Boise Banner: AUTHOR A. CAMPBELL’S BOURBON DREAMS LANDS ON BESTSELLERS LIST AFTER RESURGENCE IN INTEREST

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They walked down the stairs together in silence. Silas peeled off toward the kitchen, and a second later she heard the side door open and close. Maggie felt a wave of guilt crash over her as she made her way toward the front of the house.

“Takes a while to find the front door in a house this size, doesn’t it?” Dayana said with forced brightness. She was dressed impeccably as usual, in dove-gray capris and an expensive-looking ivory sweater. Her makeup was flawless, even though it wasn’t even eight in the morning. But the makeup didn’t hide the shadows under her red-rimmed eyes.

Dayana was not a cryer.

Not when she was thirteen and broke her arm falling off a horse at a competition. Not when her father introduced her to an older sister she never wanted. Not even when her parents’ divorce had become fodder for the news and gossip blogs.

“You’d know,” Maggie said, trying for teasing. The house her half-sister had grown up in had been even bigger. Her current house, one Maggie had never been to, had similar square footage.

“Hi!” Keaton, the three-year-old, was waving violently at Maggie, oblivious to how his mom’s face crumpled for a moment.

“Hey, buddy,” Maggie said, waving back. He reached for her, and not knowing what else to do, she took him. “Is everything okay?” she asked Dayana, bouncing the squirming little boy on her hip. He had his mother’s and grandfather’s dark hair. But where Dayana had the cool blue eyes of her Swedish mother, Maggie was surprised to recognize her own brown eyes on the boy’s sweet face. She hadn’t seen him since he was a baby.

When Dayana looked up again, it was with a tight jaw and fire in her eyes. “No. Everything is most definitely not okay.”

“You’d better come on back,” Maggie said, gesturing toward the hall. “Let’s get some coffee.”

As if on cue, Kevin nosed his way back into the house through the screen door, holding it open long enough for the kittens to scamper inside. They were followed by a long-legged, pissed-off landscaper. With his hat on backward.

Even mid–family crisis, Maggie’s lady parts took a moment to hum the “Hallelujah” chorus. The man had one hell of a hold on her, and it wasn’t lessening at all due to the amount of time they’d spent naked together.

Realizing she was thinking carnal thoughts while juggling her nephew, Maggie thought about paint swatches and grout.

Silas assessed the situation and then grinned at the little boy, who was overjoyedly waving to him.

“If you two don’t mind, I’ll take Keaton here for a tour. Rumor has it the plumbing crew just showed up with doughnuts,” Sy volunteered.