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She knew she’d forget names, or mix them up, but it was a wonder to be shown which bloomed in spring, what would flower in summer. What was hardy and what was delicate. What drew the bees and the butterflies.
She didn’t feel foolish asking what she was certain were almost childishly basic questions. Mollie would just smile or nod and explain.
“Old Maude, we would trade back and forth, a clump or a cutting or some seeds. So most of what I have here, you have at the cottage. She liked romantic flowers, and me the cheerful. So between us we ended up with both. I’ll walk up your way one day, if you wouldn’t mind, and take a look to see if there’s something you need to be doing that you’re not.”
“I’d appreciate that so much, especially knowing how busy you are.”
Mollie cocked her head; her face was bright, as cheerful as her gardens. “You’re a nice girl, Jude, and I’d enjoy spending some time with you now and again over the gardens. And you’ve a pretty bit of polish on you. I wouldn’t mind seeing some of it rub off on my Brenna. She’s a wide heart and a clever mind, but she’s rough on the edges.”
Mollie’s gaze drifted over Jude’s shoulder, and she sighed. “Speaking of it. Have you finally killed the beast, then, Mary Brenna?”
“It was a struggle, a battle of sweat and tears, but I won.” Brenna swaggered around the side of the house. There was a smear of grease on her cheek and a dry crust of blood over her left knuckles. “It’ll run for you now, Ma.”
“Damn it, girl, you know I’ve my heart set on a new one.”
“Ah, that one’s years left in it.” Cheerfully, she kissed her mother’s cheek. “I’ve got to get on now. I’ve promised to go by and see to fixing the windows in Betsy Clooney’s house. Do you want to ride back with me, Jude, or would you rather stay awhile?”
“I should get back. I really enjoyed myself, Mollie. Thank you.”
“You come back whenever you want a bit of company.”
“I will. Oh, I left my purse inside. I’ll just run in and get it, if that’s all right.”
“Go right on.” Mollie waited until the door shut. “She’s thirsty,” she murmured.
“Thirsty, Ma?”
“For doing. For being. But she’s afraid to drink too fast. It’s wise to take things in small sips, but once in a while . . .”
“Darcy thinks Aidan has his eye on her.”
“Oh, is that so?” Amused, Molly turned to wiggle her eyebrows at her daughter. “That would be some fine and fast drinking now, wouldn’t it?”
“Darcy told me she once spied on him while he was courting the Duffy girl, and when he’d finished kissing the lass, she staggered like a drunk.”
“Darcy’s no business spying on her brothers,” Mollie said primly, then slid her gaze back to Brenna. “Which Duffy girl? Tell me later,” she added quickly when Jude came out again.
“So you had a nice visit then,” Brenna began when they slid back into the truck.
“Your mother’s wonderful.” On impulse, Jude swiveled to wave as Brenna pulled out of the drive with her usual speed and enthusiasm. “I’ll never remember half of what she told me about gardening, but it’s a good start.”
“She’ll like having you to talk with. Patty has a hand with flowers, but she’s got her head in the clouds over Kevin Riley these days and spends most of her time sighing and looking moony.”
“She’s awfully proud of you and your sisters.”
“That’s part of a mother’s job.”
“Yes, but it doesn’t always glow out of them,” Jude decided. “You’re probably used to it, so you don’t really notice, but it’s a lovely thing to see.”
“Being what you are,” Brenna mused, “you pay more attention to such things. Do you learn that, or do you just have it in you?”
“I suppose it’s both—like the way I noticed that she was proud you’d been able to fix the refrigerator, even though she was hoping you couldn’t.”
Brenna turned her head to laugh into Jude’s eyes. “Nearly didn’t manage it this time, frigging temperamental heap. But the thing is, my dad’s wheeled a deal for a brand-new one, oh, and a beauty it is, too. But we can’t seal the bargain and have it delivered for another week or two. So if we’re to keep the pleasure of the surprise, that wheezing son of a bitch has to last a bit longer.”
“That’s so lovely.” Jude embraced the idea of it, then tried to imagine her mother’s reaction if she and her father surprised her with a new refrigerator.
Bafflement, Jude imagined, and not a little insult. Amused by the idea, she chuckled. “If I gave my mother a major appliance as a gift, she’d think I’d lost my mind.”
“But then, your mother’s a professional woman, as I recall.”
“Yes, she is, and she’s wonderful at her job. But your mother’s a professional woman, too. A professional mother.”
Brenna blinked, then her eyes gleamed with amused pleasure. “Oh, she’ll like that one. I’ll be sure to save that for the next time she’s ready to kick my ass over something. Well, look here at what’s strolling up the road, handsome as two devils and just as dangerous.”
Even as Jude’s lovely relaxation sprang into one sticky ball of tension, Brenna was braking at the narrow drive of the cottage and leaning out to call to Aidan.
“There’s a wild rover.”
“Never, no more,” he said with a wink, then took the hand she’d laid on the window to examine the skinned knuckles. “What have you done to yourself now?”
“Bloody bastard refrigerator took a bite out of me.”
He clucked his tongue, lifted the scrape to his lips. But his gaze drifted to Jude. “And where are you two lovely ladies bound for?”
“I’m just bringing Jude back from a visit with my mother, and I’m off to Betsy Clooney’s to bang on her windows.”
“If you or your dad has the time tomorrow, the stove at the pub’s acting up and Shawn’s sulking over it.”
“One of us’ll have a look.”
“Thanks. I’ll just take your passenger off your hands.”
“Have a care with her,” Brenna said as he walked around the truck. “I like her.”
“So do I.” He opened the door, held out a hand. “But I make her nervous. Don’t I, Jude Frances?”
“Of course not.” She started to climb out, then ruined the casual elegance she’d hoped for by jerking back again because she’d forgotten to unhook her seat belt.
Before she could fumble with it, Aidan released it himself, then simply nipped her by the waist and lifted her down. Since that tangled her tongue into knots, she didn’t manage to thank Brenna again before that young woman, with a wave and a grin, took the truck barreling down the road.
“Drives like a demon, that girl.” With a shake of his head, Aidan released Jude, only to take her hands. “You haven’t been down to the pub all week.”
“I’ve been busy.”
“Not so busy now.”
“Yes, actually, I should—”
“Invite me in and fix me a sandwich.” When she simply gaped at him, he laughed. “Or failing that, go walking with me. It’s a fine day for walking. I won’t kiss you unless you want me to, if that’s what’s worrying you.”
“I’m not worried.”
“Well, then.” He lowered his head, got within an inch of his pleasure when she stumbled back.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“I was afraid of that.” But he eased away. “Just a walk then. Have you been up to Tower Hill to look at the cathedral?”
“No, not yet.”
“And with your curious mind? Then we’ll walk that way, and I’ll tell you a story for your paper.”
“I don’t have my recorder.”
Slowly, he lifted one of the hands he still held and brushed his lips over the knuckles. “Then I’ll make it a simple one, so you remember it.”
EIGHT
HE WAS RIGHT about the day. It was a perfect one for walking. The light glowed
like the inside of a pearl. Luminous, with a slight sheen of damp. She could see, over the hills and fields rolling toward the mountains, a thin and silvery curtain that was certainly a line of rain.
Sunlight poured through it in beams and ripples, liquid gold through liquid silver.
It was the kind of day that begged for rainbows.
The breeze was just a teasing shimmer on the air, fluttering leaves growing toward their summer ripeness and surrounding her with the scent of green.
He held her hand with the careless, loose-fingered grip of familiarity and made her feel simple.
Relaxed, at ease, and simple.
Words rolled off his tongue to charm her.
“Once, it’s said, there was a young maid. Fair as a dream was her face, with skin white and clear as milk and hair black as midnight, eyes blue as a lake. More than her beauty was the loveliness of her manner, for a kind maid was she. And more than her manner was the glory of her voice. When she sang, the birds stilled to listen and the angels smiled.”
As they climbed the hill, the sea began to sing as backdrop, or so it seemed, to his story.
“Many’s the morning her song would carry over the hills, and the joy of it rivaled the sun,” he continued, and tugged her along the path. As they walked on, the breeze turned to wind and danced merrily over sea and rock.
