But Nate had turned out to be just the kind of man I’d expected him to be. What I hadn’t seen coming was Kaden’s confession. The revelation of his family’s memory magic. It didn’t come as a shock.

More than anything, I felt vindicated.

I tapped my fingers against the table, wishing that if my daughter had to end up with a Bonner boy, she’d have chosen Kaden. I’d long sensed the boy’s feelings for Irene. It didn’t take an empath to see it, even if Irene had remained oblivious.

Maybe Nate had seen it, too. The thought made my blood boil as I started to piece things together.

“The lease is up on the land this year,” I said.

“How is that related to Nate cheating on me and making me forget about it?” Irene asked.

Across the table, Clem held a hand over her mouth, then mumbled from beneath her fingers, “You don’t think…”

Beside her, Kaden paled. “He went after Irene to make sure we didn’t lose the land.”

I nodded.

Petunias bloomed behind my daughter’s eyes, and the hum of cicadas started up outside. “He used me?” Irene asked. “For the land?”

“Now I’m really going to f—” Clem started. “Mess him up,” she finished.

Taylor winced, and Clem glanced at Quinn, who ran laughing through the room followed by a stream of dragonflies.

Nolan scooped Quinn up from the ground and settled her onto his lap.

“Not if I get to him first,” he said. He shook his head, and though his anger drew the cicadas, too, he spoke in soft tones and gently ran his fingers through Quinn’s curls. “I went to him when I found out he cheated on you.”

“You didn’t tell me,” Irene said.

“He offered me a bottle of the family reserve as a sort of apology. Fifteen-year.”

“And?” Irene asked.

“I mean, I took a drink,” he admitted. “It was the best bourbon I’ve ever tasted.”

“Nolan!” Taylor said. “After he cheated on your sister?”

“I told him to f—” He glanced down at his daughter. She looked up at him, eyes wide and mouth full of giggles. “I told him I did not accept his apology. He told me to forget about ever talking to him.”

“But you remember,” Kaden said.

Irene’s eyes widened. “Your immunity.”

“Guess it works on Bonner magic, too.”

Clem leaned forward, hands on the table. “We can totally use that to our advantage.”

Maura’s memory changed, and once again she stood in the same kitchen, alone, a few weeks later, just days before the bourbon festival.

The table should’ve been covered in harvest baskets. The coming weekend would mark the first Yarrow festival since Irene and Clem had opened up shop, and they’d invited me to sell my wares from a table out front.

Instead, we had work to do.