wasn't her place to comment when she was put directly on the spot.
What do you think, Megan, dear?
Coco's unexpected question had Megan blinking.
Excuse me?
What do you think? You haven't told us. And you'd be the most qualified, after all.
Qualified?
It's an account book,
Coco pointed out.
You're an accountant.
Somehow, the logic in that defeated Megan.
It's really none of my business,
she
began, and was drowned out by a chorus of reasons why it certainly was.
Well, I...
She looked around the table, where all eyes were focused on her.
I imagine it
would be an interesting memento and it's kind of fascinating to review bookkeeping from so long ago. You know, expenses, and wages for the staff. It might be interesting to see how it adds up, what the income and outgo was for your family in 1913.
Of course!
Coco clapped her hands.
Why, of course it would. I was thinking about you last night, Meg, while I was casting my runes. It kept coming back to me that you were to take on a project one with numbers.
Aunt Coco,
C.C. said patiently,
Megan is our accountant.
Well, I know that, darling.
With a bright smile, Coco patted her hair.
So at first I
didn't think much of it. But then I kept having this feeling that it was more than that.
And I'm sure, somehow, that the project is going to lead to something wonderful.
Something that will make all of us very happy. I'm so pleased you're going to do it.
Do it?
Megan looked helplessly at her brother. She got a flash of a grin in return.
Study Fergus's book. You could even put it all on computer, couldn't you? Sloan's told us how clever you are.
I could, of course, but
She was interrupted by the cry of a baby through the monitor on the sideboard.
Bianca?
Max said.
Ethan,
C.C. and Lilah said in unison.
And the meeting was adjourned.
What exactly, Megan wondered later, had she agreed to do? Somehow, though she'd barely said a word, she'd been placed in charge of Fergus's book. Surely that was a family matter.
She sighed as she pushed open the doors to her terrace and stepped outside. If she stated that obvious fact, in the most practical, logical of terms, she would be patted on the head, pinched on the cheek and told that she was family and that was all there was to it.
How could she argue?
She took a deep breath of the scented night air, and all but tasted Suzanna's freesias and roses. She could hear the sea in the distance, and the air she moved through was moist and lightly salty from it. Stars wheeled overheard, highlighted by a three-quarter moon, bright as a beacon.
Her son was dreaming in his bed, content and safe and surrounded by people who loved him.
Dissecting Fergus's book was a small favor that couldn't begin to repay what she'd
been given.
Peace of mind. Yes, she thought, the Calhouns had opened the gates to that particular garden.
Too charmed by the night to close it out and sleep, she wandered down the curving stone steps to drift through the moon-kissed roses and star-sprinkled peonies, under an arbor where wisteria twisted triumphantly, raining tiny petals onto the path.
'She was a phantom of delight when first she gleamed upon my sight.'