I sat silently for a few moments and let it all sink in. Suddenly all the gossip in town and nervousness about the Drake family made a horrible sort of sense. “No wonder no one talks about Rebecca…or any of this. It’s ghastly.”
“Our family has fought hard to be strong, healthy and whole since that day, Maggie.” Julian paused, straightening his tie slightly. “We—Duncan, myself, and Dad—had made great strides too. That is until Leilah came to live with us.”
I blinked. “There’s more?”
“Yes. Leilah has caused all sorts of problems.” Julian nodded. “The worst had to do with Holly Bishop.”
“What happened?” I asked, reaching for his hand across the desk. “What did Leilah do?”
He took my offered hand and held it. “Leilah was spoiled by her mother and she has an inflated sense of entitlement. In the simplest of terms, she uses her magick to bully her way through life.”
“I could see that after meeting her yesterday.” I nodded. “She told me to leave town.”
Julian rolled his eyes. “She’s just jealous.”
“Of what?”
“Your place here with the family.”
“Hmmm,” I thought about how she’d acted toward me. “So Leilah’s a mean girl—when it comes to magick?”
“Basically, yes. She and Holly have a long history.” Julian told me the story of how, when Holly was still in high school, she’d used magick to take on Leilah. “But Holly lost her temper, and her magick spun horribly out of control,” he explained. “After that episode, Holly abjured her powers for years.”
“I can completely understand her decision,” I said, feeling sympathy for my cousin. While I’d never personally lost control of my magick, I knew all too well how destructive of a force it could be…Which was why, in order to live a normal life, I’d cut myself off from it.
Julian continued with his story. “Leilah decided that after Holly came back to William’s Ford, the time had come to take her revenge.”
The newspaper article about Holly, I recalled as my stomach rolled over. “Would that revenge have anything to do with Holly being attacked at the antique store?”
“You heard about that?” He wanted to know.
I nodded. “After Leilah crashed the wedding, Diego made a comment to me about there being bad blood between Holly and Leilah. On a hunch I did an internet search yesterday, and read the newspaper article about Holly being injured during a robbery at the local store.”
“It was Leilah,” Julian said, letting go of my hand. “Holly refused to use her magick to stop Leilah, and my half-sister took full and brutal advantage of that.”
“God almighty,” I managed.
Julian rubbed his hand across his forehead. “I was the one who broke things up before it got any worse.”
“You were there?”
“Maybe it was fate,” Julian mused. “I was basically in the right place at the right time. I pulled Leilah off of Holly, threw her out of the antique store, and called for an ambulance.”
“Poor Holly,” I said. “How badly was she injured?”
“She had cuts, bruised ribs, and a concussion.” Julian’s voice was grim. “You may have noticed a small scar along her left eye.”
I got this sudden cognitive pop in my mind—an inner knowing. My solar plexus tightened, confirming the information. “That’s when you two began to fall in love with each other, wasn’t it? When you rescued her from Leilah.”
Julian didn’t even flinch. He steepled his fingers and blandly stared at me, neither confirming or denying my question.
CHAPTER TEN
I put my hands in my lap and sat back in my chair. “I accidentally saw y’all in the gardens together, on the night of the bridal shower.”
“I see.” The tiniest of smiles hovered on Julian’s lips. “So that’s why you goaded me into asking her to dance at the wedding yesterday.”
“I prefer the term encouraged.” I smiled and tossed my hair over one shoulder.
Julian shook his head. “I’m sure you do.”
“So long as we’re being honest with each other,” I began, “I did mention to Nina that I’d seen you two together. She told me that your relationship was secret.”
“I see.”
“I’ve kept quiet about that,” I said. “Although, frankly, Julian, I can’t see what business it is of anyone’s, who you’re involved with…”
“Her family would never approve of the two of us together. I don’t imagine my father would either.”
“Why?” I demanded. “Autumn is a Bishop, and Thomas approves of her and Duncan being together.”
“That’s different,” Julian said. “Plus, Holly and I work together. She’s my assistant. If our relationship became public knowledge there would be backlash at the museum.”
“Pfft.” I rolled my eyes. “People who work together, date, and fall in love all the time.”
“Stop and consider everything I’ve told you about the family and our history with the Bishops.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but I stopped and considered what he’d said. “Alright.” I nodded. “Maybe, I can see the reason for keeping your relationship quiet, but secrets have a way of coming out. Whether we want them to or not.”
“We’ve been discreet,” Julian insisted.
“Maybe not as much as y’all thought. Because Autumn and Duncan know.”
“What?” Julian frowned.
“They’ve known for a while and have stayed silent.” I reached out and took his hand again, giving it a friendly squeeze. “I think, Julian, that you and Holly have more allies than you realize.”
“Perhaps.” Julian gave my fingers a squeeze in return. “So,” he said in a totally different tone of voice. “How did your date with Wyatt go last night?”
I withdrew my hand from his, and scowled. “How did you know?”
“Oh…so we can discuss my love life but not yours?” He teased. “Fine, fine…I see how it is.”
“It wasn’t a formal date,” I insisted. “He brought dinner over to the cottage, and we spent some time together.”
“Aaaaand?” Julian drug out the word.
“And that’s it.” I folded my arms. “We’re in the ‘getting to know each other’ stage. I think it’s best to take things slow.”
“How did Wyatt feel about
