The Gallaghers of Ardmore Trilogy

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