Sheilagh clapped. “I love that idea.”
“Finn, handle your wife,” Kelly snapped and Ashlynn smacked him in the head.
“I think that’s a great idea,” Ashlynn spoke over her husband. “And so does Kelly.”
“You up for it Devil?” Luke asked.
“Hell yeah, I’m up for it. When do we start practicing?”
“Colin said we can use the gym at the school. Does it matter what nights, Mallory?”
“Any night but Tuesdays and Thursdays will work. That’s when the kids have practices and games scheduled.”
“You’ll have to figure out what to do with the kids,” Sheilagh said, considering how many there now were and everyone’s busy schedules, trying to get the lot of them together was going to be a nightmare.
“Why don’t we ask Aunt Rose and Aunt Col to take turns coming there? They can watch the kids while we practice,” Tristan suggested.
“Perfect! Tristan, you ask Aunt Rose and Kelly, you ask Aunt Col. You know you guys are their favorites. And Alec’s going to need his own kilt.”
“Now, hold on,” he husband interrupted. “I think I would be more of an asset assisting.”
Sheilagh frowned at him.
“Honestly. I’m British. There are far better uses for my skills than putting on another clan’s tartan and skipping about to some Irish jig.”
Silence.
Someone chuckled, but it came from the throat and she couldn’t tell which of her brothers made the sound. Alec glanced at the others nervously. “I’m older than you.”
Finn stood and walked his plate to the sink. “See you at practice, old chap.”
Kelly, Luke, and Tristan also stood. “You’ve just won yourself a spot in the front, Alec. Better wax your knees, because everyone’s gonna be admiring them in your new kilt.”
He glanced at her, his eyes pleading.
“Alec, you may be a Devereux, but you’re married to a McCullough. Bet your ass you’ll be wearing our colors and prancing about.” She scoffed and stood, sticking a finger out at him. “This is a family thing. No one’s getting out of it, so put a smile on your British face and suck it up.”
She waddled out of the kitchen, missing the days that she could march indignantly from place to place.
“Why is she so pissed off?” she heard him ask.
Her brothers laughed. “One day you’ll get it.”
“Get what? I’m not Irish. It just made sense that I wouldn’t—”
“It doesn’t matter what you are,” Kelly said. “You married an Irish woman. They’re all sweet psychopaths. Best to do as she says and keep your balls.”
“I’d listen to him, man,” Finn agreed.
She grinned, loving every single one of their dumb asses. Even Alec, who, despite their efforts, continuously refused to be Irish.
The school gymnasium echoed with the rambunctious screams of a dozen young McCulloughs and the loud chatter of their parents. Sheilagh blew a whistle and the room silenced. Hunter, her selected assistant, covered his ears.
“Okay, maniacs, pair up with your partners and form a line—tallest to shortest.”
“If it’s tallest to shortest wouldn’t the wives be on one end and then men on the other?”
“Don’t be a pain in my ass, Kelly,” she warned, and blew the whistle again because it was fun.
“Yeah,” Hunter laughed. “Don’t be a pain in my ass, Kelly.”
“Hey,” Becca called from the crowd.
Chastised, Hunter quickly apologized. “Sorry, Mom.”
“Fine,” Sheilagh corrected. “Line up tallest to shortest, men on this side women on that side.” It was like watching a herd of stupid cows try to find a lost penny. “Haven’t you people ever walked before? How hard is it to line up in order?”
“Who put her in charge?” Braydon asked.
Luke, Finn, Tristan, Alec, and Kelly all quickly shook their heads warning him not to ask. “Don’t anger it,” Finn warned.
“I heard that.” She blew the whistle in a warning burst. “Are we ready now?”
“Yes, Drill Sargent!” Colin yelled.
She scowled. With a sigh, knowing this was going to be a challenge, she quietly leaned to her assistant. “Hunter, can you hit play on the music?”
He nodded.
Sheilagh yelled from her chair. “You’ll be dancing to this.”
She frowned and did a quick double take as the music started. That wasn’t the Dropkick Murphy’s. From the speakers blared the recognizable beat of The Rolling Stone’s Satisfaction.
Hunter laughed. She should have known better. The kid loved The Stones.
As Mick Jagger began to sing, so did all her siblings, falling out of formation in a display of horrifying dance skills—Finn in the lead.
“No, this is all wrong!”
“Hey! Hey! Hey!” They all shouted together with the chorus.
The little kids broke away from Aunt Rosemarie and ran over to join their parents in the sudden dance party.
Sheilagh slumped in her chair and groaned, mushing her clipboard to her face. “This is worse than when Charlie Brown tried to organize a Christmas pageant.”
There was no stopping them, so she dropped the board and hoisted herself out of the chair. “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”
Doing her best Jagger she shuffled into the melee and her brothers and sisters roared, their faces split with wide smiles as they all danced around her and rubbed her enormous belly. “I hate you all.”
“Come on, Devil. Show us your pregnant Jagger jig!” Bray yelled.
They were jackasses, but she loved them.
Hunter squealed with laughter as everyone danced. Organizing the lot of them into a river dance was going to look like The Rockettes on crack. It would be best if she surrendered to the shenanigans now, rather than attempted to fight them every jig step of the way.
Come July, they’d have some sort of dance put together—likely the kind that would give Michael Flatley a coronary. But this was no longer an Irish thing. It was a McCullough thing and as far as anniversary parties went, this one was sure to break the mold.
Chapter Eleven
Thirty minutes and the woman had yet to step on to a single piece of equipment. Taking a sip of water, Mallory killed her elliptical and quickly wiped down the machine. She found her mother-in-law making friends over at the smoothie bar—or to be more accurate, instructing the girl behind the counter how to make a better milkshake.
“Maureen.”
She turned and smiled. “Oh, are you done running, love? You go so fast on that little ski machine. It’s as if something’s chasin’ you.”
Mallory smiled apologetically at Jill, the woman that ran the smoothie bar. “I told Finn we’d be back before the kids woke up from their nap. I thought you wanted to work out.”
“I do.” Leaning over the counter she told Jill, “I’m getting remarried in three months. Well, not remarried. Same groom, different ceremony. It’s our fortieth anniversary. That’s the ruby anniversary, but if you ask me it should be titanium or steel. It takes a tough woman to put up with the same man’s shit for four decades.”
“Maureen, I’m sure Jill has stuff to do. Why don’t we go try some of the machines?”
“Okay, love.” She turned to Jill again. “I didn’t have a wedding gown when I got married the first time. We eloped in a boathouse and I was barely eighteen. Aye, it was a different time then.” She grinned. “But this time I’m having a big fancy gown made. Oh, it’ll be lovely and all my sons are going to dress in tartan and my girls will be stunning and—”
“Maureen!”
“Yes, dear?”
“Come on.”
“Sorry, dear. Sometimes I get to rambling.”
She led her to the floor where all the machines were. “Normally, you’d walk on the treadmill for a little while to warm up, but we don’t have time for that now. How about some arm exercises?”
“I’m not
one for running anyway, dear. Never had to run much being as I’ve always had good aim. That’s all a girl really needs. That and the right bullets.” She laughed and Mallory couldn’t help but laugh with her.
“I guess so. Okay, sit here and hold the bars. You’re going to pull them down and slowly let them back up.”
She did fine after the first awful clank of weights being let go too soon. As Mallory spotted her, they chatted.
“When do you think you’ll be bringin’ me another darling grandbaby, Mallory? Sheilagh’s wee one will need a playmate.”
Mallory smiled warmly. “Oh, I think you’ll have to ask one of the others. Finn and I aren’t quite ready yet.” The truth was, they weren’t having sex frequently enough to conceive a child. It wasn’t that things were bad between them, just hectic.
Knowing how quickly her mind could fall into an abyss of self-doubt, Mallory had carefully convinced herself she didn’t want to be pregnant again. She, instead, focused all her efforts on being physically active, which she was reaping the benefits of at a flattering size fourteen—the smallest she’d ever been. It was strange that being skinny got her no more attention than she’d received when overweight. To her thinking, that just proved their lack of intimacy was nothing personal—at least she hoped.
They visited several different machines focused on Maureen’s upper body. Mallory kept the weights below twenty-five pounds and never pushed her too hard. Though Maureen said she wanted to lose weight, Mallory had a feeling this was more about spending quality time together, which was fine. As much as she griped about her meddling in-laws, she adored them, especially Maureen.
“My arms are getting a bit tired, dear. How about something for these thunder thighs?”
“Okay.” Mallory looked around. “I’ll show you how to work the inner thigh machine.” She led her to the contraption Finn called the gynecologist chair and adjusted the weights. “You sit like this, with the pads between your knees and slowly draw your thighs together. You try.”
Maureen switched places with her and straddled the machine. “Like this? Oh! Mallory, love, this isn’t for the thighs. This is a sex machine.”
Her face heated. “No, Maureen, it’s for the legs.”
She gave her a patronizing smile and stood, patting the machine as if trying not to offend it. She whispered, “I’ve had seven kids, dear. My vagina’s strong enough.” With that she walked to another machine and started chatting with a perfect stranger who was mid-stretch.
Mallory pulled out her phone and texted Finn.
I’m going to have to switch gyms.
Maureen really like the leg press, but hated the abdominal equipment. When an hour was up, she actually managed a decent sweat, but then insisted they get a milkshake at the bar.
“Well, I don’t understand how there’s a smoothie bar and they can’t make a milkshake.”
“Because smoothies are made of fruit, not ice cream. They’re supposed to be healthy, Maureen.”
“Hey, Mallory. Lookin’ good today.”
She turned and smiled at Mitch, a gym friend that sometimes spotted her while she worked out with free weights. “Hey, Mitch. Thanks. You too.”
She paid for the smoothies and frowned when she noticed Maureen had fallen silent, something rare and concerning. “What’s wrong?”
“N—nothing, dear. We should get back. Finnegan’s probably starting to worry.”
She waved off her concern. “No, I texted him. He knows we’re running later than I expected.”
“Still. He probably wants some time with his wife.”
She was acting strange, so Mallory just nodded and drove them home.
“Do you want to know a secret to a long and happy marriage, dear?”
“Uh, sure.”
“Never look at other men.”
It was starting to click. “Maureen, is this because my friend at the gym gave me a compliment?”
“It’s not proper to have a male friend that isn’t also your husband’s friend, Mallory.”
“Finn knows who Mitch is. I’ve introduced them.”
“Do you two go out with him and his wife sometimes?”
“Mitch isn’t married.”
“Ah, but you are.”
They reached a stop light in town and Mallory turned to face her mother-in-law. “First of all, Maureen, I’d never cheat on Finn. I love him. Second of all, I find it offensive that you’d think I need a lecture on such a thing. Third, Mitch isn’t into me like that. We’re friends who sometimes work out together. That’s it.”
Clearly affronted, Maureen folded her arms across her substantial chest. “Well. I guess I misunderstood what I saw.”
“I guess so.”
The light turned green and she drove toward the mountain, frowning as she replayed what was said at the gym. Mitch hadn’t said or done anything inappropriate. He’d merely paid her a compliment, something relevant and acceptable because their relationship revolved around improving their self-image, health, and their overall appearance. She’d worked really hard to shed the last of her baby weight and it was nice when people took notice. There was nothing inappropriate about what had happened.
By the time she dropped Maureen off at the big house the woman seemed to lay her concern to rest. When Mallory got home the kids were running around in the yard while Finn trimmed the hedges.
She climbed out of the car and the kids came to greet her. “Mom! Gianna stepped in dog poop.”
She frowned at her daughter’s bare feet. “Gianna, where are you shoes?”
“I lost my blip-blops.”
“Well, where did you leave them? Declan, go find her flip-flops. Lachlan, go get a baby wipe to clean off your sister’s foot. Gi, rub as much off as you can in the grass.”
She walked over to Finn. “You let her out without shoes?”
“She had them when we came out.” He kissed her. “How was the gym?”
She sighed. “Your mother…”
He chuckled. “I heard you made some friends.”
“Your mother made friends with every stranger in the—wait. What? How did you hear that?”
“Mum called.”
“I just dropped her off!”
He shrugged. “The woman doesn’t waste time.”
“You aren’t kidding. What did she say?”
He chuckled. “She warned me that I’m not the only man with eyeballs around here and I should know others are checking out my hot wife.”
“She did not say that!”
“I added the hot part. So, who was hitting on you?”
She threw her hands in the air. “No one.” People didn’t hit on her. “And thank your mother for starting trouble. She’s out of her mind.”
He laughed. “She didn’t start trouble, Philly. I know how she is. I’m just teasing you.”
She frowned. Was he that unconcerned? What if someone really had been hitting on her? He acted like it was impossible or at least nothing to worry about. The kids came barreling out of the house, one holding a pair of snow boots and the other carrying a tub of baby wipes.
Gianna already had her pants and diaper off and was running around half-naked. “Gianna, where’re your pants?” Finn yelled.
“They gots duty on them!”
“Your duty or Bailey’s?” Like it mattered. Shit was shit. Mallory pursed her lips. “Whose idea was it to get a dog?”
“Mine.”
“And who promised to feed him and take care of him and clean up after him?”
“I’ll get the poop picked up,” Finn mumbled. Gianna ran by them, bare assed and in snow boots. “She looks like you when she runs.”
She smacked him in the arm. “Shut up.”
He grinned, that half-smirk he saved for moments of warning that promised he’d have her ass bare soon enough. Her heart skipped a beat and she swallowed. If they were going to do that she definitely needed to shower. “I’m going to clean up from the gym. Do you want anything special for dinner
tonight?”
“Are you on the menu?”
Her heart raced again. “Maybe.”
Stepping close, he slid his arms around her back and nudged his front to hers. “I’d like a sample.” His lips dragged slowly over hers and she hummed, playfully biting at him.
“I feel you,” she whispered and he gave a nudge with his hips.
“I want my wife.”
“The kids are playing and I’m all gross from running.”
“You’re not gross. And they’ve been out here for a while. I told them after this we were going to watch a movie.”
She sighed, wishing it was that easy. The truth was, by the time they found Gianna’s pants, cleaned everyone up, got a snack prepared, and situated everyone in the living room after arguing over a movie, the moment would be over. “Tonight.”
“You always say that and then when the kids finally fall asleep you’re ready to pass out.”
“I’ll have coffee.”
“Nothing like hearing my wife needs a stimulant to have sex with me.”
She frowned. “Hey.”
“Sorry. Okay. Tonight.”
“I’m going to shower.”
As Mallory combed out her hair she stared at her reflection. In only a towel she could see how narrow her shoulders had gotten. It was nice to finally be at her goal and not facing pregnancy or the holidays or anything else to throw her off track. For the first time in a very long time she felt balanced and secure in who she was. But deep down she’d have no reservation about starting over again if it meant more children with Finn.
The door opened and closed quietly as Finn stepped into their bedroom. She watched him through the mirror as he locked the door. “Where are the kids?”
“Watching Stewart Little.”
She laughed. “That will keep the boys occupied for all of ten minutes.”
“I’m not worried about the boys. I told them mommy and daddy have to talk and to keep their sister busy. She loves that movie so she’ll stay put.”