No, Annie was dead. He leaned his head against the cool glass and gave in to a sigh that made Rusty come and check on his master.
“I know, I know,” he muttered. “I have to think about it.”
His mother stepped back from the window. “You’re in mournin’, lad. But you know you’ll never plow a field by turning it over in your mind,” she said, an Irish proverb always at the ready.
And always right.
Suddenly, Molly turned and looked up at the window, spying him there. She tilted her head to the side, her chocolate-colored curls falling over drooping shoulders, her expression as easy to read as one of the puppies’.
Are you all right, Dad?
He saw her say something to Aidan, who looked up, and that same sympathy changed the young warrior’s face to something softer. Liam and Shane stopped training the dogs to gaze up, too, their muscular bodies tightening with the hit of pain. He could read Garrett’s lips as he dragged his hand through his thick, dark hair and muttered, “Poor Dad.”
After a moment, Darcy reached both arms up toward the window and flicked her fingers, inviting him to join them, the same sadness in her expression.
His mother put a hand on his shoulder, pulling his attention to her weathered face. “Giving this homestead and all the land to you while we were still alive was the easiest decision Seamus and I ever made. Maybe it’s time you ask your children if they’d like the same thing.”
He knew she was right.
She leaned over and ruffled Rusty’s fur. “You think about that, and I’ll take this darlin’ boy out to the yard.” She started to go out, and Rusty didn’t hesitate to follow. “That’s a good dog,” she whispered. “You know I’ve got a weakness for ya, puppy. You’re the spittin’ image of my Corky. Did I tell you about Corky? He was with us on that September day in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and fifty-four when we drove that old bucket o’ bolts into the town of Bitter Bark, and when Seamus read the sign, that dog made so much noise that…”#p#分页标题#e#
Her brogue faded along with Rusty’s footsteps on the hardwood of the hall, leaving Daniel completely alone to gaze at his family out the window.
You’re only as happy as your least-happy kid.
It was time to fix that. And if they all came back to where they belonged, maybe he could help each of them find a love as strong and real as the one he and Annie had shared. Not interfere, no. Just guide them, as he always had.
The decision made, his heart felt lighter.
He turned to the big empty bed where he’d shared so many laughs, so much love, and thirty-six deeply content years with Annie.
He could imagine her loving smile. Feel her hand on his shoulder. Sense her spirit next to him. And, Lord, he could hear her sweet, sensible, stable voice.
Go, Daniel. Be the Dogfather and make them an offer they can’t refuse.
Chapter One
THREE YEARS LATER
Oh, this couldn’t be good.
Being yanked from a deadline story and summoned to her boss’s office was never pleasant for Jessica Curtis, but when the other guest chair was occupied by Mercedes Black, it pretty much ensured the day was headed south in a hurry.
Before entering, Jessie slowed her step and peered over the stack of papers on Mac Thomas’s desk to see if his shiny dome could be spotted on the other side of the mountain of mess. Of course not. Mac was getting coffee, because it was like him to demand his staff drop everything and then not be there while he took care of his needs.
And now Jessie would be stuck hearing about Mercedes’s latest interview with some movie star that would surely be the lead story on the Inside the A List website, or how exhausting it was planning her wedding for three hundred, and whether she should start picking furniture for her new office because she heard someone would be moving out of the ITAL cubicles soon and she had a good feeling about it.
Jessie did not have time for this today with a story due and at least three more in the pipeline.
“That you, Mac?” Mercedes asked without looking up from her phone, flipping a red-soled shoe at the end of one of her long, lean, crossed legs. “’Cause I have a meeting with my florist at two, and I can’t be late.”
“It’s me.” Jessie came into the office and sat down in the other chair.
“Oh, hello, Jessie.” She sat up a little, pouty lips already lifting in a smile that managed to be pitying, condescending, and vaguely familiar. “I didn’t expect you in this meeting.”
“I didn’t, either, but I just got summoned. Any idea what it’s about?”