Clem glanced from Maura to Irene and Kaden, and then to Taylor. “Okay, let’s go. See you, Maura.”

Irene pulled open the passenger door to her truck when Maura called out, “You know you’ll have to see me at home!”

She shouted back, “Not if I don’t come inside!” Then she crawled into the cab of the truck.

Clem climbed into the driver’s side and the engine roared to life. “Well, that was fun.”

Irene leaned her head against Clem’s shoulder. “I really screwed that up, didn’t I?”

“Your mom was worse.”

“That’s not a no,” Irene said, and she dropped her head in her hands.

“At least you didn’t throw up while giving a speech at your abusive father’s funeral,” Kaden said. “Is there anything in here I can use to rinse my mouth out?”

Irene reached under the seat and pulled out an almost-empty bottle of bourbon.

“That’s the last thing I need,” Kaden said, but he popped off the lid and took a pull anyway. Then he rolled down the window and spit it out. He looked at the bottle again, shrugged, and took another drink. “Now what?”

Irene groaned. “Now I want to go to sleep and pretend none of this ever happened.”

Kaden leaned his head back against the seat. “Yes.”

“But first, I need to look at the garden. If Addison’s right…” Irene didn’t finish the sentence, because she didn’t want to think it through to the end.

Chapter 20

Irene

Clem and Kaden dropped Irene off at home before heading into town to pick up takeout. As soon as Irene got out of the truck, she went around back. The garden rose up before her, the gloom hanging a little heavier over the plants.

She made her way to the hedge of rosemary where Addison had cut the herbs for the funeral, taking a sprig between her fingers. The shrub had started to turn gray at the tips, and when she rubbed the leaves, they crumbled into dust. It was as if the plant had poured all its magic into the harvest and had nothing left to give.

Irene’s eyebrows drew together. It would explain what had happened at the funeral, why the magic had hit everyone in one big burst, then dried up almost as quickly as it came—a sort of cry for help.

She fell to her knees in the dirt and plunged a hand deep into the soil, looking for whatever Addison had found there. “What is it?” she asked the plants. “What did you show her?” She closed her eyes, tried to imagine what it would feel like to receive a vision, but nothing appeared.