Ryan's Place Part 4

"As if my wishes ever mattered to you before," she scoffed. "Well, if you had talked to Ryan, you would see that he's one of the good guys. In fact, you ought to know that just from the fact that he's here today."

She glanced across the room to where Ryan was serving slices of pumpkin pie to a very pregnant woman and her two dark-haired children. The look on his face was impossible to interpret, but she tried nonetheless. Dismay and sorrow seemed to mingle with friendly concern. She had the sense that he was talking to this woman but seeing something else entirely, something from his own past, perhaps.

Drawn by the scene, she found an excuse to head for the kitchen, slipping in long enough to grab several pies. When she emerged, she was close enough to hear Ryan murmuring encouraging words to the woman. He seemed to be holding out the promise of a job to help her family get back on its feet. A few minutes later he slipped the husband some money and told him to make sure his wife saw a doctor.

"Come to the pub tomorrow," he told the man. "We'll work out your hours then."

The man beamed at him. "Gracias, senor. Thank you. Rosita and I will be there. We are very hard workers. You'll see. You will never have reason to regret giving us this chance." Thank you. Rosita and I will be there. We are very hard workers. You'll see. You will never have reason to regret giving us this chance."

Ryan sighed as the man went to join his wife. Maggie stepped up behind him.

"That was very nice, what you did just then," she said.

Ryan whirled around, almost dropping the plate he was holding. "Where did you come from?"

"I've been here for hours."

He gave her a sour look. "Believe me, I'm well aware of that. I've had to field more than one question about the red-haired angel with the ready smile. You've drawn more attention around here today than the turkey." He didn't sound especially pleased about it. "I was referring to your popping up just now. Were you eavesdropping on a private conversation?"

"Nope, just bringing out more pies," she said, holding up the armload she'd retrieved from the kitchen. "I couldn't help overhearing what you were saying. You're hiring them?"

He shrugged as if it were nothing. "They need work. I can take on a couple of extra people at this time of year. It's no big deal."

"I'm sure it is to them." Then, to avoid prolonging a topic that obviously made him uncomfortable, she asked, "I understand you're responsible for providing all this food every year. It's very generous of you."

"I have a restaurant. Rory likes to cook for people who appreciate a fine meal," he said. "Why not help out a good cause?"

Once again he'd dismissed his good deed. She probably should have been impressed by his humility, but she found it oddly worrisome, instead. "Why aren't you comfortable accepting a compliment?" she asked.

"Maybe it's because I don't deserve it," he said. "I wasn't the one basting turkeys and pouring pumpkin custard into pie sh.e.l.ls all night long. Rory did that, as he has ever since he came to work for me."

"But I imagine you paid for the ingredients and for Rory's time," she countered.

"For the ingredients, yes, but not for Rory's time. He knows, as I do, what it's like to do without on a holiday. We try to make sure that at least some people don't have to know that feeling."

She studied him intently. "How long have you been doing this?"

"Not that it matters, but ever since I opened the pub. And that's enough of that," he said, closing the door on the topic. "I'm sure Father Francis is grateful to you and your family for coming to help out today."

"It's been..." She searched for the right word. While helping out had been rewarding, it was what she'd discovered about Ryan Devaney that had been truly important to her. "It's been enlightening."

His gaze narrowed at her comment. "I'm glad we've been able to provide a bit of entertainment for your holiday," he said with a touch of bitterness. "Excuse me. I have things to do."

He brushed past her, but Maggie reached for his arm. When she touched him, she felt the muscle jerk beneath her fingers. Only when he turned to face her did she speak. "You know that I did not mean that to be insulting," she said quietly. "Who did this to you? Who made you distrust everyone the way you do?"

Ryan hesitated, his expression still angry. "It's a long story, and today's not the time," he said finally, his voice tight.

Maggie's gaze was unrelenting. "Will there be a time?"

His gaze locked with hers, and for the longest time she thought he was going to say no, but eventually he sighed heavily.

"I imagine you'll insist on it," he said.

Maggie laughed at the note of resignation in his voice. It wasn't a very big opening, but it was enough. "Yes, Ryan Devaney, you can count on it."

Because despite all the roadblocks he'd set up and all the alarms going off in her head warning her away, she was very much intrigued with everything about this man.

Chapter Four.

Ryan was still reeling from the fact that Rosita Gomez, the cook who barely spoke English and knew nothing about Irish food, also happened to be seven months' pregnant. Father Francis had delicately neglected to mention that fact to Ryan when he'd been touting her for a job at the pub. Ryan could hardly wait to see Rory's face when he found out. Thankfully, he'd been able to keep the two of them apart at the shelter yesterday. Rory had been too busy to spend much time in the dining room.

But it wouldn't be long now. Rosita and her husband were due at the pub at two to fill out the necessary paperwork. When Ryan heard the tap on his office door, he a.s.sumed it was his two new employees. Instead, he found himself staring at Maggie O'Brien. A sigh escaped before he could stop it.

"You again," he murmured.

"I hope this isn't a bad time," she said.

Ryan desperately wanted to think of an excuse to run her off, but none occurred to him.

"No, it's fine," he said, trying to hide his reluctance. "I have a few minutes before my next appointment. Come on in. What brings you into Boston today?"

She held up an armload of shopping bags. "The sales," she said. "Surely you know this is one of the biggest shopping days of the year. Black Friday, when businesses expect to go from red ink to black for the year."

"I believe I have read that somewhere," Ryan said dryly. "An ad or two, maybe? Every TV newscast since last week?"

She laughed. "Probably so."

"That still doesn't explain why you're here. Don't tell me you happened to have another flat outside my pub because your car's overloaded."

"Nope. I have four brand-new tires, thanks to my brother. Matt took the car in this morning, muttering the whole time about how irresponsible I was to let the tires get into such sorry shape in the first place. It made him feel very male and very superior, so I suppose there was a blessing to be had."

"Well-" Ryan began.

"Don't you start. Not when I've coming bearing gifts."

Ryan's gaze narrowed. "Gifts?"

She frowned at him. "Not for you. While my sisters and I were at the sales, we saw a few things we thought Rosita might be able to use for herself and the baby. That is who you're expecting this afternoon, right? I spoke to her briefly after you and I talked yesterday. I know she wasn't able to bring much with her to the shelter. Wait till you see." She poked around in the shopping bags and started pulling out baby clothes, an expression of pure delight on her face. "Aren't these the cutest things you've ever seen? Look at this." She held up a tiny little knit cap in pale yellow. "And this." She retrieved an outfit with ducks embroidered across the front.

When she had his entire desk covered with baby clothes, she sat back. "What do you think?"

"I think you're amazing," Ryan blurted, then regretted it when he saw the smile that spread across her face. "I meant that Rosita is going to amazed. Why did you do it? You must have spent a fortune."

"Everything was on sale," she reminded him. "And we couldn't resist." She held up another huge bag. "There are a few maternity outfits in here for Rosita. These are new, but I have another bag in the car of Colleen's old maternity clothes. She swears she will never need them again, but if you ask me Daniel will talk her into at least two more kids. He wants a huge family. He was an only child."

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 embarra.s.s 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 h.e.l.lo 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 not what this was about," Maggie protested. "Those baby clothes were for Rosita." 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 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?" 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 your sister. She would never try to steal your guy."

"It's not her I'm worried about. Have you taken a good look at our baby sister? She's gorgeous, something she doesn't even realize."

"And you think Ryan might prefer her?" Colleen asked. "Come on, Mags. He never even gave her a second glance yesterday."