"Enough to buy it if Gallagher's selling, and to want a chance to negotiate for his other work. I assume he has other work."

  "He does, yes. Scads of it." She forgot her throbbing hand, dropped her ice in the sink. While her feet danced, she fought to keep her voice cool and professional. "You're saying you'd buy the tune. But for what purpose would that be?"

  "For the purpose of recording, eventually."

  "But I was under the impression that you build things."

  "One of the things I've built is a record company. Celtic Records." He paused, and sounded amused when he spoke again. "Do you want references, Miss O'Toole?"

  "Well, now, could I be getting back to you on that? I'll need to discuss this with Shawn."

  "Of course. My New York office knows how to reach me."

  "Thank you for your time and consideration, Mr. Magee. I hope to meet you in person before much longer. I-" She simply ran out of words. "Thank you."

  The minute she hung up the phone she let out a shout of triumph, then raced through the house to the front door. "Ma, I've got to go! I'll be back when I can."

  "Go?" Mollie dashed out of the back bedroom to the top of the stairs in time to see her daughter's lorry bullet into the road. "That girl. If it's not the first thing it's the second. Go where, I'd like to know, and is my roof finished or isn't it? I'll give her both sides of my tongue if I have to listen to water plopping into buckets one more night."

  Before she could go back to work, she saw Shawn's car pull in. "All this coming and going around here," she muttered and started down the steps. "It's making my head spin."

  She pushed open the door and waited while Shawn made his way to her. "Good morning to you, Shawn. I'm afraid you've just missed Brenna. She went tearing out of here not a minute ago like her trousers were afire."

  "Ah, well." He cleared his throat. "I wasn't actually coming by to see Brenna."

  "Weren't you now?" She gave him a considering look, but knew better than to wait for him to explain himself. That, she knew from experience, could take half the day, and she'd as soon be sitting down for part of it. "Well, then, I'm all that's left. Come inside, why don't you, and we'll have a cup."

  "I'd be grateful." He ducked inside behind her and trailed her into the kitchen. "I don't want to take much of your time."

  "Lad, you've been in and out of this house since you could toddle. No one's ever booted you out the door before, and I'm not after starting now." She waved a hand toward the table and went about the business of making tea. "Brenna's a heart and mind of her own. As I'm sure you know."

  "That I do. I thought I should come 'round to see if- to make certain you-"

  She had to take pity on him. "Are you afraid I don't love you anymore, my handsome lad?" The worry in his eyes faded away as she reached over and scrubbed a hand over his hair, as she'd done as long as he could remember. "There's no danger of that changing. Now if you'd taken up with my Katie, I'd have boxed your ears to the back of your head."

  "I never meant to give Mary Kate any-"

  "'Encouragement' might be the word you're after. Your tongue's tied today, boy, and that's not the usual case, for you've a slick one. Here now, I've a cinnamon bun left from breakfast. I'll warm it for you and you'll tell me what's the matter."

  "You make me miss my mother, Mrs. O'Toole."

  "I'll stand in her stead, as she would in mine." She bustled around the kitchen, knowing it would put him at ease. "Is Brenna giving you headaches, then?"

  "I'm used to that-I don't mind it so much. I think I give them back to her in fair measure. I, ah, I'm thinking Mr. O'Toole told you of our discussion a couple weeks back."

  She sent him a look designed to wither a man. "If you're meaning on the day he came home drunk, that he didn't. I gathered well enough he'd got the whiskey from you, as he hasn't a world of choices where he could walk off, drink his belly full, and walk back again in so short a time."

  "He didn't speak to you of it."

  "Closed up like a clam."

  "Well, you see, he was angry, and rightfully so, until I told him how things were."

  "And how are things, Shawn?" Mollie set down the pot, waited.

  "I'm in love with Brenna, Mrs. O'Toole, and I want to marry her."

  She stood still a moment, then laid her cheek on top of his head. "Of course you are, and of course you do. Don't mind me. I've got to sniffle a bit."

  "I'll be good to her."

  "Oh, there's no doubt in my mind of that." Dabbing at her eyes, she turned to get out the warmed bun. "You'll be good for her, too, and she for you."

  "The other part of it is, I've been working her around, so to speak, so she'd come to the idea herself. You know how she is when she's got her teeth into a notion."

  "Clamps down until she gets what she's after or it isn't worth having anymore. I always said you were a bright lad, Shawn."

  "Thousands wouldn't," he said easily. "I thought I could wait, you see. I'm not one who needs to hurry as a rule. But it seems I can't wait for this. I bought land today."

  She wasn't half as surprised as he thought she was, and nearly twice as pleased. "Goodness, boy, you can move fast enough when you've a mind to."

  "She'll have her house as she wants it. I'm not fussy about such matters."

  Mollie opened her mouth, closed it again. Men, she knew very well, always said such things and believed them as well. Then they drove a woman to distraction picking at the details. But that was for Shawn and Brenna to find out for themselves. "She's always had a mind to build her own," she said at length.

  "I know it, and why shouldn't she? She's a talent for such things, and a liking for the work. Myself, I've no driving urge to pick up a hammer or saw. But I make a good living, and I'll have a better one yet when the theater goes in. There won't be a worry about putting a roof overhead, or keeping one there."

  "Shawn, are you asking for my permission to ask Brenna to marry you?"

  "For your blessing. It matters to me as much as it will to her."

  "I'll give you my blessing." She took his hands in hers. "And for all I love her, my sympathy as well. She'll run you ragged."

  "I need a favor." Brenna burst into the pub through the back just as Aidan was taking the chairs down. Timing was everything here, she thought as she fought to catch her breath. Shawn would be coming in any minute.

  "Well, now, you look full of surprise and secrets." He tucked a chair under a table. "What's the favor?"

  "First off, I can't tell you the secret." Automatically she began to tip down chairs herself. "I have to ask you to do the favor blind."

  He got a good look at her then-the flushed face, the wildly glowing eyes, the foolish smile. He recalled a very similar look on his wife's face at a certain moment. "Oh, Lord, Brenna, never say you're breeding."

  "Breeding?" The chair nearly slipped out of her hands. "No, no!" And though she laughed it off, she found it interesting to discover she wouldn't have minded it. "It's nothing like that. Aidan, is there any way you could arrange for Shawn to have the evening off?"

  "The whole of it?"

  She heard the pain in his tone, sympathized. "I know it's a lot to be asking, and at the last instant as well. But it's important. I'll work this weekend for no pay to make up for it. I'll go down and talk to Mrs. Duffy myself to see that she'll fill in."

  "Why the devil doesn't Shawn ask for time himself instead of sending you in to look at me with those big eyes?"

  "He doesn't know." She moved closer, running a hand down his arm. "Another part of the favor is that you don't tell him I asked. Could you just send him home somehow at the beginning of shift?"

  "He'll certainly wonder why, won't he?"

  "I haven't had time to think it all out." She whirled away, paced, but couldn't clear her head. "Oh, you'll think of something, Aidan. Please."

  "It's a matter of the heart, I suppose. And you're using mine against my good business sense." He let out a windy sigh. "I'll work it out for you."

  "Oh, you're the best and the finest." She leaped into his arms to plant a hard, noisy kiss on his mouth.

  "Look at this, will you? If she's not after one brother she's after another." With a lazy yawn, Darcy sauntered in. "That's a married man, I'll have you know, you sneaky slut."

  "I've got one for you as well." Before Darcy could evade, Brenna rushed over and gave her the same treatment.

  "Sweet Mary, now she's after the girls, too." But Darcy's sleepy chuckle faded away. She gripped Brenna's arms. "Brenna, are you pregnant?"

  "Oh, for heaven's sake. No. Can't a body be happy without a baby in the belly? I've got to go, he'll be coming in. You don't tell him I was here. Please. I'm grabbing a bottle of the French bubbly you keep in the back. Put it on my account, would you?"

  She dashed out the way she'd dashed in and left Darcy rubbing her mouth. "And what was all that about?"

  "I haven't a clue. But she's something up her sleeve, and Shawn's not to know."

  "Secrets. I could get it out of her in five minutes."

  "No doubt you could," Aidan agreed. "But let's let her have her surprise."

  "I've already had mine." Darcy went behind the bar for her change apron. "She's in love with him."

  "Does that trouble you?"

  "No, but for the fact that the Gallaghers are tumbling like ripe fruit from a tree."

  Aidan moved behind the bar with her to check the till. "Afraid it's catching, darling?"

  "I would be, was I not immune to such weaknesses." She heard the back door open again. "And speaking of clueless, there's himself now." Filled with affection and sentiment, Darcy headed for the kitchen to torment her brother.

  "What do you mean I can go?" Up to his elbows in potatoes, Shawn turned his head to stare at Aidan. "Go where?"

  "On your way. Kathy Duffy'll be right along."

  "Well- why?"

  "To cover for you." Aidan had thought of a way, and saw no reason not to have a little fun at his brother's expense while he was about it. "You have the evening off as you asked. Though it's damned inconvenient."

  Shawn shoved peelings into the garbage. "I never asked for the evening off."

  "Well, it must've been your evil twin, then, or I've just had a brainstorm." Fixing a scowl on his face, Aidan pulled open the refrigerator and plucked out a bottle of water. "I told you two days past when you asked that I'd work it out."

  "But I- you've been dreaming. I've ten pounds of potatoes here to deal with. Why would I be making stovies if I was planning on having the evening free?"

  "That's a question I can't answer, but I've Kathy Duffy coming in, and there's no need for both of you tonight."

  "I've no plans but to do my job here. You've mixed something up."

  Enjoying the timing, Aidan turned to Darcy as she came in. "Darcy, did Shawn ask for this evening free or did he not?"

  "He did, a couple of days back. Selfish bastard." Not one to let an opportunity pass, she flashed a challenging look at Aidan. "And since you're so bloody accommodating with our brother, I'm wanting Saturday afternoon off for myself."

  "Saturday afternoon." Aidan nearly choked on his water. "You can't have a weekend day off as we're heading into spring."

  "Oh, so it's all right for him." She pointed a finger toward a baffled Shawn. "But it's a different matter entirely for me."

  "I don't need the evening off."

  "You've got it," Aidan snapped, and ground his teeth as Darcy folded her arms. "A weekday evening's a different matter from a weekend afternoon."

  "All right, fine, then. I'll take the evening off Monday next. Unless me being female means I don't get the same considerations as this one." Satisfied that she'd boxed Aidan in, she flounced out.

  "I don't remember asking for tonight off," Shawn said vaguely.

  "Aye, and you don't remember to tie your bootlaces half the time." Seriously annoyed, Aidan jerked a thumb at the door. "Out with you, you troublemaker."

  Shoving up his sleeves and squaring his shoulders, Aidan went out to deal with his treacherous sister.

  She had everything under control, and quite the job of work it had been. It had to be special, and as close to perfect as she could manage. Shawn Gallagher would see he wasn't the only one who could fuss and fiddle and set a nice scene.

  She'd been to the market and got all the makings. While Shawn had been busy cooking at the pub, she'd been doing the same at the cottage. Maybe she didn't have his flair with such things, but she wasn't altogether helpless.

  She'd chilled the wine and had even ferreted out a tin pail she'd scrubbed to use as an ice bucket. The champagne glasses she'd borrowed from Jude. Flutes, she'd called them, Brenna thought. And elegant they were.

  She'd set a nice table, if she said so herself. A pair of pretty plates and cloth napkins, the flowers she scavenged from her mother's garden and the one at the cottage.

  Candles, she thought as she lighted them. Surely everything was in place for an atmosphere of romance and celebration.

  Oh, she couldn't wait to see his face when she told him about his music. It had been a test of will and restraint not to shout out the news to everyone she'd passed that day. But it was for Shawn first.

  After they'd celebrated the thrill of it, and his future, lifted a glass or two, she'd tell him the rest. She couldn't-wouldn't-fumble with the words. Hadn't she practiced them in her head all of the day?

  "I love you," she said now, out loud to the empty room. "I think I always have, I know now I always will. Will you marry me?"

  There. She rubbed the heel of her hand against her heart, as it was galloping like a wild horse. It wasn't so hard, really. Maybe her tongue felt a little thick and clumsy, but she'd said it straight out without stuttering.

  And if he balked or refused, she'd just have to kill him.

  As her ears were pricked for it, she heard the sound of his car as he turned into the street. All right, Brenna. She closed her eyes, steadied herself. Here we go.

  Damned if he'd asked for an evening off. Still stewing about it, Shawn shoved open his garden gate. He should know, shouldn't he? And if he had, wouldn't he have made plans for it? He knew what was going on in his own life, for Christ's sake.

  Not that he couldn't adjust. He'd ring Brenna and see if she was agreeable to having an evening together. He'd throw a meal together, or it was early enough that they could go out to the hotel restaurant.

  Aidan and Darcy had to be having him on, though for the life of him he couldn't think of the purpose.

  The minute he stepped into the house he caught the scent of cooking, then the flicker of light back in the kitchen. What now, was all he could think. Had Lady Gwen taken to making meals while he was away from home?

  When he walked in, he was as surprised to see Brenna as he would have been to see the ghost.

  She was wearing a dress, which was odd enough. But she was standing, smiling, with candlelight all around her, the good, rich scent of stew simmering, and a bottle of champagne in a rain bucket standing on the counter behind her.

  "What's all this?"

  "It's dinner. Beef and Guinness stew. The one thing I can make that no one has trouble choking down."

  "You cooked?" He rubbed his forehead as if he had a headache brewing.

  "I've been known to on the rare occasion."

  "Yes, but, did we- Well, we must've," he decided, scanning all the pretty preparations. "This is beyond a bit of absentmindedness. I think something must be wrong with me."

  "You look fine to me." Since he wasn't going to make a move, she did, walking to him to kiss him. "More than fine." This time her hands slid over his face, and the kiss went dreamy. "It's glad I am to see you, Shawn."

  He started to question it all again, then as Brenna's mouth moved warm over his, thought it was foolish to bother. "It's a pleasure coming home to you."

  Get used to it, she thought and smiled as she stepped back. "I've been waiting. All but jumping out of my skin," she admitted. "I've things to tell you."

  "What are they?"

  Words leaped to her tongue but she bit them back. "Let's have this open first."

  "I'll do it." He nudged her away from the champagne, then lifted his brows at the label. "The pricey stuff. Are we celebrating?"

  "We are." She caught the look in his eye, and the way his fingers suddenly stilled on the foil. "If you ask me if I'm breeding I'll brain you. I am not."

  Her eyes were laughing as she spoke. He kept his on them as he twisted the wire. "You're in a rare mood."

  "I am. There are some things that don't happen every day of the week, and a rare mood's what you get from them when they do." She felt as bubbly as the wine he poured. Taking her glass, she lifted it. "This is to you, Shawn."

  "And what did I do?"

  "We should sit down. No, I can't. We'll have to stand. Shawn, you've sold your first piece of music."

  CHAPTER Twenty

  The puzzled smile slid away from his face. "I've done what?"

  "You've sold your song, and there'll be others as well. But the first's the biggest thrill, isn't it?"

  Very deliberately, he set his glass down again. "I haven't put any music up for sale, Brenna."

  "I did. Well, in a way I did. The song you gave me, I sent it off to the Magee in New York City. He called me today, just this morning, and said how he wants to buy it. And that he wants to see your other work." She spun in a circle, too excited to see how cool his eyes were as they watched her. "I didn't think I'd get through the day without telling you."

  "What right did you have to do that?"

  Still beaming, she sipped champagne. "To do what?"

  "To send my music off that way, to take it on yourself to show a stranger what was mine?"

  "Shawn." She put a hand on his arm to give him a little shake. "He's buying it."

  "I gave it to you because you asked me-because I thought you wanted it for yourself, and that you valued it for that. Is this what you planned all along, to send it off somewhere, have another put a price on it?"

  Something was wrong, badly and dangerously wrong. The only way she knew how to deal with it was temper. "What if it was? It got results, didn't it? What good is it to make songs without doing something with them? Now you can."