He frowned. “You shouldn’t drive in your condition, Alanna.” His gaze swept her bare feet. “And certainly not without shoes.”
She smiled up at him. “But the nail polish is such a beautiful color.”
His stone-faced expression didn’t recognize her attempt at humor. “I really don’t want you driving the cars. It’s tricky driving on the opposite side of the road. If you listen to the radio or get distracted in any way, you’ll veer to the wrong side.”
“I’m not a lass, Barry,” she said. “I’ve been driving fifteen years.”
He took her elbow and led her down the corridor again. “Things are different here in the South, sugar. I’d rather drive you. I’ll come find you when I’ve finished my conference call. You had a fall yesterday. Practicing all day would be too arduous anyway. Remember the baby. You don’t know your own limits.”
Maybe he was right. Liam had also said she pushed herself too much. Every muscle still ached, and she needed to guard the baby.
“Take a nap,” he urged. “I can see you’re limping. I doubt you slept very well.”
“No. No, I didn’t.” She allowed him to lead her to her bedroom door. “Thanks for taking care of me.”
He brushed his lips across her forehead. “I’ll try not to be long,” he whispered. He caught a strand of red hair in his fingers and kissed it before letting her go with obvious reluctance.
She closed the door behind him, then sat on the edge of the bed. Though her body ached, she wasn’t sleepy. A nap didn’t sound appealing. She’d rather find out what Jesse was doing wandering the estate last night. She rang Ciara and told her what had happened.
“I don’t believe Jesse would hurt you,” Ciara said after a long pause.
“Then what was he doing here? He’d left with you, then came back. And he appeared right after someone shoved me down the hill.”
“I don’t know, but I’m sure there’s a good reason. The main thing is you’re all right. The baby is okay?”
“The ultrasound showed him doing cartwheels,” Alanna said.
“What about practice?”
“Barry will bring me in later today.” She didn’t know what to be making of his aversion to her driving. They needed to get that straightened out. She’d not be living as a prisoner in this place, her movements subject to Barry’s discretion.
“Lass, we’ve got to get cracking on getting ready for the tour.”
“I know,” Alanna said.
“Where are we practicing today?”
She chewed on a hangnail. “I thought we might just work at the hotel.”
“There’s no room. It has to be at your house. The living room there is huge. Or we could even set up on that veranda again. I could get the girls together and grab Jesse.”
Alanna had an idea of what her mother-in-law’s expression would look like with the music ringing out on the lawn, but right now she didn’t care. “Righto then, get them together. I’ll tell Barry not to bother running me to town.”
“We’ll be there within the hour.”
Alanna put her phone away and went to find her husband, but the office door was shut and she heard the murmur of his voice behind the door. He’d already started his phone conference. She’d have to make sure they set up where the noise wouldn’t disturb him.
The living room would be too close. So was the veranda. Maybe one of the upper floors would work, though they’d have to haul everything up there.
“Good morning.”
She turned to see her mother-in-law standing in the living room entryway. “Good morning. I hope you slept well.”
“Very well, thank you. I just made coffee. Would you care for some?”
“No thank you. I have to avoid too much caffeine.”
“Oh, of course, the baby. I just made muffins though, and they’re still warm. Come along to the kitchen.” Patricia turned toward the kitchen without waiting for a response.
Alanna followed her. Patricia’s attitude had done a major readjustment overnight, but she was wary of the sudden hospitality. “The muffins smell delicious.”
“Chocolate chip.” In the kitchen Patricia put one on a plate and carried it to the table. “Milk?”
“Yes, please.” Alanna accepted the muffin, then slid into a chair. She took a bite of the warm bread. “Very good.”
Patricia put a glass of milk in front of Alanna. “I want to apologize for my behavior last night. I was overtired and very rude. I do hope you’ll forgive me.”
“Of course,” Alanna said. “I understand.” In truth, Patricia’s attitude still puzzled her. She thought it best not to bring up the baby again.
“What are you going to do today?” Patricia asked with a bright smile. She sat across from Alanna and took a bite of her muffin.
“My mates are coming out to practice. Our tour starts in a few weeks, and we’re quite unprepared.” She took a sip of the cold milk. “I’m trying to figure out where we might practice. Somewhere that the sound doesn’t carry to the office. Barry is on a conference call.”
“I know just the place! The ballroom on the third floor would be perfect.”
“I’d thought of it, but we have quite a lot of equipment to haul up.”