The Gallaghers of Ardmore Trilogy

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,