Maggie Moves On(93)
“On it,” he called, heading for the front door. Kevin and the kittens exploded past him.
He opened the door and barely restrained his dog from plowing through the screen into the visitor. A woman with short-cropped dark hair and an exasperated expression on her pretty face bounced a sobbing toddler on her hip.
“They’re friendly,” he promised as he held the screen open for her. “Come on in.”
After a slight hesitation, she stepped over the threshold.
“Kevin, sit.”
The dog sat and stared up at the stranger with adoration in his eyes. One of the kittens ran up his back and jumped, sinking its claws into Sy’s shorts. It was downright undignified.
“Kevin and Hot Landscaper Guy, right?” the woman said over the wails of the boy in her arms.
“That’s right,” he answered, holding the screen door open and shooing dog and cats outside. “What can I do for you?”
“Is Maggie around?” she asked.
The little boy spotted him and, with fat tears still rolling down his cheeks, reached for Silas. “Buddy, remember Stranger Danger?” she said with exasperation that tinged toward hysteria.
“Come on in,” Silas offered, deciding not to be offended about being called a dangerous stranger. “Do you want any coffee? Water?”
She shook her head. “Just tell her her sister is here.”
“Her sister,” he repeated. “Okay.” On the outside, he made sure he was downright amicable. On the inside, he was feeling a good mad coming on.
He took the stairs two at a time and found Maggie in the bedroom, pulling her daily work uniform of shorts and a tank top over her head.
She had the gall to smile at him and held up her phone.
“Hey! Just catching up on the Silas Wright fan club comments today. SlimShady100 wants to marry you and have your plant babies. Oh, and if you want, you can leave Kevin here today, since you’re heading to a new job. It’s gonna be pretty quiet around here.”
“No, it’s not.”
His tone caught her attention. “It’s not?” she asked.
“Not when the yelling starts.”
“What yelling?”
“Me yelling at you for not telling me you have a sister.”
She had the audacity to look confused by his anger. “A sister?” she repeated. “Wait. How do you know about Dayana?”
“Well, if Dayana is an attractive, exhausted mother of a toddler, then she’s here.”
Maggie stood abruptly. “Dayana is here?” Now she didn’t look surprised. She looked panicked.
“Why’d you lie to me, Maggie?” he asked, crossing his arms.
“I didn’t. I mean, not really. We’re half-sisters.”
“Well, she thinks she’s your sister, and she’s downstairs.”
She scrambled for shoes, eyes wider than the new cat food dishes in the kitchen. “Did she say what she wanted?”
“Not to make this all about me, but I’m a little bit annoyed that I introduced you to my entire family, showed you the skeletons in our closet, and you still lied about even having a sister and a nephew.”
“Keaton is here?” If her voice got any higher-pitched, Kevin was going to start howling in the yard. Silas stopped her when she tried to brush past him.
“Focus here, Mags. I’m trying to make this about me.” It was a joke, but he wasn’t feeling very funny.
She lost a bit of the terrified look and focused in on his face. She winced. “I’m so sorry, Silas. I don’t have much of a relationship with that side of my family. Dayana and my father—well, we have a complicated relationship.”
“I can handle complicated. I can’t handle lying by omission.”
She blew out a breath.
“I want the story, Mags. Sooner rather than later. And you’re not getting an ‘I don’t want to talk about it’ pass on this one.” He was hurt. And that annoyed him. By not only not confiding in him, but outright lying to him, she’d let Silas know she didn’t trust him. And that really fucking hurt.
She nodded. “I get it. I’m so sorry. I’ll make it up to you.”
“You damn well better,” he said, cramming his cap on his head. “Now, get your ass downstairs.”
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34
They walked down the stairs together in silence. Silas peeled off toward the kitchen, and a second later she heard the side door open and close. Maggie felt a wave of guilt crash over her as she made her way toward the front of the house.
“Takes a while to find the front door in a house this size, doesn’t it?” Dayana said with forced brightness. She was dressed impeccably as usual, in dove-gray capris and an expensive-looking ivory sweater. Her makeup was flawless, even though it wasn’t even eight in the morning. But the makeup didn’t hide the shadows under her red-rimmed eyes.
Dayana was not a cryer.
Not when she was thirteen and broke her arm falling off a horse at a competition. Not when her father introduced her to an older sister she never wanted. Not even when her parents’ divorce had become fodder for the news and gossip blogs.