The Gallaghers of Ardmore Trilogy

. . 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.
     
    —I RISH P UB S ONG
     
     
     

 
ONE
     
     
     
    I RELAND 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