Ryan’s head was spinning. “Colleen is the sister who was ogling me in the kitchen?”
Maggie nodded.
“And Daniel is...?”
“Her husband.”
“Was he at the shelter yesterday?”
“He was there, along with my father and both of my brothers, plus my youngest sister, Katie. My other sister lives too far away to get home for Thanksgiving, but they’ll be here for Christmas. You can’t imagine the chaos.”
Oddly enough, he could. After the twins were born, there had been five children in the Devaney house for two Christmases. Somehow his parents had always seen to it that there were gifts under the tree, even if they were secondhand toys from the thrift shop in the neighborhood. From the moment he and his brothers had crept downstairs to see if Santa had come, the house had been filled with noise and laughter.
At least that’s the way it had been for a few brief years. Then they’d all been separated, and after that, Christmas had been one more day to be endured, worse than all the other days, because he’d wondered where his brothers were and if they were happier than he was. As he’d drifted from foster home to foster home, always feeling like an outsider, he’d prayed they were.
“Ryan?” Maggie asked softly, her gaze filled with concern. “Is something wrong?”
“No,” he said tightly. “Everything’s fine. Why don’t you stick around and give these things to Rosita? She should be here any minute.”
Maggie shook her head. “I don’t want to embarrass her.”
“She’ll want to thank you, I’m sure.”
“Another time. I should go before she gets here,” she insisted, already heading for the door.
“Wait. Didn’t you say something about having some clothes for Rosita in the car? I’ll walk you out,” Ryan said, surprised that he wasn’t quite ready to see the last of her. She was pushy and intrusive. In fact, she promised to make a nuisance of herself. But she was also warm and generous, a real ray of sunshine. Like a cat seeking warmth on a windowsill he felt himself drawn to her, despite all of his deep-seated reservations about getting involved with anyone.
As he watched her walk to her car, he realized that one of these days he was going to have to decide which mattered more—protecting himself from her prying or accepting her into his heart.
* * *
“You weren’t in there long,” Colleen commented, after Maggie had retrieved the bag of used maternity clothes, given them to Ryan and said goodbye. She had noticed that he’d kept a careful distance between himself and the car once he’d realized that her sister was waiting for her.
“Long enough,” Maggie said, satisfied with herself. The meeting had gone precisely the way she’d hoped it would. She had stayed just long enough to remind Ryan that she intended to be a part of his life—at least for the immediate future—but had left before he’d grown weary of her. And with his reluctance so apparent, she hadn’t pressed him to say hello to Colleen. Contact with her family seemed to disturb him, either because he was fearful of getting too involved or because seeing them brought back too many painful memories of the family he’d lost.
“What did he think of all the baby things?” Colleen asked.
“I think he was dumbfounded.”
“Clever of you to find a way to plant the notion of babies in his head. Now he won’t be able to look at you without thinking about having a baby of his own.”
“Colleen, that is not what this was about,” Maggie protested. “Those baby clothes were for Rosita.”
Colleen grinned. “But isn’t it nice that they served your purposes, as well?”
“I am not scheming to plant ideas in Ryan’s head,” Maggie insisted.
“Oh, really?”
“Really!”
“Well, intended or not, I’m sure it did the trick. I imagine he’s thinking of you in a whole new way now.”
“Pregnant?” Maggie asked skeptically. “I doubt that. And don’t you think it’s a giant leap, anyway? He hasn’t even so much as asked me out on a date.”
“But you want him to,” Colleen guessed.
Maggie thought of the way she felt every time
Ryan’s blue-eyed gaze settled on her. “Yes, I want him to. He’s a very mysterious, complicated man, and you know how I enjoy unraveling a puzzle.”
“And if he doesn’t ask you out?”
Maggie shrugged. “He owns a pub. I can pretty much see him whenever I want to.”
Colleen seemed surprised by her response. “You would do that? You’d just hang around the pub until he notices you?”
“I might. It’s a great place. You should have come in with me just now. Even at this hour the jukebox was playing and there were groups of people laughing.”
“I figured three would be a crowd.”
“Well, if you had come in, you’d know what I’m talking about. I felt right at home there the second I walked in the other night. It’s not like some sleazy bar. It’s just the way Mom and Dad have always described the pubs in Ireland.”
“I can’t wait to hear what Mom and Dad are going to have to say about this. You know how Dad always warned us to steer clear of bars.”
“You’ll never meet the man of your dreams in a bar,” they both said in a chorus.
Maggie laughed. “How could I forget? But how can they object with Father Francis sitting right there most evenings? Besides, didn’t you pay attention to what I said not five seconds ago? This is a pub, not a bar—there’s a difference.”
“I hope you don’t mind if I sit in while you try explaining that to Dad,” Colleen said.
“Dad’s already well aware of the difference, so I won’t even try explaining it to him. Besides, I’ve always believed in being honest with Mom and Dad about what I’m doing, and expecting them to trust my judgment. They usually do.”
“So when are you going back? Tonight?”
Maggie shook her head. “Even I know that’s too soon. I thought I’d give Ryan a day or two to wonder what’s happened to me. I’m thinking I’ll go back the first of the week. Want to come along for a girls’ night out?”
“Something tells me Daniel would object to baby-sitting so I could go hang out with you while you try to pick up a man. If you need a chaperone, take Katie.”
Maggie thought of the way her sister had practically swooned at the sight of Ryan. “Never mind.”
Colleen shot a knowing look at her. “She’s
