Darkness before the Dawn
smiled his best smile at Maggie, bringing all his perfect teeth into play. “Maggie, how are you? You look terrific.”
    She stood still for the wet-mouthed embrace she knew was coming. Brian had an almost pathological disregard for the trouble he caused. Not for one moment did he consider that the mudslinging custody battle he’d initiated dimmed his welcome from his ex-sister-in-law. Rudeness on her part didn’t make it sink in; ignoring him didn’t help, either. So Maggie stood still and let him reach up and slobber on her chin. She moved away as soon as his grip had slackened.
    “What do you want, Brian?” Kate demanded from her post by the doorway. “We’re going back to court on Friday. Don’t you think this is an odd time for a social call?”
    “It isn’t a social call. I came to see my daughter,” he said with quiet dignity that he’d perfected long before.
    “Tough. You can’t see her till this is settled. You know that perfectly well. I don’t want her in the middle of this mess.”
    “You always were a little pedant, Kate,” he said. “I miss Chrissie. Can’t you loosen up just long enough for me to say hi?”
    “Chrissie’s not here,” Maggie said, noting the look of panic that briefly swept through Kate’s clear brown eyes. “We took her to the baby-sitter’s so we could have a chance to talk.”
    “Why can’t you talk with the baby around?” Brian asked with a suspicious tone in his voice.
    Maggie stared at him, a chilly, savage stare that had always intimidated Brian and did so now. “Because I needed to talk about … Mack—” She deliberately let her voice break. “And we didn’t think Chrissie needed to see her aunt Maggie so upset. You know she cries when other people cry.”
    Brian looked at her skeptically. “Come off it, Maggie. Superwomen don’t cry.”
    Francis Ackroyd almost got company in the refrigerator. Maggie felt her hands clench into fists, but she stood very still and let the rage wash over her and through her. “Good-bye, Brian,” she said calmly.
    “Aren’t you going to offer me a drink?” he demanded.
    “No,” Kate snapped.
    “I’m thirsty, Kate. Don’t be such a bloody bitch.”
    “No.”
    He glared at the two of them. “I’ll get it myself. I used to live here, remember?” And he started for the kitchen.

two
     
    Maggie considered a flying tackle, then rejected the notion. Brian didn’t need any encouragement—he was already slightly suspicious. But there was no way she could keep him out of the kitchen, short of brute force.
    Kate cast her a panicked, beseeching look. “Do something!” she hissed. “Brian likes lots of ice!”
    “Damn.” Maggie raced after her ex-brother-in-law. Kate was close on her heels.
    Brian was at the sink—the sink that still bore traces of the milk and juice hastily dumped from the emptied refrigerator. He was drawing a glass of water. Maggie breathed a sigh of relief—one that strangled in midbreath as he turned and headed directly for the refrigerator.
    Kate made a muffled sound of anguish as Brian shoved the glass into the outside compartment that set the ice machine in motion. Three cubes plopped into his glass—each one was a death knell. Then he gestured toward the chair holding the refrigerator door closed. “What’s wrong with the door?”
    “The gasket is broken,” Maggie said swiftly. Kate stood in mute panic. “The door swings open and everything gets frosted. Don’t worry about it, Brian—the repairman’s coming tomorrow.”
    “I would have thought that a wonder like you could fix anything,” he drawled. Maggie stared at him stonily.
Maybe he’d fit in the freezer.
    “I don’t claim to be perfect, Brian,” she said. “But I do happen to possess an ordinary amount of sensitivity, unlike you. You aren’t wanted here. You’ve started a vicious custodysuit against my sister, one that will do nothing but hurt your child, and you don’t give a damn. You show up here expecting to

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