Spence blinked owlishly at the flask, and I realized he was drunker than I’d thought. He carried it well, I had to give him that. I held the flask out, my heart hammering, willing him to make this easy. But he shook his head. I paused, surprised and instantly afraid. I’d never seen Spence turn down a drink, least of all a truly high-end bourbon.

“I better not. Was I really out of line with her?”

“Yes,” I said truthfully, before I could think better of it. Telling him the truth was the wrong way to get him to keep drinking.

“Shit. It’s been a day. I had to meet with Charlotte and her lawyer, and she’s being an unmitigated bitch.” His mouth crumpled. His eyes looked wet. “Divorce is the worst damn thing. You don’t know. You and Trey are lucky.”

I wanted to scream at him as he rambled that no, we weren’t. I wanted to pinch his nose shut until his mouth popped open and I could pour the bourbon in.

Instead I shrugged, casual. “It’s a party. Forget about it. I bet she already has. She was drinking, too. Here, hold out your glass.” I started unscrewing the cap.

He waved it away. “I really better not. I think I’m in bad shape, and I have yet to check in on half my clients. God. I better get to it. People are going to start leaving soon.” He shook his head, then moved to go past me.

“Wait,” I said, desperate. I grabbed his arm. “Want to sober up, fast? I can help with that. I have these pills . . .” The lie came out of nowhere.

“I need some food. And maybe a cup of coffee.” He was trying to pull loose.

I shook my head, kept my hand on his arm. “These pills work so much faster. Charcoal pills.”

That got his interest. “Charcoal pills? I think I’ve heard of that. Is it a prescription?”

“No, of course not. It’s more like a vitamin. You can get them at CVS.” I traded the flask for the pill bottle and rattled the capsules for him, careful to keep my hand over the label. “They line your stomach. They’re for if your kid accidentally takes too much medicine or eats a Tide Pod.”

This was true. I still had some at home, left over from when Peyton was a toddler on a mission to find something poisonous and shove it into her little pink mouth. Activated charcoal came in capsules much like the ones in the bottle. They were black instead of blue, but it was dark. If he ever saw a real charcoal pill, it wouldn’t look that different.