Alice could tell from the way Maggie was looking at her that she thought it strange Alice was persisting in this line of questioning. Maggie wasn’t lying. She really didn’t know. Wow, so Alice was in possession of a piece of information that Maggie didn’t have. First time in a while, maybe ever. It felt good, and Alice decided to keep feeling good a little longer, decided not to share with Maggie. “What about da—Phil?” she said. “Did he know whose daughter I was?”

“Not until I told him I was leaving him for Richard. He never knew Richard and I were a couple. I mean, he didn’t really work at the bar, was just in and out a couple nights a week, so . . .” She let her voice trail off.

“So he was a perfect sucker,” Alice finished for her.

Maggie shrugged, nodded. “The truth was, he wasn’t as good a father as you thought. He never really earned a dime, could hardly support us. And you girls were going to be heading off to college soon. Richard could provide you with so much.”

“Right, because money’s the only thing a father can give his child.”

“It’s not the only thing, but it’s a big thing.”

Alice looked over at Maggie. Her mouth was curling up into that self-pleased smile again. Seeing it, Alice felt a dull, deep rage burning inside her. Without another word, she turned, began walking out of the garden.

Maggie’s voice stopped her: “You’re not going to tell Charlie, are you?”

“Of course I am,” Alice said, although she hadn’t thought about it until that second.

“I’m asking you not to.”

“Why? So you can play her for the fool even longer?”

“So I can tell her myself.” There was a throb of silence, and then Maggie said, “Please, sweetheart, let me be the one to tell her.”

Alice heard the begging note in her mother’s voice, and when she did, she understood that her mother was at her mercy. Alice liked that idea. The tables were finally turning. “No,” she said simply.

“It would be cruel.”

Alice snorted. “You’d know all about that. Not too eager for a taste of your own medicine, I see.”

The smile was gone from Maggie’s face now, and tears were in her eyes as she reached out a hand to touch Alice’s cheek. “Cruel not just to me, to Charlie as well.”