Toy houses and barns had been placed in perfect spots, with dots of grazing cattle meandering, clothes waving cheerfully on lines.

Castle ruins, tumbling stones, and a sheer, high wall, stood in a field as if that spot were locked in a time warp.

The sun struck it all like gold, and glinted off a thin ribbon of silver river.

And all of it, every blade of grass was cupped under a sky so achingly blue it seemed to pulse.

For the first time in days she forgot grief, and guilt and worry. She could only stare with a smile blooming on her face, and the oddest feeling in her heart that she had known this, just exactly this, would be there all along.

“It is beautiful, isn’t it?” Brianna murmured and slowed the car to give Shannon another moment to enjoy.

“Yes. I’ve never seen anything more beautiful. I can see why my mother loved it.”

And that thought brought the grief stabbing back, so that she turned her gaze away again.

But the new view was no less charming. Blackthorn Cottage waited to welcome, windows glinting, stone flecked with mica that sparkled. A glory of a garden spread beyond the hedges that were waiting to burst into a bloom of their own.

A dog barked in greeting as soon as Brianna pulled up behind a spiffy Mercedes convertible.

“That’ll be Concobar, my dog,” she explained and laughed when Shannon’s eyes widened as Con raced around the side of the house. “He’s big, is Con, but he’s harmless. You haven’t a fear of dogs, have you?”

“Not normally.”

“Sit now,” Brianna ordered when she stepped out of the car. “And show your manners.”

The dog obeyed instantly, his thick gray tail pounding the ground to show his pleasure and his control. He looked over at Shannon as she cautiously alighted, then he lifted a paw.

“Okay.” Shannon took a deep breath and accepted the canine handshake. “Handsome, aren’t you?” A little more confident, she patted his head. She glanced over and saw that Maggie and Brianna were already unloading her luggage. “I’ll get those.”

“It’s no problem, no problem at all.” With surprising ease for such a slender woman, Brianna hauled suitcases toward the door of the house. “Welcome to Blackthorn Cottage, Shannon. I hope you’ll be comfortable here.”

With this, she opened the front door and pandemonium.

“Come back here, you little devil! I mean it, Liam. She’s going to have my scalp.”

As Shannon watched, a black-haired toddler scrambled down the hall on short, but surprisingly quick legs, trailing crumbs from a handful of cookies. His gut-busting laughter echoed off the walls. Not far behind was a very harassed-looking man with a small, wailing baby tucked in one arm.

Spotting company, the boy grinned, showing an angelic face smeared with food. He tossed up his chubby arms. “Mum.”

“Mum, indeed.” With an expert swipe Maggie had her son scooped into one arm. “Look at you, Liam Sweeney, not a clean spot to be found on you. And eating biscuits before tea.”