“Look!” she breathed, pointing up. He caught it as it streaked across the night sky before winking out of existence. A shooting star, bright and bold.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” he whispered.
“Do you think it’s a sign?” she asked.
“I most certainly do. I think your mom is here, looking down and feeling awfully proud,” he told her.
She nodded, eyes glistening. “Yeah?”
“And it looks like your dad’s here, too,” he said, leading Maggie to the side of the fountain where Sebastian stood, looking apart from everything.
He held Maggie’s hand out to the man. “Be good to her,” Silas warned.
When Sebastian Spencer toed off his trillion-dollar loafers and stepped into the fountain to dance with his daughter, Silas took it as another sign.
47
“Good morning,” Maggie sang as Dean, followed by Michael, slumped into the kitchen. “Who wants breakfast?”
Dean hissed at her and went straight for the coffeemaker. Michael eased himself onto one of the stools at the island and rested his forehead on the countertop. “Uhhhhhh,” he groaned.
She slid the last pancakes off the skillet and onto the plate. “We’ve got eggs—”
“I will vomit all over this kitchen,” Dean warned, slipping on a pair of sunglasses and taking the stool next to his boyfriend.
“Ugh. Make her stop,” Michael groaned.
“Pancakes, bacon, and hash browns,” she continued, undeterred.
“Morning, kids,” Silas said, entering the kitchen with his arms full of grocery bag totes. “I brought sports drinks, ibuprofen, and fixin’s for Bloody Marys.” Kevin and the kittens jogged into the room on his heels. They did a lap around the island before racing through the open terrace door.
“What kind of evil villain are you, expecting us to drink more?” Michael said to the countertop.
“Give me a sports drink and the pills, and nobody gets hurt,” Dean said, his face buried in a giant mug of black coffee.
“I’ll take a Bloody Mary,” Maggie chirped.
“Why are these monsters screaming?” Michael groaned.
“Did you get to retell them the good news yet?” Silas asked Maggie, leaning in to give her a kiss.
“Not yet,” she said, melting against him.
“Oh good. They made up,” Dean said dryly.
Michael raised his hood and pulled the strings so tight that only his nose and mouth were visible. “Yay.”
Dayana slunk into the room, a piece of paper stuck to her cheek, and moaned dramatically. “Has anyone seen Keaton?”
“I got this,” Silas said. He crossed to Maggie’s sister and peeled the paper off her face. “We left you a note last night. Your dad took Keaton to the inn for a sleepover.”
“Oh. Good. I didn’t dream that part,” Dayana said, shuffling toward the coffee.
“I’ve never been this hungover in my life,” Dean moaned.
“He says that every time,” Maggie told Silas.
“Why are we here and not hibernating for the ten months it’s going to take for me to feel normal again?” Michael rasped.
“Because these jerks have something ‘important’ they want to talk about,” Dean said.
Maggie started another pot of coffee while Silas took the bacon out of the oven.
“I hate everything,” Dayana rasped.
“The benefit to spending parties having sex instead of enjoying the open bar,” Silas whispered to Maggie.
“We’re so smart,” she told him. Her thumb found the band of the engagement ring, and she couldn’t hold back the smile.
Cody bopped into the room. “Hey, guys!”
“Get out!” they roared as one.
Maggie cut him off at the door. “Don’t listen to them, but do memorize their faces. This is what a hangover looks like after thirty.”
“It’s not pretty,” Cody observed.
“Come over here and say that to my withered, dehydrated face so I can throw up on your shoes,” Dean said.
“I’ll help,” Michael volunteered.
Cody grinned.
“Wait a minute. Shoes,” Dean said. “Something happened to my shoes last night.”
“You can dole out the sports drinks and headache meds,” Silas told Cody. “We’ve got a lot to talk about.”
“Knock knock!” a familiar voice called from the front of the house.
“Is that…？”
“It can’t be. He sounds too—”