Maura shook her head. “We’ll figure it out. Addison found what she stole from River in the soil. And apparently the garden gave it back to her. Then it started wilting. So she tried to give it her own pain.”

Irene’s aura bloomed from begonia (worry) to amaryllis (pride) to marjoram (happiness) all faster than Maura could blink.

“She’s finally coming into her magic,” Irene said.

“That’s your takeaway from all this?” Maura said. “If the Bonners find out, it’ll be one more thing they can use against us.”

“That’s why I wanted you to come in.” Irene sighed. “Addison should really be here for this.”

“You can try calling her, but she might not pick up. She left in a state.”

“Do not tell me you blamed her again for what happened in the garden,” Irene said.

“She took something from it. The garden reacted. It’s cause and effect, Irene.”

“You sound like… like…”

“Like my mother?” Kaden offered.

Clem and Taylor both studied their coffee.

Maura settled deeper into her chair. “I am nothing like Sylvia Bonner.”

“Seems to me like you want to be able to control Addison,” Kaden said.

“Sounds familiar,” Irene said.

“Well, you’ve been a bit too distracted,” Maura said to her daughter, and looked pointedly at Kaden.

“Do you even hear yourself?” Irene said.

Maura did hear herself, and she knew Irene was right. She crossed her arms and sighed. “Fine,” she said. “Maybe I took things too far with Addison.”

“And?” Irene asked.

“And I’m glad to see you so happy,” she said. “I’m on edge, and I’m just trying to protect Addison, but she won’t listen.”

“She would if she were here,” Irene said. “This thing with the shadow garden goes a lot deeper than Nate working with the mayor and the city manager.”

Maura leaned forward. “You found something?”

“Why else do you think we’ve been up all night?” Irene asked.

“You’ve been working on this all night and didn’t think to call? Why does everyone in this family insist on keeping things from me?”

“We’re telling you now,” Irene said.

“You sound like your daughter.”

“If you weren’t so convinced you were right all the time, maybe we’d pull you into things sooner,” Irene said.

“But I am right all the time.”

Irene arched an eyebrow.

Maura sighed. “Most of the time. I taught you and Addison everything you know!”

“And I’ve grown a lot and learned a lot on my own since then.”

“Like Addison,” Taylor added.