The Gallaghers of Ardmore Trilogy

fair, for what you choose you live with.”
    And he was gone, and the jewels, save the one in her hand, bloomed to flowers. She saw now they covered a grave, and the name carved into the stone was “John Magee.”
    She lay her head against it and wept now for both of them.

 
     
     
SIXTEEN
     
     
    D ARCY INTENDED TO go straight through the pub and upstairs so she could make herself presentable. But Aidan was already there, inventorying stock. He took one look at her, set down his clipboard.
    “What happened?”
    “Nothing. It’s nothing. I had myself a little jag, is all.”
    She started through, but he simply moved in front of her, put his arms around her, pressed his lips to her hair. “There, darling, tell me what’s the matter.” His greatest fear was that Trevor had hurt her in some way, and then he’d have to kill a man who’d become a friend.
    “Oh, Aidan, don’t start me up again.” But she held on, and held tight. “It’s just a mood.”
    “You’re a moody one, no question. But one thing you’re not, Darcy, is a blubberer. What’s made you cry?”
    “Me, mostly, I think.” It felt so good to be held by one who had never let her down. “I have so much in my head, and it seemed the only way to let some of it out was with tears.”
    He braced himself for the worst. “Magee hasn’t done anything . . .”
    “He hasn’t, no.” And that, she thought, was part of the problem. He’d done nothing but be what he was, what she wanted. “Aidan, tell me something. When you went traveling all those years ago, saw all those things, all those places, was it wonderful?”
    “It was. Some was grand, some bloody awful, but altogether it was wonderful.” He stroked a hand through her hair, remembering. “I guess you could say I had a lot in my head as well back then, and rambling was my way of getting some of it out.”
    “But you came back.” She drew away then, studying his face. “Of all the places you’ve been and seen, you came back here.”
    “Here’s home. The truth is . . .” He dabbed a stray tear from her cheek with his thumb. “I didn’t think I would,not when I set out. I thought, well, here’s Aidan Gallagher off to see the world and find his place in it. All the while, my place was right here, where I started. But I had to go away to come back.”
    “Ma and Dad, they aren’t coming back.” Her eyes filled again, though she’d have sworn she had already cried herself dry. “Sometimes I miss them so much I can hardly stand it. It’s not every day or like that, but just in the once and a while it hits me that they’re thousands of miles away in Boston.”
    Impatient with herself, she scrubbed her hands over her face to dry it. “I know they’ve come back for the weddings, and they’ll come to see your baby when it’s born, but it’s not the same.”
    “It’s not. I miss them, too.”
    She nodded. Hearing him say it helped. “I know they’re happy, and that’s a comfort. Every time they ring or write, they’re full of news and excitement about the Gallagher’s Pub they’ve built way over in Boston.”
    “We’re an international franchise now,” Aidan said, and made her laugh a little.
    “Next we’ll be planting one in Turkey or God knows.” She let out a little sigh. “They’re happy there, and I know I’ll go over and see them one day. But it makes me think that if I went away, I might not come back either. As much as I want to go, to see places and do things, Aidan, I don’t want to lose what’s here.”
    “It’s not a matter of losing, but of changing. You won’t know what changes till you go. You’ve been needing to go since you could stand on your own feet. I was the same. It’s Shawn who’s planted here and never had a question about it.”
    “Sometimes I wish I were like him.” She looked up sharply. “And if you ever tell him I said such a thing, I’ll swear you’re a liar.”
    He laughed, tugged her hair. “There. That’s better.” “
    “There’s more.” Sliding a hand into her pocket, she fingered the stone she carried there. “I have to decide if Trevor has it right and I should sign his contract and have him make me a singer.”
    “You are a singer.”
    “It’s different. You know it.”
    “It is. Are you asking my opinion?”
    “I’d like to weigh it in.”
    “You’d be brilliant. I don’t say that because I’m your brother. I have traveled and in traveling had the opportunity to hear a lot of voices.