The Gallaghers of Ardmore Trilogy

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