LITMIR.BIZ

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ceremony is the important thing,” Brendan said, but he had the sinking feeling no one was listening to him.

      Siobhan, Claire and Nolie were suddenly all talking at once, and words like “shower,” “flowers” and “lace” floated to the surface like spray tossed up by a wave.

      He met Gabe’s gaze. Gabe gave a rueful grin. “Forget it, Bren,” he said. “We’ve been outvoted. I guess it’s going to be a wedding with a capital W.”

      “I guess so.”

      Claire cast him a triumphant look, as if she’d heard his capitulation over the babble of voices.

      It appeared he’d be spending a great deal of time with Claire over the next month. That idea seemed to be making him feel ridiculously cheerful.

      Claire walked slowly from the church parlor, where she and Stacy had been talking, toward Brendan’s study. She shouldn’t feel so at home in the church after only a few days. After all, she hadn’t been in a church before that for twenty-some years.

      Nevertheless, here she was going in search of the pastor, just like any one of his faithful parishioners. Brendan would probably be as horrified at that thought as she was.

      But she wasn’t really looking for his advice, was she? After all, she knew more about what Stacy was going through than he ever could. Still, she felt compelled to check in with him.

      The study door was propped open, and as soon as he saw her, Brendan came toward her, hand outstretched in welcome. “How did it go? Is there anything I can do?”

      She didn’t want to admit the pleasure she felt at the sight of him. “At least she’s given up the attacking door story and admitted Ted hit her.”

      “That’s good.” He studied her face. “You look all in. Takes something out of you, doesn’t it?”

      She nodded. He couldn’t know just how much. “I don’t know how you manage to do this all the time. Of course, I suppose your regular congregation doesn’t present problems like this very often.”

      He gave a short bark of laughter. “You don’t know much about congregations if you think that.” He gestured her toward a chair and opened the small refrigerator under a microwave on the opposite wall. “A cold soda?”

      “Sounds good.” She watched as he popped the lids on two soda cans. Some tall men were awkward, but she’d already noticed that Brendan went about the simplest tasks with an easy economy of movement. He carried the soda to her, then folded himself into the chair opposite her, rather than going back to his seat behind the desk.

      “So every day you get up and come to work and deal with other people’s problems,” she said, unaccountably curious as to what made him tick. She understood people who were motivated by ambition. What motivated Brendan?

      “Pretty much.” He took a gulp of the soda. “That’s what being a minister means. Of course, it also means I get to share their joys.”

      “Does it balance out?”

      He shrugged. “Sometimes.”

      “You’re a fount of information.”

      He grinned. “Sorry. You’re asking me to evaluate my whole ministry in a few words. I don’t think I can do it that easily. Can you describe your job that way?”

      Could she? “I think so. Basically my job is to help Harvey Gray run the corporation. Anything he wants, I get. Any problem he wants solved, I solve.”

      “You sound like a guardian angel. I don’t suppose you’d like to come work for me, would you?”

      “I doubt you could meet the salary requirements.”

      “Probably not. Is that why you do it? The money?”

      “In part.” She’d always prided herself on being honest about what drove her. She wouldn’t change just because Brendan might think less of her. “Partly it’s the challenge. And mostly because it’s the way to the top.”

      “The top of what?”

      “The top of the heap.” Okay, she didn’t know how to explain this to him. “The place where you’re the boss. Where no one else can tell you what to do or control you. Ever.”

      He was looking at her with a sharpening of interest that made her a little uncomfortable. “That’s what you want? To be where no one else can ever control you?”

      Why did those particular words come out? “Well, it’s more being the boss,” she said quickly. “No other woman has ever been where I am with Gray Enterprises. I plan to break a few more traditions before I’m done.”

      Did he believe her? She wasn’t sure. She’d have to be more cautious around Brendan. He had a way of pulling things out that was almost scary.

      “Anyway, about Stacy, I wanted to bounce a couple of things off you.” Keep the conversation on Stacy, not herself. “She seems to like staying with your aunt and uncle. Do you think that situation is going to last?”

      “Probably.” The faint lines around his mouth deepened. “Joe and Siobhan have a good record when it comes to taking in strays. They took me in.”

      “They what?” She looked at him blankly. She’d known he was close to his cousins, but she hadn’t known this.

      “My parents died when I was thirteen. I went to live with Joe and Siobhan.”

      “I’m sorry, I know what it’s like to lose your parents.” Well, her father wasn’t dead, but he might as well be, for as little interest as he took in what happened to her.

      He nodded, as if accepting that they had something in common, surprising as that was. “Anyway, like I said, they have a good record.”

      “You weren’t a stray.” The words were out before she thought he might be offended. “You were a relative.”

      “It still can’t have been easy.” His brows knit, and he seemed to be looking into that past. “They already had five kids, but they made me feel like one of their own. And now they have Seth’s little boy. If they can cope with all that, they can handle Stacy.”

      “I hope so.” Much as she hated to admit it, the Flanagan family would probably be good for the girl. “Anyway, Stacy says she wants to get a job, so I can help her with that. Trouble is, she doesn’t really have any marketable skills.”

      “I had a thought about that.” He said the words a bit diffidently, as if thinking she wouldn’t like an idea if it came from him. “What if we gave Stacy a job helping with the wedding?”

      She turned it over in her mind. She wouldn’t have expected Brendan to come up something so practical. “That’s really not a bad idea.” Well, that sounded condescending. Would she ever reach the point that she could just talk to the man in a normal way? “I could certainly use an extra pair of hands, and I don’t mind paying for it.”

      He nodded, apparently not taking offense at her response. “Good. If Stacy’s supporting herself, she’ll be less likely to fall into old patterns.”

      Something about his calm assurance annoyed her. “What’s going to keep her from going back to Ted the first time he shows up and sweet-talks her?”

      Heaven knew, she’d made that mistake often enough.

      It’ll never happen again, Claire. I swear. I love you. Don’t leave me. It’ll never happen again.

      And it hadn’t. Until the next time.

      “Nothing will stop her from going back but her own good sense,” Brendan said slowly. “However much you or I might want to help her, some decisions she has to make on her own.” He leaned forward. Their knees were almost touching, and he took her hand in his, his gaze very intent on her face. “You can’t let yourself feel too responsible.”

      He

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