shoulder.
'No, no, I'm fine. Shawn, don't-'
'Get Aidan,' he repeated, but Darcy was already up and running.
Brenna stood where she was for a moment, her measuring tape in her hand. As the oldest of five, she'd seen her mother stretch right out on the floor during a dizzy spell while pregnant, so she wasn't particularly alarmed by Jude's behavior. What she was, was stunned by the fluid strength she'd just witnessed. Why the man had plucked Jude up as if she'd been weightless.
Where had that been hiding?
Shaking herself clear, she hurried into the master bedroom in time to see Shawn lay Jude gently on the bed and pull a throw over her.
'Shawn, this is ridiculous. I-'
'Lie down.' He jabbed a finger at her in a way that made Jude obey and Brenna goggle. 'I'm calling the doctor.'
'She doesn't need the doctor.' Brenna nearly flinched from the furious glare he aimed at her when he whirled around. But she also saw sheer male fear behind his eyes, and was touched by it. 'It's just a part of carrying, that's all.' She moved to the bed to sit and pat Jude's hand. 'My mother used to lie right down on the kitchen floor when she had a spell, especially with Alice Mae.'
'I feel fine.'
'Of course you do. But a little rest doesn't hurt. Why don't you fetch our Jude some water, Shawn?'
'I think she should have the doctor.'
'Aidan's likely to make her.' Because Jude looked so unhappy at the thought, Brenna gave her a look of quiet sympathy. 'Oh, don't take on now. Ma says that Dad did the same with her when she carried me. By the time the others came along, he was used to it. A man's got a right to panic, after all. He doesn't know what's going on inside you the way you do, does he? Shawn, let's have that water now.'
'All right, I'll fetch it. But don't let her get up.'
'I'm fine, really.'
'Of course you are. Your color's back, your eyes are clear.' Brenna gave Jude's hand another squeeze. 'Do you want me to go out and head Aidan off, try to calm him down?'
'If you think-' She broke off as she heard the front door slam like a gunshot, and then footsteps rushing up the stairs. 'Too late.'
Brenna got up and made it halfway across the room before Aidan came flying in. 'She's fine. Just a little expectant-mother spell. She's-' Then she only sighed as Aidan dashed right past her.
'Are you all right? Did you faint? Did someone call the doctor?'
'We'll leave it to her to calm him down.' Giving Darcy a little wave, Brenna nudged her out of the room and shut the door.
'Are you sure she's all right? She looked so pale for a minute.'
'She's fine, I promise you. And Aidan'll likely keep her in bed the rest of the day no matter how she argues.'
'Bad enough a woman has to get fat as a cow with a baby. But add to that the hanging over the toilet every morning and fainting without a moment's notice.' Darcy blew out a breath and ordered herself to calm down. 'It's a sorry state of affairs what a woman goes through. And you-' She stabbed a finger at Shawn as he walked down the hallway with a glass of water. 'All the lot of you have to do is have your pleasure, whistle away nine months, then pass out smelly cigars.'
'It just goes to proving God's a man,' he said with a weak smile.
Darcy's lips quirked at that, but she shook her head. 'I'm going to make Jude some tea and toast.'
She sauntered away, leaving Shawn staring at the bedroom door.
'Let's give them a bit of privacy.' Brenna took his arm and tugged him toward the stairs.
'Shouldn't I take her the water?'
'You drink it.' Feeling kindly toward him, Brenna reached up and touched his cheek. 'You're white as a sheet.'
'Scared ten years off my life, she did.'
'I can see that. But you acted fast and did just the right thing.' She slipped into the next room, picked up her measuring tape again. 'She's got all those changes going on inside her, and likely isn't resting as much as she might. She's all caught up in her plans,' she added, taking a measurement, writing it down in her little book. 'So much new in her life in so short a time.'
'I guess it's easier for women to take such matters in stride.'
'I suppose.' Brenna continued to measure and take notes. 'You must remember when your mother was carrying Darcy.'
'Some.' He sipped at the water, as his throat was still dry with nerves. Brenna was calm enough, he noted, moving gracefully around the room in those thick old boots, taking measurements, writing things down, making little pencil marks and noting numbers right on the wall.
Some of her hair was falling out of her cap. Just a few long, spiraling red curls, loosened, he supposed, by her dash into the bedroom.
'What do you remember best?'
'Hmm?' He'd lost the thread somewhere, and now shifted his gaze from the red curl that teased her shoulder back to her face.
'About when your mother was pregnant with Darcy? What do you remember best?'
'Laying my head against her belly, feeling all those kicks and movements. It was like Darcy was fretting to get outside and get on with things.'
'That's a nice one.' Brenna put her tape and notebook away, lifted her toolbox. 'I'm sorry I snapped and snarled at you before. I was in a bit of a mood today.'
'You're in a bit of a mood most days.' But he smiled and tapped the bill of her cap down over her eyes. 'I'm too used to your nips to mind much.'
The problem was, she wanted to take a real nip-right there, just along his jaw. To see how it tasted. And if she tried it, she imagined he'd be the one to faint. 'I won't be able to get started in here until Monday or Tuesday, so there's no real rush getting your things out. But-'
She lifted a finger, tapped it against his chest. 'I meant what I said about hanging pictures at the cottage.'
He only laughed. 'If I get the urge to pick up a hammer,' he began, then threw her off balance by bending down to place a quick, friendly kiss on her cheek. 'I'll be sure to call the O'Toole.'
'Aye, do that.' Irritated all over again, she started to stride out. Aidan, looking frazzled, came to the doorway.
'She's fine. She says she's fine. I called the doctor, and he says she's fine. Just to rest a bit and keep her feet up.'
'Darcy's making her some tea.'
'That's good, that's fine, then. Jude's fretting some because she'd planned to take flowers to Old Maude this afternoon. I'd run them up myself, but-'
'I'll do it,' Shawn told him. 'You'll feel better if you can stay with her a bit longer. I can drive up, have a bit of a visit with Old Maude, then be back in time for the pub.'
'I'd be grateful-am grateful,' he corrected, his face clearing a little now. 'She told me how you picked her up and carted her off to bed. Made her stay there.'
'Just ask her not to go into a swoon around me again. My heart won't take it.'
Shawn took flowers to Maude, the cheerful purple and yellow pansies that Jude had already gathered. He didn't often come to the old cemetery. He'd lost no one truly close to him who'd been laid to rest there. But he thought since the cottage was close, he could take over the task from Jude until she was more up to the climb.
The dead were buried near the Saint Declan's Well, where those who had made the pilgrimage to honor the ancient Irish saint had washed the travel from their hands and feet. Three stone crosses stood nearby, guarding the holy place, and perhaps, he thought, giving comfort to the living who came high on this hill to honor the dead.
The view was spectacular-Ardmore Bay stretched out like a gray swath under storm-ready skies. And the beat
