Addison looked first at Maura’s, then at Irene’s. Then she set her own cup on the table and turned it over. It matched the first two, leaf for leaf.

“Are things with my magic ever going to stop getting worse?” Addison asked.

Maura wondered the same, though she didn’t speak it aloud.

“What if the shadow garden isn’t able to recover?” Addison asked.

“Then the universe has something else in store for us,” Maura said, trying to believe the words herself. “Still, maybe we’d be better off skipping the dinner tonight and getting started on trying to fix the garden.”

But Addison shook her head. “You’re not getting out of it that easy, Grams.”

Maura sighed. It’d been worth a shot.

Chapter 26

Kaden

The fireflies arrived with the sun. They floated through air thick with humidity and anticipation, their flashing only just visible against the morning gloom as people filled the streets of downtown from the square to the distillery. Booths lined the sidewalks, each offering a little piece of Yarrow for the tourists to take home. Children followed after their parents, sucking on bourbon-flavored lollypops or picking at bags full of smoky kettle corn.

“You know,” Kaden said as he walked, his fingers threaded through Irene’s, “I actually missed this.”

“That’s because the festival is amazing,” Addison said.

“Is this the same daughter I raised?” Irene asked.

“Don’t pretend you don’t love it,” Addison said. “You give me money to buy you a funnel cake every year.”

She held her plate out to both of them, and Kaden pinched off a piece. It hit his tongue the way only grease and cinnamon could.

“It’s not just the food,” Kaden said. “When I was younger, I loved the memory harvest. It felt like my family was doing something more than just making and selling bourbon.”

“Are you going to participate?” Addison asked.

Kaden shook his head. “It’s going to be a long time before I touch bourbon again.”

Irene laughed and tore off a chunk of the funnel cake. “Fine,” she admitted. “The festival isn’t all bad. I mean, other than the gloom. And the Bonners.”

Kaden pointed at himself and mouthed, Me?

Irene rolled her eyes. “The other Bonners. I can’t believe I let the two of you talk me into this.”

After rescuing them with Irene’s hangover cure yesterday, Addison had suggested they all attend the festival together. Though Kaden still felt uncomfortable around his mother, he hadn’t been able to resist the nostalgia.

“If your new boyfriend—”

“He is not my boyfriend,” Irene said, though she gripped Kaden’s hand tighter and grinned at him.

“—is planning to get to know Yarrow again, then the festival is the perfect place to start.” Addison popped a piece of funnel cake in her mouth and said, “Come on, lovebirds.”