She went back again. Further still. And remembered.
This river. Her mother’s laugh coming from behind her as they wrestled against the current in a tandem kayak. The sun hot on her face and the cool spray of the water as it spilled over the rocks in front of them. Maggie had been temporarily terrified as the current careened them toward the shelf of rocks.
“Mom!”
“Just hang on, Mags! Don’t try to control it. This is where it gets fun!” her mom had called back.
They’d shot right between two of the biggest boulders Maggie had ever seen in her life, which to be fair, growing up in Seattle hadn’t exposed her to many boulders.
There was a second of weightlessness as the water carried them over and through. And then that tickle in her belly as they dropped. Landing with a splash and a whoop. She’d felt free as she listened to her mother’s damp laughter.
Her heart ached with the memory. She hadn’t had enough time with her mom to make up for the hateful teenage years. To reassure her mom that, no matter how painful the choice had been, she’d made the right one.
“Miss you, Mom,” Maggie whispered up to the blue, blue sky.
How much would she miss Silas? The thought came out of nowhere. If she stuck with her plan, if she sold the Old Campbell Place and moved on, how would she feel about packing up and driving away from Silas Wright?
She could picture it—the man, the myth, the pain in her ass getting smaller in her rearview mirror as she drove toward…what?
Just what was she really looking for?
What was around the next corner that was going to be better than Silas?
What about Dayana and Keaton? They’d gotten comfortable in their temporary arrangement. Would they go back to Seattle? Would Dayana hire help and go back to work between appointments with her attorney and battles over the prenup?
And Wallace. The man was still a grump by anyone’s standards, but he’d found a purpose with her, with the mystery of the Campbells. What would he have when she was gone?
Cody, too. He said he’d come with her, and that could work. But was it what he really wanted? He’d grown up in Kinship. He’d fallen in love in Kinship. He’d found his place there. Was he just choosing her because he felt he owed her? Like Dean had.
What if?
Maggie let her self drift and daydream a bit. Playing with what it would feel like to go. Weighing what it would mean to stay. To wake up every morning in that big, beautiful bed in that big, beautiful house on the bluff.
Would she be rolling over to kiss Silas good morning? This thing between them was so new. How could she be sure it would last? That these past few months were a foundation for something completely different?
Maybe she could figure this out if she treated the situation like she was trying to decide between two houses on the market. Weigh the pros and cons. Do the research. Make the right choice.
Again she thought of the jump, the free fall.
She floated drowsily, basking in the sun and silence. Going with the literal flow.
The hero of the A. Campbell book she was reading shimmered into her consciousness. Cody had written his English essay on Canyon Secrets. In it, the good-hearted bandit who found the gold only took half, hoping that another worthy soul would find the rest.
Something sparkled in her brain, and Maggie sat up. She thought about the secret room. The pipe. The news clippings and photos. There was something there that she’d missed. Something important.
But before she could focus in on it, a rock outcropping caught her eye. It had been spray-painted yellow and orange, neon colors that stood out from the vibrant green everywhere else. Sloppy block letters spelled out JEB’S PULL OUT. MORE THAN A BIRTH CONTROL METHOD.
There, on the concrete ramp, stood a hipshot Silas Wright. Arms folded across his chest. Legs braced apart like he was ready for a fight. And there was that stomach drop. She’d almost gotten so used to feeling it every time she saw him that she didn’t bother defining it for what it was.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” she muttered to herself as she paddled in the direction that she’d gone and fallen in love with.
42
Silas regarded Maggie with suspicion as the truck bumped down the lane. The woman hadn’t swung at him with paddle or fist. Instead, she’d kissed him hard and fast right there on the boat launch and then remained eerily silent on the drive back to the house.
She seemed more relaxed than when he’d dragged her out this morning. Her shoulders were no longer rubbing her ears. But she appeared to be lost in thought and kept shooting searching looks in his direction, like she was trying to figure out a puzzle.