day and night like a child. If you want to be a woman, Mary Kate, I’ll be in my lorry waiting.”

It took less than five minutes for Mary Kate to saunter out of the house and climb into the lorry. She’d added lipstick, Brenna noted as she zoomed out into the road. She couldn’t understand why so many females saw paint as a kind of shield or weapon.

Then again, she knew her ancestors had painted themselves blue before screaming into battle.

As she figured it as neutral turf, or if anything leaned a bit toward Mary Kate’s side, she drove to the cliff hotel and parked. She got out and began to walk, knowing her sister would follow.

“And where are you going?” Mary Kate demanded. “Somewhere you can toss me off a cliff?”

“Somewhere I think the both of us will respect enough not to start pulling hair or punching.”

They followed the path, crossing the cliffs, where the air still had a bite. It seemed winter wasn’t quite ready to surrender to spring. But there were wildflowers beginning to show their faces and tuneful birds that sang out as high and loud as the crying gulls.

She passed the ruin of the cathedral once built in the name of Saint Declan and moved beyond his well, beyond the three stone crosses, toward the ground that held the dead and their markers.

“This is holy ground,” Brenna began. “And I’m standing on it when I tell you I wronged you. You’re my sister, my blood, and I didn’t consider your feelings, not as I should have. I’m sorry for it.”

It threw Mary Kate off, and that alone was enough to stir her temper again. “Do you think that makes up for it?”

“I’m thinking it’s all I can say.”

“Are you giving him up?”

“I thought I would,” Brenna said slowly. “That was part pride. ‘I’ll give him up for her,’ I thought. ‘Then she’ll see how I’d sacrifice to keep her happy.’ The other part was guilt that I’d done something to hurt you, and ending things with Shawn would be my penance for it.”

“I’d think you’d have more guilt than pride in the way you’ve behaved.”

Temper flashed once, a bright warning in her eyes. Then Brenna snuffed it. She knew her sister, and she knew just how clever Mary Kate could be in inciting anger to overpower her opponent’s reason.

“I’ve no guilt over what’s been between myself and Shawn, but only that what is between us has hurt and embarrassed you.” The cool delivery only added impact to the words. “And for that I was prepared to turn from him, as a lover, and perhaps as a friend as well. Then, reconsidering, it seemed to me that doing that would be something akin to giving in to a child’s tantrum, and that’s hardly treating you or your feelings with respect.”

“You’re just twisting it all around so you can have what you want.”

Suddenly the four years separating them seemed like forty. And made Brenna unbearably tired. There were tears in Mary Kate’s voice, hot and spiteful ones that reminded Brenna of times they’d squabbled over a new toy or the last biscuit in the tin.

“Do I want Shawn? I do. I haven’t figured it all out as yet, but the wanting’s there, and I can’t deny it. I’m facing you here, woman to woman, and telling you he wants me as well. I’m sorry, Mary Kate, for the unhappiness it causes you, but he isn’t looking at you that way.”

Mary Kate’s chin came up, and Brenna thought her own would have done the same under the circumstances. “He might if you weren’t warming his bed.”

That caused a hitch in her stomach, but she nodded. “The fact is, I am in his bed. And I won’t be rolling out of it to make room for you. Yesterday I might have, because I couldn’t stand seeing you so hurt and knowing I was part of the cause. But I’m looking at you here, Mary Kate, in clear light with a clear head. And you’re not hurting now. You’re just mad.”

“How do you know what I feel for him?”

“I don’t. Tell me.”

She threw up her head so her hair flew in the frisky wind. “I love him.” It was a passionate and almost sweetly dramatic declaration. Brenna gave her full marks for it, knowing she herself could never have pulled it off so impressively.

“Why?”

“Because he’s handsome and sensitive and kind.”

“Aye, he’s all of those things—as is the Clooney dog. What of his flaws?”

“He doesn’t have any.”

“Of course he does.” The fact of them smoothed out Brenna’s nerves and made her feel oddly sentimental. “He’s stubborn and slow to move and absentminded. There are times you’ll be talking to him and you might as well be talking to yourself, as his brain’s gone off somewhere else. He lacks ambition and needs to be prodded along every other step or he’d stay happy in the same place forever.”

“That’s how you see him.”

“I see him as he is, not as a pretty picture out of a book. Mary Kate.” She stepped forward, knowing it was too soon to reach out. “Let’s be honest here, we two. There’s something in the way he looks, in the air of him that makes a woman want. I understand how he makes you feel in that area. And I’ve wanted him myself since I was no older than Alice Mae.”

Something flickered in Mary Kate’s eyes. “I don’t believe you. You don’t wait for anything.”

“I thought I’d get over it. Then I thought I’d make a fool of myself.” Brenna pushed at her hair, wished she’d thought to tie it back before coming up the cliff. “In the end it was more than a wanting. It was a needing.”

“You don’t love him.”

“I think I might.” The minute the words were out, Brenna pressed a hand to her heart, as if someone had just delivered a blow to it. “I think I might,” she said again, then just slid down to her knees. “Oh, sweet God Almighty, what am I to do?”

Mary Kate could only gape. Her sister had gone dead white and was rocking on her knees and clutching her chest as if she was having a seizure. “Stop that. You’re playacting.”

“I’m not. I can’t. I can’t seem to breathe right.”

Suspicious, Mary Kate walked over and gave Brenna a hefty thump on the back. “There.”

Her breath whooshed out, wheezed in. “Thanks.” She sank weakly onto her heels. “I can’t deal with this now, I can’t. I shouldn’t be expected to. It was bad enough the way things were, but this won’t do. It won’t do at all. This fixes nothing, but only shifts the weight. Damn it.”

Since Brenna made no move to get up, Mary Kate sat down. “I think I could forgive you if you were in love with him. Are you just saying you are so I will?”

“No. And I didn’t say I was, I said I might be.” Desperate, Brenna grabbed her sister’s hand. “You’re to tell no one. I want your word you’re to say nothing of this, or I’ll strangle you in your sleep. Swear it to me.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, why should I go around telling anyone? So I can look like a bigger horse’s ass?”

“It’ll probably go away.”

“Why should you want it to?”

“In love with Shawn Gallagher.” Brenna rubbed her hands over her face, ran them back into her hair. “What a pretty mess that would be. We’d drive each other crazy inside a year—me always wanting to get things done, him dreaming the time away. The man can’t remember to plug in a cord, much less fix one that’s gone off.”

“What difference does that make? You can fix it. And dreaming’s what he does. How else could he make up all that music?”

“And what’s the point of making it up if you do nothing with it?” Brenna waved it away. “Oh, it doesn’t matter. It’s not what either of us was after when we started. I’m just doing the bloody female thing, and it annoys me. Why do women have to turn attraction into love?”

“Maybe there was love hiding under the attraction all along.”

Brenna lifted her head. “Why do you suddenly have to get wise?”

“Maybe because you’re not treating me like a foolish girl anymore. And maybe because when I look at you right now, it occurs to me that it might not have been love I was feeling for him. It didn’t make me go pale and tremble, that’s for certain. And . . .” She sat back, a faint sneer on her face. “Maybe because it’s satisfying under the circumstances to see you look weak and terrified. You damn near pulled my hair out by the roots yesterday.”

“You got your licks in.”

“Well, it was you taught me to fight.” At the memory of it sentimental tears clouded Mary Kate’s eyes. “I’m sorry I called you a whore. I did it the first time out of anger, and the others out of spite.” She dabbed at her eyes. “And I’m sorry for the things I wrote about you in my diary—well, sorry for some of them.”

“We won’t let it matter.” Their fingers linked. “I don’t want him, or anyone, between us. I’m asking you not to make me push him away.”

“So you can feel righteous and me guilty? No, I’ll have none of that.” A ghost of a smile flitted around her mouth. “I can get me own man when I want one. But . . .” She angled her head. “There’s one thing I’d like to know.”

“What would it be?”

“Does he kiss as well as it seems he would from looking at him?”

“When he puts his mind to it, he can melt every bone in your body.”

Mary Kate sighed. “I had a feeling.”

She walked to the cottage, but her mind wasn’t much clearer when she arrived than it had been when she’d started out. There was rain coming, a soft one, Brenna thought, from the way the sun was shining under the clouds.

A good day to curl up by a fire, she thought. But of course there wasn’t a puff of smoke rising from the chimney at Faerie Hill Cottage. Shawn forgot such things twice as often as he remembered them.

His car was gone, so she imagined he’d taken himself off to church. She’d wait. She passed through the garden gate, and glancing up, half expected to see the quiet green eyes of Lady Gwen watching. But nothing stirred, mortal or otherwise.

She stepped in, nearly tripped over his work boots that lay where he’d kicked them off the night before, with a good coating of dirt on the heels. She nudged them aside with the toe of her own, then crossed over into the little front parlor to build a fire.

His music sheets were scattered over the piano, and a cup that would have held his tea was sitting carelessly on a table. As was a squat green bottle that held a clutch of flowers from the front garden.

He would think of such things, she mused. He wouldn’t remember to clean off his boots, and neither did she more often than not, but he’d take the time and have the thought to put flowers out.

Why didn’t she think of things like that? She liked a house with flowers, and with candles sitting about. And the scents they created together that made the air delicate. She would think of cleaning the chimney out, and laying by turf or wood, but she would never think of the little touches that turned house to home.

Hanging curtains was one thing, she decided. Thinking of lace was another altogether.

After the fire was going, she rose to wander to the piano. Had he worked here last night? she wondered.He’d been angry with her. Did he work off a mad here as well as dream?

His heart’s in his song. She frowned as she sifted through the pages scribbled with notes and words. If that were true, why did he leave his music all tossed about this way? Why didn’t he do something with it?

How could she care so much for a man who lacked basic drive? Surely it wasn’t enough for a man to have such a light inside him if he didn’t use it for something.

“These pearls I now lay at your feet,” she murmured, reading his work, “are only moon-shed tears. For every time my heart does beat, it weeps for you across the years. Night by night the spell holds fast, until the day love breaks the past.”

So he sings of legends, Brenna thought—and waits for what?

She set the sheet aside again when she heard his car.

He’d seen the smoke and knew it would be Brenna. What he would do about it, he was less certain. He had to hope, as he did with his music, that the next passage would just come to him.

He stepped into the house and turned as she walked to the parlor doorway.

“There’s a chill in the mornings yet. I lit your fire.”

He nodded. “Do you want some tea?”

“No.” She couldn’t read his face, and it worried her. “You were angry with me last night. Are you still?”

“Not as much.”

“Well . . .” The sense of awkwardness was something new, and not at all welcome. “I thought I should tell you I had some words with Mary Kate this morning. Private words.”

“Then it’s better between you.”

“It is, yes.”

“I’m glad of it. With a little time, I hope she’ll be comfortable with me again as well.”

“She’ll be embarrassed for a while, but as for the rest . . . after I pointed out all of your flaws, she thinks perhaps she’s not in love with you after all.”

He lifted his brows. “That was clever of you.”

“Shawn.” She laid a hand on his arm when he started into the room, so they stood, framed in the doorway. “I’m sorry for how we left things last night.”

“I’m sorry” were words that didn’t slide easily off her tongue, he knew. So they meant more. “Then so am I.”

“And I don’t mind your flaws—or most of them— very much.”

She smelled of Sunday, shampoo and soap, and her eyes were full of apologies. “Then it’s better between us as well?”

“I want it to be.”

He crossed over, sat in the single chair that wasn’t full of sheet music. “Why don’t you come sit with me awhile, Mary Brenna?”

Her eyes twinkled as relief sparkled through her. She thought she knew what he was about. She couldn’t think of a finer way to make up. After walking to him, she sat on his lap, angling herself so their faces were close. “Friends again?”

“We ever were.”

“I hardly slept for worrying we’d never be easy with each other again, though I know we promised we’d stay friends.”

“And we will. Is friends all you’re wanting to be just now?”

For an answer she closed the distance between them and laid her lips on his. Her little sigh slid into him, warm, familiar now. He drew her closer, lingering over the kiss, drawing it out soft and sweet before trailing his lips up to her brow.

Then he tucked her head on his shoulder, circled his arms comfortably around her. Puzzled, she sat still, waiting for his hands to move in the way, and to the places, she expected. But he only held her while the fire smoked and simmered, and the rain flowed in to splat and patter.

Gradually she relaxed against him, sinking into the comfort and coziness, lulled by the intimacy of silence.

She’d never had a lover like him, one who understood her, who was content to cuddle away a rainy morning. Was that why she’d fallen in love with him? Or had she always felt the same without knowing it? Whatever the answer, it had to be dealt with, explored and examined until the pieces fit.

“I’m wondering,” she began, “if the next evening you have free you’d like to go with me up to Waterford City. I’ll take you to dinner.”

He smiled into her hair. She’d taken her time working up to courting him, but this was a fine start at it. “Would you be wearing that dress you put on for the Dubliner some time back?”

“I could.”

“I like the way it fits you.”

“If I’m wearing a dress, we’d best take your car. I’ll give it a good going-over today. Your engine’s missing, and your oil’s filthy. From the quick look I had under the hood, I’d say the last time your battery connections were cleaned was when I did it myself.”

“I prefer leaving such matters to the experts.”

“You’re just lazy about it.”

“There’s that as well. Was that one of the flaws that has Mary Kate reconsidering?”

“It was. You’re a feckless sort, Shawn Gallagher.”

“Well, now, ‘kless’ is a harsh word.”

“I’m sorry if it insults you.” She shifted, and didn’t look sorry at all. “But you must admit ambition isn’t your middle name.”

“I’ve ambition enough when it matters.”

“Doesn’t your music matter?”

He’d leaned forward to nip at her ear, but she’d thrown him off his rhythm. “What does my music have to do with it?”

Careful, Brenna, she thought. Take the pieces apart, but don’t damage them. “You sit here and make it, then leave it all tossed about.”

“I know where everything is.”

“The point is, what are you doing with it?”

“Getting pleasure from it.”

A block here, she noted, studying the way his face closed up. It would take deft hands to work around it— but she was determined to do it. It was one of the steps that needed to be taken.

“That’s fine and good, but don’t you want more? Don’t you want other people to have the pleasure of it as well?”

“You don’t even like my music.”

“Now when have I said that?” At his bland stare she shrugged. “Well, if I did ’twas only to annoy you. I like it very well. And now and then when you’ve played one of your tunes in the pub or at a ceili , others have too.”

“That’s friends and family.”

“Exactly. I’m a friend, aren’t I?”

“You are.”

“Then will you give me a tune?”

He shifted, wary. “What do you mean, ‘give you a tune’?”

“Just that. Let me have a song, for my own. A barter, for fixing your car.” On impulse she got up, gestured to the piano. “You’ve dozens, and they’re just lying about. I’d like to have one.”

He didn’t believe that for a minute, but he couldn’t see the trap or the harm. “It’s some mood you’re in, O’Toole, but all right. I’ll give you one.”

He rose, but when he started to push through the piles, she slapped his hand away. “No, I get to pick it. It’s only fair.” She snatched up the one she’d been reading, the one, she realized, she’d been picking out on the keyboard when Lady Gwen had first shown herself. “I like this one.”

“It’s not finished yet.” He couldn’t put a finger on the point of his panic, he only knew he felt it. “It needs work.”

“It’s the one I want. You wouldn’t be stepping back from a bargain, would you?”

“No, but—”

“Good.” She folded the sheets in a way that made him wince, and tucked them in her back pocket. “It’s mine now, and thank you.” She rose up on her toes, kissed him lightly. “I’ll drive you to the pub, drop you off for work. That way I can bring your car back to my house where my tools are. I’ll have it running smooth for you.”

“I’ve a bit of time yet.”

“Well, I don’t. I’ve considerable to do today. If I brought your car down to you before closing, would you give me a lift back?”

He tried to put the song out of his mind. She’d forget it soon enough, he decided. “Back to where?”

She smiled slowly. “Here would be just far enough.”

• • •

She had one stop to make before she drove home to change and get out her tools. With Shawn safely at the pub, Brenna drove down to Jude’s house and parked.

Jude was out in the front garden, getting a jump on spring. Her gloves were already dark with dirt, and there were a number of sketches on the walkway beside her. At Brenna’s approach, she sat back on her heels and tipped up the straw hat she was using to protect her head from the drizzling rain.

“Something wrong with your lorry?”

“No, I’m doing some work on Shawn’s car, as he’d rather be nibbled by ants than lift the bonnet. Your drawings are getting wet.”

“I know. I have to stop. I just wanted to hurry spring along.”

“Ah, you’ve sketched out your ideas for your gardens.” Crouching, Brenna used her back to protect the papers. “Like a blueprint. That’s a clever notion.”

“It helps me see it. Let’s go inside, out of the wet.” She started to rise, then shifted and put a hand on the slope of her belly. “My center of gravity’s changing.”

“Another few months, you won’t be able to get up off your knees without a rope and pulley. Here, I’ll get these.” Brenna picked up the sketches and Jude’s garden basket.

“I saw Colleen Ryan going into the market the other day. She’s due any minute. She waddles,” Jude said as they stepped into the house. “It’s very sweet, but I intend to glide, Madonna-like, through my term.”

“You keep thinking that, darling.”

Brenna carried the basket back to the little mudroom off the kitchen and spread the drawings out on the counter to dry.

The kettle went on. The biscuit tin came down.

“I told Aidan I’d come into the pub for lunch.” With a sheepish grin, Jude bit into a sugar cookie. “But I’m always hungry these days. Nothing spoils my appetite.”

“Expecting looks good on you, Jude. I remember the first time I saw you, a year ago, standing in the rain at the door to Faerie Hill Cottage, looking lost. You’re found now.”

“What a lovely way to put it. Yes, I’m found now. Things I wanted, and could hardly admit even to myself that I wanted, happened.”

“You made them happen.”

“Some of it.” She nibbled on the cookie while Brenna paced the kitchen. “And some things are meant to be. You have to be willing enough, brave enough, to let them happen.”

“When you discovered you loved Aidan, did you tell him? Straight out?”

“No, I was afraid to. I didn’t trust myself enough.”

Brenna’s eyes sharpened. “Or him?”

“Or him,” Jude admitted. “Before I came here, I never made things happen, and it wasn’t courage that had me letting them happen around me or to me. It was fear and passivity. I had to learn the difference. To take charge of some things, to trust others to fall into place.”

“But you had to take steps.”

“Yes. Are you in love with Shawn?”

Frowning, Brenna sat. “It seems I am. I’m not ashamed to say it’s a shock to the system.”

“Love looks well on you, Brenna.”

At the turn of her own words, Brenna let out a short laugh. “It doesn’t feel well. But I suppose I’ll get used to it. I’ll get the tea,” she said when the kettle sputtered.

“No, sit. Have you told him?”

“Not bloody likely.” As a thought struck, Brenna looked over quickly as Jude dealt with the tea. “I know married couples tend to tell each other most everything, but—”

“You don’t want me to mention this to Aidan.”

“I don’t.”

“Then I won’t.”

“Thanks.” Brenna let out a breath. “It’s a matter now of taking those steps, and figuring out which come first. As well as I know him—Shawn, I’m meaning—he’s not as predictable as I thought before we . . . changed things between us.”

“The dynamics are different between lovers than they are between friends. Even lifelong friends.”

“I’ve discovered that. Still, I know he often takes a good kick in the ass to get moving in some areas. I’m taking that first step with something that bothers me the most, and that I think, underneath, means the most to him.” Shifting her seat, she tugged out the sheets of music.

“One of his songs?”

“I badgered him into giving it to me. There’s talent here, isn’t there, Jude?”

“I think so.”

“Why doesn’t he pursue it? You understand how the mind works.”

“You’re asking a former, and mediocre, psychology professor.” Jude set the pot on the table, fetched cups. “But my educated guess would be that he’s afraid.”

“Of what?”

“Of failing in the thing that matters most. What if it isn’t good enough? What if he isn’t good enough? There are a lot of us who circle that abyss, Brenna.” She poured out the tea. “You’re not one of them. You just roll up your sleeves and build a bridge over it.”

“Then I’m after building one over his. He gave me this song, and I can do what I like with it. I want to send it to someone who’d know about such things. Who’d know if it’s worth buying.”

“Without telling Shawn.”

“I won’t feel guilty about that,” Brenna muttered. “If it doesn’t work out, he’ll never have to know, will he? And if it does, how can he be anything but pleased? I’m not sure how to go about it, or who to send it along to. I thought you might have some ideas on it.”

“I’d be wasting my breath trying to talk you out of this?”

“You would.”

Jude nodded. “Then I’ll save it. I don’t know anything about the music business. I could ask my agent, though I don’t think she’d . . .” As an idea formed, she trailed off, worked on it. “What about Magee? He’s built theaters. He has to know people in entertainment. Maybe he’d have some connections.”

“That’s a good notion.”

“I can get you his address. You can write to him.”

Brenna ran her fingers over the notes and the words on the sheet in front of her. “That takes too long. Do you have a phone number?”

EIGHTEEN

THE SOFT RAIN became a pounding, and the pounding a flood swept in by gale-force winds that beat against the coastline and rocked the boats at their moorings. For the best part of a week it was too rough to cast a net. From shore to horizon was nothing but angry, churning gray slashed by whitecaps that looked keen-edged enough to slice through a hull.

Those who made their living from the sea waited it out with the grim patience honed in them over generations.

Wind screamed against windows and doors in a constant banshee call and snuck through any crack or crevice to chill the bones. Smoke belched back down chimneys in nasty, fitful streams. Plucking fingers of wind tore a few shingles from the roof of the market so that they careened away like drunken birds. One swooped down and sliced at the back of young Davey O’Leary’s head as he rode his bike home with a quart of milk and a dozen eggs. The head required seven stitches. The eggs were a total loss.

Flowers that had wintered over happily enough and those that had begun to show their spring faces were chewed to pieces by the last teeth of winter. Dooryards went to mud.

Tourists steered clear, and reservations were canceled as the storm gleefully battered Ardmore. Power and phone lines gave out on the third day.

The village huddled down, as it had time and again, to weather the storm. Under more than one roof the mood was edgy. Young children, bored and restless, drove their mothers mad. Tears and warmed bottoms were daily occurrences.

Brenna and her father, shielded with slickers and Wellingtons, stood knee-deep in mud and worse as they searched out the break in the Duffys’ septic system.

“Filthy work, this.” Mick rested against his shovel.

“More than one lowlander’s going to find himself wading in shit if this keeps up.”

“If those bastards from Waterford had showed up, we’d have the tank pumped out, at least.”

“If they ever get here with their big pumper, I say we toss them headfirst into the muck.”

“That’s my girl.”

“Christ Jesus, what a smell. But I think here’s the matter, Dad.”

They hunkered down, rain beating over their heads, and studied the old cracked line with identical expressions of interest and thoughtfulness on their faces. “It’s just as you figured, Dad. The pipe’s old and gave out under the added pressure. It runs from tank to field and bursting’s turned Mrs. Duffy’s nice yard into a dung heap.”

“Well, once she’s cleared out Kathy’ll have herself a well-fertilized garden, won’t she?” As the stench was enormous, Mick breathed through his teeth. “It was a good job of you to think of going and getting the PVC pipe ahead of time. We’ll replace it and see what’s what.”

With a grunt, Brenna got to her feet. They squished over to the truck together. The work was nasty, but the teamwork routine. As they worked, she shot little glances at him.

He’d said nothing about Shawn, not a word. And though she understood her father would have some delicacy of feeling about the situation, she couldn’t stand having it between them. Unsaid, it was a wedge, and she needed to knock it loose.

“Dad.”

“Ha, nearly got her now. Bitch may be cracked, but she’s tough on the joinings.”

“Dad, you know I’m still seeing Shawn.”

Mick rapped his knuckles hard against the pipe and his tool squirted out of his hand like wet soap. Keeping his eyes lowered, he plucked it out again, then wiped it on his equally filthy trousers. “I suppose I do.”

“Are you ashamed of me?”

He worked another moment in silence. “Never have you done anything to shame me, Brenna. But the fact is, you’re stepping onto boggier ground than we’re swimming in. Working with you, respecting and admiring your skills is on the one hand. But on the other, you’re my daughter. It’s not an easy thing for a man to discuss such areas with his daughter.”

“Sex?”

“Damn it, Brenna.” Under the filth on his face, his cheeks went pink as peonies.

“It’s there, isn’t it?” When the ruined pipe was wrenched free, she shoved it aside.

“So is the shit I’m sitting in at the moment, but I’d just as soon not dwell on it. You’ve been reared as best as your mother and I could, and the steps you take as a grown-up woman are your own. You can’t ask me for my blessing in such a thing, Brenna, but I’m not judging you, either.”

“He’s a good man, Dad.”

“When did I say he wasn’t?” Exasperated, embarrassed, and wanting an end to the topic at hand, Mick scooted, slithered so they could fit the new pipe.

“It’s just . . . what Mary Kate said last week. She was mad as spit, and we’ve come to our terms on it. But I don’t want you to think that it’s cheap between us.”

The girl, he thought, was as ever like a terrier with a bone. She wouldn’t have done until it was chewed to her satisfaction. “What Mary Kate said to you was uncalled for between sisters, and it’s pleased I am the two of you have made it up. As for the other . . . do you care for him?”

“I do, of course. Yes.”

“And respect him?” The slight hesitation had Mick looking over the pipe, meeting Brenna’s eyes. “Ah, well, now.”

“I do respect him. He has a good brain when he bothers to use it, and he has a kind heart and a good humor. That doesn’t make me blind to his faults. I know he’s lazy about things, and careless with his own talents.”

“On this I do have something to say, though you’ll go your own way no matter.” He straightened, rolled his shoulders. “You don’t fix a man the way you do a fault in a pipe or a leak in a roof. You take him as he is, Mary Brenna, or you don’t take him at all.”

She frowned. “It’s not like that, but more of a turning in the right direction.”

“Right for who?” He gave her a pat on the arm. “ Adjustments can’t be all on one side, darling, else the balance goes off and what’s being built just falls down.”

For Shawn, Brenna’s appearance at the back door in the middle of the lunch shift was a shock to all his senses. She was filthy from cap to boot and, even with the distance, let off an aroma that watered the eyes.

“Mother of God, what’ve you been doing?”

“Septic tank,” she said cheerfully. “We scraped and hosed off the worst of it.”

“You missed a few spots from where I’m standing.”

“Well, we’ve got to do what we can to put Mrs. Duffy’s yard back together, so we didn’t bother with all of it. But the fact is, we’re near to starving.”

He held up a hand. “If you’re thinking of coming in here, O’Toole, pause and reflect.”

“I’m not coming in. I told Dad I’d walk up and get us a couple of sandwiches to keep us going. And we could use a couple bottles of beer.”

“Step back out and close the door.”

“I will not.” To annoy him, she leaned against the jamb. “I’m not hurting anything way over here. Whatever makings you have handy’ll do. We aren’t particular.”

“That’s obvious enough.” He bumped back the orders he’d been filling and got out bread and meat.

It amused her to see him work with a great deal more speed than was his habit. “We’ll be a couple hours yet. Then I’ve a few things to do.”

“I hope bathing’s one of them.”

“It’s on the list. From the looks of things in here, the weather’s not slowing down your business.”

“Half the village is in day or night. People look for company as much as anything else, and a change of view from their own four walls.” He layered meat and cheese generously. “We’ve a seisiun going most the time and a few heated tempers over whatever sporting match is on the telly now that we’ve got the generator running.”

“It’s keeping us hopping as well. I don’t think we’ve had an hour free, Dad and me, since the storm rolled in.”

“I’m looking forward to it rolling out. Haven’t seen sun nor star in a week now. Tim Riley says she’s breaking, though.”

It was easy talk, weather and work, the sort she could have with anyone she knew. Wasn’t it nice, she mused, that she liked having it with Shawn best of all? That was a kind of treasure, one she hadn’t cherished enough in the past.

“Well, whether Tim’s right or he’s wrong, I was thinking I might wander up to Faerie Hill later on. Say a bit after midnight.”

“The door’s open, but I’d appreciate you cleaning off your Wellies first.” He put the sandwiches in a sack, added a couple of bags of crisps and two bottles of Harp. When she started to dig out payment, he shook his head. “No, this is on the house. I don’t think I want any coin you might have in those pockets.”

“Thanks.” She took the bag, rested it on her hip. “Aren’t you going to kiss me?”

“No. But I’ll make it up to you later.”

“See that you do.” With a grin that might have been flirtatious under different circumstances, she sauntered off and left him to close the door.

• • •

She was a woman of her word, and she opened the door of his cottage at the stroke of midnight. Too early, she knew, for him to be home from work. But she liked the quiet of the place, the mood of it when she was there alone.

She took off her boots at the door, as Shawn often did himself, and wandered around in her stocking feet lighting candles and oil lamps, as the power had yet to be restored. And as she did, she was half hoping Lady Gwen might show herself.

Wasn’t it the perfect time for a ghost, after all? A stormy night alive with rain and whistling wind, a little cottage alight with candles and the glow of a fire.

“I know you’re here, and there’s no one but me.” She waited, but the air was still, the only sounds the ticking of the cottage as it settled and the incessant call of the wind. “I wanted you to know that I think I understand what you were telling me that first time. His heart’s in his song, and I have listened. I hope what I did was the right thing.”

Again she fell silent, and again only silence answered her.

“Well, a lot of help you are.” Irked, she marched upstairs.

She didn’t need any ghostly visitations or words from beyond to tell her what to do and how to do it. She knew what she was about. She had a man she intended to keep. Since her mind was set on it, it was just a matter of seeing to the details.

She lighted the fire here as well, and banked it for the night. After setting the flame to a pair of candles, she dropped onto the bed, propped the pillows at her back, and settled down to wait.

And the day’s work caught up with her.

There was no wind, no rain. The sky was midnight silk studded with stars that flashed ruby, sapphire, citrine. The moon, full and white, sailed high, spilling its light over a sea as calm as a lake.

The wings of the white horse beat like a heart, steady and true. Astride him, the man in silver rode with his back straight and proud while his dark mane of hair streamed back like a cape.

“It wasn’t wealth or stature or even immortality she wanted from me.”

It seemed not odd at all to be riding with the prince of faeries and sweeping over Ireland. “What was it she wanted from you?”

“Promises, vows, words that come out of the heart. Why is it that saying ‘I love you’ is so hard for some?”

“Saying it lowers all shields.”

He turned his head, his eyes bright and bitter. “ Exactly so. It takes courage for that, does it not, Mary Brenna O’Toole?”

“Or foolhardiness.”

“If love doesn’t make a fool of us, what will?”

The horse swooped downward at a speed that had her heart bounding with excitement. She saw the light glow against the window glass, and the shape and shadows of the cottage on the faerie hill.

Hooves sent sparks shooting when they met ground.

“A simple place,” Carrick murmured, “for so much drama. There, that pretty garden gate. It might be the wall of a fortress, for I can’t pass through it as once I did.”

“She walks the cliffs as well, your love.”

“She does, I’m told, but we can’t so much as see each other, though we might stand near as side by side.”

There wasn’t bitterness in his eyes now, but sorrow. And, Brenna thought, a painful kind of longing.

“At times I feel her there, or catch the scent of her hair or her skin. But not once in a hundred years times three have I been able to see or to touch or so much as speak my heart to her.”

“You cast a harsh spell on the both of you,” Brenna commented.

“I did, yes, and I have paid for that rash moment of temper. You know of such things,” he said.

“I do, indeed. And fortunate it is I haven’t the power to conjure or cast.”

“Mortals.” Amusement softened his face. “You’ve no concept of what powers you hold, and so you use what you have most carelessly on yourselves and each other.”

“That’s pot calling kettle.”

“As you see it,” he agreed with a nod. “But there was no faerie magic in what began between me and Gwen. I neither tricked nor lured her to me, as some tell the tale. She came to me willing, until her father forbade her. Until he promised her to another for fear of me.”

“I believe the truth of that.” Because she did, she laid a comforting hand on his arm. “A maid had less say in such choices then.”

Carrick tossed his leg over the horse, slid down. “Then make yours.”

“I have.” She mirrored his move, watched his mouth twitch. “But I’ll follow through in my own way.”

“Listen,” was all he said.

The music drifted out on the air, wove around her like a silk net. “It’s Shawn playing. The song he gave me. Oh!” She closed her eyes. “It fills the heart right up. There’s nothing in your raft lovelier than that,” she said, reaching down to open the gate.

But it held fast, no matter how she pushed or pulled.“I can’t open it.” Panicked, she whirled around, but horse and rider were gone. She turned back, gripping the gate with both hands, shoved.

“Shawn!”

“There, now.” She was in his arms, and there was a chuckle in his voice. “You were dreaming. An excitable one.”

“Dreaming.” Her mind was full of mists and stars and music. “I couldn’t open the gate. I couldn’t get in.”

“You are in.”

“I am in. God, I’m fuzzy-brained yet. I must’ve dropped off like a rock.” She pushed at her hair. “Give me a minute to wake up.”

“I’ve some news that might clear the cobwebs.”

“What is it?”

“Aidan’s taken with your drawings of the theater.”

As he’d suspected they would, the clouds in her eyes cleared immediately. “Really? Is he?”

“He is, yes. So pleased, in fact, he’s already spoken of them to the Magee.”

“What did he say?”

“Which of them?”

“Both, either.” She gripped his arms and shook. “Don’t play with me, Shawn, or I’ll have to hurt you.”

“Sure and that’s a frightening thought, so I’ll tell you. I can’t relay exactly what Magee said, as it was Aidan who spoke with him, but it seems that the man’s interested enough to want to take a look at what you’ve drawn up.” Shawn toyed with her hair as he spoke, a new habit he was enjoying. “So they’re going off to New York City, and we’ll see what we see.”

“It’s a good design.”

“It looked good to me.”

“It would work and work well.” Worrying over it, she gnawed at her lip. “Any dunderhead would see that it blends with what’s here, adds to it rather than overpowering. He won’t get better from any of his fancy architects.”

“You have to work on your confidence, Brenna. So much modesty’s unseemly.”

She only snorted. “But how is Magee to know that if he can’t actually see ? The way the pub sits and how the land is and so on.”

“He has photographs,” Shawn reminded her. “Finkle took dozens while he was here.”

“It’s not the same. I should talk to Magee myself, is what I should do.”

“You may be right, but wouldn’t it be best to give it a bit of time, then see what he thinks before jumping in boots first and pushing at him?”

“Some take a good push.” Her lips slanted into a sneer. “As yourself is a perfect example. When is Aidan sending them? Maybe I should take another look at them first.”

“They’re already on the way. He shipped them off in yesterday’s post, by special courier as Magee requested.”

“Well, then. Well.” They would stand or fall on their own, she thought, as Shawn’s song would. She nearly blurted out that she’d already spoken to Magee herself, and that between them they were keeping the man busy looking over their efforts.

No, better to wait, then give Shawn the results instead of the worry of wondering.

“And what are you thinking of so hard and long?”

“The next steps, and what happens after they’re taken. It seems when one thing changes, everything changes with it.”

“I’ve thought the same myself.” Look at us, he thought, and brushed her hair back from her face.

Her pulse stumbled. Another change, she realized, that his just touching her could cause that sudden and vivid awareness. “Does it worry you?”

“No. But if it concerns you at the moment, I’d rather just take you dreaming again.” His lips cruised over hers as he laid her back. “If you hold on to me, we’ll go together.”

“I want to be with you. You’re the only one.” It was the closest she could come to lowering her shields.

He took her dreaming, gliding up, sinking down with the lights of the candles and turf fire shimmering everywhere. There was a tenderness in her she hadn’t explored before. A welling need to give whatever was asked, and give gently.

They undressed each other. No tugs, no pulls this time. Fingers slid over skin, and lips followed, lingered so that each caress, each taste was precious. Sigh answered murmur. A mingling of breath.

Desire, without the red flash of flames, was gilded at the edges. Even when he urged her up to that fine and trembling peak, the glow held steady.

They watched each other as he slipped inside her.

It was like coming home.

His lips curved as they lowered to hers, another link. Her hands lifted, framed his face, held him there, just there while the beauty of it had tears swimming to her eyes.

“Come with me.” She murmured it against his mouth. “Let go and come with me.”

Her breath caught as she began the tumble, then released in a sigh when he took her hand and fell with her.

His mouth was on hers again before the mists cleared. “Stay.”

She shouldn’t. Even as he shifted to draw her against his side she thought of all the reasons why it was best if she left now, crept quietly into her own bed.

“All right,” she said and settling her head on his shoulder, slept.

Of course, by dawn he’d shoved her to the edge of the bed. That was a little something they’d have to work on, Brenna thought as she got up in the half-light. She’d be damned if she’d spend every night of her life fighting for space on the mattress.

Begin as you mean to go on, her mother often said. Well, she’d begin by shoving her elbow into his ribs several times a night until he learned to share.

But her eyes were warm, watching him as she dressed. And the kiss she gave him before she left was unashamedly loving. “We’ll get a bigger bed,” she whispered, then hurried out to get home before her mother came down to make breakfast.

An hour later, he woke alone and vaguely dissatisfied. Couldn’t the woman have said good-bye at least? That was going to change. In fact, the whole business was going to change, and sooner than she might expect.

He wanted her in his life altogether, and not just for snatches of time in his bed. He rose, and gauging his time, figured he had plenty of it to have a look at the land he’d gotten word was for sale.

NINETEEN

THE PRICE WAS as steep as the lay of the land, but Shawn liked the feel of it. As he stood in what was no more than a drizzle now, he could see the water from one direction, stone gray to mirror the sky, and calmer now.

The storm had died in the night, but the beach was littered with shells and kelp and debris that had been heaved out of the sea.

He imagined they would face the house that way, with at least one good-size window in the front room so they could watch the moods of the water.

In back there was the rise of distant mountains, shadowy bumps up into the cloudy sky. Then on either side was the fall of hills and fields, the deep, wet green shimmering through winding ribbons of mist.

He didn’t have the talent to build a house in his mind, sketch one on paper, or take materials and tools and make it a reality. Not as Brenna did. But he could, particularly when the interest was personal, conjure up a glimmer of it.

He wanted a music room—well, not just for music, he thought, as he walked away from the area that he thought most likely for planting a house. It would have to be comfortable and welcoming so others would feel easy about coming in and staying awhile. But a room, and not a tiny, cramped one, where he could have his piano, and his fiddle. He’d want a kind of cabinet— perhaps Brenna could build it—for his music. And a stand, or whatever could be devised for a good tape recorder.

He’d always meant to record his music, and it was time to begin. If he ever meant to get to the next step, which he did in his own time and way, and polish a few of his pieces, the recorder was essential. Then he’d see about choosing one and going about the business of peddling the tunes.

Because the thought of it stretched his nerves, he shook his head. But not quite yet, of course. Not quite yet. He had a great deal to do first, and more than enough time.

He and Brenna had to come to terms first, and the house had to be built. Then they’d want to settle into it, and into each other for a while. He would get to the other business by and by.

The road leading to the plot he was considering was a worse mess than the track that led from Ardmore to Faerie Hill, then down to the O’Tooles’ house. Still, it wouldn’t worry him overmuch, and if it troubled Brenna it could be leveled some or widened or whatever. That was a business he’d leave to her.

It wasn’t a big plot, but enough for a sturdy house and garden. Room enough, he calculated, for a cabin as well, as she’d want one for her tools and perhaps a workshop. She would need that just as he would his room for music. They’d do very well with their separate interests, he thought, and was grateful neither of them was the type who needed to be in each other’s pockets day and night.

They had mutual and opposing ground, and he thought it a nice mix.

There was a skinny stream in the far back, and a trio of tough-looking trees that put him in mind of the three crosses near Saint Declan’s Well.

The man who wanted to part ways with the land had said that there was a turf bog behind them and that no one had bothered to cut it for years. He himself hadn’t cut turf since he was a boy and went out with his grandfather on his mother’s side. The Fitzgeralds had been more people of the land and the Gallaghers people of the town.

Shawn thought he might enjoy it, if his life and comfort didn’t absolutely depend upon it.

He wandered back toward what was grandly called a road, where the hedgerows grew tall and had the first haze of spring on them. As he did three magpies darted by like bullets shot from the same gun in rapid succession.

Three for marriage, he thought, and decided it was more than sign enough for him.

When he drove away toward the village to work, he considered himself a landowner, as hands had been clasped and shaken on the deal.

Brenna worked at home the early part of the morning. The wind had torn a few shingles from the roof, and a couple of leaks had sprung with the rain that had been driven hard by the wind.

It was simple enough work, no more than a patch here and there, and it gave her a fine opportunity to sit in the wavering sunlight and look out at the water.

When she built a house, she thought, she’d choose higher ground so her view of the water would be from windows rather than a rooftop. It was good to look and see the boats out again and know that life was sliding back into its regular rhythm.

And maybe she’d have some sky windows as well, so she could look up and see the sun or the rain or the drift of stars. It was time for a home of her own, she knew, though she’d miss the sounds and scents of family.

But there was something inside her that told her the time was now for the next stage of what she was and where she was going. There’d been a different tone between her and Shawn the night before, and it had changed everything in her once and forever. Her mind and her heart were in one place now.

It was time to tell him, to ask him. To browbeat him if there was no choice. Whatever it took, the O’Tooles were going to be planning another wedding.

God help them all.

She scooted over to the ladder, climbed down. Leaving her toolbox by the back door, she went in to tell her mother the job was done and she’d be on her way.

When the phone rang, she picked it up without thinking, then guiltily tucked the receiver under her chin and wiped the shingle grime off her hands onto her jeans. “Hello.”

“Miss O’Toole?”

“This is one of them.”

“Miss Brenna O’Toole.”

“Aye, you’ve hit the target.” Automatically Brenna pulled open the refrigerator door and perused the contents. “What can I do for you?”

“Would you hold the line, please, for Mr. Magee?”

“Oh.” She shot up straight, bumping the door with her hip and slamming it on her own hand. She bit back a yelp. “Yes, I could do that. Goddamn it,” she added in a mutter when she heard the line click, and sucked at her sore fingers.

“Miss O’Toole, Trevor Magee.”

“Good day to you, Mr. Magee.” She recognized his deep, smooth voice from the time she’d waded through what had seemed like an army of assistants to speak with him. “Are you calling from New York City?”

“No, actually I’m on my way to London.”

“Oh.” Her initial disappointment in not taking a call from New York vanished in a fresh thrill. “Are you calling from an airplane, then?”

“That’s right.”

She wanted to shout for her mother to come quick, but thought it would sound just a little too countrified. “It’s kind of you to take time out of your busy schedule.”

“I always make time for what interests me.”

He sounded like he meant it and that the reverse was entirely true as well. “Then perhaps you’ve had time to look at the package Aidan Gallagher sent you.”

“A good look. You and your father are quite a team.”

Because her hand was throbbing, she pulled some ice out of the freezer. “We are. And I have to add, Mr. Magee, I know Ardmore and what suits it.”

“I can’t argue with that, Miss O’Toole.”

She thought she caught a hint of amusement in his tone and braced herself. “Perhaps you could tell me what your thoughts are on my design, then?”

“It interests me. I have to look at it more thoroughly, but it interests me. Gallagher didn’t mention where you had studied design.”

She narrowed her eyes, then decided if it was a trap it was best to fall into it now as opposed to later. “On the job, sir. My father has worked in the trade all his life, and I learned at his side. I would imagine you had some of the same sort of experience with your own father.”

“You could say that.”

“Then you know a lot can be learned by the doing of things. Between the two of us, my father and I, we handle most of the building and repairing in Old Parish. And if we don’t, we know who does. As that, we’d be some considerable help to you with your project. You’ll find no better than the O’Tooles in Old Parish—or all of Waterford, for that matter. You’re planning to build in Ardmore, Mr. Magee, and it’s good business, I’m sure you’ll agree, to use local skill and labor when you’re able. We’ll be happy to send you references.”

“And I’ll be happy to see them. You build a strong case, Miss O’Toole.”

“I can assure you I build better with wood and brick than with words.”

“I’ll see that for myself, as I’m hoping to carve out a day or two to visit the site personally before too much longer.”

“If you let us know the particulars, my father and I will be happy to meet you at your convenience.”

“I’ll be in touch.”

“Ah . . . I don’t mean to worry you, Mr. Magee, but I’m wondering if you had a moment to look at the music I sent along to you.”

“Yes, I did. I’m not sure I understand. Are you representing Shawn Gallagher?”

“No, I’m not, no. It’s . . . a bit complicated.”

“Then he doesn’t have representation?”

“Ah, no. Not at the present time.” How the devil did this sort of thing work? “You could say I’m acting on his behalf in this particular instance on a personal level.”

“Hmm.”

She winced, thinking there was entirely too much knowledge in that small and casual sound. “Would you mind telling me what you thought of it yourself?”

“Enough to buy it if Gallagher’s selling, and to want a chance to negotiate for his other work. I assume he has other work.”

“He does, yes. Scads of it.” She forgot her throbbing hand, dropped her ice in the sink. While her feet danced, she fought to keep her voice cool and professional. “You’re saying you’d buy the tune. But for what purpose would that be?”

“For the purpose of recording, eventually.”

“But I was under the impression that you build things.”

“One of the things I’ve built is a record company. Celtic Records.” He paused, and sounded amused when he spoke again. “Do you want references, Miss O’Toole?”

“Well, now, could I be getting back to you on that? I’ll need to discuss this with Shawn.”

“Of course. My New York office knows how to reach me.”

“Thank you for your time and consideration, Mr. Magee. I hope to meet you in person before much longer. I . . .” She simply ran out of words. “Thank you.”

The minute she hung up the phone she let out a shout of triumph, then raced through the house to the front door. “Ma, I’ve got to go! I’ll be back when I can.”

“Go?” Mollie dashed out of the back bedroom to the top of the stairs in time to see her daughter’s lorry bullet into the road. “That girl. If it’s not the first thing it’s the second. Go where, I’d like to know, and is my roof finished or isn’t it? I’ll give her both sides of my tongue if I have to listen to water plopping into buckets one more night.”

Before she could go back to work, she saw Shawn’s car pull in. “All this coming and going around here,” she muttered and started down the steps. “It’s making my head spin.”

She pushed open the door and waited while Shawn made his way to her. “Good morning to you, Shawn. I’m afraid you’ve just missed Brenna. She went tearing out of here not a minute ago like her trousers were afire.”

“Ah, well.” He cleared his throat. “I wasn’t actually coming by to see Brenna.”

“Weren’t you now?” She gave him a considering look, but knew better than to wait for him to explain himself. That, she knew from experience, could take half the day, and she’d as soon be sitting down for part of it. “Well, then, I’m all that’s left. Come inside, why don’t you, and we’ll have a cup.”

“I’d be grateful.” He ducked inside behind her and trailed her into the kitchen. “I don’t want to take much of your time.”

“Lad, you’ve been in and out of this house since you could toddle. No one’s ever booted you out the door before, and I’m not after starting now.” She waved a hand toward the table and went about the business of making tea. “Brenna’s a heart and mind of her own. As I’m sure you know.”

“That I do. I thought I should come ’round to see if . . . to make certain you . . .”

She had to take pity on him. “Are you afraid I don’t love you anymore, my handsome lad?” The worry in his eyes faded away as she reached over and scrubbed a hand over his hair, as she’d done as long as he could remember. “There’s no danger of that changing. Now if you’d taken up with my Katie, I’d have boxed your ears to the back of your head.”

“I never meant to give Mary Kate any . . .”

“ ‘ncouragement’ might be the word you’re after. Your tongue’s tied today, boy, and that’s not the usual case, for you’ve a slick one. Here now, I’ve a cinnamon bun left from breakfast. I’ll warm it for you and you’ll tell me what’s the matter.”

“You make me miss my mother, Mrs. O’Toole.”

“I’ll stand in her stead, as she would in mine.” She bustled around the kitchen, knowing it would put him at ease. “Is Brenna giving you headaches, then?”

“I’m used to that—I don’t mind it so much. I think I give them back to her in fair measure. I, ah, I’m thinking Mr. O’Toole told you of our discussion a couple weeks back.”

She sent him a look designed to wither a man. “If you’re meaning on the day he came home drunk, that he didn’t. I gathered well enough he’d got the whiskey from you, as he hasn’t a world of choices where he could walk off, drink his belly full, and walk back again in so short a time.”

“He didn’t speak to you of it.”

“Closed up like a clam.”

“Well, you see, he was angry, and rightfully so, until I told him how things were.”

“And how are things, Shawn?” Mollie set down the pot, waited.

“I’m in love with Brenna, Mrs. O’Toole, and I want to marry her.”

She stood still a moment, then laid her cheek on top of his head. “Of course you are, and of course you do. Don’t mind me. I’ve got to sniffle a bit.”

“I’ll be good to her.”

“Oh, there’s no doubt in my mind of that.” Dabbing at her eyes, she turned to get out the warmed bun. “You’ll be good for her, too, and she for you.”

“The other part of it is, I’ve been working her around, so to speak, so she’d come to the idea herself. You know how she is when she’s got her teeth into a notion.”

“Clamps down until she gets what she’s after or it isn’t worth having anymore. I always said you were a bright lad, Shawn.”

“Thousands wouldn’t,” he said easily. “I thought I could wait, you see. I’m not one who needs to hurry as a rule. But it seems I can’t wait for this. I bought land today.”

She wasn’t half as surprised as he thought she was, and nearly twice as pleased. “Goodness, boy, you can move fast enough when you’ve a mind to.”

“She’ll have her house as she wants it. I’m not fussy about such matters.”

Mollie opened her mouth, closed it again. Men, she knew very well, always said such things and believed them as well. Then they drove a woman to distraction picking at the details. But that was for Shawn and Brenna to find out for themselves. “She’s always had a mind to build her own,” she said at length.

“I know it, and why shouldn’t she? She’s a talent for such things, and a liking for the work. Myself, I’ve no driving urge to pick up a hammer or saw. But I make a good living, and I’ll have a better one yet when the theater goes in. There won’t be a worry about putting a roof overhead, or keeping one there.”

“Shawn, are you asking for my permission to ask Brenna to marry you?”

“For your blessing. It matters to me as much as it will to her.”

“I’ll give you my blessing.” She took his hands in hers. “And for all I love her, my sympathy as well. She’ll run you ragged.”

“I need a favor.” Brenna burst into the pub through the back just as Aidan was taking the chairs down. Timing was everything here, she thought as she fought to catch her breath. Shawn would be coming in any minute.

“Well, now, you look full of surprise and secrets.” He tucked a chair under a table. “What’s the favor?”

“First off, I can’t tell you the secret.” Automatically she began to tip down chairs herself. “I have to ask you to do the favor blind.”

He got a good look at her then—the flushed face, the wildly glowing eyes, the foolish smile. He recalled a very similar look on his wife’s face at a certain moment. “Oh, Lord, Brenna, never say you’re breeding.”

“Breeding?” The chair nearly slipped out of her hands. “No, no!” And though she laughed it off, she found it interesting to discover she wouldn’t have minded it. “It’s nothing like that. Aidan, is there any way you could arrange for Shawn to have the evening off?”

“The whole of it?”

She heard the pain in his tone, sympathized. “I know it’s a lot to be asking, and at the last instant as well. But it’s important. I’ll work this weekend for no pay to make up for it. I’ll go down and talk to Mrs. Duffy myself to see that she’ll fill in.”

“Why the devil doesn’t Shawn ask for time himself instead of sending you in to look at me with those big eyes?”

“He doesn’t know.” She moved closer, running a hand down his arm. “Another part of the favor is that you don’t tell him I asked. Could you just send him home somehow at the beginning of shift?”

“He’ll certainly wonder why, won’t he?”

“I haven’t had time to think it all out.” She whirled away, paced, but couldn’t clear her head. “Oh, you’ll think of something, Aidan. Please.”

“It’s a matter of the heart, I suppose. And you’re using mine against my good business sense.” He let out a windy sigh. “I’ll work it out for you.”

“Oh, you’re the best and the finest.” She leaped into his arms to plant a hard, noisy kiss on his mouth.

“Look at this, will you? If she’s not after one brother she’s after another.” With a lazy yawn, Darcy sauntered in. “That’s a married man, I’ll have you know, you sneaky slut.”

“I’ve got one for you as well.” Before Darcy could evade, Brenna rushed over and gave her the same treatment.

“Sweet Mary, now she’s after the girls, too.” But Darcy’s sleepy chuckle faded away. She gripped Brenna’s arms. “Brenna, are you pregnant?”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake. No. Can’t a body be happy without a baby in the belly? I’ve got to go, he’ll be coming in. You don’t tell him I was here. Please. I’m grabbing a bottle of the French bubbly you keep in the back. Put it on my account, would you?”

She dashed out the way she’d dashed in and left Darcy rubbing her mouth. “And what was all that about?”

“I haven’t a clue. But she’s something up her sleeve, and Shawn’s not to know.”

“Secrets. I could get it out of her in five minutes.”

“No doubt you could,” Aidan agreed. “But let’s let her have her surprise.”

“I’ve already had mine.” Darcy went behind the bar for her change apron. “She’s in love with him.”

“Does that trouble you?”

“No, but for the fact that the Gallaghers are tumbling like ripe fruit from a tree.”

Aidan moved behind the bar with her to check the till. “Afraid it’s catching, darling?”

“I would be, was I not immune to such weaknesses.” She heard the back door open again. “And speaking of clueless, there’s himself now.” Filled with affection and sentiment, Darcy headed for the kitchen to torment her brother.

“What do you mean I can go?” Up to his elbows in potatoes, Shawn turned his head to stare at Aidan. “Go where?”

“On your way. Kathy Duffy’ll be right along.”

“Well . . . why?”

“To cover for you.” Aidan had thought of a way, and saw no reason not to have a little fun at his brother’s expense while he was about it. “You have the evening off as you asked. Though it’s damned inconvenient.”

Shawn shoved peelings into the garbage. “I never asked for the evening off.”

“Well, it must’ve been your evil twin, then, or I’ve just had a brainstorm.” Fixing a scowl on his face, Aidan pulled open the refrigerator and plucked out a bottle of water. “I told you two days past when you asked that I’d work it out.”

“But I . . . you’ve been dreaming. I’ve ten pounds of potatoes here to deal with. Why would I be making stovies if I was planning on having the evening free?”

“That’s a question I can’t answer, but I’ve Kathy Duffy coming in, and there’s no need for both of you tonight.”

“I’ve no plans but to do my job here. You’ve mixed something up.”

Enjoying the timing, Aidan turned to Darcy as she came in. “Darcy, did Shawn ask for this evening free or did he not?”

“He did, a couple of days back. Selfish bastard.” Not one to let an opportunity pass, she flashed a challenging look at Aidan. “And since you’re so bloody accommodating with our brother, I’m wanting Saturday afternoon off for myself.”

“Saturday afternoon.” Aidan nearly choked on his water. “You can’t have a weekend day off as we’re heading into spring.”

“Oh, so it’s all right for him.” She pointed a finger toward a baffled Shawn. “But it’s a different matter entirely for me.”

“I don’t need the evening off.”

“You’ve got it,” Aidan snapped, and ground his teeth as Darcy folded her arms. “A weekday evening’s a different matter from a weekend afternoon.”

“All right, fine, then. I’ll take the evening off Monday next. Unless me being female means I don’t get the same considerations as this one.” Satisfied that she’d boxed Aidan in, she flounced out.

“I don’t remember asking for tonight off,” Shawn said vaguely.

“Aye, and you don’t remember to tie your bootlaces half the time.” Seriously annoyed, Aidan jerked a thumb at the door. “Out with you, you troublemaker.”

Shoving up his sleeves and squaring his shoulders, Aidan went out to deal with his treacherous sister.

She had everything under control, and quite the job of work it had been. It had to be special, and as close to perfect as she could manage. Shawn Gallagher would see he wasn’t the only one who could fuss and fiddle and set a nice scene.

She’d been to the market and got all the makings. While Shawn had been busy cooking at the pub, she’d been doing the same at the cottage. Maybe she didn’t have his flair with such things, but she wasn’t altogether helpless.

She’d chilled the wine and had even ferreted out a tin pail she’d scrubbed to use as an ice bucket. The champagne glasses she’d borrowed from Jude. Flutes, she’d called them, Brenna thought. And elegant they were.

She’d set a nice table, if she said so herself. A pair of pretty plates and cloth napkins, the flowers she scavenged from her mother’s garden and the one at the cottage.

Candles, she thought as she lighted them. Surely everything was in place for an atmosphere of romance and celebration.

Oh, she couldn’t wait to see his face when she told him about his music. It had been a test of will and restraint not to shout out the news to everyone she’d passed that day. But it was for Shawn first.

After they’d celebrated the thrill of it, and his future, lifted a glass or two, she’d tell him the rest. She couldn’t—wouldn’t—fumble with the words. Hadn’t she practiced them in her head all of the day?

“I love you,” she said now, out loud to the empty room. “I think I always have, I know now I always will. Will you marry me?”

There. She rubbed the heel of her hand against her heart, as it was galloping like a wild horse. It wasn’t so hard, really. Maybe her tongue felt a little thick and clumsy, but she’d said it straight out without stuttering.

And if he balked or refused, she’d just have to kill him.

As her ears were pricked for it, she heard the sound of his car as he turned into the street. All right, Brenna. She closed her eyes, steadied herself. Here we go.

Damned if he’d asked for an evening off. Still stewing about it, Shawn shoved open his garden gate. He should know, shouldn’t he? And if he had, wouldn’t he have made plans for it? He knew what was going on in his own life, for Christ’s sake.

Not that he couldn’t adjust. He’d ring Brenna and see if she was agreeable to having an evening together. He’d throw a meal together, or it was early enough that they could go out to the hotel restaurant.

Aidan and Darcy had to be having him on, though for the life of him he couldn’t think of the purpose.

The minute he stepped into the house he caught the scent of cooking, then the flicker of light back in the kitchen. What now, was all he could think. Had Lady Gwen taken to making meals while he was away from home?

When he walked in, he was as surprised to see Brenna as he would have been to see the ghost.

She was wearing a dress, which was odd enough. But she was standing, smiling, with candlelight all around her, the good, rich scent of stew simmering, and a bottle of champagne in a rain bucket standing on the counter behind her.

“What’s all this?”

“It’s dinner. Beef and Guinness stew. The one thing I can make that no one has trouble choking down.”

“You cooked?” He rubbed his forehead as if he had a headache brewing.

“I’ve been known to on the rare occasion.”

“Yes, but, did we . . . Well, we must’ve,” he decided, scanning all the pretty preparations. “This is beyond a bit of absentmindedness. I think something must be wrong with me.”

“You look fine to me.” Since he wasn’t going to make a move, she did, walking to him to kiss him. “More than fine.” This time her hands slid over his face, and the kiss went dreamy. “It’s glad I am to see you, Shawn.”

He started to question it all again, then as Brenna’s mouth moved warm over his, thought it was foolish to bother. “It’s a pleasure coming home to you.”

Get used to it, she thought and smiled as she stepped back. “I’ve been waiting. All but jumping out of my skin,” she admitted. “I’ve things to tell you.”

“What are they?”

Words leaped to her tongue but she bit them back. “Let’s have this open first.”

“I’ll do it.” He nudged her away from the champagne, then lifted his brows at the label. “The pricey stuff. Are we celebrating?”

“We are.” She caught the look in his eye, and the way his fingers suddenly stilled on the foil. “If you ask me if I’m breeding I’ll brain you. I am not.”

Her eyes were laughing as she spoke. He kept his on them as he twisted the wire. “You’re in a rare mood.”

“I am. There are some things that don’t happen every day of the week, and a rare mood’s what you get from them when they do.” She felt as bubbly as the wine he poured. Taking her glass, she lifted it. “This is to you, Shawn.”

“And what did I do?”

“We should sit down. No, I can’t. We’ll have to stand. Shawn, you’ve sold your first piece of music.”

TWENTY

THE PUZZLED SMILE slid away from his face. “I’ve done what?”

“You’ve sold your song, and there’ll be others as well. But the first’s the biggest thrill, isn’t it?”

Very deliberately, he set his glass down again. “I haven’t put any music up for sale, Brenna.”

“I did. Well, in a way I did. The song you gave me, I sent it off to the Magee in New York City. He called me today, just this morning, and said how he wants to buy it. And that he wants to see your other work.” She spun in a circle, too excited to see how cool his eyes were as they watched her. “I didn’t think I’d get through the day without telling you.”

“What right did you have to do that?”

Still beaming, she sipped champagne. “To do what?”

“To send my music off that way, to take it on yourself to show a stranger what was mine?”

“Shawn.” She put a hand on his arm to give him a little shake. “He’s buying it.”

“I gave it to you because you asked me—because I thought you wanted it for yourself, and that you valued it for that. Is this what you planned all along, to send it off somewhere, have another put a price on it?”

Something was wrong, badly and dangerously wrong. The only way she knew how to deal with it was temper. “What if it was? It got results, didn’t it? What good is it to make songs without doing something with them? Now you can.”

He met heat with ice. “And it’s for you to decide, is it, what I can and should do, and how and when I should do it?”

“You weren’t doing anything about it.”

“How do you know what I’m doing or not, planning on doing or not?”

“Haven’t I heard you say a thousand times you weren’t ready to show it for sale?”

The minute the words were out of her mouth, she recognized her mistake. Even as she searched for a way around it, he was plowing on. “That’s right, you have. But that didn’t suit you, didn’t sit well with the way you want things done. What good is it, you’re thinking, if you can’t make a living from it. If you don’t have coin to show for it at end of day.”

“It’s not the coin—”

“My music is the most personal thing in my life,” he interrupted. “Whether I ever make a pound from it doesn’t change what it is to me. You don’t understand that, Brenna, or respect that. Or me.”

“That’s not true.” She was beginning to feel something other than anger. It was a clawing in the gut, in the throat, that had nothing to do with temper. “I only wanted you to have something out of it.”

“I had something out of it.”

She’d never seen anger so cold, so controlled. There was no mistaking it in that rigid face, those hard eyes. It made her feel like a bug not worthy of being squashed. “For Christ’s sake, Shawn, you should be dancing instead of hammering at me. The man wants to buy your song. He thinks it should be recorded.”

“What he thinks matters more than what I do?”

“Oh, you’re twisting this all around. You have an opportunity, and you’re too stubborn to take it.”

“Is that how it is between us? You make the decisions, you do the thinking, and I’m just to follow, to fall in line and be grateful you’re looking out for me as I’m too half-witted to look after myself?”

“Why are you turning this one thing into everything?” Her hand shook as she dragged it through her hair. “Didn’t you arrange for the man to look at my design?” It struck her suddenly that she’d forgotten about that, about everything Magee had said to her about her own work. She’d forgotten all that in the thrill of his offering for Shawn’s.

“I did,” Shawn countered. “And you can’t see any difference in that, Brenna, than this? I talked to you of showing your design, I didn’t go behind your back with it, or pull tricks.”

“It wasn’t a trick, wasn’t meant as one.” But she was beginning to see the wrong turn, and the sinking sensation in her stomach layered sickness over understanding. “You never said you didn’t want to do something with your music. It was always you weren’t ready.”

“Because I wasn’t ready.”

“Well, if we’re stuck on that one point, I say you were.” Fear made her lash out. “And so does a man who appears to be something of the expert on such things. Damn you, you gave the song to me, and I did what I chose with it. I thought you’d be pleased, but it’s not a mistake I’ll make again.”

He stared her down, viciously pleased when she began to tremble. “And neither will I.” Without another word, he turned and walked out of the house.

“You son of a bitch.” She kicked the door behind him. “You shortsighted, ungrateful, simple bastard. This is the thanks I get for trying to do something for you. If you think I’m running after you, you’ll have a long wait.”

She snatched up her glass, downed the contents. Bubbles exploded in her throat, set her eyes to watering.

To think of all the time and trouble she’d gone to, only to have him act as if she were some sort of shrew or bully. Well, she wasn’t crying over it, or him for that matter.

She braced her hands on the counter, leaning forward and breathing slow to try to relieve the horrible pressure in her chest.

Oh, God, what had she done? She just couldn’t get her mind around where she’d gone so completely wrong. The method, yes, there she had surely mis-stepped. But the results . . . How could something she’d thought would be a joy to him whip out of her hands to lash at them both?

She turned, wanting to sit down until she felt steadier, and saw Lady Gwen. “A lot of help you’ve been. His song, you told me. His heart’s in his song and I was to listen. Isn’t that just what I did?”

“Not closely enough,” was the answer. Then Brenna was alone.

•  •  •

He knew how to walk off a mad. He’d done so before. He trooped over the fields, letting the moonlight guide him. Thinking wasn’t the order of business, movement was.

He climbed the cliffs, let the wind and the water clear his head. But the anger wouldn’t pass. He’d given his heart to a woman who thought very little of him as a man.

Sent off his music, had she? And to a stranger, a man neither of them had met face-to-face or measured. And not a word to him about it, just following her own whim and expecting him to shuffle right along in her wake.

Well, he wasn’t having it.

Didn’t she think he could see her line of thinking? Just how simpleminded did she think he was? Oh, Shawn’s an affable sort, and clever enough in his way, but he’ll not get off his arse unless someone plants a boot on it.

So this was her boot this time around. If the man’s going to sit about and play with music half the time, we’d best see if we can do something practical with it.

It was his music, not hers, and she’d never troubled herself to so much as pretend to understand or appreciate it.

And what did this man Magee know about it anyway?

Celtic Records, Shawn’s mind murmured. Come now, you’ve looked into such matters enough to know just what Magee and his like know about it. Why pretend otherwise?

“Neither here nor there,” Shawn muttered and heaved a rock over the cliff. Hadn’t he already turned it over in his head that once he’d met Magee for himself, gotten a feeling on the man, he’d consider the possibility of showing him a piece of music?

A piece he chose. A piece he decided was right. Because by Christ it was his work and no one else’s.

And when was the last time he’d decided a piece was finished and ready and right?

Approximately never, he was forced to admit and heaved another rock for the hell of it.

Magee wanted to buy it.

“Well, fuck me.” Struggling to separate his anger from the rest, Shawn sat on the ledge.

How could he explain to anyone what he felt when he pulled notes and words out of himself? That there was a fine and quiet joy in that alone. And that the rest, the doing something with it, as Brenna put it, made him feel like he was standing way out on the edge of a cliff. He hadn’t been ready to take the leap.

Now he’d been pushed, and he resented it. No matter that the result was something he wanted, the pushing was uncalled for. And that’s what she’d never understand.

So where were they, then, if they had no better understanding of each other than this?

“Pride’s an important thing to a man,” Carrick commented from his perch on the rocks.

Shawn barely spared him a glance. “I’m having a personal crisis here, if you don’t mind.”

“She’s slashed a gash in yours, and I can’t blame you for taking the stand you have. A woman ought to know her place, and if she doesn’t, she needs to be shown it clear.”

“It’s not a matter of place, you arrogant jackass.”

“Don’t take it out on me, boy-o,” Carrick said cheerfully. “I’m with you on this one. She overstepped, no question of it. Why, what was the woman thinking, taking something of yours and going off with it that way? No matter that you’d given it to her, a kind of gift, one might say. That’s nothing but a technicality.”

“Well, it is.”

“And so I’m saying. Then as if that wasn’t nerve enough, what does she do? Fixes it up so you’ve the evening free—”

“She fixed it up?” For lack of something more satisfying, Shawn heaved another rock. “I knew I wasn’t crazy. Damn it all.”

“Playing with your mind, that’s what she’s about.” Carrick waved a hand, then tossed the little star that clung to his fingertips out over the water, where it trailed silver light. “Cooking you a meal, making everything, herself included, pretty for you. A more devious female I’ve never known. You’re well shed of her. Maybe you should take another look at her sister, after all. She’s young, but she’d be malleable, don’t you think?”

“Ah, shut up.” Shawn got to his feet and strode off, scowling at the merry sound of Carrick’s laughter.

“You’re sunk, young Gallagher.” Carrick sent another star over the water. “You’ve not quite resigned yourself to having your head under, but there you are. Mortals, why is it that half the time they’d rather suffer than dance?”

This time when he flicked his wrist he held a crystal, smooth and clear as a pool of water. Passing his hand over it, he watched the image swimming inside. Fair of face, she was, with eyes soft and green as freshly dewed grass and hair pale as winter sunlight.

“I miss you, Gwen.” Holding the glass to his heart, he called for the white horse to ride the sky, as he did night by night. Alone.

•  •  •

The house was empty when he got back, and that’s what he’d expected. It was, he told himself, what he wanted. The solitude. She’d put the food away, and that surprised him. Knowing her temper, he’d expected to find she’d hurled pot and pan or whatever else around the room.

But the kitchen was tidy as a church, with only the faint scent of candle wax clinging to the air. Since it made him feel churlish to find it so, he got himself a beer and took it into the parlor.

He hadn’t intended to play, but to sit by the cold fire and brood. But by God if he was going to have an evening off shoved down his throat, he’d spend it doing something that pleased him.

He sat, laid his fingers on the keys, and played for his own pleasure.

It was the song he’d given her that Brenna heard when she walked back toward the garden gate. Her first reaction was relief that she’d found him. The second was misery, as the song was salt in a fresh wound.

But it was a misery that had to be faced. She put her hand on the gate. And it held fast against her. She shoved it, yanked at the latch, then stepped back in shocked panic when it refused to open.

“Oh.” A sob rose in her throat. “Oh, Shawn. Have you closed me out then?”

The music stopped. In the silence she fought back the tears. She wouldn’t face him with them. But when the door opened, she hugged her arms hard, digging her fingers in to keep those tears at bay.

He thought he’d heard her call, a teary whisper in his mind. He’d known she was out there, whether it was sense or magic, didn’t matter. She was there, standing under the spill of moonlight. Her eyes were wet, her chin was up.

“Are you coming in, then?”

“I can’t . . .” The weeping tried to get the better of her, and she ruthlessly battled it back. “I can’t open the gate.”

Baffled, he started down the path, but she leaped forward, gripped the top of the gate in her hands. “No, I’ll stay on this side. It’s probably best. I went looking for you, then I figured, well, you’d come back here sooner or later. I, ah, I had to think it through awhile, and maybe I don’t do that often enough. I . . .”

Was he ever going to speak? she thought desperately. Or would he just stand there looking at her with eyes shielded so she couldn’t see into him?

“I’m sorry, I’m so truly sorry, Shawn, for doing something that upset you. I didn’t do it with that in mind, you have to know. But some of what you said before is true. And I’m sorry for that as well. Oh, I don’t know how to do this.” Frustration rang in her voice as she turned her back on him.

“What is it you’re doing, Brenna?”

She stared straight ahead, into the dark. “I’m asking you not to cast me off for making a mistake, even a big one like this. To give me another chance. And if there can’t be anything else between us now, that you won’t stop being my friend.”

He would have opened the gate to her then, but thought better of it. “I gave you my word on the friendship, as you gave me yours. I’ll not break it.”

She pressed a hand to her lips, held it there until she thought she could speak again. “You mean so much to me. I have to clear this between us.” Steadying herself, she turned around. “Some of what you said was true, but some was wrong. Some of the most important parts were wrong.”

“And you’ll tell me which was which?”

She flinched at the icy sarcasm, but couldn’t find enough of her temper to scrape together for a retort. “You know how to aim and shoot as well as any,” she said quietly. “And it’s all the more effective as you do it so rarely.”

“All right, I’m sorry for that.” He had to be, as he’d never seen her look quite so wounded. “I’m angry still.”

“I’m pushy.” She drew a breath in, let it out, but the ache was still there. “And single-minded, and I can be careless with people even when they matter to me. Maybe more when they matter. I did think, well, the man’s doing nothing with this music of his, so I’ll have to do it for him. That was wrong of me—wrong to put the way I’d do things or think about them onto what was yours. I should have told you, as you told me.”

“On that we agree.”

“But it wasn’t wholly selfish. I wanted to give you something, something important, something that would make you happy and matter to you. It wasn’t about the money, I swear it. It was for the glory.”

“I’m not looking for glory.”

“I wanted it for you.”

“What does it matter to you, Brenna? You don’t even care for my music.”

“That’s not true.” Temper spiked a bit now, at the sheer unfairness of it. “What am I, deaf and stupid now as well as a bully? I love your music. It’s beautiful. It never mattered to you what I thought, anyway. Christ knows, poking at you about it over the years never riled you enough to prove me wrong. You’ve been wasting a gift, a kind of miracle, and it makes me furious with you.”

Glaring at him, she swiped tears from her cheeks. “I can’t help that I feel that way, and it doesn’t mean I think less of you, you blockhead. It’s because I think so much of you. And then you go and write a song that reaches right into my heart, that touches me the way nothing ever has before. Even before it was finished, weeks and weeks ago, when I saw what there was of it there on the piano, just tossed there like you couldn’t recognize a diamond if it jabbed your eye out, I loved it. I had to do something with it, and I don’t care if it was wrong. I was so proud of what you can do I couldn’t see past it. Damn you to hell and back again.”

She’d rocked him onto his heels, staggered him. He whistled out a breath. “That’s quite the apology, that is.”

“Oh, fuck you. I take back every bit of any apology I was foolish enough to make.”

There, he thought, was his woman. This time he laid his hands on the gate and gave her a look of wicked satisfaction. “It’s too late, I already have it, and I’m keeping it. And here’s something back at you. It always mattered what you thought of my music, and of me. It mattered more what you thought than anyone else in the world. What do you say to that?”

“You’re just trying to get ’round me now because I’m angry again.”

“I’ve always been able to get ’round you, darling, angry or not.” He nudged, and the gate opened smooth and silent. “Come in through the gate.”

She sniffled, wished for a tissue. “I don’t want to.”

“You’ll come in regardless,” he said, snatching her hand and yanking her through. “Now I’ve some things to say.”

“I’m not interested.” She shoved at the gate again, cursed violently when it didn’t budge.

“You’ll listen.” He turned her, trapped her, caught her hands before she could think of making fists out of them. “I don’t like what you did, or how you went about it. But your reasons for it soften that considerably.”

“I don’t care.”

“Stop being a twit.” When her mouth fell open, he lifted her a couple of inches off the ground. “I’ll get tough with you if I must. You know you like it when I do.”

“Why, you . . .”

When she fumbled for words, he nodded. “Ah, speechless, are you? It’s a refreshing change. I don’t need someone directing my life, but I don’t mind someone being part of the direction. I won’t be pushed or tricked or manipulated, and if you try, you’ll be sorry.”

“You’ll make me sorry?” she all but sputtered. “I’m already sorry I did the first thing to try—”

“Brenna.” He gave her a casual little shake that had her mouth dropping open again. “There are times you’re better off to just shut your mouth and listen. This is one of them. Now, as I was saying,” he went on while she blinked at him. “Being tricked is one thing, but surprised is another matter. And I’m thinking that, under it all, you wanted to surprise me with something, like a gift, and I threw it back at you. For that, Brenna, I’m sorry.”

The fear and sorrow were sliding away, but it was hard to resist grabbing onto the tail of them. “I don’t think a great deal of your apology, either.”

“Take it or leave it.”

“You’re awfully damn pushy yourself all of a sudden.”

“I’ve my limits, and you should know them well enough by this time. So . . . how much is Magee willing to pay me for the tune?”

“I didn’t ask,” she said stiffly.

“Ah, so you can keep your fingers out of some pies. It’s good to know.”

“You’re a hateful man. I told you it wasn’t about the money.” She pushed at him, and rather than humiliate herself with the bloody gate again, stomped down the path. “I don’t know how I could have been blind to that part of your nature all these years. How I could have thought myself in love with you, I’ll never know. The very idea of spending my life with the likes of you gives me a cold chill.”

He couldn’t stop the grin. It was so lovely to have all the parts of his life nicely in order again. “We’ll get to that in just a minute. It matters that it wasn’t about money, Brenna, matters that you weren’t thinking, ‘Well, if I’m going to be with this man he’d damn well better prove he’s man enough to make a living off his talents. And since he won’t, I will.’ ”

“I don’t give a tinker’s damn how you make your living.”

“That’s what I’m seeing now. It was more of, ‘I want to be with this man, and feeling as I do about him, I want to help him with that which matters to him.’ It’s a lovely thought, but that doesn’t change the fact you should’ve left it to me.”

“You can be sure I’ll be leaving such matters, and everything else, to you in the future.”

“If that vow lasts a week, I’ll expect to see pigs flying over Ardmore Bay. And in case you’re wondering in that calculating brain of yours, I’ll be contacting Magee myself, and I’ll send him music if what he says convinces me—which is what I intended to do once he came here and I got his measure.”

She stopped at that, eyed him suspiciously. “You were going to show him your work?”

“I was, most likely. I’ll admit that dozens of times in the past I’ve come close to sending it off and then pulled back. When something comes out of you, it’s precious. There was a fear of others finding it wanting. It was safer not to risk it. I was afraid of losing something that mattered to me. Does that make me less in your eyes, Brenna?”

“It doesn’t, no. Of course it doesn’t. But if you don’t ask,” she said, remembering her father’s words, “the answer’s always no.”

“I’m not arguing your point, just your methods. Now tell me this, if Magee had said to you, ‘Why, what are you sending me this silly amateur music for? Whoever wrote it has no talent whatsoever,’ would you have thought less of me?”

“Of course not, you pinhead. I’d’ve known that Magee had no taste other than what he may have in his own mouth.”

“Ah, well, now, that’s tidied up a considerable mess. Can we go back to the part where you’re in love with me?”

“No, because I’m not anymore. I’ve come to my senses.”

“That’s a damn shame, that is. You’ll have to wait here a minute. There’s something I need from inside.”

“I’ll not stand out here. I’m going home.”

“I’ll only come after you, Brenna,” he called over his shoulder as he walked to the door. “And what I have in mind is best done here, and in private.”

She considered climbing over the gate just to spite him, but the whole emotional mess had made her tired. It might as well get finished now as later.

So she waited, arms crossed. When he came out, he carried nothing, which only made her scowl.

“The moon’s full,” he commented as he went to her. “Maybe there’s others have more to do with the timing of all this than we know. But it was meant to be in moonlight, and it was meant to be here.”

He slipped a hand into his pocket, kept it there. “I had a plan at one time, how I’d let you chase me down, wear at my resistance and convince me there was nothing for me to do but give up and marry you.”

Her eyes went blurry with shock. “I beg your pardon?”

“Do you really think you were tugging me around like a puppy on a leash? Is that the kind of man you want when the day is done, O’Toole? The kind you want walking beside you through life, fathering your children?”

“Is this a game you’ve been playing?”

“Partly, and as much as you were. Game’s over now, and I find I want this done more in what might be the traditional manner. Brenna.” He took her hand, not at all displeased that it was trembling. “I love you. I don’t know when it started, years ago or weeks. But I know my heart’s lost to you, and I wouldn’t have it another way. You’re what I want, all there is of you. Make a life with me. Marry me.”

She couldn’t take her eyes from his face. The whole world was in his face. “My head hurts,” she managed.

“God bless you.” With a half laugh, he took her hand, kissed it. “How could I not love such a woman?” He kept her hand firm in his as he took the ring from his pocket.

The pearl gleamed like the moon, white and pure, in a simple band of gold. “A moon tear,” he told her, “given to me to give to you. I know you don’t wear rings as a rule.”

“I—they—with the work they get caught and banged around.”

“So I got a chain for it as well. You can wear it around your neck.”

He would have thought of such a thing, she realized. Such a small and lovely detail. “I’m not working at the moment.”

He slid it onto her finger, and her hand steadied under his.

“I suppose it suits me, as you do. As the whole of you suits me. But you won’t make me cry.”

“Yes, I will.” He touched his lips to her forehead, her temple. “I bought you land today.”

“What?” Tears might have dazzled her vision, but she managed to step back. “What? Land? You bought land? Without a word to me, without me laying eyes on it?”

“If you don’t like it, you can bury me in it.”

“I might. You bought land,” she said again, but her voice had gone dreamy.

“So you can build us a house, and the two of us can fill it into a home.”

“Damn it. There you are, you’ve made me cry.” She threw her arms around his neck. “Just hold on a minute, I’m a mess.” With her face buried against his shoulder, she breathed him in. “I thought it was just a longing for you, and that would be enough for both of us. I do long for you, but it’s not enough and it’s not all. Oh, this is where I want to be. And I did chase you down, nothing will convince me otherwise.”

She drew back enough to touch her lips to his. “I had it all worked out what I would say to you tonight, and now I can’t remember just how it was to go. Only that I love you, Shawn. I love you as you are. There’s nothing I’d change.”

“That’s more than good enough. Will you come inside now? I’ll warm your supper.”

“It’s the least you could do after you let it go cold.” She linked her fingers with his. “You won’t insist on a big, fancy wedding, will you?”

“I don’t see how when I’ve a mind to have us wed as quick as can be managed.”

“Ah.” She leaned against him. “I do love you, Shawn Gallagher. There’s one more thing,” she said as they walked toward the cottage. “Won’t you need a name for your song, the one Magee wants?”

“It’s ‘renna’s Song,’ ” he told her. “It always was.”

Turn the page for a preview of

HEART OF THE SEA

The stunning conclusion in Nora Roberts’s

all-new Irish trilogy of the Gallagher siblings

Coming soon from Jove Books!

THE VILLAGE OF Ardmore sat snug on the south coast of Ireland, in the county of Waterford, with the Celtic Sea spread out at its feet. The stone seawall curved around, following the skirt of the gold sand beach.

It boasted in its vicinity a pretty jut of cliffs upholstered with wild grass, and a hotel that clung to them. If one had a mind to, it was a pleasant if hearty walk on a narrow path around the headland, and at the top of the first hill were the ruins of the oratory and well of Saint Declan.

The view was worth the climb, with sky and sea and village spread out below. This was holy ground, and though dead were buried there, only one grave had its stone marked.

The village itself claimed neat streets and painted cottages, some with the traditional thatched roofs, and a number of steep hills as well. Flowers grew in abundance, spilling out of window boxes, baskets and potsand from the dooryards. It made a charming picture from above or below, and the villagers were proud to have won the Tidy Town award two years running.

Atop Tower Hill was a fine example of a round tower, with its conical top still in place, and the ruins of the twelfth-century cathedral built in the honor of Saint Declan. Folks would tell you, in case you wondered, that Declan arrived thirty years before good Saint Patrick.

Not that they were bragging, but just letting you know how things stood.

Those interested in such matters would find examples of ogham carving on the stones put for safekeeping inside the roofless cathedral, and Roman arcading faded with time and wind but still worth the study.

But the village itself made no attempt at such grandeur and was merely a pleasant place with a shop or two and a scatter of cottages built back away from lovely sand beaches.

The sign for Ardmore said failte, and that meant welcome.

It was that very combination of ancient history and simple character and hospitality that interested Trevor Magee.

His people had come from Ardmore and Old Parish. Indeed his grandfather had been born here, in a small house very near Ardmore Bay, had lived the first years of his life breathing that moist sea air, had perhaps held his mother’s hand as she’d walked to the shops or along the surf.

His grandfather had left his village and his country, taking his wife and young son with him to America. He had never been back, and as far as Trevor knew, had never looked back either. There had been a distance and a bitter one, between the old man and the country of his birth. Ireland and Ardmore and the family Dennis Magee had left behind had rarely been spoken of.

So Trevor’s image of Ardmore had a ripple of sentiment and curiosity through it, and his reasons for choosing it had a personal bent.

But he could afford personal bents.

He was a man who built, and who, as his grandfather and father before him, built cleverly and well.

His grandfather had made his living laying brick, and made his fortune speculating on properties during and after the Second World War, until the buying and selling of them was his business, and the building done by those he hired.

Old Magee had been no more sentimental about his laborer’s beginnings than he had been about his homeland. To Trevor’s recollection, the man had shown no sentiment about anything.

But Trevor had inherited the heart and hands of the builder as much as the cool, hard sense of the businessman, and had learned to use both.

He would use them both here, and a dash of sentiment as well, to build his theater, a traditional structure for traditional music, using as its entrance the already established pub known as Gallagher’s.

The deal with the Gallaghers had been set, the ground broken for the project before he’d been able to hack through his schedule for the time he wanted to spend here. But he was here now, and he intended to do more than sign checks and watch.

He wanted his hands in it.

A man could work up a good sweat even in May in such a temperate climate when he spent a morning hauling concrete. That morning Trevor left the cottage he’d decided to rent for the duration of his stay wearing a denim jacket and carrying a steaming mug of coffee. Now a handful of hours later, the jacket had been tossed aside and a thin line of damp ran front and back down his shirt.

He’d have paid a hundred pounds for one cold beer.

The pub was only a short walk through the construction rubble. He knew from stopping in the day before that it did a brisk business midday. But a man could hardly quench his thirst with a chilly Harp when he forbade his employees to drink on the job.

He rolled his shoulders, circled his neck as he scanned the site. The concrete truck let out its continual rumble, men shouted, relaying orders or acknowledging them. Job music, Trevor thought. He never tired of it.

That was a gift from his father. Learn from the ground up, had been Dennis Junior’s credo, and the thirdgeneration Magee had done just that. For more than ten years, fifteen if he counted the summers he’d sweated on construction sites, he’d learned just what went into the business of building.

The backaches and blood and aching muscles.

At thirty-two, he spent more time in boardrooms and meetings than on a scaffold, but he’d never lost the appreciation, or the satisfaction of swinging his own hammer.

He intended to indulge himself doing just that in Ardmore, in his theater.

He watched the small woman in a faded cap and battered boots, circle around, gesture as the wet concrete slid down the chute. She scrambled over sand and stone, used her shovel to rap the chute and alert the operator to stop, then waded into the muck with the other laborers to shovel and smooth.

Brenna O’Toole, Trevor thought, and was glad he’d followed his instincts there. Hiring her and her father as foremen on the project had been the right course of action. Not just for their building skills, he decided, and they were impressive, but they knew the village and the people in it, kept the job running smooth and the men happy and productive.

Public relations on this sort of project were just as vital as a sturdy foundation.

Yes indeed, they were working out well. His three days in Ardmore had shown him he’d made the right choice with O’Toole and O’Toole.

When Brenna climbed out again, Trevor stepped over, extended a hand to give her a final boost.

“Thanks.” She sliced her shovel into the ground, leaned on it, and despite her filthy boots and faded cap looked like a pixie. Her skin was pure Irish cream, and a few curls of wild red escaped the cap.

“Tim Riley says we won’t have rain for another day or two, and he has a way of being right about such things more than he’s wrong. I think we’ll have the slab set up for you before you have to worry about weather.”

“You made considerable progress before I got here.”

“Sure and once you gave us the high sign there was no reason to wait. We’ll have you a good, solid foundation, Mr. Magee, and on schedule.”

“Trev.”

“Aye, Trev.” She tipped back her cap, then her head so she could meet his eyes. She figured him a good foot higher than her five-two, even wearing her boots. “The men you sent along from America, they’re a fine team.”

“As I handpicked them, I agree.”

She thought his voice faintly aloof, but not unfriendly. “And do you never pick females then?”

He smiled slowly so it seemed humor just moseyed over his face until it reached eyes the color of turf smoke. “I do indeed and as often as possible. Both on and off the job. I’ve put one of my best carpenters on this project. She’ll be here next week.”

“It’s good to know my cousin Brian wasn’t wrong in that area. He said you hired by skill and not gender. It’s a good morning’s work here,” she added, nodding to the site. “That noisy bastard of a truck will be our constant companion for a while yet. Darcy’ll be back from her holiday tomorrow, and I can tell you she’ll bitch our ears off about the din.”

“It’s a good noise. Building.”

“I’ve always thought the same.”

They stood a moment in perfect accord while the truck vomited out the last yard of concrete.

“I’ll buy you lunch,” Trevor said.

“I’ll let you.” Brenna gave a whistle to catch her father’s attention, then mimed spooning up food. Mick responded with a grin and a wave, then went back to work.

“He’s in his heaven,” Brenna commented as they walked over to rinse off their boots. “Nothing makes Mick O’Toole happier than finding himself in the middle of a job site, the muckier, the better.”

Satisfied, Brenna gave her feet a couple of stomps then headed around to the kitchen door. “I hope you’ll take some time to see the area while you’re here, instead of locking yourself into the job at hand.”

“I plan to see what’s around.” He had reports, of course, detailed reports on tourist draws, road conditions, routes to and from major cities. But he intended to see for himself.

Needed to see it, Trevor admitted to himself. Something had been pulling him toward Ireland, toward Ardmore for more than a year. In dreams.

“Ah, now there’s a fine-looking man doing what he does best,” Brenna said when she pushed open the kitchen door. “What have you for us today, Shawn?”

He turned from the enormous old stove, a rangy man with shaggy black hair and eyes of misty blue. “For the special we’ve sea spinach soup and the beef sandwich. Good day to you, Trevor, is this one working you harder than she should?”

“She keeps things moving.”

“And so I must for the man in my life is slow. I wonder, Shawn, if you’ve selected another tune or two for Trevor’s consideration.”

“I’ve been busy catering to my new wife. She’s a demanding creature.” So saying, he reached out to cup a hand on Brenna’s face and kiss her. “Get out of my kitchen. It’s confusing enough around here without Darcy.”

“She’ll be back tomorrow and by this time of the day you’ll have cursed her a dozen times.”

“Why do you think I miss her? Give your order to Sinead,” he told Trevor. “She’s a good girl, and our Jude’s been working with her. She just needs a bit more practice.”

“A friend of my sister Mary Kate is Sinead,” Brenna told Trevor as she pushed open the door that swung between kitchen and pub. “A good-natured girl if a bit scattered in the brain. She wants to marry Billy O’Hara, and that is the sum total of her ambitions at this time.”

“And what does Billy O’Hara have to say?”

“Being not quite so ambitious as Sinead, Billy keeps his mouth shut. Good day to you, Aidan.”

“And to you.” The oldest of the Gallaghers worked the bar and had his hands on the taps as he looked over. “Will you be joining us for lunch then?”

“That we will. We’ve caught you busy.”

“God bless the tour buses.” With a wink, Aidan slid two pints down the bar to waiting hands.

“Do you want us to take it in the kitchen?”

“No need for that unless you’re in a great hurry.” His eyes, a deeper blue than his brother’s, scanned the pub. “Service is a mite slower than our usual. But there’s a table or two left.”

“We’ll leave it to the boss.” Brenna turned to Trevor. “How will you have it?”

“Let’s get a table.” The better to watch how the business ran.

He followed her out and sat with her at one of the mushroom sized tables. There was a buzz of conversation, a haze of smoke and the yeasty scent of beer.

“Will you have a pint?” Brenna asked him.

“Not until after the workday.”

Her lips twitched as she kicked back in her chair. “So I’ve heard from some of the men. Word is you’re a tyrant on this particular matter.”

He didn’t mind the term tyrant. It meant he was in control. “Word would be correct.”

“I’ll tell you this, you may have a bit of a problem enforcing such a rule around here. Many who’ll labor for you were nursed on Guinness and it’s as natural to them as mother’s milk.”

“I’m fond of it myself, but when a man or woman is on my clock, they stick with mother’s milk.”

“Ah, you’re a hard man, Trevor Magee.” But she said it with a laugh. “So tell me, how are you liking Faerie Hill Cottage?”

“Very much. It’s comfortable, efficient, quiet, and has a view that rips your heart into your throat. It’s just what I was looking for, so I’m grateful you put me onto it.”

“That’s not a problem, not a problem at all. It’s in the family. I think Shawn misses the little kitchen there as the house we’re building’s far from finished. More than livable,” she added, as it was one of their current sore points, “but I figure to concentrate on the kitchen there on my off days so he’ll be happier.”

“I’d like to see it.”

“Would you?” Surprised, she angled her head. “Well, you’re welcome any time. I’ll give you the direction. Do you mind me saying I didn’t expect you to be as friendly a sort of man as you seem to be.”

“What did you expect?”

“More of a shark, and I hope that doesn’t offend you.”

“It doesn’t. And it depends on the waters where I’m swimming.” He glanced over, and his face warmed as Aidan’s wife came up to the table. But when he started to rise, Jude waved him down again.

“No, I’m not joining you, but thanks.” She rested a hand on her very pregnant belly. “Hello, I’m Jude Frances and I’ll be your server today.”

“You shouldn’t be on your feet like this, carrying trays.”

Jude sighed as she took out her order pad. “He sounds like Aidan. I put my feet up when I need to, and I don’t carry anything heavy. Sinead can’t handle things on her own.”

“Not to worry, Trevor. Why me own blessed mother dug potatoes on the day I was born, then went back to roast them after the delivery.” At Trevor’s narrowed glance, Brenna chuckled. “Well, maybe not, but I’ll wager she could have. I’ll have today’s soup, if you don’t mind, Jude, and a glass of milk,” she added with a wicked smile for Trevor.

“The same,” he said, “plus the sandwich.”

“A fine choice. I’ll be right back with it.”

“She’s stronger than she looks,” Brenna told him when Jude moved to another table. “And more stubborn. Now that she’s found her direction, so to speak, she’ll only work harder to prove she can do what you tell her she shouldn’t. Aidan won’t let her overdo, I promise you. The man adores her.”

“Yes, I’ve noticed. The Gallagher men seem to be devoted to their women.”

“So they better be, or their women will know why.” Relaxed, she kicked back, pulled off her cap. Those red curls tumbled down. “So you aren’t finding it, I guess we’d say, too rustic for you out in the countryside here after being used to New York City?”

He thought of the job sites he’d experienced: mud slides, floods, blistering heat, petty vandalism and sabotage. “Not at all. The village is exactly what I expected after Finkle’s reports.”

“Ah, yes, Finkle.” She remembered Trevor’s scout very well. “Now there’s a man I believe prefers urban conveniences. But you’re not so . . . particular then.”

“I’m very particular, depending. That’s why I incorporated most of your design into the theater project.”

“Now that’s a fine and sneaky compliment.” And nothing could have pleased her more. “I suppose I was angling more toward the personal. I have a special fondness for the cottage on Faerie Hill, and I wasn’t sure you’d find the place to your liking. Thinking, I suppose, a man with your background and wherewithal would be more inclined to settle at the cliff hotel with maid service and the restaurant and so forth.”

“Hotel rooms become confining. And I find it interesting to stay in the house where the woman who was engaged to one of my ancestors was born, and lived, and died.”

“She was a fine woman, Old Maude. A wise woman.” Brenna kept her eyes on Trevor’s face as she spoke. “Her grave’s up near the well of Saint Declan, and it’s there you can feel her. She’s not the one in the cottage now.”

“Who is?”

Brenna lifted her eyebrows. “You don’t know the legend then? Your grandfather was born here, and your father as well, though he was a babe when they sailed to America. Still he visited many years back. Did neither of them tell you the story of Lady Gwen and Prince Carrick.”

“No. So it would be Lady Gwen who haunts the cottage?”

“Have you seen her?”

“No.” Trevor hadn’t been raised on legends and myths, but there was more than enough Irish in his blood to cause him to wonder about them. “But there’s a feminine feel to the place, almost a fragrance, so odds are for the lady.”

“You’d be right about that.”

“Who was she? I figure if I’m sharing quarters with a ghost, I should know something about her.”

No careless dismissal of the subject, no amused indulgence of the Irish and their legends, Brenna noted. Just cool interest. “You surprise me again. Let me see to something first. I’ll be right back.”

Fascinating, Trevor mused. He had himself a ghost.

He’d felt things before. In old buildings, empty lots,deserted fields. It wasn’t the kind of thing a man generally talked about at a board meeting or over a cold one with the crew after a sweaty day’s work. Not usually. But this was a different place with a different tone. More, he wanted to know.

Everything to do with Ardmore and the area was of interest to him now. A good ghost story could draw people in, just as successfully as a well run pub. It was all atmosphere.

Gallagher’s was exactly the kind of atmosphere he’d been looking for as a segue into his theater. The old wood, blackened by time and smoke and grease mated comfortably with the cream-colored walls, the stone hearth, the low tables and benches.

The bar itself was a beauty, an aged chestnut he already noted the Gallaghers kept wiped and polished. The age of customers ranged from a baby in arms to the oldest man Trevor believed he’d ever seen who was balanced on a stool at the far end of the bar.

There were several others he took as locals just from the way they sat or smoked or sipped, and three times that many who could be nothing other than tourists with their camera bags under their tables and their maps and guidebooks out.

The conversations were a mix of accents, but predominate was that lovely lilt he’d heard in his grandparents’ voices until the day they died.

He wondered if they missed hearing it themselves, why they’d never had a driving urge to come to Ireland again. What bitter memories had kept them away, skipped over a generation and caused him to come back and see for himself.

More, why he should have recognized Ardmore and the view from the cottage and even now know what he would see when he climbed the cliffs. It was as if he carried a picture in his mind of this place, one someone else had taken and tucked away for him.

They’d had no pictures to show him. His father had visited once, when he’d been younger than Trevor was now himself, but his descriptions had been sketchy at best.

The reports of course. There had been detailed photographs and descriptions in the reports Finkle had brought back to New York. But he’d known, before he’d opened the first file, he’d already known.

Inherited memory? he mused, though he didn’t put much stock in that sort of thing. Inheriting his father’s eyes, the clear gray color, the long-lidded shape of them was one matter. And he was told he had his grandfather’s hands, and his mind for business. But how did a memory pass down through the blood?

He toyed with the idea as he continued to scan the room. It didn’t occur to him that he looked more the local than the tourist as he sat there in his work clothes, his dark blond hair tousled from the morning’s labor. He had a narrow, raw-boned face that would put most in mind of a warrior, or perhaps a scholar, rather than a businessman. The woman he’d nearly married had said it looked to be honed and sculpted by some wild genius. The faintest of scars marred his chin, a result of a storm of flying glass during a tornado in Houston, and added to the overall impression of toughness.

It was a face that rarely gave anything away. Unless it was to Trevor Magee’s advantage.

At the moment it held a cool and remote expression, but it shifted into easy friendliness when Brenna came back toward the table with Jude. Brenna, he noted, carried the tray.

“I’ve asked Jude to take a few moments to sit and tell you about Lady Gwen,” Brenna began and was already unloading the order. “She’s a seanachais .”

At Trevor’s raised eyebrow, Jude shook her head. “It’s Gaelic for storyteller. I’m not really, I’m just—”

“And who has a book being published, and another she’s writing. Jude’s book’ll be out at the end of this very summer,” Brenna went on. “It’ll make a lovely gift, so I’d keep it in mind when you’re out shopping.”

“Brenna.” Jude rolled her eyes.

“I’ll look for it. Some of Shawn’s song lyrics are stories. It’s an old and honored tradition.”

“Oh, he’ll like that one.” Beaming now, Brenna scooped up the tray. “I’ll deal with this, Jude, and give Sinead a bit of a goose for you. Go ahead and get started. I’ve heard it often enough before.”

“She has enough energy for twenty people.” A little tired now, Jude picked up her cup of tea.

“I’m glad I found her for this project. Or that she found me.”

“I’d say it was a bit of both, since you’re both operators.” She caught herself, winced. “I didn’t mean that in a negative way.”

“Wasn’t taken in one. Baby kicking? It puts a look in your eye,” Trevor explained. “My sister just had her third.”

“Third?” Jude blew out a breath. “There are moments I wonder how I’m going to manage the one. He’s active. But he’s just going to have to wait another couple months.” She ran a hand in slow circles over the mound of her belly, soothing as she sipped. “You may not know it but I lived in Chicago until just over a year ago.”

He made a noncommittal sound. Of course he knew, he had extensive reports.

“My plan was to come here for six months, to live in the cottage where my grandmother lived after she lost her parents. She’d inherited it from her cousin Maude, who’d died shortly before I came here.”

“The woman my great-uncle was engaged to.”

“Yes. The day I arrived, it was raining. I thought I was lost. I had been lost, and not just geographically. Everything unnerved me.”

“You came alone, to another country?” Trevor cocked his head. “That doesn’t sound like a woman easily unnerved.”

“That’s something Aidan would say.” And because it was, she found herself very comfortable. “I suppose it’s more that I didn’t know my own nerve at that point. In any case, I pulled into the street, the driveway actually, of this little thatched roof cottage. And in the upstairs window I saw a woman. She had a lovely, sad face, and pale blond hair that fell around her shoulders. She looked at me, our eyes connected. Then Brenna drove up. It seems I’d stumbled across my own cottage, and the woman I’d seen in the window was Lady Gwen.”

“The ghost?”

“That’s right, yes. It sounds impossible, doesn’t it? Or certainly unreasonable. But I can tell you exactly what she looked like. I’ve sketched her. And I knew no more of the legend when I came here than you appear to know now.”

“I’d like to hear it.”

“Then I’ll tell you.” Jude paused as Brenna came back, sat, and tucked into her meal.

She had an easy way with a story, Trevor noted. A smooth and natural rhythm that put the listener into the tale. She told him of a young maid who’d lived in the cottage on the faerie hill. A woman who cared for her father as her mother had been lost in childbirth, who tended the cottage and its gardens and who carried herself with pride.

Beneath the green slope of the hill was the silver glory of the faerie raft, the palace where Carrick ruled as prince. He was also proud, and he was handsome with a flowing mane of raven-black hair and eyes of burning blue. Those eyes fell upon the maid Gwen, and hers upon him.

They plunged in love, faerie and mortal, and at night when others slept, he would take her flying on his great winged horse. Never did they speak of that love, for pride blocked the words. One night Gwen’s father woke to see her with Carrick as they dismounted from his horse. And in fear for her, he betrothed her to another and ordered her to marry without delay.

Carrick flew on his horse to the sun, and gathered its burning sparks into his silver pouch. When Gwen came out of the cottage to meet him before her wedding, he opened the bag and poured diamonds, jewels of the sun, at her feet. Take them and me, he said, for they are my passion for you. He promised her immortality, and a life of riches and glory. But never once did he speak, even then, of love.

So she refused him, and turned from him. The diamonds that lay on the grass became flowers.

Twice more he came to her, the next time when she carried her first child in her womb. From his silver pouch he poured pearls, tears of the moon that he’d gathered for her. And these, he told her, were his longing for her. But longing is not love, and she had pledged herself to another.

When she turned away, the pearls became flowers.

The last time, many years had passed, years where Gwen had raised her children, nursed her husband through his illness, and buried him when she was an old woman. Years where Carrick had brooded in his palace and swept through the sky on his horse.

He dived into the sea to wring from its heart the last of his gifts to her. These he poured at her feet, shimmering sapphires that blazed in the grass. His constancy for her. When now, finally, he spoke of love, she could only weep bitter tears for her life was over. She told him it was too late, that she had never needed riches or promises of glory, but only that he loved her, loved her enough that she could have set aside her fear of giving up her world for his. And as she turned to leave him this last time, as the sapphires bloomed into flowers in the grass, his hurt and his temper lashed out in this spell he cast. She would find no peace without him, nor would they see each other again until three times lovers met and accepting each other, risking hearts, dared the choice of love over all else.

Three hundred years, Trevor thought later as he let himself into the house where Gwen had lived and died. A long time to wait. He’d listened to Jude tell the tale in her quiet, storyteller’s voice, without interrupting. Even to tell her that he knew parts of the story. Somehow he knew.

He’d dreamed them.

He hadn’t told her that he, too, could have described Gwen, down to the sea green of her eyes and the curve of her cheek. He’d dreamed her as well.

And had, he realized, nearly married Sylvia because she’d reminded him of that dream image. A soft woman with simple ways. It should have been right between them, he thought as he headed upstairs to shower off the day’s dirt. It still irritated him that it hadn’t been. In the end, it just hadn’t been right.

She’d known it first, and had gently let him go before he’d admitted he’d already had his eye on the door. Maybe that was what bothered him most of all. He hadn’t had the courtesy to do the ending. Though she’d forgiven him for it, he’d yet to forgive himself.

He caught the scent the minute he stepped into the bedroom. Delicate, female, like rose petals freshly fallen onto dewy grass.

“A ghost who wears perfume,” he murmured, oddly amused. “Well, if you’re modest turn your back.” So saying he stripped where he stood then walked into the bath.

He spent the rest of his evening alone catching up on paperwork, scanning the faxes that had come in on the machine he’d brought with him, shooting back replies. He treated himself to a beer and stood outside with it in the last of the dying light, listening to the aching silence and watching stars pulse to life.

Tim Riley, whoever the hell he was, looked to be right. There was no rain coming yet. The foundation he was building would set clean.

As he turned to go back in, a streak of movement overhead caught his eye. A blur of white and silver across the darkening sky. But when he looked back for it, narrowing his eyes to scan, he saw nothing but stars and the rise of the quarter moon.

A falling star, he decided. A ghost was one thing, but a flying horse ridden by the prince of the faeries was another entirely.

But he thought he heard the cheerful lilt of pipes and flutes dance across the silence as he shut the door of the cottage for the night.

This novel is a work of fiction.

Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination

or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead,

events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

HEART OF THE SEA

A Jove Book / published by arrangement with the author

All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2000 by Nora Roberts.

This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

Making or distributing electronic copies of this book constitutes copyright infringement

and could subject the infringer to criminal and civil liability.

For information address:

The Berkley Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Putnam Inc.,

375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

The Penguin Putnam Inc. World Wide Web site address is

http://www.penguinputnam.com

ISBN: 1-101-14601-X

A JOVE BOOK®

Jove Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,

a division of Penguin Putnam Inc.,

375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

JOVE and the “J” design are trademarks belonging to Penguin Putnam Inc.

First edition (electronic): June 2001

CONTENTS

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN

SEVENTEEN

EIGHTEEN

NINETEEN

TWENTY

Dear Reader,

Lore and legend play a vital part in the history of Ireland. Song and story have been written of the faerie rafts and the Good People who live in those silver castles under the green hills. So it is those stories and those songs that make up a charming portion of Irish culture.

Trevor Magee’s people sprang from this, though they traveled across the sea to settle in America. And made their fortune. But like many whose roots are in those hills, Trevor is drawn back to the land of his ancestors. He will come to Ardmore to build his dream, a theater to showcase the art of his heritage.

To do so he’ll work with the Gallaghers, and use their traditional pub in his plans. In Heart of the Sea, he will live in a cottage where a ghost walks and waits for her true love. He will cross wits with a faerie prince who is determined to have his way at last.

And he will meet, deal with, and desire the intriguing and frustrating Darcy Gallagher.

All of her life she’s wanted more, and made no secret of her hope to find a rich man to give her a lush and exciting life. Now that she’s met him, it’s a matter of hearts that must be won. His as well as hers. Until they are, the spell that separates lovers holds fast.

Take a walk with me in the shadow of an ancient round tower. I’ll tell you what happened.

Nora Roberts

continued on next page . . .

Praise for Nora Roberts’s previous novels . . .

RIVER’S END

Her most seductively suspenseful tale yet—a story of one woman’s shattered innocence, the terrifying search for truth and a heart’s journey toward healing . . .

“A PAGE-TURNER.”

—The Washington Post Book World

“Roberts keeps the suspense building . . . Her fans will love this book.”

—Chicago Sun-Times

“AN ENTERTAINING TALE . . . Strong characters and lively writing.”

—The Indianapolis Star

“ River’s End moves at a frantic pace . . . Great descriptions . . . Heart-stopping encounters between Olivia and the obviously smitten Noah.”

—Chicago Tribune

“Roberts has a fluid way with dialogue and description, and creates characters that are eminently believable.”

—The Cleveland Plain Dealer

“A plot that delivers both suspense and romance.”

—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

THE REEF

On a search for treasure in the depths of the Caribbean, marine archaeologist Tate Beaumont is forced into an uneasy alliance with salvager Matthew Lassiter, a man who stirs up danger— and desire . . .

“SUSPENSEFUL.”

—People

“Roberts has created another PAGE-TURNING novel.”

—USA Today

“Having made waves with romantic suspense on the coast and at sea, Roberts now takes a satisfying plunge into the deep. . . . Roberts will keep fans’ appetites alive to the end . . . ”

—Publishers Weekly

“An engaging cast of characters with the enticing mystery of coral reefs and sunken treasure. THE REEF IS A PERFECT BOOK TO CURL UP WITH.”

—The Denver Post

“A thrilling treasure hunt with a trademark edge. One of her most suspenseful tales to date.”

—Booklist

“Roberts’s legion of fans will swarm to this.”

—Kirkus Reviews

continued on next page . . .

SANCTUARY

Jo Ellen Hathaway knows you can’t go home again—but to discover the truth behind her mother’s mysterious death, she has no choice . . .

“[NORA ROBERTS] IS AT THE TOP OF HER GAME.”

—People

“Sometimes the atmosphere of a novel is so powerfully rendered that the setting assumes the importance of another character. Anne Rivers Siddons has this knack, and so does Nora Roberts.”

—Chicago Tribune

“Her most seductive and tempestuous work to date.”

—Tulsa World

“[Roberts] delivers believable characters and keeps the story moving.”

—Minneapolis Star Tribune

“Roberts has a talent for vivid description: The sounds and smells of this verdant island waft from the page.”

—Publishers Weekly

“WHAT A GREAT ESCAPIST READ! . . . Be sure to turn the stove off and the answering machine on, because you may find the fifteen minutes you planned to sit down with this book will mysteriously expand to an hour or two.”

—The Free Lance-Star

“A STRONG STORY LINE.”

—The Cedar Rapids Gazette

And don’t miss Nora Roberts’s bestselling trilogies . . .

SEA SWEPT

RISING TIDES

INNER HARBOR

The breathtaking trilogy of the lives and loves of three brothers on the windswept shores of the Chesapeake Bay.

BORN IN FIRE

BORN IN ICE

BORN IN SHAME

Three novels featuring the Concannon sisters of Ireland— women of ambition and talent, bound by the timeless spirit and restless beauty of their land.

DARING TO DREAM

HOLDING THE DREAM

FINDING THE DREAM

The saga of three women who shared a home and a childhood— but grew to fulfill their own unique destinies . . .

Titles by Nora Roberts

HOT ICE

SACRED SINS

BRAZEN VIRTUE

SWEET REVENGE

PUBLIC SECRETS

GENUINE LIES CARNAL

INNOCENCE

DIVINE EVIL

HONEST ILLUSIONS

PRIVATE SCANDALS

BORN IN FIRE

BORN IN ICE

BORN IN SHAME

HIDDEN RICHES

TRUE BETRAYALS

DARING TO DREAM

HOLDING THE DREAM

FINDING THE DREAM

MONTANA SKY

SEA SWEPT

RISING TIDES

INNER HARBOR SANCTUARY

HOMEPORT

THE REEF

JEWELS OF THE SUN

TEARS OF THE MOON

HEART OF THE SEA

RIVER’S END

FROM THE HEART

( anthology )

ONCE UPON A CASTLE

( anthology with Jill Gregory, Ruth Ryan Langan, and Marianne Willman )

Titles written as J. D. Robb

NAKED IN DEATH

GLORY IN DEATH

IMMORTAL IN DEATH

RAPTURE IN DEATH

CEREMONY IN DEATH

VENGEANCE IN DEATH

HOLIDAY IN DEATH

CONSPIRACY IN DEATH

WITNESS IN DEATH

JUDGEMENT IN DEATH

SILENT NIGHT

(anthology with Susan Plunkett, Dee Holmes, and Claire Cross)

To Pat Gaffney All references to Irish music are just for you

Her eyes they shone like diamonds, you’d

think she was queen of the land.

—THE BLACK VELVET BAND

ONE

THE VILLAGE OF Ardmore sat snug on the south coast of Ireland, in the county of Waterford, with the Celtic Sea spread out at its feet. The stone seawall curved around, following the skirt of the golden-sand beach.

It boasted in its vicinity a pretty jut of cliffs upholstered with wild grass, and a hotel that clung to them. If one had a mind to, it was a pleasant if hearty walk on a narrow path around the headland, and at the top of the first hill were the ruins of the oratory and well of Saint Declan.

The view was worth the climb, with sky and sea and village spread out below. This was holy ground, and though dead were buried there, only one grave had its stone marked.

The village itself claimed neat streets and painted cottages, some with the traditional thatched roofs, and a number of steep hills as well. Flowers grew in abundance, spilling out of window boxes, baskets, and pots, and dooryards. It made a charming picture from above or below, and the villagers were proud to have won the Tidy Town award two years running.

Atop Tower Hill was a fine example of a round tower, with its conical top still in place, and the ruins of the twelfth-century cathedral built in honor of Saint Declan. Folks would tell you, in case you wondered, that Declan arrived thirty years before good Saint Patrick.

Not that they were bragging, they were just letting you know how things stood.

Those interested in such matters would find examples of ogham carving on the stones put for safekeeping inside the roofless cathedral, and Roman arcading faded with time and wind but still worth the study.

But the village itself made no attempt at such grandeur. It was merely a pleasant place with a shop or two and a scatter of cottages built back away from lovely sand beaches.

The sign for Ardmore said FAILTE, and that was “ welcome.”

It was that very combination of ancient history and simple character and hospitality that interested Trevor Magee.

His people had come from Ardmore and Old Parish. Indeed, his grandfather had been born here, in a small house very near Ardmore Bay, had lived the first years of his life breathing that moist sea air, had perhaps held his mother’s hand as she’d walked to the shops or along the surf.

His grandfather had left his village and his country, taking his wife and young son with him to America. He had never been back, and so far as Trevor knew, had never looked back either. There had been a distance and a bitter one, between the old man and the country of his birth. Ireland and Ardmore and the family Dennis Magee had left behind had rarely been spoken of.

So Trevor’s image of Ardmore had a ripple of sentiment and curiosity through it, and his reasons for choosing it had a personal bent.

But he could afford personal bents.

He was a man who built, and who, as his grandfather and father before him, built cleverly and well.

His grandfather had made his living laying brick, and made his fortune speculating on properties during and after World War II, until the buying and selling of them was his business, and the building done by those he hired.

Old Magee had been no more sentimental about his laborer’s beginnings than he had been about his homeland. To Trevor’s recollection, the man had shown no sentiment about anything.

But Trevor had inherited the heart and hands of the builder as much as the cool, hard sense of the businessman, and he had learned to use both.

He would use them both here, and a dash of sentiment as well, to build his theater, a traditional structure for traditional music, with its entrance the already established pub known as Gallagher’s.

The deal with the Gallaghers had been set, the ground broken for the project before he’d been able to hack through his schedule for the time he wanted to spend here. But he was here now, and he intended to do more than sign checks and watch.

He wanted his hands in it.

A man could work up a good sweat even in May in such a temperate climate when he spent a morning hauling concrete. That morning Trevor left the cottage he’d decided to rent for the duration of his stay wearing a denim jacket and carrying a steaming mug of coffee. Now, a handful of hours later, the jacket had been tossed aside, and a thin line of damp ran front and back down his shirt.

He’d have paid a hundred pounds for one cold beer.

The pub was only a short walk through the construction rubble. He knew from stopping in the day before that it did a brisk business midday. But a man could hardly quench his thirst with a chilly Harp when he forbade his employees to drink on the job.

He rolled his shoulders, circled his neck as he scanned the site. The concrete truck let out its continuous rumble, men shouted, relaying orders or acknowledging them. Job music, Trevor thought. He never tired of it.

That was a gift from his father. Learn from the ground up had been Dennis Junior’s credo, and the thirdgeneration Magee had done just that. For more than ten years—fifteen if he counted the summers he’d sweated on construction sites—he’d learned just what went into the business of building.

The backaches and blood and aching muscles.

At thirty-two, he spent more time in boardrooms and meetings than on a scaffold, but he’d never lost the appreciation, or the satisfaction of swinging his own hammer.

He intended to indulge himself doing just that in Ardmore, in his theater.

He watched the small woman in a faded cap and battered boots circle around, gesture as the wet concrete slid down the chute. She scrambled over sand and stone, used her shovel to rap the chute and alert the operator to stop, then waded into the muck with the other laborers to shovel and smooth.

Brenna O’Toole, Trevor thought, and was glad he’d followed his instincts there. Hiring her and her father as foremen on the project had been the right course of action. Not just for their building skills, he decided— though they were impressive—but because they knew the village and the people in it, kept the job running smoothly and the men happy and productive.

Public relations on this sort of project were just as vital as a sturdy foundation.

Yes, indeed, they were working out well. His three days in Ardmore had shown him he’d made the right choice with O’Toole and O’Toole.

When Brenna climbed out again, Trevor stepped over, extended a hand to give her a final boost.

“Thanks.” She sliced her shovel into the ground, leaned on it, and despite her filthy boots and faded cap, looked like a pixie. Her skin was pure Irish cream, and a few curls of wild red escaped the cap.

“Tim Riley says we won’t have rain for another day or two, and he has a way of being right about such things more than he’s wrong. I think we’ll have the slab set up for you before you have to worry about weather.”

“You made considerable progress before I got here.”

“Sure, and once you gave us the high sign there was no reason to wait. We’ll have you a good, solid foundation, Mr. Magee, and on schedule.”

“Trev.”

“Aye, Trev.” She tipped back her cap, then her head so she could meet his eyes. She figured him a good foot higher than her five-two, even wearing her boots. “The men you sent along from America, they’re a fine team.”

“As I handpicked them, I agree.”

She thought his voice faintly aloof, but not unfriendly. “And do you never pick females then?”

He smiled slowly so it seemed that humor just moseyed over his face until it reached eyes the color of turf smoke. “I do indeed and as often as possible. Both on and off the job. I’ve put one of my best carpenters on this project. She’ll be here next week.”

“It’s good to know my cousin Brian wasn’t wrong in that area. He said you hired by skill and not gender. It’s a good morning’s work here,” she added, nodding to the site. “That noisy bastard of a truck will be our constant companion for a while yet. Darcy’ll be back from her holiday tomorrow, and I can tell you she’ll bitch our ears off about the din.”

“It’s a good noise. Building.”

“I’ve always thought the same.”

They stood a moment in perfect accord while the truck vomited out the last yard of concrete.

“I’ll buy you lunch,” Trevor said.

“I’ll let you.” Brenna gave a whistle to catch her father’s attention, then mimed spooning up food. Mick responded with a grin and a wave, then went back to work.

“He’s in his heaven,” Brenna commented as they walked over to rinse off their boots. “Nothing makes Mick O’Toole happier than finding himself in the middle of a job site, the muckier the better.”

Satisfied, Brenna gave her feet a couple of stomps, then headed around to the kitchen door. “I hope you’ll take some time to see the area while you’re here, instead of locking yourself into the job at hand.”

“I plan to see what’s around.” He had reports, of course—detailed reports on tourist draws, road conditions, routes to and from major cities. But he intended to see for himself.

Needed to see it, Trevor admitted to himself. Something had been pulling him toward Ireland, toward Ardmore, for more than a year. In dreams.

“Ah, now there’s a fine-looking man doing what he does best,” Brenna said when she pushed open the kitchen door. “What have you for us today, Shawn?”

He turned from the enormous old stove, a rangy man with shaggy black hair and eyes of misty blue. “For the special we’ve sea spinach soup and the beef sandwich. Good day to you, Trevor. Is this one working you harder than she should?”

“She keeps things moving.”

“And so I must, for the man in my life is slow. I wonder, Shawn, if you’ve selected another tune or two for Trevor’s consideration.”

“I’ve been busy catering to my new wife. She’s a demanding creature.” So saying, he reached out to cradle Brenna’s face and kiss her. “Get out of my kitchen. It’s confusing enough around here without Darcy.”

“She’ll be back tomorrow, and by this time of the day you’ll have cursed her a dozen times.”

“Why do you think I miss her? Give your order to Sinead,” he told Trevor. “She’s a good girl, and our Jude’s been working with her. She just needs a bit more practice.”

“A friend of my sister Mary Kate is Sinead,” Brenna told Trevor as she pushed open the door that swung between kitchen and pub. “A good-natured girl, if a bit scattered in the brain. She wants to marry Billy O’Hara, and that is the sum total of her ambitions at this time.”

“And what does Billy O’Hara have to say?”

“Being not quite so ambitious as Sinead, Billy keeps his mouth shut. Good day to you, Aidan.”

“And to you.” The oldest of the Gallaghers worked the bar and had his hands on the taps as he looked over. “Will you be joining us for lunch, then?”

“That we will. We’ve caught you busy.”

“God bless the tour buses.” With a wink, Aidan slid two pints down the bar to waiting hands.

“Do you want us to take it in the kitchen?”

“No need for that unless you’re in a great hurry.” His eyes, a deeper blue than his brother’s, scanned the pub. “Service is a mite slower than our usual. But there’s a table or two left.”

“We’ll leave it to the boss.” Brenna turned to Trevor. “How will you have it?”

“Let’s get a table.” The better to watch how the business ran.

He followed her out and sat with her at one of the mushroom-shaped tables. There was a buzz of conversation, a haze of smoke, and the yeasty scent of beer.

“Will you have a pint?” Brenna asked him.

“Not until after the workday.”

Her lips twitched as she kicked back in her chair. “So I’ve heard from some of the men. Word is you’re a tyrant on this particular matter.”

He didn’t mind the term “tyrant.” It meant he was in control. “Word would be correct.”

“I’ll tell you this, you may have a bit of a problem enforcing such a rule around here. Many who’ll labor for you were nursed on Guinness and it’s as natural to them as mother’s milk.”

“I’m fond of it myself, but when a man or woman is on my clock, they stick with mother’s milk.”

“Ah, you’re a hard man, Trevor Magee.” But she said it with a laugh. “So tell me, how are you liking Faerie Hill Cottage?”

“Very much. It’s comfortable, efficient, quiet, and has a view that rips your heart into your throat. It’s just what I was looking for, so I’m grateful you put me on to it.”

“That’s not a problem, not a problem at all. It’s in the family. I think Shawn misses the little kitchen there, as the house we’re building’s far from finished. More than livable,” she added, as it was one of their current sore points, “but I figure to concentrate on the kitchen there on my off days so he’ll be happier.”

“I’d like to see it.”

“Would you?” Surprised, she angled her head. “Well, you’re welcome any time. I’ll give you the direction. Do you mind me saying I didn’t expect you to be as friendly a sort of man as you seem to be?”

“What did you expect?”

“More of a shark, and I hope that doesn’t offend you.”

“It doesn’t. And it depends on the waters where I’m swimming.” He glanced over, and his face warmed as Aidan’s wife came up to the table. But when he started to rise, Jude waved him down again.

“No, I’m not joining you, but thanks.” She rested a hand on her very pregnant belly. “Hello, I’m Jude Frances and I’ll be your server today.”

“You shouldn’t be on your feet like this, carrying trays.”

Jude sighed as she took out her order pad. “He sounds like Aidan. I put my feet up when I need to, and I don’t carry anything heavy. Sinead can’t handle things on her own.”

“Not to worry, Trevor. Why me own blessed mother dug potatoes on the day I was born, then went back to roast them after the delivery.” At Trevor’s narrowed glance, Brenna chuckled. “Well, maybe not, but I’ll wager she could have. I’ll have today’s soup, if you don’t mind, Jude, and a glass of milk,” she added with a wicked smile for Trevor.

“The same,” he said, “plus the sandwich.”

“A fine choice. I’ll be right back with it.”

“She’s stronger than she looks,” Brenna told him when Jude moved to another table. “And more stubborn. Now that she’s found her direction, so to speak, she’ll only work harder to prove she can do what you tell her she shouldn’t. Aidan won’t let her overdo, I promise you. The man adores her.”

“Yes, I’ve noticed. The Gallagher men seem to be devoted to their women.”

“So they’d better be, or their women will know why.” Relaxed, she kicked back, pulled off her cap. Those red curls tumbled down. “So you aren’t finding it, I guess we’d say ‘too rustic’ for you—out in the countryside here after being used to New York City?”

He thought of the job sites he’d experienced: mud slides, floods, blistering heat, petty vandalism, and sabotage. “Not at all. The village is exactly what I expected after Finkle’s reports.”

“Ah, yes, Finkle.” She remembered Trevor’s scout very well. “Now there’s a man I believe prefers urban conveniences. But you’re not so . . . particular, then.”

“I’m very particular, depending. That’s why I incorporated most of your design into the theater project.”

“Now that’s a fine and sneaky compliment.” And nothing could have pleased her more. “I suppose I was angling more toward the personal. I have a special fondness for the cottage on Faerie Hill, and I wasn’t sure you’d find the place to your liking. Thinking, I suppose, a man with your background and wherewithal would be more inclined to settle at the cliff hotel with maid service and the restaurant and so forth.”

“Hotel rooms become confining. And I find it interesting to stay in the house where the woman who was engaged to one of my ancestors was born, and lived, and died.”

“She was a fine woman, Old Maude. A wise woman.” Brenna kept her eyes on Trevor’s face as she spoke. “Her grave’s up near the well of Saint Declan, and it’s there you can feel her. She’s not the one in the cottage now.”

“Who is?”

Brenna lifted her eyebrows. “You don’t know the legend, then? Your grandfather was born here, and your father as well, though he was a babe when they sailed to America. Still, he visited many years back. Did neither of them tell you the story of Lady Gwen and Prince Carrick?”

“No. So it would be Lady Gwen who haunts the cottage?”

“Have you seen her?”

“No.” Trevor hadn’t been raised on legends and myths, but there was more than enough Irish in his blood to cause him to wonder about them. “But there’s a feminine feel to the place, almost a fragrance, so odds are for the lady.”

“You’d be right about that.”

“Who was she? I figure if I’m sharing quarters with a ghost, I should know something about her.”

No careless dismissal of the subject, no amused indulgence of the Irish and their legends, Brenna noted. Just cool interest. “You surprise me again. Let me see to something first. I’ll be right back.”

Fascinating, Trevor mused. He had himself a ghost.

He’d felt things before. In old buildings, empty lots, deserted fields. It wasn’t the kind of thing a man generally talked about at a board meeting or over a cold one with the crew after a sweaty day’s work. Not usually. But this was a different place, with a different tone. More, he wanted to know.

Everything to do with Ardmore and the area was of interest to him now. A good ghost story could draw people in just as successfully as a well-run pub. It was all atmosphere.

Gallagher’s was exactly the kind of atmosphere he’d been looking for as a segue into his theater. The old wood, blackened by time and smoke and grease, mated comfortably with the cream-colored walls, the stone hearth, the low tables and benches.

The bar itself was a beauty, an aged chestnut that he’d already noted the Gallaghers kept wiped and polished. The age of customers ranged from a baby in arms to the oldest man Trevor believed he’d ever seen, who was balanced on a stool at the far end of the bar.

There were several others he took as locals just from the way they sat or smoked or sipped, and three times that many who could be nothing other than tourists with their camera bags under their tables and their maps and guidebooks out.

The conversations were a mix of accents, but predominant was that lovely lilt he’d heard in his grandparents’ voices until the day they died.

He wondered if they hadn’t missed hearing it themselves, and why they’d never had a driving urge to come to Ireland again. What were the bitter memories that had kept them away? Whatever, curiosity about them had skipped over a generation and now had caused him to come back and see for himself.

More, he wondered why he should have recognized Ardmore and the view from the cottage and even now know what he would see when he climbed the cliffs. It was as if he carried a picture in his mind of this place, one someone else had taken and tucked away for him.

They’d had no pictures to show him. His father had visited once, when he’d been younger than Trevor was now, but his descriptions had been sketchy at best.

The reports, of course. There had been detailed photographs and descriptions in the reports Finkle had brought back to New York. But he’d known—before he’d opened the first file, he’d already known.

Inherited memory? he mused, though he didn’t put much stock in that sort of thing. Inheriting his father’s eyes, the clear gray color, the long-lidded shape of them, was one matter. And he was told he had his grandfather’s hands, and his mind for business. But how did a memory pass down through the blood?

He toyed with the idea as he continued to scan the room. It didn’t occur to him that he looked more the local than the tourist as he sat there in his work clothes, his dark blond hair tousled from the morning’s labor. He had a narrow, rawboned face that would put most in mind of a warrior, or perhaps a scholar, rather than a businessman. The woman he’d nearly married had said it looked to be honed and sculpted by some wild genius. The faintest of scars marred his chin, a result of a storm of flying glass during a tornado in Houston, and added to the overall impression of toughness.

It was a face that rarely gave anything away. Unless it was to Trevor Magee’s advantage.

At the moment it held a cool and remote expression, but it shifted into easy friendliness when Brenna came back toward the table with Jude. Brenna, he noted, carried the tray.

“I’ve asked Jude to take a few moments to sit and tell you about Lady Gwen,” Brenna began and was already unloading the order. “She’s a seanachais .”

At Trevor’s raised eyebrow, Jude shook her head. “It’s Gaelic for storyteller. I’m not really, I’m just—”

“And who has a book being published, and another she’s writing. Jude’s book’ll be out at the end of this very summer,” Brenna went on. “It’ll make a lovely gift, so I’d keep it in mind when you’re out shopping.”

“Brenna.” Jude rolled her eyes.

“I’ll look for it. Some of Shawn’s song lyrics are stories. It’s an old and honored tradition.”

“Oh, he’ll like that one.” Beaming now, Brenna scooped up the tray. “I’ll deal with this, Jude, and give Sinead a bit of a goose for you. Go ahead and get started. I’ve heard it often enough before.”

“She has enough energy for twenty people.” A little tired now, Jude picked up her cup of tea.

“I’m glad I found her for this project. Or that she found me.”

“I’d say it was a bit of both, since you’re both operators.” She caught herself, winced. “I didn’t mean that in a negative way.”

“Wasn’t taken in one. Baby kicking? It puts a look in your eye,” Trevor explained. “My sister just had her third.”

“Third?” Jude blew out a breath. “There are moments I wonder how I’m going to manage the one. He’s active. But he’s just going to have to wait another couple of months.” She ran a hand in slow circles over the mound of her belly, soothing as she sipped. “You may not know it, but I lived in Chicago until just over a year ago.”

He made a noncommittal sound. Of course he knew, he had extensive reports.

“My plan was to come here for six months, to live in the cottage where my grandmother lived after she lost her parents. She’d inherited it from her cousin Maude, who’d died shortly before I came here.”

“The woman my great-uncle was engaged to.”

“Yes. The day I arrived, it was raining. I thought I was lost. I had been lost, and not just geographically. Everything unnerved me.”

“You came alone, to another country?” Trevor cocked his head. “That doesn’t sound like a woman easily unnerved.”

“That’s something Aidan would say.” And because it was, she found herself very comfortable. “I suppose it’s more that I didn’t know my own nerve at that point. In any case, I pulled into the street, the driveway actually, of this little thatched-roof cottage. And in the upstairs window I saw a woman. She had a lovely, sad face and pale blond hair that fell around her shoulders. She looked at me, our eyes connected. Then Brenna drove up. It seemed I’d stumbled across my own cottage, and the woman I’d seen in the window was Lady Gwen.”

“The ghost?”

“That’s right, yes. It sounds impossible, doesn’t it? Or certainly unreasonable. But I can tell you exactly what she looked like. I’ve sketched her. And I knew no more of the legend when I came here than you appear to know now.”

“I’d like to hear it.”

“Then I’ll tell you.” Jude paused as Brenna came back, sat, and tucked into her meal.

She had an easy way with a story, Trevor noted. A smooth and natural rhythm that put the listener into the tale. She told him of a young maid who’d lived in the cottage on the faerie hill. A woman who cared for her father, as her mother had been lost in childbirth, who tended the cottage and its gardens and who carried herself with pride.

Beneath the green slope of the hill was the silver glory of the faerie raft, the palace where Carrick ruled as prince. He was also proud, and he was handsome, with a flowing mane of raven-black hair and eyes of burning blue. Those eyes fell upon the maid Gwen, and hers upon him.

They plunged into love, faerie and mortal, and at night when others slept, he would take her flying on his great winged horse. Never did they speak of that love, for pride blocked the words. One night Gwen’s father woke to see her with Carrick as they dismounted from his horse. And in fear for her, he betrothed her to another and ordered her to marry without delay.

Carrick flew on his horse to the sun, and gathered its burning sparks in his silver pouch. When Gwen came out of the cottage to meet him before her wedding, he opened the bag and poured diamonds, jewels of the sun, at her feet. “Take them and me,” he said, “for they are my passion for you.” He promised her immortality, and a life of riches and glory. But never once did he speak, even then, of love.

So she refused him, and turned from him. The diamonds that lay on the grass became flowers.

Twice more he came to her, the next time when she carried her first child in her womb. From his silver pouch he poured pearls, tears of the moon that he’d gathered for her. And these, he told her, were his longing for her. But longing is not love, and she had pledged herself to another.

When she turned away, the pearls became flowers.

Many years passed before he came the last time, years during which Gwen raised her children, nursed her husband through his illness, and buried him when she was an old woman. Years during which Carrick brooded in his palace and swept through the sky on his horse.

He dived into the sea to wring from its heart the last of his gifts to her. These he poured at her feet, shimmering sapphires that blazed in the grass. His constancy for her. When now, finally, he spoke of love, she could only weep bitter tears, for her life was over. She told him it was too late, that she had never needed riches or promises of glory, but only to know that he loved her, loved her enough that she could have set aside her fear of giving up her world for his. And as she turned to leave him this time, as the sapphires bloomed into flowers in the grass, his hurt and his temper lashed out in the spell he cast. She would find no peace without him, nor would they see each other again until three times lovers met and, accepting each other, risking hearts, dared to choose love over all else.

Three hundred years, Trevor thought later as he let himself into the house where Gwen had lived and died. A long time to wait. He’d listened to Jude tell the tale in her quiet, storyteller’s voice, without interrupting. Not even to tell her that he knew parts of the story. Somehow he knew.

He’d dreamed them.

He hadn’t told her that he, too, could have described Gwen, down to the sea green of her eyes and the curve of her cheek. He’d dreamed her as well.

And had, he realized, nearly married Sylvia because she’d reminded him of that dream image. A soft woman with simple ways. It should have been right between them, he thought as he headed upstairs to shower off the day’s dirt. It still irritated him that it hadn’t been. In the end, it just hadn’t been right.

She’d known it first, and had gently let him go before he’d admitted he already had his eye on the door. Maybe that was what bothered him most of all. He hadn’t had the courtesy to do the ending. Though she’d forgiven him for it, he’d yet to forgive himself.

He caught the scent the minute he stepped into the bedroom. Delicate, female, like rose petals freshly fallen onto dewy grass.

“A ghost who wears perfume,” he murmured, oddly amused. “Well, if you’re modest turn your back.” So saying, he stripped where he stood, then walked into the bath.

He spent the rest of his evening alone, catching up on paperwork, scanning the faxes that had come in on the machine he’d brought with him, shooting off replies. He treated himself to a beer and stood outside with it in the last of the dying light listening to the aching silence and watching stars pulse to life.

Tim Riley, whoever the hell he was, looked to be right. There was no rain coming yet. The foundation he was building would set clean.

As he turned to go back in, a streak of movement overhead caught his eye. A blur of white and silver across the darkening sky. But when he looked back for it, narrowing his eyes to scan, he saw nothing but stars and the rise of the quarter moon.

A falling star, he decided. A ghost was one thing, but a flying horse ridden by the prince of the faeries was another entirely.

But he thought he heard the cheerful lilt of pipes and flutes dance across the silence as he shut the door of the cottage for the night.

TWO

DARCY GALLAGHER DREAMED of Paris. Strolling along the Left Bank on a perfect spring afternoon with the scent of flowers ripe in the air and the cloudless blue sky soaring overhead.

And perhaps best of all, the weight of shopping bags heavy in her hands.

In her dreams she owned Paris, not for a brief week’s holiday, but for as long as it contented her. She could stop to while away an hour or two at a sidewalk cafeÉ, sipping lovely wine and watching the world—for it seemed the whole of the world—wander by.

Long-legged women in smart dresses, and the darkeyed men who watched them. The old woman on her red bicycle with her baguettes spearing up out of her bakery sack, and the tidy children in their straight rows marching along in their prim school uniforms.

They belonged to her, just as the wild and noisy traffic was hers, and the cart on the corner bursting with flowers. She didn’t need to ride to the top of the Eiffel Tower to have Paris at her feet.

As she sat sampling wine and cheese that had been aged to perfection, she listened to the city that was hers for the taking. There was music all around her, in the cooing of the ubiquitous pigeons and the swirling whoosh when they took wing, in the steady beep of horns, the click of high, thin heels on sidewalks, the laughter of lovers.

Even as she sighed, blissfully happy, the thunder rolled in. At the rumble of it, she glanced skyward. Clouds spewed in from the west, dark and thick. The brilliant sunlight fell into that false twilight that precedes a storm. The rumble became a roar that had her leaping to her feet even while those around her continued to sit, to chat, to stroll as if they heard or saw nothing amiss.

Snatching up her bags, she started to dash away, to safety, to shelter. And a bolt of lightning, sizzling blue at the edges, lanced into the ground at her feet.

She woke with a start, the blood pounding in her ears and her own gasp echoing.

She was in her own rooms over the pub, not in some freakish thunderstorm in Paris. She found some comfort in that, in the familiar walls and quiet light. Found more comfort when she sat up and saw the clothes and trinkets she’d treated herself to in Paris strewn around the room.

Well, she was back to reality, she thought, but at least she’d bagged a few trophies to bring home with her.

It had been a lovely week, the perfect birthday present to give herself. Indulgent, she admitted, taking such a big chunk of her savings that way. But what were savings for if a woman couldn’t use them to celebrate in a spectacular way her first quarter century of living.

She would earn it back. Now that she’d had her first good taste of real travel, she intended to experience it on a more regular basis. Next year, Rome, or Florence. Or perhaps New York City. Wherever it was, it would be someplace wonderful. She would start her Darcy Gallagher holiday fund this very day.

She’d been desperate to get away. To see something, almost anything that wasn’t what she saw every day of her life. Restlessness was a sensation she was accustomed to, even appreciated about herself. But this had been like a panther inside her, pacing and snarling and ready to claw its way out of her and leap on the people she loved best.

Going away had been the best thing she could have done for herself and, she was sure, for those closest to her. The restlessness was still there, would always stir a bit inside her. But that pacing and snarling had stopped.

The fact was, she was glad to be home, and looking forward to seeing her family, her friends, and all that was dear. And she looked forward to telling them all she’d seen and done during that glorious seven days to herself.

But now she’d best get up and put things back in order. She’d gotten in too late the night before to do more than throw open her bags and admire her new things. She needed to put them away proper, and stack up the gifts she’d bought, for she was a woman who couldn’t abide untidiness for long.

She’d missed her family. Even through the giddy rush of seeing, doing, just being in Paris, she’d missed having them around. She wondered if it was shameful of her not to have expected to.

She couldn’t say she missed the work, the hefting of trays and serving yet another pint. It had been gloriousto be served for a change. But she was eager to go down and see how the pub had fared without her. Even if it did mean spending the rest of the day on her feet.

She stretched, lifting her arms high, letting her head roll back, focusing on the pleasure the movement gave her body. She was a woman who didn’t believe in wasting her senses any more than she would waste her pounds.

It wasn’t until she’d climbed out of bed that she realized the constant rumble outside wasn’t thunder.

The construction, she remembered. Now wasn’t it going to be lovely hearing that din every blessed morning? Gathering up a robe, she walked to the window to see what progress had been made in her absence.

She didn’t know anything about the business of building, but what she saw out her window looked to be a terrible mess created by a team of half-wit pranksters. Piles of rubble, scars in the soil, a large concrete floor bottoming out a hole in the ground. Squat towers of cinder block were being erected at the corners with spears of metal poking out of the tops, and a great ugly truck was grinding away with an awful noise.

Most of the workmen, in their rough clothes and filthy boots, were going about the business of making a bigger mess altogether.

She spotted Brenna, her cap perched on her head, her boots mucked nearly to the knee. Seeing her, this forever friend who was now her sister, brought Darcy a warm flood of pure pleasure.

It had shamed her, and did still, to know that part of the reason she’d been wild to get away had been Brenna and Shawn’s wedding, as well as her older brother Aidan and his wife Jude’s happy planning for the baby they’d have by end of summer. Oh, she was thrilled for them all, couldn’t be more delighted with what they’d foundtogether. But the more content and settled they were, the more discontent and unsettled she found herself.

She’d wanted to ball her fists, shake them in the air, and demand, Where’s mine? When will I have mine?

It was selfish, she thought, and it was sinful, but she couldn’t help it.

Well, now she was back and, she hoped, better.

Darcy watched her friend stride around and give one of the laborers a hand with the blocks. She’s in her element here, Darcy mused. Pleased as a puppy with a teat all to herself. She considered opening the window, leaning out to call a hello, and further considered just what having a woman leaning out a window in her robe would do to the rhythm of the work crew.

Because the thought of causing a stir amused her, Darcy reached down. She had the window open the first inch when she spotted the man watching her watching.

He was a tall one, she noted. She’d always had a particular fondness for tall men. He was hatless, and his burnt-honey hair was tousled by the breeze. He wore the rough clothes of a laborer and in her opinion wore them better than most. The long, lanky build had something to do with that, but she thought it was also a matter of confidence. Or arrogance, she mused as he coolly kept his eyes on her face.

She didn’t have a problem with arrogance, as she had plenty of her own.

Well, now, you might be an interesting diversion, she thought. A handsome face, a bold eye. If you can string words into a decent conversation, you might be worth a bit of my time. Providing you’re not married, of course.

Married or not, she decided, there was no harm in a bit of a flirt, since she intended to have no more than that with a man who likely lived from one payday to the next.

So she smiled at him. Slowly, warmly, deliberately. Then, touching a finger to her lips, she blew him a saucy kiss. She watched his teeth flash in appreciation, then eased out of sight.

It was always best, in Darcy’s opinion, to leave a man not only wanting more, but wondering.

Now there was a woman who packed a punch, Trevor thought. And he still felt the impact. If that was Darcy Gallagher, and he assumed it was, he had a good idea why the characteristically dour Finkle had become tongue-tied and bright-eyed whenever her name had come up.

She was a stunner, all right, and he was going to appreciate a closer look. What she’d left him with now was the impression of sleepy beauty, of dark and tumbled hair, white skin, and delicate features. No false modesty there, he decided. She’d met his open stare equally, had taken his measure even as he took hers. The carelessly blown kiss had definitely scored a point.

He thought Darcy Gallagher would be a very interesting pastime while he was in Ardmore.

Casually he hefted some blocks, transferring them to Brenna’s work area. “The mix suit you?” he asked, nodding toward the trough that held fresh mortar.

“It does, yes. Good consistency. We’re going through it fairly quickly, but I think we’ve enough to do us.”

“If you see us running low, order what you think we need. I think your friend’s back from her vacation.”

“Hmm.” Distracted, she knocked loose mortar from her trowel, glanced up. “Darcy?” Pleased, Brenna looked toward the window.

“Lots of black hair, wicked smile. Gorgeous.”

“That would be Darcy.”

“I . . . caught a glimpse of her in the window there. If you want to go in and see her, you can take a break.”

“Well, I would.” But she scooped up more mortar. “Except that she’d take one look at me as I am at the moment and bolt the door. Darcy’s very particular about her living quarters. She wouldn’t appreciate me trailing in dirt. I’ll see her midday.”

Brenna spread her mortar with the quick efficiency of the experienced and hauled up the next block. “I can tell you this, Trevor, your men are about to have their hearts broken. It’s a rare one who brushes up near our Darcy and walks away unaffected.”

“As long as we stay on schedule, the crew’s hearts are their own concern.”

“Oh, I’ll keep them on schedule for you, and Darcy will give them happy, if impossible, dreams. Speaking of schedules, I’m thinking we could have the plumbing roughed in on this section by end of week. The pipe didn’t arrive this morning as expected. Do you want me or Dad to check on it when we’re done here?”

“No, I’ll deal with it now.”

“Then I hope you give them a good boot in the ass. You can use the phone in the pub’s kitchen. I unlocked the back when I got here this morning. I’ve the number in my book.”

“No, I have it. You’ll have the pipe today.”

“I’ve no doubt of that,” Brenna murmured as he strode toward the kitchen door.

The kitchen was spotless. It was one of the things Trevor noticed, and demanded, when it came to any business he had a part in. He imagined the Gallaghers wouldn’t think of him as having a part in their pub, but from his viewpoint their business was now very much his concern.

He dug his book out of his pocket. In New York his assistant would have located the number, made the call. She would have worked her way through the various steps until she’d reached the person in charge. Only then, if it was necessary, would the matter have passed into Trevor’s hands.

He had to admit, though that saved time and frustration, he rather enjoyed wading in at the bottom and administering that good boot in the ass.

In the five minutes it took him to reach the top level, he spied the biscuit tin. In the few days he’d been in and around Gallagher’s he’d come to know that when there were cookies, they were homemade. And they were spectacular.

He helped himself to a honey and oatmeal cookie as big as his fist as he annihilated the supply supervisor without ever raising his voice. He jotted down the name, in case retribution should become necessary, and was given a personal guarantee that the pipe in question would be delivered to the site by noon.

Satisfied with that, he broke the connection and was considering a second cookie when he heard the footsteps on the stairs. Selecting peanut butter this time, Trevor leaned back against the counter and prepared for his first real eyeful of Darcy Gallagher.

Like Shawn’s cookies, she was spectacular.

She stopped at the base of the stairs, lifted one slim eyebrow. Her eyes were blue, like her brothers’, a brilliant color against flawlessly white skin. She left her hair loose so that it waved beguilingly over her shoulders.

She was dressed with a tailored smartness that seemed more suited to Madison Avenue than Ardmore.

“Good morning to you. Having a tea break?”

“Phone call.” He took a bite of the cookie as he watched her. The voice, Irish and smoky as a turf fire, was as straight-out sexy as the rest of her.

“Well I’m making some tea here, as I’ve run out upstairs and don’t like to start my day without. Makes me cross.” She skimmed her gaze over him as she moved to the stove. “Will you have a cup to wash down the biscuit? Or must you go straight back to work?”

“I can take a minute.”

“You’re fortunate your employer’s not so strict. I’ve heard that Magee runs a very tight ship.”

“So he does.”

While the kettle heated, Darcy dealt with the pot. The man was better up close. She liked the sharp angles of his face, the little scar on his chin. It gave him a dangerous look, and she was so bloody weary of safe men. No wedding ring, she noted, though that didn’t always tell the tale.

“You’ve come all the way from America,” she continued, “to work on his theater?”

“That’s right.”

“A long way from home. I hope you were able to bring your family with you.”

“If you mean wife, I’m not married.” He broke the cookie in half, offered her a share.

Amused, she took it. “That leaves you free to travel for your work, doesn’t it? And what is it you do?”

“Whatever’s necessary.”

Oh, yes, she thought and nibbled on the cookie. Just dangerous enough. “I’d say that makes you a handy man to have around and about.”

“I’m going to be around and about here for some time yet.” He waited while she lifted the sputtering kettle, poured the boiling water into the pot. “Would you like to have dinner?”

She sent him a long sidelong glance, added a hint of a smile. “Sure I like a good meal now and then, and interesting company with it. But I’m just back from my holiday and won’t have time off for a bit. My brother Aidan’s a hard man with a schedule.”

“How about breakfast?”

She set the kettle down. “I might enjoy that. Perhaps you’ll ask me again in a day or two, once I’ve settled back in.”

“Perhaps I will.”

She was vaguely surprised, and a little disappointed that he hadn’t pursued the invitation then and there. She was used to men pleading a bit. But she turned, took out a thick mug for his tea. “What part of America are you from, then?”

“New York.”

“New York City?” Her eyes sparkled as she turned back. “Oh, is it wonderful?”

“A lot of it is.”

“It has to be the most exciting city in the world.” She cupped the mug in both hands as she imagined it, as she’d imagined it countless times before. “Maybe not the most beautiful. I thought Paris so beautiful—female and sly and sexual. I think of New York as a man— demanding and reckless and so full of energy you have to run to keep up.”

Amused at herself, she set down his mug. “It probably doesn’t strike you that way since you’re used to being there your whole life.”

“I doubt you think of Ardmore, or this area, as magic.” He saw her eyebrow arch up again at his words. “As a small and nearly perfect corner of the world where you can reach back or forward in time as suits you. And while there’s energy here, it comes with patience so you don’t have to run to keep up.”

“It’s interesting, isn’t it, how people see what’s the everyday to someone else?” She poured out his tea. “I’d think a man who can philosophize so easily over tea and biscuits might be wasting his talents hauling bricks.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks for the tea.” He moved toward the door, passing close enough to appreciate that she smelled every bit as good as she looked. “I’ll bring back the mug.”

“Mind you do. Shawn knows his kitchen supplies down to the last spoon.”

“Come to the window again sometime,” he added as he opened the door. “I liked looking at you.”

She smiled to herself when he left. “Well, now, that goes both ways, New York City.”

Debating how she would answer him the next time he asked her out, she picked up the pot of tea to carry it upstairs. The back door flew open.

“You’re back.”

Brenna took one leap inside. Little pellets of drying cement flew.

“Keep your distance.” Darcy held up the pot like a shield. “Christ Jesus, Brenna, you have as much of that muck on your person as you do on the brick.”

“Block, and not by any means. Don’t worry, I won’t hug you.”

“Damn right you won’t.”

“But I missed you.”

Though she was touched, Darcy let out a snort. “You’re too busy being a newlywed to have missed me.”

“I can do both. Can you spare a cup of that? I’ve ten minutes coming.”

“All right, then, but get some old newspaper to put on the chair before you sit down. I missed you too,” Darcy admitted as she took out another mug.

“I knew you would. I still say it was adventurous of you to go off to Paris like that by yourself. Did you love it?” Brenna asked as she dutifully laid out newspaper. “Was it everything you wanted it to be?”

“It was, yes. Everything about it: the sounds and the scents, the buildings, the shops and cafe¥s. I could’ve spent a month just looking. Now if they’d just learn to make a decent cup of tea.” She sipped at her own. “But I made out fine with wine. Everyone dresses so smart, even when they aren’t trying to. I got some marvelous clothes. The shopkeepers are very aloof and act as if they’re doing you a great favor in taking your money. I found it added to the overall experience.”

“I’m glad you had a good holiday. You look rested.”

“Rested? I barely slept the whole week. I’m . . . energized,” Darcy decided. “Of course, I’d planned to lay like a slug until I had to get up for work this morning, but that noise outside’s enough to keep the dead alert.”

“You’ll have to get used to that. We’re making fine progress.”

“Not from my window. It looks like a rubble heap, with ditches.”

“We’ll have the foundation finished and the plumbing roughed in by the end of the week. It’s a good crew, the ones from New York are well trained, and the ones from here Dad and I picked ourselves. Magee doesn’t tolerate slackers. And he knows every step of putting a building up, so you’d better be on your toes.”

“Which tells me you’re enjoying yourself.”

“Tremendously. And I’d best get back to it.”

“Wait. I got you a present.”

“I was counting on it.”

“I’ll go up and get it. I don’t want you tracking through my rooms.”

“I was counting on that, too,” Brenna commented as Darcy hurried up the stairs.

“It’s not boxed,” Darcy called down. “It was easier to pack just keeping it in a bag. Jude was wise in telling me to take an extra suitcase as it was. But yours didn’t take up much room.”

She came back with a small shopping bag, then narrowed her eyes at Brenna’s hand. “I’ll take it out for you.” She slid out a thin bundle wrapped in tissue, carefully uncovered it, then held it up.

Brenna’s mouth fell open.

“Shawn’s going to love it,” Darcy decided.

It was a short, narrow-strapped nightgown in a shimmering green that was nearly transparent. “He’d have to be a complete dunderhead not to,” Brenna agreed once she had her voice back. “I’m trying to imagine wearing that.” Slowly wicked amusement brightened her eyes. “I think I’ll love it, too. It’s beautiful, Darcy.”

“I’ll keep it for you until you’re cleaned up and ready to go home.”

“Thanks.” Brenna kissed Darcy on the cheek, mindful not to transfer any dirt. “I won’t say I’ll think of you when I’m wearing it, nor do I think you’d want me to.”

“That I don’t.”

“Don’t let Shawn see it,” Brenna added as she started out. “I’ve a mind to surprise him.”

It was almost too easy to fall back into routine. Though Shawn refused to bicker with her because she’d bought him a fancy French cookbook in Paris, everything else just slipped right into place. As if, she thought, she’d never been away.

For the life of her, Darcy wasn’t sure if that pleased or annoyed her.

The lunch shift kept her busy. Added to the regulars were the tourists who were beginning to come in packs for the season, and added to them were the men hired to work on the theater.

Only half-twelve, Darcy thought, and not a single empty table in the place. She was grateful Aidan had hired Sinead on for an extra pair of hands. But Mother of God, the girl was slower than a snail with a limp.

“Miss! We’re still waiting to order.”

Darcy caught the tone, British, public school, annoyed, and put her best smile on her face. It was Sinead’s station, but the girl was off God knew where. “I’m so sorry. What would you like to have today?”

“We’ll both have today’s special, and a glass of Smithwick’s.”

“I’ll have your drinks right back to you.” She wove her way to the bar, taking three more orders as she went. Moving fast, she scooted under the pass-through, called out the drinks to Aidan, and swung straight into the kitchen.

Grace under pressure, Trevor noted. He’d slipped in and joined some of his crew at a back table. The perfect vantage point, he decided, to watch the very attractive Miss Gallagher at work.

There was a light of battle in her eye when she came back out of the kitchen, and there it remained no matter how brightly she chatted up the customers. She served drinks and food, showering goodwill over the patrons. But Trevor noted that those sharp blue eyes were scanning. And when they lit on Sinead as the girl wandered back in from the direction of the rest rooms, they fired.

Oh, honey, Trevor thought, you are meat. She’s going to chew you up and spit you out.

Which, he thought, was precisely how he would have dealt with a lazy employee.

He gave Darcy full marks for holding her temper and doing no more than giving the new waitress a fulminating look and a quick order to tend to her stations. A busy lunch hour wasn’t the time for a dressing-down. He imagined Sinead’s ears would be burned off after shift.

And he figured it was his lucky day, as Darcy was even now working her way back to his table.

“And what can I get you fine, handsome men this afternoon?” She got out her pad, then focused those glorious eyes on Trevor. “You look hungry.”

“You can’t go wrong with the special at Gallagher’s,” Trevor said.

“That you can’t. Will you have a pint to go with it?”

“Tea. Iced.”

Now she rolled her eyes. “That’s a Yank’s way of ruining a perfectly good pot of tea. But we’ll accommodate you. And for you gentlemen?”

“I sure like the way y’all do fish and chips.”

Darcy smiled at the scrawny man with a pleasantly homely face. “My brother will appreciate that. And where are you from, if you don’t mind my asking, for that’s a lovely accent.”

“Georgia, ma’am. Donny Brime from Macon, Georgia. But I’ve never heard anyone talk prettier than you. And I’d love some of that iced tea like the boss here.”

“And just when I was thinking you must have some Irish in you. And for you, sir?”

“I’ll have the meat pie, fries—I mean chips—on the side, and . . .” The burly man with a scraggly dark beard slid a sorrowful glance at Trevor. “Make it iced tea all around.”

“I’ll be back with your drinks quick as I can.”

“Now, that,” Donny said with a long sigh as Darcy walked away, “is the most beautiful thing I’ve seen in my entire life. Makes you glad to be a man, doesn’t it, Lou?”

Lou stroked his beard. “I’ve got a fifteen-year-old daughter, and if I caught a man looking at her the way I figure I just looked at that tasty little dish there, I’d have to kill him.”

“Your wife and daughter still planning on coming over?” Trevor asked him.

“As soon as Josie’s out of school. ’Nother couple of weeks.”

Trevor settled back while his two men talked of family. There was no one waiting for him at home, or looking forward to the day she could fly over and join him. It wasn’t something that troubled him. It was better to live alone than to make a mistake, as he’d nearly done.

Living alone meant he could come and go as he needed to, as his business demanded. And without the guilt or tension that regular travel could add to a relationship. No matter how much his mother might pine for him to settle down and give her grandchildren, the simple fact was that his life ran more efficiently solo.

He glanced at a nearby table where a young family was crowded together. The woman was doing her best to distract a fussy infant while the man frantically mopped up the soft drink their whining toddler had just managed to spill all over everything.

Nothing efficient about it, Trevor mused.

Darcy delivered their tea, apparently unaffected by the fact that the toddler had gone from whine to wail. “Your meals will be out directly, and if you’ve a need for more tea, just give me a sign.” Still smiling, she turned to the next table and handed the young father a stack of napkins, all the while waving away his apologies.

“Oh, it’s not so much of a thing, is it, little man?” She crouched down to the little boy’s level. “Wipes up, doesn’t it, but such things scare off the faeries. You might lure them back if they weren’t afraid your tears would flood them out again.”

“Where are the faeries?” he demanded in the testy voice of a child who desperately needs a nap.

“Oh, they’re hiding now, but they’ll come back when they’re sure you mean them no harm. Could be they’ll be dancing around your bed next time you lay your head on your pillow. I bet your sister’s seeing them now.” Darcy nodded toward the baby, who had drifted off to sleep. “That’s why she’s smiling.”

The boy subsided into sniffles and watched his sister sleep with both suspicion and interest.

That, Trevor thought as she moved on to the next table, was efficient.

THREE

“NOW, SINEAD, CAN we go over the things we talked about when I hired you?”

With the pub cleared between shifts, and her brothers ordered out, Darcy sat across from her new waitress. Aidan ran the pub, it was true, and Shawn ruled the kitchen, but it was understood that when it came to the serving, Darcy held the controls.

Sinead shifted her skinny butt on the stool and tried to concentrate. “Well, you said as to how I was to take the orders in a friendly manner.”

“Aye, that’s true.” Darcy sipped her soft drink and waited. “And what else do you remember?”

“Ah . . .”

Jesus God, Darcy thought, can the girl do anything faster than the pace of a turtle?

“Well.” Sinead chewed her lip and drew little patterns on the table with her fingertips. “That I was to make certain that the right food and drink was served, again in a friendly manner, to the proper customers.”

“And do you remember, Sinead, anything about the taking and serving of those orders in an efficient and timely manner as well?”

“I do, yes.” Sinead dropped her gaze to her own glass, all but pinned her eyes to it. “It’s all so confusing, Darcy, with everyone wanting something, and at the same time.”

“That may be, but you see, the thing with a pub is people tend to come in wanting something, and our job is to see they get it. You can’t do your job if you hide in the loo half your shift.”

“Jude said I was coming along.” Sinead raised her eyes now, and they brimmed with tears.

“That won’t work with me.” Darcy leaned forward. “Filling your eyes up and letting tears shimmer only works on men and soft hearts, and that’s not what you’re dealing with here. So sniff them back, girl, and listen.”

The sniff was more of a wet snuffle, but Darcy nodded. “You came to me asking for work and promising that you’d work hard. Now, it’s barely three weeks since that day, and you’re already slacking. I’m asking you straight out, and you answer in the same manner. Do you want this job?”

Sinead dabbed at her eyes. The new mascara she’d purchased out of her first week’s pay smeared. Some might have found the look pitiful and softened. Darcy only thought the girl needed to practice shedding tears with more grace.

“I do. I need the work.”

“Needing work and doing work are two different matters.” As you’re about to discover, Darcy decided. “I want you back here in two hours for the evening shift.”

Tears dried up quickly with sheer shock. “But I’ve the night off.”

“Not anymore, you don’t. You’ll come back prepared to do the job you’re paid to do if you want to keep it. I want you moving smartly from table to table, from table to kitchen and back again. If something confuses you or there’s something you don’t remember or understand, you can come to me and I’ll help you out. But . . .”

She paused, waiting until Sinead met her eyes again. “I won’t tolerate you leaving your stations. You’ve got to pee, that’s fine, but each time I note you sliding into the back and staying over five minutes at it, I’m docking you a pound.”

“I’ve . . . got a bladder problem.”

Darcy would have laughed if it hadn’t been so pathetic. “Now that’s bullshit and the both of us know it. If you had any problems with your plumbing I’d’ve heard, as your mother would have told Brenna’s mother and so it would have come to my ears.”

Trapped, Sinead shifted from apologetic to pout. “But a pound, Darcy!”

“Aye, a pound, so consider before you nip off what it’s costing you.” Which, she already decided, would go into her own wish jar, as she’d be the one taking up the slack.

“We’ve a reputation here at Gallagher’s that’s generations in the making,” she continued. “You work for us, you meet the standards we set. If you can’t or won’t, you get the boot. This is your second chance, Sinead. You won’t get a third.”

“Aidan’s not so hard as you.”

Darcy lifted a brow as Sinead’s bottom lip trembled.

“Well, now, you’re not dealing with Aidan, are you? You’ve two hours. Be on time, or I’ll assume you’ve decided this isn’t the job for you.”

“I’ll be here.” Obviously irked, Sinead got to her feet. “I can handle the work. It’s nothing but hauling trays about. Doesn’t take any brains.”

Darcy sent her the most pleasant of smiles. “There you are, then.”

“When I save enough money so I can marry Billy, I’m leaving all of this behind me.”

“That’s a fine ambition. But this is today. Go on now and walk off your temper before you say something you’ll be sorry for later.”

Darcy sat where she was as Sinead strode across the room. Since she’d expected the girl to slam the door, she only rolled her eyes at the bullet crack of it. “If she used half that energy for the job, we wouldn’t have had this pleasant little chat.”

She shrugged her shoulders to relieve some of the tension, curled her toes in her shoes to work out some of the ache, then got to her feet. Gathering the glasses, she turned to carry them to the bar. And Trevor came through the kitchen door.

That, she thought, was a fine example of what God had intended when he’d designed man. He might look a tad rough and dirty from the day’s work, but it didn’t mar the appeal.

“We’re closed at the moment,” she told him.

“The back door was unlocked.”

“We’re a friendly sort of place.” She carried the glasses to the bar. “But I’m afraid I can’t sell you a pint right now.”

“I didn’t come in for a pint.”

“Didn’t you now?” She knew what a man was after when he had his eyes on her that way, but the game required playing. “What are you looking for, then?”

“I wasn’t looking for anything when I got up this morning.” He leaned on the bar. They both knew what they were about, he thought. It made the dance simpler when both people knew the steps. “Then I saw you.”

“You’re a smooth one, aren’t you, Mr. New York City?”

“Trev. Since you’ve got a couple hours free, why don’t you spend them with me?”

“And how would you know I have free time?”

“I came in on the end of your employer directive. She’s wrong, you know.”

“About what?”

“It does take brains, and knowing how to use them. You do.”

It surprised her. It was a rare man who noticed she had a mind, and a rarer one who commented on it. “So you’re attracted to my brain, are you?”

“No.” At the quick humor in his eyes and a flash of grin a nice little ripple moved up her spine. “I’m attracted to the package, but I’m interested in your brain.”

“I like an honest man under most circumstances.” She considered him another moment. He wouldn’t do, of course, for more than a pleasant flirtation. No, wouldn’t do, she thought and was surprised by a very real tug of regret.

But he was right about one thing. Time she had. “I wouldn’t mind a walk on the beach. But aren’t you supposed to be working?”

“My hours are flexible.”

“Lucky for you.” She moved down the bar, lifted the pass-through. “And maybe for me as well.”

He came through the opening, then stopped so they stood close and face-to-face. “One question.”

“I’ll try to give you one answer.”

“Why isn’t there someone I have to kill before I do this?” He leaned down and brushed his lips very lightly over hers.

She dropped the pass-through back in place. “I’m choosy,” she said. She walked to the door, then sent him a level and amused look over her shoulder. “And I’ll let you know if I choose to have you try that again, Trev of New York. With a bit more enthusiasm.”

“Fair enough.” He stepped outside with her, waiting while she locked the front door.

The air smelled of sea and flowers. It was something she loved about Ardmore. The scents and sounds, and the wonderful spread of the water. There were such possibilities in that vast sea. Sooner or later it would bump into land again, another place with new people, different things. There was wonder in that.

And comfort here, she supposed, raising a hand in greeting as Kathy Duffy called out to her from her dooryard.

“Is this your first time in Ireland?” Darcy asked him as they walked toward the beach.

“No, I’ve been to Dublin several times.”

“One of my favorite cities.” She scanned the beach, noting the pockets of tourists. Automatically she angled away and toward the cliffs. “The shops and restaurants are wonderful. You can’t find that in Ardmore.”

“Why aren’t you in Dublin?”

“My family’s here—well, part of them. Our parents are settled in Boston now. And I don’t have a burning desire to live in Dublin when there are so many places in the world and I haven’t seen nearly enough of them yet.”

“What have you seen?”

She looked up at him. A rare one indeed, she thought. Most of the men of her acquaintance wanted to talk about themselves. But they’d play it his way for now. “Paris, just recently. Dublin, of course, and a great deal of my own country. But the pub hampers traveling.”

She turned, walking backward for a bit with her hand up to shield her eyes. “I wonder what it’ll look like when he’s done with it.”

Trevor stopped, studied the pub as she was. “The theater?”

“Yes. I’ve looked at the drawings, but I don’t have an eye for such things.” She lifted her face to the breeze of salt and sea. “The family’s pleased with it, and they’re very particular.”

“So is Magee Enterprise.”

“I imagine so, though it’s difficult to understand why the man would pick a small village in the south of Ireland for his project. Jude, she says part of it’s sentiment.”

It surprised and nearly disconcerted him to have the truth spoken so casually. “Does she?”

“Do you know the story of Johnnie Magee and Maude Fitzgerald?”

“I’ve heard it. They were engaged to be married, and he went off to war and was killed in France.”

“And she never married, but lived alone in her cottage on Faerie Hill all her days. Long days, as Old Maude was one hundred and one years when she passed. The boy’s mother, Johnnie Magee’s mother, grieved herself to death within a few years. They said she favored him and could find no comfort in her husband, her other children, or her faith.”

It was odd to walk here and discuss these pieces of his family, pieces he had never met, with a woman he barely knew. Odder still that he was learning more of them from her than he’d learned from anyone else.

“I’d think losing a child has to be the biggest grief.”

“I’m sure it is, but what of those who were alive yet and needed her? When you forget what you have for what you’ve lost, grieving’s an indulgence.”

“You’re right. What happened to them?”

“The story is that her husband finally took to the drink, excessively. Wallowing in whiskey’s no better or worse than wallowing in grief, I suppose. And her daughters, I think there were three, married as soon as they could and scattered. Her other son, he who was more than ten years younger than Johnnie, eventually took his wife and his little boy away from Ireland to America, where he made his fortune. Never did he come back nor, they say, contact those left here of family and friends.”

She turned and looked back at the pub again. “It takes a hard heart never to look back, even once.”

“Yeah,” Trevor murmured. “It does.”

“But so the seeds of Magee Enterprise were sowed first in Ardmore. It seems the Magee running matters now is willing to put his time and money into seeing those seeds grow here.”

“Do you have a problem with that?”

“No, indeed. It’ll be good for us, and for him as well most likely. Business is business, but there’s room for a bit of sentiment as long as it doesn’t cloud the bottom line.”

“Which is?”

“Profit.”

“Just profit?”

She angled back, gestured out to the bay. “There’s Tim Riley’s boat coming in for the day. He’s been out with his crew since before first light. It’s a hard life, that of a fisherman. Tim and those like him go out day after day, casting their nets, fighting weather, and breaking their backs. Why do you suppose they do it?”

“Why don’t you tell me?”

“They love it.” She tossed her hair back, watching the boat ride a crest. “No matter how they bitch and complain, they love the life. And Tim, he cares for his boat like a mother her firstborn. He sells his catch fair so there’s no one would say Riley, he’s not to be trusted. So there’s love of the work, tradition, reputation, but at the bottom of it all is profit. Without an eye on making a living, it’s only a hobby, isn’t it?”

He caught a curl of her hair as it flew in the wind. “Maybe I’m attracted to your mind after all.”

She laughed at that and began walking again. “Do you love what you do?”

“Yes. Yes, I do.”

“What is it appeals to you most?”

“What did you see when you looked out your window this morning?”

“Well, I saw you, didn’t I?” She was rewarded by the humor that moved warmly over his face. “And other than that, I saw a mess.”

“Exactly. I enjoy most an empty lot, or an old building in disrepair. The possibilities of what can be done about them.”

“Possibilities,” she murmured, looking out to sea again. “I understand about that. So you enjoy building something out of nothing, or out of what’s been neglected.”

“Yes. Changing it without damaging it. If you cut down a tree, is what you’re putting in its place worth the sacrifice? Does it matter in the long run, or it is only short-term ego?”

“Again the philosopher.” His face suited that, even while the windblown hair and little scar spoke another, less quiet side. “Are you the conscience of Magee, then?”

“I like to think so.”

An odd sentiment for a laborer, she thought, but it appealed to her. The fact was, she couldn’t at the moment find one thing about him that didn’t appeal. “Up on the cliffs there, beyond the big hotel, men once built grandly. The structures are ruins now, but the heart remains and many who go there feel that. The Irish understand sacrifice, and why and when it matters. You’ll have to find time to walk there.”

“I’ll plan on it. I’d like it better if you found time to show me the way.”

“That’s another possibility.” Judging the hour, she turned to walk back.

“Let’s build on it.” He took her hand to stop her, enjoyed the faint hint of irritation that came into her eyes. “I want to see you.”

“I know.” Because it was the simplest angle, and never failed her, she tilted her head and allowed a teasing smile to play on her lips. “I haven’t made up my mind about you as yet. A woman has to be careful when dealing with strange and handsome men.”

“Sweetheart, a woman with your arsenal uses men for target practice.”

Irritated, she tugged her hand free. “Only if they ask for it. Having a pleasing face doesn’t make me heartless.”

“No, but having a pleasing face and a sharp mind is a potent combination, and it’d be a waste if you didn’t know how to use both.”

She considered flicking him off and walking away, but damned if he didn’t intrigue her. “Sure and this is the strangest of conversations. I don’t know if I like you or not, but maybe I’m interested enough to take some time to find out. But at the moment, I have to head back into work. It wouldn’t do for me to be late after I’ve lectured Sinead.”

“She underestimates you.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“She underestimates you,” Trevor repeated as they walked back across the sand. “She sees the surface—a beautiful woman with a keen sense of fashion who’s passing the time working in her family business. One her brothers run. A woman who in her mind holds the lowest position on the ladder and doesn’t do much more than take orders.”

Darcy’s eyes narrowed now, but not against the sun. “Oh, is that how you see it?”

“No, that’s how your Sinead sees it. But she’s young, inexperienced. So she doesn’t see that you have as much to do with the running of Gallagher’s as your brothers. The way you look doesn’t hurt a thing when it comes to setting the atmosphere, but I watched you today.” He glanced down at her. “You never missed a step, even when you were pissed off you never broke rhythm.”

“If you’re trying to get ’round me with compliments . . . it’s in the way of working. Though I have to say I can’t remember having any like these from a man before.”

“No, they all tell you you’re the most beautiful woman they’ve ever seen. It’s a waste of time to state the obvious, and it must get tedious for you.”

She stopped as they reached the street, stared at him a moment, then laughed. “You’re a rare one, Trev from New York. I think I like you, and wouldn’t mind spending a bit of time here and there in your company. Now if you were just rich, I’d marry you on the spot so you could keep me entertained and indulged all my days.”

“Is that what you’re looking for, Darcy? Indulgence?”

“And why not? I’ve expensive tastes that I want to feed. Until I meet a man who’s willing and able to fill my plate, I’ll go on filling my own.” She reached up to touch his cheek. “Doesn’t mean I can’t have a meal or two with another along the way.”

“Honesty, too.”

“When it suits me. And since I have a feeling you’d cut through even a well-crafted lie quick enough, why waste the effort?”

“There it is again.”

She sent him a puzzled look as they crossed the street. “What?”

“Efficiency. I find that very arousing in a woman.”

“Christ, you’re the oddest of ducks. Since I find it amusing to arouse you so easily, I’ll take you up on that breakfast offer.”

“Tomorrow?”

She jingled her keys in her pocket and wondered why the idea was so appealing. “Eight o’clock. I’ll meet you in the restaurant at the hotel.”

“I’m not staying at the hotel.”

“Oh, well, if you’re at the B and B, we can—”

“There you are, Darcy.” Aidan came up behind, his keys already in his hand. “Jude thought you were coming down the house to visit.”

“I was distracted.”

“I see you met my sister,” he said to Trevor. “Why don’t you come in for a pint on the house?”

“Actually, I have some work. I was also distracted,” Trevor said with a glance at Darcy. “But I’ll take you up on the offer later.”

“Always welcome. Your men are keeping us busy. Now with Darcy back, I’m wagering they’ll keep us busier yet.” He winked and shot the key into the lock. “Likely we’ll have a seinsiun going later tonight. Come in if you’ve the chance and you’ll get a small idea of what we’ll be offering those who come through on the way to your theater.”

“I’ll look forward to it.”

“Darcy, did you have that chat with Sinead?” She kept her eyes on Trevor’s. “It’s dealt with. I’ll be coming in to tell you about it in just a minute.”

“That’s fine, then. Good evening to you, Trevor.”

“I’ll see you later.”

“Your men,” Darcy said when the door closed. “Your theater.”

“That’s right.”

“And that would make you Magee.” She took a careful breath, knowing it would only keep her calm for the short term. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You didn’t ask. What difference does it make?”

“I think it makes a difference in how you presented yourself to me. I don’t care to be deceived and toyed with.”

He slapped a hand on the door before she could wrench it open. “We’ve had a couple of conversations,” he said evenly. “There was nothing deceptive about them.”

“Then we have different standards in that area.”

“Maybe you’re just ticked off that I’m rich after all, and now you’ll have to marry me.”

He sent her a smile designed to charm, and got nothing but a withering stare in return. “I don’t find your humor appropriate. Now step back from the door. We’re not yet open to the public.”

“Is this our first fight?”

“No.” She did manage to yank open the door now, nearly bashing his face with it. “It’s our last.” She didn’t slam it, but he clearly heard the click of the lock through the thick wood.

“I don’t think so,” he said with a great deal more cheer than another man might have felt under the circumstances. “Nope, I don’t think so.” He strolled down to his car and thought it might be a good opportunity to wander up to the cliffs and take a look at the ruins everyone had told him about.

•    •    •

This was the Ireland he’d come to see. The ancient and the sacred, the wild and the mystic. He was surprised to find himself alone, as it seemed to him that any who were drawn to this area would be compelled to come here, high on the cliffs where the ruins brooded.

He circled the steep stone gables of the oratory that had been built in the saint’s name. It stood on the rough and uneven ground and was guarded, he supposed, by the souls who rested there. Three stone crosses stood guard as well, with the fresh water quiet in the well beneath them.

He’d been told it was a lovely walk from here around the headland, but he found himself more inclined to linger where he was.

Darcy was right, he decided, the structure might have tumbled, but the heart of it lived.

He stepped back, respectful enough, or just superstitious enough, not to step on graves. He assumed the small, pitted stones were graves.

And glancing down, he saw the marker for Maude Fitzgerald.

Wise Woman

“So here you are,” he murmured. “There’s a picture of you with my great-uncle in one of the old albums my mother salvaged when my grandfather died. He didn’t keep many pictures from here. Isn’t it odd that he had one of you?”

He hunkered down, touched and gently amused to see that flowers had been planted over her in a soft blanket of color. “You must have had a fondness for flowers. Your garden at the cottage is lovely.”

“Had a way with growing things, did Maude.”

At the comment, Trevor looked back toward the well, then rose. The man who stood there was oddly dressed, all in silver that sparkled in the sun. A costume, Trevor assumed, for some event at the hotel. He was certainly the theatrical sort, with his long flow of black hair, wicked smile, and lightning-blue eyes.

“Don’t startle easily, do you? Well, that’s to your favor.”

“A man who startles easily shouldn’t pass the time here. Great spot,” Trevor added, glancing around again.

“I favor it. You’d be the Magee come from America to build dreams and find answers.”

“More or less. And you’d be?”

“Carrick, prince of the faeries. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

“Uh-huh.”

The bland amusement in Trevor’s tone had Carrick’s brows beetling. “You’d have heard of me, even over in your America.”

“Sure.” Either the man was a lunatic or he wasn’t willing to step out of character. Probably both, Trevor decided. “It so happens I’m staying in the cottage over the hill.”

“I know where the devil you’re staying, and I don’t care for that indulgent tone you’re using. I didn’t bring you here to have you make sport of me.”

“ You brought me here?”

“Mortals,” Carrick grumbled. “They like to think everything’s their own doing. Your destiny’s here, tied with mine. If I planted a few seeds to get you moving on it, who has a better right?”

“Pal, if you’re going to drink this early in the day, you ought to stay out of the sun. Why don’t I give you a hand back down to the hotel?”

“Drunk? You’re thinking I’m drunk?” Carrick threw back his head and laughed until he was forced to hold his sides. “Bloody bonehead. Drunk. We’ll show you drunk. Just give me a moment here to recover myself.”

After several long breaths, Carrick continued. “Let’s see here, something not so subtle. I’m thinking, for I see already you’re the cynical sort. Ah, I’ve got it!”

His eyes went dark as cobalt, and Trevor would have sworn the tips of the man’s fingers began to glow gold, then in his hands was a sphere, clear as water. Swimming in it was the image of Trevor himself and Darcy, standing together on the beach while the Celtic Sea charged the shore beside them.

“Have a look at your destiny. She’s fair of face and strong of will and hungry of heart. Are you clever enough to win what the fates offer you?”

He flicked his wrist, sent the globe flying toward Trevor. Instinctively he reached out, felt his fingers pass through something cool and soft. Then the globe burst like a bubble.

“Hell of a trick,” Trevor managed, then looked over at the well. He was alone again, with just the stir of the grass in the wind for company. “Hell of a trick,” he repeated, and more shaken than he cared to admit, he stared down at his empty hands.

FOUR

DREAMS HAUNTED HIM through the night. Trevor had always dreamed in broad and vivid strokes, but since coming to Faerie Hill Cottage his dreams had taken on a finite, crystalline quality. As if someone had sharpened a lens on a camera.

The odd man from the cemetery rode a white, winged horse over a wide blue sea. And Trevor felt the broad back and bunching muscles of the mythic steed beneath him. In the distance, the sky and water were separated clearly, like a thin pencil stroke drawn with a ruler.

The water was sapphire, the sky gray as smoke.

The horse plunged, its powerful forelegs cutting through the surface, spewing up water that Trevor could see, could feel in individual drops. He could taste the salt of it on his lips.

Then they were in that swirling underworld. Cold, so cold, with the dark underlit with some eerie glow. There were flickers of iridescent light, like faerie wings fluttering, and the music playing through the pulse beat of water was pipes.

Deeper, still deeper, flying down in this element as smoothly as they had flown in the air. The thrill of it coursed through him like blood.

There, on the soft floor of the seabed a hillock of darker, wilder blue throbbed, like a waiting heart. Into this, the man who called himself a prince thrust his arm to the shoulder. And Trevor felt the slick texture of the mass on his own flesh, the vibration ripple up his own arm. His hand flexed, closed, twisted, and he wrenched free the heart of the sea.

For her, he thought, clutching it tight. This is my constancy. Only for her.

When he woke, his hand was still fisted, but the only heart that pounded was his own.

As baffled as he was shaken, Trevor opened his hand. It was empty, of course it was empty, but he felt the charge of power fading from his palm.

The heart of the sea.

It was ridiculous. He didn’t have to be a marine biologist to know there was no shimmering blue mass, no organic life beating away on the floor of the Celtic Sea. It was all nothing more than an entertaining scene played by the subconscious, he told himself. Full of symbolism, he was sure, that he could analyze to death if he were so inclined.

Which he wasn’t.

He got out of bed, heading for the bath. Absently he pushed a hand through his hair. And found it damp.

He stopped short, lowering his hand slowly, staring at it. Cautious, he brought his hand to his face, sniffed. Sea water?

Naked, he lowered himself to the side of the bed again. He’d never considered himself a particularly fanciful man. In fact, he liked to think he was more grounded in reality than most. But there was no denying that he’d dreamed of flying through the sea on a winged horse and had awakened with his hair damp from sea water.

How did a rational man explain that?

Explanations required information. It was time he started gathering it.

It was too early to call New York, but it was never too early to fax. After he’d dressed for the day, Trevor settled into the little office across from his bedroom and composed the first message to his parents.

Mom and Dad:

Hope you’re both well. The project’s on schedule and remains on budget as well. Though after a couple of days’ observation, I’ve concluded the O’Tooles could handle the job without me, I prefer staying, at least for the present, to supervise. There’s also the matter of community relations. Most of the village and the surrounding parish seem to be in favor of the theater. But the construction disturbs the general tranquility of the area. I think it’s wise for me to remain visible and involved.

I also intend to continue the preliminary publicity from here.

Meanwhile, I’m enjoying the area. It’s as beautiful as you told me, Dad. And you’re remembered fondly here. The two of you should take some time and come over.

Gallagher’s is as you remembered and Finkle reported, a well-run, friendly, and popular business. Connecting the theater to it was a brilliant concept, Dad. I’m going to spend more time there, getting a clearer feel for just how it all runs and what changes or improvements we might want to implement to benefit the theater.

Mom, you’d particularly like the cottage where I’m staying. It’s a postcard—and better yet is reputed to have its own ghost. You and Aunt Maggie would get a kick out of it. No unearthly visitation to report, I’m afraid, but since I’m trying to drench myself in local color, I wonder if the two of you can pass on any information you might have on the legend based here. It’s something about star-crossed lovers, of course. A maid and a faerie prince.

I’ll call when I get a chance.

Love, Trev

He read it over to be sure he’d kept his request casual, then shot it off to his parents’ private line.

The next fax was to his assistant and was much more to the point.

Angela, I need you to research and relay any and all information available on a legend local to Ardmore. References: Carrick, prince of faeries, Gwen Fitzgerald, Faerie Hill Cottage, Old Parish, Waterford. Sixteenth century.

Trevor Magee

Once he’d transmitted, he checked his watch. Though it was just past eight, it was too early to tap his other source. He’d wait an hour before he paid a visit to Jude Gallagher.

With the business completed, the sudden and desperate urge for coffee broke through. It was strong enough to have him abandoning everything else. The one thing he missed was his automatic coffeemaker and its timer. It was something he intended to purchase at the first opportunity.

There was, in Trevor’s mind, little more civilized in this world than waking up to the scent of coffee just brewed.

As he came to the base of the steps, a knock sounded on the door. With his mind already in the kitchen, his system already focused on that first jolting sip, he opened the door.

And concluded there was perhaps one thing more civilized than waking up to coffee. She was standing on his little stoop.

A smart man, a wise man, would forgo a lifetime of coffee for a beautiful blue-eyed woman wearing a snug scoop-necked sweater and a come-get-me smile. And he was a very smart man.

“Good morning. Do you wake up looking like that?”

“You’ll have to do more than offer me breakfast before you get the chance to find out for yourself.”

“Breakfast?”

“I believe that was the nature of the invitation.”

“Right.” His mind wasn’t clicking rapidly along without its daily dose of caffeine. “You surprise me, Darcy.”

She’d intended to. “Are you feeding me or aren’t you?”

“Come in.” He opened the door wider. “We’ll see what we can do.” She stepped inside with a light brush of her body against his. She smelled like candy-coated sin.

She wandered by to glance in the front parlor. It was very much as Maude had left it, with its pretty fancies set out here and there, the shelf thick with books, and the soft old throw tossed over the faded fabric of the sofa.

“You’re a tidy one, aren’t you?” She turned back. “I approve of a tidy man. Or perhaps you consider it efficiency.”

“Efficiency is tidy—and it’s my life.” With his eyes on hers he laid a hand on her shoulder, pleased when she simply stared back at him with that same mild amusement on her face. “I was just wondering why it’s not cold.”

“Cold shoulders are a predictable reaction, and predictability is tedious.”

“I bet you’re never tedious.”

“Perhaps on the rare occasion. I’m annoyed with you, but I still want my breakfast.” She skirted around him, then glanced over her shoulder. “Are you cooking, or are we going out?”

“Cooking.”

“Now I’m surprised. Intrigued. A man in your position knowing his way around a kitchen.”

“I make a world-famous cheddar-and-mushroom omelette.”

“I’ll be the judge of that—and I’m very . . . particular about my tastes.” She walked back toward the kitchen and left him blowing out one long, appreciative breath before he followed.

She sat at the little table in the center of the room, draping her arm over the back of her chair and looking very much like a woman accustomed to being served. Though his system no longer needed a jump-start, Trevor made coffee first.

“While I’m sitting here watching you deal with some homey chores,” Darcy began, “why don’t you tell me why you let me babble on yesterday about your family and ancestors and seemed so interested in information that would be already familiar to you.”

“Because it wasn’t familiar to me.”

She’d suspected that, after she’d calmed down. He didn’t strike her as a man who’d waste time asking questions when he already had the answers. “Why is that, if you don’t mind me asking?”

He would mind. Usually. But he felt he owed her an explanation. “My grandfather had very little to say about his family here, or Ardmore. Or Ireland, for that matter.”

While he waited for the coffee to brew—please, God, soon—he got out what he needed for the omelette. “He was a difficult man, with a very hard shell. My impression was that whatever he’d left here made him bitter. So it wasn’t discussed.”

“I see.” Not clearly, Darcy mused, as it was hard to understand a family that didn’t discuss everything. At the top of their lungs as often as not. “Your grandmother also came from here.”

“Yes. And my grandmother abided by his wishes.” He glanced at Darcy, his eyes cool and remote. “In everything.”

“I imagine he was a powerful man, and powerful men are often difficult and intimidating.”

“My father would be viewed as a powerful man. I wouldn’t consider him difficult or intimidating.”

“So you’ve come back in part, have you, to see for yourself where those Magee seeds were first sown?”

“In part.”

She did not fail to notice the dismissive tone. A sore spot here, she decided, and though she’d have dearly loved to poke a bit, she left it alone. For now. “Well, then, since here’s where you are, why don’t you tell me what you think of the cottage?”

Tension, tension that irritated him, eased a bit. He poured his first cup of coffee as he dealt with the eggs. “I just sent my mother a fax telling her it was a postcard.”

“A fax? Is that the way mother and son communicate?”

“Mother and son use technology where it’s useful.” Remembering manners, he poured her a cup, brought it to the table. “Best of all worlds, isn’t it? A thatchedroof cottage in the Irish countryside and the conveniences of modern times.”

“You left out your ghost.”

He had a steady hand, but nearly bobbled the skillet. “I wouldn’t say she’s mine.”

“While you’re living here she is. A tragic figure is Lady Gwen, and while I sympathize and appreciate the romance of it all, I find it hard to understand anyone who would pine, even for love, over the centuries, beyond death. Life’s the point, isn’t it, and making it work for you.”

“How much more do you know about her?”

“As much as any in these parts, I suppose.” She enjoyed watching his long fingers and competent hands do their work. “Though Jude’s done more of a study on the matter for her book. Several I know have seen her.”

He glanced back. It wasn’t surprise in his eyes, but caution. “Have you?”

“I don’t think I’m the type a ghost spends time with. Perhaps you will, as she walks here.”

“You’re vision enough for me. What about the second half of the legend? This Carrick.”

“Oh, he’s a clever one, and tricky with it. Stubborn pride and poor temper put him in the fix he’s in and he’s not above using his wiles to repair it now that the time’s up. You may not have noticed, but Brenna wears her rings, her engagement and wedding rings, on a chain around her neck when she’s working.”

“I saw a man come close to losing his finger on a job once when his wedding ring caught in a skill saw. She’s smart to avoid that.” He took out plates, divvied up the egg dish, all with a smooth efficiency that she appreciated. “What do Brenna’s rings have to do with the legend?”

“Her engagement ring is a pearl, the second of the jewels Carrick offered Gwen. Those tears of the moon he gathered into his magic bag. Carrick gave the pearl to Shawn.”

Trevor’s eyebrows lifted, but he turned back for flatware. “A generous sort.”

“I don’t know about that, but the pearl was given to him by Carrick at Old Maude’s grave, and now it’s Brenna’s. The first offered was diamonds. Jewels of the sun. Ask Jude about that if you have an interest. The third and last he offered were sapphires. From the heart of the sea.”

“The heart of the sea.” His dream came back to him, fast and clear so that he once again stared down at his own hand.

“A pretty story, you’re thinking, and so I would myself if those I know hadn’t become part of it. There’s one more step that has to be taken, one more pair of hearts that have to meet and promise to each other.” She sipped her coffee, watching him over the rim. “The others who lived here in this cottage since Old Maude passed were step one and step two.”

He said nothing for a moment, just retrieved the toast that had popped up. “Are you warning me that I’ve been selected as step three?”

“It follows smoothly, doesn’t it? Now, however practical-minded a man you might be, Magee, you’ve Irish blood in your veins, and you share that blood with a man who once loved the woman who lived in the place. As candidates go for the breaking of spells, you’d be my pick.”

Considering, he took out the butter and jam. “And a practical-minded woman like you believes in spells.”

“Believe in them?” She leaned toward him as he sat. “Darling, I cast them.”

The way she looked at the moment, her eyes hot and bright, her smile just the other side of wicked, he’d have believed her a witch without hesitation. “Setting aside your considerable powers, are you going to tell me you believe this story, and all its parts, as reality?”

“I do, yes.” She picked up her fork. “And if I were you, and living here, I’d take great care with my heart.” She lifted a forkful of creamy egg and cheese, slid it between her lips. “There are those who also believe if one loses that heart here, it’s forever pledged.”

“Like Maude’s.” The idea of it worried him more than he wanted to admit. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Well, I wondered if you’d ask. You’re an attractive man, and I like the look of you. Added to that—and I’m not ashamed to say it’s a big ‘added to that’ to me— you’re rich. I think there’s a good possibility I might enjoy your company as well.”

“Are you proposing?”

She shot a grin at him, wide and gorgeous. “Not quite yet. I’m telling you this because I’ve the impression you’re a man who sees through pretenses as easy as a knife slides through butter.”

She picked up her own knife and demonstrated on the stick he’d taken from the refrigerator. “I’m not a woman who falls in love. I’ve tried,” she said, and for a moment the light in her eyes clouded. Then she shrugged and spread the butter on a slice of toast. “It’s just not in me. And it may be that we’re not what destiny has in store for each other, but if we are, I think we might come to an arrangement that pleases both of us.”

Under the circumstances, he decided, another refill of coffee couldn’t hurt. He got up to top off the cups. “I’ve met a lot of people in my business, sampled a lot of cultures, and I have to say this is the strangest breakfast conversation I’ve ever had.”

“I believe in fate, Trevor, in the meeting of like minds, in comfort and in honesty when it serves its purpose.” She took another bite of omelette. “Do you?”

“I believe in like minds, comfort and honesty when it serves its purpose. As to fate, that’s a different matter.”

“There’s too much Irish in your blood for you not to be a fatalist,” she told him.

“Is that the nature of the beast?”

“Of course. And at the same time, we manage to be optimistically sentimental and full of dark and exciting superstition. As for honesty.” Her eyes twinkled at him. “Now that’s a matter of degrees and viewpoints, for what’s better, all in all, than a well-told tale embroidered with colorful exaggerations? However, honesty is something I think you appreciate, so what’s wrong with letting you know that if you fall in love with me, I’ll likely let you?”

He enjoyed the rest of his coffee. And her. “I’ve tried to fall in love. It didn’t take for me, either.”

For the first time sympathy moved over her face, and she reached out to touch his hand. “It’s as painful not being able to stumble, I think, as the fall would be.”

He looked down at their joined hands. “What a sad pair we are, Darcy.”

“Best, isn’t it, to know yourself, and your limitations? It could be that some pretty young woman will catch your eye and your heart will pop right out of your chest and plop at her feet.” She shrugged her shoulders. “But meanwhile, I wouldn’t mind having you spend some of your time, and your not inconsiderable funds, on me.”

“Mercenary, are we?”

“Yes, I am.” She gave his hand a friendly pat, then went back to her breakfast. “You’ve never had to count your pennies, have you?”

“Got me there.”

“But if you ever have to earn a few extra, you make a very fine omelette.” She rose, taking both of the plates to the sink. “I appreciate a decent cook, as it’s not a skill I have, nor one I care to develop.”

He came up behind her, ran his hands over her shoulders, down her arms and back again in one long stroke. “Going to wash my dishes?”

“No.” She wanted to stretch like a satisfied cat, but thought it wiser not to. “But I might be persuaded to dry them for you.”

She let him turn her around, kept her eyes on his as he lowered his head. Then, with not a little regret, placed her fingers on his lips before they touched hers. “Here’s what I’m thinking. Either of us could seduce the other with considerable style if not much effort.”

“Okay. Let me go first.”

Her laugh was low and smooth. “And however satisfied we might be after, it’s early days yet. Let’s keep that adventure for another time.”

He gathered her a little closer. “Why wait? You’re the fatalist.”

“Clever. But we’ll wait because I’ve a mind to. I’ve a very strong mind.” She tapped his lips with her finger once, then drew back.

“Me, too.” Deliberately, he lifted her hand to his lips again, brushed them over her palm, then her knuckles.

“I like that. I might just come back for more, another time. And as things are, I believe I’ll leave the dishes to you after all. Now, will you walk me out like a proper gentleman?”

“Tell me,” he said as they started out of the kitchen, “how many men have you wrapped around your finger to date?”

“Oh, I’ve lost count. But none of them seemed to mind it.” She glanced back as the phone began to ring. “Do you need to answer?”

“The machine’ll get it.”

“Answering machines and faxes. I wonder what Old Maude would think.” She stepped outside and off the stoop to where the flowers were dancing in the breeze. “You look suited to this place,” she said after a moment’s study of him. “And I imagine you look just as suited to some lofty boardroom.”

He reached down to snap off a spray of verbena and handed it to her. “Come back.”

“Oh, I imagine I’ll wander your way again.” She tucked the flower into her hair as she turned to the

garden gate.

He saw then why he hadn’t heard her drive up. She’d ridden a bike. “Darcy, if you’ll wait a minute, I’ll drive you back down.”

“No need. Good day to you, Trevor Magee.”

She straddled the bike and steered down the narrow drive and into the bumps and ditches the locals claimed was a road. And managed, Trevor noted, to look outrageously sexy doing it.

Since he stopped by the site after going into the village, it was after noon when he walked to the Gallagher house. His knock was answered by the barking of a dog, a throaty, excitable sound that made him take a cautious step in reverse. He was an urbanite and had a healthy respect for anything capable of making that kind of noise.

The barking stopped seconds before the door opened, but the dog itself sat beside Jude, madly thumping its tail. Trevor had seen the dog a time or two, but at a distance. He hadn’t realized the thing was quite so large.

“Hello, Trevor. How nice. Come in.”

“Ah . . .” He glanced meaningfully at the dog, and Jude laughed.

“Finn’s harmless. I promise. He just likes to make a racket so I’ll think he’s protecting me. Say good day to Mr. Magee,” Jude ordered, and Finn obediently lifted a huge paw.

“I’d like to stay on his good side.” Hoping the dog would let him keep all his fingers, Trevor shook, hand to paw.

“I can put him out back if he worries you.”

“No, no, it’s fine.” He hoped. “I’m sorry to interrupt your day. I was hoping you had a minute.”

“I’ve several minutes. Come in and sit down. Can I get you some tea? Have you had lunch? Shawn sent down a lovely casserole.”

“No, nothing, thanks, I’m fine. Don’t go to any trouble.”

“It’s not a bit of trouble,” she began, but she pressed one hand to the small of her back and the other to her belly as she stepped back.

“You sit down.” Trevor took her arm and steered her textStyle2">to the living room. “I’ll confess, large dogs and pregnant women unnerve me.”

It wasn’t true. Large dogs might have unnerved him, but pregnant women melted him. But the statement got her to a chair.

“I promise neither of us will bite.” But she sat, gratefully. “I swore I was going to stay calm and graceful through this experience. I’m pretty calm yet, but I said good-bye to grace at the six-month point.”

“You look like you’re handling it well. Do you know if you’re having a boy or a girl?”

“No, we want to be surprised.” She laid a hand on Finn’s head when he came to sit by her chair. Trevor noted she didn’t have to reach far. “I took a walk last evening and looked at your site. You’re making progress.”

“Steady. This time next year you’ll be able to walk down and take in a show.”

“I’m looking forward to it, very much. It must be satisfying to turn your visions into reality.”

“Isn’t that what you’re doing? With your books, with your baby?”

“I like you. Are you comfortable enough to tell me what’s on your mind?”

He waited a beat. “I forgot you’re a psychologist.”

“I taught psychology.” In a gesture of apology, she lifted her hands, let them fall again. “In the last year or so I’ve cured myself of being too shy to say what I’m thinking. The result has pros and cons. I don’t mean to be pushy.”

“I came here to ask you something, talk to you about something. You figured it out. That’s not pushy, that’s . . . efficient,” he said after a moment. “One of my favorite words lately. Carrick and Gwen.”

“Yes?” Now she folded her hands, looking serene and easy. “What about them?”

“You believe they exist? Existed?” he corrected.

“I know they exist.” She saw the doubt in his eyes and took a moment to gather her thoughts. “We’re from a different place, you and I. New York, Chicago. Urban, sophisticated, our lives based on facts and the tangible of the everyday.”

He saw where she was going and nodded. “We’re not there anymore.”

“No, we’re not there anymore. This is a place that . . . ‘thrives’ isn’t the word I want, because it doesn’t need to thrive. It just is. This place that’s home for me now, this place that’s drawn you to build one of your dreams here, isn’t just apart from where we came from because of history or geography. It understands things we’ve forgotten.”

“Reality is reality, whatever part of the world you’re standing in.”

“I thought that once. If you still do, why do Carrick and Gwen worry you?”

“Interest me.”

“Have you seen her?”

“No.”

“Him, then.”

Trevor hesitated, remembering the man who’d appeared near Saint Declan’s Well. “I don’t believe in faeries.”

“I imagine Carrick believes in you,” Jude murmured. “I want to show you something.” She started to rise,cursed under her breath, then held up a hand, waving it testily when Trevor got to his feet. “No, damn it, I’m not ready to be hauled up every time I sit down. Just a minute.” She shifted, then boosted herself out, belly first, by pushing her hands against the arms of the chair. “ Relax. It’ll take me a minute. I’m not as light on my feet as I used to be.”

As she walked out, Trevor sat back down. He and Finn eyed each other with interest and suspicion. “I’m not going to steal the silverware, so let’s both just stay in our respective corners.”

As if it had been an invitation, Finn sauntered over and planted both forepaws in Trevor’s lap.

“Christ.” Gingerly, Trevor lifted the dog’s feet out of his crotch. “Perfect aim. Now I know why my father never let me have that puppy. Down!”

At the command Finn’s butt hit the floor, then he lovingly licked Trevor’s hand.

“There, you’ve made friends.”

Trevor glanced up at Jude and barely resisted squirming to relieve the throbbing in his balls. “You bet.”

“Go lie down, Finn.” Jude gave the dog an absent pat before sitting on the hassock at Trevor’s feet. “Do you know what this is?” She opened her hand, held it out. Centered in her palm was a clear and brilliant stone.

“At a glance it looks like a diamond, and given the size, I’d say it’s a very nicely faceted piece of glass.”

“A diamond, first water, between eighteen and twenty carats. I got a book, a loupe, and figured it out. I didn’t want to take it to a jeweler. Go ahead,” she invited, “take a closer look.”

Trevor took it out of her hand, held it to the light streaming through the front window. “Why didn’t you want to take it to a jeweler?”

“It seemed rude, as it was a gift. I visited cousin Maude’s grave last year, and I watched Carrick pour a flood of these out of the silver bag he wears at his belt. I watched them bloom into flowers, except for this one that lay sparkling in the blossoms.”

Trevor turned the stone over in his hand, and wondered. “Jewels of the sun.”

“My life changed when I came here. This is a symbol. Whether it’s pretty glass or a priceless gem doesn’t matter really. It’s all how you look at things. I saw magic, and it opened my world.”

“I like my world.”

“Whether you change it or not is your choice. You came here for a reason. To Ardmore.”

“To build a theater.”

“To build,” Jude said quietly. “How much, is up to you.”

FIVE

TREVOR’S DECISION TO spend the evening in the pub was a logical one. A professional one. He preferred thinking of it that way, as it was just a little too hard on the ego to admit he was there largely to look at Darcy. He wasn’t a horny teenager, he was a businessman. Gallagher’s Pub was now very much part of his interests.

And it appeared to be a thriving one.

Most of the tables were full—families, couples, tour groups huddled together over pints and glasses and conversations. A young boy who couldn’t have been more than fifteen sat in a corner playing a weepy tune on a concertina. A fire had been lit, as with evening the weather had gone chilly and damp, and around the red glow of the simmering turf a trio of old men with windraw faces sat smoking contemplatively and tapping booted feet to the music.

Nearby, a child who couldn’t have seen his first birthday bounced and giggled on his mother’s knee.

His own mother, Trevor thought, would have loved this. Carolyn Ryan Magee was fourth-generation Irish, born of parents who’d never set foot on Irish soil, any more than their parents before them had. And she was unabashedly sentimental over what she considered her roots.

She was, he understood, the only reason he knew as much as he did about family history on his father’s side. Family, no matter if they’d been dead and buried for generations, meant something to her. When something mattered to his mother, she made certain it mattered to her men. Neither of whom, Trevor mused, could resist her.

It was she who’d played Irish music in the house while his father had rolled his eyes and tolerated it. It was she who had told her son stories at bedtime of the Good People and silkies and pookas.

And it had been she, Trevor knew, who had smoothed over in her fiercely determined way whatever hurts and resentments his father had felt toward his parents. Even with her powers, she hadn’t been able to add warmth, but at least she’d built a shaky bridge that had allowed for civility and respect on both sides.

In fact, Trevor wondered if he’d have noticed the distance between his father and his father’s parents if it hadn’t been for the love and openness of his own home.

Of all the couples he knew, he’d never known any as cheerfully devoted to each other as the one who’d created him. It was a marvelously intimate miracle, and one he never took for granted.

He imagined his mother would sit here, as he was now, and soak it all up, join in the songs, chat with all the strangers. Thinking of it, he scanned the room through the pale blue haze of smoke, and thought of ventilation systems. Then he shook his head and headed to the bar. Whatever the health hazards, he supposed this was precisely the atmosphere those who came here were looking for.

He saw Brenna at the far end of the bar, working the taps and having what appeared to be the most serious of discussions with a man who had to be a hundred and six.

The only stool left was at the opposite end, and sliding on, Trevor waited while Aidan passed out glasses and made change.

“Well, how’s it all going, then?” Aidan asked, and added the next layers to a pair of Guinnesses he was building.

“Fine. You’re busy tonight.”

“And busy we should be most nights from now till winter. Can I quench your thirst for you?”

“You can. I’ll have a pint of Guinness.”

“That’s the way. Jude said you were by to see her today, and having some concerns about our local color.”

“Not concerns. Curiosity.”

“Curiosity, to be sure.” Aidan began the slow, intricate process of building Trevor’s pint while he finished off the two in progress. “A man’s bound to have some curiosity about the matter when he finds himself plunked down in the middle of it. Jude’s publisher has the notion that when her book comes out, it could stir more interest in our little corner of the world. Good business that, for both of us.”

“Then we’ll have to be ready for it.” He glanced around, noted that Sinead was moving with a great deal more energy tonight. But Darcy was nowhere to be seen. “You’re going to need more help in here, Aidan.”

“I’ve given that some thought.” He filled a basket with crisps and set them on the counter. “Darcy’ll be talking to some people when the time comes.”

As if hitting the cue, Darcy’s voice rang through the kitchen doorway in a peal of heartfelt and inventive curses.

“You’re a miserable excuse for a blind donkey’s ass, and why you require a head hard as rock when you’ve nothing inside it needing protection, I’ll never know, for you’re brainless as a turnip and twice as disagreeable.”

When Trevor cocked his head in question, Aidan merely continued to work his taps. “It’s a bit of a temper our sister has, and Shawn needs only to exist to provoke it.”

“A shrew is it? I’ll give you a shrew, you slant-eyed, toothless toad.”

There was an audible thud, a yelp, more cursing, then Darcy, face flushed, eyes lightning-hot, swung through the door with a large and loaded tray on her hip.

“Brenna, I brained your husband with a stewpot— though why an intelligent woman such as yourself would choose to wed a baboon like that escapes me.”

“I hope it wasn’t full, as he makes a fine stew.”

“It was empty. You get a better ring that way.” She tossed her head, drew in a long breath, and let it out again with a satisfied huff. Shifting the tray, she turned toward the pass-through, and spotted Trevor.

Temper vanished from her face like magic. Though her eyes remained hot, they took on an unmistakable sexual edge. “Well, now, look who’s come in out of the rainy evening.” Her tone went to purr as she sauntered to the end of the bar. “Would you mind flipping up the pass-through, darling? I’ve my hands a bit full at the moment.”

She’d been balancing trays one-handed more than half her life, but she liked to see him move. The hum in her throat was a sound of pure appreciation when he slid off the stool and walked over to do as she’d asked.

“It’s nice to be rescued by a strong, handsome man.”

“Mind yourself, Trev, there’s a viper under that comely face.” This was Shawn’s opinion, and he gave it a bit testily as he came out to serve another pair of orders at the bar.

“Pay no attention to the babblings of our pet monkey.” She sent one steely stare over her shoulder. “Our parents, being kindhearted, bought him from a traveler family—gypsies, you’d say. A waste of two pounds and ten, if you’re asking me.”

With a twitch of hip she walked off to deliver her orders.

“That was a good one,” Shawn murmured. “She must’ve been saving it up. Good evening to you, Trev. Are you looking for a meal?”

“I guess I’ll try the stew. I’ve heard it’s good tonight.”

“Aye.” With a rueful smile, Shawn rubbed the bump on his head. His gaze drifted to the side where the young boy teased out a livelier tune. “You’ve come on a good evening. Connor there can play like an angel or a demon, depending on the mood.”

“I’ve yet to hear you play.” Trevor settled on his stool again. “I’m told that, like the stew, it’s good.”

“Oh, I’ve a bit of a hand with it. We all do. Music’s part of the Gallagher way.”

“Just a bit of advice, on your music. Get an agent.”

“Oh, well.” Shawn looked back, met Trevor’s eyes. “You’re paying me a good price for the songs you’ve bought so far. I trust you to be fair. You’ve an honest face.”

“A good agent would squeeze out more.”

“I’ve no need for more.” He glanced over at Brenna. “I’ve everything already.”

With a baffled shake of his head, Trevor picked up the beer Aidan set in front of him. “Finkle said you weren’t a business-minded man. But I have to say you’re not anywhere near as dim as he led me to believe. No offense.”

“None taken.”

Trevor watched Shawn over the rim of his mug. “ Finkle said you kept getting him confused with another investor, a restaurateur from London.”

“Did he now?” Amusement twinkled in Shawn’s eyes.“Imagine that. Aidan, do we know anything about a restaurant man from London who’d have been interested in connecting to the pub here?”

Aidan tucked his tongue in his cheek. “I seem to recall Mr. Finkle bringing that matter to my attention, though I assured him there was no such person at t’all. Fact is,” Aidan continued after a weighty pause, “we, all of us, went to great pains to assure him of it.”

“That’s what I thought.” Impressed, Trevor took a deep gulp of Guinness. “Very slick.”

Then he heard Darcy laugh, quick and bright, and turned to see her rub her hand over the boy Connor’s head. She left it there, her eyes sparkling on his as she began to sing.

It was a fast tune, with lyrics tumbling into each other. He’d heard it before, in the pubs of New York or when his mother was in the mood to listen to Irish music, but he’d never heard it like this. Not in a voice that seemed soaked in rich wine with gold at the edges.

He’d had the report from Finkle, and there had been mention of Darcy’s singing voice. In fact, the man had rhapsodized about it. Trevor hadn’t put any stock in that issue. As his pet business was a recording company, he knew how often voices were praised through the roof when they deserved no more than polite applause.

Listening now, watching now, Trevor admitted he should have given his scout more credit.

When she came back into the chorus, Shawn leaned on the bar and matched his voice to hers. There was a laugh in the music of it as she wandered back toward the bar, and laying a casual hand on Trevor’s shoulder, sang straight to her brother.

“I’ll tell me ma when I go home the boys won’t leave the girls alone.”

No, Trevor imagined, the boys had never left this one alone. He had an urge to pull her hair himself, but not in the playful manner the song indicated. No, to fill his hands with it, pull it back, and feast on her.

Thousands of men, he imagined, would react the same way. The notion appealed to his business side even as it irked on a personal level. Since jealousy made him feel ridiculous, he concentrated on the business angle.

When the song was over, she reached over the bar to grab Shawn by the collar and haul him halfway across it for a loud kiss. “Moron,” she said, with obvious affection.

“Shrew.”

“Three fish and chips, two stews, and two portions of your porter cake. Now back into the kitchen where you belong.” She ran her hand absently across Trevor’s shoulder as she turned to Aidan. “Three pints each Guinness and Harp, a glass of Smithwick’s, and a pair of Cokes. The one Coke’s for Connor, so there’s no charge. Do you mind?” she said to Trevor, and picked up his pint for a small sip.

“So, do you take requests?”

“Hmm. I’m here to do nothing but.”

“Sing another.”

“Oh, it’s likely I will before the evening’s done.” She transferred the drinks that were poured onto her tray.

“No, now.” He pulled a twenty-pound note out of his pocket, held it up between two fingers. “A ballad this time.”

Her gaze shifted from his face to the bill, then back again. “That’s a considerable tip for a bit of a tune.”

“I’m rich, remember?”

“That’s something I haven’t forgotten.” She reached out for the twenty, narrowed her eyes when he jerked it away.

“Sing it first.”

She considered ignoring him on principle and perhaps a little spite. But it was twenty pounds, and singing wasn’t a trial to her. So she smiled at him, then lifted her voice as she lifted her tray.

Come all ye maidens young and fair / All you that are blooming in your prime / Always beware and keep your garden fair / Let no man steal away your thyme.

Connor picked up the melody, flushing a bit when she winked at him and served his soft drink. She served the others as well, singing as she did a song of regret and the loss of innocence. Conversations hushed, and more than a few hearts sighed. Because he was paying for it, she looked at Trevor as she walked back to the bar. She gave the last lines to him.

Satisfaction warmed her eyes when applause broke out. It gleamed there as she nipped the bill from his hand. “At twenty each, I’ll sing as many tunes as you like.” Then taking the Guinnesses Aidan had finished, she moved off to serve them.

“Hell, I’ll do one for half that,” someone called out, and over a roar of laughter, began on “Biddy Mulligan.”

“There’s formal music over the weekend,” Aidan told Trevor. “And Gallagher’s pays the band.”

“I’ll check it out.” He watched Darcy go back behind the bar, into the kitchen. “Do the three of you ever play together?”

“Shawn and Darcy and myself? At ceilis now and again, or in here for a bit of fun. I sang for my supper a time or two when I was traveling. It can be a hard life.”

“Depends on the booking.”

Trevor stayed another hour, nursing his pint, enjoying his stew, and listening to the apparently tireless Connor play tune after tune.

He got up once to open the door for a couple who each had a sleeping child over a shoulder. It was families, he noted, who left for home, and a couple of men with weather-beaten faces. Fishermen, he imagined, who would be up before dawn to head out to sea.

Food orders began to taper off after nine o’clock, but the taps ran steadily as he rose to go.

“Are you calling it a night, boss?” Brenna called out.

“Yeah. Until I find out what vitamins you’re taking that keep you going strong for fifteen hours’ work.”

“Ah, it’s not vitamins.” She leaned over to pat the gnarled hand of the old man who’d sat on the same stool for hours. “It’s being near my true love, Mr. Riley, here that keeps me going.”

Riley let out a cackle. “Come give us a last pint, then, my darling, and a kiss to go with it.”

“Well, the pint will cost you, but the kiss is free.” She glanced back at Trevor as she drew it. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“I need to borrow your sister a minute,” Trevor told Aidan, then took Darcy’s hand before she could move past him. “It’s your turn to walk me out.”

“I suppose I can spare you a minute.” She set down her tray and, ignoring Aidan’s frown, strolled to the door.

The rain was a fine mist that drenched the air. Smoky drifts of fog crept in from the sea to crawl along the ground. Through it came the steady beat of the water,and the far-off call of a horn as a boat passed in the night.

“Ah, it’s cool.” Closing her eyes, Darcy lifted her face to the thin rain. “It gets stuffy in there by this time of night.”

“Your feet must be killing you.”

“I won’t deny they could use a good hard rub.”

“Come back with me, and I’ll give them my attention.”

She opened her eyes at that. “Now, sure and that’s a tempting offer, but I’ve work yet, then I need my sleep.”

He lifted her hand to his lips as he had once before. “Come to the window in the morning.”

She didn’t mind the way her heart gave one hard thud, or the tingle low in her belly. She was a woman who believed in enjoying sensations, in savoring every one of them. But she had to think past that and remember how the game was played.

“I might.” Slowly, she ran a fingertip along his jaw. “If the thought of you comes into my mind.”

“Let’s make sure it does.” His arms slid around her, but the forward motion stopped when she laid a hand against his chest.

Her pulse was beating fast, an exciting feeling of anticipation. She liked the smell of the rain, and wet skin, the strong band of his arms around her. It had been some time since she’d allowed a man to put his arms around her.

That was the key, after all. The allowing. Her choice, her move, her mood. It was important, always, to stay in charge of those parts, and of the man she allowed to touch her.

Once you turned the reins over, you could forget that sensations, however lovely, were only fleeting after all.

It was safe enough here to have a sample of him, she decided. And to see if she really wanted more. So she slid her hand up his chest, around the back of his neck, and with her eyes open brought his mouth down to hers.

He took his time, she had to give him that, and didn’t go grabbing and fumbling and trying to extract her tonsils with his tongue. He had a nice style about him, firm,confident, with just a hint of bite. Not so dangerous as she’d thought, which was rather a shame all in all.

Then he shifted the angle of his body, his hands running up her back, his lips slanting over hers.

The edges of her mind blurred, and she thought, Oh, God! Then didn’t think at all.

He wanted to eat her alive, in fast, greedy bites. And imagined that was just what she expected from a man.Greed and heat and desperation. She had them all churning inside him. He’d seen it in a kind of mild disdain in her eyes when he’d reached for her.

So he moved slow, watched as he tasted, seen the shift to approval, even pleasure. Along with a measuring that annoyed him even as the flavor of her poured into him. Then he needed more, just needed more, and took it.

He felt the change register dimly in some far corner of his mind. A tension in her mixed with a soft and slow yielding that was as quiet as the rain around him.

His eyes closed even as hers did, and all calculation between them was lost.

The hand at his neck skimmed into his hair. Her body lifted, pressed against his, seemed to flow into him as he moved until her back was pressed to the stone wall of the pub. Heart thundered against heart.

He drew back, wanting to clear his head, catch his breath. Think. She stayed against the wall, then gave one long, feline sigh and opened her eyes.

“I liked that.” A little more, she was sure, than was good for her. Still, she ran her tongue over her bottom lip, as if to steal a bit more taste, and had his blood swimming again. “Why don’t you do it again?”

“Why don’t I?”

This time he framed her face in his hands, combed his fingers through her hair until they fisted in it. Then hesitated, waited, suffered, with his mouth a whisper from hers until her breath, and his, quickened.

“We’ll drive each other crazy.”

The sound she made was more gasp than laugh. “I’ve come to the same conclusion. Let’s start right now.” She closed the distance by catching his bottom lip between her teeth, tugging lightly, then not so lightly before soothing the nip with her tongue.

“Good start,” he managed and crushed his mouth to hers.

Her head went spinning, quick, dancing circles that left her giddy and dizzy and delighted. Every sensation was a burst through her system—the taste, the hard lines of him, the damp stone at her back, the shimmer of rain on her skin.

She wanted to push him to urgency, to make him weak, to hear him beg—before she did. She threw herself into the kiss, into the moment, and as a result gave him more than she’d intended.

Again, it was he who drew back. It was either that or drag her off to the car and tumble her in the backseat with all the finesse and control of a kid on prom night. She’d taken him right to the edge with a kiss on a wet sidewalk outside of a crowded pub.

“We’re going to need more privacy,” he decided.

“Eventually.” She needed to get her legs back under her. “But at the moment we’ve stirred each other up enough. I don’t think we’ll get much sleep tonight, but I don’t mind that.” Steadier, she brushed a hand through her hair, scattering fine drops of rain. “You know, the last time I kissed a Yank, I slept like a baby after.”

“That would be a compliment.”

“Oh, indeed it would. I’ll enjoy thinking about kissing you again at the next opportunity, but for now I have to go back inside, and you should go home.”

She turned to go, stopping when he took her arm. She wasn’t quite steady enough to resist if he recognized his advantage and pressed it. So she sent him a bright and sassy look over her shoulder. “Behave yourself, Trevor.If I’m any longer out here, Aidan will lecture me and spoil my nice mood.”

“I want your next evening off.”

“And I’ve a mind to give it to you.” She gave his hand a friendly pat, then slipped quickly inside again.

It was a surprise and an annoyance to find himself shaken. He had to sit in the car, listening to the rain,waiting for his blood to cool and his hands to steady. He knew what it was to want a woman, even to crave the feel of one under his hands, under his body. Just as he knew, and accepted, that the need brought with it certain vulnerabilities and risks.

But whatever it was he wanted, needed, craved from Darcy Gallagher was on a different level than anything that had come before.

She was different, he admitted, frowning at the pub for a moment before starting his car. Sexy, selfish, seductive. There were other women he knew with those attributes, but they were rarely so unapologetic and honest about it.

She was toying with him, and doing nothing to hide the fact. And by God, he had to admire her for it. Just as he had to admire her for being perfectly aware that he was playing the same game.

It was going to be fascinating to see who won, and how many rounds it took.

Relaxing since he was confident he’d handle her, he bumped along the track toward home and found himself smiling. Christ, he liked her. He couldn’t remember another woman who’d heated his blood, engaged his mind, and sparked his humor in quite the way she managed to do all three. Often at the same time.

If there’d been no physical spark between them, he would still have enjoyed being with her, picking his way through that marvelous and straightforward brain of hers. As it was, he thought he was about to explore the best of all possible worlds, romantically speaking. And what a relief it was to head toward intimacy knowing that both parties looked for nothing more than mutual gratification and interesting companionship.

The business end of their relationship was relatively uncomplicated. The pub belonged to her, as much as to her brothers, but it was Aidan Trevor had dealt with, and would continue to deal with in that area.

There was that voice of hers, which was a separate and intriguing matter. He had a couple of ideas he wanted to let simmer before he discussed them with her. In that area he was confident that she’d be guided by his experience. And lured by what he could, and would, offer her.

She appreciated money and wanted enough to live stylishly. Well, he had a feeling he was going to be able to help her out there.

Profit was the bottom line, she’d told him that day on the beach. He had some ideas how that bottom line could be reached by both of them. For a song.

He turned into his street next to his cottage, very satisfied at how well his time in Ireland was being spent, and how successful the results were to date.

He got out of the car, locking it out of habit, then used the light he’d left burning to guide him through the mist to the garden gate.

He didn’t know why he looked up, why he was compelled to lift his eyes to the window. The jolt that went through him was like a lightning bolt through the center of his body, one hard sizzle from head to foot.

At first he thought of Darcy, of the way she’d stood framed in her bedroom window the first time he’d seen her. A similar jolt then, not of recognition but of desire.

This woman stood framed in the window as well, was lovely as well. But her hair was pale, like the mists around him. Her eyes he knew, though it was too dark to see their color, were a haunted sea green.

This woman had been dead for three centuries.

He kept his eyes on her face as he pushed open the gate. Saw a single tear shimmer as it slipped slowly down her cheek. His heart was a trip-hammer in his chest as he walked quickly along the path through drenched flowers, through the faint music that was the wind chimes dancing in the breeze. The air was ripe, almost overpowering, with the wet perfume, the tinkling notes.

He unlocked the door, shoved it open.

There wasn’t a sound. The single light he’d left burning caused long shadows to slant into corners, over the old wooden floor. With the keys still in his hand, forgotten, he started up the stairs. As he stepped to the bedroom doorway, Trevor took a breath, held it, then flipped on the light.

He hadn’t expected her to be there. Illusions faded in the light. When it flashed on, flooded the room, he let out the breath he’d been holding in one short whoosh.

She stood facing him, her hands folded neatly at her waist. Her hair, delicately gold, spilled over the soulders of a simple gray dress that flowed down to her feet. The tear, bright as silver, was drying on her cheek.

“Why do we waste what’s inside us? Why do we wait so long to embrace it?”

Her voice lifted and fell, the rhythm of Ireland, and stunned him more than the vision of her.

“Who—” But of course he knew who she was, and asking was a waste of time. “What are you doing here?”

“It’s always more comforting to wait at home. I’ve waited a long time. He thinks you’re the last. I wonder, could he be right when you don’t wish to be, and wish it so strongly?”

It was impossible. A man didn’t hold a conversation with a ghost. Someone, for some reason, was playing games, and it was time to put a stop to it. He strode forward, reached out to take her arm. And his hand passed through her as it would through smoke.

The keys slipped out of his numb fingers and clattered on the floor at her feet.

“Is it so difficult to believe that more exists than what you can touch?” She said it kindly, because she understood what it was to fight beliefs. She could have allowed him to touch an illusion of what she had been, but it would have meant less to him. “You already know it in your heart, in your blood. It’s only a matter of letting your mind follow.”

“I’m going to sit down.” He did so, abruptly, on the side of the bed. “I dreamed of you.”

And for the first time, she smiled. Mixed with gentle humor was compassion. “I know it. Your coming here to this place at this time was determined long ago.”

“Fate?”

“It’s a word you don’t like, one that makes you want to brace for battle.” She shook her head at him. “Such a thing as fate takes us to certain points along a path. What you do here and now is up to you. The choice at the end of a path. I made mine.”

“Did you?”

“Aye. I did what I thought right.” Annoyance filtered into the musical voice. “It doesn’t make it right, but only what I thought, and what I felt needed to be done. My husband was a good man, a kind one. We had children together who were the joy of my life, a home that contented us.”

“Did you love him?”

“I did, oh, aye, I did after a time. A warm and settled love we had, and he would have asked no more of that from me. ’Twasn’t the flash and burn I felt for another. Do you see that’s what I believed it was I felt for Carrick? A fire that would flame hot and high, then die away to nothing but ash. And there I was wrong.”

She turned, as if looking out the window, beyond the glass, beyond the rain. “I was wrong,” she repeated.“I’ve bided in this place a long time, a long and lonely time, and still the burn of that love, the ache and the joy of it’s inside me. It’s so easy for love to hide itself under passion and not be recognized.”

“Most would say it’s easy to mistake passion for love.”

“Both are true enough. But for me, I feared the fire, even as I longed for it. And fearing, and longing, never looked into the flames for the jewels that waited there for me.”

“I know about passion, but I don’t know about love. And still, I’ve looked for you in other women.”

Her eyes met his again. “You haven’t realized what you look for, and I hope you will. We’re coming to the end of it, one way or the other. Look hard at what you want to build, then make your choices.”

“I know what—” But she was fading away. He leaped to his feet, reached out again. “Wait. Damn it!” Alone, he tried to pace off nerves, but they stretched and snapped inside him.

How the hell was he supposed to handle this? Dreams and magic and ghosts. There was nothing solid there, nothing tangible. Nothing believable, if it came to that.

But he did believe, and that was what worried him.

SIX

“YOU’ RE LOOKING A bit the worse for wear this morning.”

Trevor took another gulp of the coffee he’d brought to the site with him and sent Brenna a murderous look. “Shut up.”

She didn’t bother to disguise her snort of amusement. She was used to him now and didn’t worry overmuch about his bark. When the likes of him meant to bite, they didn’t warn you first.

“And cross as well. There now, I can have someone bring out a nice rocking chair and you can sit under an umbrella and have a bit of a nap.”

He sipped again. “Have you ever seen a cement mixer from the inside?”

“As rough as you look ’round the edges this morning, I could take you one-handed. Seriously, you can go into the kitchen and have your coffee in peace and in quiet.”

“Construction zones cheer me up.”

“And me.” She glanced around at the tacks of equipment, the hulking machines, the men hefting pipe and cheerfully insulting each other. “Odd creatures, aren’t we? Dad’s off this morning doing a spot of repair jobs here and there, so I’m glad you’re here and in the mood for working off your sulks.”

“I’m not sulking. I don’t sulk.”

“Ah, well, brooding, then. I enjoy a good brood myself, though most often I prefer just punching something and being done with it.”

“Shawn must lead an interesting life.”

“He’s a darling man, and the love of my life, so I do my best to keep him from tedium.”

“Tedium,” Trevor muttered, “kills.”

She nodded. He didn’t look cool and reserved this morning, nor did his voice hold that faint tint of distance. She judged him to be a man that put all of that up as a barrier until the one he dealt with proved trustworthy.

She was glad to have passed the mark.

“I should tell you the lines from the new well and those from the septic are to be inspected this morning. All goes okay, we’ll be burying them by end of day.”

She headed over to show Trevor the progress. The ground was muddy from the night’s rain, which continued to fall steadily. It dripped off the brim of Brenna’s cap, glimmered on the little silver faerie she had pinned on it, as she hunkered down beside a trench.

The smell of mud and men and gasoline pleased her enormously.

“As you see, we’ve used the grade of material you specified, and a pretty job it is, too. Dad and I dealt with a busted septic line during the flood last winter, and it’s not an experience I’m after repeating any time in the near future.”

“This’ll hold.” He crouched where he was, scanned the area. He could see it perfectly, the long, low sweep of the theater, faced with stone to blend with the existing pub, the trim of dark, distressed wood. Charming and simple, but what it was built of, and built on, would be the best that modern technology offered.

That was the dream, after all. Taking what was here, respecting it, even showcasing it, while using the material and ingenuity man had devised along the way.

That’s why he was here, to put the Magee mark on the place they’d come from. It had nothing to do with old legends and lovely ghosts.

Tuning back to the present, he glanced back and saw Brenna patiently watching him. “Sorry, mind wandered.”

He looked perplexed and not a little angry. She hesitated. After all, they’d only known each other in the face-to-face manner for a handful of days. “If it’s something to do with the job that’s troubling you, I hope you’ll tell me so I can do what I can to smooth it out. That’s part of what you’re paying me for. If it’s a personal matter, I’ll be glad to listen if it’s something you feel the need to talk through.”

“I guess it’s a combination. I appreciate it, but I’ll mull a while.”

“I find I mull most successfully when my hands are busy.”

“Good point.” He straightened. “Let’s get to work.”

• • •

It was rough and messy work, and most wouldn’t find it pleasant. Trevor did. Large sheets of plywood were spread over the mud to give barrows and boots traction as material was transported. He hauled lumber for studs and joists, stood under the tarp where the plumbers worked and listened to rain patter on canvas. He drank a gallon of coffee and began to feel marginally human again.

Brenna was right, he decided. Busy hands kept the mind occupied so what was troubling it could stew and turn in the corners. He would figure out what was happening and what to do about it while he dealt with the business at hand.

That, he thought, amused at himself, was a great deal more efficient than brooding.

Drenched and muddy and in a much happier frame of mind, he hefted another board. And nerves danced in his belly, up his spine, over the back of his neck. He was compelled, as he had been the night before, to look up.

Darcy stood in the window, watching him through the thin curtain of rain.

She didn’t smile, nor did he. In that meeting of eyes was an acute awareness that was primitive, sexual, erotic as the slide of naked flesh on naked flesh. There was nothing of the casual flirtation that had passed between them that first morning. Nothing of the clever, seductive game they’d played since.

The flash and burn. Yes, he understood that exactly as he stood in the chilly rain staring at a woman he barely knew.

Barely knew, he thought, but had to have. And he didn’t give a damn how quickly the fire died. Annoyed that he could be so easily manipulated by his own desires, he shifted the lumber on his shoulder and carried it to the team of carpenters.

When, unable to do otherwise, he looked back, she was gone.

She acted as if nothing had happened, as if that bolt of knowledge hadn’t flashed between them. When Trevor came in out of the wet for lunch, she sent him a casual glance and continued to take the orders at one of her stations without a single hitch of rhythm.

It was admirable, and infuriating. He’d never had a woman stir both emotions in him so effortlessly.

The lunch crowd was thinner today. He supposed the weather kept some of the tourists within the confines of the hotel. Knowing it was perverse, he deliberately chose a table in Sinead’s section. It would be interesting to see what move Darcy made in this little chess match they appeared to be playing.

Clever, was Darcy’s opinion when she noticed his strategy. Though it would cost him in speed of service, he’d made his point. It was her turn to take a step ahead or back. Then again, she pondered as she scooped up the tip from a table that had just cleared, there was always sideways.

“A bit wet out today, is it, Trevor?” She called across the room while she gathered dirty dishes.

“More than a bit.”

“Ah, well, it’s what makes us what we are. A day like this I imagine you’d rather be tucked into your fancy office in New York City.”

Enjoying himself, he propped a booted foot on his knee. “I like it fine where I am. How about you?”

“Oh, when I’m here I think about being there, and vice versa. I’m a fickle creature.” Pulling out her pad, she moved to the next table, beamed smiles. “And what is it I can get for you today?”

She took their orders, and those of another table besides, delivered them in to Shawn, and served drinks before Sinead managed to make her way to Trevor. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Darcy smirk.

He kept it simple, a bowl of soup, and waited until Darcy was serving the next batch of meals. “I need to do some research in the area, and this seems like a good day for it. Why don’t you play guide for me?”

“It’s kind of you to think of me, but I wouldn’t have time to do it justice.”

“I can only spare a couple of hours myself. How about it, Aidan, can I borrow your sister between shifts?”

“Her time’s her own until five.”

“Borrow, is it?” Darcy let out a short laugh. “I think not. But if you’ve a mind to hire me for the service of guiding you here and about, we could negotiate a reasonable fee.”

“Five pounds an hour.”

Her eyes were sharp and somehow sweet. “I said reasonable. Ten, and I’ll spare you the time.”

“Greedy.”

“Piker,” she shot back and had several customers chuckling.

“Ten it is, and you’d better be good.”

“Darling”—she fluttered her lashes—“no man’s ever told me otherwise.”

She headed toward the kitchen, and Trevor dipped into the soup Sinead set in front of him. Both of them were completely satisfied with the arrangement.

She had to fuss a bit. It would have gone against both nature and habit for Darcy not to take time to put on fresh lipstick, dab on some perfume, rearrange her hair, debate about changing her clothes. In the end she decided the sage green shirt and black weskit and trousers were more than adequate for a daytime tour.

Yanks, as far as she could tell, were mad keen on driving around Irish roads, rain or shine, as if they’d never seen a field of grass in their lives.

Mindful of the weather, she tied back her hair with a black ribbon and tossed on a jacket before meandering back downstairs.

She was used to men waiting for her.

Shawn was whistling over the last of the lunch shift cleanup. It surprised her that Trevor wasn’t, as she’d expected, cooling his heels in the kitchen and drinking a cup of the coffee he seemed to live on.

“Trevor out in the pub, then?”

“Couldn’t say. I heard him mention to Brenna he had some calls to make. That was before you went upstairs to redo your war paint.”

Since that remark didn’t rate a response, she sailed out into the pub, only to find Aidan alone, and preparing to lock up.

“Did you kick the man out and make him wait in the car?”

“Hmm? Oh, Trevor? No, I think he said he had someone to ring up.”

Shock ran straight down to her pretty painted toenails. “He left?”

“I imagine he’ll be back directly. Since you’re waiting, I’ll leave you to lock up. And see that you’re back on time, Darcy.”

“But—” She could barely stutter out the single syllable, which didn’t matter in the least, as Aidan was already out the door.

She never did the waiting. It was just wrong somehow to be ready and not have the man pacing about and looking at his watch for the second or third time. It set the wrong tone entirely.

More baffled than annoyed she turned to go back up to her rooms and forget the entire arrangement. The door opened, letting in a damp chill and Trevor.

“Good, you’re ready to go. Sorry, I got hung up.” He stood, holding the door, smiling easily. The puzzled irritation on her face was very close to what he’d expected. He was certain that every man she’d ever dealt with had waited, panting, for her to finally make her entrance.

Your move, gorgeous, he thought.

“My time’s worth considerable, even if yours isn’t.” She strode past him, flashing him an annoyed look before she stepped outside.

“Time’s part of the problem.” He stood, shielding her from the worst of the wet as she locked the pub doors. “Everybody wants a piece of it. What I want is a couple of hours away from phones and demands for answers.”

“Then I won’t ask you any questions.”

He led her to the car, held her door until she was settled. And wondering how long she was going to steam, rounded the hood to the driver’s side.

“I thought we’d head north for a while. Maybe hook up with the coast road, then just . . . see.”

“You’ve the wheel, and the wallet.”

He pulled away from the curb. “Everyone says getting lost in Ireland is part of its charm.”

“I don’t imagine those with a destination in mind would find it charming.”

“Fortunately I don’t have one at the moment.”

Darcy shifted, settled comfortably. It was a fine vehicle, roomy and with an expensive smell to it, even if it was leased. It wasn’t such a hardship, she supposed, to ride around in a classy car with a handsome man. Who was, when it came down to it, paying for the privilege.

“I imagine you always have your destination firmly in mind before taking the first step.”

“The purpose,” he corrected. “That’s a different matter.”

“And your purpose today is to see the near area, to put a picture in your mind of what people might be coming to your theater, and how they’d go about getting there.”

“Yes, that’s one purpose. The other is to have some time with you.”

“So it’s clever you are to find a way to do both now. Traveling this way,” she continued, “you’ll go to Dungarvan. If you take the coast road, you’ll go to Waterford City; go north instead and you come to the mountains.”

“Which way would you like to go?”

“Oh, I’m just along for the ride, aren’t I? The tourists often enjoy a stop by An Rinn, between here and Dun-garvan. It’s a little fishing village where they still speak Gaelic. There’s nothing much otherwise, but a fine view of cliffs or the mountains, but the tourists often go there, finding it quaint to hear the old language spoken routinely.”

“Do you speak any Gaelic?”

“A bit, but not enough for any real conversation.”

“It’s a pity such things are lost.”

“You think so because you’ve a sentimental view of the matter. When the simple fact is, English is easier all around. When I was in Paris, I could always find someone who knew enough English so I could be understood. I wouldn’t have found anyone who’d’ve understood the Gaelic.”

“No sentiment about things Irish, Darcy?”

“Are you sentimental about things American?”

“No,” he said after a moment. “I take them for granted.”

“There you have it.” She watched the rain patter, and the shift of light that brought a pearly gleam to the edges of the gray. “It’s going to clear. You might spot a rainbow if you enjoy such things.”

“I do. Tell me, what do you enjoy best about Ardmore, about where you are? The place itself.”

“The place?” She couldn’t remember ever being asked such a question, and was surprised that the answer was right there. “The sea. The moods of it, and smell of it, the feel of it in the air. There’s a softness to it on a quiet morning, and a fury about it during a storm.”

“The sound of it,” Trevor murmured. “Like a heart beating.”

“That’s poetic. More something I’d expect Shawn to say than you.”

“The third stage of the legend. Jewels from the heart of the sea.”

“Ah, yes.” She liked it that he thought of the legend. She’d been giving it considerable thought herself just lately. “And she let them go to flowers, which wouldn’t buy her family supper. I’ve a great deal of respect for pride, but not when it’s so costly.”

“You’d trade your pride for pretty stones.”

“That I wouldn’t.” She sent him a sly and confident look. “I’d find a way to keep both.”

If anyone could, he thought, it would be Darcy. He wondered why that annoyed him.

Sunshine streamed through the clouds, sparkled off the still falling rain and turned the light into something found inside a polished seashell. Those luminous,,magical colors streaked across the sky in three distinct rainbows. It seemed to Trevor that the air simply bloomed, a simple and delicate flower unfurling petal by petal.

Enchanted, he stopped the car right in the middle of the road and watched those three arcs of color shimmer against the fragile blue canvas of the sky.

Darcy was more interested in watching him. It was like seeing a shield drop. And under it, hidden under that toughness, the sophistication, was a core of sweetness she’d never imagined. It touched her the way he could stare at those pretty tricks of light and wet, with the pure pleasure of it gleaming in his eyes.

When he turned his head and flashed a blinding grin in her direction, she gave in to impulse. Leaning toward him, she caught his face in her hands and kissed him quick and light and friendly, as his grin had been.

“For luck,” she said when she sat back again. “There must be something about rainbows and kisses and luck.”

“If there isn’t, there should be. Let’s see where they take us—the rainbows,” he said when her eyebrow lifted. “I like to think I know where the kisses are leading, and my luck’s been pretty good lately.”

He turned down a narrow, poorly marked road. Away from the coast, and still distant from the mountains, the land rolled wet and green. Lines of gray from stone walls, deeper green from rough trees, ran through the fields and turned function into charm. He spotted a cottage, much like the one on Faerie Hill, with its creamy walls and thatched roof. A scatter of sheep, little white blobs wandering over the postcard.

And above it all, those three smears of color on a pale sky.

He opened the sunroof, chuckling when Darcy cursed as the water that had pooled on the glass showered in. It smelled fresh, gloriously clean, and added something elemental to the scent of her skin.

Then, as the road climbed, he saw it. Dull and gray and forbidding against the seashell sky. Only three walls of the structure were standing, the fourth long fallen into a tumble of stones. But what was left was defiant,spearing up out of the quiet country field as a monument to blood, to power, to vision.

He swung off the road, stopped the car. “Let’s go see it.”

“See what? Trevor, it’s only a ruin. You can find one by doing hardly more than turning a corner in Ireland. There are far better ones than this if such things interest

you. You’ve the oratory or the cathedral in Ardmore, for that matter.”

“This one’s here, and so are we.” He reached across her to open her door. “This is just the sort of thing that draws people to an area.”

“Those who haven’t the sense to take holiday where there’s a nice pool and a collection of five-star restaurants.” Grumbling a bit, she climbed out, then sighed and followed after him. “Just one of the many ruined castles or forts, probably sacked by the Cromwellians— they seemed to like nothing so much as sacking and burning.”

The grass was damp, which made her glad she’d thought to wear boots. Knowing just what sheep and cows did in fields, she watched her step.

“No sign, no marker, nothing. It just stands here.”

Darcy cocked her head, deciding it was more productive to be amused than annoyed. “And what do you think it should do but stand here?”

He only laid a hand on the stone and looked up. “How many men, I wonder, did it take to build this? How long? Who ordered it built here, and why? Shelter and defense.”

He stepped inside and, humoring him, Darcy followed.

Grass had grown up, wild and tough, through fallen stones. The walls, open to the elements, dripped with wet from the recent storms. His builder’s eyes could make out where the separate stories had been, and he marveled at the sheer size of the broken wooden beams.

“It would’ve been drafty, smelly as well,” Darcy commented.

The light was shifting again, growing, and he could still see the rainbows overhead. “Where’s your romance?”

“Ha. I doubt many of the women who had to cook and clean between having their babies thought it was very romantic. Survival would have been the point.”

“Then they made their point. This survived. The people survived. The country survived. That’s the magic that draws people here, the magic you miss because it’s all around you.”

“It’s history, not magic.”

“It’s both. That’s what I’m building here, that’s why I came.”

“That’s a large ambition.”

“Why have small ones?”

“Now that’s a sentiment I can agree with. And as that ambition includes Gallagher’s, I’ll do my best to help you realize it.”

“That’s something else I want to talk to you about. Another time.”

“What’s wrong with now?”

“Because now I need a little more luck.”

He took her hands, threading his fingers through hers. This time instead of drawing her toward him, he stepped to her. “In an ancient castle, under a trio of rainbows, I think this ought to be worth big pots of luck.”

“You’ve your myths confused. The pot’s at the end of the rainbow.”

“I’ll take my chances right here.” He touched his lips to hers, light and friendly, as she had to his. He liked the glint of amusement it brought to her eyes and did it again, a little firmer this time, a little warmer.

“I’ve also heard it said, third time’s the charm,” he murmured, and took her mouth again. Fast and deep and hot. The change deliberately abrupt to test both of them.

She answered as if she’d known, as if she’d only waited. Her lips parted for his. No surrender, but demand. Equal to equal, hunger to hunger. Together their fingers curled until they formed taut fists, held as if it was understood that if either let go they’d rush blindly to the next step.

Her heart leaped against his, a quick kick of excitement that sent his own racing.

It thrilled and it stunned her that it should be as wild, as near to feral as it had before. A storm brewed inside her, wanted to whip high and free. And God, she wanted to ride it, even at the risk of finding herself battered and wrecked at the end.

Here, now, what did it matter where they were, or who they were or why it seemed so desperately right?

When his lips left hers to trail to her temple, into her hair, to rest quietly there, the sweetness of the gesture after the passion left her shaken and weak. And allowed caution to return.

“If such activities under rainbows bring luck,” Darcy began, “the pair of us are set for life.”

He couldn’t laugh, nor come up with a joke in return. Something was churning inside him, something complicated, folding itself cannily in with simple desire. “How many times have you felt like that?”

Before she could answer he released her hands, put his own on her shoulders to draw her away enough for their eyes to meet. “Give me a straight answer. How many times have you felt the way you felt just now?”

She could have lied. She knew herself skilled at the careless and casual lie. But only when it didn’t matter. His eyes were intense, direct, and, she thought, just a little angry. She found she couldn’t blame him for it. “I can’t say I ever have, excepting last night.”

“Neither have I. Neither have I,” he repeated, and let her go so he could pace. “That’s something to think about.”

“Trevor, I think we both know that the hotter the flame, the quicker it flashes, and the sooner it goes cold.”

“Maybe.” He thought of Gwen, the words she’d spoken to him. “We’d both know that going in.”

“We would.” Just as they both accepted they weren’t capable of falling in love. He was right, she thought. They were a sad pair. “We’d know,” she agreed. “Just as we both know we’ll sleep together before we’re done, but there are matters that tangle it up. Business matters.”

“Business isn’t involved in this.”

“No, and it shouldn’t be. But since we have a business relationship—mutual professional interests that involve my family, there are things to be discussed and agreed upon before we roll ourselves into bed. I want you, and having you is my intention, but I have terms.”

“What do you want, a goddamn contract?”

“Nothing so formal—and don’t take that tone with me. You’re just annoyed that the blood’s still in your lap and you didn’t think of it first.”

He opened his mouth, then closed it again and turned away. She had a point, damn it. “So we work out what we want and expect out of our personal relationship and agree to keep it separate, entirely, from the business one.”

“We do, yes. And, as you said, that’s something to think about. You might think that I sleep with anyone I find appealing or even handy.” She kept her voice cool as he turned back. “But the fact is, I don’t. I’m careful and selective, and I have to have some affection for a man, some understanding of him, before I take him to bed.”

“Darcy, I understood that after an hour in your company. I’m also selective.” He walked back to her. “I like you, and I’m beginning to understand you. And when the time comes, we’ll take each other to bed.”

She relaxed into a smile. “I think we’ve just had a serious conversation. We’ll have to be careful not to get in the habit of it and frighten ourselves. Now, I’m sorry to say, you have to take me back.”

She held out a hand.

“Next time we’ll drive along the coast.”

“Next time, you’ll be taking me out to a candlelight dinner, buying me champagne, and kissing my hand in that way you have.” She glanced up, caught another glimpse of the fading rainbows as they crossed the wet grass. “But we can drive along the coast road to get there.”

“Sounds like a deal. Get a night off.”

“I’ll start working on that.”

SEVEN

W ARM, DRY WEATHER returned to paint both sky and sea the vivid blue of coming summer. Clouds that hovered were white and harmless, and the flowers of Ardmore drank in the sun as they had the rain. The round tower cast its long and slender shadow over the graves it guarded. And high on the cliffs the wind blew gentle ripples over the water in the well of the saint.

In the village, men worked in shirtsleeves, and arms turned ruddy in the sun. Trevor watched the skeleton of his building take shape, the beams and block that were the solid bones of his dream.

As the work progressed, the audience grew. Old Mr. Riley stopped by the site every day at ten until you could set your watch by him. He brought along a folding chair and sat with his cap shielding his eyes and a thermos of tea for company. There he would sit and watch, sit and nap until, sharply at one, he would stand up, fold his chair, and toddle off to his great-granddaughter’s for his midday meal.

As often as not, one of his cronies would join him, and they would chat about the construction while playing at checkers or gin rummy.

Trevor began to think of him as the job mascot.

Children came by now and again and sat in a half circle by Riley’s chair. Their big eyes would track the sway of a steel beam as it was lifted into place.

This event was sometimes followed by a round of appreciative applause.

“Mr. Riley’s great-great-grandchildren and some friends,” Brenna told Trevor when he expressed some concern about them being near the site. “They won’t go wandering closer than his chair.”

“Great- great -grandchildren? Then he must be as old as he looks.”

“One hundred and two last winter. The Rileys are long-lived, though his father died at the tender age of ninety-six, God rest him.”

“Amazing. How many of those double greats does he have?”

“Oh, well, let me think. Fifteen. No, sixteen, as there was a new one last winter, if memory serves. Not all of them live in the area.”

“Sixteen? Good God!”

“Well, now, he had eight children, six still living. And between them I believe they made him near to thirty grandchildren, and I don’t have count on how many children they made. So there you have it. You’ve two of his great-grandsons on your crew, and the husband of one of his granddaughters as well.”

“How could I avoid it?”

“Every Sunday after Mass, he goes to visit his wife’s grave, she that was Lizzie Riley. Fifty years they were married. He takes with him that same old ratty chair there and sits by her for two hours so he can tell her all the village gossip and family news.”

“How long has she been gone?”

“Oh, twenty years, give or take.”

Seventy years, give or take, devoted to one woman. It was flabbergasting and, Trevor thought, heartening. For some, it worked.

“He’s a darling man, is Mr. Riley,” Brenna added. “Hey, there, Declan Fitzgerald, have a care there with that board before you bash someone in the face with it.”

With a shake of her head, Brenna strode over to heft the far end of the board herself.

Trevor nearly followed. It had been his intention to spend most of his afternoon lifting, hauling, hammering. The sound of air guns and compressors whooshing and rumbling along with the constant rattle of the cement mixer had the young audience enthralled. Beside them in his chair, Riley sipped tea. Going with impulse, Trevor walked over to him.

“What do you think?”

Riley watched Brenna place her board. “I’m thinking you build strong and hire well. Mick O’Toole and his pretty Brenna, they know what they’re about.” Riley shifted his faded eyes to Trevor’s face. “And so, I think, do you, young Magee.”

“If the weather holds, we’ll be under roof ahead of schedule.”

Riley’s weathered face creased into smiles. It was like watching thin white paper stretch over rock. “You’ll be there when you get there, lad. That’s the way of things. You’ve the look of your great-uncle.”

As he’d been told so once, hesitantly, by his grandmother, Trevor considered, then crouched down so Riley wouldn’t have to crane his neck.

It’s just that you look so like John, Trevor, his brother who died young. It makes it hard for your grandfather to . . . It makes it hard for him.

“Do I?”

“Oh, aye. Johnnie Magee, I knew him, and your grandfather as well. A fine-looking young lad was Johnnie, with his gray eyes and slow smile. Built like a whip, as you are yourself.”

“What was he like?”

“Oh, quiet, he was, and deep. Full of thoughts and feelings, and most of them for Maude Fitzgerald. He wanted her, and little else.”

“And what he got was war.”

“Aye, that’s the way it was. Many young men fell in 1916, on those fields of France. And here as well, in our own little war for Ireland’s independence. Elsewhere, for that matter, at any time you can pick. Men go to battle, and women wait and weep.”

He laid a bony hand on the head of one of the children who sat at his side. “The Irish know it comes ’round again. And so do the old. I’m both old and Irish.”

“You said you knew my grandfather.”

“I did.” Riley sat back with his tea, crossed his thin legs at the ankles. “Dennis, now, he was a brawnier type than his brother, and more apt to look a mile down the road instead of where he was standing. A discontented sort was Dennis Magee, if you don’t mind me saying. Ardmore wasn’t the place for him, and he shook off the sand of it as soon as he was able. Did he, I wonder, find what he was looking for there, and contentment with it?”

“I don’t know,” Trevor answered frankly. “I wouldn’t say he was a particularly happy man.”

“I’m sorry for that, for it’s often hard for those around the unhappy to be happy themselves. His bride, as I recall, was a quiet-mannered lass. She was Mary Clooney, whose family farmed in Old Parish, and one of a family of ten, if my memory can be trusted.”

“It seems sharp enough to me.”

Riley cackled. “Oh, the brain’s stayed with me well enough. Just takes the body a mite longer to get up and running these days.” The boy wanted to know what had been and where he’d come from, Riley decided. And why shouldn’t he? “I’ll tell you, the babe, the boy who grew to be your father, was a handsome one. Many’s the time I saw him toddling along the roads holding his ma’s hand.”

“And his father’s?”

“Well, perhaps not so often, but now and again. Dennis was after making a living and putting by for his journey to America. I hope they had a good life there.”

“They did. My grandfather wanted to build, and that’s what he did.”

“Then that was enough for him. I remember your father, the younger Dennis, coming back here when he was old enough to have grown a few whiskers.” Riley paused to pour himself more tea from his thermos. “He seemed to’ve grown fine, had a pleasing way about him, and set some of the local lasses fluttering.” He winked.“As you’ve done yourself. Still, he didn’t choose, at that time, to leave anything behind him here but the memory. You’ve chosen different.”

Riley gestured toward the construction with his cup. “Building something here’s what you’re about, isn’t it?”

“It seems to be, at the moment.”

“Well, Johnnie, he wanted nothing more than a cottage and his girl, but the war took him. His mother died not five years after, heartbroken. It’s a hard thing, don’t you think, for a man to live always in the shadow of a dead brother?”

Trevor glanced up again, met the faded and shrewd eyes. Clever old man, he thought, and supposed if you lived past the century mark, you had to be clever. “I imagine it is, even if you go three thousand miles to escape it.”

“That’s the truth. Better by far to stand and build your own.” He nodded, this time with a kind of approval. “Well, as I said, you’ve the look of him, long-dead John Magee, in the bones of your face and around the eyes. Once they landed on Maude Fitzgerald, she was his heart. Do you believe in romance and ever after, young Magee?”

Trevor glanced away, up toward Darcy’s window, then back again. “For some.”

“You have to believe in it to get it.” Riley winked and passed his cup to Trevor. “What’s built isn’t always of wood and stone, and still it lasts.” Reaching out, he once again laid one of his gnarled hands on the head of the child nearest his chair. “Ever after.”

“Some of us do better with wood and stone,” Trevor commented, then absently drank the tea. He lost his breath, his vision blurred. “Jesus,” he managed as the heavy lacing of whiskey scored his throat.

Riley laughed so hard he fell to wheezing, and his wrinkled face went pink with humor. “There now, lad, what’s a cup of tea without a shot of the Irish in it, I’d like to know? Never say they’ve diluted your blood so over there in Amerikay you can’t handle your own.”

“I don’t usually handle it at eleven in the morning.”

“What’s the clock got to do with a bloody thing?”

The man, Trevor thought, seemed old as Moses and had been steadily sipping the spiked tea for an hour. Compelled to save face, Trevor downed the rest of the cup and was rewarded by a wide, rubbery grin.

“You’re all right, young Magee. You’re all right. Since you are, I’ll tell you this. That lovely lass inside Gallagher’s won’t settle for less in a man than hot blood, a strong backbone, and a clever brain. I’m considering you have all three.”

Trevor handed Riley back his cup. “I’m just here to build a theater.”

“If that’s the truth, then I’ll say this as well: It goes that youth is wasted on the young, but I’m of a mind that the young waste youth.” He poured another cup of tea. “And I’ll just have to marry her meself.” Amusement danced in his eyes as he sipped. “Step lively, boyo, for I’ve a world of experience with the female of the species.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Trevor got to his feet. “What did John Magee do before he went to war?”

“For a living, you’re meaning.” If Riley thought it was odd that Trevor wouldn’t know he didn’t say so. “He was for the sea. His heart belonged to it, and to Maude, and to nothing else.”

Trevor nodded. “Thanks for the tea,” he said and went back to join his crew.

He skipped lunch. There were too many calls to make, faxes expected, to take time for an hour in the pub and his afternoon dose of Darcy. He hoped she looked for him, wondered a little. If he understood her as he thought he did, she would expect him to come in, to have to come And it would annoy her when he didn’t.

Good, Trevor mused as he let himself into the cottage. He wanted to keep her a little off-balance. That careless confidence of hers was a formidable weapon. Her arrogance played right along with it. And damned if he didn’t find them both attractive.

Amused at himself, he went directly up to his office and spent thirty minutes immersed in business. It was one of his skills, this ability to tune out every other thought and zero in on the deal of the moment. With Riley’s memories fresh in his own mind, and Darcy dancing at the edges of it, he needed that skill now more than ever.

Once current projects were handled, faxes zipped off, E-mail answered and sent, he gave his thoughts to a future project he was formulating.

Time, he thought, to lay the groundwork. Picking up the phone, he called Gallagher’s. He was pleased that Aidan answered. Trevor made it a point to go straight to the head of a company. Or in this case, a family.

“It’s Trev.”

“Well, now, I thought I’d see you sitting at one of my tables by this time of day.”

Aidan raised his voice over the lunchtime clatter, and Trevor imagined him pulling pints one-handed while he talked. In the background he heard Darcy’s laugh.

“I had some business to do. I’d like to have a meeting with you and your family, when it’s convenient for you.”

“A meeting? About the theater?”

“Partly. Do you have an hour to spare, maybe between shifts?”

“Oh, I imagine we can accommodate you. Today?”

“Sooner the better.”

“Fine. Come on by the house then. We tend to hold our family meetings ’round the kitchen table.”

“I appreciate it. Would you ask Brenna to come by?”

“I will, yes.” Taking her off the job, Aidan thought, but made no comment. “I’ll see you a bit later, then.”

Around the kitchen table. Trevor recalled several of his own family meetings in the same venue. Before his first day of school, when he was going off to baseball camp, about to take his driver’s test, and so on. All of his rites of passage, and his sister’s, had been discussed there. Serious punishments, serious praise had warranted the kitchen table.

Odd, he remembered now, when he had broken his engagement, he’d told his parents as they sat in the kitchen. That’s where he’d told them of his plans for the Ardmore theater, and his intention of coming to Ireland.

And, he realized as he calculated the time in New York, that was where his parents most likely were at this moment. He picked up the phone again and called home.

“Good morning, Magee residence.”

“Hello, Rhonda, it’s Trev.”

“Mister Trevor.” The Magee housekeeper had never called him anything else, even when she’d threatened to swat him. “How are you enjoying Ireland?”

“Very much. Did you get my postcard?”

“I did. You know how much I love to get them. I was telling Cook just yesterday that Mister Trevor never forgets how I like postcards for my album. Is it as green as that, really?”

“Greener. You should come over, Rhonda.”

“Oh, now you know I’m not getting on an airplane unless somebody holds a gun to my head. Your folks are having breakfast. They’re going to be thrilled to hear from you. Just hold on a minute. You take care of yourself, Mister Trevor, and come back soon.”

“I will. Thanks.”

He waited, enjoying the picture of the rail-thin black woman in her ruthlessly starched apron hurrying over the rich white marble floor, past the art, the antiques, the flowers, to the back of the elegant brownstone. She wouldn’t use the intercom to announce his call. Such family dealings could only be delivered in person.

The kitchen would smell of coffee, fresh bread, and the violets his mother was most fond of. His father would have the paper open to the financial section. His mother would be reading the editorials and getting worked up about the state of the world and narrow minds.

There would be none of that uneasy quiet, that underthe-polish tension that had lived in his grandparents’ home. Somehow his father had escaped that, just as his own father had escaped Ardmore. But the younger Dennis had indeed stood and built his own.

“Trev! Baby, how are you?”

“I’m good. Nearly as good as you sound. I thought I’d catch you and Dad at breakfast.”

“Creatures of habit. But this is an even lovelier way to start the day. Tell me what you see.”

It was an old request, an old habit. Automatically he rose to go to the window. “The cottage has a front garden. An amazing one for such a small place. Whoever designed it knew just what they wanted. It’s like a . . . a witch’s garden. One of the good witches who helps maidens break evil spells. The flowers tumble together, color, shape, and scent. Beyond it are hedges of wild fuchsia, deep red on green and taller than I am. The road they line is narrow as a ditch and full of ruts. Your teeth rattle if you go over thirty. Then the hills slope down, impossibly green, toward the village. There are rooftops and white cottages and tidy streets. The church steeple, and well off is a round tower I have to visit. It’s all edged by the sea. It’s sunny today, so the light flashes off the blue. It’s really very beautiful.”

“Yes, it is. You sound happy.”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You haven’t been, not really, for too long. Now I’ll let you talk to your father, who’s rolling his eyes at me, as I imagine you have business to discuss.”

“Mom.” There was so much, so much that his morning conversation with an old man and his horde of progeny had set to swirling inside him. He said what he felt the most. “I miss you.”

“Oh. Oh, now look what you’ve done.” She sniffled. “You can just talk to your father while I cry a little.”

“Well, you got her mind off the editorial on handguns.” Dennis Magee’s voice boomed over the wire. “How’s the job going?”

“On schedule, on budget.”

“Good to hear. Going to keep it there?”

“Close to there, anyway. You, Mom, Doro, and her family better keep a week next summer open. The Magees should all be here for the first show.”

“Back to Ardmore. I have to say, I never figured on it. From the reports, it hasn’t changed much.”

“It’s not meant to. I’ll send you a written update on the project, but that’s not why I called. Dad, did you ever visit Faerie Hill Cottage?”

There was a pause, a sigh. “Yes. I had some curiosity about the woman who’d been engaged to my uncle. Maybe because my father so rarely spoke of him.”

“What did you find out?”

“That John Magee died a hero before he ever had the chance to live.”

“And Grandfather resented that.”

“That’s a hard way to put it, Trev.”

“He was a hard man.”

“What he felt about his brother, his family, he kept to himself. I never tried to get through. What was the point? I knew I would never get through to him about what he felt about anything, much less what he’d left behind in Ireland.”

“Sorry.” He could hear it, that weariness, that vague tone of frustration in his father’s voice. “I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

“No, that’s foolish. It would be on your mind. You’re there. I think—looking back, I think he was determined to be an American, to raise me as an American. Here is where he wanted to make his mark. In New York he could be his own man. He was his own man.”

A cold, hard man who paid more attention to his ledgers than his family. But Trevor saw no point in saying so when his father knew that better than anyone.

“What did you find, for yourself, when you came back here?” he asked instead.

“Charm, some sentiment, more of a link than I’d expected.”

“Yeah, exactly. That’s exactly it.”

“I meant to go back, but something else always seemed to come up. And truth is, I’m a city boy. A week in the country and I’m itchy. You and your mother never minded roughing it, but the Hamptons is about as rural as I can manage and stay sane. Don’t snicker, Carolyn,” Dennis said mildly. “It’s rude.”

Trevor scanned his view again. “It’s a long way from the Hamptons to here.”

“Absolutely. A couple of weeks in that cottage you’re renting and I’d be babbling. I don’t do quaint for long.”

“But you visited, saw Maude Fitzgerald.”

“Yes. Jesus, must be thirty-five years ago. She didn’t seem old to me, but I guess she was well into her seventies. I remember her being graceful, not creaky the way I, being callow, expected an old woman to be. She gave me tea and cake. Showed me an old photograph of my uncle. She kept it in a brown leather frame. I remember that because it reminded me of the song—what is it—‘Willie MacBride.’ Then she walked with me to his grave. He’s buried on the hill by the ruins and the round tower.”

“I haven’t been there yet. I’ll go by.”

“I don’t remember what we talked about exactly. It was all so long ago. But I do remember this because it seemed odd at the time. We were standing over his grave and she took my hand. She said what came from me would journey back and make a difference. I would be proud. I suppose she was talking about you. People said she had the sight, if you believe in such things.”

“You start to believe in all sorts of things once you’re here.”

“Can’t argue with that. One night while I was there I took a walk on the beach. I could swear I heard flutes playing and saw a man flying overhead on a white horse. Of course, I’d had a few pints at Gallagher’s Pub.”

Even as his father laughed, Trevor felt a chill skate down his spine. “What did he look like?”

“Gallagher?”

“No, the man on the horse.”

“A drunken delusion. Well, that set your mother off,” Dennis muttered, and through the line Trevor could hear his mother’s delighted laugh.

“I’ll let you get back to breakfast.”

“Take some time to enjoy yourself while you’re there. Get me the report when you can, Trev, and we’ll all keep next summer in mind. Stay in touch.”

“I will.”

He hung up, then continued to stare thoughtfully out the window. Delusions, illusions, reality. There didn’t seem to be very much space between them in Ardmore.

He finished up what business could be done before New York opened, then took a walk to John Magee’s grave.

The wind was high and the graves were old. The shifting of ground had tipped and tilted many of the markers so they leaned and slanted toward the bumpy grass to cast their shadows over their dead. John Magee’s stood straight, like the soldier he’d been. The stone was simple, weathered by wind and time, but still the carving was deep and clear.

J OHN D ONALD M AGEE

1898–1916

Too young to die a soldier

“His mother had that carved in her grief,” Carrick said as he stepped up to stand beside Trevor. “In my estimation, one is always too young to die a soldier.”

“How would you know why she had it carved?”

“Oh, there’s little I don’t know and less I can’t find out. You mortals make your monuments to the dead. I find it an interesting habit. A peculiarly human one. Stones and flowers, symbols, aren’t they, of what lasts and what passes away? And why do you come here, Trevor Magee, to visit those you never knew in life?”

“Blood and bonds, I suppose. I don’t know.” Frustrated, he turned to face Carrick. “What the hell is this?”

“By that you’re meaning me. You’ve more of your mother in you than ever your grandfather, so you know by now the answer to that, even if your diluted Yank blood doesn’t accept what’s in front of your face. You’re a traveled man, aren’t you? You’ve been more places and seen more things than most who are your age. Have you never found magic on your journeys till now?”

He wanted to think he had more of his mother in him, much more than he had of his grandfather. But there was nothing in Carolyn Magee of the easy mark. “I’ve never had conversations with ghosts and faeries till now.”

“You talked with Gwen?” The amusement died out of Carrick’s eyes, turning the bright blue dark and with an edge. He gripped Trevor’s arm with a hand that transferred a jolt of heat and energy. “What did she say to you?”

“I thought you knew or could find out.”

Abruptly, Carrick released him and turned away. He began to pace through the grass, around the stones in quick, almost jerky movements. The air around him sizzled with a visible color and spark. “She’s the only thing that matters, and the only thing I can’t see clear. Can you know, Magee, what it is to want one person with all your heart, with all that you have in you, and for her to be just out of your reach?”

“No.”

“I blundered with her. Now that’s a deep score to the pride, make no mistake. Not that it was only my fault. She blundered as well. It hardly matters who holds the heaviest weight of the blame at this point.”

He stopped, turned back. The air grew still again. “Will you tell me what she said to you?”

“She spoke of you and regrets, of passions that flash and burn, and love that lasts. She misses you.”

Emotions swirled in Carrick’s eyes. “If she—should you speak with her again, would you tell her I’m waiting, and I’ve loved no other since last we met?”

For some reason it no longer seemed odd to be asked to deliver a message to a ghost. “I’ll tell her.”

“She’s beautiful, isn’t she?”

“Yes, very.”

“A man can forget to look past beauty and into the heart. I did, and it’s cost me dear. You won’t make that mistake. It’s why you’re here.”

“I’m here to build a theater, and to acquaint myself with my roots.”

His humor restored, Carrick strolled back to Trevor. “You’ll do both, and more. Your ancestor here was a fine young man, a bit of a dreamer, with a heart too soft for soldiering and what war makes men do to men. But he went out of duty and left his love behind.”

“You knew him?”

“Aye, both of them, though only Maude knew me. She gave him a charm before he marched off, for protection.”

He snapped his fingers and from them dangled a chain with a little silver disk. “I expect she’d want you to have it now.”

Too curious for caution, Trevor reached out and took the object. The silver was warm, as if it had been worn against flesh, and on it the carving was faint.

“What does it say?”

“It’s in old Irish, and says simply ‘Forever Love.’ She gave it to him, and he wore it faithful. But war was stronger than the charm in the end, if not stronger than the love. He wanted a simple life, unlike his brother, who went off to America. Your father’s father wanted something more, and he worked for it and brought it to be. That’s an admirable thing. What do you want, Trevor Magee?”

“To build.”

“That’s an admirable thing as well. What will you call your theater?”

“I haven’t thought of it. Why?”

“I have an idea you’ll choose correctly because you’re a man who chooses carefully. That’s why you’re still living alone.”

Trevor’s fingers curled around the disk. “I like living alone.”

“That may be, but it’s making mistakes you dislike most of all.”

“True enough. I have to go now. I have a meeting.”

“I’ll walk with you a ways. ’Tis a fine summer we have in store. You’ll hear the cuckoo call if you listen. It’s a good omen of things to come. I’m wishing you luck on your meeting, and with Darcy.”

“Thanks, but I know how to handle both.”

“Oh, well, now, I believe you do, or I wouldn’t be in so cheerful a mood. She’ll be handling you as well. It helps the last of this waiting, if you don’t mind me saying, to be entertained by the pair of you.”

“I’m not part of your plan.”

“It’s not a matter of planning. It’s a matter of what is, and what will be. You’ve more say in it than I, and you’ve little enough.”

Carrick stopped. He could see the cottage now, the creamy walls, the sunny thatched roof, the rainbow spread of flowers. “Once she would have come out to meet me, her heart pounding, her eyes bright. Fear and love so mixed together neither of us could untangle them. And me so sure I could dazzle her with gifts and promises that I never held out to her the single thing that mattered.”

“No second chance?”

A wry smile twisted Carrick’s lips. “There might have been, had I not waited so long to take it. I’ll go no farther than this, until the waiting’s done. Handle Darcy, Magee, before she handles you.”

“My life,” Trevor said briefly. “My business.” He strode down the slope toward the house and his car. But he couldn’t resist a glance back.

It barely surprised him that Carrick had vanished. All that was left was the green hill, and sweetly, brightly, the two-tone call of a bird.

The cuckoo, Trevor supposed. He couldn’t think of anything more apt.

Put it aside, he ordered himself and continued to walk. Tuck away the sentiment over long-dead relatives and their sweethearts, visits with faerie princes, and messages for beautiful ghosts.

He had business to attend to.

But he slipped the chain around his neck, and tucked the silver disk under his shirt, where it lay to warm against his heart.

EIGHT

THE HOME TEAM always had the edge. Trevor knew it going in, but didn’t see a way around it. Not only was the house Gallagher turf, but the village, the county, the whole damn country was theirs. Unless he found a way to shift the meeting to New York, he would just have to play it as underdog.

Added to that, they outnumbered him. It couldn’t be helped.

Not that he minded working a deal when the odds were against him. The challenge of it only made the satisfaction of success sweeter.

He’d already worked out his approach. The questions, the doubts, the general unease of what he supposed would be termed his paranormal experiences would just have to wait until after business hours.

The minute he knocked on the door of the Gallagher house, he was representing Magee Enterprises. It was a responsibility, and a privilege, that he took very seriously.

Darcy opened the door, a sassy smile on her face, her head tilted at the perfect angle to display both arrogance and humor.

Jesus, he’d like to take her in one quick gulp and be done with it. Instead he greeted her with an easy grin. “Afternoon, Miss Gallagher.”

“And a good day to you, Mr. Magee.” Deliberately provocative, she stepped toward him rather than back. “Don’t you want to kiss me?”

He wanted to swallow her whole. “Later.” She gave her head a little toss that sent her clouds of dark hair tumbling back. “I might not be in the mood later.”

“You will be, if I kiss you.”

She shrugged, though she was faintly irritated, then moved back to let him in. “I like confidence in a man. Mostly. The rest of us are in the kitchen, awaiting your presence. Is this to do with your theater?”

“Partly.”

Irritation clicked up another level, but she spoke coolly as she led him toward the rear of the house. “And a mysterious man as well. Now I’m in love for certain.”

“How many times would this make?”

“Oh, I stopped counting years ago. I’ve such a fickle heart. How many is that for you?”

“Still batting zero here.”

“That’s a pity. Here’s himself come to call,” Darcy announced over what seemed to Trevor to be a heated conversation around the table.

“If I’m interrupting . . .”

“Not at all.” Aidan rose and waved a hand toward Brenna and Shawn, who sat scowling at each other. “If these two don’t snap at each other six times a week, we’re worried enough to ring up the doctor.”

“You said you’d leave the details of the house to me,” Brenna reminded her husband.

“You’re talking about the materials and colors of the kitchen counters and such. Who does the bloody cooking?”

“The blue laminate’s pretty and sensible.”

“The granite’s subtle and strong. It’ll last two lifetimes.”

“Well, we’ve only this one to concern us at present, don’t we? Trevor—”

Even as she turned to him, Trevor held up a hand. “No, absolutely no. Don’t even think of asking me for an opinion. I have no opinion when it comes to arguments between husband and wife.”

“ ’Tisn’t an argument.” Sulking, Brenna sat back, folded her arms. “But a discussion. I can have the laminate done in a wink. Do you know how long it’ll take to do the damn business in granite?”

“When it’s right you wait.” Shawn leaned over, kissed her softly. “And then you treasure.”

“You think you’ll get around me that way?”

“I do, yes.”

She sucked in a breath, then let it out on a huff. “ Bastard,” she said, with great affection.

“Well, now that we’ve settled that vital and thorny matter . . .” Aidan gestured Trevor to a chair. “Can we get you a beer, then, or some tea?”

Their turf, Trevor reminded himself as he sat. “A beer’d be great, thanks.” He glanced at Jude. “How are you doing?”

“Good.” She didn’t think he’d want her to mention she felt as if she had a semi parked on her bladder. “Aidan said you didn’t stop in the pub for lunch today. Why don’t I fix you a sandwich?”

“I’m fine.” He reached over, laid his hand on hers. “Sit. I appreciate you all taking the time to meet with me on such short notice.”

“It’s not a problem.” Aidan put the beer in front of Trevor, then sat. Head of the table. Advantage, Gallagher. And they all knew it. “Not a problem at all. Brenna tells us the building’s going up right on schedule, and I have to say that’s a bit of a surprise in these parts.”

“I have a good foreman.” He toasted Brenna, then sipped. “I think we’ll be ready by next May.”

“So long?” Darcy looked both shocked and horrified. “And will that noise be part of the whole for a year?”

“What noise?” he replied nonchalantly. When she sputtered, he simply rolled over her. “I hope to scatter in a few performances, primarily for the locals, by next spring. Warm things up. But I’m aiming for the third week in June for the grand opening.”

“Midsummer,” Darcy commented.

“The middle of summer is July.”

“Don’t you know your pagan calendar? Midsummer’s June twenty-second, and a fine choice. A night for celebrating. Jude had her first ceili on that night last year, and it turned out well, didn’t it, darling?”

“Eventually. Why the month delay?” Jude asked him.

“Basically to cover our asses, to build anticipation, to book acts, generate press. My plan is to have a small,intimate opening in May. Exclusive. Invited guests, which would include the village, family, and a select number of VIP’s.”

“That’s very clever,” Darcy murmured.

“It’s part of my job. It’ll generate interest, and publicity, in the official June opening. And give us time to tweak any details that need tweaking.”

“Like a dress rehearsal.”

He nodded at Darcy. “Exactly. I’d like your help with the guest list for the area.”

“That’s as easily done as said,” Aidan told him.

“And I’d like you to perform. The three of you.”

Aidan reached for his own beer. “In the pub.”

“Onstage,” Trevor corrected. “The main stage.”

“In the theater?” Aidan set his beer down again without drinking. “Why?”

“Because I’ve heard you, and you’re perfect.”

“Well, now, Trev, that’s flattering to be sure.” Thoughtfully, Shawn reached for one of the tea biscuits Jude had set out. “But all you’ve heard from us is a bit of fun. It’s not as if we’re a professional act or anything of that nature. The kind you’re looking to have in your theater.”

“You’re exactly what I’m looking for.” His gaze skimmed to Darcy, lingered a moment, then moved on. She’d yet to say a word. “Showcasing local talent is part of what this project is about. Mixing that, together with new and established acts. I can’t think of anything more appropriate than having the Gallaghers perform, and perform a selection of Shawn Gallagher’s music, at the first showing.”

“Mine.” Shawn went very pale. “At such a time? I don’t mean to tell you your business, Trev, but that’s surely a mistake.”

“It’s not.” Brenna rapped a fist on his shoulder. “It’s brilliant. It’s perfect. But you’ve only bought three of his tunes so far, Trev.”

Trevor angled his head. “He’s only shown me three so far.”

“There.” Brenna socked Shawn again, with more enthusiasm. “You moron. He’s dozens more. If you come by the house you can have a look. He can play them for you. He’s got his piano crammed in what there is of our front room already. And his fiddle and—”

“Quiet,” Shawn muttered.

“Don’t tell me to be quiet when—”

“Quiet.” This time the order was sharp, and Brenna seethed, but subsided. “I have to think about it.” Flustered, he dragged a hand through his hair. “It’s a lot to think about.” At his wife’s annoyed hiss he simply looked at her. “Brenna.”

She quieted. His look was a plea for patience and understanding. How could she refuse? “I’ll just say this. You’ve so much to give, Shawn, and it shouldn’t worry you. But the fact that it does is likely part of why you’re brilliant in the first place. Make a bargain with me.”

He made a restless movement with his shoulders. “What bargain?”

“Let me pick the next, just one, to show Trev. I had fine luck with the first, didn’t I?”

“You did. That you did. All right, then. Brenna’ll bring you a song tomorrow so you can see what you think of it.”

“I’ll look forward to it.” Trevor hesitated. The trouble was, he realized, he liked these people. “I wish to God you’d get an agent.”

“Isn’t she bad enough?” Shawn countered, jerking a thumb at Brenna. “Hounds me day and night as it is, and read every word in the contract you sent twice over. My eyes would have bled. We’ll just go on as we are.”

“It keeps my end of it less complicated.” Trevor set the subject aside and turned back to Aidan. Businessman now to businessman. “The three of you are Gallagher’s, and Gallagher’s is Ardmore. The theater’s going to be part of that, and because of it will benefit all of us here. The two are linked, for the very practical reason that your business is already established, already considered a center for music. Bringing the three of you forward as the first act to perform will get us a lot of press. Press means tickets, and tickets mean profit. For Gallagher’s and for the theater.”

“I follow that well enough. But that we are Gallagher’s is another point. Running the pub is what we do.”

“And how much will it add to Gallagher’s reputation when the three of you perform, and record, Shawn’s music?”

“Record?”

“For Celtic Records. We’ll have the CD’s available at the theater,” Trevor went on smoothly. “And we have a reputation of our own—artists, packaging, promotion, distribution. You can’t manufacture this kind of hook. The three of you were born into it.”

“But we’re not performers, we’re publicans.”

“You’re wrong. You’re natural performers. I understand the pub’s your priority. I’m counting on that. But this could be, would be, a very interesting, profitable, and satisfying sideline.”

“Why does it matter to you?”

It was the first question Darcy had asked, and Trevor shifted his attention to her. “Because the theater matters to me, and I never settle for less than the best. It means profit,” he added. “Isn’t that the bottom line?”

Aidan said nothing for a moment, then nodded. “You’ll appreciate that this is a bit of a surprise to us all, and is something we need to think over and discuss. The five of us have to be agreed, one way or another, on the matter. The overall picture, so to speak, before we can even consider discussing details. Of which I can only imagine there are many.”

“Understood.” Knowing it was time to step back and let the idea percolate, Trevor got to his feet. “If you have any questions you know where to find me. Brenna, take your time coming back. I’m going to the site.”

“Thanks. I’ll be right along.”

Darcy tapped a finger on Aidan’s arm to keep him in place. “I’ll walk you out,” she said to Trevor.

There were so many thoughts whirling through her mind. She knew it was important, vital, to snatch the most significant of them and get a firm hold. So she kept all those thoughts to herself until they walked outside again.

“Sure and it’s quite the surprise you’ve brought us today, Trevor.”

“So I see, but I wonder why it’s such a surprise. You’ve got ears and brains. You’ve heard how the three of you are together.”

“Maybe it’s that I’ve already heard it.” She glanced back, knowing her family was already discussing the matter. Still, she wanted her own thoughts and feelings settled before she added them to the mix. “You’re not the impulsive sort, not with business.”

“No.”

“So this isn’t something that just popped wild into your head.”

“I’ve been playing the angles since the first time I heard you sing. You’ve got a voice that goes straight to the gut, right after it’s broken the heart. It’s quite a talent.”

“Hmm.” She strolled by, down the narrow path through Jude’s garden. “And this notion you’ve come to us with today, you’re thinking it’ll enhance our mutual concerns.”

“Not think, Darcy. I know. It’s my business to know.”

She turned her head, studied him over her shoulder.

“Aye, I suppose so. And how much would you be paying for this enhancement?”

Now he smiled. Trust her to get right down to the sharpest point in the quill. “It’s negotiable.”

“And what would be the floor of that negotiation?”

“Five thousand for the performance. The recording rights are a separate issue.”

Her eyebrows arched. One evening singing, and more than she’d earn waitressing for weeks in the pub.“Pounds or dollars?”

He hooked his thumbs in the front pockets of his jeans. “Pounds.”

She made a little humming sound again. “Well, if we decide we’re interested, Aidan will haggle with you over that pitiful amount, to be sure.”

“I’m looking forward to it. Aidan’s the businessman.” Keeping his eyes on hers, Trevor moved to her. “Shawn’s the artist.”

“And what would I be?”

“The ambition. Put the three parts together, and you’ve got a hell of a team.”

“As I said before, you’re a clever man.” She looked away from him and out to sea, where the waves rolled in slow and smooth. “I’ve ambitions, right enough. And I’ll be honest with you here, Trevor, and tell you this particular idea has never occurred to me. The singing for anything but my own enjoyment.”

He surprised her by trailing a finger down the line of her throat. “What you’ve got in there can make you rich. Famous. I can help that happen.”

“That’s quite an offer, and appeals to my basest of egos and desires.” She walked on a little farther, until she stood near the street of the village where she’d lived all her life. “How rich?”

His laugh was easy and full of pure pleasure. “I like you.”

“I’m growing fonder of you by the minute. I’ve a yen to be rich, and I’m not ashamed to say so.”

He jerked his head toward the house. “Talk them into it.”

“No, that I won’t. I’ll put in my thoughts, and I’ll shout if I need to be heard, and exchange the usual insults when they’re warranted, but I won’t pressure them to do anything that doesn’t sit comfortably. It’ll come from all of us, or not at all. It’s the Gallagher way.”

“Does it sit comfortably with you?”

“I haven’t decided, but I’m enjoying the trying of it on, so to speak. I have to get back in there, as the discussion’s hot and heavy by this time. But . . .”

“What?”

“I wanted to ask, as you’re in the way of being an expert on such things.” She laid a hand on his arm, looked into his eyes. She wanted to see her answer there before she heard it. “Shawn. He’s brilliant, isn’t he?”

“Yes.”

It was a simple answer, almost casually given. And perfect. “I knew it.” Tears swam into her eyes, shimmered beautifully against the blue. “I have to get over this before I go back in or his head’ll swell up so I won’t be able to connect with his brain next time I cosh him. I’m so proud of him.” A tear spilled over, made her sniffle. “Damn it.”

Caught off guard, Trevor stared at her, then dug in his back pocket for his bandanna. “Here.”

“Is it clean?”

“Christ, you’re a maze, Darcy. Here.” He dabbed at her cheeks himself, then handed the cloth to her. “You’d do it for him, wouldn’t you?”

She blew her nose. “What?”

“The performance, the recording. You’d do it for Shawn even if you hated the idea.”

“It’s not going to hurt me any, is it?”

“Stop it.” He took her arms, his eyes narrowed. “It wouldn’t matter what it cost you, you’d do it for him.”

“He’s my brother. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for him.” She let out a steadying breath, eased back, then handed him the bandanna. “But damned if I’ll do it for free.”

When she turned to walk away, he fought a little war with himself. Pride against need. And need won. “Get a night off. Damn it, Darcy, get a night off.”

The thrill of the rough demand shivered straight up the center of her body. But the look she shot over her shoulder was designed to taunt. “We’ll see.”

The minute she was inside, she leaned back against the front door, shut her eyes. Weak, something about the man left her weak. And it was an odd sensation when tangled with the burst of energy that his offer and his promises had spurting through her.

Her knees wanted to shake, her feet wanted to dance.

And despite it all, she hadn’t a clue what it was she wanted in her heart.

She opened her eyes, nearly smiled. From the raised voices coming from the kitchen it was clear that her family hadn’t a clue either.

She started back, then stopped in the parlor doorway and looked at the old piano. Music had been as much a part of her life as the pub. For always. But the music had always been for the fun, for the pleasure of it, never for money. One of her earliest memories was of that piano, of sitting on her mother’s lap there on that same stool while the music and the laughter ran all around.

She had a good strong voice. She wasn’t a bubblehead—she knew her voice was fine enough. But to pin her hopes on it, and on Trevor Magee’s making something of it, that was a different matter entirely.

Wiser, she decided, to consider taking that first step without any real expectations. That way there couldn’t be any real disappointments.

She headed back in time to hear Brenna’s furious disgust.

“A potato’s got more sense than you, Shawn. The man’s giving you the opportunity of a lifetime, and you’re worrying it to pieces.”

“It’s my lifetime, isn’t it?”

“I think this gives me some say in your lifetime.” She held up the chain that held her rings.

“It’s my music, and even you can’t hammer it out of me.”

“You’ve agreed to show him another tune,” Aidan put in, playing peacemaker. “Let’s see where it goes once you have. As for the other, we have to look at all the angles of it.” He looked up, gestured to Darcy. “And we haven’t heard what Darcy thinks about it.”

“If it’ll put her in a spotlight and cash in her pocket,” Shawn said, “we already know what she thinks.”

Darcy merely smiled sourly. “As I’m not a peabrained idiot like some at this table, I’ve no objection to either of those things. But . . .” She trailed off until Shawn narrowed his eyes. “I’m also thinking that a man the likes of Magee isn’t after thinking in one-shot sorts of deals, or in small numbers. I’m not sure any of us are prepared for what he really has in his mind.”

“He wants Shawn’s music, and he wants the three of you to sing it.” Brenna threw up her hands. “It makes good, strong sense to me.”

“There are three of us.” Aidan spoke quietly, looking from face to face. “Each of us has different needs. Jude, the baby, the pub, this house. They’re my center. I won’t change that. Shawn has the new home and new life he’s building with Brenna, the pub as well, and his music. But the music is made in his own time and his own way. Do I have the right of that?”

“You do, yes.”

“And Darcy, I’m thinking that what was under the idea we’ve heard today, what was between the lines, which I caught as you did, might be just the sort of thing you need.”

“I haven’t decided. Music has always been a personal thing to us, something shared with family and friends. I understand what Brenna’s saying, as the simple part of the notion—just the singing that night to cement the link between the pub and the theater does make good, strong sense. And it’s not as if the three of us screech like cats at the moon and would embarrass the family name by doing it. But he’s a canny individual is Trevor Magee. So we’ll have to be cannier, and see that whatever we do or don’t is precisely what we intend.”

Aidan nodded, then turned to his wife. “You’ve said nothing, Jude Frances. Don’t you have thoughts on the subject?”

“Several.” Now that the shouting was over, she judged everyone ready to hear them. She folded her hands on her belly. “First, the practicalities. I don’t know anything about publicity or entertainment, but it seems to me the scenario Trevor outlined is simple and smart and would be effective. That benefits all of us.”

“That’s true,” Aidan agreed. “But if we take our music into the theater, what does that leave us in the pub?”

“The informality. A bigger impact because you have performed onstage, because you’ve recorded. And then anyone coming in for a pint might catch you in the mood to do a song while you’re at the bar or coming out of the kitchen. The tourists, in particular, will love it.”

“Well, now, that’s bloody brilliant,” Darcy murmured.

“Not really. It’s just that I’ve sat in the pub, and I’ve watched and I know how lovely it is. So has Trevor. He’s very much aware of how one will affect the other. Next . . .” She took a deep breath. “Individually. Aidan, it won’t change your center. Nothing could. It isn’t a matter of either/or. Whatever you decide will be right, because you have that center and it matters most to you.”

He picked up her hand, kissed it. “Isn’t she wonderful? Have you ever seen the like of her?”

Jude merely kept her hand in his and laid them both over their baby. “Shawn. You have a beautiful talent. The more Brenna loves you, and admires that, the more impatient she is with you for hesitating to share it.”

“Then she must love me a hell of a lot.”

“Which is my cross to bear.” Brenna bit into a biscuit and glared at him.

“I would think,” Jude continued, “having your family perform and record your music would be the perfect solution. You trust them, and they understand you. Won’t it be easier for you to take that step when you have that bond?”

“It shouldn’t be because of me.”

“Oh, just answer the question,” Darcy snapped. “You fish-faced jackass.”

“Of course it’d be easier, but—”

“Now shut up.” Darcy nodded smugly. “And let Jude finish. Because I think she’s about to come to me, and I love the attention.”

“You don’t shrink from attention.” Jude picked up her tea to sip. She couldn’t sit much longer in one spot. Her back was starting to ache. “Performing would be second nature to you. You’d enjoy the stage, the lights, the applause.”

Shawn snorted. “She’ll lap it up like cream. Vanity is our Darcy’s middle name.”

“Can I help it if all the good looks in the family waited for me?”

“I don’t know, as I haven’t seen your face without a layer of paint since you were thirteen.”

“The pity of it is I have to see yours every time I turn around.”

“Since looking at each other is the next thing to looking in a mirror, you could find something else to argue over.” Aidan held up a finger before either of his siblings could snipe. “Let Jude finish.”

“I nearly am.” Amazing, she thought, how quickly she’d become used to the rhythm of this family. “I imagine you’d enjoy being onstage, playing to the audience. But, if the idea of it terrified you, if you hated the very thought of it, you’d do it anyway. You’d do anything for these two.”

Though the statement was perilously close to the end of her conversation with Trevor, Darcy let out an amused snort. “I do to please myself.”

“In a great many things,” Jude agreed. “This you’d do for Aidan, and Aidan’s the pub. You’d do it for Shawn, and Shawn’s the music. Last of all you’d do it for yourself. For the fun.”

“The fun’s a factor, isn’t it?” Darcy rose, started to move casually to the stove, but Aidan caught her hand as she went by.

He tugged, she resisted. He tugged again. With a little sigh, she went into his lap. “Tell me what you want, Darcy darling.”

“A chance, I suppose.”

He nodded, met Shawn’s eyes across the table. “Let’s give it a day or two to simmer. Then I’ll talk to Magee again and see just what’s up his sleeve.”

NINE

THE HUMS AND grumbles and thuds outside her window drove Darcy out of bed early every morning. Whenever she thought about it going on for nearly another year, she was tempted to bury her head under the pillow and smother herself.

Since suicide wasn’t in her makeup, though, she tried to make the best of it. She could turn up her music loud, or just lie there and pretend she was in a big, noisy city.

New York, Chicago. All that noise was really traffic, and people bustling under her lovely, lofty penthouse flat.

Most of the time that worked. When it didn’t, she got up and spent quite a bit of time in the shower cursing.

Otherwise, if she was in the mood, she’d wander over to look down and watch the work for a while. And look for Trevor. She didn’t allow herself to do it daily—or allow herself to be seen daily.

That would be predictable.

She liked looking at him, seeing what he was up to that morning. Some days he was standing on the edge of things, his hair blowing in the wind, discussing something or other with Brenna or Mick O’Toole in the way men did, with thumbs tucked into pockets and wise, sober expressions on their faces.

And others—and she liked the others best—he was in the middle of the thing, hammering or hauling or drilling, stripped down to his shirtsleeves, and if the angle was right she could watch a ripple of muscle.

It was odd. Not that she hadn’t always enjoyed taking a good, long look at men, but she couldn’t remember ever being so interested in the look of one man before. Or being so fascinated by studying him as he went about manual labor.

He had a fine build, she mused as she stood framed in the window. That was part of it. A woman who didn’t appreciate a long and wiry build on a man, well, she had a problem, as far as Darcy was concerned. It was the way he moved, too. Light on his feet, confident and in control.

She imagined, and why wouldn’t she imagine, that he would be just as confident and in control with a female in bed. Control would make a man thorough, and a thorough loving was no small matter to a woman.

Still, she had to wonder what it would take to snap that control. A loving wild and fierce was no small matter either.

It concerned her in a mild sort of way that she thought of him as often as she did. Looked for him as often as she did. In the mornings like this, at midday, in the evening.

Sometimes he came into the pub. Sometimes he didn’t. She was certain it was purposeful on his part. That lack of predictability. They were gaming with each other, and both knew it perfectly well.

And damn, but didn’t she like that about him! The man was every bit as arrogant as she was herself.

She hadn’t arranged for a night off. That was purposeful on her part. It was true enough that she liked keeping him waiting. But she was keeping herself waiting as well, with a delicious sort of tension inside her. She understood that when they spent the evening together, it wouldn’t be just a matter of having dinner.

Dinner wasn’t what either of them wanted.

It had been a long time since she’d had an urge for a man. A particular man. She missed the feel of one against her, that was true. The strength and the heat, that flash of fire in the belly that came just before release.

She was a woman who enjoyed sex, Darcy admitted, the problem being there’d been no one to tempt her for more than a year.

Sure and she was tempted now, she thought when Trevor looked up and their eyes met. She enjoyed, absorbed, the edgy little thrill that whipped down her spine. The man tempted her in all manner of ways. So . . . it was time to arrange for that night off.

She smiled down at him, slow and sly, then deliberately stepped back. Let him do some thinking about that, she decided.

Restless, not ready to face the long day, or even dress for it as yet, she wandered her rooms. She put on the kettle for tea more out of habit than desire. The rooms, such as they were, were the first she’d had all to herself in all of her life. It had been a shocking surprise to realize she missed the company of her brothers. Even their untidiness.

She’d always liked things just so, and her rooms reflected it. She’d painted the walls a quiet rose. Well,she’d browbeaten Shawn into doing most of the work,but the results were pleasing to her. From her bedroom at home, she’d taken her favorite framed posters.Monet’s water lilies and a forest scene she’d found in a bookshop. She liked the dreaminess of them.

She’d made the curtains herself, as she had a fine hand with a needle when she wanted to. The pillows she piled on the ancient sofa were from her hand as well. A practical woman who preferred nice things understood it was cheaper by far to buy a length of satin or velvet and put in the time than to plunk down the cost for ready-made.

And it left more spending money for shoes or earrings.

Standing on a table was her wish jar, full of coins that came from tips. And one day, she thought, one fine day,there would be enough for her to take the next trip. An extravagant trip next time, to anywhere.

A tropical island, maybe. Where she could wear an excuse for a bikini and drink something foolish and fruity out of a coconut shell. Or Italy, to sit on some sunbaked terrace and look out over red-tiled roofs and grand cathedrals.

Or New York, where she would stroll along Fifth Avenue and gaze at all the treasures behind the forest of shop windows and pick out what was waiting just for her.

One day, she thought, and wished whenever she imagined it that she didn’t see herself alone.

It didn’t matter. She had enjoyed her week in Paris alone, so she would enjoy the others, in their time. Meanwhile, she was here, and so was the work.

She brewed the tea first, and told herself that since she was up early she’d lounge on the sofa, page through one of her glossy magazines and enjoy a quiet morning.

Before she settled in, her gaze landed on the violin she kept on a stand, more for decoration than convenience. Frowning, she set her cup aside and picked up the instrument. It was old, but had a clear voice. Would it be this, she wondered? Would it be the music that had always been part of her life that finally opened the doors for her, that took her into those places she dreamed of and rolled out the red carpet she was dying to walk on?

“Wouldn’t that be odd,” she murmured. “Something you never think twice about because it’s always been there.”

Idly, she rosined the bow, tucked the violin under her chin, and played what came first to mind.

He’d expected her to come down. Trevor left the site, slipped into the kitchen with the excuse of making a phone call. But she wasn’t there.

He heard the music, the aching, romantic notes of a violin. The kind of music, he thought, that belonged to moonlight.

He followed it.

Her door was at the head of the stairs, and the music seemed to swell against it, rising up like hope, sliding down like tears.

He didn’t even think to knock.

He saw her, half turned away, eyes closed. Lost. Her hair was loose, still tumbled from sleep to rain down the back of a long blue robe. One narrow bare foot tapped the time.

The look of her clogged his lungs. The music she made had his throat burning. She played for herself, and the quiet pleasure of it glowed on that remarkable face.

Everything he wanted, had planned for, dreamed of, seemed to melt together in that one woman, that one moment. And left him shaken to the bone.

The music soared, note echoing against note, then slid away to silence.

Still drifting, she sighed, opened her eyes. And saw him. Her heart stuttered, an almost painful sensation. Before she could recover, before she could slip on the mask of a knowing smile, he crossed to her.

She felt her breath catch, as if someone had squeezed a hand over her throat. Or her heart. Then his mouth was on hers, hot, fierce. Glorious.

Her arms fell weakly to her sides, as if the fiddle and bow had taken on great weight. His hands were on her face, in her hair, and need pumped like heat from his body into hers. She took, had no choice but to take, that hard slap of desire.

She gave, finally; he felt her give. That slow, somehow liquid surrender of the female that made every man feel like a king. Because she did, because it brought the ache inside him toward something like a tremble, he gentled—lips, hands—cruising now, caressing. Savoring.

When he drew away, she fought off a shudder, forced a smile to her lips. “Well, now, good morning to you.”

“Just shut up a minute.” He pulled her back, but this time simply rested his cheek on top of her head.

She wanted to step back. This embrace was more intimate than the kiss, and just as stirring. Just, she realized as she relaxed against him, as irresistible.

“Trevor.”

“Ssh.”

For some reason, that made her laugh. “Aren’t you the bossy one!”

The tension he’d worried would blow off the top of his head faded away. “I don’t know why I bother. You don’t listen anyway.”

“Why should I?”

He held her another moment, steady enough now to appreciate that her robe was very thin. “Do you ever lock that door?”

“Why should I?” Now she did step back. “No one comes in and stays in unless I want them to.”

“I’ll remember that.” He lifted a hand, brushed at her hair. “I didn’t know you could play.”

“Oh, music is the Gallagher way.” She gestured with the violin, then set it back on its stand. “I was in the mood for some, that’s all.”

“What was it you were playing?”

“One of Shawn’s tunes. There aren’t any words to it.”

“It doesn’t need any.” He saw it, the way her eyes warmed with pride. “Play something else.”

She only moved her shoulders, laid the bow aside.“I’m not in the mood now.” She picked up her tea, and now her eyes were sharp with both humor and calculation. “And I’m thinking I might start saving my songs for those who pay.”

“Would you sign a recording contract? Solo?”

She nearly jolted, but recovered neatly. “Why, that would depend on the terms.”

“What do you want?”

“Oh, I want this and that. And all of the other things.” She walked to the sofa, sat, crossed her legs. “I’m a selfish and greedy creature, Magee. I want lavish luxury and pampering and slavish admiration. I don’t quibble about working for them, but I want them at the end of the day.”

Considering her, he sat on the arm of the couch beside her and, testing, trailed a fingertip over her collarbone, paused just above the rise of her breast. “I can get them for you.”

Her eyes went cold, shot out a blast of air so frigid it could have frozen blood. “I’ve no doubt you can.” With one sharp move, she knocked his hand aside. “But that’s not the sort of work I have in mind.”

“Good. Then we keep one separate from the other.”

Ice turned to fire in the blink of an eye. “Was that a little experiment, then? And what would you have done if I’d laid back for you?”

“Can’t say.” He took her cup and helped himself to her tea. “You’re a delectable package, Darcy. But you’d have disappointed me.” He placed a hand on her shoulder when she started to spring up, felt the temper vibrating like a plucked bow string. “I’ll apologize for it.”

“I don’t trade myself for profit.”

“I didn’t think you did.” But there had been other women who’d offered. It had, and did, leave a nasty taste in his mouth. “I want you on two levels, one as a business, one as a man. I’d like you to understand the first has nothing to do with the second.”

She eased back, struggling with the temper she knew could be an ugly thing. “And you’d like reassurance of the same from me.”

“I just got it.”

“You could have done so with more style.”

“Agreed.” It had been cold, calculated—something, he thought, that his grandfather might have done. “I’m sorry,” he said, and meant it.

“And which level would that apology come from?”

Touche´, he thought. “One from each, as each was out of line.”

She took her tea back from him. “Then I’ll accept each.”

“Let’s put the business aside for now. I need to go to London for a couple of days.” He’d intended to put it off, but . . . she wanted things, why not give her a taste? “Come with me.”

She’d clicked her temper back to simmer, but this sudden twist blanked it out and left her puzzled. Wary. “You want me to go to London with you? Why?”

“First, because I want to take you to bed.” He took the mug back again, thinking as he did that the tea had become a kind of prop between them.

“That we’ve established already. There are beds in Ardmore.”

“Our schedules haven’t been meshing in Ardmore. And second, I enjoy your company. Have you been to London?”

“No.”

“You’ll like it.”

“Most probably I would.” She took the mug when he held it out, sipped the tea to give herself time to think. He was offering her something she’d always wanted. To travel in style. To see London, and not to see it alone.

He would expect sex, naturally. But then, so would she. What point was there pretending to be coy about something they both knew was bound to happen anyway?

“When do you go?”

“I’m flexible.”

She let out a short laugh. “No, that you are not. But if your schedule is, I might be able to work it out. I need to speak with Aidan and arrange for a replacement. He won’t be pleased with me, but I can get ’round him.”

“I’m sure you can. Let me know what days work for you, and I’ll take care of the rest.”

That practiced feline smile was back. “Oh, I like that. Having a man take care of the rest. You run along now.” She rose, then deliberately trailed her fingers over his jaw. “I’ll get back to you when I can.”

He caught her wrist, his grip just hard enough to show her he was serious. “You won’t play me, Darcy. I’m not like the others.”

She stood where she was as he released her, as he walked out and shut the door. Yes, indeed, she could agree with that. He wasn’t anything like anyone she’d known. And wasn’t it going to be interesting to find out just what and who he was?

“You’ve had your holiday.”

She’d wanted to catch Aidan at home rather than wait for him to come into the pub. She’d had to rush to manage it, and was pleased to find him finishing up his breakfast. His first response was exactly what she’d expected and didn’t discourage her in the least.

“I know, and a lovely one it was.” All cheer, she topped off his tea. Then snuck Finn a corner of toast under the table. “Just as I know it’s a lot to ask of you so soon after, but this is an opportunity I don’t want to miss. You’ve traveled, Aidan.”

She kept her voice soft and sweet. It was the tack she’d decided on. Just as effective would have been demands, curses, and tempers, but she was certain that this tone would work more quickly.

“You’ve already seen so much and been so many places. You know what it is to yearn for that. It’s in our blood.”

“So’s the pub, and high season’s starting.” He added more jam to his bread. Finn, knowing the routine, shifted so Aidan could sneak him a bite in turn. “I can’t have Jude filling in for you now when she’s only weeks till term.”

“I wouldn’t think of it. If I see her carrying a tray I’ll knock you upside the head with it.”

Because he knew the sentiment, and the threat, were completely sincere, Aidan sighed. “Darcy, I count on you to keep the service running smooth.”

“I know, and that’s what I do, day in and day out. I’ve worked with Sinead, though there were times I wanted to bash the girl’s brains on the bar. She’s improved considerable over the last couple weeks.”

“She has.” But Aidan continued to brood over his breakfast.

“I was going to ask Betsy Clooney if she’d do me the favor of covering for me, for the two days. She’s worked the pub before, and she knows the routine.”

“Christ, Darcy, Betsy’s got herself a brood of kids now. She hasn’t worked the pub for ten years.”

“It hasn’t changed overmuch, and I’ll wager Betsy’d enjoy it. She’s reliable, Adian, as you know.”

“She is, but—”

“And there’s another thing I wanted to put to you. Young Alice Mae could use a summer job.”

“Alice Mae?” Aidan stopped brooding to goggle. “She’s barely fifteen.”

“And all three of us were working before that, without harm. Brenna mentioned her baby sister wanted to earn some spending money. I’d like to give her a chance. She’s a bright girl, and being an O’Toole she’ll work hard. I’d start her on the one shift, the midday. Today, so I can have her trained before I leave for London.”

“Christ, she was in nappies yesterday.”

“Getting old, aren’t you?” She rose just long enough to kiss his cheek. “I want to go, Aidan, and I’ll see the service is handled smooth while I’m gone.”

“Was a time only Gallaghers worked Gallagher’s. But for Brenna now and again, but that was practically the same thing.”

“We can’t stay with that.” And because she understood some of the sentiment, even a twinge of the regret, she rose again and standing behind him, wrapped her arms around his neck. “We’ve already made the changes. I guess we started when Ma and Dad moved to Boston. We’ll be bigger now, but we’ll still be Gallagher’s.”

“Aye, and it’s what I want for us. Still, there are moments I remember and wonder if I’ve done right.”

“You’re the worrier, and bless you for it. Of course you’ve done right. Well and right, Aidan, by Gallagher’s and all of us. I’m proud of you.”

He lifted a hand, patted hers, sliding a bit of bacon to Finn with the other. “Now you’re trying to get ’round me that way.”

“I would if I’d thought of it.” She gave him a last squeeze. “I need to go. I need to see.”

He knew how it was, precisely. The deep, churning need to go and to see. He’d taken five years to work it out of his system. She was asking for two days.

But . . .

“I’m going to say it out plain. I don’t care for the notion of you going off with Magee.”

Darcy rounded her eyes, pursed her lips. When Jude came in at that moment, she decided it was perfect timing and turned to her sister-in-law. “Did you hear that?”

“No, I’m sorry. What?”

“Aidan’s taken a sudden and avid interest in my sex life.”

“I’ve not. Damn it.” He wasn’t easily fuddled, but she’d managed it. “I didn’t say anything about sex.” He hissed out a breath when Darcy only stared at him. “I implied it,” he said with some dignity.

“Oh, implied, is it?”

“I think I’ll go back upstairs,” Jude began.

“No, you don’t.” Darcy waved her to a chair. Finn immediately bellied over, prepared for the next covert treat. “Sit down, for this should be interesting. Your husband here, my darling brother, is implying that he disapproves of my having sex with Magee.”

“Christ Jesus.” Aidan put his head in his hands. “I’ll go upstairs.”

“That you won’t. Would you like some tea, Jude, darling?” Without waiting for an answer, Darcy got a cup and poured out. “First we should establish whether your husband, my brother, objects to me having sex altogether or just in this particular case.” She sat again, and her smile was sugar-sweet. “And which would it be, Aidan, my dear?”

“You’re pissing me off.”

“Oh, now, temper, temper.”

“I didn’t say anything about sex. I said I didn’t care for the idea of you going off to London with him.”

“You’re going to London?” Jude asked and decided to relax and have some toast.

“Trevor asked me to accompany him on a short business trip. But it appears Aidan would prefer I had sex with Trevor here rather than there. Is that correct?”

“I don’t want you having sex with him at all, as it’s a tangle.” Frustration pumped through him, causing him to roar it as both women sat quietly staring at him. “And I don’t want to know about it one way or the other.”

“Then I’ll be sure to spare you the details.” She spoke coolly now, which only rattled the sabers of his own temper.

“Mind your step.”

“Mind your own,” she shot back. “My personal life,particularly this area of it, is no one’s business but mine.Trevor and I understand the tangle you’ve referred to and, as sensible people, will be careful enough not to trip up in it.”

Eyes still frosty, she rose. “I’m going to ring up Brenna’s mother and ask about Alice Mae. And I’ll talk to Betsy Clooney as well. The details will be seen to before I go. Good day to you, Jude,” she added, and kissed her sister-in-law on the cheek before she flounced out.

The air hummed in the Gallagher kitchen for several moments, as Jude casually nibbled her toast.

“Well, what have you to say about it?” Aidan demanded.

“Not a thing.”

“Hah.” He stewed, drummed his fingers, scowled. “But you’re thinking of saying something about it.”

She decided to try the jam. “Not really. I think Darcy covered it all.”

“There!” He jabbed an accusing finger. “You’re on her side.”

“Of course.” She smiled now. “So are you.”

He shoved back from the table and began to pace. In sympathy, Finn came out from under the table to pace with him. “She thinks she can handle this, handle him. The girl sees herself as sophisticated and worldly. Christ, Jude, she’s been sheltered all her life. She hasn’t had the time or opportunities to know.”

Jude set her toast aside. “Aidan, some are born knowing.”

“Be that as it may, she’s never come up against a man like Magee. He’s a slick one. I think he’s a good man, an honest one, but slick all the same. I don’t want him using my sister.”

“Is that how you see it?”

“I can’t see it, and that’s the problem. But I know he’s handsome and he’s rich and however much Darcy’s always joked about landing herself just that, he could dazzle her. And dazzled, how can she see where she’s going?”

“Aidan,” Jude said softly, “how can you?”

“I don’t want her hurt.”

“I do.”

Shock simply robbed him of speech. He stared at his wife, laid a hand on the back of his chair, and managed to find his voice. “How could you say such a thing? How could you want Darcy hurt?”

“If he can hurt her, he matters. Aidan, no man’s ever really mattered to her. They’ve been, well, toys, amusements, diversions. Don’t you want her to find someone who matters?”

“Of course I do. But I can’t see it being Magee.” Annoyed, he began to pace again. “Not when both of them are thinking with their glands.” He shook his head. “Trips to London. Barely know each other and it’s trips to London.”

“I walked into a smoky pub on a rainy night, and there you were. My life changed, and I didn’t even know who you were.”

He stopped pacing. Love too huge to measure swelled in his heart. “A one in a million for us.” He sat, reached across the table for her hands. “And fate played a part.”

“Maybe it’s playing one now.”

His eyes narrowed. “You’re thinking this has something to do with the legend? The last part of it?”

“I think there’s one Gallagher left. One heart not yet touched or offered or given. And I think it’s interesting—no, it’s fascinating—that Trevor Magee is in Ardmore. As a writer . . .” She paused a moment, because it was still thrilling to know she was a writer. “I’d have trouble believing it’s just coincidence. The old family connection, Darcy’s a Fitzgerald on your mother’s side, and cousin to Maude. Trevor’s great-uncle was Maude’s one and only love. They lost each other, just as Gwen and Carrick lost each other.”

“That’s just your imagination, and your romantic side taking over, Jude Frances.”

“Is it?” She shrugged. “We’ll have to wait and see, won’t we?”

She wasn’t waiting for anything. Alice Mae was already on her way in, and Betsy had been delighted at the offer of two days’ work. Pleased with herself, Darcy breezed through the kitchen and straight out the back door.

It was a bit of a shock to step out and into the solid gray block walls and lumber bones of the breezeway that would connect the two structures. Already, she thought, there was some form to it, recognizable even to her untutored eye. Men stood on scaffolding, hammering or drilling or riveting. How could she tell through all the noise?

Someone, a very optimistic someone, to her mind, was playing a radio. All she could hear from it was a tinkle and squawk that might have been music.

She saw the way the roof would curve in a kind of arch, the rafters thick to echo the feel of those that had held the pub for generations.

Unexpectedly, she felt a twinge, and recognized it as pride. Gallagher’s was the root, and the theater a branch on the tree.

She walked through, mindful of the cables and cords that snaked over the subflooring. She’d already spotted Trevor, up on the scaffolding platform at the far end where the breezeway widened. His tool belt was slung at his waist, and there was some clever power tool buzzing in his hand. He wore tinted glasses, as much for protection from flying wood and concrete dust, she supposed, as a shield against the mild sunlight.

He looked rough and ready and exactly right for her mood.

She stopped beneath him, waiting, aware that many of the men were looking at her rather than going safely about their business. Mick O’Toole sauntered by, a bundle of rebar balanced over his shoulder.

“You’re distracting our crew, pretty Darcy.”

“I won’t be but a minute. How’s it all going, then, Mr. O’Toole?”

“Himself knows what he wants and how he wants it. As I’m in agreement with him, it couldn’t be going better.”

“Will it be wonderful?”

“It will. A credit to Ardmore. Watch your step here now, darling. Lots to trip over hereabouts.”

“I’ve thought of that,” she murmured. There was a great deal to trip over when it came to Trevor Magee.

When Mick headed off, she looked back up and saw it was Trevor who waited now. That was more like it.

“A word with you, Mr. Magee?” she shouted up.

“What can I do for you, Miss Gallagher?”

So, he wouldn’t trouble to come down. That was fine.She skimmed her hair back from her shoulder. “I need today and tomorrow to train a new part-time waitress. But I’m at your disposal come Thursday if that suits you.”

Anticipation curled in his gut, but he merely nodded. “We’ll leave Thursday morning, then. I’ll pick you up at six.”

“That’s a very early start.”

“Why waste time?”

For a beat, they only watched each other. “Why, indeed?”

She turned, strolled back into the kitchen. And when the door was closed did a quick victory dance.

TEN

AFTER CONSIDERABLE DEBATE and weighing of the pros and cons, Darcy decided to be on time. Her reasons for breaking precedent were purely selfish, and she didn’t mind admitting it. She wanted to enjoy every minute of her two days off.

She’d packed light, which hadn’t been an easy feat for her, and because of it the chore had taken her hours. Planning, debating, discarding. She’d raided her wish jar, something she did only for the most important of events. But she needed to buy something wonderful to commemorate the trip, didn’t she?

For two days she’d worked like a mule to be certain her responsibilities at the pub were well covered. In lieu of sleep she’d given herself a manicure, a pedicure, and a facial to make certain she presented as polished an image as she could manage.

She’d selected her lingerie with the canniness and foresight of a general preparing for battle.

Trevor Magee wouldn’t know what hit him—once she allowed him to seduce her.

The idea had odd little nerves fluttering in her stomach. And she wanted to be, had to be, calm, cool, cosmopolitan. She had no intention of playing the culchie — country bumpkin—in London or in bed. Part of the problem was Trevor was exactly as Aidan had described him.

Slick.

It didn’t matter if he dressed in work clothes and sweated along with his crew or waded through the mud hauling supplies. Still, beneath the sweat and dirt was a gloss that came from privilege, education, and wealth.

She’d met other men from privilege. The fact was, she’d honed the skill of recognizing, and separating from the pack, those trust fund babies on tour or holiday.

But, a trust fund babe Trevor was not, and she thought never had been. With all his wealth he worked, and the power of both the rewards and the labor sat well on him. That earned her respect, and Darcy gave her respect sparingly.

She’d never known anyone quite like him. And while that intrigued her, it also made her wary.

Added to it all, layered through the observations and the interest, was the not so simple fact that she wanted him. She’d never wanted a man with quite so much focus and intensity. She wanted his hands on her, his mouth on hers. His body on hers.

In the few hours she’d slept the night before, she’d dreamed of him. Strange, confused dreams. In them he’d come to her on a white winged horse, and together they’d flown over a sea as blue as sapphire, over the damp green fields of home, through pearly light toward a silver palace where trees had dripped with golden apples and silver pears, and the music that rose into the air was enough to break the heart.

In the dream, for that short, misty time, she was in love. In a way she’d never thought she could be, had never been certain she wanted to be. So completely, blindly, joyfully in love that nothing seemed to matter but those moments with him.

He’d said only one thing to her as they’d flown through sunlight, moonlight, faerie light.

Everything. And more.

All she could say, all she could feel as she turned her body to his, laid her cheek upon his was, You. You’re everything, and more.

She’d meant it, with everything she had inside her, all she would ever have, would ever be. And waking, she’d wished she could feel that again, so much power of emotion. But she’d lost it in dreams and could only smile at her own fancies.

Neither she nor Trevor wanted fancies.

At six on the dot, she carried her bag downstairs, and her heart thumped with anticipation. What would she see and do and taste over the next forty-eight hours?

Everything . The thought elated her. And more.

She took one last scan of the pub, tidy and scrubbed. Sinead, Betsy, and Alice Mae should surely be able to handle what she often did alone. She’d drummed the routine into their heads and had left a written list as a backup. Satisfied, she let herself out and promised not to give the pub a single thought until she stepped foot in it again.

It was the dot of six.

It pleased her to see Trevor pull up to the curb as she walked out. They were of a mind, then, she thought. Things would go smoother because of it.

It surprised her to see he was wearing a suit. Italian, she imagined when he got out of the car to take her luggage. Blisteringly pricey, she was sure, but not a bit flashy. The stone gray matched his eyes well, and the shirt and tie were all of a hue, so the look was smartly European.

Power, she thought again. Yes, he wore it very well.

“Well, now, look at you.” Deliberately she fingered his sleeve as he loaded her luggage into the boot. “Aren’t you pretty this morning?”

“I have a meeting.” He closed the boot, then went around to open her door. “The timing’s a little tight.” He got a whiff of her as she slid past him and wished the meeting and all its participants straight to hell.

She waited until he was in the driver’s seat. “I’d think a man in your position could call his own time.”

“You do that and you bring one more thing into a meeting that usually bogs things up. Ego.”

“But I’ve noticed you’ve got one.”

He swung away from the curb. “The trick’s recognizing it. I’ve arranged for a car and driver to meet us at Heathrow. He’ll take you to the house so you can settle in. He’ll be at your disposal through the day if you want to sightsee or shop.”

“Will he?” Imagine that. “Well, that’s considerate of you.”

“I’ll have more free time tomorrow, but today’s packed.” He glanced at her. “I should be done by six this evening. We have dinner reservations at eight. Does that suit you?”

“Perfectly.”

“Good. My assistant faxed over several points of interest. I have the file in my briefcase. You can take a look during the flight to help you plan what you’d like to do today.”

“That’s a lovely thought, and I’ll do just that. But you needn’t worry that I’ll have trouble entertaining myself.”

He glanced over. She wore a trim jacket and slacks of slate blue, and had matched them with a soft, faintly shimmering blouse the color of roses drenched in cream. The choice was more than stylish. It was cleverly, completely female.

“No, I don’t imagine you will.”

Inexplicably miffed that she wouldn’t be wandering aimlessly, missing him, waiting for him, he fell into silence.

More like a business arrangement than a . . . what the hell was it, anyway? An assignation? He didn’t care for the word. But he didn’t suppose “romance” fit the situation either. Neither of them was the starry-eyed type. They wanted what they wanted. Better to be up front and systematic about it.

But it irritated him nonetheless.

They arrived at Waterford’s airport on schedule. And it was there Darcy got her first taste of what a man who walked in wealth could command. Their luggage was whisked away, and they were guided through security with a great deal of “This way, Mr. Magee” and “I hope you enjoy your trip, Mr. Magee.”

Remembering the hassles and glitches in her recent travel to Paris, Darcy reaffirmed her determination to travel first class or not to travel at all. But even her imagining of top drawer took a bump when Trevor led her out on the tarmac toward a sleek little plane.

“Is this yours?”

“The company’s,” he told her, taking her arm for the short trip up the steps. “I do a lot of traveling, so it’s more convenient to have my own transportation.”

She stepped inside and had to struggle not to gasp. “I bet it is.”

The seats were done in rich navy leather and were sized generously. Crystal vases were tucked into silver holders on the cream-colored walls between the windows. Each held a dewy bouquet of fresh yellow rosebuds. Her feet sank into the carpet.

A uniformed flight attendant with a polite smile and flawless skin greeted her by name, then asked if she would care for a mimosa before takeoff.

Champagne for breakfast, she thought. Just imagine that. “That would be lovely, thank you.”

“Coffee for me, Monica. Want a tour?” he asked Darcy.

“I would, yes.” Hoping she wasn’t gawking, Darcy set down her purse.

“Galley’s through here.”

She peeked in and saw that the efficient Monica already had coffee brewing and was popping the cork on a bottle of champagne. The small space seemed to use every inch resourcefully, and stainless-steel surfaces gleamed.

“Cockpit.” Trevor gestured through the already open door. The man sitting at a panel of complicated-looking controls swiveled in his chair. “Ready when you are, Mr.Magee. Good morning, Miss Gallagher. You can look forward to a short but smooth flight into Heathrow.”

“Thank you. Do you fly this plane all by yourself? With no copilot?”

“It’s a one-man operation,” he told her. “But I don’t need a copilot when Mr. Magee’s on board.”

“Is that so? Do you fly, then, Trevor?”

“Occasionally. Give us ten minutes, Donald, then clear with the tower.”

“Yes, sir.”

“We have a lot of interests in Europe,” Trevor began as he led Darcy back through the main cabin. “We use this equipment primarily for the short-range flights over here.”

“And for the longer flights?”

“We have larger equipment.” He opened a door. Inside was an office complete with what looked to be a trim antique desk, a computer console, a wall screen for viewing videos, and a bed. She caught a glimpse of the bath through a side door. Everything gleamed.

“All the creature comforts and the business ones as well.”

“You do better with the second if you have the first. Celtic’s relatively young at six years, but it’s growing, and it’s profitable.”

“Ah, so the London business has to do with Celtic Records, then.”

“For the most part, yes. If you need something and don’t see it, just ask.”

She turned back to him. “I see everything I need.”

He lifted a hand to toy with the ends of her hair. “Good. Let’s get started.”

“Haven’t we already?” she murmured as they walked back to their seats.

Darcy settled in, accepted the glinting flute holding her mimosa, and prepared to have the time of her life.

The pilot was a man of his word. The flight was short and smooth. As far as Darcy was concerned, she could have flown for hours and been thrilled. She’d made casual small talk until she’d realized Trevor was distracted. About his upcoming meetings, she imagined, and left him to his planning while she looked over the list of suggestions from his assistant.

God, yes, she wanted to see it. All of it. Hyde Park and Harrods, Buckingham Palace and Chelsea. She wanted to experience the wild traffic of the streets and the grand shade of the great parks.

The trip through Heathrow was hardly more complex than the airport at home. Money paves the way, she thought as they slid through customs. Still, she hadn’t expected the car and driver he’d arranged for her to be a limo and a chauffeur. Words stuttered into her throat and were ruthlessly swallowed down again until she could smile up at Trevor easily.

“Are we dropping you at your meeting, then?”

“No, opposite directions. I’ll see you this evening.”

“Good luck with your work.” She started to take the driver’s offered hand, to slip into the limo as she’d practiced doing in her mind. Smoothly, gracefully, as if she’d done it all her life.

But Trevor took her arm, said her name, and had her looking back up at him, lips just curved.

Then she was yanked up on her toes, her hands clutching at his shoulders for balance, her mouth gloriously assaulted. The swift change of mood from coolheaded businessman to hot-blooded lover was so swift, so complete, so erotic.

Before the moan could slither from heart to throat to lips, he released her. After one smoldering look, he nodded in what might have been satisfaction.

“Enjoy your day,” he told her, and left her standing, nearly swaying, beside the discreetly blank-eyed driver and the open limo door.

She managed to slide in. The fact was, her bones were so loose it felt as though she was pouring herself into the rarefied air inside the limo, scented with roses and leather.

It took every ounce of will to click herself back, to absorb and appreciate her first ride in a long, quiet car. She trailed her fingers along the seat. Butter-smooth and the color of storm clouds. Like his eyes just moments before, she thought.

The driver seemed to be a full block away behind the smoked-glass privacy screen. Determined to remember every detail, Darcy noted the television, the crystal glasses, the shimmer of lights along the roof, and the window in it. She relaxed to the romantic sweep of classical music already playing over the stereo. And as she started to stretch out her legs and purr, she finally spotted the slim box on the seat beside her.

It was wrapped in gold with a silver ribbon. She snatched at it, then, wincing, glanced toward the driver.A woman of the world would hardly dive into a gift. She’d be so used to them as to nearly be bored.

Chuckling to herself, Darcy opened the small envelope.

Welcome to London. Trev.

“Doesn’t miss a trick, does he?” Darcy said to herself. “Well, good for me.” Assured that the driver wasn’t paying attention, she picked at the tape with her fingernail. She didn’t want to tear the paper. Wallowing in anticipation, she tucked both the ribbon and the gift wrap, carefully folded, into her purse, then took a breath, held it.

Opened the long velvet box.

“Oh, Mother of God.” She yelped it, forgot about the driver, about sophistication. About everything but the outrageous sparkle currently dazzling her eyes.

Gaping, she held the bracelet up, letting the glinting stones stream down like water. It was slim, and might have been delicate if not for all those bold colors. Surely that was emerald and ruby and sapphire and all framed by diamonds as brilliant as the sun.

Never in her life had she touched anything so beautiful, so fine, so ridiculously expensive. She really shouldn’t accept it. She’d only just try it on. See how it looked. How it felt.

It looked gorgeous and felt even better.

As she turned her wrist, watched it wink, felt that almost liquid slide of gold over her skin, she decided she’d rather cut off her hand than give the bracelet back.

Her conscience would just have to adjust.

She spent so much time admiring the bracelet she nearly missed the thrill of the drive through London.When she snapped back she had to struggle with the urge to roll down the window and lean out. To take in everything all at once.

What to see first, she wondered, what to do? It was all so much to squeeze into two short days. She would unpack her things quickly and dive straight in.

She began outlining her stops as she watched London sweep by. When the limo stopped in front of a dignified town house she frowned and searched for the hotel.

No, she remembered with a jolt. Trevor had said “house,” not “hotel.” The man lived three thousand miles away in New York City and had a house in London.

Would wonders never cease?

Composing herself, she took the driver’s hand when he came around to her door.

“I’ll bring your bags straight in, Miss Gallagher.”

“Thank you very much.” She crossed over and started up the short set of steps between rigorously formal hedges, hoping she looked as though she knew what she was doing.

The door opened before she’d worked out whether she should knock or just go inside. A tall, slim man with a fringe of white hair bowed to her. “Miss Gallagher. I hope your trip was pleasant. I’m Stiles, Mr. Magee’s butler. We’re pleased to welcome you.”

“Thank you.” She started to offer her hand, stopped. That probably wasn’t done, particularly with British butlers.

“Would you care to see your room, or may we offer you some refreshment?”

“Ah, I’d like to see my room, if that’s convenient.”

“Of course. I’ll see to your luggage. Winthrup will show you upstairs.”

Winthrup moved forward with barely a sound, a wisp of a woman in the same formal black as the butler. Her hair was a colorless ash, quietly styled, her eyes pale as water behind thick lenses.

“Good morning, Miss Gallagher. If you’ll follow me, I’ll see you settled.”

Don’t gawk, you idiot . Trying desperately for casual, Darcy crossed the gleaming golden wood of the foyer, walked under the magnificence of the central chandelier, and started up the grandeur of the staircase.

She couldn’t say it was like a palace. It was too ruthlessly dignified for that. Like a museum, she thought, all polished and hushed and intimidating.

There was art on the walls, but she didn’t dare take time to study it. The walls themselves must have been papered in silk, so smooth and rich did they appear. She had to curl her fingers to keep them from touching.

The housekeeper, as she imagined Winthrup was the housekeeper, led the way down a corridor wainscoted in deep, rich wood. Darcy wondered how many rooms there were, how they were furnished, what she would see from the windows. Then Winthrup opened a deeply carved door onto luxury.

The bed was big as a lake, its four posters spearing toward the deeply coved ceiling. Darcy didn’t know what sort of rugs were spread over the polished floor, but she could tell they were old and magnificent.

Everything—chest of drawers, bureaus, mirrors, tables—was polished to mirror gleams. Dozens of white roses bloomed out of a crystal vase that she imagined weighed ten pounds if it weighed an ounce.

Draperies of deep forest green were tied back with gold tassels, framing the glinting glass.

There was a fireplace fashioned out of white marble veined with rose, and towering candlesticks flanked the mantel. More flowers, lilies this time, in that same blinding white stood in the center.

A cozy arrangement, plush chairs, polished tables, was set in a way that invited her to settle in.

“The sitting room is to the right and the master bath to the left.” Winthrup folded her thin hands. “Would you like me to unpack for you now, or would you prefer to rest a bit first?”

“I . . .” Darcy feared she might swallow her tongue. “Actually, I . . . no, I don’t need to rest, thank you just the same.”

“I’ll be happy to show you around the house if you like.”

“Do you think I might just wander about a bit?”

“Of course. Mr. Magee hopes you’ll make yourself at home here. You’ve only to push nine on the house phone to reach me, and eight to reach Stiles. Perhaps you’d like to freshen up.”

“I would, thank you very much.” On rubbery legs, Darcy started toward the bath. The hell with it, she thought, turned back. “Miss Winthrup, it’s a lovely room.”

Winthrup’s smile was as wispy as the rest of her, but it managed to soften her face a little. “Yes, it is.”

Darcy walked into the bath, deliberately shut her eyes and leaned back on the door. She felt as though she were in a play, or one of her own more creative dreams. But she wasn’t. It was real. She could feel her heart beating in her chest, and little thrills of sheer pleasure dancing over her skin.

She sighed once, then opened her eyes to simply grin at the bathroom.

They must’ve taken out another room to make it so large, she imagined. More flowers graced the long counter between two oval sinks. The tiles, floor, and walls were of a soft seafoam green, so it seemed you were in some lovely underwater fantasy.

The tub, with its wide ledge covered with lush, ferny plants, was surely big enough for three. The shower was separate, a room in itself, she thought as she moved closer to investigate. Behind the waving glass were a half a dozen nozzles. She imagined it was like bathing in a waterfall and nearly stripped down to the skin then and there to see if she was right.

More crystal was set about, little bowls and dishes holding fragrant soaps or rose petals, pretty bottles holding bath oils and bath salts and creams. She sat on a padded bench at a separate counter obviously designed for milady and studied her own flushed and delighted face in the mirror.

“You’ve arrived, haven’t you?”

Throughout his first meeting, and his second, Trevor kept Darcy tucked away. Or nearly. She had a baffling habit of popping out of the corner where he wanted her. Sliding out was more like it, he mused. Sneakily, sinuously sliding into his mind when it needed to be focused elsewhere.

He glanced at his watch, again. There were hours yet before he could afford to focus on her. But when he did, by God, he’d make sure the wait was worth it.

“Trev?”

“Hmm?” When he realized he was scowling, he smoothed out his features, waved a hand in apology. “Sorry, Nigel. My mind wandered.”

“That’s a new one.”

Nigel Kelsey, the head of the London arm of Celtic Records, had a sharp eye, and sharper ears. He’d been with Trevor at Oxford, where they’d clicked. When the time had come to expand his personal baby into the international arena, Trevor had put the responsibility into Nigel’s trusted hands.

“Just shuffling items in my head. Let’s flip Shawn Gallagher to the top of the list.”

“Happy to.” Nigel sat back in his chair. He rarely used his desk, thought of it primarily as a prop.

He’d been earmarked to follow his father, and his father’s father, into law, a fate that even now caused him to shudder. He hadn’t wanted to thumb his nose at family tradition, precisely, but he was much happier putting what education he had to use doing something entertaining. Celtic Records was vastly entertaining, even if his old friend did run a tight ship. A tight ship, and a profitable one, Nigel thought now.

A ship that visited such fascinating ports. Part of his responsibilities, and he took them seriously, included attending parties, events, entertaining the talent. And doing it all on expense account.

“I’m negotiating with him one on one,” Trevor continued. “Two on one, if we count his wife. And we should. I’ve advised him to get an agent.” Nigel seemed a bit surprised, but Trevor only shrugged. “I like him, Nigel. And I intend to deal straight with him, since he won’t go through a representative.”

“You deal straight in any case, Trev. I’m the one who doesn’t mind slipping a card from the bottom of the deck now and again. Just to liven things up.”

“Not with him. Instinct tells me we’ve got a prize here, one that if left to his own pace will pay off for years.”

“I agree with you. His work’s brilliant, and very marketable.”

“There’s more.”

“Is there?” Nigel puzzled again when Trevor rose to wander the office. It was a rare thing to see Trevor restless, to have the man let any restlessness show. Even to him. “I thought there might be when you scheduled this meeting in the middle of your other project.”

“He has a brother and a sister. I want the three of them to record his stuff, for the first release.”

Nigel frowned, drummed his hand, which was studded with rings. “Must be some brother and sister.”

“Believe me.”

“Still, Trev, you know it would be easier to market this package using an established artist.”

“I’m leaving it to you to find a way around that.” With a faint smile, Trevor turned back. “I’ve heard them. I want you to come to Ardmore for a couple of days. You listen, and if you think I’m wrong about this, we’ll talk again.”

“Ardmore.” Nigel winced, then twisted the tiny gold hoop in his earlobe. “Jesus, Trev, what’s an avowed ur-banite like myself going to do in a barely-on-the-map Irish seaside village?”

“Listen,” Trevor said simply. “There’s something about the Gallaghers, but before I push the point with them or with you, I want you to see and hear for yourself. I want an objective opinion.”

“And when hasn’t your own been objective?”

“There’s something about the Gallaghers,” Trevor said again. “Something about Ardmore, the area.” Unconsciously, he fingered the silver disk resting under his shirt. “Maybe it’s the goddamn air, I don’t know. I want you to come over. I want your take on it.”

Nigel lifted his hands, let them fall. “You’re the boss. I suppose I should see what there is about this place that’s caused you to sink so much time, money, and effort into your theater brainstorm.”

“It wasn’t a brainstorm. It’s a very solid business concept. Don’t snort,” Trevor warned, anticipating him.

“I never snort. I do occasionally guffaw, but I’ll resist.”

“Good. I have a new piece from Shawn Gallagher.” Trevor walked over, retrieved the sheet music from his briefcase. “Take a look.”

Nigel only smiled. “Rather hear it,” he said and gestured to the piano across the room.

“All right, but he’s orchestrated it for guitar, violin, and flute.”

“I’ll get the idea.” Nigel closed his eyes as Trevor walked to the piano. He himself couldn’t play a note, but he had an uncanny sense of music nonetheless.

And his antenna began to quiver as Trevor played the opening bars.

Quick, Nigel thought, lively, subtly sexy, and fun. Yes, Trevor was right, as always. They had a gold mine in Shawn Gallagher. And it wouldn’t hurt to meet the man face-to-face, he supposed, even if it did mean traveling to Ireland. God help him.

He listened, nodding to himself, then grinning when Trevor sang the lyrics. His friend had a strong voice, and still an easy one. But the words needed a female. Nigel recognized it at once.

I’ll have your hand

I’ll have your heart

I’ll have them all together.

For if you think I’ll settle for part,

Prepare for stormy weather.

Yes, a woman’s song, confident, even arrogant and sexy.

He opened his eyes again, and grinned as Trevor played it out. He wasn’t an easy sell, but his foot was tapping before the song was done.

“The man’s a fucking genius,” Nigel declared. “ Simple, straightforward lyrics in a tangle of complicated notes. Not everyone can sing that one and punch it.”

“No, but I have someone in mind who can. Make arrangements for Ardmore, Nigel.”

Nigel took a pull on the designer water that was never beyond arm’s reach. “If I must, I must. Now, is that the bulk of the business on our slate this afternoon?”

“The bulk, yes. Why?”

“Because I’d like to know, as an old and trusted friend, just what’s crawling around under your skin. You’re nervy, Trev, and it’s not usual for you.”

He didn’t like that it showed, was going to make damn sure it didn’t before he saw Darcy again. “There’s a woman.”

“Son, there’s always a woman.”

“Not like this one. I brought her with me.”

“Oh, did you now? That’s a new one.” Each word was stretched long and full of meaning. “And when do I get to have a look at her?”

Trevor sat again, ordered himself to relax. “Come to Ardmore,” he said and directed the conversation back to business.

ELEVEN

SHE WASN’T QUITE sure how to play it, and it did seem like being onstage. Should she be sitting in the splendor of the parlor having tea or a cocktail when Trevor returned? Or would it be more casual and sophisticated if she were up in the sitting room, passing the time with a book?

Perhaps she should take a walk and not be there at all.

In the end, not being sure of the lines or motivations of the character she appeared to be playing, Darcy prepared to dress for the evening. She took her time about it, and that was a luxury itself. Having buckets of time to loll in the bath, to make use of the lovely scented creams that were set about in antique bottles.

Better to be ready, she decided as she smoothed the silky lotion on her legs, and avoid any awkwardness of just how and where the two of them were going to dress for dinner. Sex, as she saw it, was the final act in today’s play, and she had to admit she was both eager for and nervous about the performance.

Yes, much wiser to meet him in the sophisticated mode, wearing the little black dress. She would indeed go down, have a cocktail, so when he came in she would be sitting in that almost terrifyingly formal parlor, all sort of lady-of-the-manorish.

Winthrup would probably serve little canapeÉs—or did the butler do that? Well, no matter. She could offer him one as if she did such things every day.

That was just how to play the part.

When scented and polished, she stepped out of the bath to the bedroom just as Trevor stepped in from the hall, her stomach did a shaky flip. Time to ad-lib, she thought and put on her best smile.

“Well, hello, there. I thought you’d be another hour or more.”

“I finished up early today.” He kept his eyes on hers as he closed the door behind him. “And how was your day?”

“Lovely, thank you.” Why couldn’t she get her legs to move? It would be far better if she could just stroll across the room. “I hope yours was successful.”

“It was worth the trip.”

As he stepped forward, she managed to shove herself away from the door, moved to the little table where she’d laid the bracelet. “I want to thank you for this. It’s beautiful, and extravagant, which is nearly as important. We both know I shouldn’t accept it.”

He closed the distance between them and, taking the bracelet, circled it around her wrist. “And we both know you will.” He fastened it with a quiet click that echoed in her head.

“I suppose we do. I’ve a hard time resisting the beautiful and extravagant.”

“Why resist?” Firmly, possessively, he laid his hands on her shoulders, ran them down the arms of her robe. “I don’t intend to.”

It wasn’t the way he’d planned it. He’d imagined it all very civilized. Drinks, then the sort of elegant dinner she’d enjoy, a quiet ride home, then a smooth, practiced seduction that would please them both.

But here she was, in that long robe, her skin warm and fragrant from her bath, her eyes wary and watchful.

Why resist?

His gaze held hers as he loosened the tie of her robe. He watched the heat flicker in that deep, deep blue, heard the quick and quiet catch of her breath. Lowering his mouth to hers, he captured that breath, skimmed his hands under the thin material to trail his fingers up and down her sides.

“Now.” He murmured it, surprised that he had to fight off a shudder at just the touch of his fingertips to her flesh.

“Well, then.” She let her body have its way, lifted her arms around him.

He meant to go slowly, to savor, to take them both up level by level. But the moment her mouth answered his, the instant her body pressed to his, greed swallowed him. It was as if he’d been waiting his whole life to taste this, to touch this, to have this.

He jerked the robe off her shoulders and set his teeth on her.

She gave a muffled cry, both pleasure and shock. In that flash of heat, she forgot all about role playing, motivation, consequences. Desperate for more, she tugged at his jacket, yanked and pulled until it was in a heap on the floor. His mouth was savaging hers, her hands dragging at his tie as they stumbled to the bed.

Light going dim with evening poured through the windows, and the busy sounds of London traffic swished and coughed on the street below. The grand clock in the hall struck the hour of five. Then the only sound in the room were gasps and murmurs.

She rolled with him over the luxurious duvet, sinking in, sliding over. Her fingers fought with the buttons of his shirt, and his pulled her robe aside. The weight of him pushed her deep into the covers, like sinking into clouds of silk, she thought, then he took her breast in his mouth and she didn’t think at all.

Fire and light and the sharp saber points of desire, the wild, unsteady roll of sheer lust. It filled her, and burned in the blood, and pushed a raw cry of delight from her throat.

“Hurry.” She all but chanted it. “Hurry, hurry, hurry.” She’d die without him inside her. Frantically she struggled with the hook of his trousers.

His fingers shook. The roar in his head was a thousand waves pounding on a thousand rocks. All he knew was that to wait a moment longer would destroy him.

Her hips arched toward him, and he drove into her in one violent thrust.

Their twin groans rippled the air, and their eyes met— shock mirroring shock. For a heartbeat, then two, they stared at each other.

Then it was all movement, a frantic mating driven by hot blood. Flesh against flesh, the ragged strain of quickened breath, the low cry of a woman at peak. Bodies plunged together in a slick and sensuous dance.

She came again, staggered that there could be so much, so very much. As her hands slid limply onto the rumpled covers, she felt him fall with her. And thought he said her name.

She lay still, wrecked, wonderfully wrecked, with his face buried in her hair and his long, lovely body pressing hers into the bed. Now she knew, she thought, just what happened when his control snapped. And oh, it was a wild and marvelous thing.

His heart still hammered, she could feel it knocking against hers. Drifting on that gilded plateau of contentment, she turned her head and skimmed her lips over his shoulder.

That one gesture had him opening his eyes, struggling to clear his head again. She seemed soft as water under him, limp as melted wax and nothing like the frenzied woman who’d urged him to hurry. He knew he’d have taken her fast and hard in any case. He’d never needed anything, anyone, the way he’d needed Darcy at that moment. As if his very survival depended upon it.

A dangerous woman, he thought. And found he didn’t give a damn. He wanted her again. And again.

“Don’t go to sleep,” he murmured.

“I’m not.” But her voice was thick and rough and at the sound of it his blood heated once more. “I’m just considerably relaxed.” She opened her eyes and pondered the plasterwork of scrolls and stars on the ceiling. “And enjoying the view.”

“Late eighteenth century.”

“Isn’t that interesting?” Amused, she stretched under him like a cat, then ran her hands over his back, more for her pleasure than his. “Would that be Georgian or rococo? I never can keep my historical periods straight.”

It made him grin and lift his head to look down at her. “I’ll give you the full tour with a lesson later if you like. But just now . . .” He began to move inside her again.

“Oh, well, now,” she murmured. “You’re a healthy one, aren’t you?”

“If you don’t have your health”—he lowered his head, bit her lip—“you don’t have anything.”

He was a man of his word and took her to dinner. French food served elegantly enough to soothe, fussily enough to amuse, with wine designed to turn golden on the tongue. The surroundings—gilt mirrors, quiet colors, candlelight glowing in crystal—suited her, Trevor thought. No one looking at the stunning woman in the sleek and simple black dress would imagine her waiting tables in an Irish pub.

Another skill of hers, he decided, a chameleon’s ability to alter her image at will. The sassy barmaid, the heartbreaking singer, the sexy delight, the breezy sophisticate.

And which, he wondered, was Darcy Gallagher, at the heart?

He waited until she was sipping champagne with her elaborate dessert before he touched on business.

“One of my meetings today involved you.”

She glanced over, momentarily distracted from her debate of whether eating every bite of that fancy and extraordinary concoction on her plate would be bourgeois.

“Me? Oh, you mean the theater?”

“No, though I had some dealings regarding that, too.”

She decided she could safely eat half of it without looking like a complete bumpkin, and spooned up a glorious combination of cream and chocolate. “What other business might I be a part of?”

“Celtic Records.” He gauged his rhythm. One more aspect of her was the businesswoman, and he didn’t underestimate that side of her.

She frowned a little, lifted her glass. “For the recording of Shawn’s music, and the performance at the opening. That’s a family decision and a family enterprise, I suppose you’d call it. I think we’ll be willing to come to terms on that.”

“I hope you will.” Casually, he sampled a bite of her dessert. “But that isn’t what I meant. I’m speaking of you, Darcy, specifically, exclusively.”

Her pulse jumped, so she set the champagne down again. “Exclusively, in what way exactly?”

“I want your voice.”

“Ah.” She squashed the hard jolt of disappointment. It had no place here, she told herself. “Is that why you brought me here, Trevor?”

“In part. And that part is totally separate from what happened this evening.”

When his hand covered hers, she glanced down, studied the way they fit. Then, because that was too romantic a notion for comfort, she looked back up at him. “ Naturally such matters must remain separate, or they’re altogether a mess, aren’t they? You wouldn’t be a man who usually pursues, what would it be, clients, in this sort of way.”

He drew back from her, his eyes going hard as stone. “I don’t use sex as a lever, if that’s what you mean. Being lovers has nothing whatsoever to do with any of our business dealings.”

“Of course not. And if we could only have one or the other, which would it be?”

“That,” he said stiffly, “would be up to you.”

“I see.” She managed a faint smile. “That’s good to know. You’ll excuse me a moment, won’t you?”

She needed to gather herself, to give her head and heart a chance to settle. Leaving him frowning after her, she walked to the ladies’ room, where she could lean on the pretty tiled counter and get hold of herself.

What was wrong with her? The man was offering her a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, one that was hers to take or discard as she pleased. Why should it hurt? Why did it leave her feeling not just unsettled but unhappy as well?

Somehow she had come to weave romantic notions around Trevor Magee without even being aware of doing so. And those notions, those imaginings, had him caring for her. Caring for who she was, with all her many flaws. Caring with no strings attached, no outside interests connected. Just caring, she thought, and closing her eyes, she lowered herself to sit on the padded stool in front of the mirror.

Her own fault, of course. He stirred something in her that no one else ever had. And he’d come very close, dangerously close, to touching something so deep in her heart that she had trouble recognizing just what it was.

But she thought she could fall in love with him, with very little effort. And perhaps no encouragement at all. Then what?

Steadying herself, she looked in the mirror. Face the facts, Darcy. A man like Trevor didn’t tie himself permanently to a woman of her background and limitations. Sure, she could present herself well, play the game skillfully, but under it all she was and would forever be Darcy Gallagher of Ardmore, who worked the family pub.

Another type of man she could twist around her finger and make him forget such mundane matters. And hadn’t she always planned to? Hadn’t she hoped to find a fine, wealthy man one day who would fall under her spell and give her a life full of luxury? She’d have been willing to fall in love, or at least to have a great fondness for the man who fit the bill. She’d have wanted to respect him and enjoy him and would have given him all her affection and her loyalty in return.

That wasn’t shameful.

But Trevor wasn’t a man who would see only a pleasing face. He’d just given her proof of that. Business was very much a part of what he wanted from her, and a deal for mutual profit marched alongside the attraction.

Passion, she thought, such as they’d found in each other, would flame high and fizzle out. She didn’t have to be a romantic like Jude to know that passion without love was short-lived.

So . . . it was best to be sensible and to take as much of both parts he offered her as she pleased. She rose, squared her shoulders, and went out to join him.

He’d ordered coffee and was brooding into it. He wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or baffled that the sorrow he was certain had been in her eyes when she’d risen wasn’t there as she sat across from him again.

“I’m not sure I made myself clear,” he began, but she shook her head, smiled easily.

“No, you did. But I wanted a moment to think.” She picked up her spoon, had another taste of dessert. “First, tell me about Celtic Records. You said, on the plane, the company is six years old.”

“That’s right. I had an interest in music, traditional in particular. My mother’s fond of it.”

“Is she?”

“She’s fourth generation. You’d think she’d been born in a crofter’s cottage in County Mayo. She’s fiercely Irish.”

“So you started the company for your mother.”

“No.” Then he found himself fumbling, frowning. Of course he had, in a very real way. Why hadn’t he realized that before? For God’s sake, he’d even named it for her. “Partly. I suppose.”

“I think that’s a lovely thing.” And made her want to stroke his hair. “Why does it befuddle you?”

“It’s business.”

“So’s the pub, but it’s family as well. I like your Celtic Records more for knowing it’s both. It’s more important to you, and you’ll take more care of it, because it’s both. I prefer considering dealings with a company that’s well cared for.”

“This one is. And so are the artists we sign. We’re based in New York, but we’ve cracked the international market, so we have an office here. And we’ll open one in Dublin within the year.”

We, thought Darcy, almost never did he say I when speaking of it. She doubted it was modesty, but more a keen sense and appreciation of teamwork. It made her think of the pub again, and she nodded. “What kind of arrangement are you looking for? Business-wise,” she added, pleased when his eyes narrowed.

“A standard recording contract.”

“Well, now, I wouldn’t know what that entails, having no experience in the area.” She studied him over the rim of her champagne flute, and went with impulse. “But it seems wise for me to engage an agent to discuss the matter with you if I decide it interests me. To be frank, Trevor, I don’t know as I want to make a living singing, but I’ll listen to your offer.”

He should have left it at that. Every business instinct ordered him to simply nod and move on to some other topic. But he leaned forward. “I’ll make you rich.”

“That’s a particular ambition of mine.” She scooped up more dessert, offered it to him. “And it may be, in the end, that I’ll let you help me achieve it.”

He took her wrist. “You’ll have everything you’ve ever wanted. A hell of a lot more than you’ve ever dreamed of.” And felt her pulse scramble.

“Christ, you know how to make the mouth water. But I’m not one to leap without looking.”

Relaxed again, he nodded. “No, you’re not. I like that about you. I like damn near everything about you.”

“Are you speaking to a potential client, or to your lover?”

He cupped the back of her neck and brought his mouth to hers, lingering long enough to make a few heads turn. “Clear enough?”

“I’d say that was crystal. Why don’t you take me back and make love with me until neither of us can think about anything at all?”

“Why don’t I?” he agreed, and signaled for the check.

In the morning he rose while she was sleeping. He wanted to clear away the rest of his business as quickly as possible and spend the remainder of the day with her.

Shopping, he thought as he dressed. She’d enjoy that. He’d turn her loose in one of the boutiques and buy her whatever caught her fancy. Take her to tea at the Ritz, then seduce her into a private dinner at home.

If it made him a little uncomfortable, even a little ashamed to realize that he was showing off, trying to dazzle her with what he had at his disposal, he’d just have to live with it.

Damn it, he wanted another day with her. Two. A week. Somewhere they could be alone, without any distractions, any interruptions, any thought of business.

They’d burn each other out, he supposed, but Jesus, it would be a hell of a ride before they crashed.

On a whim, he pulled one of the white roses from the vase, scribbled a quick note and laid it on the pillow beside her. Then he found himself sitting on the side of the bed watching her. That perfect face, serene in sleep. All that glorious hair tumbled from his own hand in the night. The bracelet he’d given her flashed and blinked on her wrist, and he knew she wore nothing else.

But his blood didn’t leap with lust. Rather it ran warm. Affection, he told himself. It was just affection, running alongside the desire he felt for her. He hadn’t been glib when he’d told her he liked almost everything about her. She was a woman who attracted, entertained, challenged, annoyed, and amused. He understood her materialistic streak and didn’t blame her for it.

But for a moment, just one foolish moment, he wished they’d met and clicked just as they had without her knowing the generosity of his bank balance.

She’d told him her mind right at the beginning. She wanted money, she wanted luxury. And she was willing to slide into a union with the right man, as long as he was willing and able to provide them.

He didn’t intend to be taken for his money. Not now, not ever. Even if he was willing to use it to entertain them both in the short-term.

Shrugging that off, he leaned over to brush a kiss across her cheek, then left her sleeping.

She didn’t stir for more than an hour after he’d gone, then rolled over lazily. The first thing she saw when she blinked her eyes open was the rose.

It made her smile, and it made her yearn. She reached for it, stroking its petals as she sat up and read his note.

I’ll be done by two, and pick you up. I’m hoping you’ll put yourself in my hands for the rest of the afternoon. Trev.

She’d certainly put herself in his hands the night before, she thought now and contentedly settled back against the pillows. What a lovely, lovely way to wake, she mused and stroked the rosebud against her cheek. She considered wandering down for breakfast, or being completely indulgent and ordering it up so she could have it in bed like royalty.

The second picture had such appeal that she reached for the phone. When it rang, she jerked back, then laughed at herself.

She didn’t think she was supposed to answer it, so she climbed out of bed for her robe. The knock on her door came as she was belting it.

“Yes, come in.”

“Excuse me, Miss Gallagher, but Mr. Magee’s on the telephone and would like to speak with you.”

“Of course, thank you.” Darcy picked up the rose again and feeling blissfully romantic and lazy, lifted the receiver. “Trevor, hello. I’ve just read your note, and I’d be happy to put myself in your hands.”

“I’m on my way back now.”

“This minute? It’s a while till two.”

“Darcy, I have to get back to Ardmore right away. Mick O’Toole’s been injured on the job.”

“Injured?” She leaped to her feet. “How? Is he all right? What happened?”

“He took a fall. He’s in the hospital. I just heard and I don’t have all the details.”

“I’ll be ready to go when you get here. Hurry.”

She hung up without another word, dragged out her suitcase, and began throwing clothes inside.

The trip back seemed hideously long. Darcy alternated between praying and listening to Trevor as he gathered more details about the accident.

“He was up on the scaffolding,” Trevor told her. “One of the crew tripped, as far as we can tell, and Mick was knocked off or slipped off. He was unconscious when the ambulance came for him.”

“But alive.” Her knuckles went white as she locked her hands together.

“Yes, Darcy.” He took her hands, soothing them apart. “They think concussion and a broken arm. They’ll have to check for internal injuries.”

“Internal injuries.” Her stomach rolled, then went to slippery knots. “That always sounds so dire, so mysterious.” When her voice broke, she shook her head. “No, I’m not going to fall apart on you. Don’t worry.”

“I didn’t realize you were so close.”

“He’s like family.” Tears rushed into her eyes and were viciously willed away. “The closest thing to my own father. Brenna . . . all of them, they must be frantic. I should be there.”

“You will be.”

“I want to go straight to the hospital. Can you arrange for a car to take me there?”

“We’ll both go straight there.”

“Oh, I thought you’d need to go to the job. All right.” She pressed her fingers to her eyes, took several breaths. “I’m scared. I’m so awfully scared.”

He put his arm around her and held her until they landed.

And he watched her gather herself, steady herself on the drive from the airport. Her eyes were dry and calm, her hands quiet in her lap. By the time they arrived and walked down the corridor where they were directed, she was completely composed.

“Mrs. O’Toole.”

Mollie looked over, rose from where she sat with all five of her daughters. “Oh, Darcy, there you are—and had to cut your lovely trip short.”

“Tell me how he is, won’t you?” She took Mollie’s hands, held fast and tried not to think that both Maureen and Mary Kate were crying.

“Well, now, he took a bump. They’re doing some tests on his head and so forth. You know the man has a mighty strong head, so we’re not going to worry about that.”

“Of course not.” She gave Mollie’s chilled hands a squeeze. “Why don’t I see about getting us all some fresh tea? You just sit down now, darling, while I organize that for you. Brenna, why don’t you give me a hand with it and we’ll get us all a nice hot cup.”

“Bless you, Darcy, that would be a godsend. Mr. Magee.” Mollie worked up a tremulous smile. “It’s so kind of you to be here.”

He met Brenna’s eyes as she rose, nodded, then took Mollie’s hand and led her back to a chair.

“Tell me what happened,” Darcy demanded the minute they were out of earshot. “And how bad it is.”

“I didn’t see it, exactly.” Because her voice felt rusty, Brenna cleared her throat. “It seems Bobby Fitzgerald lost his footing while he was hauling block up on the scaffold. Dad turned, I think, to steady him, but they were both off their balance and the floor of it was a little slick from a spot of rain. He just tumbled off. I’m thinking the brace of block Bobby was hauling up knocked him, and he went over the safety bar. God!”

She stopped, pressed her hands to her face. “I saw him fall. I heard a shout and turned round, and I saw him hit the ground. He just lay there. He just lay there, Darcy, with his head bleeding.”

She sniffled, rubbed her fingers over her eyes. “It wasn’t such a terrible long fall, really, but he landed so hard. They stopped me from moving him. I wasn’t thinking and just wanted to turn him over, but thank God, cooler heads were there in case there were spinal or neck injuries. Poor Bobby . . . Bobby’s beside himself. I just had Shawn take him out for a walk around outside.”

“It’s going to be all right.” She took Brenna’s shoulders. “We’ll make it be all right.”

“I’m glad you’re here. I can’t tell them how scared I am. Mary Kate’s prone to hysteria in any case, and Maureen’s pregnant, and Alice Mae’s so young. Patty can hold on, and God knows Ma can, but I can’t tell them how it was to see him hit the ground, and how scared I am he won’t wake up again.”

“Of course he will.” When Brenna broke, Darcy just gathered her in. “They’ll let you see him soon, I’ll wager, then you’ll feel better.”

Over Brenna’s head she watched Trevor come down the hall. He paused, laid a hand on her shoulder. “I’ll see to the tea. Go sit with your family.”

“Thanks for that. Let’s go wash your face,” she said briskly to Brenna. “Then we’ll have some tea and wait for the doctor.”

“I’m all right.” Brenna scrubbed at her face as she drew back. “Go be with Ma. I’ll go wash up and be right along.”

Back in the little waiting room, Darcy sat on the arm of Mollie’s chair. “Tea will be right along.”

“That’s fine, then.” Mollie reached up to pat her knee, then left her hand there for her own comfort as well. “That’s a fine man, Trevor is. To break off his business and come back because my Mick’s hurt.”

“Of course he came back.”

Mollie only shook her head. “Not everyone would. That he did says something about what kind of person he is. And just now, he sat here and he told me I wasn’t to worry about anything but concentrating on helping Mick get better. He’ll see to all the hospital charges and doctors. He says Mick’ll get full pay even though he’s off the job for a while. He expects it’ll only be a bit of a while,” she continued, then stopped when her voice trembled. “He expects Mick to be back to work, as both O’Tooles are required to do the job right.”

“He’s right, of course.” Tears, this time of gratitude, filled Darcy’s throat. How had he known just the right things to say to people he barely knew?

Darcy got to her feet when Trevor came to the doorway and, leading only with her heart, walked to him. She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him, soft and warm on the lips. “Come sit with the family,” she told him, and brought him in.

Even as she resigned herself to waiting, the doctor stepped in. “Mrs. O’Toole.”

“Yes. My husband?” Mollie was on her feet, her hand clenching Alice Mae’s, as it was closest.

“He’s a tough one.” With a reassuring smile, the doctor stepped over as Brenna raced up. “Let me tell you first, he’ll be fine.”

“Thank God.” Mollie reached out to grip Brenna’s shoulder. “Thank God for that.”

“He has a concussion and a broken arm. The bone . . .” He demonstrated, putting his own hand on his forearm. “Snapped rather than shattered, and that’s fortunate. Some of the lacerations were deep, and there’s considerable bruising at the ribs, but no breaks there. We’ve run tests and haven’t found any internal damage. We want to keep him for a day or two, of course.”

“Is he awake?”

“He is, yes. And considerably alert. He asked for you—and a pint, though you came first.”

Her voice broke in a laughing sob. “I damn well better. Then I can see him?”

“I’ll take you into recovery, then the lot of you can have a minute with him once we’ve got him settled in a room. He looks a bit fierce with the bruises and the cuts, and I don’t want you to be alarmed by it.”

“You don’t raise five children without seeing plenty of bruises and cuts.”

“That you don’t.”

“You wait here now,” she said, turning to her family, “while I go see your father. And when it’s your turn, I don’t want any weeping and wailing, so get it all out of your system now. And we’ll all of us have a good cry if need be after we’re home again.”

Darcy waited until Mollie walked away with the doctor before she turned to Brenna. “All right, how do we go about sneaking him in a pint of Guinness?”

TWELVE

“DARCY, THERE’S MY girl. You’ve come to spring me from this place, haven’t you?”

Twenty-four hours after he’d taken a hard tumble and landed for the most part on his head, Mick O’Toole looked pink and alert, bruised and battered, and just a little desperate. Darcy leaned over the bed rail and kissed his forehead fondly.

“I have not. You’ve one more day to go, if all’s as it should be in that rock you call a brain. So I’ve brought you flowers.”

One of his eyes was blackened, there was a gouge in his cheek held together by a trio of butterfly bandages, and the forehead she’d kissed was a symphony of raw bruises and rawer scrapes.

All in all it gave him the look, Darcy thought, of a brawler who’d come out on the wrong side of fists.

When his big, hopeful smile faded immediately into a long, put-upon sigh, she wanted to cuddle him.

“There’s nothing wrong with me head or the rest of me, ave this busted wing here, and that’s hardly enough to keep a man chained in hospital, now is it?”

“The doctors think different. But I’ve brought you something to cheer you up.”

“The flowers are very nice indeed.” But he said it with a pout, very much like a twelve-year-old who hadn’t gotten his way.

“They are, yeah, and right out of Jude’s own garden. The rest of it’s from somewhere else altogether.” Slipping the flowers out of the bag she carried, Darcy set them aside and pulled out a plastic tumbler with a sealed lid. “It’s Guinness—only a half pint, as that’s all I could manage, but it’ll have to do you.”

“You’re a princess.”

“I am, and expect to be treated as such.” After popping off the lid, she passed the contraband to him, then lowered the rail to sit on the side of the bed. “Do you feel as well as you look?”

“I’m fit and fine, I promise. My arm pains me a bit, but nothing to speak of.” He took his first sip, then closed his eyes in pure pleasure. “It was sorry I was to hear you and Trev rushed all the way back from London. It was nothing but a false step and a bit of a tumble.”

“You scared us all to pieces.” Affectionately, she brushed at the hair on his brow. “And now I suppose you’ll have all your ladies fussing over you.”

His eyes twinkled. “It’s hard to mind it, as I’ve such pretty ladies, though they’ve been in and out of here since I got my senses back. I’m ready to get back on the job, but Trev won’t hear of it. A week, he’s telling me, minimum, before I can so much as show me face, and then only with the doctor’s say-so.”

Mick’s tone turned wheedling. “Maybe you could have a word with him, darling, tell him how much better off I’d be working than lying about. A man’s bound to listen to a beautiful woman such as yourself.”

“You won’t get ’round me, Mister Michael O’Toole. A week’s a short enough time. Now, you rest and stop fussing about work. The theater won’t be built before you’re back to it.”

“I don’t like taking a wage while I’m flat on my back.”

“It’s right he’s paying you, as you were hurt on his job, and he can well afford it. Doing so shows his character, just as fretting over it shows yours.”

“That may be, and I’ll admit it’s put Mollie’s mind at rest even if she doesn’t say so.” Still his fingers worried the edge of the sheet. “He’s a good man and a fair boss, but I need to know he’s got his money’s worth from me.”

“Since when haven’t you given full shot for the pound? The sooner you’re healed through, the sooner you’ll be working again. And I’ll tell you my plumbing needs another look.”

She’d made that one up, but saw it brightened him.

“I’ll take a look-see the minute they let me on my feet again. ’Course, if it’s urgent you can have Brenna see to it.”

“It’ll wait for you, and so will I.”

“That’s fine, then.” He settled back, and the sparkle on her wrist caught his eye. “Well, now, what’s this?” He took her hand, turned it so the bracelet shimmered. “That’s quite the little bauble, isn’t it?”

“It is. Trevor gave it to me.” And she watched Mick’s wicked smile.

“Did he now?”

“He did, and I shouldn’t have taken it, but I decided not to refuse such a generous gesture.”

“Why should you? He’s got his eye on you, and has since you first came into view. The man has fine taste if you’re asking me, and you, my girl, could hardly do better than with the likes of Trevor Magee.”

“It won’t do to get those sorts of notions, Mr. O’Toole. It’s no more than a bit of a frolic for both of us, with neither looking for seriousness.”

“Is it?” Mick questioned, then seeing Darcy set her chin, as he’d seen her set it all her life, he let it lie. “Well, sure and we’ll see about that, won’t we?”

And to Mick’s pleasure, it was barely more than an hour after Darcy left his bedside when Trevor came to it. He brought a pint of Guinness with him, and Mick appreciated his boldness in not troubling to hide it, just as he’d admired the neatness with which Darcy had delivered hers under cover.

“Now, that’s a man after me own heart.”

“Oh, did you want one too?” With an easy smile, Trevor passed the glass and sat. “I figured you’d be feeling restless by now.”

“That I am. If you’d get me some pants I’d walk out of here with you.”

“Tomorrow. I’ve just had a word with your doctor, and he says they’ll release you in the morning.”

“Well, that’s better than a jab in the eye with a sharp stick. I was thinking, I could be on the job straightaway, in a kind of supervisory capacity. No lifting.” He hurried on as Trevor merely stared blandly. “No actual labor, just what you’d call keeping an eye on things.”

“In a week.”

“Bloody hell, man, I’ll go mad in a week. Do you know what it is to be laid low this way and have a brood of hens clucking about you?”

“Only in my cherished fantasies.”

Mick gave a short laugh and settled into his pint. “Darcy left hardly an hour ago.”

“She loves you.”

“That feeling’s very mutual between us. I happened to notice the trinket you gave her, the wrist bauble.”

“It suits her.”

“It does indeed, being bright and rich and shiny. Some see the girl and think, now that’s a flighty one only looking for fun and the easy way. They’d be wrong.”

“I wouldn’t disagree with you.”

“As her father, and my good friend, Patrick Gallagher is across the pond, I’m taking it upon myself to say this to you in plain speech. Don’t toy with that girl, Trevor. She’s not a bauble like that pretty bracelet you picked out of a glass case somewhere. She’s a big and seeking heart in her, even if she doesn’t like to let it show. And for all she may tell you, and herself for that matter, that it’s all fun and games, she’ll bruise like any other woman with rough handling.”

“I don’t intend to handle her roughly.” His voice was cool now, just a step away from aloof.

Not the sort of man who’s accustomed to being given orders, Mick thought, or advice, or even warnings about his behavior. “Maybe the word I should use is ‘careless.’ And a man can be careless with a woman even without intending it, especially if the woman expects it.”

“I’ll make a point of being careful, whatever she expects.”

Mick nodded, and again let it lie. But he wondered just what Trevor himself expected.

Mick was right about one thing. Trevor wasn’t a man who particularly cared for advice, and certainly not when it pertained to a woman. He knew what he was doing with Darcy. They were both clear-sighted adults, adults who had a very elemental attraction to each other. Mixed with it was simple affection and respect. What more could anyone want from a relationship, and a temporary one at that?

But Mick’s words troubled him, and followed him on the drive back to Ardmore. Rather than head back to the job as he’d intended, he turned up Tower Hill. He’d yet to return to his ancestor’s gravesite, or even to explore the ruins. He could spare another half hour.

The round tower loomed over the village and could be seen from below from almost every vantage point. He passed it often enough on his way to and from the cottage, but had never followed the urge to take real time to study it. This time he pulled to the shoulder of the narrow road and stepped out of the car. And into the wind.

When he walked through the little gate, he saw a scatter of tourists climbing over the hilly ground between the old stones and crosses, over toward the roofless stone building that had been the church built in the name of the saint. His first reaction surprised him, as it was mild resentment that anyone should be there, with their cameras and backpacks and guidebooks.

Stupid, he thought. These were just the people he hoped to appeal to with his theater. These, and more who would come for the beaches when the summer spread warmth along the coast.

So he joined them, picking his way down the slope to the church, taking the time he’d yet to allow himself to study the Roman arcading, the carving going weak from time and wind.

Inside with the rubble and graves, two ogham stones had been placed for safekeeping. And how, he wondered, had those lines dug into stone been read as words? A kind of Morse code, he imagined, devised by ancients and left at crossroads for a traveler.

He heard a woman call out for her children in the flat accent that said States to him, East Coast, North. And seemed so out of place here. Did his voice have that same slightly-out-of-tune sound to it? Here voices should lilt and flow and have old music under each word.

He stepped out again, looking up now at the tower. The old defense had its conical roof still attached and seemed even now as if it could withstand any attack.

What had they come for, all the invaders? Romans, Vikings, Saxons, Normans, Britons. What fascination did this simple little island hold for them that they would war and die to take it?

And turning, he looked out and away, and thought he saw part of the answer.

The village below was neat and pretty as a painting, with the broad beach a sweep of sand glittering golden in the fitful sunlight. The sea spread, blue as summer, shimmering in that same restless light, foaming white at the edges.

The hills stretched back and back, green and lush with patches of rich brown, muted gold to complete the quilt of land. Just the shadow of dark mountain peaks rose behind them.

Even while he watched, the light changed, shifted, grew, and he could see the shadows of clouds swim over the land as the sunlight beat through them.

The air smelled of grass, fading flowers, and sea.

He doubted it was the beauty of the country that brought those who wanted to land here. But he was sure it was part of the reason they had fought to stay.

“We’re a land that absorbs our invaders, and makes them one of us.”

Trevor glanced around, expecting to see an Irish touristor one of the locals behind him. Instead he looked into Carrick’s wild blue eyes.

“You get around.” With some surprise, Trevor saw that they were alone, when only moments before there had been at least half a dozen people exploring the hill.

“I prefer a bit of privacy.” Carrick winked at him. “Don’t you?”

“It’s difficult for me to be private when you pop up at will.”

“I’ve been wanting to have a word with you. How goes your theater, then?”

“We’re on schedule.”

“Ah, you Yanks are big on schedules. I can’t tell you how many come through here, checking their watches and their maps and figuring out how to do this and that and the other all with staying on schedule. You’d think they’d toss such things aside when they’re about a flaming holiday, but habits die hard in some.”

With his hair blowing in the wind, Trevor tucked his hands in his pockets. “So, you wanted to have a word with me about the American habit of clock watching?”

“Just a bit of a conversational gambit. If you’re after seeing your uncle’s resting place again, it’s this way.” Carrick turned, walking gracefully over the rough ground with his silver doublet sparkling.

“John Magee,” Carrick began when Trevor joined him by the marker. “Beloved son and brother. Died a soldier, far from home.”

Trevor felt an ache around his heart, a kind of distant grief. “Beloved son, undoubtedly. Beloved brother is debatable.”

“You’re thinking of your granda. He came here rarely, but he came.”

“Did he?”

“Aye, to stand as you are, with a scowl most often on his face and his thoughts dark and confused. Because it troubled him, he closed his heart. A deliberate click of a lock.”

“Yes,” Trevor murmured. “I can believe that. He did nothing, as I can remember, that wasn’t deliberate.”

“You’re a deliberate man yourself, in some ways.” Carrick waited until Trevor’s head lifted, until their eyes met again. “But isn’t it an interesting thing, that when he whose seed started your father stood on this hill, looked down at what was home, he didn’t see what you do. Not a lovely spot, edged with magic and welcome. He saw a trap, and would have gnawed his leg off at the ankle to escape it.”

Carrick turned to study Ardmore again. His black hair streamed back, like a cape. “Perhaps in a way, he did. And hobbled with the loss of some part of himself, he went to America. If not for his doing that, you wouldn’t stand here today, looking down and seeing what he couldn’t.”

“Wouldn’t,” Trevor corrected. “But you’re right. I wouldn’t be here without him. Tell me, who puts the flowers here on John Magee’s grave, after all this time?”

“I do.” Carrick gestured to the little pot of wild fuchsia. “As Maude no longer can, and it was the one thing she asked of me. Never did she forget him, and never did her love waver in all the years between his death and her own. Constancy is the finest of your mortal virtues.”

“Not everyone can claim it.”

“No, but those who do know a joy in it. Is your heart a constant one, Trevor Magee?”

Trevor looked up again. “It’s not something I’ve given a lot of thought to.”

“That’s shading close to a lie, but we’ll shift the question for you. You’ve had a taste of fair Darcy now. Do you think you can push back from the banquet and walk away?”

“What’s between us is private.”

“Hah. Your privacy means nothing to me. Three times a century I’ve waited for you—you, I’m sure now, and no other. You’re the last of it. You stand there, worrying about being taken for a fool, which is only another kind of pride, your granda’s sort, when you’ve only to take what’s already been given. Your blood’s hot for her. Your mind’s clouded with her, but you stop short of exploring what’s in your heart for her.”

“Hot blood and a clouded mind have very little to do with the heart.”

“That’s foolishness. Isn’t the first step toward love the passion, the second the longing? And you’re past the first step, already on to the second, and too stubborn to admit it. I’ll wait.” Impatience shot into his eyes, and they seemed to burn. “But I’ve a bloody schedule of me own, so make lively, Yank.”

He snapped his fingers, a kind of lightning shot. And vanished.

It put him in a foul mood. A rash and foul mood. As if it wasn’t irritating enough to have Mick O’Toole handing him advice on his personal life, he’d been given a potful from someone who shouldn’t even exist. Both mortal and mystic were pressuring him to take some sort of definitive step with Darcy, and he’d be damned if he’d be cornered that way.

His life was his own, and so was hers.

To make a point of it, he waved off the calls when he crossed the job site and went straight into the pub’s kitchen door.

Shawn glanced up from scrubbing pots. “Hello, Trev. You’re late for lunch, but I’ll fix you up if you’re hungry.”

“No, thanks. Darcy out there?”

“She just went up to her little palace. I’ve fish stew still on the . . .” Shawn trailed off, as Trevor was already climbing the stairs. “Well, I suppose he’s not hungry for what I can serve him.”

He didn’t knock. It was rude, he knew it, and got some perverse satisfaction from it. Just as he got satisfaction from seeing Darcy’s surprise when she walked out of the bedroom with a little shopping bag in her hand.

“Sure, you’re at home, aren’t you?” However mild the words, there was the unmistakable whip of irritation through them. He enjoyed it. “It’s sorry I am I can’t entertain you at the moment, but I’m just off to Jude’s to take her the little stuffed lamb I bought for the baby.”

His response was to stride to her, fist her hair in his hand, and drag her head back even as his mouth swooped down to crush hers. Shock stabbed into her, fused with an instant and molten lust so it was like one slice from a burning sword.

She shoved at him first, and meant it. Then gripped him hard, and meant that as well. He paid no attention to either reaction until he was good and finished. And when he was, he pulled her back, and his eyes were steel bright.

“Is that enough for you?”

She struggled to find her balance, her wit. “As kisses go, it was—”

“No, damn it.” Temper roughened his voice and at that her own eyes slitted. “Is what that does to you, what you know it does to me, enough for you?”

“Have I said differently?”

“No.” But even as he struggled with his straining temper, he cupped her chin. “Would you?”

However set off he was, she was sure his study of her was cool, calculated, and thorough. A man with that measure of control was an irritant, she thought. And a challenge. “You can be sure you’ll be the first to know if I’m dissatisfied.”

“Good.”

“And as a woman of my word, I’m telling you now I don’t appreciate you bursting into my home uninvited and manhandling me because some bug’s crawled up your arse.”

With a half laugh, he shook his head, stepped back. “Point taken. I’m sorry.” He bent down, picked up the bag she’d dropped, and handed it to her. “I was just up on Tower Hill, at my uncle’s grave.”

She angled her head. “Are you grieving, Trevor, for someone who died long before you were born?”

He opened his mouth to deny it, but the truth simply slid out. “Yes.”

Everything about her softened. She reached out to touch his arm. “Come sit down now, and I’ll make you some tea.”

“No, thanks.” He took her hand, lifted it to his lips in an absent gesture that made something inside her stretch and yearn. Then he turned away and paced restlessly to the window to look out at the work in progress.

Was he the invader here, he wondered, staking his claim? Or a son returning to dig in roots? “My grandfather wouldn’t speak of this place, and being a slavishly dutiful wife, my grandmother wouldn’t either. As a result—”

“Your curiosity was whetted.”

“Yes. Exactly. I thought about coming here for a long time. On and off, even made half-baked plans a couple of times. But I never seriously committed to it. Then the idea for the theater jumped into my head, full blown, as if I’d been building it there, stage by stage, for years.”

“Isn’t that the way it is sometimes with ideas?” She crossed to him, looked out with him. “They simmer around without you really being aware of it, until they’re cooked proper.”

“I suppose.” Hardly aware of it, he took her hand. Just held it. “Since the deal’s done, there’s no harm in telling you I’d have paid more for the lease, given you a higher percentage. I had to have it.”

“Well, then, there’s no harm in telling you we’d have taken less all around. But we very much enjoyed the horse trading and winding up your man Finkle.”

This time he did laugh, and most of the tension drained. “My great-uncle would have come here, and my grandfather. To Gallagher’s.”

“Oh, to be sure. Is it what they’d think of what you’re doing here that’s worrying you?”

“I don’t worry what my grandfather would have thought. Not anymore.”

There, she thought, that sore spot again. This time she probed, but gently. “Was he so hard a man?”

He hesitated, but it seemed he was in the mood to speak of it. “What did you think of the house in London?”

Puzzled, she shook her head. “It was very elegant.”

“Fucking museum.”

She blinked at that, there was such undiluted anger in his voice. “Well, I’ll say the museum part of that statement occurred to me, but it was lovely.”

“After he died, my parents gave me clearance to change a few things in it. Things that hadn’t been changed in thirty years. Opened it up a bit, softened some edges, but it’s still his place underneath. Rigid and formal, as he was. That’s how my father was raised. Rigidly, and without affection.”

“I’m sorry.” She stroked a hand in circles over his back. “It has to be sad, hard and sad, to have a father who doesn’t show he loves you.”

“I never had that problem. Somehow, through some miracle, my father was—is—caring, open and full of humor. Though his father wasn’t. He still doesn’t speak of it much, the way he was raised, except to my mother.”

“And she to you,” Darcy murmured, “because she knows you’d need to understand it.”

“He wanted to make a family, a life, that was the opposite of the way he’d been raised. That’s what he did. They kept us in line, my sister and me, but we always knew they loved us.”

“I think it shows the beauty of the gift they gave you that you don’t take it for granted.”

“No, I don’t.” He turned back to her. Odd, he hadn’t really expected her to understand, nor had he expected to feel such relief that she did. “That’s why I don’t worry what my grandfather would think of what I’m doing here. But I do think of how my parents will feel when it’s done.”

“Then I’ll say this. To my way of thinking, they’ll be proud. Ireland’s art is at its core, and you’re bringing more of it here. Along with it the practicality of jobs and revenue. It’s a good thing you’re doing, and a credit to your father, your mother, and your heritage.”

A nagging little weight fell off his shoulder. “Thanks. It matters, more than I anticipated. It was one of the things that hit me when I was standing up on the hill. It matters. What I do here, and leave here. And while I was coming to that conclusion, I had a conversation with Carrick.”

Her fingers jerked in his. When he looked down, he saw the surprise clearly on her face before she closed her mouth and made a quiet humming sound.

“Do you think I’m hallucinating?”

“No.” She paused, then shook her head. “I don’t, no. Others whose sanity I’m sure of claim to have done the same. We’ve broad minds around here.”

But she knew the legend, and it unnerved her enough that she took a step back and sat on the arm of a chair. “And what did you converse about?”

“A number of things. My grandfather. Old Maude and Johnnie Magee. Schedules, virtues, the theater. You.”

“Myself.” Now she rubbed her suddenly damp hands on her trousers. “And what would that be about?”

“You know the legend, probably better than I. It takes three couples, as I understand it, falling in love, accepting each other, taking vows.”

“So it’s said.”

“And in the past year or so, your two brothers have fallen in love, accepted it, and taken vows.”

“I’m aware of that, as I was at their weddings.”

“Then, given the quickness of your mind, I assume you’ve considered the fact that there are three Gallaghers.” He took a step closer. “You look a little pale.”

“I’d appreciate it if you’d get to the point you’re dancing around.”

“All right, direct. He’s pegged us as his third and final step.”

Her chest seemed to fill all at once with heat and pressure, making her want to knock her fist against it to loosen it again. But she kept her hands still and her eyes level. “That wouldn’t sit well with you.”

“Would it with you?”

She was too flustered to catch the evasion. “I’m not the one having conversation with faerie princes, am I? And no, I don’t particularly care to have my fate and future dictated by another’s wants or needs.”

“Neither do I. Neither,” he added, “will I.”

She thought she understood now why he’d told her of his grandfather. To show her he had cold blood in him.

Slowly she got to her feet. “I see what put you in such a rare mood. The very idea of the remote possibility that I might be your fate and future set you right off, didn’t it? The very thought that a man of your education and consequence should tumble heart-first for a barmaid.”

He was so genuinely baffled it took him a moment to answer. “Where the hell did that come from?”

“Who could blame you for being angry and frustrated when such a suggestion was made? It’s a fortunate thing for both of us that love has nothing to do with the matter.”

He’d seen angry women before, but he wasn’t certain he’d ever faced one who looked so capable of inflicting real physical harm. To ward it off, he held up his hands palms out. “In the first place, what you do for a living has nothing to do with . . . anything. In the second, you’re hardly a barmaid, though it wouldn’t matter if you were.”

“I serve drinks in a pub, so what’s that if not a barmaid?”

“Aidan runs the bar, Shawn runs the kitchen, and you run the service,” Trevor said patiently. “And I imagine if you wanted, you could run the whole shot—or any other pub in your country or mine. But that’s hardly an issue.”

“It happens to be of some particular issue with me.” But she yanked back her anger and let it vibrate on the end of its tether.

“Darcy, I told you this because it concerns both of us, because we’re lovers and it’s only right we both know where we stand. Now we do, and we’re agreed we don’t intend to let ourselves get tangled up in some ancient legend.”

He took her hand again, rubbing his thumb over the knuckles to soothe out the stiffness. “Separate from that—entirely separate from that—I like who you are, I enjoy being with you, and I want you in a way . . . I’ve never wanted anyone else in the same way,” he finished.

She ordered herself to relax, to accept, even to be pleased. But there was a hole somewhere inside her that wouldn’t close up again. “All right. Separate from that, I feel the same. So there’s no problem at all.” Flashing a smile, she rose to her toes and kissed him warmly, then waved him toward the door.

“Now go on with you, as I’ve got to be on my way.”

“Will you come to the cottage tonight?”

She shot him a look from under her lashes. “I’d be pleased to. You can look for me around midnight, and I wouldn’t mind if you had a glass of wine poured and waiting.”

“Later, then.” He would have kissed her again, but she was already shutting the door in his face.

On the other side of it she counted to ten three full times. Then exhaled. So, they were to be reasonable and sensible and do it all exactly the Magee way, were they? He was too removed to tumble into legend, or into love.

Well, by God, she’d have him begging on his knees for her before she was done with him. He’d promise her the world and everything in it.

And when he had, well, she might just take it. That would teach the man not to shrug off the notion of loving Darcy Gallagher.

THIRTEEN

ALL IN ALL, Trevor found himself very satisfied by the way things were going. The project was moving along on schedule. The townspeople were supportive and interested. Never a day went by without at least some of them wandering by to watch the work, make comments, give suggestions, or tell him some story or other about his relations.

He’d met a few who were cousins. In fact, he had two of them employed as laborers.

With Mick out of commission for the next few days, he’d have to spend more time at the site. But he didn’t mind. It would keep his mind focused on what it needed to be focused on. And give him less time to let it wander around Darcy.

He felt he’d straightened things out in that area as well. Both of them were too sensible to be influenced by legends, or self-interested faeries. Or dreams of a blue heart that beat steady and strong deep in the sea.

He had business to see to, he reminded himself as he carried coffee up to his office in the cottage. Calls to make, contracts to negotiate, supplies to order. He couldn’t waste time thinking about what he did or didn’t see, did or didn’t believe. Responsibilities wouldn’t wait while he pondered just how much of Irish myth was real and how much was imagined.

He touched the disk under his shirt. Real, he thought. As real as it gets. But he was handling it.

He glanced at his watch, and thought he might just catch his father at home in New York. And stepping into the bedroom, he jerked and spilled hot coffee over the back of his hand.

“Goddamn it!”

“Oh, there’s no need to profane.” With a quiet cluck of her tongue, Gwen continued to ply her needle. She sat in the chair in front of the tidy hearth, her hair neatly bound back, her face composed, her hands quick and clever as she embroidered a white cloth.

“You’ll want salve on that burn,” she told him.

“It’s nothing.” What was a little discomfort compared to seeing ghosts? Much less to conversing with one. “I’d nearly convinced myself not to believe in you.”

“Sure and you need to do what makes you most comfortable. Would you rather I let you be?”

“I don’t know what I’d rather.” He set the coffee down on the table, turned his desk chair around to face her. And sitting, he sucked absently at the sting on his hand. “I had dreams about you. I told you that. I didn’t tell you I halfway believed I’d find you when I came here. Not you,” he corrected, fumbling just enough to annoy himself. “Someone . . .” the word “alive” seemed rude somehow. “Real. A woman.”

Her gaze when it lifted to his was gentle and full of understanding. “You thought perhaps you’d find the woman you’d dreamed of, and that she would be for you?”

“Maybe. Not that I’m looking particularly,” he added. “But maybe.”

“A man can fall in love with a dream if he lets himself. It’s a simple matter with no effort, no work, no troubles. And no real joy, when it comes down to it. You prefer working for something, don’t you? It’s part of who you are.”

“I suppose so.”

“The woman you did meet is a great deal of effort and work and trouble. Tell me, Trevor, does she bring you joy as well?”

“You mean Darcy?”

“And who else have you been walking with?” Gwen questioned. “Of course I’m speaking of Darcy Gallagher. A beautiful and complicated woman that, with a voice like . . .” She trailed off, shaking her head and lightly laughing. “I was going to say like an angel, but there’s little of the angels about that one. No, she’s a voice like a woman, full and rich and tempting to a man. She’s tempted you.”

“She could tempt the dead. No offense.”

“None taken. I wonder, Trevor, don’t you think she’s what you’re looking for?”

“I’m not looking for anything. Anyone.”

“We all look. The lucky find.” Her hands, stilled, lay on the cloth with bright patterns of thread. “The wise accept. I was lucky, but not wise. Could you not learn something from my mistake?”

“I don’t love her.”

“Maybe you do and maybe you don’t.” Gwen picked up her needle again. “But you haven’t opened your heart to the risk of it. You guard that part of yourself so fierce, Trevor.”

“It may be that part of myself doesn’t exist.” Chewed off at the knee in Ardmore, he thought, before I was even born. “That I’m just not capable of loving someone the way you mean.”

“That’s foolishness.”

“I hurt another woman because I couldn’t love her.”

“And, I think, hurt yourself in the process. It puts doubts about yourself in your mind. Both of you, I can promise, will not only survive it, but be better off for the experience. Once you stop thinking of your heart as a weapon instead of a gift, you’ll find what you’re looking for.”

“My heart isn’t the priority here. The theater is.”

She made a sound that might have been agreement. “ ’Tis a grand thing to be able to build, and build to last. This cottage, simple as it is, has lasted lifetime and lifetime. Oh, sure a few changes here, another room there, but the core of it remains. As does the faerie raft beneath it, with its silver towers and blue river.”

“You chose the cottage over the castle,” he pointed out.

“I did. Aye, I did. For the wrong reasons, but in spite of it, I won’t regret my children or the man who gave them to me. Perhaps Carrick will never understand that part of my heart. I’ve come to understand it would be wrong to ask him to do so. Hearts can merge and the people who hold them still stand as they are. Love accepts that. It accepts everything.”

He saw now what pattern she worked into the cloth. It was the silver palace, its towers bright, its river blue as gemstones, its trees heavy with golden fruit. And on a bridge that spanned the water were two figures, not yet finished.

Herself, Trevor realized, with her hands held out toward Carrick’s.

“You’re lonely without him.”

“I have . . .” She brushed a finger gently over the threads that formed a silver doublet. “An emptiness in me. A place that waits. As I wait.”

“What happens to you if the spell isn’t broken?”

She lifted her head again, her eyes dark and soft and quiet. “I’ll bide here, and see him only in my heart.”

“For how long?”

“For as long as there is. You have choices, Trevor Magee, as once I had. You have only to make them.”

“It’s not the same,” he began, but she faded away, like mist. “It’s not the same,” he said again, to the empty room. Though he turned the chair around, it was some time before he picked up the phone and managed to get on with the business at hand.

He called his father first, and that connection of voice to voice soothed his nerves. With his rhythm back, he fell into routine, contacted Nigel in London, and his counterpart in Los Angeles. He checked the time again, noted it was closing in on midnight. Seven in New York, he thought, and called the ever reliable Finkle at home.

Notes were piled on his desk, his computer up and running, and the phone tucked on his shoulder with Finkle’s voice droning through when he heard the sound of a car pulling in. Trevor shifted, angled so he could see through the window.

And watched Darcy walk toward the garden gate.

He’d forgotten the wine.

She considered knocking, but she’d seen the light in his office window. Working, are you? With a sly glint in her eye she let herself in the front door. She thought they’d soon put a stop to that, and walked straight up the stairs.

She paused at the door to his office, finding herself both irritated and pleased when he continued with his phone call and waved her in with a little finger crook.

Irritated that he didn’t appear to have been anxiously awaiting her. And pleased because she imagined she would shortly have him panting like an eager pup.

“I’ll need that report before New York closes tomorrow.” Trevor scribbled something down, nodded. “Yeah, well, they’ve got till end of day to accept the offer or it’s off the table. Yes, that’s exactly how I want you to put it. Next item. I’m not satisfied with the bids on the Dressler project. Make it clear that if our usual lumber supplier can’t do better, we’ll look to alternate sources.”

He glanced over absently, took a sip of his coffee as Darcy unbuttoned her coat. Then inhaled caffeine like air—and choked on it.

The coat dropped to the floor, and he saw she wore nothing beneath it but his bracelet, high heels, and a very feline smile.

“Perfect,” he managed. “Jesus, you’re perfect.” As Finkle’s voice buzzed in his ear, he simply hung up, got to his feet.

“I take it business hours are over.”

“They are.”

She looked around the room, angled her head. “I don’t see my glass of wine.”

He discovered it was just possible to speak when a man’s heart was in his throat. “I forgot it.” His breath already ragged, he crossed to her. “I’ll get it later.”

She tipped her head back to keep her eyes on his, and saw what she’d wanted to see. Desire, raw as a fresh wound. “I’ve a powerful thirst.”

“Later” was all he could say before his mouth came down on hers.

He possessed. With quick, hard hands, restless lips, he took what she’d offered. Gave her what she’d wanted. Desperation was what she’d wanted from him, that jagged edge of need as dangerous as it was primitive. She’d come to him naked and shameless to lure the animal.

He was rough, and his recklessness added a slick layer of excitement. No control now, nor the need for it. So she lost herself in the wicked spell of her own brewing.

He shoved her against the wall, feasting on her throat, drugged on that sharply sexual taste of perfumed female flesh. And his hands streaked over her, bruised over her, greedy for the curves, the swells, the secrets of woman.

Hot, wet, vibrant.

His fingers slid over her, into her, driving her up. Even as he felt her body shudder, felt the violence of the orgasm rip through her, he looked into her eyes.the dark and clouded blue, he thought he saw the flash of triumph.

He might have been able to pull back then, to clear his head enough to find his finesse, but she moved against him, one lazy, stretching arch, and her arms twined around him like chains wrapped in velvet.

“More.” She purred it. “Give me more, and take more as well. Right here.” She nipped her teeth into his lip. “Right now.”

If she’d been a witch murmuring the darkest of incantations, he’d have been no less spellbound. He’d have sworn he caught the scent of hellfire as her mouth once again captured his.

Then there was madness, fevered and glorious. In her own triumph she found it, that wild pleasure, the terrorlaced delight of having a man turn savage. And allowing it. Craving it.

Her blood beat as frantically as his, her hands raced, as urgent and as rough as those that raced over her.

She tore his shirt, and reveled in the harsh sound of cotton rending at the seam. And her teeth dug into his shoulder when he pushed her over the edge again.

A haze filled his vision, thick and red. Her nails bit into his back, glorious little points of pain. His blood was a drumbeat, a primitive tattoo in his head, heart, loins. He plunged into her where they stood, greedily swallowing her ragged cry.

Each thrust was like another step on a thin wire stretched over both heaven and hell. Whichever way they fell, it couldn’t be stopped. Knowing it, he dragged her head back, kept his hand fisted in her hair, his eyes on her face.

“I want to see you.” He panted it out. “I want to see you feel me.”

“I can’t feel anything but you, Trevor.”

She tumbled off the wire, clasping him against her on the fall. And flying out with her, he didn’t give a damn where they landed.

He stayed where he was, fighting for air, for his sanity. The press of his body kept her upright as he braced a hand on the wall for balance.

She’d gone limp, as he knew now she did after loving. He told himself he’d find the energy, in just a minute, to get them both into bed.

“I can’t stay like this,” she murmured against his shoulder.

“I know. Just a second.”

“Maybe we could just slide down to the floor here for a bit of a while. I can’t feel me legs, anyway. You make me dizzy, Trevor.”

It made him laugh, and he turned his head, buried his face in her hair. “I’d say I’d carry you to bed, but I’d never make it and it would ruin the image of manly prowess. You make me weak, Darcy.”

“It’d take quite a bit to spoil the image after this.”

“Well, in that case.” He slipped an arm behind her knees, lifted her. His hair was tousled, his eyes sleepy and satisfied.

She toyed with the silver disk dangling from the chain, closed her fingers around it. She started to answer his grin, then could only stare as her heart landed right at his feet.

“What is it?” Alarmed by the shock in her eyes and the quick paling of her cheeks, he crossed quickly to the bed to set her down. “Did I hurt you?”

“No.” Oh, Jesus, oh, God. Holy Mother of God. “Just dizzy for a minute, as I said. I’m better now, but I still have that powerful thirst. I could dearly use that wine, if you don’t mind.”

“Sure.” Not quite convinced, he skimmed his knuckles over her cheek. “Just sit there. I’ll be right back.”

The minute he was out of the room, she grabbed a bed pillow and pummeled it viciously with her fists. Damn it all to hell and back again, she’d gotten caught in a web of her own spinning. The man was supposed to be bewitched by her, intrigued, frustrated, satisfied, stupefied, and willing to be her slave before she was done.

And now she’d kicked her own self in the ass and gone and fallen in love with him.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. She pounded the pillow again, then hugged it against her as her stomach took a deep, diving dip. How was she supposed to wrap the man around her finger when she was already wrapped around his?

It had been such a good plan, too: She would use her wiles, her lures, her charm, her temper, everything at her disposal. Then when he was caught, as surely he would have been, she’d have been free to snip him loose or keep him. There would have been time to decide which suited her best by then.

Well, this was God’s punishment, she supposed. Fate’s little joke. She’d been so certain she could keep her heart in check until she decided if she should love him or not. Now she had no choice at all.

For the first time in her life, her heart wasn’t her own. And a terrifying sensation it was.

She bit her knuckles, worrying over it. What did she do now? How could she think just now?

It had been all right when it was a kind of game. It hadn’t done more than nip at her temper to think that the manner of man Trevor was wouldn’t be serious about a woman such as herself. Now, well, it was a great deal more important.

And more infuriating.

Because, she thought as that temper began to bubble and burn away panic, if the likes of him thought he could toss her aside just because he had a fancy education and property and money to burn, he was very much mistaken in the matter.

The bastard.

She was in love with him, so she would have him. As soon as she figured out the best way to get him.

Her head came up, a she-wolf prepared to bare fangs, when she heard him coming up the stairs. It took all her control, and all her skill, to bury that instinct, force that temper back, and greet him with a silky smile.

“Okay now?” He came to her, held out a glass of white wine.

She took it, sipped delicately. “Never better,” she said and patted the bed beside her. “Come sit by me, darling, and tell me all about your day.”

Her sugary tone had him wary, but he sat, tapped his glass against hers. “The end of it was the best part.”

She laughed and walked her fingers up his thigh. “And who said it was over?”

• • •

Brenna wasn’t the least bit pleased about being hauled off the job at nine in the morning. She’d argued, cursed, and sulked while Darcy dragged her up the hill to the Gallagher house through a drizzling rain that sent puffs of mist creeping behind them.

“Trevor’s a right to give me the boot for this.”

“He won’t.” Darcy took a firmer hold on Brenna’s arm. “And you’re entitled to a morning break, aren’t you? Been on the job already since half-six. I need twenty minutes of your precious time.”

“You could have had it while I was working.”

“It’s a private matter, and I could hardly ask Jude to waddle her way down there, could I, in the wet.”

“At least tell me what this is about, then.”

“I’m doing it all at once, so you’ll just have to wait five more flaming minutes.” Puffing a bit—Brenna was small, but it wasn’t an easy matter to pull a reluctant woman of any size up that steep hill—Darcy continued down the little walkway between Jude’s wet flowers.

She didn’t knock, and as the door was never locked, she hauled Brenna inside, where her work boots, unwiped, tracked mud down the hallway to the kitchen.

They looked so cozy there, Jude and Aidan, sharing breakfast at the old table, and the big dog sprawled hopefully under it. The smell of toast and tea and flowers hung in the air. It gave Darcy a little jolt in the center, made her wonder why she’d never before realized how satisfying such quiet moments could be. How intimate they were.

“Good morning.” Jude glanced over, and in a credit to friendship, said nothing about the mud. “Do you want some breakfast?”

“No,” Darcy said just as Brenna moved forward to snag a piece of toast from the rack. “We didn’t come to eat,” she continued, aiming a lowering look at her friend. “I need a word with you, Jude. In private. Go away, Aidan.”

“I haven’t finished my breakfast.”

“Finish it at the pub.” Neat and deft, Darcy slapped the remainder of his bacon on toast, scooped the bit of egg left on his plate on top of it, and held it out. “There. Now off with you. This is women’s business here.”

“A fine thing this is, a fine thing for a man to be shoved from his own table, out of his own house.” He may have grumbled, but he got up and shrugged into his jacket. “Females are rarely worth the trouble they take. Except this one,” he added and leaned down to kiss Jude.

“Bill and coo later,” Darcy ordered. “Brenna only has a few minutes as it is.”

“You might as well go.” Resigned now, Brenna got herself a cup, brought it back to the table to enjoy some tea with her toast. “She’s on a tear.”

“I’m going. I’ll expect you to be on time,” he said to Darcy. He kissed Jude again, lingering over it as much to please himself as to annoy his sister.

He snapped his fingers at Finn, waiting while the dog happily scrambled out. “Come along with me, lad. They don’t want our kind here.” He strode out, Finn prancing behind him. “Take a lie-down,” Aidan shouted, then the door slammed.

“You look a little tired,” Brenna commented, pursing her lips as she studied Jude. “Aren’t you sleeping well these nights?”

“The baby was feeling frisky last night.” Jude ran her hands in slow circles over her belly, thrilled at the impatient ripple under her palms. “Kept me awake. I don’t mind, really. It’s a lovely feeling.”

“You need to nap when he naps.” Brenna decided to have another piece of toast, and began to load this one with jam. “That’s what I’ve heard, and do the same once he pops out as well. Sleep becomes a precious thing. How are the childbirth classes going?”

“Oh, they’re fascinating. Wonderful. Terrifying. The last one—”

“If you don’t mind,” Darcy interrupted, “I’ve something I need to discuss. I’d hope my two closest friends in the world would have some interest.”

Brenna only rolled her eyes, but Jude tucked her tongue in her cheek, folded her hands on the table. “Of course we’re interested. What is it?”

“It’s—” She found the words stuck in her throat. Hissing, she grabbed Brenna’s tea and gulped it down over her friend’s annoyed protest. “I’m in love with Trevor.”

“Christ Jesus!” Brenna snatched her cup back. “You’ve dragged me up here for that?”

“Brenna.” Jude spoke softly, her eyes on Darcy’s face. “She means it.”

“The girl’s always making a stage production out of . . .” But Brenna trailed off, getting a good look at Darcy herself. “Oh. Oh, well, then.” With a laugh, she leaped to her feet and gave Darcy a smacking kiss on the mouth. “Congratulations.”

“I didn’t win a bloody raffle.” Disgusted, she dropped into a chair. “Why did it happen this way?” Dismissing Brenna as useless, she appealed to Jude. “Without me having time to prepare or figure on it. It’s like a punch in the face, and I have to keep my balance here, as I’ll not be knocked on my ass by any man.”

“You’ve knocked more than your share of them on theirs,” Brenna pointed out. “Seems you’re due for some of the same. I like him.” She took a huge bite of toast and jam. “I think he suits you.”

“Why?”

“Hold that thought.” Jude lifted a finger. “Darcy, does he make you happy?”

“How do I know?” She threw up her hands, then pushed back from the table. “I’m feeling too many things at the moment to know if happy is one of them. Oh, don’t give me those smug, married-ladies’ smiles. I like his company. I’ve never known a man I like being with so much as Trevor. Just being with him. I’d look forward to seeing him even without the sex, and that’s saying quite a bit, as the sex is fantastic.”

She hesitated for a moment, then continued. “And last night, after we’d made love it just happened. It’s like a slamming into you, so you can’t get your air proper and the blood drains right out of your head and your joints go weak. I’ve never been so furious. What business does he have making me fall in love with him before I’m damn good and ready and have decided it’s what I want?”

“Oh, he’s a bounder all right,” Brenna said cheerfully. “Why, the nerve of that man.”

“Oh, shut up. I should’ve known you’d take his part.”

“Darcy.” Brenna took her hand, and though the humor still brightened her eyes, there was an understanding in them that blew away Darcy’s resentment. “He’s what you’ve always wanted. He’s handsome and clever and rich.”

“That’s part of the problem, isn’t it?” Jude laid a hand over theirs, formed a unit. “He’s what you’ve always wanted, or told yourself you did. Now that you’ve found him, you wonder if it’s real. And if it is, will he believe it?”

“I didn’t know it would be this way.” The tears wanted to come, and here, with friends, she let them. “I thought it would be fun, a lark. And easy. But it’s not. I’ve always been able to tell what’s going on inside a man, but I can’t with him. He’s a slick one, Trevor is, and slippery. God, I love that about him.”

That made her cry harder and reach for a napkin to wipe her face. “Oh, if he knew what a mess he’d made out of me, he’d be so pleased about it.”

“You may be right, but not,” Jude added, “for the reasons you might think. He has feelings for you. They show.”

“He has feelings, all right.” Some of the bitterness came through now, and she savored the taste of it on her tongue, as she might a medicine that cured madness. “He’s talked to Carrick.”

“I knew it.” Triumphant, Brenna slapped a hand on the table. “I knew you’d be the third. You knew, didn’t you, Jude?”

“Logically, it followed.” But Jude was watching Darcy again. “You haven’t seen Carrick, or Gwen, have you?”

“Apparently neither of them has time to chat with the likes of me.” And she wasn’t sure if she was relieved or annoyed by the fact. “However, they’ve time for Magee.He told me that Carrick’s aiming toward the two of us, and wanted me to know—made it very clear— that he’s no intention of falling in love with the legend. He’s not looking for love and vows of forever from me, no indeed. He wants me,” she muttered, her eyes going dark, narrowing, sparking. “In bed, and for his recording label. I’ve accommodated him on the first, to our mutual enjoyment, and I may just accommodate him on the second. But he’s going to find Darcy Gallagher doesn’t come cheap.”

Jude felt a twinge of apprehension. “What do you have in mind?”

Her eyes might have been wet, but determination flashed through them. “I’ll have him crawling, belly down, before I’m done with him.”

“I don’t suppose you considered meeting on equal ground?”

“Hah.” Darcy sat again. “If I’m to be miserable and confused and scared to the bone, then by God, he’ll be the same before I’m finished. When he’s blind in love with me, I’ll get a ring on my finger before he gets his vision back.”

“And then?” Jude murmured.

That part of the business was murky, so Darcy dismissed it with a shrug. “Then the rest takes care of itself. It’s the now I have to deal with.”

FOURTEEN

FOR DARCY, THE now had already started, and she didn’t intend to fall behind. Back at the pub, she went directly to the kitchen. Irritated that Shawn wasn’t in yet, as he made better coffee than she, she began to measure and brew. Once it was on, she checked her appearance in the mirror she’d hung by the door.

A little damp and windswept, she decided. Perfect.

She poured a mugful, gave her cheeks a quick slap to be sure her color was up, then stepped back out into the thin rain.

She had to pick her way over rubble and debris, skirting the thick block wall. Trevor wasn’t up on the scaffold, which pleased her. She could hardly climb up herself and deliver the coffee. Still, she paused for a moment, looking up at the men who scrambled around. With timber now, which she could only suppose was for the roof. If she concentrated, she could almost see how it was to slope up into a gentle rise as if it had grown somehow out of Gallagher’s rather than been added on.

It was a clever design, and clever of Trevor, she thought, to have seen that in Brenna’s drawing. But he’d be a man of vision, one who could see the potential of things and had the skill to turn a supposing into reality.

Oh, she admired that. It was just one more side of him she’d found herself loving.

There was the side of him for his family as well, the love he so obviously felt for his parents. And the hurt, not so obvious, from his grandfather’s lack of affection. It touched her, the loyalty and the vulnerability. It made him so much more the man.

The bastard would make a simpering fool of her if she wasn’t careful.

She could see where windows and doors would go from the rough openings in the dull gray block. That block, she knew, would be faced with stone and the stone would weather until it was impossible to tell where the new began and the old left off.

A merging, she thought as she began to walk again, of tradition with change. Of Gallagher and Magee. Well, the man might have vision, but she wasn’t ready for him to see just how complete she intended that merger to be.

She stepped through one of the openings. There was activity inside the walls as well. Planking had already been set over the concrete she’d watched them pour that first day. Pipes and wires and rough boards were poking out here and there. And the din as more were drilled and set into the block was amazing.

She saw him now, crouched down beside one of his crew, eyeballing a pipe that jutted out of the wall. He was covered with a fine gray dust that she supposed came from drilling into the block. Why that, and the tool belt slung at his hips, should have set her mouth to watering was just another part of her dilemma.

Still, she wasn’t so dazzled she didn’t know to bide her time, and wait until he rose, grunting in answer to something his man said, and turned. Saw her.

She watched his eyes change, and it was perfect. That instant of awareness, the connection that was like a hot spark flying dangerously. It wouldn’t have surprised her a bit to see it land and leave a burn mark in the floor at her feet. Delighted, she stepped toward it, and him.

“I wanted a look at what’s what before I got to work.” She smiled, held out the mug. “And I thought you could use this to ward off the damp.”

It only pleased her more that it was suspicion more than surprise that crossed his face. “Thanks.”

“You’re very welcome, indeed. I suppose I’m in the way here.” But she turned a little circle, looking. “But it’s interesting, and it’s moving along so fast.”

“It’s a good crew.” He knew at the first sip she’d made the coffee. It was good and strong, but she didn’t have the same touch as Shawn. Suspicion grew. Just what, he wondered, did she want?

“Sometime when you’re not so busy, perhaps you’d show me how it’ll be.”

“I can show you now.”

“Can you? That would be lovely.”

“We’ll come through the pub there.” He pointed toward the back wall of the pub that was snugged now between the new block. “We won’t cut through for a while yet. You can see the levels are different. We’ve sloped the breezeway down. That’ll give us more height without taking the roofline out of proportion. The breezeway widens.”

“Like an open fan, I remember.”

“That’s right, so it becomes the lobby rather than having it a separate area.”

“What are all these pipes stabbing out here?”

“Rest rooms, either side of the lobby area. Brenna thinks we should use the Gaelic for ‘Men’ and ‘Women,’ the way you have in the pub. I want dark wood, planked, for the doors.” He narrowed his eyes, brought the image into his head. “Under it all, everything will be modern, slick. But what people will see is age.”

What he saw, among the work and supplies and equipment, was the whole of it, shining and complete. “Bare floors,” he continued. “We’ll match them to what you already have. Soft, faded colors, nothing bright or vivid. We’ll have some seating in the lobby, but keep it small, intimate. Benches, I think. We’ll get some art for the walls, but keep it spare and all of it Celtic.”

He glanced at her, lifted his brow when he saw her staring at him. “What?”

“I suppose I thought you’d go for the modern and slick, outside as well as in.”

“Would you?”

She started to speak, then shook her head. “Not here,” she realized. “No, not here, not for this. Here you want duachais .”

“Okay. Since I want it, why don’t you tell me what it is?”

“Oh, it’s Gaelic for . . .” She waved her hand as she tried to find the right translation. “For ‘tradition.’ No, not just that. It has to do with a place most particularly, and its roots and its lore. With, well, with what and why it is.”

His eyes narrowed, focused. “Say it again.”

“It’s duachais.”

“Yeah, that’s it. That’s just exactly it.”

“You’re very right about wanting that here, and I’m glad of it.”

“And considerably surprised by it.”

“A bit anyway, yes. I shouldn’t be.” Because his perception unsettled her, she moved away. “And into the theater?”

“Yeah, doors again, two across.” He took her hand, an absentminded gesture that neither of them noticed. But others did.

“The audience area, three sections, two aisles. Full house is two hundred and forty. Small again, and intimate. The stage is the star here. I can see you there.”

She said nothing, only studied the empty space ahead of her.

He waited a beat. “Are you afraid of performing?”

“I’ve performed all my life.” One way or another, she thought. “No, I’ve no stage fright, if that’s what you mean. Maybe I need to build that image in my head, as you’re building your theater, and see if it stands as sturdy. You’re proud of what you’ve done and what you’re doing. I intend to be the same.”

It wasn’t why she’d come out. She’d meant to surprise him, to flirt with him, to make certain he thought of her through the day. Wanted her through the day.

“I like your theater, Trevor, and I’ll be pleased to sing in it with my brothers, as discussed. As for the rest”— she moved her shoulders, took his empty mug—“I need a bit more convincing. We’ll likely have a session tonight.” She’d make sure of it. “Why don’t you have your supper here, stay for it. Then after, you can come into my parlor. This time I’ll pour the wine.”

Rather than wait for his answer, she slid her free hand into his hair, lifted her mouth to his. And with the promise of more, should he care for it, in her eyes, she turned and walked away.

The minute she opened the kitchen door she smelled the baking. Apples, cinnamon, brown sugar. Shawn must have come in just behind her, and had been busy since. There was a pot already simmering on the stove, and he was chopping whatever else he intended to put in it on the thick board.

He barely glanced at her. “You can put apple crumble as the sweet on the daily, and Mexican chile as well. We have some fresh plaice, for frying.”

Rather than spring into action, she wandered to the refrigerator and got herself a bottle of ginger ale. Here, she thought, sipping it and eyeing her brother, was a source that would be brutally honest and one she trusted completely.

“What do you think of my voice?” she demanded.

“I could do with hearing a good deal less of it.”

“It’s my singing voice I’m referring to, you bonehead.”

“Well, thus far, it’s cracked no glass that I’m aware of.”

She considered heaving the bottle at him, but she wasn’t done with it. “I’m asking you a serious question, and you could do me the courtesy of answering in kind.”

Because her tone had been stiff rather than hot as expected, he lowered his knife and gave her his full attention. The broody look she was wearing he was well accustomed to, but not when there was real worry in her eyes.

“You’ve a beautiful voice, strong and true. You know that as well as I do.”

“No one hears themselves as others do.”

“I like hearing you sing my music.”

That, she thought, was the most simple and most perfect of answers. Her eyes warmed and rather than throw the bottle, she set it aside to hug him.

“What’s all this now?” He rubbed a hand over her back, patted when she sighed and rested her head on his shoulder.

“What does it feel like, Shawn, to have sold your music? To know people will hear it, people who don’t know you? Is it grand?”

“In part, aye, in part it’s the grandest thing. And it’s scary and befuddling all at the same time.”

“And still, deep down, it was what you always wanted.”

“It was. Keeping it deep down meant it didn’t have to be scary and befuddling.”

“I like singing, but not as my life’s ambition. It’s just what we do, when the mood strikes. The Gallagher way.” She drew back. “Tell me this, then, now that you are selling your music, does it take any of the joy out of it, or make it seem like no more than a job?”

“I thought it might, but no. When I sit down and there’s a tune in my head, it’s just the tune as it always was.” He stroked a finger under her chin. “What is it, darling? Tell me the trouble.”

“Trevor wants to record me. Like a contract. Like a career. He thinks my voice will sell.”

There were a dozen things he could say, jokes that any brother might spring to out of habit and that odd affection. Instead, because he sensed she needed it, he gave her the easy truth. “You’ll be wonderful, and send us all mad with pride.”

She let out a sound that ended in a shaky laugh. “But it wouldn’t be like a session or a ceili . It would be real.”

“You’ll travel, and get rich, which is what you’ve always wanted. And it’ll come from what’s inside you, which is the only way it’ll make you happy.”

She picked up the ginger ale again. “You’re awfully smart all of a sudden.”

“I’ve always been smart. You only admit it when I agree with you.”

“Hmm.” She sipped again, her mind working quickly now, picking its way through obstacles and traps. “You and Brenna are working together in a sort of way. I mean you write the music, but she pushes it. She’s the one who arranged for Trevor to hear it. She’s in a way of being your business agent, or partner, or whatever you might call it.”

Shawn’s answer was a grunt as he picked up his knife and began chopping again. “She can get on her bossy side about it, let me tell you.”

That had Darcy biting her lip. “Does it cause problems between you?”

“None that wouldn’t pass if she’d mind her own.” But when he glanced up again and saw Darcy’s face, he laughed. “Well, for heaven’s sake, why the worry? I’m just winding you up a bit. It’s true enough she pushes, and I can dig in when she shoves too fast and too hard. But I know it’s that she believes in me. It matters, nearly as much as it does that she loves me.”

The pang inside her heart came hard and unwelcome. “The believing in could be as important, as satisfying, to some. As a start, anyway. As a start,” she repeated in a murmur. “You can’t finish until you start.”

Determined to believe it, she took her apron off the hook and went into the pub, leaving Shawn frowning after her.

It was never hard to arrange for a session at Gallagher’s. A word here, a word there. What better way was there, after all, to spend a rainy spring evening than with music and drink, with strangers and friends?

By eight, the pub was packed and pints were flowing. Brenna had already moved behind the bar to lend a hand, and Darcy felt she herself had served enough stew to make an ocean.

And Trevor Magee had yet to darken the door.

The devil take him, she decided, and had a table of tourists glancing around uneasily as she served their drinks with a smile that glittered sharp and bright as a blade.

If he couldn’t be bothered to accept her invitation for supper, music, and sex, what was the man made of? Stone? Ice? Steel? She slammed empties on the counter and had Aidan’s full attention.

“Mind the glassware, Darcy. We’ve hardly one to spare with the crowd we have tonight.”

“Bugger them,” she said under her breath. “Two pints Guinness, one Smitty’s, half of Harp, and two brandy and gingers.”

“Take a water to Jude, would you, while the Guinness is settling, and see if you can talk her into having some stew. Her appetite’s been off the last day or so.”

She wanted to snap, just on principle, but it wasn’t possible to take a bite out of a man who looked so concerned over his wife. Instead she simply went back to the kitchen herself, ladled out stew, added a basket of bread and butter. She carried them, with water and a glass of ice, to Jude’s table.

“Now, you’re to eat,” Darcy said as she set down the food. “Else Aidan’ll be worried, Shawn insulted, and I’ll just be mad.”

“But I—”

“I mean it, Jude Frances. You’ve my niece or nephew to take care of, and I won’t have him or her, as the case may be, going hungry.”

“It’s just that . . .” She glanced around, motioned Darcy to lean down. “The last couple of days, about five or so, I’ve had this terrible craving. I can’t do anything about it, can’t seem to stop myself. Ice cream,” she whispered. “Chocolate ice cream. I swear I’ve eaten two gallons of it this week, bought the market out of it.”

Darcy snorted out a laugh. “Well, what’s wrong with that? You’re entitled.”

“It’s so cliche ´d. I’m not eating pickles with it or anything-ridiculous, but just the same. I feel so stupid about it, I haven’t been able to tell Aidan.”

“Do the crime, pay the consequences.” Darcy nudged the bowl closer. “Besides, that’s no way to feed a baby. You have a bit of Shawn’s stew, and for being such a sport and saving this seat for that cad Magee, I’ll buy your ice cream tomorrow.”

Struggling not to pout, Jude picked up her spoon. “Chocolate. And the cad just walked in.”

“Did he?” Pride, and not a little slice of temper, made her refuse to turn around. “It’s about bloody time. What’s he doing?” Casually, she picked up Jude’s bottle of water and poured it.

“He’s scoping, the way men do. Hunting for you, I’d say. Ah, bull’s-eye. God, the way he looks at you. It’s wonderful, hot and proprietary with a little edge of aloofness. He’s got a man with him, very polished and urban and attractive, who looks amused and out of place.”

Without thinking, Jude ate a spoonful of stew. “They look like friends,” she went on. “The one laid a hand on Trev’s shoulder, buddy-like, gestured toward the bar. But Trev’s shaking his head, giving it a nod in this direction. His friend’s just got a load of you now, and his eyebrows went straight up, almost to hairline. I’m surprised his tongue didn’t fall out.”

Impressed, Darcy angled her head. “You’re awfully good at this sort of business, aren’t you?”

“Psychologist, writer. They both observe. I’m just much better, thank God, at writing about people than analyzing them. So, I’m looking forward to hearing the music tonight,” she went on, raising her voice enough to signal Darcy she could and wanted to be heard. “I’m glad I got a table before we were overrun.”

“We’d just plant you in a chair behind the bar. Eat your stew now, before it goes cold.”

“I really don’t—well, hello, Trevor.”

Prepared now, Darcy did turn, offered a friendly smile. “Aren’t you the lucky one. Jude’s got a table here I’m sure she’d be glad to share with you. We’re jammed tonight.” Then she shifted that same smile to the man beside Trevor and had the pleasure of seeing pure male appreciation in his eyes. “And good evening to you.”

“Darcy Gallagher, Jude Gallagher, Nigel Kelsey. A friend of mine.”

“It’s nice to meet you.”

“Trevor didn’t tell me I’d be bombarded by beauties.” He took Jude’s hand first, kissed it smoothly, then repeated the gesture with Darcy.

“You’ve brought us a charmer, Trevor. Have a seat here, and tell me what’s your pleasure to drink. I’ve got to pick up an order at the bar that’s overdue.”

“G and T for me,” Nigel ordered.

“Ice and lemon?”

“Yes, thanks.”

“Pint of Harp,” Trevor told her.

“Right away, then. And the stew’s good tonight, if you’re in the mood for it.”

“Or if you’re not,” Jude muttered as Darcy moved off.

“So, you’re the American writer who married the publican.” Nigel, in his urban black sweater, jacket, and slacks took a stool.

And looked, Jude thought, like a bohemian at a barn dance.

“I came over as an American, found out I was a writer. You’re from England?” she asked, tagging his accent.

“London, born and bred. Trev was right about this place,” he added with a glance around. “It’s authentic, a movie set. Damn near perfect.”

“We like to think so.”

“Nigel doesn’t mean to be patronizing.” Trevor took the seat beside Jude in the narrow booth. “He’s just an ass.”

“I meant it as a compliment. English pubs, certainly in the city, tend to be a bit more reserved than those you find in Ireland. And rarely have barmaids with faces like film stars.”

He swiveled to take another look at Darcy. “I think I’m in love.”

“A complete ass. You’re not eating,” Trevor said to Jude. “Is Darcy wrong about tonight’s stew?”

“No.” Guilty, Jude took another spoonful. “It’s wonderful. It’s just I’m not really hungry. I had a late . . . mmmm.”

“Cravings?” When she flushed, Trevor laughed. “For my sister, all three times, it was Fig Newtons for breakfast. She ate truckloads.”

“Chocolate ice cream, at teatime. Gallons.” Jude shot a wary glance toward Aidan. “I haven’t made a full confession yet. Aidan’s afraid I’ll waste away.” She put a hand on her belly. “As if.”

“Here we are, now, gin and tonic and a Harp.” Darcy set them down. “Will you have a meal with us, then?”

“We’ll have the stew,” Trevor said before Nigel could order. “Will you sing later?”

“I might.” With a saucy wink, she sauntered off.

“I might have wanted a look at the menu,” Nigel complained.

“You’re coming to the lady’s rescue here. We eat the same thing, and that way we can each take a portion of her stew and save her.”

“God bless you,” Jude said with feeling and passed Trevor the basket of bread.

Their bowls had barely been served when music started. Just a fiddle and pennywhistle at first from a couple of the people crammed around the table at the front. The table itself was loaded with pints and glasses, ashtrays and packs of cigarettes.

Conversation didn’t stop with the music, but it lowered. It was Darcy, Trevor noted, who worked the table, taking away the empties, the overflowing ashtrays and replacing them with fresh. An old man with a squeeze box gave her a little pat on the bottom, in much the same way an adult pats a baby, then, tapping his foot, picked up the tune and filled it out.

“That’s Brian Fitzgerald on the fiddle,” Jude told them. “We’re cousins of some sort. And that’s young Connor on the pennywhistle and Matt Magee, likely a cousin of yours, Trevor, on the little accordion. The young woman with the guitar is Patty Riley, and I don’t know the other woman, the other fiddler. I don’t think she’s local or I would.”

Nigel nodded, sampled his stew. “Do you get many musicians in for an informal who aren’t local?”

“All the time. Gallagher’s has a reputation with its sessions, formal and informal.” She looked on Trevor with warm affection when he casually spooned some of her stew into his bowl, then Nigel’s. “I’d name the baby after you for this, but Aidan would be suspicious.”

“It’s not a hardship. Shawn’s a genius.”

“I thought Trev was exaggerating the culinary skills of our newest artist.” Happily now, Nigel dug into the stew again. “I should’ve known better. He’s never wrong.”

It was the laugh that caught Nigel first. Warm, female, sexy. He glanced over, toward it, and watched as Darcy laid a hand on the old man’s shoulder, counted off the time with her toe, then caught the tune with her voice.

As I was going over the far-famed Kerry mountains/ I met with Captain Farrell and his money he was counting.

He laid his spoon down, focused, and shut out the background noise.

I first produced me pistol, and then produced me rapier/ Saying stand and deliver for you are my bold deceiver.

It was a bright, jumpy song with bouncy lyrics. Nothing that put great demands on a voice but for its quickness. But it took no more than the first verse for him to know.

He looked at Trevor, nodded. “No, you’re never wrong.”

There were reels, jigs, waltzes, and ballads, with or without voices joining in. When Shawn finally came out of the kitchen, Nigel got his first look at the three Gallaghers together.

“Excellent genes there,” he murmured, and Jude beamed.

“Aren’t they beautiful? And listen,” she added when they began to sing of the bold Fenian men.

Despite her enjoyment of her family, she caught the look that passed between Nigel and Trevor. These, she thought, were men who had something to say to each other, and wouldn’t while she could hear. Well, she owed them. So when the song was over, she patted Trevor’s arm.

“I’m going for a quiet cup of tea in the kitchen.” And then slip out the back door and home. “Thanks for the company and the rescue. Lovely to meet you, Nigel. Enjoy your stay with us.”

She started to scoot out, couldn’t manage it, then was grateful once again as Trevor somehow got her smoothly to her feet. Now, following impulse, she kissed his cheek. “Good night.”

As the fiddlers had gone into a duel, Nigel had only to wait until Jude was two steps away before she was out of earshot. “They’re a gold mine.”

“That may be, but Aidan won’t give up the pub, and neither will Shawn.” Trevor nursed his single pint. “They’ll do the performance here, and the recording. That’s for family, and for Gallagher’s, but the long term. No.”

“You didn’t mention Darcy.”

“I’m working on her. Her loyalty’s here, too, and with her brothers. But she has a taste for the rich life. I just have to convince her she can have both.” He drummed his fingers, watching as one of the fiddlers passed her the instrument instead of his empty pint. Then rose to refill it himself while she picked up the tune.

“With a face like that, a voice like that, and Christ, listen to her play, she can have anything she wants.”

“I know.” The fact that it didn’t entirely please him had Trevor setting down his glass. “And so, believe me, does she.”

“No naive Irish lass, huh? Still, I’ve never known you to fail when your mind’s set. You’ll sign her, Trev.” Nigel lit one of his dwindling pack of Players, eyed Trevor through the smoke. “What else are you looking for from her?”

Too much for comfort, Trevor thought. Entirely too much. “I haven’t decided.”

“If you decide to keep it strictly business, I wouldn’t mind—” He cut himself off when Trevor’s eyes, scalpelsharp, met his. “I think we’ll just leave that unsaid. I’ll just go to the bar and order another G and T.”

“Good idea.”

“I think so, as we haven’t snarled over a girl since first term at Oxford, and you won that one anyway.” Nigel rose, nodded toward Trevor’s glass. “Another pint?”

“No, thanks. I’ll just keep my head clear. And Nigel, make this one your last, will you? You’ll be driving back to the cottage on your own.”

“I see. You always were a lucky bastard.”

Luck, as far as Trevor could see, was only part of what he would need to handle Darcy Gallagher.

He waited for her, in what she liked to call her parlor. And waited restlessly among her pretty things. The scent of her seemed to be everywhere, a subtle reminder that kept him on edge.

He didn’t want a reminder. He wanted her.

Everything in her rooms was feminine. Not the flouncy sort, but the sleek. Slippery pillows he had no idea she’d made herself were tossed artistically over the couch. A tall, slim vase held tall, slim flowers with bold red heads.

There was a painting on the wall of a mermaid, wild wet hair of gleaming black raining down her back and naked breasts as she surfaced in a triumphant arch of body from a blue sea.

It was stunning, sensual and somehow innocent.

It was simply and rather beautifully rendered. Anyone seeing it would note the resemblance, he was sure, in the shape of the face, the full curve of lips.

He wondered when Darcy had posed for it and immediately wanted to strangle the artist.

That, he realized, was a serious problem, every bit as serious as this unrelenting desire for her. He detested jealousy and possessiveness in relationships. They weren’t just deadly, weren’t just weak, they were . . . unproductive.

He needed to step back, clear himself out of this sexual haze he’d been in ever since he’d seen her at the damn window.

Then she opened the door, and that haze simply engulfed him.

“Did you send Nigel off to home all by himself, then?” She closed the door behind her, leaned back against it.

“He’s a big boy.”

She reached down, flipped the lock. “I hope you told him not to wait up.”

Trevor stepped to her. “You’ve been on your feet all night.”

“That I have, and they’re letting me know it.”

“Why don’t I get you off them?” He scooped her up and into his arms.

Chuckling, she nuzzled his neck. “Well, what do you know, that’s better already.”

“Sweetheart, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”

FIFTEEN

“COFFEE.”

A man couldn’t be expected to survive on three hours’ sleep without coffee. Sex might satisfy, food might fuel, love might sustain, but without coffee, what was the point?

Especially at five-thirty in the morning.

He’d showered, pulled on his jeans, but he couldn’t go another step without the true blood of life.

“Coffee,” he said again, directly against Darcy’s ear as she snuggled into her pillow. “Please, tell me where it is.”

“Mm.” She shifted, turned lazily, hooked an arm around his neck. “Too early.”

“It’s never too early for coffee, or too late. Darcy, I’m begging you, just tell me where you keep it.”

She opened her eyes then, and the light was still dim enough to keep her floating on memories of the night. Which saved him from wrath. “You need a shave.” She lifted her other hand, rubbed it over his cheek. “Ah, you look so rough and male and dangerous. Come back to bed.”

Sex with a beautiful woman. Coffee. It was one of life’s most difficult choices. The man who could have both was a king. But first things first.

He slid his hands under the sheets, under her warm, soft body. And hauled her up out of bed. “You can show me where it is.”

It took her a moment to realize he was carting her into the kitchen. “Trevor! I’m bare-assed naked here.”

“Are you?” He glanced down, let his gaze roam. “Imagine that. Coffee, Darcy, and the world is yours.”

She sniffed, huffed. “Promises like that are kept as often as pigs fly.” She gestured to a cupboard, then squealed when he unceremoniously set her warm and naked ass down on the counter. “Bastard.”

“I don’t see it.”

“Men don’t see anything that’s under their noses.”

She shifted, muttering curses, and pushed a couple of tins aside. “There. If it’d been a snake it would’ve bitten you between the eyes. And now I suppose you’ll be wanting me to make it for you.”

It was such a lovely thought. Hopeful, he laid his palms on either side of her, nipped and nuzzled her sulky mouth. “Would ya?”

If he hadn’t been so bloody handsome, with his hair shiny and damp from his shower, his face darkened with stubble, those wonderful gray eyes so sleepy, she’d have beaned him with the can.

“Oh, move aside and let me go get my robe.”

“Why?”

She slitted her eyes instead. “Because I’m cold.”

“Oh.” He nodded. “Reasonable. I’ll get it.” He plucked her off the counter, brushed a kiss over her forehead, then went to find her robe.

Yawning hugely, Darcy filled the kettle, got out the pot and filter. She was starting to shiver as she measured out the coffee when Trevor came back with her robe.

He studied the paraphernalia as she bundled herself into the robe. “I’ll have to buy you an automatic one.”

“I don’t make coffee often enough for it to be worthwhile. I start my day with tea most usually.”

“That’s just . . . sick.”

“Ah, such a weakness. It’s nice to find one. There. We just wait for the kettle now.” She reached up to get him a mug, and looked so pretty doing it, rising on her toes, shaking back her tumbled hair, that he was dizzy with . . .

Just dizzy, he told himself. Just dizzy from the picture she made.

“But don’t think I’m making you breakfast.”

He had to touch her, just touch. So he slipped his arms around her, pressing his lips to the side of her neck as he brought her back against him. “You’re so mean.”

Her heart jumped, then beat thickly. The gesture was so simple, so warm, so full of the sweetness of intimacy that frantic sex could never achieve. She squeezed her eyes shut and was careful, very careful, to keep her voice light.

“Well, now, aren’t you affectionate of a morning?”

He wasn’t, not as a rule. He’d have puzzled over it if it hadn’t felt so good to just hold her. “Any woman makes me coffee, I shower her with affection. If she makes me breakfast, I’m her slave.”

“The waitresses in New York City must fight for your table.” She laid her hands over the ones he’d linked around her waist. Just for a moment she wanted that illusion of quiet, settled love. “Myself, I’m not in the market for a slave, but you’re welcome to whatever you can forage.”

He settled for toast, since she didn’t seem to have much else, and leaned against the counter while it browned and she poured boiling water over the waiting grounds.

“God.” He breathed deep. “How does anyone live without the smell of that in the morning?” He gave her a pitying look. “Tea.”

“You Yanks drink so much of it, you don’t know it doesn’t taste near as good as it smells.”

“Blasphemy. There’s a deli two blocks from where I live. Now, they make coffee that brings tears of gratitude to a man’s eye.”

“You miss that.” Since it did smell seductive, she got down a mug for herself. “The delis, the hustle-bustle.” She opened the refrigerator and got out her little carton of cream. “What else do you miss about New York?”

The toast popped. “Bagels.”

“Bagels?” She got out butter and jam as well, then just stood holding them and staring at him. “A man of your resources, and what you miss about New York is coffee and bagels?”

“Right at this moment, I’d pay a hundred dollars for a fresh bagel. No offense to your Irish soda bread. But, really.”

“Well, that’s a wonder.”

He started to make some joke, but the glorious scent that filled the kitchen had his mind clicking in. It was, he decided, too good an opening to pass up.

“New York’s got more to offer than coffee and bagels—though they shouldn’t be lightly dismissed.” He put the toast on the plate she offered him. “Restaurants, theater, art—and for the materialistic, anything and everything that can be bought. You’d love it.”

“Because I’m materialistic?”

“Because if you know what you want, it’s next to impossible not to find it there. Thanks.” He accepted the mug with deep and sincere gratitude. “It’s one of the places you’d go if you signed with Celtic.”

And so, she thought, the door closes on intimacy and opens to business. There was no point in regretting it. “And why would I go to New York?”

“The same reason you’d go to Dublin, London, Chicago, L.A., Sydney, wherever. Concerts, media, exposure.”

She added cream and sugar to her own brew. “It’s a lot to promise when you don’t know how I’ll record, or perform, or stand up to the kind of life that would make.”

“I do know. It’s my business to know.”

“You’ve a lot of businesses, Trevor, and I’ll wager you’re good at each and every one. But it’s this particular one that concerns me. I take your word on this and make this change, I change everything. It’s a lot for me to risk because you like the sound of my voice.”

She held up a hand before he could speak. “You’d risk as well, I understand that. You’d be making an investment in me. But that’s what you do, isn’t it? You make investments, and if one doesn’t pay off, another does, so it’s no great loss. A disappointment, an annoyance, but not your life.”

“Point taken,” he said after a moment. “Get dressed.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Get dressed. I think I have a way to settle your mind on part of this.” He glanced at the kitchen clock. “Make it fast, will you?”

“You’ve your nerve, don’t you? Ordering me about this way, and at six in the morning at that.”

He started to ask what the hell the time had to do with it, then wisely concluded that arguing would only force her to dig in her heels. “Sorry. Would you come with me? It won’t take long, and it does go to your point. Your very valid point.”

“Clever, aren’t you? Well, I’ll go because I’m up and about anyway. But keep in mind I’m not on your payroll, and I don’t jump when you snap.”

She turned and stalked back to the bedroom. Satisfied, Trevor finished his breakfast.

For the second time that morning, Trevor roused someone out of sleep. In this case, the results weren’t as cozy.

“Bloody fucking hell” was Nigel’s response. “If your lady’s kicked you out of bed at this godforsaken hour, take the sofa. I’m not budging, and I’m not sharing.”

“I don’t want to get in the bed, I want you to get out of it. Darcy’s downstairs.”

One of the eyes Nigel had firmly shut popped open. “Does that mean you’re sharing?”

“Remind me to punch you later. Right now, get up, get dressed, and make yourself presentable.”

“No one’s presentable at . . . Jesus, six-thirty in the morning!”

“I’m pressed for time, Nigel.” Trevor turned and started out. “Five minutes.”

“At least put the bloody coffee on,” Nigel shouted.

“I’m not making it this time,” Darcy said firmly the minute Trevor came down the steps. She had her arms folded over her breasts and a steely look in her eye. She’d already made it known, in no uncertain terms, that she hadn’t appreciated Trevor rushing her along.

“No problem.” He snagged her hand and pulled her with him toward the kitchen. “Do you want some tea this time?”

“I won’t be placated by a cup of tea. You barely gave me time to put on my lipstick.”

“You don’t need it.”

Since he hadn’t yet put the kettle on, he had to assume the hissing sound came from her and not from boiling water. “Oh, it’s ever like a man to say something so stupid and think it’s a compliment.”

He got the kettle going, then turned back to her. “You are,” he said, very deliberately, “the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen a considerable number of beautiful women.”

She only huffed and sat at the table. “Flattery isn’t going to help you.”

It surprised them both when he walked to her, cupped her face in his hands, lifted it. “You take my breath away, Darcy. That’s not flattery, that’s fact.”

Her heart fluttered. There was no help for it, and no way to stop the emotion from swirling into her eyes. “Trevor.” She murmured it, drawing him to her, then again with her lips against his.

And it was there, suddenly, like light. The love and the longing, the wishes yet unsaid. For an instant, for the time it takes a needy heart to beat, she felt him answer it, and her world shimmered like a jewel.

Music, she swore she heard it. The romance of harpsong, the celebration of pipes, the lusty beat of drums. The sound she made, her mouth warm on his, was a kind of song. A single note of joy.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Nigel said dryly from the doorway. “But you did tell me to hurry it up.”

The light fractured, wavered. Trevor drew back, his hands still framing her face, his eyes still on hers. Then he stepped away, and the music died.

“Yeah.” Something was echoing in his head, in his heart, but he couldn’t get hold of it. He rubbed a hand over his shirt, as beneath it the silver disk seemed abruptly hot against his heart.

Behind him the kettle shrilled, one long scream of frustration. Trevor turned and shut it off with a restrained anger that made no sense to him.

“Good morning, Darcy.” Nigel thought it was like stepping into raw nerves, but he kept his polished and pleasant expression in place. “Can I offer you some coffee once it’s done?”

“No, thanks all the same, but I’ve had some already. After my rude awakening this morning.”

“Ah.” Deciding to make the best of it, Nigel sat across from her at the table. “When our Trevor gets in a mood, no one is safe. He’s a tidal wave.”

“Is he, now?”

“Christ, yes.” Nigel lit his first cigarette of the day. “You get swept along, or you drown. Of course, it’s one of the ways he gets things done when he wants and as he wants.”

Enjoying herself now, Darcy leaned forward. “Tell me more.”

“He’s a single-minded individual, and detours only rarely—when he deems it worth his while. Ruthless, some would say, and they wouldn’t be wrong.” He paused, blew out smoke. “But he’s a boy who loves his mother.”

“Shut up, Nigel,” Trevor ordered when Darcy laughed.

“Not until I’ve had my coffee.”

“Oh, and dare you cross him in such a way?”

“He loves me, too.” Nigel sent Trevor a glittering look as he brooded by the stove. “Who wouldn’t?”

“I’m growing fond of you myself. And what more should I know of this ruthless individual who loves his mother?”

“He’s got a brain like a blade—bright and sharp, and a loyal if stubborn heart. A generous man, Trevor, but never one to be taken advantage of. He admires efficiency, honesty, and creativity in all things. And his way with the ladies is known far and wide.”

“That’ll do.” Annoyed but unruffled, Trevor set a mug in front of Nigel.

“Oh, but I’m sure he’s just getting started,” Darcy protested. “And the topic is greatly fascinating to me.”

“I’ve got one that should be more fascinating to you. Nigel heads up the London branch of Celtic Records. However irritating he might be on a personal level, he’s unerringly astute on a professional one.”

“True.” Nigel took a sip. “Too true.”

“You heard Darcy sing last night, in a pub, without mikes, filters, orchestration, rehearsal. In what we could call the most informal of venues. What was your impression?”

“She’s very good.”

“We’re not negotiating here, Nigel,” Trevor said. “Not diddling terms. Tell her what you thought, straight out.”

“All right.” Nigel replied. “Once in a while, in my profession, you stumble across a jewel, a diamond—no, in your case we’ll use sapphire because it goes with your eyes. A rare, brilliant, undiscovered jewel. That’s what I heard at Gallagher’s last night. I’d love to put that jewel in the proper setting.”

“I’ll leave it to you to explain what that setting might be. I have to get to the site. I’m already late.” Trevor picked up his keys from the counter where Nigel had tossed them the night before. “I’ll leave the car for you.”

She could only stare blindly at the keys. “Thanks, but I’ll just walk back. It’ll clear my head, and I’d prefer it.”

“Suit yourself.” But he leaned down, rested his hands on her shoulders. “I have to go.”

“It’s not a problem. Come have lunch at the pub, since you had to make do with such a skimpy breakfast.”

“If there’s time.” He kissed her lightly before turning to Nigel. “Come down and have a look at the site later. The walk will do your city legs good.”

“Thanks very much.” As Trevor left, Nigel rose to top off his coffee. “Sure you won’t have a cup, Darcy?”

“No, I’m fine, thanks.”

He poured out, sat again, smiled. “So—”

He stopped when Darcy held up a hand. “Please, I have a question. Would you have said what you did just now if I wasn’t sleeping with Trevor? Be honest,” she continued as his eyes flickered. “I won’t tell him your answer, you have my word on that, but the truth here is important to me.”

“The truth, then. It would have been easier, and suited me more comfortably, to be able to tell you what I just did if you weren’t sleeping with Trevor.”

“I’d have preferred it as well, but here we are. I hope you’ll take this as truth as well. I’m not sleeping with Trevor so he’ll offer me a big contract.”

“Understood.” Nigel paused, considered. “Is having a personal relationship with him what’s stopping you from agreeing to a professional one?”

“I don’t know. He wouldn’t make a habit of having a personal relationship with his artists, would he? It’s not his style.”

“No, it’s not.” Interesting, Nigel mused. No, fascinating. Unless he missed his guess, this was a woman in love. “But I’ve never known him to be involved with anyone he hoped to sign for the label. I’d have to say all bets are off in this case.”

No, she thought, it was a wager still. The biggest of her life. “If I signed with Celtic, what would be expected of me?”

Nigel’s grin was all charm. “Oh, Trevor, he expects everything. And he gets it.”

She relaxed enough to chuckle. “Give me the high points then, and the lows as well.”

“You’ll deal with directors, producers, musicians, marketing, consultants, assistants. It’s not just your voice we want, but the package, and everyone will have ideas or demands for presenting that package. However, my impression is that you’re a smart woman, and self-aware, so you’d know the package is already as perfect as it can get.”

“Meaning if I was toad ugly or couldn’t string two coherent sentences together you’d find ways to remake the package.”

“Or use the flaws. You’d be amazed at what a clever publicity campaign can do with flaws. Regardless, the work you’ll do will be hard, the hours long, and not all the choices will go your way. You’ll be tired, annoyed, frustrated, baffled, stressed, and . . . are you temperamental?”

“Me?” She deliberately fluttered her lashes. “Of course I am.”

“Add blowups, sulks, and rages, then—and that’s just in the first recording session.”

Darcy rested her chin on her fist. “I like you, Nigel.”

“That’s mutual, so I’m going to tell you this—which if I didn’t like you, I’d leave out. If you and Trevor continue as you are, people will talk. Not all of them kindly. Some will snipe and scratch and mutter that the only reason you got a contract is because you’re

shagging the boss. They’ll make sure you feel that in dozens of nasty, petty ways. It won’t be easy on you.”

“Or him.”

“They won’t let him know, unless they’re very, very stupid. And the petty and jealous are rarely stupid. You can cry on his shoulder, of course.”

Her head snapped up, her eyes kindled. “I don’t cry on any man’s shoulder.”

“I bet you don’t,” he said quietly. “But if it comes down to it, Darcy, I hope you’ll use mine.”

She was glad she’d chosen to walk back to the village. There were so many thoughts buzzing around in her head. How long it would take to separate them, consider each one, she didn’t know. She only knew that it had to be done.

She asked herself what she would do if there was nothing between herself and Trevor but the offer. The answer came quicker than she expected. She’d take it, of course. It would be a grand adventure, and a chance for more. And if she failed, there was no shame in it. Better, if she succeeded, there was the lush life she’d always imagined.

And all because she could sing. Wasn’t that astounding?

The work Nigel had spoken of didn’t worry her overmuch. She wasn’t afraid of working hard. The travel was something she’d always dreamed of. The niggle came from the fact that she had no driving ambition to perform. But perhaps that was to the good. Without that force and need, mightn’t she enjoy it more?

She’d have money to lavish on herself, her family, her friends. Oh, she’d have no problem at all with the money.

But it all circled back. There was something between herself and Trevor, and on her part it was more vital than anything had been in her life.

She had to make him love her.

It was so irritating not to know if she was making progress there. The man was much too self-contained for her peace of mind. With her mouth set in a pout, she tugged a fuchsia blossom from the hedge and tore it to pieces as she walked down the narrow road.

Why was it when it finally happened, she’d lost her heart to a man who wasn’t dazzled with her? Who wasn’t eager as a puppy to please? Who didn’t promise her the world on a silver platter, even if those who had done that most often hadn’t had the platter, much less the world, at their disposal.

She probably wouldn’t have fallen in love with him if he’d been or done any of those things, but that was beside the point. She was in love with him, so why couldn’t he just love her back so everything could be lovely?

Damned perverse individual.

When he’d kissed her there in the kitchen of Faerie Hill Cottage, hadn’t he felt it? Hadn’t he known her heart was spilling right out of her and into his hands? Oh, she hated that she couldn’t stop it.

Hated more that the first time, the only time, she’d wanted a man to see inside her, he just wasn’t looking.

So, she’d have to deal with that. She tossed the remains of the tattered blossom away, watching it whip like confetti in the brisk wind on the hill. She had plenty of tools at her disposal to employ. Sooner or later, she’d box him right in.

Damned if she wouldn’t.

Before she was done, she’d be rich, famous. And married.

As she came around the bend, the sun flashed into her eyes like a beacon, sharp and white and direct. She raised a hand to shield them, blinking, and saw through the glare the glint of silver.

“Good morning to you, Darcy the fair.”

Slowly, with her heart stuttering, she lowered her hand. It hadn’t been the sun at all that had beamed at her. It was filtered soft through layered stacks of clouds that turned the sky the color of Trevor’s eyes. It was magic that shone out at her, and the man standing on the side of the road, under the looming spear of the round tower, owned it.

“I’m told you frequent Saint Declan’s Well.”

“Oh, I’m here and there, depending. And it’s rare for you to wander to that hill.”

“I’m here and there as well. Depending.”

His eyes flashed with humor, as bright as the doublet he wore. “Since here’s where you are and so am I, will you walk with me?” The iron gate opened as he spoke, though he didn’t touch it with his hand.

“Men are the same. Faerie or mortal, they must show off.” Pleased when he frowned, she breezed by him and through the opening. “I wondered if you’d ever have cause to seek me out.”

“I gave you more credit than you deserved.” There, he thought when she turned her head to glare at him. Point for point. “I was certain a woman of your talents would have conquered any man she took aim at. But you’ve yet to land the Magee.”

“He’s not a fish. And who put the idea in his head that he was obliged to fall in love with me so he’d get his back up about it straight off?”

“Too much Yank practicality and not enough Irish romance in him, that’s his problem.” Disgusted because Darcy was right about his own miscalculation, he strode over the rough ground. “I don’t understand the man. If his blood didn’t leap the minute he saw you, I’m a jackrabbit. You should’ve been able to bring him to the mark by this time.”

He stopped, and his eyes burned into hers. “You want him, don’t you?”

“If I didn’t, he’d never have touched me.”

“And has he touched only your body? Has he reached your heart?”

She turned, looking down, to where the village lay. “Isn’t your magic strong enough to see into my heart?”

“I want the words from you. I’ve learned, with pain, the power of words.”

“The ones I have are for him, not for you. They’ll be spoken when I choose, not when you demand.”

“In the name of Finn, I knew I’d have trouble with you.”

He pondered a moment, rubbing his chin. Then with a sly smile, he raised his arms high. The air shivered, rippled like water at a stone’s toss. Shapes formed behind it, shadows that spread and speared up and took on color and life. The gentle voice of the sea became a roar, a thousand sounds beating against each other.

“Look now,” Carrick ordered, but she was already staring, eyes wide, at the buildings and streets and people where her village had been. “New York City.”

“Sweet Mary.” She had already stepped back, half afraid she would stumble and fall into that vast, crowded, wonderful world. “Such a place.”

“You could have it, the best of it. Shops full of treasures.”

Store windows, filled with glittering jewels, sleek clothes raced by in front of her eyes.

“Elegant restaurants.”

White tablecloths, exotic flowers, the shimmer of candlelight, the glint of wine in crystal.

“Luxurious quarters.”

Polished wood and thick carpets, a fluid curve of stairs, a wide, wide window that looked out over trees gone to flame with fall.

“It’s Trevor’s penthouse. It could be yours.” Carrick watched the awe, the pleasure, the desire, run over her face. “He has more. His family’s getaway in a place called the Hamptons, a villa in Italy on the sea, a pretty pied-a`-terre in Paris, the town house in London.”

A house of brilliant white wood and sparkling glass with the blue water close, another in soft, pale yellow with a red tile roof tucked onto a soaring cliff over yet another blue sea, the charm of old stone and iron rails over the streets of Paris, and the dignified brick home she remembered from London. They all flashed by, made her head spin.

Then they were gone, in the blink of an eye, and there was only Ardmore sitting cozily under the layered, grayedged clouds.

“You could have it, all of it, for with some women they’ve only to want to have.”

“I can’t think.” Giving in to her shaky legs, she sat on the ground. “My head aches from it.”

“What do you want?” Watching her, Carrick reached for his pouch and turning it over, poured a flood of sparkling blue stones onto the ground. “I offered them to Gwen, but she turned from them, and from me. Would you?”

She shook her head, but not in denial. In sheer confusion.

“He gave you jewels, and you wear them.”

“I . . .” She ran her fingers over the bracelet on her wrist. “Yes, but—”

“He looked at you and found you beautiful.” “I know it.” The brilliance of the stones made her eyes tear. It was the shine of them, she told herself. It wasn’t her heart breaking. “But beauty doesn’t last. If that’s all that holds him, what happens when it fades? Am I only to be wanted for what can be seen?”

It would be enough if she wasn’t in love. Enough to have only that if the man was anyone but Trevor.

“He’s heard your voice and promised you fame, wealth, and a kind of immortality. What more is there? What more have you ever dreamed of?”

“I don’t know.” Oh, she wanted to weep. Why should she want to weep for having seen wonders?

“You have the power, you have the choice, and here is a gift for you.”

He plucked up one of the stones and taking her hand, laid it warm in the cup of her palm. “On this you can wish. Not three wishes, as so many of the stories go, but one only. Your heart’s desire is in your hand. Be it fortune, you will live in wealth. Vanity, and your beauty will fade never. Fame, and the world will know you. Love? The man you want most is yours, always and ever.”

He stepped back from her, and if her eyes had been clear, she might have seen compassion in his. “Choose well, Darcy the fair, for what you choose you live with.”

And he was gone, and the jewels, save the one in her hand, bloomed to flowers. She saw now they covered a grave, and the name carved into the stone was “John Magee.”

She lay her head against it and wept now for both of them.

SIXTEEN

DARCY INTENDED TO go straight through the pub and upstairs so she could make herself presentable. But Aidan was already there, inventorying stock. He took one look at her, set down his clipboard.

“What happened?”

“Nothing. It’s nothing. I had myself a little jag, is all.”

She started through, but he simply moved in front of her, put his arms around her, pressed his lips to her hair. “There, darling, tell me what’s the matter.” His greatest fear was that Trevor had hurt her in some way, and then he’d have to kill a man who’d become a friend.

“Oh, Aidan, don’t start me up again.” But she held on, and held tight. “It’s just a mood.”

“You’re a moody one, no question. But one thing you’re not, Darcy, is a blubberer. What’s made you cry?”

“Me, mostly, I think.” It felt so good to be held by one who had never let her down. “I have so much in my head, and it seemed the only way to let some of it out was with tears.”

He braced himself for the worst. “Magee hasn’t done anything . . .”

“He hasn’t, no.” And that, she thought, was part of the problem. He’d done nothing but be what he was, what she wanted. “Aidan, tell me something. When you went traveling all those years ago, saw all those things, all those places, was it wonderful?”

“It was. Some was grand, some bloody awful, but altogether it was wonderful.” He stroked a hand through her hair, remembering. “I guess you could say I had a lot in my head as well back then, and rambling was my way of getting some of it out.”

“But you came back.” She drew away then, studying his face. “Of all the places you’ve been and seen, you came back here.”

“Here’s home. The truth is . . .” He dabbed a stray tear from her cheek with his thumb. “I didn’t think I would,not when I set out. I thought, well, here’s Aidan Gallagher off to see the world and find his place in it. All the while, my place was right here, where I started. But I had to go away to come back.”

“Ma and Dad, they aren’t coming back.” Her eyes filled again, though she’d have sworn she had already cried herself dry. “Sometimes I miss them so much I can hardly stand it. It’s not every day or like that, but just in the once and a while it hits me that they’re thousands of miles away in Boston.”

Impatient with herself, she scrubbed her hands over her face to dry it. “I know they’ve come back for the weddings, and they’ll come to see your baby when it’s born, but it’s not the same.”

“It’s not. I miss them, too.”

She nodded. Hearing him say it helped. “I know they’re happy, and that’s a comfort. Every time they ring or write, they’re full of news and excitement about the Gallagher’s Pub they’ve built way over in Boston.”

“We’re an international franchise now,” Aidan said, and made her laugh a little.

“Next we’ll be planting one in Turkey or God knows.” She let out a little sigh. “They’re happy there, and I know I’ll go over and see them one day. But it makes me think that if I went away, I might not come back either. As much as I want to go, to see places and do things, Aidan, I don’t want to lose what’s here.”

“It’s not a matter of losing, but of changing. You won’t know what changes till you go. You’ve been needing to go since you could stand on your own feet. I was the same. It’s Shawn who’s planted here and never had a question about it.”

“Sometimes I wish I were like him.” She looked up sharply. “And if you ever tell him I said such a thing, I’ll swear you’re a liar.”

He laughed, tugged her hair. “There. That’s better.” “

“There’s more.” Sliding a hand into her pocket, she fingered the stone she carried there. “I have to decide if Trevor has it right and I should sign his contract and have him make me a singer.”

“You are a singer.”

“It’s different. You know it.”

“It is. Are you asking my opinion?”

“I’d like to weigh it in.”

“You’d be brilliant. I don’t say that because I’m your brother. I have traveled and in traveling had the opportunity to hear a lot of voices. Yours shines, Darcy, and always has.”

“I could do it,” she said quietly. “I believe I could, and not make a mess of it. More, and better, I think I’d like it. Attention,” she said with a glint in her eye, “is food and drink to me.”

“You’d have a banquet this way, wouldn’t you?”

“I would. Trevor had me go up and talk to his man this morning. Nigel, from London. He didn’t paint a picture that was all rose and gilt, and I appreciated that. It would be hard work.”

“You know how to work hard. And how to dance around the task when you’ve had enough, which is almost as important.”

Another brick of worry tumbled off her shoulder. “I wouldn’t have to dance if you weren’t such a slave driver. And I have a feeling Trevor’s cut from the same cloth. He’ll push me, and I won’t always like it.”

“It sounds as if you’ve decided.”

“I suppose I have.” She waited a moment, and discovered she felt relief instead of excitement. The excitement, she thought, would come. “I haven’t quite put it all in its place as yet, and I’m not ready to tell Trevor. I prefer letting him dangle a bit longer, and perhaps nudging him toward sweetening the pot.”

“There’s my girl.”

“Wheeling a deal’s the Gallagher way. There’s more still.” Holding her breath, she took the stone from her pocket, held it out.

It wasn’t surprise she saw in his eyes so much as acknowledgment, then a kind of resignation. “I knew you’d be the third. I didn’t want to think about it.”

“Why?”

He looked at her then, eye to eye. “My girl,” he murmured.

The force of love was so fierce it nearly dropped her. “Oh, Aidan, you’ll make me cry again.”

“We can’t have that.” To give them both time to compose, he got two bottles of water from under the bar. “So, you went up to Old Maude’s grave?”

“No. Tower Hill.” She took the water, drank deeply when she realized her throat was dust-dry. “There are flowers blooming over John Magee now. I was hardly surprised to see him. Carrick, I mean. Still, my heart shook.”

She pressed her fist to it, and in the fist she held the stone. “It’s a wonder, isn’t it? He looks sharp, Carrick does, and bold. But behind his eyes is sorrow. Love is such a tangle.”

“Do you love Trevor?”

Because it seemed hot against her heart, she lowered the stone. “Yes. It’s not what I thought it would be. It’s not soft and easy, and it sure as hell doesn’t make me feel like a queen. There’s been a change in me since the minute I looked out my window and saw him. There might not have been anyone else there for a space of time, and so I should have known it was already too late to stop it.”

He knew that feeling very well, and the stuttering nerves that went with it. “And would you, if you could?”

“I think I would. Stop it or slow it or something until I could get my breath steady. Or the man could catch up with me. He keeps himself one step back. It’s a cold step and a deliberate one. I understand it, as I’ve taken it often enough myself. He wants me.”

She said it musingly, then caught Aidan’s wince. “Oh, don’t go male and brotherly on me now when you’ve been doing so well.”

“I am male and your brother.” He shifted, and now he drank deep as well. “But go on.”

“There’s passion, and love would be bland without it.

“There’s a caring that stops it from being nothing but heat. But that step, the chill in it, stops it all just short of . . . trust,” she decided. “And acceptance.”

“One of you has to take the step forward instead of back.”

“I want it to be him.”

There was a trace of her old arrogance in her tone. It worried Aidan as much as it amused him. She opened her fingers, letting the stone rest on her palm where, like a heart, it pulsed its blue light.

“Carrick showed me things, amazing things. I could have them, he said. I’ve only to wish for it. Riches and excitement, fame and glory, love and beauty. To wish for it, but only one wish, one choice.”

“What do you want?”

“All of it.” She laughed, but there was something brittle in the sound that broke his heart. “I’m selfish and greedy and want all. I want everything I can snatch up and hold, then I want to go back and get more. Why can’t I want the simple and the ordinary and the quiet, Aidan? Why can’t I be content with easy dreams?”

“You’re so hard on yourself, mavourneen . Harder than anyone else can be. Some people want the simple and the ordinary and the quiet. It doesn’t make those who want the complicated and extraordinary and the

exciting greedy or selfish. Wanting’s wanting, whatever the dream.”

Struck, she stared at him. “What a thought,” she managed at last. “I never looked at it that way.”

“Study on it a while.” He brushed a fingertip over the stone, then closed her hand around it. “And don’t rush your wish.”

“That I’d already concluded for myself.” She slipped it back into her pocket where it couldn’t tempt her. “Carrick may be in a fired hurry, but I’m inclined to take my time.”

She pressed a kiss to each of Aidan’s cheeks. “You were just what I needed, just when I needed you.”

She did give it time. Her talk with Aidan had settled her and made her able to enjoy the time. As the days passed into a week, she even found herself amused that neither she nor Trevor brought up the potential business end of their relationship.

He was, she thought, as canny a negotiator as she was. One of them would break first. She didn’t intend for it to be her.

Work on the theater progressed in a kind of stage by stage that she found more interesting than she would ever have believed. A change was happening right outside her window. A monumental change that had its seeds in a dream and was so much more than bricks and mortar.

She wanted it for him. That, she supposed, was the nature of love. That you could want so intensely your lover’s dream to come true.

Now that most of the roof was on, she missed seeing Trevor out her window. He was inside the shell of the building as often as not. As the noise was as terrible as ever, she rarely kept her windows open on the off chance of hearing his voice.

With summer, the beaches drew people to Ardmore, and so the pub. Work kept her mind occupied, and for the first time she began to see just what the theater would mean to home.

It wasn’t only the villagers and the neighbors talking of it now, but those who visited.

She could stop for a moment in the crush of a lunch shift, look around at the packed tables and bar, hear the voices, and imagine what it would be like the following summer. And she could wonder where she would be.

As both she and Trevor appreciated the distance from work, most nights she went to the cottage. It became her habit to walk whenever weather allowed, though he never failed to offer his car. She liked the quiet that slid over the air after midnight, and the balm of the breeze, and rush of starlight.

Odd, but she wasn’t sure she’d really appreciated it before she’d understood she wouldn’t be there forever. The softness that came from the sea, and the waves that were a constant hum and lap in the night.

When the moon was bright, she liked it best, that alone time where she could see the cliffs throw shadows.

Whenever she reached Tower Hill, she stopped. If the wind was pushing the clouds, the spear of the tower seemed to sway, and the stones, old and new, beneath it stood silent and still.

Flowers bloomed yet on the grave of Johnnie Magee. But Carrick, if he was there, chose not to show himself.

She walked on. The road narrowed, and the scatter of lights in Ardmore were lost behind her. There was the scent now of fields and grass and growing things, then the glow out of the shadowed dark that was the lights in the cottage on the faerie hill.

He was waiting for her. And that, she thought with a delicious thrill, was just how she liked it.

As always, her heart grew lighter and she had to force herself not to rush to the gate. He called out to her the minute she stepped inside.

“Back in the kitchen.”

Now wasn’t that homey, she thought, amused at both of them. The little woman home from work and the man in the kitchen. It was a bit like playing house, she supposed, and tried not to worry that the house, and the game, wasn’t for either of them in the long run.

He was at the stove, which amused her. He could cook, as he’d demonstrated at that first breakfast. But he wasn’t one to make a habit of it.

“Want some soup?” He stirred at the little pot, sniffed. “It’s canned, but it’s food. I was stuck on the phone all night and missed dinner.”

“Thanks, no. I managed to get some of Shawn’s lasagna, which I can promise tasted better than that will. If you’d called, I’d have brought you some.”

“Didn’t think of it.” He turned to get a bowl out of the cupboard. One look at her, and he wanted to grab her. “You’re later than usual,” he said, keeping his tone casual as she set a bag on the counter. “I wasn’t sure you’d make it tonight.”

“We were busier than usual. I shouldn’t say ‘usual,’ ” she corrected and rolled the ache from her shoulders. “We’ve been packed every night this week. Aidan wants Shawn to take on some help in the kitchen, and you’d think Aidan had brought his manhood into question. Such a ruckus. They were still going at it when I left.”

“Aidan’s going to need another man at the bar.”

“Well, I won’t be the one to say so, as he’ll have the same reaction as Shawn. I’m not having my head bit off.”

She got the kettle to fill as Trevor leaned back against the counter, spooning up soup where he stood. “I’ll have some tea to keep you company. Since you’re eating, you might want to have what’s in the bag with your tinned soup.”

“What is it?”

She only smiled and turned on the tap. Trevor set down his bowl, peeked in the bag. When his hand darted in, like an eager boy’s into a pond after a prize frog, she laughed.

“Bagels?”

“Well, we couldn’t have you pining, could we?” Delighted with his reaction, she carried the kettle to the stove. “Shawn made them, lest you think I’ve been baking—and believe me you’re better off I haven’t. He wasn’t pleased with the first batch or you’d have had them a couple of days ago. But he’s well satisfied with these, so I think you’ll enjoy them.”

Trevor only stood there, the plastic-wrapped bread in his hand, staring at her as she turned on the burner under the kettle. It was ridiculous, insane, but something was stirring inside him. Warm, fluid, lovely. In defense, he struggled with a joke.

“A full dozen, too. I guess I owe you twelve hundred dollars.”

She glanced back, her face blank for a moment, then it filled with humor. “A hundred a piece. I forgot about that. Damn, I suppose I’ll have to split it with Shawn.” She patted his cheek, then reached for the tea. “Well, no charge this time. I thought you’d enjoy a little bit of home.”

“Thank you.”

His voice was so serious, she glanced back, saw his face. His mouth was serious as well, and his eyes were dark and fixed on her. Her pulse scrambled, so she covered it with a shrug. “You’re very welcome, but it’s just a bit of bread after all.”

No, it wasn’t. She’d thought of it. Without even realizing how much the small gesture would mean, she’d thought of him.

He set the bag down, stepped to her, turned her. And laid his mouth on hers.

Soft, lush, long and deep. That something that stirred inside him swelled.

He drew back, half believing he’d see what it was, what it meant, in her face. But her eyes were clouded. Deep blue smoke blurring whatever was behind them.

“Well.” She was sinking, sinking without meaning to have stepped into the bog. “I can’t wait to see what happens after you taste—”

But he silenced her. Another kiss, luxurious and tender. She was trembling, he realized, and had trembled against him before. But it was different, for both of them somehow different. The crackle of power that always snapped between them was only a low humming now, steady and true. The blood that always raced ran thick, almost lazy.

“Trevor.” His name circled in her head, slipped through her lips. “Trevor.”

He reached behind her, switched off the burner, then lifted her into his arms. “I want to make love with you.” And saying it, he knew it would be the first time.

She pressed her lips to the side of his throat as he carried her out. It was like sliding into a dream, she thought, one she hadn’t known she had pooled inside her. Being granted a wish she hadn’t known slept in her heart.

She felt . . . treasured.

When he carried her up the stairs, the romance of it made her heart ache. Music drifted through her head. Harps and flutes both low and sweet. He stopped, looked at her, and she thought he must hear it as well. Such moments were made for magic.

The bedroom windows were open, so the wind danced through the curtains and brought with it all the damp and mysterious scents of night. The moon shimmered through in silver dust.

He sat her on the bed, then moved around the room to light the candles that had been set out for practicality and never used. Their flames swayed and tossed soft shadows, a softer fragrance. From the tall bottle on the table by the bed he took one of the flowers she had picked from the cottage garden and put there. He handed it to her.

Then he sat beside her, lifted her into his lap and held her. The way she curled into him as if she’d been waiting made him wonder how they had missed this step. Why they had both rushed to reach the peak, time after time, night after night, without once lingering over the journey.

This time, he promised himself. This time. When he touched a hand to her cheek, she lifted her face, lifted her mouth to meet his. Time spun out, lost importance in this new and sumptuous mating of lips. The love hidden inside her heart poured into it without shame or fear, and still continued to rise inside her as if from a well that never ran dry.

Here was the compassion neither thought they needed, the tenderness both had shrugged aside, and all the patience they’d forgotten.

He pressed his lips to the center of her palm. Her hands were elegant, he thought, silky of texture. They might have belonged to a princess in a castle. No, there was too much strength in them for a princess. A queen, he decided, kissing her fingers one by one, who knew how to rule.

He brushed his lips over the inside of her wrist, and felt her blood beat there.

Music whispered on the wind as he laid her back on the pillows. Her arms came up, her fingers skimming over his face, into his hair, as gentle as his had been. Her eyes weren’t clouded now, but clear.

“There’s magic tonight,” she said, and drew him down to her.

They touched, as if it was the first time, as if there had been no others before or would be no others after.

Innocence reaching for intimacy. For that night at least, she knew it was true and gave herself to it. To him.

Through the glow of candlelight and moonbeams, they gave to each other.

He tasted and she whispered. She stroked and he murmured. Sounds of pleasure twined together. Without rush, they undressed each other and savored the magic.

His skin was tones darker than hers. Had he noticed that before? Had he paid enough attention to how like silk she was, or how passion, the gradual, glorious build of it, gave that lovely white skin a flush of rose?

The taste of her, there, just at the underside of her breast. Nothing else had that delicacy of flavor. He thought he could live on that alone for the rest of his life.

And when his tongue slid over her and she shivered,he was sure of it.

Even when warmth simmered toward heat, when breaths became gasps and murmurs moans, there was no hurry. She crested on a long, gentle wave, her body flowing up to his. She felt golden, rich with sensation, each one somehow separate and shining even as they merged together.

Love made her selfless, nudged her to give back the glory. She rose over him, slid down to him, her lips warm and tender. Her hands skimmed over him, tough muscles that quivered at her lazy strokes, smooth skin that delighted her.

Now, she thought, now before greed could sneak back and steal this time from them. She clasped his hands with hers and took him into her.

Slowly and silkily, with urgency only a pulsebeat away. He filled, she surrounded.

The light danced over her skin, her hair, into her eyes, bewitching him. He remembered the painting of the mermaid with her face, that gorgeous arch of body, lovely thumble of hair. She belonged to him now, fact and fantasy. He’d have followed her, if she’d asked, into the sea. Into the heart of it.

Her eyes closed, her head tipped back, her body bowed. Nothing he’d ever seen was more beautiful than that moment when she lost herself. The shiver ran down her and into him. He swore he could feel it, feel her, in every cell.

He came up to meet her, wrapping his arms around her, pressing his lips to the hollow of her throat. And it was there, holding each other, that they let go of everything else and sank under the surface, and toward the heart, together.

In the dark, wrapped around him, her mind sliding toward sleep, Darcy closed a hand over the silver disk that lay on his heart. She assumed his Irish-loving mother had given it to him, and that he wore it touched her.

“What does it say?” she murmured, because the words were faded and unclear to her.

But when he told her she was already drifting, so his voice floated like out of a dream. Forever love.

Later, when they slept, he dreamed a dream of blue water shot through with sunlight like bright jewels,tipped by white waves that spewed drops like tears. Beneath the surface, where silence should have reigned, was music. A celebration of sound that quickened the pulse and fed the spirit.

He went toward it, searching shadows and light for the source. The golden sand beneath his feet was littered with gemstones, as if some carelessly generous hand had strewn them like bread crumbs.

A silver palace rose up into the blue light, its towers glinting and a banquet of flowers spread at its feet. The music swelled, seduced, became female. A woman’s voice raised in song. A siren’s call that was irresistible.

He found her beside the silver palace, sitting on a hill of rich blue that pulsed like a heart. There she sat and sang and smiled at him in a beckoning way.

Her hair, dark as midnight, flowed around her, teased the milky skin of her breasts. Her eyes, blue as the hill, laughed.

He wanted her more than he wanted to live. The wanting made him feel weak, and the weakness infuriated him. Still he couldn’t stop himself from going to her.

“Darcy.”

“Have you come for me, then, Trevor?” Her voice wove spells, magic threads winding even when she spoke. “What will you give me?”

“What do you want?”

She only laughed again, shook her head. “It’s for you to figure out.” She reached out a hand, coyly inviting him to join her. Jewels sparkled at her wrist, little points of brilliant fire. “What will you give me?”

Frustration beat through his blood. “More of these,” he said, touching the gems at her wrist. “As many as you want, if that’s what you want.”

She held her arm out, turning it so the stones shot fire. “Well, I can’t say I mind having such things, but it’s not enough. What else have you got?”

“I’ll take you to all the places you want to see.”

She pouted at that and picked up a glittering comb to run it through her flowing hair. “Is that all?”

Temper snaked up, hissed in his throat. “I’ll make you rich, famous. Put the damn world at your feet.”

Now she yawned.

“Clothes,” he snapped. “Servants, houses. The envy and admiration of everyone who sees you. Everything you could ask for.”

“It’s not enough.”

He saw that this time when she spoke, her eyes wept. “

Can’t you see it’s not enough?”

“What, then?” He reached for her, intending to pull her up, to make her answer, but before his hands could touch, he slipped, stumbled, and was falling.

The voice that followed him wasn’t Darcy’s, but Gwen’s. “Until you know and give, it won’t be done. Until you do, it won’t begin.”

He shot out of sleep like a man at the edge of drowning, heart thundering, breath raw. And even then, awake, aware, he heard the faintest whisper.

“Look at what you already have. Give what’s only yours to give.”

“Christ.” Shaken, he got out of bed. Darcy shifted closer to the warmth he’d left, and slept on.

He started toward the bathroom, for water, then yanked on his jeans instead and went downstairs. Three A.M., he thought when he saw the clock. Perfect. He got down the bottle of whiskey and poured a stiff three fingers into a glass.

What the hell was wrong with him? But he knew, and knocked back the whiskey, hissed at the heat, set down the glass. He was in love with her. With a half laugh, he pressed his fingers to his eyes. Fell in love over bagels, he decided.

He’d been doing fine until then, he thought. Holding his own. Attraction, affection, interest, sex. Those were all safe and sound, those were all controllable.

Then she brings him a bagful of baked goods and he’s gone. Joke’s on you, Magee, he thought. You’ve been on your way since the first minute. The last slide just took you by surprise.

Hell of a slide, too.

He hadn’t thought he had it in him. After Sylvia, when he’d done everything he could to be in love, had planned it, orchestrated it, and failed so miserably at it, he’d been sure he simply wasn’t capable of that kind of emotion toward a woman.

It had worried him, dismayed him, angered him. Then he’d accepted it as likely for the best. If a man lacked something, it was only logical, efficient even, to compensate for it elsewhere. Work, his parents, his sister. The theater.

It had been enough, nearly enough. He’d convinced himself of it. And convinced himself that he could want Darcy, have Darcy, care for Darcy without it ever being more than that.

Now, without plan, without effort, it was . . . she was everything.

Part of him was thrilled. He wasn’t incapable of love. But there was just enough fear snaking through that thrill to remind him to be cautious. Be careful.

He went to the back door, opened it to cool his head with air gone damp and misty. He needed a clear head to deal with Darcy.

Magic, she’d said. There was magic tonight. He believed that, and was beginning to accept that there had been magic all along. In her, in this place. Maybe it was fate, and maybe it was luck. He’d have to work out if that luck was good or bad. Loving Darcy wasn’t going to be a smooth and easy road. Then again, he’d never really wanted the smooth and easy.

He didn’t want what his grandparents had—the chill formality of their marriage with no passion, with no humor or affection. There’d never be anything like chilly formality with a woman like Darcy.

He wanted her, and would figure out how to keep her. He didn’t doubt that. It was just a matter of calculating what to offer, how to offer, and when to offer what she wouldn’t be able to resist.

The last echo of the dream drifted back to him. Give what’s only yours to give.

He closed the words out, shut the door. He’d had enough of magic for one night.

SEVENTEEN

THE MORNING WAS misty. Darcy woke to light gray with rolling fog, and the bed empty beside her. There was nothing new in either. The fog would burn off before long if it was meant to. And as far as she could tell, Trevor was always up before dawn.

The man was a robot when it came to such matters.

She rolled over, wishing he was there to cuddle up against and knowing that because he wasn’t she wouldn’t sleep for wondering what he was up to. She supposed neither of them had gotten a reasonable night’s sleep since they’d become lovers. But running on sexual energy seemed to be working.

She felt wonderful.

She rose to take her robe from the hook in the closet. She had clothes in there as well and other things she deemed necessary for basic living throughout the cottage. It was a kind of living together they were doing, she knew, and had been all summer. Though neither of them mentioned it. In fact, they took great pains to avoid the subject, as if it were politics or religion.

He had a few things in her rooms over the pub, for the times he stayed there. And though it was a first for her, this having her things on a man’s shelf and his on hers, it had been a casual process, this shifting of items from place to place and melding of homes and lifestyles. Casual, she thought as she walked into the bath to turn on the shower, because that’s how they treated the entire business between them.

Yet there had been nothing casual in what had happened the night before. The scope of it was . . . She stepped under the spray, closing her eyes, tilting back her head. It was beyond anything she’d experienced before, anything she’d known two people could create between them.

It had to have been the same for him. He couldn’t have touched that way, been touched by her that way, unless he felt something deep and something true.

Lovemaking. Dreamily, she circled soap over her wet skin while the steam rose and closed her in. She hadn’t understood what that meant before Trevor. Not what it could mean. Vulnerability. She’d never realized that being vulnerable to someone else could be beautiful. Safe and warm and lovely. Just as knowing that for that stretch of time, in that soft world, he’d been vulnerable as well.

Here, at last, was a man she could open herself to completely, could promise herself to. And trust, and love, and cherish. They would spend their lives together, going wherever fate took them, grabbing hold of what life offered and making more from it. Through rushed days or quiet nights, in solitude or crowds. Making children, building homes.

She would make her mark beside him, and open all the doors she’d always longed to pass through.

It was possible to have everything after all, she thought. All you needed first was love.

He heard her singing of it when he stepped into the bedroom, of love and longing. It made him ache. He stood, while her voice slipped through the door she hadn’t quite closed and twined around him. He waited until her song ended, until he saw her moving around the room through the narrow opening.

He’d spent part of his wakeful night deciding just what to do about her.

He gave the door a quick knock with his knuckle, eased it open. She’d already wrapped a towel around herself and was slathering on the cream she kept in a little white pot. He thought it smelled like warm apricots, and it never failed to whet his appetite.

Her hair was wet and curled and wild as it was in the painting she had in her room. It reminded him, uncomfortably, of his dream.

“I brought you some tea.” “

“That’s lovely. Thanks.” She took the cup, smiling at him. Her eyes were still dreamy from her song. “I thought maybe you’d gone on to work already. I’m glad you didn’t.”

She moved closer to touch her mouth to his. She felt soft everywhere from wishing he’d take her back to bed to make love again as they had in the night.

“I was about to come up and wake you.” Wanting her clouded his brain, just as the steam clouded the bath. So he stepped out, kept the door open. “You beat me to it.”

She sipped the hot tea as the air in the bedroom shivered in and chilled her. “And what did you have in mind for after you’d waked me?”

A man with a single-digit IQ and no libido would have caught the invitation. Stay on track, Trevor warned himself. “A walk.”

“A walk?”

“Yeah.” He moved across the room to sit on the edge of the bed. He didn’t intend to touch her and lose focus, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t watch her dress and torture himself. “You usually walk down to the village anyway. So we’ll take a walk, then I’ll drive you down.”

She was pink and warm and fragrant from her shower, naked but for a towel, and the man wanted to go tramping around in the mist. A woman with less confidence, Darcy thought, would wonder if she’d misplaced her sex appeal during the night.

It didn’t mean she couldn’t be miffed. “

“Don’t you have to work?” Prepared to pout, she turned to the closet.

“I can take the morning. Mick’s coming in to keep an eye on things. Between him and Brenna I can spare a couple hours.”

The fact was, he could have spared days. Even weeks. It would have been more sensible to return to New York, handle the business he had there up front rather than long distance. But he watched Darcy slither into underwear and knew he wasn’t going anywhere in the near future. Not alone.

“Mr. O’Toole should be at home yet. Recuperating.” “ ‘

“I’ve had me fill of women fluttering around me person day and night.’ ” Trevor’s very passable mimic of Mick’s disgust had a smile tugging at Darcy’s lips.

“Nonetheless.” “

“You want to try to keep him down? Be my guest. Me, I don’t have the heart.”

“Well.” She pondered over a shirt. “As long as he doesn’t overdo. It’s not that he’s old, but he’s not as young as he was, either. And being a man, he’ll want to do more than he should.”

“Meaning men show off?”

“Of course they do.” She shot an amused and female look over her shoulder. Indulgent and insulting. “Don’t you?”

“Probably. But Brenna isn’t liable to let him overdo. She doesn’t flutter, she just watches him like a she-wolf watches a pup. I think he likes it. Men also like being pampered by a woman. They just have to pretend it annoys them.”

“As if having two brothers I didn’t know that already. I’ll lure him into the kitchen for a hot meal and some pampering and tell him how strong and handsome he is.” She did up the buttons of the shirt. “He likes the flattery as well.”

Holding her trousers by one finger, her shirttail skimming her thighs, she turned. “And, as I can attest you’re a man as well, wouldn’t you like some of the same? I might be persuaded to fix you a meal downstairs in the cozy kitchen and tell you you’re strong and handsome.”

Adam’s temptation for an apple was nothing compared to Darcy’s smile. But there were priorities. “I had a bagel.” He grinned at her. “It was great.”

“Then I’m pleased.” Baffled, but pleased. She stepped into her trousers, slipped on her shoes. “Just let me fix my hair and face, and I’ll be right with you.”

“What’s wrong with your hair?” “

“It’s wet, for one thing.”

“It’s damp out, so it won’t matter.” Impatient now, he rose to take her hand. “If I let you go into that bathroom, you won’t come out for an hour.”

“Trevor.” Exasperated, she tugged to try to free her hand as he pulled her down the steps. “I’m only half done here.”

“You look beautiful.” Moving quickly, he grabbed her jacket. “You always do.” Then ignoring her protests, he bundled her into it.

“What’s your hurry?” But she decided to be mollified with the compliment and let him have his way.

That, she liked to think, was a fine give-and-take in a relationship. Letting a man have his way when it didn’t really matter one way or the other.

It wasn’t particularly damp out, not to her way of thinking. The fog was thin, a lovely filter on the air that turned ordinary shapes into fanciful ones. Bright colors in the cottage garden were softly muted, the hills beyond wonderfully mysterious. Already she could see some breaks in the clouds, hopeful little patches of quiet blue among the gray.

The world was so hushed, they might have been alone in it. All the warmth and intimacy of the night before flowed back into her when he took her hand as they walked.

They went over the field, circling, and for a time she was silent, lost in the romance.

“Where are we heading?”

“Saint Declan’s.”

A chill ran up her spine. Nerves, superstitions, anticipation, she couldn’t be sure. “If I’d known we were going by Old Maude’s grave, I’d’ve brought some flowers.”

“There are always flowers on her grave.”

Magic flowers, she thought, put to grow there by powers beyond the mortal. In the distance, through the thinning fog, the stone ruin stood, like something waiting. She shivered.

“Cold?” “

“No. I . . .” But she didn’t mind when he released her hand to tuck his arm around her. “It’s an odd place to come on a misty morning.”

“Too early for tourists. It’s a great spot. Terrific view if the fog lifts.”

“Too early for tourists,” she agreed, “but not for faeries.” In such a place who knew what was sleeping under a hillock of grass or in the shadow of a stone? “

“Are you looking for Carrick?”

“No.” Though he wondered. “I wanted to come here with you.” He passed the well and its crosses, moved with her into the ancient, roofless church where Maude lay. The rough stones that marked ancient dead tilted up through ground and haze. In contrast, flowers swept lovingly over Maude’s and thrived.

“They don’t pick her flowers.” “

“Hmm?”

“The people who come here,” Trevor said. “Tourists and students and the locals who walk this way. They don’t pick her flowers.”

“It would be disrespectful.”

“People don’t always give respect, but they seem to here.”

“This is holy ground.”

“Yes.” He still had his arm around her, leaned down almost absently to press a kiss to her damp hair.

And the thrill moved through her, fast and bright.Alone in the world on holy ground, she realized. The morning after they’d loved each other, and in a way had discovered each other. He’d brought her here, to the cliff above sea and village, in the mist and the magic.

To tell her he loved her. She closed her eyes, trembled Aa little from the soaring joy of it. Of course, nothing could be more perfect. He wanted such a place to tell her his heart, to ask her to be his wife.

What could be more romantic, more dramatic? More quietly right?

“Fog’s lifting,” he murmured.

Together, standing on the windy hill, they watched the veil tear gently, and the sun shimmer through, silveredged, to touch the air with its pearly light. Far below was the village that was home, and the sea that guarded it swam slowly clear as if hands had drawn open a filmy curtain.

The beauty of it, what she saw with her eyes, what she saw with her heart, brought tears stinging. Home, she thought. Yes, Aidan was right. This would always be home, no matter where she traveled with the man beside her. Her love for it filled her as gently as the sunlight that brushed through the clouds.

“It looks perfect from here,” she said quietly. “Like something from out of a storybook. I forget that when I’m down in it, going from day to day doing what’s needed to be done.”

Swamped with emotions, she rested her head on Trevor’s shoulder. “I used to wonder why Maude chose to rest here, away from family and friends, and most of all away from her Johnnie. But this is why. This was the place for her, and she’s not away from her Johnnie at all. She never was.”

“That kind of love’s a miracle.” He wanted one for himself, and meant to make it happen.

“Love’s always miraculous.” Tell me, tell me quickly, she thought. So I can tell you back.

“It seems to be the order of the day around here.”

Now, she thought, and wondered if a body could die of sheer happiness.

“It is beautiful, and full of charm and drama. But there are other places in the world, Darcy.”

She frowned, puzzled, then almost instantly smiled again. Of course, he thought he needed to prepare her,to explain how he had to travel for his work before he asked her to go with him.

“I’ve always wanted to see those other places.” She could ease the path for him. Another give-and-take, she thought, nearly giddy, in a relationship. “To go and see and do. Just recently I came to realize that wanting that doesn’t mean I don’t love and appreciate what I have here. Wanting to go just means coming back.”

“You can see all those other places.” He drew her away, his hands on her shoulders, his gaze intent.

She had the sudden thought that here, now, finally, she was going to be offered her heart’s desire. And the only man she’d ever loved would propose to her when her hair was wet and her face naked.

Damn.

The foolishness of it made her laugh and reach for him. He loved her just as she was, and that was a wonder. “Oh, Trevor.”

“It’ll be work, but exciting work. Satisfying, fulfilling. Lucrative.”

“Of course, but I . . .” The romantic haze parted, much as the fog over the sea, and let the last part of his statement swim clearly into her mind. “Lucrative?”

“Very. The sooner you sign, the sooner we can get started on the groundwork. But you have to take the step, Darcy, make the decision.”

“The step.” She touched a hand to her temple as if dizzy, then turned away. How could she take any step when she had no balance, she thought. She had no balance at all. Who would, after being struck by such a blow?

It was the contract he spoke of, not love, not marriage, but business. Sweet God, what a fool she was, what romantic fantasies she’d woven and how completely she’d stripped herself of defenses.

And the worst of it was, he didn’t even know.

“We’ve come here, is it, to talk of contracts?”

Step one, he thought. Get her signed, sturdily connected to him. He’d show her the world, and all the things she wanted. Once she had a taste of them, he’d offer her a feast. Anything and everything she’d ever wanted.

“I want you to have what you’re looking for. I want to be a part of getting it for you. Celtic Records will nurture you, and build your career. I intend to see to it personally. See to you.”

“The package.” She tried to swallow the bitterness, but it stuck in her throat when she looked back at him. All she’d ever wanted was standing right here, with his hair blowing in the breeze and his eyes too cool for her to reach out and touch him.

“That’s how Nigel put it. So you’ll see, personally, to the package?”

“And keep you happy. I can promise that.”

Cold now, she angled her head. “How much do you judge it takes to keep me happy?”

“To start, on signing?” He named a figure that would have taken her breath away if she hadn’t felt so cold, so bloody cold. Instead, she met the offer with a cynical lift of her brow.

“And how much of that, may I ask, is for the talent, and how much is because I’m sleeping with you?”

His eyes fired quickly, and went hard as stone. “I don’t pay women to sleep with me. That’s insulting to both of us.”

“You’re right.” Finally, the pain ate through the ice and made her weak. “I’m sorry for that, it was badly put. Others will say it, though. Nigel warned me of that.”

He hadn’t thought of it. It only showed how tangled up he was in her that he hadn’t thought of it. “You’ll know better. What else matters?”

She walked away from him, back to Maude’s grave, but found no comfort in the flowers or the magic or the dead. “It’s easier for you, Trevor. You have the armor of your position, and your power and your name. I’ll come into this without any of that.”

“Is that what’s stopping you?” He went to her, turned her back. “Are you afraid of words spoken by jealous idiots? You’re stronger than that, Darcy.”

“Not afraid, no, but aware.”

“The business is separate from our private life.” But he was merging them, knew it. “You have a gift, and I can help you use it. What’s between us otherwise is no one’s concern but our own.”

“And if what’s between us begins to fade, if one or the other of us should decide it’s time to move on there, or away, what then?”

It would kill him. Even the thought of it stabbed his heart. “It won’t affect the business side.”

“Maybe we should have a separate contract saying so.” She meant it sarcastically, even cruelly, and was stunned when he only nodded.

“All right.”

“Well, then. Well.” She let out a shaky breath, and walked over to look down at Ardmore once again. So that was how things were done in his world. Contracts and agreements and sensible negotiations. Fine. She could handle that, would handle that.

But just let him try to walk away from her down the road. Let him try, and he’d find his legs across the room from the rest of him. He knew nothing of wrath.

“All right, Magee. Draw up your papers, ring your solicitors, strike up the band, whatever needs doing.” She didn’t turn back, but whirled. And her smile glittered, hard and gorgeous. “I’ll sign my name. You’ll get your voice, you’ll get the whole flaming package. God help you.”

God help us both, she added silently.

Relief came to him in a wave. He had her, and was on his way to keeping her. “You won’t regret it.”

“I don’t intend to.” Her eyes were sharp enough to cut glass when he took her hands again, leaned toward her. “No, you don’t. I don’t seal business arrangements with kisses.”

“Point taken.” Solemnly he shook her hand. “Business concluded?”

“For the moment.” So now he wanted a woman, a lover. Fine, then, she’d give him his money’s worth there as well.

Deliberately, she ran her hands up, from hips to ribs, over chest, onto shoulders, sliding her body into his. Provocative, taunting, she nipped, retreated, nipped until she tasted frustrated desire, until she saw the flash of it heat his eyes to smoke.

Then, only then, she tipped her head back and let him take.

They feasted on each other, with none of the tender patience of the night. This was passion and passion only, with its greed and fire and demands. While her soul wept from the loss, she rejoiced.

He wanted her, would want her, again and again. This she would see to. As long as she held this power, she held him. And with it, witchlike, she would bind him.

“Touch me.” She tore her mouth from his to use her teeth in little cat bites on his neck. “Put your hands on me.”

He hadn’t meant to. The time and the place were all wrong. But heat was pumping out of her, into him, burning off control, scorching sense. His hands, rough and possessive, filled themselves with her.

But when he was on the point of losing all reason, of dragging her down to the wild grass, she pulled back. The wind caught her hair and swirled it as if in water,the sun shot into her eyes and sparkled there. For an instant, her beauty was cruel.

“Later,” she said, and lifted a hand, lover-like, to stroke his cheek. “You can have me. As later I’ll have you.”

Fury spurted into his throat, but he didn’t know if it was for himself or for her. “That’s a dangerous game, Darcy.”

“And what fun are they if they’re not? You’ll have what you want from me, on both counts. Be content that here you’ve had my word on the first, and a fine taste of the second.”

He was just raw enough to risk asking, “What do you want from me?”

Her lashes lowered, a shield against grief. “Didn’t you bring me up here because you’d figured that out for yourself already?”

“I guess I did,” he murmured.

“Well, then.” She was smiling again when she held out a hand. “We’d best go back, as the morning’s wasting. And I never did finish my tea.” Cheerfully, she gave his hand a little squeeze as they walked. Let’s just see if you can keep up with me, you blind, thickheaded bastard. “And will you be willing to share your bagels with me?”

He ordered himself to match her mood. “I could probably be persuaded to share.”

Neither of them looked back as they walked away, or saw the air ripple and shred.

•    •    •

“Fools,” Carrick muttered, scowling from his perch atop the stone well. “Stubborn, bone-brained fools. And just my luck to be stuck with them. One step away from happiness, and they spring back as if it were bared fangs.”

He leaped off his seat, landing an inch above the ground. In the next instant he was sitting, cross-legged, by Maude’s grave. “I’m telling you, old friend, I’ve just no clear understanding of mortals. Maybe they are just in heat, and I’m wrong about them.”

Brooding now, he stuck his chin on his fist. “The hell I am,” he decided, but it didn’t lighten his mood. “They’re stupid in love with each other, and there, I think, lies the problem. Neither of them knows how to handle stupidity. Afraid of it is what they are. Afraid to give in to senselessness and let love rule.”

He sighed a little, then waved his wrist and took a bite of the golden apple that appeared. “You’d say I was the same. And you’d be right enough. Magee’s set on the same path I took. Promise her this, offer her that, vow to give her the world, as the world’s safe when you’ve plenty of it to spare. But you’ve only one heart, after all, and giving that is a more difficult deal. I didn’t look inside my Gwen, and he doesn’t look inside his Darcy. He thinks it’s sense, but it’s nothing but fear.”

He gestured toward the headstone with the apple, as if the old woman sat there, listening. Perhaps she did. “And she’s no better when it comes to it. As different from my quiet, modest Gwen as sun from moon, but the same in this aspect. She wants him to offer his heart, but will she just bloody say so, for Finn’s sake? No, she won’t. Females—who can figure them?”

He sighed then, munched his bright apple, contemplated. He’d nearly lost patience, had been on the edge of springing out of the air to order them both to get on with it. They were in love, admit it and be done.

But that was beyond what was permitted. The choices, the timing, the steps of their dance together had to be theirs. His . . . contribution, Carrick decided—he didn’t care for the word “interference”—could be only minor.

He had done what he could do. Now he had to wait as he had waited three centuries already. His fate, his happiness, at times he thought his very life, depended on the hearts of these two mortals.

He’d dealt with the other pairs of them. You’d have thought he’d have learned enough to know how to hurry these last two along. But all he’d learned was that love was a jewel with too many facets to count. Strength and weakness running side by side through it. And that no one could give or take it with any less than an open hand.

He lay back on the grass, and with his mind sketched Gwen’s beloved face in the clouds. “I ache for you. Heart, body, mind. I would give all that’s in my power to give to touch you again, to breathe your scent, to hear your voice. I swear to you, when you come back to me at last, it’s love I’ll pour at your feet. The grandeur and humility of it. And the flowers that bloom from that will never die.”

He closed his eyes, and weary with waiting, vanished into sleep.

The effort of being cheerful and sexy and witty left Darcy near to exhaustion by the time Trevor drove her down to the pub. But determined to play it all out, she walked around the back with him so she could make happy noises about the progress of the work.

She realized that temper had her overplaying it when Trevor narrowed his eyes at her. So she beat a hasty retreat, giving him a warm but brief kiss.

She made it as far as the kitchen door when Brenna shoved in behind her. “What’s the matter?” Brenna asked immediately.

They’d known each other since birth, understood each other’s moods often better than they understood their own.

“Come upstairs, can you?” Such was the nature of their friendship that Darcy didn’t have to wait for an answer. She went up fast, shedding her brightness and cheer as she might have shed clothes.

“I’ve a headache.” The brutal pounding sent her straight to the bathroom cupboard for aspirin. She chased it with water, drinking the whole glass down.

Their eyes met in the mirror. Brenna knew that sleek and shiny look hid some deep hurt.

“What did he do?”

How marvelous it was to have a friend who simply knew where the blame lay even before the offense was cited. “He offered me a fortune. A small one, I suppose, by his standards, but hefty enough by mine. Enough to set me on the way to where I’m going, and in fine style.”

“And?”

“I’m taking it.” She tossed her head, and the edgy defiance worried her friend. “I’m signing his recording contract.”

“That’s grand, Darcy, truly it is, if it’s what you want.”

“I’ve always wanted more than I have, and now I’m about to get it. I wouldn’t sign if it didn’t suit me. I promise you I’m doing it for me first. I haven’t lost my head so much to do otherwise.”

“Then I’m pleased for you, and proud already.” She laid a hand on Darcy’s shoulder, rubbed at the tension. “Now tell me how he hurt you.”

“I thought he was going to ask me to marry him. I thought he would tell me he loved me and wanted me to belong to him. Can you imagine that?”

“I can.” And now Brenna hurt as well. “Perfectly.” “Sure and his vision’s not so sharp as yours. He hasn’t a clue.” She gripped the sides of the sink, breathed slow and deep. “I’m not going to cry. He won’t get tears out of me.”

“Come sit down and tell me.”

When she did and when she had, Brenna held her hand. All sympathy, she said, “Bastard!”

“Thanks for that. I hate that it’s partly my fault. Oh, that’s a bitter pill. But I set myself up for it, no mistake there. Spinning romantic fantasies in the shower like some fluff-brained girl.”

“Why shouldn’t you? You love him.”

“I do, the cad, and I’ll make him pay for it before we’re done.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Trap him, of course. Blind him with lust, confuse him with my many moods, toy with him. All the things I’m best at when it comes to men.”

“I won’t say you aren’t skilled in that area,” Brenna said carefully. “But if you go this way, and win, it won’t be enough for you.”

“I’ll make it enough. Many’s the relationship that has its seeds in sex. Lust and love aren’t so far apart.”

“Maybe not in the flaming dictionary. But Darcy, when one party’s in lust and the other in love, they’re distant as moons. And between those places is so much room to be hurt.”

“I can’t hurt any more than I did this morning at Saint Declan’s Well. And I survived.”

She stepped to the window. Out there, she thought, Trevor was building his dream, but he’d needed some of what was hers for it. Well, she could build her own and take some of his. Of him.

“I’ll risk the rest. I can make him need me, Brenna. Need’s the step between wanting and loving. It’ll be enough for me.”

She shook her head before Brenna could speak, crossed back. “I have to try.”

“Of course you do.” Hadn’t she? Brenna thought. Didn’t everyone who knew what love was and longing?

“But at the moment, I need to vent out this foul mood. Shawn’ll be coming along shortly. I’ll just go down and torment him until I feel better.”

“If that’s the case, I’ll get back on the job and out of harm’s way.”

EIGHTEEN

A STORM HOVERED over the village, marching down from the northeast to camp on the border as an army digs in for a siege. The rising winds and splattering rain that were its leading edge chased people from the beaches, and brought a nasty chill. The sky, thick and bruised and ominous, had even the locals glancing upward with apprehension.

Had you ever seen that green tint to the clouds’ edges before? Had you ever tasted air that had such a flavor of mean in it?

She would hit, they said, and hit hard.

Those who’d been through such things before checked their stock of candles and lamp oil and batteries. Supplies were laid in, and children ordered to stay close to home. Boats were secured in their docks as Ardmore prepared for the coming battle.

But when the door of the pub burst open, Jude’s face was bright as sunbeams. “It came.”

Excitement had her barely able to speak above a whisper that didn’t carry over the voices to where Aidan was busy at the taps. It was Darcy who saw her, standing there with her bound-back hair damp with raindrops, her cheeks flushed pink. And the book clutched to her breast like a beloved child.

Darcy dumped her tray immediately, and unceremoniously, on a table where four baffled French students stared at the toasted sandwiches, piles of slaw and chips they hadn’t ordered, and began consulting their phrase books.

“Is it the book? Yours?” Thrilled, Darcy tried to pry it out of Jude’s grip.

“No, I have to show it to Aidan first. He has to see it first.”

“Of course he does, well, of course. Come on, then. Make way there, Jack, you’re like a hulking bear. Move aside, will you, Sharon, we’ve business of a vital nature here.”

Snaking her way, Darcy reached the pass-through, tossed it up, then hustled Jude ahead of her behind the bar. “Hurry,” she ordered. “I’m dying to see it.”

“Okay, all right.” Jude exclaimed with the book pressed so tight against her she felt her heart knocking against the cover. “Aidan.”

He served a pint at the bar, took the coin. “Jude. Hello, darling. Can’t you find a seat?”

“No, I—”

“We’ll cozy you down in the snug, but I want you home and tucked in before this storm hits. Two pints Smithwick’s. That’s three pounds and twenty.”

“Aidan, I want to show you something.”

“I’ll be with you in just a minute, darling. Eighty pence is your change.”

“A minute be damned.” Out of patience, Darcy grabbed Aidan’s arm. “Look at her, you great baboon.”

“What’s the matter? Can’t you see I’ve customers here who—” But he broke off, his grin bursting wide as he saw what was clutched in his wife’s arms. “Your book!”

“It just came. It’s right off the press. It’s real. It’s beautiful.”

“Of course it is. Are you going to let me see?”

“Yes. I . . . I can’t move.”

“Jude Frances.” The tenderness in his voice made Darcy’s throat swell. “I love you. Here, now, give it over.”

Gently he tugged it out of her grip, studying the back cover first, where her picture was printed. “Isn’t she pretty, my Jude, so solemn-eyed and lovely.”

“Oh, turn it over, Aidan.” Jude might have danced if the baby hadn’t been weighing so heavy. “That part’s not important.”

“It is to me. Everyone can look at this and see what fine taste I have in wives.” But he did turn it over, and let out an ah of delight.

J EWELS OF THE S UN

And Other Irish Legends

Jude Frances Gallagher

The title ran across the top, and her name across the bottom of a brilliantly colored illustration depicting a man in silver and a woman with pale hair riding across a bold blue sky on a winged white horse.

“It’s beautiful,” he murmured. “Jude Frances, it’s beautiful.”

“It really is, isn’t it?” She didn’t mind the tears that slid down her cheeks. They felt wonderful and right and well deserved. “I can’t stop looking at it, touching it. I thought I knew how much it meant. I wasn’t even close.”

“I’m so proud of you.” He lowered his head to press his lips to her forehead. “You have to give this one to me, so I can sit and read every word.”

“Start now, with the dedication.”

When he opened it, began reading the flyleaf, she turned the pages herself. “No, you can read that later. Read this now.”

Indulging her, he began to read. Then his eyes changed, darkened, lifted to hers. The look that passed between them was strong and vibrant. This time when he kissed her, he took her mouth.

“A ghra” was all he said when he lifted his head, laid his cheek against her hair. My love.

“Take Jude back in the snug,” Darcy murmured. “She shouldn’t be on her feet so long. Take some time with her. I’ll see to the bar here.”

“Thanks. Just let me settle her in, get her some tea.” Emotions still swirled in his eyes as he handed Darcy the book. “Have a care with it.”

Ignoring customers, Darcy opened the book, and read what Aidan had.

For Aidan who showed me my own heart,

and gave me his.

With him I learned there is no magic

more potent than love.

“May I see it?”

Eyes drenched, Darcy looked across the bar at Trevor. Because she was unable to speak, she handed the book to him and immediately started the first layer on a pair of Guinnesses.

“It’s gorgeous.”

“Of course it is. It’s Jude’s.”

Saying nothing, he walked behind the bar, set the book on a shelf out of harm’s way, then took out his handkerchief.

“Thanks.” She sniffled, dried her eyes.

“Sentiment looks lovely on you.”

“It doesn’t get the work done. It’s Aidan’s turn to be sentimental now. I’ll take mine later.”

She tucked the handkerchief in her pocket—just in case. “Isn’t it wonderful ?” She did a little step dance, then beamed at the next customer who came to the bar to order. “My sister’s a famous author, and this is her book.” She snatched it back off the shelf. “It’ll be in bookshops in just a couple of weeks now. You should buy it as soon as you can. Now what can I get you?”

“Darcy, are you ever picking up these orders, or do I have to serve as well as cook?” Obviously put-upon, Shawn came through the kitchen door carrying a loaded tray.

“Look, you peabrain.” She turned and all but shoved the book under his nose.

“It’s Jude’s!” He set the tray on the bar with a clatter and made a grab for the book.

“One drop of chip fat on this, and you’re a dead man.”

“I know how to be careful.” He took the book as if it were fragile china. “Brenna has to see,” he announced, and was back out the door like a shot.

“They’ll grubby it up between them, wait and see.” She turned back, a little shocked to see Trevor exchanging pints he’d drawn himself for payment. “Well, look at himself, manning the bar.”

“I can handle it until Aidan’s back, if you want to serve those lunch orders before they’re cold.”

“Do you know how to build a Guinness?”

“I’ve watched enough of them constructed.”

“Some people watch brain surgery, doesn’t mean they should be handed a knife.” But she picked up the tray. “We’re grateful for the help.”

“No problem.” It gave him a chance to watch her work. And to think.

For the last few days she’d kept him balancing on a keen and delicious edge. In bed she was a siren, and out of it a tease. She was tireless, energetic, capricious, and fascinating.

And somehow through it all, he would have said heartless.

Something had been off, he decided, between them since the night they’d made slow and gentle love. He couldn’t pinpoint the change, only knew the change was there. He saw it when he caught the cold and steady gleam of calculation in her eyes.

Then again, she was a woman who made no secret of her calculations. He accepted that, and in many ways admired her lack of artifice. But the Darcy he’d just seen hadn’t been calculating or capricious or self-interested. She’d been thrilled, excited, and sentimental enough to cry over Jude’s accomplishment, her brother’s pride.

It was odd to think that in all the weeks he’d known her he’d only seen her shed a tear over someone else’s pleasure.

Where she loved she was both vulnerable and generous. He wanted that vulnerability, that generosity. He wanted that love. And, though he knew it was wrong, he wanted her to shed a tear over him.

It was time, he thought, to push her a little closer.

He waited until the shift was over, until Aidan left to take Jude home.

“She’s worn out.” Darcy stood in the doorway, watching them drive off the short distance to the house. “Such excitement. He’ll persuade her to lie down a bit. Oh, the wind’s kicking.”

Closing her eyes, she let it batter her, reveled in it. “The storm will hit full before nightfall. Then we’re in for it. You’d best batten down your hatches, Magee, for there’s a gale coming.”

“I’m heading back to the cottage shortly, anyway. I’ve got work there to deal with. You’re getting wet.”

“Feels good after all the crowd in here today.” But she closed the door on the wind and spitting rain, and locked it. “I’ll wager you ten pounds to your five that you’ll be working by candlelight this night.”

“That’s a sucker bet. I’m no sucker.”

“Pity. I can always use an extra five.” She began to gather empties from the tables. “We’ll be packed tonight. People like company when the world’s wild. Come back if you can, for we’ll have music to chase the jitters away.”

“I will. Can you let that go a minute? I want to talk to you.”

“Twisted me arm.” With pleasure, she sat at one of the tables, put up her feet on the chair beside her. “Days like this you wish you had three arms and twice as many feet.”

“Looking forward to serving your last pint?”

Not as much as she’d expected, but she nodded. “Who wouldn’t be? Every time I pick up the phone and dial room service, it’ll be a personal celebration.”

“You can count on doing a lot of celebrating.” He sat across from her. Time, he thought, to up the stakes and play the next card. “They’re faxing me the draft of your contract today. I expect to have it when I get back to the cottage.”

Her stomach jittered. Excitement, anticipation, nerves. “That’s quick work.”

“Most of it’s standard. You’ll want to look it over, take it to your lawyer. Solicitor,” he corrected. “Any questions, changes, we’ll discuss.”

“Fair enough.”

“I have to go to New York for a couple days.”

She was grateful she was sitting down with her feet up, as her knees went soft as jelly. “Do you? You haven’t mentioned it.”

“I’m mentioning it now.” Having just decided. “Come with me.”

Yes, a very good thing she was sitting down. She stayed stretched out as every muscle of her body tensed. “Come with you to New York City?”

“You can sign the final papers there.” On his turf. “We’ll celebrate.” He wanted her to meet his family, see his home, his life. “The business won’t take that long. I’ll show you the city.” And give her a taste of what he could offer her.

Trevor and New York. The thrill of being with him in a place she’d seen in dreams. And illusions. “I can’t think of anything I’d enjoy more. That’s the truth.”

“Then I’ll make the arrangements.”

“I can’t, Trevor. I can’t go with you now.”

“Why?”

“It’s high season. You saw how it is in the pub with barely enough hands to go around. I can’t leave Aidan and Shawn short that way during summer season. It’s not right.”

Damn it, he didn’t want her to be responsible, to be sensible now. “You can get someone to fill in for you. It’s only a few days.”

“I could, and that would ease part of the problem. But I can’t leave here now, however much it appeals. Jude’s due any day. She needs her family, as does Aidan. What kind of a sister would I be to go dancing off at such a moment?”

“I thought she had another week at least.”

“Men.” She mustered up a smirk. “Babies come when they please, and first babies are the most willful, so I’m told. It’s lovely to think about going off with you now, but I couldn’t bear the guilt of it.”

“We’ll take the Concorde. It’ll cut the traveling time down to negligible.”

The Concorde. She rose, walked behind the bar for a ginger ale. Like a movie star, she thought. Jetting off wherever you pleased, whenever the mood struck, and arriving almost before you’d left.

Dear God, she’d love it. He knew she would.

“I can’t. I’m sorry.”

She was right, and he knew it. Still, he wanted to push. There was an urgency inside him, to put things back on an even keel. No, that was a lie. To put things back, he thought, disgusted with himself, to his advantage.

“You’re right. It’s bad timing.”

“I can tell you I wish it wasn’t. A trip on the Concorde and a whirl through New York City. Any other time, I’d already be packing my bag.” She would, no matter what it cost, be cheerful, be casual, be the sophisticated woman he would understand. “So then, when do you go?”

Go? For a moment he was completely, foolishly blank. He’d never intended to go without her. Boxed yourself in, Magee, he realized, and took a swig from her bottle when she brought it back to the table. “I’ll get the draft contract to you first, and if you’ve got no problem with it, have my people put the final together. Couple of days. That way I can do what I have to do there and bring the papers back with me.”

“That’s efficient.”

“Yeah.” He set the bottle down. It tasted foul. “My middle name.”

“Let me know when you’ve made your plans.” She trailed a finger over the back of his hand. “I’ll give you a bon voyage that will hold you until your welcome back.”

She was not cooperating, Trevor decided. The woman was not following the rules here. He brooded at his office table, staring out into the storm-tossed night when he should have been working.

Why hadn’t she asked him to postpone his trip a few days? Even a couple of weeks? It would have provided the perfect opportunity to give in to her, to show her he was willing to make concessions to keep her happy.

And why the hell hadn’t he looked before he’d leaped? Any moron would have known she wasn’t able to leave home just now. Which only proved that love made a man less than a moron. That was pathetic.

The lightning that shattered the sky in one blinding streak perfectly suited his mood. Edgy, electric.

Why hadn’t he come clean with her? Well, not clean , Trevor mused. Just more direct. It would have been simpler, and more productive, to have told her he wanted to take her to New York. Winding business through it, certainly, but that would have put a different tone on the whole thing. He’d clutched before the first swing, he admitted, then boxed himself in when he started the whole conversation by announcing he was going.

Now he either went without her or made excuses.

He hated making excuses.

Thunder rumbled like laughter, whipped by the howling wind, and rain danced a frantic jig against his window.

The trouble was, he didn’t know how to play it. And he always knew how to play it, how to find the most constructive route through a problem to the solution. But there were more obstacles, more wrong turns in love than he’d ever imagined. Still, he’d never come up against a wall he couldn’t scale, break through, or tunnel under.

This wasn’t going to be the first.

He needed to let the problem simmer, to brew a bit until the solution came to him. The best way to do that was to concentrate on something else.

He started with the faxes that had come in throughout the day. Since he’d already read over the draft of Darcy’s contract, he put that in a folder. The one thing that was clear, he thought, was this angle. She was a hell of a find for Celtic Records. And Celtic would nurture her. Neither of them had to worry about this part of their relationship.

He wanted his parents to hear that voice. A tape recording. Why hadn’t he thought of that before? He’d get her voice on tape before he headed back to New York. That would at least partly introduce the woman he loved to his family.

He would take the papers down to her at the pub once he’d cleaned off his desk, go over them with her, answer her questions. She was bound to have questions. Then he’d tell her he needed a tape.

Satisfied with the idea, Trevor set the folder down and turned to his other paperwork.

He thought about going downstairs and making more coffee, foraging for a meal. He didn’t want to eat alone, and that annoyed him. It had never bothered him before. The fact was, he wanted to chuck even the idea of work and go down to the pub, where there were people. Where there was Darcy.

Despite the risk of the storm, he ran his E-mail instead. He knew he should shut the computer down, but he had to do something to keep busy, to stop himself from leaving the cottage for the pub.

It gave him perverse satisfaction to imagine her watching the door, wondering if and when he’d come through it.

He didn’t care how stupid that made him. It was the damn principle of the thing.

The business inquiries came first, as was his habit. He answered them, printed out or saved what he wanted a record of, then shifted over to personal posts.

One from his mother gave him his first smile in hours.

You don’t call, you don’t write. Well, not often enough. I think I’ve convinced your father that what we need is a nice trip. To Ireland. It’s taken very little convincing, actually. He misses you as much as I do, and I think he wants to get his fingerprints on the theater. I hope it’s progressing well—am sure it is, under your hand.

He’s already started shuffling work and schedules though he doesn’t think I know it. I’m doing the same. If all goes well, we’ll come next month. Once our plans are finalized, I’ll let you know all.

I assume you’re well as you haven’t said otherwise, and busy because you always are. I hope you’re taking some time for yourself. You were working much too hard before you left, punishing yourself because of Sylvia.

I won’t say any more on that, as I can see you’re getting that irritated look in your eye. No, I lied, I’ll say one thing more. Give yourself a break, Trevor. No one, not even you, can live up to your standards.

There, I’m done. I love you. Prepare for an invasion.

Mom

Did he have an irritated look in his eye? He studied the faint reflection of his face in the window and decided, yes, probably. It was comforting, and disconcerting, to be understood quite that well.

He hit Reply.

Nag, nag, nag.

That, he knew, would make her laugh.

Hurry and come over so you can nag me in person. I miss that.

Yes, the theater’s going well, though we had to knock off early today. Hell of a storm blowing through. I’m going to have to shut down in a minute.

I thought you’d like to know I’ve chosen the name for it. I’m calling it Duachais. It’s Gaelic. Well, you probably know that, but I had to look up the spelling. It means the roots of a place, the traditions of it. A very clever woman told me that’s what I wanted in the theater. She was right.

Of course, a name like that’s going to give Publicity nightmares.

No need to worry, I’m taking time for myself. It’s impossible to do otherwise here. You just have to look to be, well, sucked into looking some more.

I’m about to sign Darcy Gallagher to a recording contract with Celtic. She’s an amazing talent. Wait until you hear her. Give me a year, and her voice, her name, her face will be everywhere. It’s a hell of a face.

She’s got ambition, talent, energy, temperament, brains, and charm. This is no shy colleen. You’ll like her.

I’m in love with her. Is it supposed to make me feel like an idiot?

He stopped, stared at his last line. He hadn’t meant to type that. With a shake of his head, he started to delete.

Lightning burst like a bomb, throwing hot blue light into the room. He saw the thin crack snake down the window glass, then thunder blasted in one ear-deafening roar.

And the lights went out.

“Shit.” It was his first thought once his heart stopped screaming in his ears. That one had probably fried his computer.

His own fault. He knew better.

Since the screen was as black as the rest of the world, indicating his battery backup had failed, he swore again and fumbled for the flashlight that he’d set next to the machine.

He switched it on, got nothing. What the hell was this? he wondered and gave it an irritated shake. He’d checked it before he’d started to work, and the beam had flashed on strong and bright.

More annoyed than concerned, he got up, felt his way to the spare bed, worked up to the little table beside it and the matches and candles that were always there.

The next slash of lightning had him jolting, spilling half the matches out of the box, and cursing himself. “Get a grip,” he muttered and nearly shuddered at the sound of his own voice coming out of the dark. “It’s not your first storm, or your first blackout.”

But there was something . . . different here. Something that, if he’d wanted to be fanciful, he’d have called deliberate about the wind and rain and fierceness of it all. As if the savagery was personal.

That was so ridiculous he laughed as he struck the match. The little flame made him feel more in control. He touched it to the wick of the candle. A little breath of relief escaped as he picked up the candle, intending to carry it with him to light more.

And in the next wild spurt of lightning, he saw her.

“Carrick’s temper is up.”

The candle flame shook as his hand jerked. He had to be satisfied that he didn’t drop it and set the cottage on fire.

“Storms often make people uneasy.” Gwen smiled at him gently. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of. He knows it too, you can be sure of that, and is indulging himself in a little tantrum just at the moment.”

Steadier, Trevor set the candle down. “It seems excessive.”

“He’s a dramatic sort, my Carrick. And he’s suffering, Trevor. Waiting wears on the soul, and when you can nearly see the end of the waiting, it’s harder still. I wonder, could I ask you a question, of a personal nature?”

He shook his head. It was all too strange, and somehow eerily ordinary, this talking to a ghost in a little cottage on a storm-ravaged night. “Why not?”

“I hope it doesn’t offend you, but I can’t help wondering what it is that stops you from telling the woman you love what’s in your heart.”

“It’s not as simple as that.”

“I know that’s your thinking.” A thread of urgency ran through her voice now, though her hands stayed quiet and still, folded together at her waist. “I want to know why it can’t be just that simple.”

“If you don’t lay groundwork, you make mistakes. The more important it is, the more important not to make mistakes.”

“Groundwork?” she asked, confused. “And that would be . . . what, exactly?”

“With Darcy, it’s showing her what she can have, the kind of life she could live.”

“By that you’re meaning all the grand things? The riches and wonders?”

“Yes, that’s right. Once she sees—” He broke off, seriously alarmed, when the floor shook under his feet. But before he could move, Gwen held up a hand.

“I beg your pardon. I’ve a temper of my own.” She kept her hand up, closed her eyes. When she opened them again, they were dark and vibrant. “And what did Carrick offer me, but the same in his way? Jewels and riches, a palace for a home, and immortality. Can you not see the mistake in that, a mistake that cost us both three times a hundred years?”

“Darcy’s not like you.”

“Oh, Trevor, look closer. Why is it you can stand on the same ground and still not see each other?”

She lowered her hand. “Well, this night’s work isn’t done. You’ll go down to the village now. There’s a need for you there.”

“Darcy?” Panic pushed him forward. “Is she all right?”

“Oh, aye, she’s fine and well. But there’s a need for you. ’Tis a night for wonders, Trevor Magee. Go on, now, and be part of them.”

He didn’t hesitate. She’d hardly faded away when he was snatching up the candle to light his way out of the house and into the storm.

NINETEEN

THE AIR WAS alive, and angry. It slapped and bit. Rain, like thin needles of glass, jabbed at his clothes and stabbed at exposed skin. Nasty marbles of hail beat down on grass, battered the flowers, and turned the ground into treachery.

And still the lightning slashed, ripping open the sky so thunder could charge through in snarling bellows.

Trevor was breathless and drenched before he got to the car.

The rational part of his mind warned him it was insane to venture out on such a night. More sensible to wait out the storm than to drive into the snapping teeth of it. But he was already turning the key in the ignition.

The wind howled like a banshee, tore at the hedgerows so that bits of bloom and leaf flew past like crazed insects. He’d have sworn it had fists and fingers. His headlights made twin slashes through the wall of rain, spotlighting the full fury of it. He fought the car down the road that was rapidly turning into a ditch of mud, and when he shuddered around a bend, the sky exploded, etching the jagged burst of light on his eyes. The freight train of thunder roared after it.

Under it all, quiet as grief, was the sound of a woman’s desperate weeping.

He stomped on the gas, fishtailed sickly around the next curve. In the distance, he saw a sprinkling of lights that was Ardmore.

Candle- and lamplight in the houses. Some would have generators, he realized. The pub did. Darcy was fine, tucked inside, warm, dry, safe. There was no reason to drive like a madman when there was nothing wrong.

But the sense of urgency, the brutal need to hurry stayed with him. With his hands clamped to the wheel, he skidded around the turn at Tower Hill. And his car stopped dead.

“What the hell is this?” Frantic, infuriated, he twisted the key, pumped impatiently at the gas. But all he got in return was a faint and mocking click.

Swearing, he punched open the glove compartment, snatched out the flashlight he kept there, and felt only grim satisfaction when the beam shot on.

With its next violent gust, the wind nearly swept him off his feet as he climbed out of the car. It seemed to want to. Pitting himself against it, he fought his way to the gate, muscled it open while the rain slashed and the hail pummeled. He would just cut through, save time.

The boggy ground sucked at his feet, slowed him to a jog when he wanted, needed, to run flat out. The stones of the dead speared up like teeth out of a knee-high layer of fog that lay nowhere else.

Carrick, Trevor thought, in disgust and fury. Pulling out all the stops.

Lightning burst again, seemed to glow blue over the grave of the long-dead John Magee.

Flowers? Trevor skidded to a halt, panting, and stared down at the carpet of flowers blooming like a rainbow. The grass was bent and flattened by the force of the storm, but those fragile petals were open and perfect. The wind that shoved against him only fluttered them gently, and no cold finger of fog touched them.

Magic, he thought, then looked out, toward the sea where he could see the white-tipped walls of waves rear and crash. Magic wasn’t always bright and pretty. Tonight, it was full of wrath.

He turned from the grave and rushed on.

He skidded, slithering down the hill. He rapped hard into the trunk of a tree that seemed to rise up out of nowhere. Pain pounded in his shoulder, racing to match the pounding of his heart. Every time he lost his balance, should have tumbled over the stony ground to the road below, he managed to gain it again.

Later, he would think that that alone had been a miracle.

On solid ground once more, he ran, feet pounding against the wet footpath, around yet one more turn. He could see the pub now, the warm, welcoming glow of light against the window.

Lungs burning, he focused on that. Then something drew his gaze over and up, a whisper under the wind? A weeping. He saw in the top window of the Gallagher house a woman. Pale hair glowing against the dark, green eyes watching him.

That was wrong, he thought, and she was gone as soon as he thought it. Against the glass was the faintest of light, and no movement behind it.

Wrong. Something was wrong. So he turned away from the pub and pushed through the wind to the door of the house. He shoved it open, letting in wild wind and wilder rain. Before he could call out, he saw Jude, sitting at the top of the stairs. Her face was sheet white, her hair a tangle, and the nightgown she wore damp with sweat.

“Thank God. Oh, thank God. I can’t get down.” She let out a little gasp, clutched her belly. “The baby. The baby’s coming.”

Ruthlessly he shut down panic, though he took the stairs two at a time to reach her, grip her hand. She squeezed it hard enough to grind bone. “Breathe. In and out, come on. Look at me and breathe.”

“Yes, okay, yes.” Her eyes clung to his, wide, glazed with the pain that ripped through her as the contraction crested. “God, oh, God, it’s huge !”

“I know. I know, honey. Keep breathing. You’re coming down the other side now.”

“Yes. It’s passing, but . . . I never expected . . . It’s all so fast.” Even as her breath gushed out in relief from the absence of that wicked pain, she lifted a shaky hand to push at her hair. “I was having tea in bed. I talked to Aidan and told him I was going to bed. And then the power went out and it all started at once.”

“We’ll get you to the hospital. Everything’s fine.”

“Trevor, it’s too late. I won’t make it.”

Panic wanted to flood back, but he dammed it up before it could touch her. “This business usually takes a while. How far apart are the contractions?”

“I haven’t timed the last few. The phones are out. I couldn’t call the pub or the doctor. I thought if I could get downstairs . . . but I couldn’t. Before, they were close, two minutes, and now they’re coming faster and harder.”

Jesus. Sweet Jesus Christ. “Did your water break?”

“Yes. It’s not supposed to happen so fast. All the classes, all the books. It should take hours. Get Aidan. Please, get . . . Oh, oh, God, here it comes!”

He helped her through it, voice calm and bracing as his mind raced. Much too close, much too hard. He’d seen the process three times and that was enough to know Jude was right. She would never make the hospital.

“Let’s get you into bed. Put your arms around my neck. That’s the way.”

“I need Aidan.” She wanted, badly, to weep. Just to scream out with sobs.

“I know. I’m going to go get him. You stay calm, Jude. You just hold on.” He laid her in bed, glanced around quickly. She’d managed to light several candles. That would have to do. “When the next one comes, breathe through it. I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll be all right.” She lay her head back where he’d propped pillows. Had to be. Everything in the world depended on it. “Women used to do this all the time without doctors and hospitals.” She did her best to smile. “Only, damn it, none of them were me. Hurry.”

He didn’t want to think how many contractions she’d go through alone, how frightened she’d looked lying there alone in bed with only candles for light. He didn’t want to think of what could go wrong.

He sprinted back into the storm. The wind had changed and was at his back, pushing him faster, shoving as if it, too, urged him to hurry. Still, it seemed he’d run miles before his hand closed over the knob of Gallagher’s Pub.

He burst into the warmth, the music and laughter.

Darcy spun around, beaming. “Well, now, look what the storm’s blown in.” She got no farther than that before the look in his eye registered. “What is it? Are you hurt?”

He shook his head, gripped her shoulder while he turned to Aidan. “It’s Jude.”

“Jude?”

Trevor had never seen the blood drain as completely, as quickly, from a man’s face before. “What is it?” Even as he asked, Aidan was throwing the pass-through up, bulleting through.

“The baby’s coming. Now.”

“Ring the doctor,” Aidan shouted, and was out the door.

“Now,” Trevor repeated to Darcy. “It’s coming now. There’s no time for the doctor, and the phones are out in any case.”

“Oh, Mother of God.” Then she bit back the spurt of fear. “Let’s hurry, then. Jack, Jack Brennan—man the bar. Someone tell Shawn and Brenna. Tim Riley, will you go for Mollie O’Toole? She’ll know what to do.”

Leaving her jacket on the hook in her rush, she scurried out into the rain. “How did you find her?” She was shouting, but her voice was all but swept away by the wind, drowned under the crashing of the waves against the seawall.

“I was coming down, the house was dark. I thought something might be wrong.”

“No, no, I mean how is she? Is she holding up?”

“She was alone.” Trevor would never forget the way she’d looked, or that he’d had to leave her. “She was scared. In pain.”

Fear skidded down Darcy’s spine. “She’s a tough one, our Jude Frances. She’ll come through it. As for the rest of us, we’ll just have to figure out what to do.”

Darcy shoved at the hair plastered to her face as she rushed into the house. “You don’t have to come up. It must be hard on a man.”

“I’m coming.”

Jude sat up in bed, her hands clutched in Aidan’s as she panted. His eyes were wild, but his voice was crooning. “That’s the way, darling, that’s just fine. Nearly over now. Nearly done.”

She collapsed back, her face running with sweat. “They’re getting stronger.”

“She’s having it here.” Aidan got to his feet, but kept his hand gripped on Jude’s. “She says she’s having it here. She can’t be having a baby here. I’ve told her. But she won’t listen.”

“Of course she can have it here.” Darcy spoke cheerfully over the sick dread in her throat. If Aidan panicked, she knew the desperate would become the impossible. “And won’t that be cozy? Such a night you’ve picked, Jude Frances, for bringing the next Gallagher into the world. It’s a wild one.”

As she spoke, she moved to the side of the bed, dried Jude’s face with a corner of the sheet. What to do? What was she supposed to do? God, she couldn’t think. No, she had to think.

“Now, then, you went to all those classes. Why don’t you tell us what we should do first to be some help in this whole business?”

“I don’t know. It isn’t supposed to be like this. God, I’m so thirsty.”

“I’ll get you some water.”

“Ice.” Trevor took a step forward. “She can have ice chips. Aidan, she’d probably be more comfortable if you got into bed behind her, helped support her back. She’s better off sitting up a little. I was my sister’s backup coach during all three of her labors.”

Of course, he thought, that had been something of a lark. All happening in a nice clean and cheerful birthing suite, with his brother-in-law manning the post and a doctor and nurse-midwife in attendance.

“There.” Darcy smiled brightly. “A man with experience. Just what we need. I’ll get you a cool, damp cloth, darling, then some of those ice chips.”

Jude let out a gasp, one hand flailing in the air, grasping for Darcy’s arm. “Now! It’s coming now!”

“No, not yet.” Plan, priorities, order, Trevor told himself and bracing, flipped back the sheet. “It’s crowning.” He put everything out of his mind but what needed to be done. “Don’t push yet, Jude. Blow through it. Breathe. Aidan?”

“That’s it, darling. Pant.” He wrapped an arm around her, ran his hand in circles on her rock-hard belly. “Hold on to it now and pant, and you’ll slide right over the pain.”

“Over it, my ass!” With the contraction at its vicious peak, Jude reached back, got a fistful of his hair, and had his eyes bugging out. “What the hell do you know about it? What the bloody hell do you know, you jerk!”

“You can do better than that,” Darcy urged and wondered if Jude’s fingers would dig right down to the bone on her arm. “There’s much better names to call him at such a time.”

“Idiot, moron, ape. Bastard! ” she shouted when the pain spiked.

“All of those and more, my darling,” he murmured, still stroking. “I’m all of those and more. There, there, it’s passing. Now, if you could just let go of me hair and leave me what you haven’t torn out by the roots.”

“Let’s get busy.” Time, Trevor thought, was getting short. He heard the crash of the front door, the thunder of feet on the stairs and was grateful they’d have more hands.

“Shawn.” He shot out orders the minute Shawn and Brenna ran in the room. “Get a fire going in here. We need it warm. Brenna, go down and get some ice, chip some for Jude to chew on. Find some good sharp scissors, and cord. Darcy, fresh sheets and towels.”

While they scattered, Trevor looked down at Jude. “I’m going to wash up. My sister liked music during delivery, said it soothed her.”

“We were going to have music playing.”

Trevor nodded. “Sing,” he ordered Aidan before he walked out of the room.

They worked smoothly together, and fast. Within ten minutes the fire was blazing, filling the room with light and heat. Outside, the storm was screaming in a kind of wild triumph, but there, in that room, voices were raised in song.

In bed, Jude leaned back against Aidan, trying to catch the breath the contractions robbed her of. Every ounce of will was focused on the child who was determined to be born. Such focus and purpose left no room for modesty. She could only be grateful that Trevor knelt at her feet, between her updrawn knees.

“I have to push. I have to.”

“Hold on a minute.” That was for himself, bracing room. “You have to stop when I tell you, so I can turn the baby, the head and shoulders.” He’d watched it, he reminded himself, fascinated by the process. He could do it.

“Okay, on the next contraction, push, and when I say stop, pant and blow.” He wiped the sweat off his forehead with his forearm. He took a breath, let it out.

“It’s starting. I have to—”

“Push!” he told her, just as lightning flashed, a million wild jewels of light. And to Trevor’s shock, the baby shot out, a slick bullet, into his hands, and already wailing.

“Wow.” He stared foolishly at the wriggling, furious life that he held. “She was in a hurry. It’s a girl,” he managed, and looked up. But his eyes met Darcy’s and watched, for the third time, as she wept.

“Jude.” Rocking, Aidan pressed his face against his wife’s hair. “Look at her. Just look. She’s beautiful.”

“I want—” Words strangling in her throat, Jude held out her arms. When Trevor laid the baby over her belly, and her hands touched her for the first time, she laughed. “She’s perfect. Isn’t she perfect? She already has hair. Look at her. Such lovely, dark hair.”

“And a voice to match.” Shawn came around the bed, bent to brush a kiss over Jude’s cheek. “She’s your nose, Jude Frances.”

“Does she? I think you’re right.” Turning her head, she met Aidan’s mouth with hers. “Thank you.”

He managed no more than her name before he laid his head on her shoulder.

“What do we call her?” Darcy turned the cloth she’d dampened again, dabbed at Jude’s face. She wanted to collapse beside the bed, lay her head on it and weep and laugh. Not yet, she ordered herself. Not yet. “What name did you finally choose for her?”

“She’s Ailish.” Jude stopped counting her daughter’s fingers—look how tiny! how perfect!—to look down at Trevor. “What’s your mother’s name, Trevor?”

“What?” He hadn’t moved, and now shook his head as if to clear it. “My mother? She’s Carolyn.”

“Her name is Ailish Carolyn Gallagher. And you’ll all be her godparents.”

For a little while no one noticed the storm had gone silent.

It was the oddest sensation to find his legs weak when he went downstairs. He felt full of energy, of light, so much so that he thought he could run ten miles without being winded. But his legs were weak as water.

Brenna and Shawn were already back in the kitchen and had a glass of whiskey poured for him. Without a word, he took it, knocked it back.

“That’s fine, but now you’ll have to have another.” Brenna did the honors and poured with a generous hand. “For a toast. To Ailish Carolyn Gallagher.”

They clinked glasses, and he drank again, forgetting his usual caution in the spirit of the event. “Some night.”

“That it is.” Shawn slapped his back. “God bless you, Trevor, you were a champion.”

“No offense to Trev, but I’ll give Jude the prize tonight. I hope I’m half as sturdy when my time comes.”

Trevor raised his glass, then caught the sparkling look that ran between them. “Are you pregnant?”

“We just announced it tonight at the pub, which is why I’ve tea in my glass instead of whiskey. But you needn’t worry, as I’m not due till February, and we’ll be done with all but the fancy work on the theater.”

“We should have ours at home as well, Brenna. It was lovely this way.”

“That’s fine, we’ll do just that. As soon as you figure out how to give birth.”

“Either way,” Trevor said, “congratulations.” He touched his glass to hers again, and Shawn’s. “Just do me a favor and try not to work as fast as your sister-inlaw. Managing the whole business in under two hours is just a little too nerve-wracking.”

“With the loveliest of endings. You did a fine job.”

“That you did,” Shawn agreed. “Now we’d best get over to the pub, spread the word. If you’re up for it, come and join the celebration. I can promise you won’t buy another drink in Gallagher’s in your lifetime.”

To Trevor’s numb shock, Shawn took him by the shoulders and kissed him with great enthusiasm. “God bless you. Let’s be off, Brenna.”

Trevor stood alone in the kitchen and laughed.

“It’s a happy night,” Darcy said as she stepped in.

“Shawn kissed me, right on the mouth.”

“Well, then, I can’t be outdone by my own brother.” She leaped, sent him staggering back, and kissed him hard and long. “There, now, that should do it.”

But the humor faded out of her eyes as they went soft, as she laid her hand on his cheek. “You’re a hero. No, don’t shake your head at me. We might’ve fumbled through that without you, but I don’t like thinking of it.”

“You kept your head.”

“I wanted to run screaming.”

“Me, too.”

She blinked at that, hopped down. “Is that the truth? You looked so competent, so calm. Laying down orders, then taking charge like you delivered babies as a hobby every Saturday.”

“I was terrified.”

“Then you’re even more of a hero.”

“It wasn’t heroics, it was stark terror.” And now he could admit it. “It was nothing like my sister. All I had to do with her was be there, hold her hand, listen to her curse my brother-in-law, maybe breathe with her. And there’s doctors and monitors and . . . stuff,” he said, running down. “This was . . . Jesus. This was primitive. It was fantastic.”

He finished off the rest of his whiskey. “Nothing was the way it should’ve been. The storm, the power, Jude sprinting through labor like that. Nothing was the way it should’ve been, yet it was all exactly right. Like it was meant.”

“All of us together this way, in this house.” She touched a hand to his arm. “Yes, it was exactly right. I feel I was part of a miracle tonight. The baby, our Ailish, she looked healthy, didn’t she?”

“She looked perfect. Don’t worry.”

“You’re right, of course. Bellowing like that on the way out, and already nursing. What could be better? And Jude’s just glowing. So, let’s have ourselves a toast to our perfect little miracle.”

He eyed the whiskey bottle. “I’ve already had two, with Brenna and Shawn.”

“And your point would be?” she asked as she got another glass and poured.

“Nothing. Don’t know what I was thinking. To our miracle, then. The newest Gallagher.”

“Slainte.” She brought the glass to her lips, tipped her head back, and swallowed in a way that made him feel obliged to do the same. “I’m going to make the new mother some tea, then tidy up. Will you be at the pub?”

“I’ll wait for you here.”

“That would be lovely.” She turned to put the kettle on, spied the pot staying warm under a cozy. “Shawn’s beat me to this as well as to kisses. Sit down and take a load off,” she suggested as she arranged cups on a tray. “Miracles aside, delivering babies is an exhausting business.”

“You’re telling me.”

He started to sit when she went out, then felt guilty. He should go up, make sure, see if anything else was needed. Besides, he couldn’t sit. He was too full of that brilliant wash of energy.

Then he heard the front door open, and Darcy’s voice cheerfully greeting Mollie O’Toole.

Thank you, Jesus, Trevor thought fervently, and for the first time in his life was thrilled to pass the reins of control into the hands of another. He’d wandered around the kitchen, glanced out the dark window, and was just thinking about making coffee, if he could find it, when Aidan came in, all but dancing.

“There’s the man of the hour.”

This time Trevor was braced, but still didn’t manage to evade the hearty kiss. “That’s three for three,” he muttered. “I’m getting used to it. How’s Jude?”

“She’s glowing. Sitting up in bed, pretty as you please, and drinking tea while Darcy cuddles the baby.”

“Darcy?”

“Kicked me out of the room,” Aidan said as he got yet another glass. “Said I was to come down here and drink like a new father so she could start her auntie’s privilege and spoil the baby.”

“Auntie?” Try as he might, he couldn’t visualize Darcy as auntie.

“Mollie O’Toole’s fussing around, and says she’s staying the night. They’ve already got Ailish dressed up in a little sleeping gown with lace on it. She looks . . .”

He trailed off, just leaned forward and laid his palms on the counter. “Christ. Christ! What this does to a man! My soul’s shaking, I swear to you. I never knew there was more to feel than I’ve already felt. That I could love like this in a heartbeat’s time. There she is, not an hour old, and I’d kill for her. Die for her. When I think I might have missed them if fate hadn’t opened the door for me.”

Trevor said nothing, could say nothing.

“I’ll owe you all of my life for this one night.”

“No.”

“I will. If one day you’re blessed with a child of your own, you’ll know just how much is owed.” Aidan shook himself, turned back. Any more, he thought, and he’d embarrass the man beyond redemption. “The Irish are sentimental sorts. Let’s have a drink here, so I can get my legs back under me.”

Trevor figured that if the toasting kept up at this pace, he would not only lose his legs, he’d fall on his face. But he raised his glass with Aidan to the new mother, and then to the child.

By the time Aidan went back up and Darcy came back down, he felt that he was watching a revolving door through the deep amber haze of Jameson’s. And that seemed perfectly fine.

It only took one look at his face, at the cheerful and decidedly sloppy grin that was as endearing as a boy’s, the tousled hair and the loose body stretched out in the chair, to clue her in.

Since the look of him had her wanting to cuddle him just as she’d cuddled her niece, she walked over and patted his cheek. “Sure and you’re on your way to being piss-faced, aren’t you, darling?”

“I never drink more than two. You lose focus.”

“Of course you do, and that’s a fine and upstanding rule just begging to be broken on such a night.”

“It would’ve been rude not to toast the baby.”

“Unforgivably.”

“Are we toasting the baby again?” There was just enough sweet hope in his tone to make her chuckle.

“I think it’s time we made our way over to the pub, then we’ll see about that. Let’s get you to your feet. You can lean on me.”

“I can stand up.” Vaguely insulted, he pushed back from the table. The minute he was upright, the room took one slow, rather lovely spin. “Whoa.” He put a hand out. “I’m all right. Just finding my balance.”

“Well, let me know when you’ve located it.” She glanced toward the bottle, winced at the level. She hadn’t realized how much they’d gotten into the poor man between them. “We’ve abused you sorely, and after all your heroics, too.” Gently, she slipped an arm around his waist. “We’ll go over and get you a meal. I bet you’d like something hot in your belly.”

“You. I’ve already got you there, and in my head. Every damn place. Aidan kissed me, so it’s your turn.”

“We’ll get to that, by and by.” With her arm around his waist and his tucked companionably around her shoulders, they staggered down the hall.

“Let’s go see the baby. I’m crazy about babies.” He tried to steer toward the steps as they passed, but she kept him heading for the door.

“Are you, now?” Well, what a revelation. “We will go see her, in the morning. Ailish is sleeping now, like an angel, and God knows, Jude needs some rest.” She managed to open the door, lead him out.

The fresh air swept over him like a wave, made him sway. “Man, what a night.”

“I warn you, if you pass out, I’m letting you drop where you fall.” But even as she threatened, she tightened her grip.

“I’m not going to pass out. I feel great.” The stars were out. Thousands of them sparkling, winking, gleaming against a sky of black glass. There might never have been a storm.

“Listen, you can hear the music from the pub.” He stopped, bringing her closer to his side. “What’s that song? I know that one.” He concentrated, until it swam clear in his mind. Then to Darcy’s surprise and delight, he began to sing.

Standing in the sea breeze and starlight, she joined him on the chorus, adding harmony.

Her eyes they shined like diamonds.

I thought her the queen of the land,

And her hair hung over her shoulders

Tied up with a black velvet band.

He grinned down at her, shifting until he could get both arms around her. “It always makes me think of you.”

“Under the present circumstances, I’ll take that as a compliment. I didn’t know you could sing, Trevor Magee, and in such a fine, strong voice. What other surprises have you in store for me?”

“We’ll get to that, by and by.”

So she laughed, wiggled free enough to get him walking again. “I’ll count on it.”

TWENTY

MOST OF IT was a blur. Faces, voices, movement. He lost track of how many pints had been pushed into his hands, how many times his back had been slapped. He remembered being kissed, repeatedly.

Many had shed tears. He was mortally afraid one of them had been himself.

There’d been singing—he was pretty sure he’d done a solo. Dancing—he vaguely remembered rounding the floor with his chief electrician, a burly man with a tattoo. At one point, he thought, he’d made a speech.

Sometime during the chaos, Darcy had pulled him into the kitchen, poured some soup into him. Or stuck his head in the bowl, he wasn’t quite sure which.

But he recalled trying to wrestle her to the floor, which wouldn’t have been such a bad idea if Shawn hadn’t been in the room at the time. And if he hadn’t lost the bout to a woman he outweighed by a good fifty pounds.

Jesus Christ. He’d been stinking drunk.

It wasn’t that he’d never been drunk before. He’d gone to college, for God’s sake. He knew how to get drunk and party if he wanted to. The thing was, this one had snuck up on him, and he didn’t enjoy being quite so hazy on the details of his behavior.

There was, however, one little item that came through clear. Waterford-crystal clear.

Darcy guiding him up to bed, him stumbling, and yes, still singing, an embarrassingly schmaltzy rendition of “Rose of Tralee.” During which he stopped long enough to inform Darcy that his mother’s aunt’s cousin’s daughter had been the Chicago Rose in 1980-something.

Once he was prone, he made a suggestion that was so uncharacteristically lewd, he imagined another woman would have kicked him back down the stairs. But Darcy had only laughed and remarked that men in his condition weren’t nearly as good at it as they thought they were, and he should go on to sleep.

He’d obliged her, and saved himself what would have been certain humiliation, by passing out.

But he was awake now, in the full dark, with approximately half the sand of Ardmore Bay in his mouth and the full cast of Riverdance step-toeing inside his head.

He lay there, hoping for oblivion.

When his wish wasn’t granted, he imagined the pleasure of sawing off his head and setting it aside to cure while the rest of him got some sleep. But to do that he’d need to find a damn saw, wouldn’t he?

Deciding a bucket of aspirin was probably wiser, he eased himself up. Every inch was a punishment, but he managed to bite back a groan and keep at it until he could sit on the side of the bed.

Through bleary eyes, he stared at the glowing dial of the bedside clock. Three forty-five. Well, it just got

better and better. Gingerly, he turned his head and saw that Darcy slept on, peaceful and perfect.

Bitter resentment mixed with the sand in his mouth. How could the woman just sleep when a man was dying beside her? Had she no sensibility, no compassion? No goddamn hangover?

He had to fight the urge to give her one rude shove so misery could have company.

He gained his feet, grinding his teeth when the room swam sickly. His stomach suited up, joined the other branches of his body in mutiny, and churned queasily.

Never again, he vowed. Never again would he drink himself drunk. He didn’t care if he delivered triplets in a tornado. The thought of that made him want to smile, the wonder of holding that small, raging life in his hands. But all he could manage was a grimace as he hobbled toward the bathroom.

Without thinking, he switched the light on, then heard the high whine that was his own gasping scream. Blind, tortured, he slapped at the switch, came perilously close to whimpering when the blessed dark descended again.

He could only stand, his back braced against the wall, and try to get his breath back.

“Trevor?” Darcy’s voice was low, her hand gentle as she laid it on his arm. “Are you all right?”

“Oh, I’m just dandy, thanks. And you?” The words ground out of a throat currently lined with heavy-gauge sandpaper.

“Ah, poor darling. Well, if you didn’t have a head after last night, you wouldn’t be human. Come on, then, lie back down and let Darcy fix you up.”

Perversely, now that she was awake and prepared to soothe, annoyance added to the ugly mix brewing inside him. “You and your horde of sadists fixed me up already.”

“Oh, it was terrible. I’m so ashamed.”

He’d have narrowed his eyes into a glare, but there was too much blood in them to risk it. “Are you laughing?”

“Of course I am.” She tugged his arm, drawing him back into the bedroom. “But that’s neither here nor there. Here we go now, that’s the way, sit yourself down.”

She was entirely too good at it, he thought. Just how many drunken men had she tucked back into bed the morning after? It was a vile thought, an unworthy thought, but even knowing that he couldn’t stop it from taking root.

“Had a lot of practice at this?”

Something in his tone slapped, but she shrugged it off because he was suffering. “You can’t run a pub and not have the occasional experience with someone who’s overindulged. You need a bit of the cure, is all.”

“If you think you’re going to get more whiskey into me, you’re crazy.”

“No, no, I’ve something better than hair of the dog. Just rest yourself.” She fluffed pillows behind him, gentle and efficient as a nurse. “It’ll take me a minute. I should have made some up last night, but with all the excitement I didn’t think of it.”

“I just want a goddamn aspirin.” Preferably one the size of Pluto.

“I know.” She touched her lips to his throbbing head. “I’ll be right back.”

What game was this? he wondered. Why was she being so nice, so sweet? He’d awakened her at four in the morning and snarled at her. Why wasn’t she snarling back? Why wasn’t she suffering any effects of last night’s celebration?

Suspicious, he forced himself to get up again, and with his jaw clenched, managed to tug on jeans. He found her in the kitchen, and once his abused eyes adjusted to the laser beam of light, saw she was mixing ingredients in a jar.

“You stayed sober.”

She stopped what she was doing, glanced back at him. Oh, the man looked as raw and rough as they came, and still managed to be handsome. “I did, yes.”

“Why?”

“It was clear even before we got to the pub that you were going to be drunk enough for both of us. And you were entitled. Darling, why don’t you sit down? There’s no need to pay the piper any more than his due. Your head must be big as the moon this morning.”

“I don’t make a habit of getting drunk.” He said it with some dignity, but because he felt decidedly queasy, he retreated to the living room to sit on the arm of a chair.

“I’m sure you don’t.” Which was why, she supposed, he wasn’t just feeling sick this morning, but insulted as well. It was adorable. “But it was a night for exceptions, and you were having such a grand time, too. It was surely the best party we’ve had around here since Shawn and Brenna’s wedding, and that went on all day and half the night.”

She came out, her robe flowing around her legs, carrying some dark and suspicious-looking liquid in a glass. “We had so much to celebrate, after all. Jude and the baby, then the theater.”

“What about the theater?”

“The naming of it. Oh, that likely washed away in the beer, didn’t it? You announced the naming of the theater. Duachais. I was never so pleased, Trevor. And those in the pub, which by the time we closed was everyone and their brother, were just as delighted. It’s a fine name, the right name. And it means something to all of us here.”

It annoyed him that he couldn’t get a handle on the moment, that he’d announced it when he hadn’t been in control. Where was the dignity in that? “You thought of it.”

“I told you the word. You put it in the right place. Here, now, wash the aspirin down with this, and you’ll be right as rain in no time.”

“What is it?”

“Gallagher’s Fix, a little potion passed down in my family. Come on, now, there’s a good lad.”

He scowled at her, plucked the aspirin out of her outstretched hand, then the glass. She looked gorgeous, rested, perfect, with her hair loose and glossy, her eyes clear and amused, her lips slightly curved, in what might have been sympathy. He wanted, desperately, to lay his aching head on her lovely breasts and die quietly.

“I don’t like it.”

“Oh, now, it’s not such a bad taste all in all.”

“No.” With nothing else available, he drank, glared. “I don’t like the whole deal.”

This need, he thought as she patiently waited for him to drink the rest. It was too big, too sharp. Even now, when he felt as vile as a man could and still live, he was all but eaten up with need for her. It was humiliating.

“Thanks.” He shoved the glass back at her.

“You’re very welcome.” A little twist of temper snaked through her, but she cut it off, reminding herself he deserved a bit of patience and pampering.

He’d brought her niece into the world, and for that she would owe him for a lifetime. He’d named his

theater from a word she’d given him. That was an honor she wouldn’t slight by snapping at him when he was laid low.

So she sucked it in and prepared to spoil him a bit.

“I’ll tell you what you need now, and that’s a good hot breakfast to set you right. And your coffee. So I’ll be your loving mother and see to it for you.”

She started back toward the kitchen, stopped, shook her head. “For heaven’s sake, where’s my mind? Speaking of mothers, yours called to the pub last night.”

“What? My mother?”

“It was when you were outside, serenading the Duffys on their way home. Shawn spoke with her, and she said just to give you a message.”

He’d gotten to his feet. “Nothing’s wrong?”

“No, not at all. Shawn said she sounded very pleased and happy and added a congratulations for Ailish. In any case, she said to tell you yes, of course it’s supposed to, and that she couldn’t be more delighted. She asked that you call her back today so you can tell her all about it.”

“Supposed to what? All about what?”

“I couldn’t say.” She moved back into the kitchen, her voice carrying through the opening.

“I don’t know what she’s—” He broke off, staggered, and braced himself with a hand to the back of a chair.

I’m in love with her. Is it supposed to make me feel like an idiot?

But he hadn’t sent that post. He’d been about to delete that part when the power had gone out, the laptop had died. He had never hit Send. It wasn’t possible for her to have gotten a message he’d never sent.

Then he rubbed his hands over his face. Hadn’t he already learned the impossible was almost the ordinary here?

Now what? His mother was delighted that he felt like an idiot. That was good, he decided, pacing restlessly now, because he was feeling more like one every minute.

The woman in the next room was making him weak and senseless and stupid. And part of him was thrilled knowing he could be weakly and senselessly and stupidly in love. That worried him.

He stopped to stare at the painting of the mermaid and felt his temper strain. And who was he in love with? Who the hell was she really? How much of her was the siren depicted here, and how much the affectionate woman fixing breakfast? Maybe it was all a spell, some sort of self-serving magic woven over him that had taken his own emotions out of his control to satisfy someone else’s—something else’s needs.

Maybe she knew it.

Duachais . The lore of a place, he thought grimly. Darcy knew the lore of this place. Gwen had been offered jewels, from the sun and moon and sea. And had refused them. What had Darcy said when he’d asked her if she would trade her pride for jewels?

That she’d find a way to keep both.

He’d lay odds on it.

She had kept this painting, hadn’t she? Kept it, hung it on her wall long after she’d shown the artist the door.

“I’ve no breakfast meats up here,” Darcy said as she came out. “So I’ll have to go down and pilfer from Shawn. Would you like bacon or sausage, or have you room for both?”

“Did you sleep with him?” It was out, stinging the air, before he could stop it.

“What?”

“The artist, the one who painted this.” Trevor turned, faced his own senseless outrage. “Did you sleep with him?”

She took a moment to try to think over the wild beat of blood in her head. “You’re trying my patience, Trevor, and I’m not known for it to begin with. So I’ll only say that’s none of your concern.”

Of course it wasn’t. “The hell it isn’t. Was he in love with you? Did you enjoy that, being that fantasy for him, before you sent him on his way?”

She wouldn’t let it hurt. It wouldn’t be permitted. So she concentrated on the bright fury in Trevor’s eyes and let her own rise to meet it. “That’s a fine opinion you have of me, and not so far from the mark. I’ve had men, and make no excuses for it. I’ve taken what suited me, and so what?”

He jabbed his hands into his pockets. “And what suits you, Darcy?”

“You did, for a time. But we seem to be at the end of that. Take yourself off, Trevor, before each of us says something that makes it impossible for us to deal with one another again.”

“Deal?” She was a cool one, wasn’t she? Cool and composed while he wanted to rage. “There’s always the deal, isn’t there? Contracts and payments and benefits. You keep your eyes on the prize.”

She went white, her eyes a blazing blue in contrast. “Get out. Get out of my house. I don’t take a man to my bed who looks at me and sees a whore.”

Her words slapped him back, to sense and to shame. “I never meant that. I never thought that.”

“Didn’t you? Get out, you bastard.” She began to shake. “And before you go I’ll tell you this: Jude painted that for me, for my birthday.”

She whirled around, strode into the bedroom.

“Darcy, wait!” He managed to block the door before it slammed in his face. “I’m sorry. Listen—” That was as far as he got before whatever she threw shattered against the door an inch from his face. “Jesus!”

“I said get out of my house.”

She wasn’t pale now. She was flushed with rage and already grabbing for a pretty china trinket box. He had an instant to decide—advance or retreat. An instant too long, as the box bounced smartly off his shoulder before he could reach her.

“I’m sorry,” he said again, gripping her arms before she could select the next missile. “I was out of line, completely wrong. No excuse. Please, listen to me.”

“Let go of me, Trevor.”

“Throw anything you want. But then listen to me. Please.”

She was vibrating like a bow sharply plucked. “Why should I?”

“No reason. Listen anyway.”

“All right, but let me go, and step back. I don’t want you touching me now.”

His hands flexed on her arms, a jerk of reaction. Then he nodded, released her. He’d deserved that, he told himself. That and worse. Because he was afraid she intended to give him worse, to turn him out of her life, he was prepared to beg.

“I’ve never been jealous before. Believe me, I don’t like it any more than you do. It’s contemptible.”

“You’ve had women before me. Do I throw them in your face and cheapen you that way?”

“No.” He’d cut deep, he realized, and they were both bleeding. “I had no right, and no reason. I wasn’t thinking about the painting, really. My feelings for you are out of control. So I’m out of control.” Her eyes, shocked, stared back at his when he stroked her hair. “They make me stupid.”

Her heart began to thud. “I’ve thought of no man but you since we met. Is that enough for you?”

“It should be.” He dropped his hand. “But it’s not.” He paced away, back, away. Plans and schedules were out of the picture now, he decided. It was time to act. “I need something more than that from you, and I’m willing to give you whatever you want.”

The rapid beating of her heart skipped in a quick stab of pain. “What do you mean?”

“I want, let’s say, exclusive rights. For that, for you,” he added, turning back to her. “You can name it. I’ve got an apartment in New York. If it doesn’t suit you, we’ll find another. Personally, and through the company, I have several homes in a number of countries. If you like, I can buy property here, build a house to your specifications. Whatever traveling’s required between us, I assume you’d want a base here.”

“I see.” Her voice was quiet, her eyes lowered. “That’s considerate of you. And would I also have access to bank accounts, credit cards, that sort of thing?”

His hands went back in his pockets, balled into fists. “Of course.”

“And for all this.” She traced a finger over the bracelet she’d worn since he’d first clasped it on her wrist. That she’d loved first for its beauty, and then simply because he’d given it to her. “I would, in turn, keep myself only for you.”

“That’s one way of putting it. But I—”

He never saw it coming. The little Belleek vase smacked dead between his eyes. Through the stars wheeling in front of him, he saw her face. Pale again, rigid with outrage.

“You low-lying son-of-a-toad! What’s the difference between a whore and a mistress but the type of payment?”

“Mistress?” With shock, he touched his forehead, stared at the blood on his fingers. Then he was dodging crockery. “Who said—cut it out!”

“You miserable worm. You badger!” She sent all the pretty things she’d collected over the years crashing. “I wouldn’t have you on the silver platter you were born on. So take all your fancy houses and your bank drafts and your credit line and stuff them. Choke on them!”

Tears spoiled her aim, but the ricochets and flying debris were awesome. Trevor blocked the lamp she’d yanked out of the wall, stepped on glass, swore. “I don’t want a mistress.”

“Go to hell.” It was the best she had left, and knowing it, she snatched up a small carved box and ran out with it.

“For God’s sake.” He had to sit down on the bed to pick the glass out of his feet. He had the hideous notion she might be getting a knife or some other sharp implement, then his head snapped up when he heard the door slam.

“Darcy! Damn it.” Leaping up, leaving blood smeared on the floor, he rushed after her.

He supposed he could have handled it all with less finesse. If he’d been a gibbering ape. He streaked down the stairs, swore again when he heard the boom of the pub door crashing shut. For Christ’s sake, here they were, neither of them dressed, and where does she take the crisis but outside? A sensible man would run in the opposite direction.

Trevor bolted through the kitchen after her.

She let the box fly as she ran, and closed her fist tight on the stone she’d kept inside it. Wishes be damned, she thought in fury. Love be damned. Trevor be damned. She was throwing it and all it meant into the sea.

She’d have no part of it now, no part of hopes and dreams and promises. If loving meant burying everything she was for a man who had such contempt for her, she would have no part of that either.

Hair flying, she raced along the seawall under a sky softening toward dawn. She didn’t hear her own sobbing over the pulse and pump of the sea, nor Trevor’s call and the sudden, frantic plea in it.

She stumbled onto the beach, would have fallen if he hadn’t caught her.

“Darcy, wait. Don’t.” His arms shook as they wrapped around her. He’d thought she’d meant to plunge into the water.

She turned on him like a wildcat, kicking, scratching, biting. In shock as much as defense, he pulled her down to the sand where he could lie on top of her and hold her still.

A hangover, he discovered, was nothing compared to the pain inflicted by Darcy Gallagher in a temper. “Easy.” He panted it out. “Just take it easy.”

“I’ll kill you, first chance.”

“I believe it.” He looked down at her. Her face was streaked with tears, and they continued to fall though her eyes were burning with fury. Here, he thought, was the first time he’d seen her weep for herself. And he’d caused it.

“I deserve it for fumbling this so badly. Darcy, I wasn’t asking you to be my mistress—which is a ridiculous term and completely unsuitable when applied to you. I was trying to ask you to marry me.”

He knocked the breath out of her as surely as if he’d rammed his elbow into her belly. “What?”

“I was asking you to marry me.”

“Marry, as in husband and wife, rings on our fingers, till death do us part?”

“That’s the one.” He risked a smile. “Darcy, I—”

“Will you get off me? You’re hurting me.”

“Sorry.” He rolled aside, helped her up. “If I could just start over.”

“Oh, no, let’s pick up where you left off. When you were offering me houses and bank accounts. That’s how you chose to propose to the likes of me?”

Her voice was like sugar, with each crystal honed like a razor. “Ah . . .”

“You think I’d marry you for what you have, for what you can give me?” She shoved him back two full steps. “You think you can buy me like one of your companies?”

“But you’ve said—”

“I don’t care what I’ve said. Any moron would see it was just talk if they took the time to listen, to look. I’ll tell you what you can do with your fine houses and your big accounts, Magee. You can burn them to the ground for all I care. I’ll buy the fucking torch and light it.”

“You made it clear—”

“I made nothing clear, as nothing was clear to me. But now I will. I’d have taken you with nothing. Now I’ll take you not at all.”

She turned, flung back her arm. It was blind instinct that made him grab her, pry her fingers open. “What is this?”

“It’s mine, given to me by Carrick. Sapphire.” She jerked away from him as her voice began to hitch again. “The heart of the sea. I could wish on it, he told me. One wish only, for my heart’s desire. But I didn’t use it and never will. Do you know why?”

“No. Don’t cry any more. I can’t stand it.”

“Do you know why?” Her voice rose, thick with tears.

“No. I don’t know why.”

“I wanted you to love me without it. That was my wish, so how could I use it and have it come true?”

Magic, he thought. He’d worried about magic, and she’d held it in her hand. He’d offered her things, and she’d wanted him. Enough to have thrown the fortune he’d let himself believe she desired most back into the heart of the sea.

“I did love you without it. I do.” He took her hand again, closed her fingers over the stone. “Don’t throw it away. Don’t throw us away because I’ve been stupid. I swear to you I’ve never handled anything as badly as I’ve handled this. Let me fix it.”

“I’m tired.” She closed her eyes and turned to face the sea. “I’m just so tired.”

“A long time ago—it seems like a long time—when I told you I couldn’t fall in love, I meant it. I believed it. There was no one . . . There was never any magic with anyone else.”

She stared down at the gem in her hand. “I didn’t use it.”

“You didn’t have to. You just had to be. I haven’t been the same since I met you. I tried to compensate for that. Stay in control, stay focused. I didn’t come here looking for you, Darcy, looking for this. That’s what I told myself. I was wrong, and I knew it. Somehow I’ve always been looking for you, always been looking for this.”

“Do you think I’m so hard, so small of heart that I can’t love where there isn’t gain?”

“I think there are countless parts to you. Every time I see a new one, I’m more in love with you. I wanted you to belong to me, and it was easier to believe I could hold on to you by offering you things.”

Through the weariness was just enough shame to make her honest. “That’s what I wanted once. Before you.”

“Whatever either of us wanted once doesn’t count now.”

No, nothing had to count but this. If they wished it. So she turned to him. “Do you mean it?”

“I mean it.”

“Then so will I.”

“More than anything, right now, I want you to look at me and tell me you love me.”

She shivered in the wind, crossed her arms over her breasts, gazed out to sea. It was the moment, she thought, when her life changed, when dreams trembled, when spells were cast and broken.

“Damn it, Darcy.” His impatient voice shattered her romantic images. “Do you want me to crawl?”

She looked at him then, the beginnings of amusement lighting eyes still damp from tears. “Yes.”

He opened his mouth, was on the verge of dropping literally and metaphorically to his knees. And that, he decided, would just put the cap on everything else he’d suffered that morning. “No. Damned if I will.”

Her heart simply soared. After one wild laugh, she threw herself into his arms. “There, now. There’s the arrogant bastard I love.” She pressed her lips to his, warm and welcoming. “There’s my heart’s desire.”

“Say it once,” he murmured against her mouth. “ Without swearing at me.”

“I love you, just exactly as you are.” She drew back,made a sympathetic sound. “Oh, no, look at that, you’re bleeding.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Well, I’ll bandage you up in a bit of a while, but I want you to ask me again, and ask me proper. Here, between the moon and the sun and the sea, before the light breaks through to morning. There’s magic here, Trevor, and I want our slice of it.”

He felt it, as she did, the trembling edge of power just held in check. He had no ring to give her, no symbol to seal the moment. Then he remembered the silver disk and slipped the chain over his head, over hers.

She remembered the words that had come as in a dream. Forever love.

“A charm,” he said. “A promise. Marry me, Darcy. Make a life with me. Make a home and children with me.”

“I will, and gladly. Here.” She pressed the stone into his hand. “A charm. And a promise.”

“You humble me.”

“No, never that.” She brushed her fingers over his cheek. “I’d take you, Trevor, prince or pauper. But, loving me, you’ll understand I’m pleased you’re more in line with the prince.”

“You’re perfect for me.”

“I am, indeed.” She sighed, laid her head on his shoulder when he drew her close. “Do you hear it?” she murmured. “Over the beat of the sea.”

“Yeah, I hear it.”

Music, full of joy and celebration, the lilt of pipes, the herald of trumpets.

“Look, Darcy.” He touched her hair. “Over the water.”

She turned her head, stayed in the circle of his arms and watched. As the sun broke through in the east, shimmered its light over the sea, turning the sky to the polished glow of seashells, the white horse flew with a flash of wing.

On his back rode Carrick, his silver doublet aglint, his dark hair swirling. In his arms, her head on his heart, rode his lady, her eyes of misty green bright with love.

Up they rose, a triumphant sweep of motion, over green hills shimmering with dew. And in their wake left a rainbow that glimmered like jewels.

“They’re together at last,” Darcy whispered. “And happily now, ever after. The spell’s broken.”

“That one is. This one . . .” He turned her face back to his. “It’s just getting started. Can you handle ever after, Darcy?”

“That I can, Trevor Magee.” She kissed him, sealed the vow. “I can handle it, and you.”

While the sun strengthened, they walked away from the sea. The music drifted into the hush of dawn, under a rainbow that arched from beginnings to ever afters.