“Do you remember the bookcase we built?” she asked.

His smile was slow but warm. “Of course. It’s in my office.”

He walked out, leaving Maggie with her spinning head.

“Maggie?”

She looked up and found Blaire standing in the doorway. “Listen, if you have a book deal or a surprise parental confession for me, I think I’ve already hit my quota,” Maggie told her.

Blaire smiled and took the chair next to her. “Dayana confessed everything to Silas and me outside. She’s vacillating between thinking she did exactly the right thing and worrying that she just ruined all the progress you two have made together.”

“She told you that?” Maggie was impressed.

Blaire pointed a finger at herself. “Therapist face. It makes people want to open up and spill all their secrets.”

“Thank you for coming to check on me,” Maggie said.

“I had to have Breonna put Silas in a choke hold to keep him out. I figured since you two haven’t had a chance to talk yet, him running in to confront your father wouldn’t be as helpful as he thought it would be.”

“Oh boy.” Maggie took another sip of her drink.

“Are you okay?”

Blaire was right. There was something about her face, the lack of judgment, the presence of sincere interest, that made Maggie want to spill her guts. But she owed those guts to Silas first.

“I am. At least I think so. It’s been an overwhelming party so far, and it’s not even dark yet.”

“Is that your mother?” Blaire asked, pointing to the photo on the mantel.

“It is. That picture is actually the reason I bought this place,” she confessed.

Blaire got up to look at it.

“She brought me here on a vacation when I was twelve. We were here for a week and had the time of our lives,” Maggie explained.

“Kinship has that effect on people,” Blaire said, picking up the frame and examining the picture more closely.

“We spent the whole week making up stories about the people who lived in the big house on the hill. I’ve always kept my eye on real estate here, and when this house came onto the market, I just knew. I guess it felt like one of those signs that Silas is always talking about.”

Blaire was still staring at the picture.

“Is everything okay?” Maggie asked. She really didn’t think she could deal with another crisis or revelation.

Blaire looked up, her smile bright and her eyes damp. “Oh, honey.”

46

46

“Don’t do anything stupid, Sy,” Dayana warned as Silas watched Sebastian Spencer step outside, hands in pockets, surveying the scene on the terrace.