The Gallaghers of Ardmore Trilogy

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