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“Another McCullough?” Maggie asked, shaking her hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“Guilty. Well, I’m actually a Devereux now, but I bleed kelly green.”
“Do you need a stamp?” the little girl with red curls asked.
“It’s my turn,” the small blonde girl argued.
“Alexia, give Gianna a chance,” Sheilagh said, pulling the ink stamp free from a small-handed wrestling match.
Sam held out her hand to the child called Gianna. “Here, Gi, I need a stamp.”
The little girl smeared the stamp across Sam’s hand.
Sam smiled at the green smear on the back of her hand. “Perfect. Thank you, sweetie. Is your mum here?”
“No,” little Gianna answered. “She’s sick, but she said not to tell Aunt Col or Aunt Rose because they’ll tell Mum-mum.”
Sam and Sheilagh’s eyes widened and their mouths curved into matching smirks, as if they shared a secret. “Really? Well, you tell your mum that her secret’s safe with us, and we hope she feels better soon.”
Sheilagh snorted. “Yeah, like in about nine months. I swear, those two can’t share a toilet seat without procreating.”
“Be nice,” Sam said to her sister-in-law. “Poor Mallory probably wants to castrate Finn. She barely finished nursing the last one. Come on, Maggie. Let’s eat.”
Everyone seemed to get out of their way when an enormously pregnant woman waded through the crowd. “You’re like Moses parting the Red Sea.”
Sam grinned over her shoulder. “I shamelessly use my condition to its full advantage. Here we are.”
Maggie blinked. This wasn’t a table. It was an assembly. More than a dozen gorgeous men and women crowded around two cluttered banquet tables. Blue-eyed little boys and curly-haired Irish dancers dangled from knees and ate off green plates while their parents sipped jars of whiskey and beer.
A man with dark black hair and bright blue eyes stood, offering Sam his seat. The way he lovingly brushed her cheek with a kiss told Maggie this man was her husband. The blond next to him rose as well, waving Maggie to take his place.
“Oh, that’s okay—”
“I insist,” the man yelled over the music.
The overwhelming welcome to eat with a family she’d never met before should have felt awkward, but some inexplicable force propelled her to join them. Her usual nature would have commanded she bolt out of there. Everything about this day seemed off.
“This is Maggie Harris,” Sam shouted to the group as a whole. “Maggie, this is my husband Colin, my brother-in-law Luke, his husband Tristan, my other brother-in-law Finn, then Alec, Becca, Braydon, Kate, Ant, Pat, Rosemarie, Paulie, Colleen, and these little ones are the offspring. I’d tell you their names, but chances are you won’t remember.”
Holy. Crap. She blinked, already confused about who was who. “You’re all related?”
“Aye,” a man with red hair and a charming smile confirmed. “Irish Catholic too, so we tend to breed like rabbits. Speaking of which, are you here alone?” He flinched when someone threw a crumpled green napkin at his face.
“Careful, love, we’re a potent bunch. Share a spoon and you might find yourself in the family way,” a voice whispered in her ear, but when she turned she only caught a glimpse of broad shoulders walking away.
The redheaded man sidled his way to the table, holding a beer mug and resting heavily on his elbow. “In case you missed it, name’s Patrick.” He gave another charming grin. “And today’s my holiday.”
A nervous smile twitched to her mouth. “Nice to meet you, Patrick.” There was something familiar in his eyes, but she didn’t want to stare and give the wrong impression.
“Pat’s completing his residency at Penn,” Sam informed. “You’ll have to excuse him. When he visits home, the others tend to celebrate his return by buying him enough shots to tranquilize a rhino. He’s been here since nine and wasted since ten.”
Maggie made a silent oh and picked at her bread.
Sam grabbed the shirt of the blond man who gave Maggie his seat. “Stop right there, Finnegan. I was just speaking to the informer in the back.”
The man, Finnegan, laughed. “And what news did my darling daughter spill?”
“She said Mallory’s sick.” Her knowing gaze met his. “Is she, or did you give her the family bug?”
He smirked proudly. “Guilty.”
Sam smacked a kiss on his cheek. “Congratulations! Send Mallory my love.”
He lowered an affectionate hand to her protruding belly. “They’ll be best friends.”
Sam smiled and Maggie’s heart fluttered with something close to envy.
Though she was only a fly on the wall, for a brief second her heart wondered what it would be like to belong to such a family so surrounded by love and acceptance. It was tempting to pretend.
And just like that, a draft cut through the enveloping warmth. Her body chilled. Her fork stilled. The salty taste of corned beef turned to ash on her tongue.
They could have had this. It would have started with their children and grown from there.
