“Before long.” And then . . . Brianna was taking a page out of Gray’s book and not thinking of and thens. “His publisher’s on the phone quite a lot now, and sending packets by express all the time, about the book that’s coming out this summer. It seems to irritate him to have to think of one when he’s working on another.” She glanced back at the workmen. “It’s a good spot for the greenhouse, don’t you think? I’ll be pleased to be able to see it from my window.”
“It’s the spot you’ve been talking of for months,” Maggie pointed out and refused to be turned from the topic. “Are things well between you and Gray?”
“Yes, very well. He’s a bit sulky right now as I said, but his moods never last very long. I told you how he engineered a truce with Mother.”
“Clever of him. A trinket from New York. She was pleasant to him at Liam’s christening. I had to give birth before I could achieve close to the same.”
“She’s mad for Liam,” Brianna said.
“He’s a buffer between us. Ah, what’s the trouble, darling,” she murmured as Liam began to fuss. “His nappie’s wet, that’s all.” Lifting him, Maggie patted his back and soothed.
“I’ll change it.”
“You’re quicker to volunteer than his Da.” With a shake of her head, Maggie laughed. “No, I’ll do it. You watch your greenhouse. It’ll only take a minute.”
“She knows I wanted to talk to you.” Rogan led Brianna toward the wooden chairs set near the blackthorns for which the cottage was named.
“Is something wrong?”
“No.” There was an edginess about her under a forced calm that was out of character. That, Rogan decided with a slight frown, would have to be Maggie’s department. “I wanted to talk with you about this Triquarter Mining business. Or the lack of it.” He sat, laid his hands on his knees. “We haven’t really had the chance to talk it through since I was in Dublin, then the baby’s christening. Maggie’s satisfied with the way things have shaken down. She’s more interested in enjoying Liam and getting back to her glass than pursuing the matter.”
“That’s how it should be.”
“For her, perhaps.” He didn’t say what was obvious to both of them. Neither he nor Maggie required any of the monetary compensation that might result from a suit. “I have to admit, Brianna, it doesn’t sit well with me. The principle of it.”
“I can understand that, you being a businessman yourself.” She smiled a little. “You never met Mr. Carstairs. It’s difficult to hold a grudge once you have.”
“Let’s separate emotion from legalities for a moment.”
Her smile widened. She imagined he used just that brisk tone with any inefficient underling. “All right, Rogan.”
“Carstairs committed a crime. And while you might be reluctant to see him imprisoned, it’s only logical to expect a penalty. Now I’m given to understand that he’s become successful in the last few years. I took it on myself to make a few discreet inquiries, and it appears that his current businesses are aboveboard as well as lucrative. He’s in the position to compensate you for the dishonesty in his dealings with your father. It would be a simple matter for me to go to London personally and settle it.”
“That’s kind of you.” Brianna folded her hands, drew a deep breath. “I’m going to disappoint you, Rogan, and I’m sorry for it. I can see your ethics have been insulted by this, and you want only to see justice served.”
“I do, yes.” Baffled, he shook his head. “Brie, I can understand Maggie’s attitude. She’s focused on the baby and her work and has always been one to brush aside anything that interfered with her concentration. But you’re a practical woman.”
“I am,” she agreed. “I am, yes. But I’m afraid I have a bit of my father in me as well.” Reaching out, she laid a hand over Rogan’s. “You know, some people, for whatever reason, start out on unsteady ground. The choices they make aren’t always admirable. A portion of them stay there because it’s easier, or what they’re used to, or even what they prefer. Another portion slide onto a stable footing, without much effort. A bit of luck, of timing. And another, a small, special portion,” she said, thinking of Gray, “fight their way onto the solid. And they make something admirable of themselves.”
She fell into silence, staring out over the hills. Wishing.
“I’ve lost you, Brie.”
“Oh.” She waved a hand and brought herself back. “What I mean to say is I don’t know the circumstances that led Mr. Carstairs from one kind of life to another. But he’s hurting no one now. Maggie has what she wants, and I what contents me. So why trouble ourselves?”
“That’s what she told me you’d say.” He lifted his hands in defeat. “I had to try.”
“Rogan.” Maggie called from the kitchen doorway, the baby bouncing against her shoulder. “The phone. It’s Dublin for you.”
“She won’t answer the damn thing in our own house, but she answers it here.”
“I’ve threatened not to bake for her if she doesn’t.”
“None of my threats work.” He rose. “I’ve been expecting a call, so I gave the office your number if we didn’t answer at home.”
“That’s no problem. Take all the time you need.” She smiled as Maggie headed out with the baby. “Well, Margaret Mary, are you going to share him now or keep him all to yourself?”
“He was just asking for you, Auntie Brie.” With a chuckle, Maggie passed Liam to her sister and settled in the chair Rogan had vacated. “Oh, it’s good to sit. Liam was fussy last night. I’d swear between us Rogan and I walked all the way to Galway and back.”
“Do you suppose he’s teething already?” Cooing, Brianna rubbed a knuckle over Liam’s gums, looking for swelling.
“It may be. He drools like a puppy.” She closed her eyes, let her body sag. “Oh, Brie, who would have thought you could love so much? I spent most of my life not knowing Rogan Sweeney existed, and now I couldn’t live without him.”
She opened one eye to be certain Rogan was still in the house and couldn’t hear her wax so sentimental. “And the baby, it’s an enormous thing this grip on the heart. I thought when I was carrying him I understood what it was to love him. But holding him, from the very first time I held him, it was so much more.”
“It’s the spot you’ve been talking of for months,” Maggie pointed out and refused to be turned from the topic. “Are things well between you and Gray?”
“Yes, very well. He’s a bit sulky right now as I said, but his moods never last very long. I told you how he engineered a truce with Mother.”
“Clever of him. A trinket from New York. She was pleasant to him at Liam’s christening. I had to give birth before I could achieve close to the same.”
“She’s mad for Liam,” Brianna said.
“He’s a buffer between us. Ah, what’s the trouble, darling,” she murmured as Liam began to fuss. “His nappie’s wet, that’s all.” Lifting him, Maggie patted his back and soothed.
“I’ll change it.”
“You’re quicker to volunteer than his Da.” With a shake of her head, Maggie laughed. “No, I’ll do it. You watch your greenhouse. It’ll only take a minute.”
“She knows I wanted to talk to you.” Rogan led Brianna toward the wooden chairs set near the blackthorns for which the cottage was named.
“Is something wrong?”
“No.” There was an edginess about her under a forced calm that was out of character. That, Rogan decided with a slight frown, would have to be Maggie’s department. “I wanted to talk with you about this Triquarter Mining business. Or the lack of it.” He sat, laid his hands on his knees. “We haven’t really had the chance to talk it through since I was in Dublin, then the baby’s christening. Maggie’s satisfied with the way things have shaken down. She’s more interested in enjoying Liam and getting back to her glass than pursuing the matter.”
“That’s how it should be.”
“For her, perhaps.” He didn’t say what was obvious to both of them. Neither he nor Maggie required any of the monetary compensation that might result from a suit. “I have to admit, Brianna, it doesn’t sit well with me. The principle of it.”
“I can understand that, you being a businessman yourself.” She smiled a little. “You never met Mr. Carstairs. It’s difficult to hold a grudge once you have.”
“Let’s separate emotion from legalities for a moment.”
Her smile widened. She imagined he used just that brisk tone with any inefficient underling. “All right, Rogan.”
“Carstairs committed a crime. And while you might be reluctant to see him imprisoned, it’s only logical to expect a penalty. Now I’m given to understand that he’s become successful in the last few years. I took it on myself to make a few discreet inquiries, and it appears that his current businesses are aboveboard as well as lucrative. He’s in the position to compensate you for the dishonesty in his dealings with your father. It would be a simple matter for me to go to London personally and settle it.”
“That’s kind of you.” Brianna folded her hands, drew a deep breath. “I’m going to disappoint you, Rogan, and I’m sorry for it. I can see your ethics have been insulted by this, and you want only to see justice served.”
“I do, yes.” Baffled, he shook his head. “Brie, I can understand Maggie’s attitude. She’s focused on the baby and her work and has always been one to brush aside anything that interfered with her concentration. But you’re a practical woman.”
“I am,” she agreed. “I am, yes. But I’m afraid I have a bit of my father in me as well.” Reaching out, she laid a hand over Rogan’s. “You know, some people, for whatever reason, start out on unsteady ground. The choices they make aren’t always admirable. A portion of them stay there because it’s easier, or what they’re used to, or even what they prefer. Another portion slide onto a stable footing, without much effort. A bit of luck, of timing. And another, a small, special portion,” she said, thinking of Gray, “fight their way onto the solid. And they make something admirable of themselves.”
She fell into silence, staring out over the hills. Wishing.
“I’ve lost you, Brie.”
“Oh.” She waved a hand and brought herself back. “What I mean to say is I don’t know the circumstances that led Mr. Carstairs from one kind of life to another. But he’s hurting no one now. Maggie has what she wants, and I what contents me. So why trouble ourselves?”
“That’s what she told me you’d say.” He lifted his hands in defeat. “I had to try.”
“Rogan.” Maggie called from the kitchen doorway, the baby bouncing against her shoulder. “The phone. It’s Dublin for you.”
“She won’t answer the damn thing in our own house, but she answers it here.”
“I’ve threatened not to bake for her if she doesn’t.”
“None of my threats work.” He rose. “I’ve been expecting a call, so I gave the office your number if we didn’t answer at home.”
“That’s no problem. Take all the time you need.” She smiled as Maggie headed out with the baby. “Well, Margaret Mary, are you going to share him now or keep him all to yourself?”
“He was just asking for you, Auntie Brie.” With a chuckle, Maggie passed Liam to her sister and settled in the chair Rogan had vacated. “Oh, it’s good to sit. Liam was fussy last night. I’d swear between us Rogan and I walked all the way to Galway and back.”
“Do you suppose he’s teething already?” Cooing, Brianna rubbed a knuckle over Liam’s gums, looking for swelling.
“It may be. He drools like a puppy.” She closed her eyes, let her body sag. “Oh, Brie, who would have thought you could love so much? I spent most of my life not knowing Rogan Sweeney existed, and now I couldn’t live without him.”
She opened one eye to be certain Rogan was still in the house and couldn’t hear her wax so sentimental. “And the baby, it’s an enormous thing this grip on the heart. I thought when I was carrying him I understood what it was to love him. But holding him, from the very first time I held him, it was so much more.”
