They both fell silent as Maura concentrated on navigating the roads outside of Cork city, and Gillian focused on whatever was going on inside her. “Park here?” Maura finally said.

“Yes. Fine,” Gillian said through clenched teeth.

Maura found a space, pulled in, and turned off the engine. “Can you make it, or should I go get a wheelchair or a guy with a gurney or something?”

“I think I can walk as far as the door, Maura. It’s only a baby I’m having. You’ll come in with me?”

“Of course. But Harry should be here, right?”

“Yes. He will,” Gillian said firmly.

Maura wondered if that was wishful thinking, but she wanted to give Harry the benefit of the doubt. “When we get inside, where are we going?”

“There’ll be a big desk in the lobby. I’ll be in their computer system. They’ll know where to send me.”

Maura looped her arm through Gillian’s and kept her pace slow to accommodate her. Luckily, the parking lot was close to the entrance, and the desk was where Gillian had said it would be. And Harry was waiting in the lobby, pacing anxiously. When he saw them walk through the glass doors, he headed straight to Gillian and wrapped his arms around her.

“How are you, darlin’? When did this start? What do we do now? Are you feeling all right?”

Gillian smiled. “Slow down, love. It’s only been an hour or two. Well, maybe more. I’m glad you got here. Shall we check in?”

Maura watched them as they made their way to the front desk. Harry started explaining things, waving his hands around when he wasn’t fishing cards out of his wallet and dropping half of them on the floor. The receptionist stayed calm—she must’ve seen a lot of flustered pregnant couples in her job—and things were sorted out after a couple of minutes. Maura felt like a third wheel since Harry and Gillian were so wrapped up with each other and decided she really should get back to Leap now that Harry could take over. She joined Harry and Gillian to let them know.

“I thought I’d head back now.”

Gillian gripped her arm. “Maura”—she glanced at Harry, who nodded—“I know it’s a lot to ask, but can you stay? Harry’s not good with blood and stuff, and I’d really like to have another woman with me, and I can’t ask my family.”

Maura was touched, flattered, and panic-stricken. “Gillian, I don’t know anything about having a baby!”

“You don’t need to. There are nurses and a midwife and a whole hospital full of doctors to take care of that. I want you there to cheer me on. Will you?”

“Uh, yeah, sure, I guess. Will Harry be there too?”

“Unless I pass out,” Harry said, looking relieved. “You’re a good friend, Maura.”

“Okay.” What had she gotten herself into?

“Thank you,” Gillian said. “Harry, tell the desk to add Maura to the partners list, will you? And then we’re off to the races!”

What followed was a jumbled journey through halls filled with medical personnel wearing scrubs or white jackets, women on gurneys, and women walking the halls, hunched over their huge bellies and accompanied by men looking about as bewildered as Harry did. Maura could not have found her way out of the building for love or money and was wondering how she could smash out a window to escape when they finally stopped in what was labeled a delivery suite. The nurse who had escorted them there smiled and said, “The midwife will be here shortly,” and then vanished.

A woman who Maura thought looked about twelve arrived next. “Hello, I’m Sorcha, your student midwife. I’ll be here throughout your delivery. Your midwife will be along directly. Let me just take a look at your charts.” She glanced over at Harry and Maura, who were huddled in a corner trying to stay out of the way. “You might as well make yourselves comfortable. This may take a while.”

“What’s ‘a while’?” Maura asked.

Gillian answered, “I’ve been told first labors can take an average of eleven hours—that’s what the book said. I have a feeling Little Darling here is on a faster track.” She gasped as another contraction started.

Shortly after that, an older woman bustled in. “Gillian Callanan, is it? I’m Honora, your midwife. Let’s see where we’re at, shall we?”

“We’ll be outside,” Harry gulped and all but dragged Maura with him out the door into the hall. He leaned against the wall and took deep breaths.

Maura tried not to laugh at the poor man. “Harry, this is the easy part.”

“Yeah, and it gets worse after this.”

“You’ve had plenty of time to get used to the idea, you know. Having a baby—then having a baby around the house all the time.”

“Look, I’ve had this thing about blood and ick since I saw my dog get run over by a truck when I was five. I’m not proud of it, but I’m stuck with it.”

“Gillian knows this?”

“She does. That’s why she asked you to stay.”

“So it’s not about the baby? You aren’t going to walk away and disappear?”

“Hell, no! I’ve loved Gillian for years, even if I didn’t manage to let it show. But we’re in this together.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear that. And I’m sorry about your dog. But I don’t know that I’m any better with blood and stuff than you are. The worst I’ve seen is a couple of bar fights with knives back in Boston. And I watched Alien.”

Maura peeked in the door, but the midwife seemed quite busy poking and prodding Gillian, so she backed off again. “Gillian said you were playing golf with some corporate bigwig?”

“I know, poor timing. But it was the only time he was available, and his account could make a real difference to us.”

“I’m not criticizing. Did the death at Crann Mor come up? I mean, had this guy heard about it?”

“Oddly, it did. Peter Flaherty said he’d met John once or twice.”

So Harry was aiming high for clients. “Did he have an opinion of him?”

“He didn’t say anything directly, but I gather he thought that John Byrne was very aggressive in his business strategies when he was buying the hotel.”

Interesting, Maura thought. John must have wanted Crann Mor badly. “Gillian told me you were hoping to get some business from the new Crann Mor people?”

“I’d like to, but I don’t think this is the right time to approach them.”

Maura nodded. “That’s pretty clear. Tell me, do you think the hotel is a solid business?”

“Financially?” Harry asked. “There’s always an element of risk with a venture like this. On the plus side, the place has a long history and handsome facilities in reasonably sound condition. On the minus side, it’ll take a big infusion of money to bring it up to current luxury standards, which is what I understood John Byrne was looking for. I’m sure he’d done his market research, scoped out the coming trends in regional tourism—that kind of thing—before he recommended buying it, but it’s still a gamble.”

“What will happen with it now, do you think?”

“I haven’t enough information enough to say. They’ve already sunk a good deal of money in. It may depend on who’s running the show now that Byrne is gone. You wouldn’t know who’ll be taking over, would you?”

“No, but I could find out. Want me to ask Helen?”

“Who?” Harry looked bewildered.

“Helen Jenkins, John Byrne’s associate. And my mother.”

“What? No, never mind—you can explain at some later time. Sure, go ahead and ask her.”

The midwife Honora popped her head in and beamed cheerfully. “Everything’s going just fine, but it may be a while yet. Do yeh want to sit with Gillian?”

Harry shook his head. “Let me know when things get closer, will you?” Honora nodded and disappeared again, and Harry turned to Gillian. “Don’t worry—I’ll be there for the important parts. Talk to me, Maura. Please?” They turned to other safer topics. The weather. Sports teams. How Harry’s business was coming along. What he and Gillian hoped to do to fix up the old creamery—and how fast that would happen.

“How soon do you have to be out of Mycroft House?” Maura asked.

“Soon, I’m afraid—in the next month or two. I don’t think the fact that there’s a newborn involved carries much weight with the National Trust. We have an agreement in place.”

“How’s Mycroft House different from Crann Mor?”

“It isn’t, really. A stately manor house belonging to an old family fallen on hard times. There’s no shortage of those around. My family made the gift of the place to the trust with the agreement that Eveline could live out her days there. With Crann Mor, the family needed the money, pure and simple, and they weren’t sentimental about it.”

“Does this area need a hotel like Crann Mor?”

Harry shrugged. “I can’t say. Even in my lifetime here, we’ve seen big ups and downs in the economy and tourism. Like the Celtic Tiger economic boom. Now nobody knows what impact Brexit will have. You’re well fixed—you have a business and a home, and you own the both of them free and clear. There’s many that aren’t so lucky.”

At that moment, the head midwife stuck her head out. “I think things are moving right along. Will yeh come in now?”

Maura fixed Harry with an evil eye. “Man up, Harry. If you miss this, Gillian may never forgive you.”

“Only if you come in too.” Harry appealed to the midwife. “I’ll take Gillian’s upper end, and you can keep an eye on the business end. Will that be all right?”

“I’ve seen stranger things. But you’d better come in now before you miss the show.”