With an enviable grace, Brianna darted up the steps with her tray and doctored tea.
"Restless, Kayla?" Shannon strolled down the hall and into the parlor. "I know the feeling." Charmed, she skimmed a finger down the baby's cheek and felt that quick jolt of pleasure when a tiny fist gripped it. "Strong, aren't you? You're no pushover. I don't think your mother's one, either."
Indulging herself, she snuck a kiss, then another, delighted when Kayla bubbled at her.
"Pretty great, isn't she?"
Still starry-eyed, Shannon looked up and smiled as Gray strode into the room. "She's just beautiful. You don't realize how tiny they are until you're holding one."
"She's grown." He bent down, grinned at his daughter. "She looked like an indignant fairy when she was born. I'll never forget it."
"She looks like her mother now. Speaking of which, Brianna's upstairs drugging the Freemont sisters."
"Good." Gray seemed to find that no surprise, and nodded. "I hope she does a good job of it; otherwise they'll keep her busting her ass for three days."
"She seems to do that pretty well on her own."
"That's Brie. Want a drink before we go, or would you rather wait for a pint at the pub?"
"I'll wait, thanks. You're going with us? I thought you were killing someone."
"Not tonight. They're already dead." Gray considered a whiskey, opted against. He was more in the m
ood for a Guinness. "Brie said you wanted to do some painting while you're here."
"I think I do. I brought some things with me, enough to get started anyway." Unconsciously she was mimicking Brianna's movements by swaying the baby. "She said I could use the car and try Ennis for more supplies."
"You'd do better in Galway, but you might find what you need there."
"I don't like to use her car," Shannon blurted out.
"Worried about driving on the left?"
"There is that-but it just doesn't feel right to borrow it."
Considering, Gray eased down on the arm of the sofa. "Want some advice from a fellow Yank?"
"Maybe."
"The people around here are a world unto themselves. Offering to give, to lend, to share everything, themselves included, is second nature. When Brie hands you the keys to her car, she isn't thinking-is she insured, does she have a driving record-she's just thinking someone needs the car. And that's all there is to it."
"It isn't as easy from my end. I didn't come here to be part of a big, generous family."
"Why did you come?"
"Because I don't know who I am." Furious that it had come out, that it had been there to come out, she handed him the baby. "I don't like having an identity crisis."
"Can't blame you," Gray said easily. "I've been there myself." He caught the sound of his wife's voice, patient, soothing. "Why don't you give yourself a little time, pal? Enjoy the scenery, gain a few pounds on Brianna's cooking. In my experience, the answers usually come when you least expect them."
"Professionally or personally?" He rose, gave her a friendly pat on cheek. "Both. Hey, Brie, are we going or not?"
"I just have to get my bag." She hurried in, smoothing her hair. "Oh, Gray, are you going then?"
"Do you think I'd miss an evening out with you?" With his free hand he circled her waist and swept her into a quick waltz.
Her face was already glowing. "I thought you were going to work."
"I can always work." Even as her lips curved, he was lowering his to them.
Shannon waited a beat, then another before clearing her throat. "Maybe I should wait outside, in the car. With my eyes closed."
"Stop it, Grayson, you're embarrassing Shannon."
"No, I'm not. She's just jealous." And he winked at the woman he already considered his sister-in-law. "Come on, pal, we'll find a guy for you."
"No, thanks, I just got rid of one."
"Yeah?" Always interested, Gray handed the baby to his wife so that he could circle Shannon's waist. "Tell us all about it. We live for gossip around here."
"Leave her be," Brianna said with an exasperated laugh. "Don't tell him anything you don't want to find in a book."
"This wouldn't make very interesting reading," Shannon decided and stepped outside into the damp air. It had rained, and was raining still, just as predicted.
"I can make anything interesting." Gray opened the car door for his wife with some gallantry, then grinned. "So, why'd you dump him?"
"I didn't dump him." It was all just absurd enough to brighten her mood. Shannon slid into the backseat and shook back her hair. "We parted on mutually amenable terms."
"Yeah, yeah, she dumped him." Gray tapped his fingers on the back of the seat as he eased into the road. "Women always talk prissy when they break a guy's heart."
"Okay, I'll make it up." Shannon flashed Gray a smile in the rearview mirror. "He crawled, he begged, he pleaded. I believe he even wept. But I was unmoved and crushed his still-bleeding heart under my heel. Now he's shaved his head, given away all his worldly goods, and joined a small religious cult in Mozambique."
"Not too shabby."
"More entertaining than the truth. Which was we didn't really share any more than a taste for Thai food and office space, but you're welcome to use either version in a book."