Lila’s smile faltered, and tears rimmed her eyes. “That was very…kind of you.” She sniffed. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to cry. I’ve missed so much of her growing up because of my own foolishness, and now it’s cost me this very important part of her life. I’m sure you can imagine what it would be like if you had a daughter and she…and she…” She turned away, hid her face in her hand and let out a hard, shuddering sob.

Pandora bit her lip. She felt for Lila, and that wasn’t something she’d expected, but the woman was obviously hurting. Please let her be sincere and not trying to play games. “Maybe…we could do it together. I mean, I’d have to talk to Kaley. And Cole.”

Lila shook her head, and another small sob broke from her throat. “No, you’ve already set everything up and arranged it all. I don’t want to barge in and disrupt what you’ve put in place. I also can’t risk making Kaley mad at me.”

“It’s not like that. We haven’t even started yet.”

Lila sniffed. “So you’d let me be her mentor, then?” She put her hand to her throat. “I did not expect such generosity. You are amazing.” Then she reached out toward Pandora. “The bond of the sister witch is a wonderful thing.”

Pandora hadn’t exactly offered to let Lila be the mentor. But the woman was in a desperate way. And a sister witch. Sort of. They weren’t in the same coven. But Pandora didn’t want to be the reason things between Kaley and her mother got worse. Kaley could grow to resent Pandora for that. “How about I talk to Kaley about it?”

Lila blinked, and a tentative smile bent her mouth. “You mean it? That would be amazing. I can’t thank you enough.”

“No promises, now. But I’ll bring it up.”

Lila shot to her feet. “That’s all I can ask for. You’re such a good friend to do this. We can be friends, can’t we? That would mean so much to Kaley. Especially now that Cole’s agreed to let me have time with her. Please say yes.”

“I…sure, I guess.” Pandora had the feeling she’d been left out of something. “When did Cole agree to that?”

“This morning over coffee. He’s such a great guy, isn’t he?”

“Yes.” Pandora blinked. So Lila and Cole had been together before Lila had come here. Right before Cole had sent her that text.

“Thank you.” Lila pressed her hands together in front of her. “I won’t take another moment of your time. Blessed be.”

“Blessed be,” Pandora mumbled.

With that, Lila was gone.

Pandora stared after her as the jangling of bells above the door faded. She replayed the conversation in her head, trying to find the turning points and how they’d gotten to where they’d gotten. But all she could really come up with was that Lila seemed like a woman in pain and Pandora had done what any decent person would do. She’d given a mother a chance to reconnect with her child.

That was all good. Pandora knew that. And yet, she still wasn’t entirely sure she hadn’t just been manipulated. She felt a little like she had been, but at the same time, felt bad for thinking such a thing about Lila. Either way, there was an unsettled something lurking in the pit of her stomach. She needed to talk to Cole. She picked up the phone to call Cole, then put it back down again.

Some things were better discussed in person.

Cole had finally unearthed the dining room table from the piles of stuff covering it and was underneath it about to haul out another box when three hard raps sounded from the front door. “Just a minute,” he called out.

If this was Lila again, he was not letting her in. He got up, brushed his hands off and went to answer it.

“Hey, Pandora. This is a nice surprise.”

She brushed past him into the house. “I had a surprise today too, but I can’t say it was nice. I’m not sure what it was, really.”

He shut the door. “You want to explain? You seem flustered.”

“Your wife—sorry, ex-wife—has a way of doing that to me apparently.” She paced a few steps down the hall, then turned and came back toward him. “She came to see me at my office today.”

“She did what?” Cole was already suspicious of Lila after her visit this morning, but going to see Pandora? That was unnecessary. And an equation that didn’t add up. “What the hell did she want?”

Pandora shook her head, her jaw jutting to one side in clear frustration. “I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure she got it.”

He grabbed her shoulders to hold her in one spot for a moment. “You’re still not making much sense.”

She looked up. “The whole conversation was…” She squinted at him. “Did you cut your lip?”

“No, why?”

She circled her finger at his mouth. “You’ve got something red right there.”

He wiped at it, then looked at his hand. He groaned in disgust. “It’s lipstick. From Lila. She kissed me.”

Pandora jolted back. “She did what?”

He shook his head. “She kissed me. It was nothing. And it was completely unwanted. She read too deeply into me agreeing to let her come in to talk this morning. That’s how Lila is. Turns an inch into a mile.” He watched her expression. “Are you mad?”

Pandora crossed her arms. “That she kissed you? Hell yes. I don’t like it at all. But I’m mad at her, not you.”