Maggie Moves On(129)

“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—”

“Cheerful?”

“Human.”

Wallace poked his head into the kitchen. His mustache twitched when he got a look at them all. “What the hell happened to all of you?”

Maggie held up her hand. “Sy and I got engaged.”

“I remember that part,” Wallace huffed.

“You did?” Michael sounded confused.

“Congratulations. We’ll celebrate later,” Dean offered.

“Much later,” Dayana agreed.

“Sounds like a real Campbell party,” Wallace said, rubbing his palms together.

“What’s with this guy?” Dean demanded. “Where’s his snarly face and mean stage whispers?”

“Maybe he got some,” Silas suggested.

All of the heads, including the hungover ones, whipped up to study Wallace’s face. He wasn’t smiling, but his perpetual frown was absent.

“Florence?” Maggie asked gleefully.

Wallace schooled his features into his usual disdain. “A gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell.”

“Yes, we do,” Silas, Dean, Michael, and Cody said together.

“Let’s table this and focus on what’s important,” Maggie said.

“We get it. You guys are engaged. I’ll be happy for you three days from now when I’m sure my head isn’t going to snap off my neck,” Dayana groaned.

“I’m talking about the fact that we are pretty certain that A. Campbell was actually Ava Campbell, who is not a descendant of some wealthy European family but is in fact Anna Potter, granddaughter of Bowman Potter, one of the men who robbed the stagecoach in Dead Man’s Canyon,” Maggie announced. “Anna allegedly disappeared in Dead Man’s Canyon when she went looking for the gold. Only, I think she didn’t disappear. I think she came out of the canyon with the gold and a new name.”

It didn’t get the reaction she’d hoped for. Silas handed her a Bloody Mary to make up for it.

“Good for her,” Dayana murmured into her coffee with zero enthusiasm.

“Is there a reason for your theories or are you currently drunk?” Dean asked.

“Well, as you all know, it started with the gold coin in the mantel. It happens to match the only other recovered coin from the coach robbery,” Maggie said.

“Yeah. Fast-forward beyond that,” Dayana said.

“In the secret room, we found some clues—including an unfinished manuscript in Ava’s handwriting—that hinted at her being the famous A. Campbell instead of her husband,” Maggie continued.

“That’s cool,” Cody said, helping himself to a plate of food and shoveling it into his face.

“We were also able to trace Bowman Potter’s lineage forward and found an overlap with Ava Campbell’s descendants. We’re waiting for some of that DNA testing for confirmation,” Wallace put in.

“Does anyone else think the earth is spinning faster today?” Michael asked.

“Maybe you should tell them the part about Ava only taking half the treasure and leaving the rest,” Silas suggested.

That perked them up.

Dayana raised her face out of her coffee mug. “Huh?”

“Are you saying there’s half of a treasure out there in some canyon?” Dean asked wearily.

“Yes!” Maggie said. “From what we can surmise, Anna worked as a lady’s maid for a wealthy family in Boise. Her grandfather Bowman must have left a clue or told her where the gold was. Because in 1895, she was reported missing by the local newspaper after a young woman matching her description told fellow stagecoach passengers that she was going on a treasure hunt. We think she not only found the gold, but that she took half of it, reinvented herself, and met Aaron Campbell shortly after.”