The Gallaghers of Ardmore Trilogy

material possessions I might want.”
    Aidan kept his eyes on her face. She was composed again, eyes quiet, hands still. Too composed, to his thinking. He decided he preferred it when she was passionate and real. “And what did you do about it?”
    “Nothing. I did nothing. He got his divorce, he remarried, and we all got on with our lives.”
    “He hurt you.”
    “That’s what William would call an unfortunate but necessary by-product of the situation.”
    “Then William is a donkey’s ass.”
    She smiled a little. “Maybe. But what he did makes more sense than struggling through a marriage that makes you unhappy.”
    “Were you unhappy in it?”
    “No, but I don’t suppose I was really happy either.” Her head ached now, and she was tired. She wished she could just curl into a ball and sleep. “I don’t think I’m given to great highs of emotions.”
    He too was drained. This was the same woman who’d thrown herself lustfully into his arms, then wept bitterly in them only moments before. “No, you’re a right calm one, aren’t you, Jude Frances?”
    “Yes.” She whispered. “Sensible Jude.”
    “So, being such, what set you off today?”
    “It’s stupid.”
    “Why should it be stupid if it meant something to you?”
    “Because it shouldn’t have. It shouldn’t have meant anything.” Her head snapped up again, and the glitter that came into her eyes didn’t displease him in the least. “We’re divorced, aren’t we? We’ve been divorced for two years. Why should I care that he’s going to the West Indies?”
    “Well, why do you?”
    “Because I wanted to go there!” she exploded. “I wanted to go somewhere exotic and wonderful and foreign on our honeymoon. I got brochures. Paris, Florence, Bim-ini. All sorts of places. We could have gone to any of them, and I would have been thrilled. But all he could talk about was—was—”
    She circled her hand, as words momentarily failed her. “The language difficulties, the cultural shocks, the different germs, for God’s sake.”
    Furious all over again, she leaped out of the chair. “So we went to Washington and spent hours—days—centuries—touring the Smithsonian and going to lectures.”
    He’d been fairly shocked before, but this one did it. “You went to lectures on your honeymoon?”
    “Cultural bonding,” she spat out. “That’s what he called it.” She threw up her hands and began to stalk around theroom. “Most couples have impossibly high expectations for their honeymoon, according to William.”
    “And why shouldn’t they?” Aidan murmured.
    “Exactly!” She whirled back, her face flushed with righteous fury. “Better to meet the minds on common ground? Better to go to an environment that is recognizable? The hell with that. We should’ve been having crazy sex on some hot beach.”
    A part of Aidan was simply delighted that that hadn’t occurred. “Sounds to me like you’re well rid of him, darling.”
    “That’s not the point .” She wanted to tear her hair out, nearly did. Jude’s Irish was up now, bubbling, boiling in a way that would have made her grandmother proud. “The point is, he left me, and his leaving crushed me. Maybe not my heart, but my pride and my ego, and what difference does it make? They’re all part of me.”
    “It makes no difference at all,” Aidan said quietly. “You’re right. No difference.”
    The fact that he agreed, without a second’s hesitation, only added fuel to her temper. “And now, the bastard, he’s going where I wanted to go. And they’re having a baby, and he’s thrilled. When I talked about having children, he brought up our careers and lifestyles, the population, college costs, for Christ’s sake. And he made a chart.”
    “A what?”
    “A chart. A goddamn computer-generated chart, projecting our finances and health, our career status and time management over the next five to seven years. After that, he told me, if we met our goals, we could consider—just consider—conceiving a single child. But for the next several years, he had to concentrate on his career, his planned advancements, and his stupid portfolio.”
    Fury was a living thing now, clawing viciously at herchest. “ He decided when and if we would have a child. He decided should that eventuality take place there would be only one. If he could have managed it, he’d have decided on the sex of the projected baby.
    “I wanted a family, and he gave me pie charts.”
    Her breath