The Gallaghers of Ardmore Trilogy

when Finn barked joyfully and dashed to the garden gate right through her pansies.
    “Good day to you, Jude.” Mollie O’Toole let herself in, and Finn out so that he could leap on Betty. The two dogs dashed happily toward the hills. “I thought I’d stop by and see if I could do anything for you.”
    “Since I don’t know what I’m doing, your guess is as good as mine.” She glanced down at her basket and sighed. “I’ve already cut too many flowers.”
    “You can never have too many.”
    Mollie, Jude thought with gratitude and admiration, always said just the right thing. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
    Mollie waved that off even as her cheek pinkened with pleasure. “Well, isn’t that nice of you to say?”
    “I mean it. I always feel calmer around you, like nothing can go too terribly wrong when you’re nearby.”
    “Well, I’m flattered. Is there something you’re afraid’s gone terribly wrong?”
    “Only everything.” But Jude smiled as she said it.“Would you like to come inside while I put them in water? Then you can point out the six dozen things I’ve forgotten to do.”
    “I’m sure you’ve forgotten nothing at all, but I’d love to come in and help you with the flowers.”
    “I thought I’d scatter them through the house in different bottles and bowls. Maude didn’t have a proper vase.”
    “She liked to do the same. Put little bits of them everywhere. You’re more like her than you realize.”
    “I am?” Odd, Jude thought, how the idea of being like a woman she’d never met pleased her.
    “Indeed. You pamper your flowers, and take long walks, nest down in your little house here, and keep the door open for company. You’ve her hands,” she added. “As I told you before, and something of her heart as well.”
    “She lived alone.” Jude glanced around the tidy little house. “Always.”
    “It was what suited her. But alone she wasn’t lonely. There was no man she loved after her Johnny, or as Maude used to say, there was no man she loved in this life once he was gone. Ah.” Mollie took a sniff of the air as they went inside. “You’ve a ham in the oven. It smells lovely.”
    “Does it?” Jude sniffed experimentally as they started toward the kitchen. “I guess it does. Would you take a look at it, Mollie? I’ve never made one and I’m nervous.”
    “Sure, I’ll take a peek.”
    She opened the oven, did her inspection while Jude set down her basket and stood gnawing her lip.
    “It’s fine. Nearly done, too,” she pronounced after a quick check to see how easily the skin tugged free. “From the smell of it, you won’t have a scrap left for your lunch tomorrow. My Mick’s fond of baked ham, and will likely make more of a pig of himself than where this one came from.”
    “Really?”
    With a shake of her head, Molly closed the oven. “Jude, never have I known a woman who’s always so surprised at a compliment.”
    “I’m neurotic.” But she said it with a smile rather than an apology.
    “Well, you’d know, I suppose. You’ve shined this cottage up like a penny, too, haven’t you now? And left not a thing for a neighbor to do but give you a bit of advice.”
    “I’ll take it.”
    “When you finish with your flowers and take your ham out to cool, put it up high enough that your pup can’t climb up and sample it. I’ve had that experience, and it’s not a pretty one.”
    “Good point.”
    “After that, go on up and give yourself the pleasure of a long, hot bath. Put bubbles in it. The solstice is a fine time for a ceili , and it’s a finer time for romance.”
    In a maternal gesture, Molly patted Jude’s cheek. “Put a pretty dress on for tonight and dance with Aidan in the moonlight. The rest, I promise you, will take care of itself.”
    “I don’t even know how many people are coming.”
    “What difference does it make? Ten or a hundred and ten?”
    “A hundred and ten?” Jude choked out and went pale.
    “Every one of them is coming to enjoy themselves.” Mollie got down a bottle. “And that’s what they’ll do. A ceili ’s just hospitality, after all. The Irish know how to give it and how to take it.”
    “What if there isn’t enough food?”
    “Oh, that’s the least of your worries.”
    “What if—”
    “What if a frog jumps over the moon and lands on your shoulder.” With amused exasperation, Mollie lifted herhands. “You’ve made your home pretty and welcoming. Do the same with yourself, and the rest,