Page 9 of A Flower for Angus

Dal, short for Dallas, was new to Neamh this year, but his veterinarian studies were already coming in handy. He found him examining one of the pregnant cats with his stethoscope, although the cat didn’t appear to be enjoying his services. Dal was the son of one of Angus’s second cousins and a friend of his son Ben. He already had a soft spot for the bright young lad.

“I got another patient for ye, lad. The new housekeeper’s car broke down on the way out here so she started walkin’ and ended up sprainin’ her ankle. Darro wants ye to have a look at it.”

Dals eyes lit up. “Is she as pretty as the last housekeeper?” He joked, knowing Lucerne had been the last housekeeper.

Angus eyed him sourly. “Macy could be yer mother, laddie, and ye’ll do well to remember yer manners around her.”

“I could fall in love with an older woman,” Dal teased, his blue eyes tormenting Angus while he put his stethoscope back in his bag. “Is she married?”

“I just met her, I no have her life history yet,” Angus snapped, uncertain why Dal’s teasing was making him feel out of sorts. He already knew Macy was a widow but the nosey lad didn’t need to know that.

Dal fell in step alongside Angus as they hurried to the house. “They say older women make beautiful lovers,” he tormented. “Haven’t ye heard the song?”

“Don’t ye have a wee lassie?” Angus asked in exasperation. “Or have ye traded her in for another one already?”

Dal laughed. “I’m between love interests at the moment. I’ve got time to give an older lass a whirl.”

Angus snorted. “More likely no self-respectin’ lass wants to stay with ye once they find out yershort—comin’s.”

“Ha ha,” chortled Dal. “Most men should be so blessed as me.”

“Watch it,” Angus growled. “Ye may be a friend of Ben’s but I’ll still box yer ears if ye get disrespectful in front of the womenfolk.”

Dal held up his hands as he followed Angus into the house, his blue eyes twinkling. “No disrespect intended, sir.” He wisely didn’t point out that Angus had started it.

Darro motioned the men over to where Macy was seated. “Dal, I need ye to wrap Mrs. Kennedy’s right ankle if ye please.”

“Aye, sir,” Dal replied respectfully, taking the ace bandage from Darro. He bent down to take off Macy’s shoe and sock and then probed the ankle gently. “It’s no broken, sir.”

Angus grunted. The lad was smart enough to know not to mess with the boss. Darro didn’t tolerate nonsense among his employees. Well...except for him. Angus was second in command and he and Darro had a very close relationship, just like he’d had with Darro’s father, Old Whipcord, before he’d passed on. Their bonds were rooted deeply in friendship, honor, and family.

Darro nodded back at Dal. “I suspected as much, but I wanted ye to double check it.”

“Aye, sir. With an icepack and some staying off it for at least 48 hours, ye should be well on the way to recovery,” Dal said to Macy with an appreciative gaze.

“That’s very kind of you both,” Macy replied with a small smile.

The sudden rush of feet pounding in the hallway told Angus that Delilah and Corey were coming. Darro’s brother and sister-in-law had died tragically in a car accident a few years ago, leaving their two children in Darro’s custody.

Darro caught them up in his arms as they came running towards Macy sitting on the sofa. “Whoa, slow down. What have I said about running in the house?” He scolded them affectionally then set them down in front of him to face the new housekeeper.

“Mrs. Kennedy, this is Delilah and Corey, my niece and nephew.”

“Hello,” the children chorused, staring curiously at her.

Her smile to the children was certainly much warmer, Angus noted.

“Hello to you too,” she replied softly. “Please, call me Macy. Mrs. Kennedy is far too formal.”

“Ye talk different,” Corey noted solemnly, his round blue eyes wide.

“It’s because she isn’t from Scotland, Corey,” Delilah loftily informed her brother. “Remember? Uncle Darro said she’s from a place called Canada.”

“That’s right, Delilah,” Macy assured her. “Canada is above the United States on a world map.”

“Is that a long way from here?” Corey asked.

Macy nodded. “It is quite a long way, that’s for sure.”

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