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It won’t serve anyone if I get distracted and overlook something. But to make it more entertaining, I fire up one of the UTV Side-by-Sides and give her a tour of the grounds at the same time.
“And those are the stables.” I point out the old stone and wood building that sits down by the pond.
“You have horses?”
“Not anymore, no. When we were kids, Mam insisted that we all learned to ride, and we had three chestnuts: Curly, Larry, and Moe.”
She laughs. “The poor things. Who named them that?”
“Och, that was Da. He didn’t see the point in teaching five metropolitan boys how to ride horses, so he had a little fun at Mam’s expense.”
“Finn showed me your family portrait in the great room. They looked like a loving couple.”
“They were at that.” I stop along the fence line and frown at where one of the exterior trees has grown enough to have branches reaching over the property wall.
Pulling out my phone, I text Aiden to have it cut back in the morning.
With the message sent, I gesture to the russet-haired man coming out of the stables with an axe in hand. “Have you met Cora’s husband?”
“I haven’t. Not yet, anyway.”
I press my fingers under my tongue and let off a whistle. Connor turns at the sound and waits while we drive over to join him.
When we stop outside the stables, Connor rushes over to accept my outstretched hand. “Evening, Mr. Quinn. Everything all right?”
“All is well on my end. How are things with you?”
“Right as rain, Mr. Quinn. Can’t complain.”
I gesture to Laine sitting beside me. “This lovely lady is Miss Laine O’Neill. I suppose Cora has mentioned I’ve had a guest in the main house?”
Connor wipes his hand on his pants and then extends it to Laine. “Och, aye. She’s been plumb tickled about it, too. Having you home and with a lady-friend to boot. She’s been humming up a storm these past few days.”
Everyone who knows Cora knows that when she’s happy, she’s always humming a tune.
“Well, I’m glad she’s happy,” I say.
“Your wife is a lovely lady and a marvelous cook,” Laine says. “She takes very good care of us.”
Connor grins. “She does what she loves and loves what she does. Can’t ask anything more than that.”
“Aye, that’s the truth of it,” I say.
Laine grabs a strand of mahogany hair from her face and curls it behind her ear. “It’s a wonder the Quinn boys can even get through the doors, given the way they eat and the temptations of Cora’s talents.”
Connor grins. “She’s a marvel.”
I gesture down to the axe in his hand. “What are you up to?”
“Och, one of your mam’s old pippin trees was struck by lightning in the storm the other night. I hope to clear off the damage and maybe save it, if the goddess is with me.”
I frown at the axe. “Don’t you have a chainsaw for that? It seems a big job for an axe.”
Connor shrugs. “The chainsaw has seen better days, I’m afraid. So, I sharpened up this fellow and thought I’d have a go.”
I shake my head. “It’s nearly dark and you’ll have a new chainsaw by morning. Save your back and go collect your wife for an evening together. Laine and I have dinner awaiting our return and the boys are out for the night, so we’re all set.”
Connor considers my offer and looks like he might object, but I slide out of the driver’s seat, and reach to take the axe from him. “Off you go, good man. I want to show Laine the stables anyway, so I’ll put this back and close up for the night.”
