Page 28 of Any Luck at All

“Are youkiddingme?” Georgie demanded. “Grandpa Beau gaveusthe brewery and his house, not Dad.” When Lee looked away, Georgie narrowed her eyes. “I suspect he’d want all four shares of the money, or at least the three from us.”

Adalia gaped at her brother. “You’re really planning on giving everything to Dad?”

Lee put a hand on her arm. “It’s for an investment, Addy.”

Her face hardened and she jerked her arm away. “No.”

Confusion washed over Lee’s face. “What do you mean no?”

“I mean no. I’m not giving him a dime.” She turned to Georgie with fire in her eyes. “But I still vote to sell. You have to get rid of it, Georgie.”

Get rid of it.The words sent a pang of pain through Georgie’s chest. Because despite her initial trepidation, she had seen the brewery through her grandfather’s eyes. And River’s. It was a living, breathing entity, just waiting to spring back to life. The brewery wasn’t a building full of equipment to sell off. It was her grandfather’s legacy. It was the Buchanan siblings’ future, whether they recognized it or not.

“Grandpa Beau wanted us to keep it,” Georgie said. “He wanted us to run it together.”

“Then he was a fool,” Lee said. “I have a high-six-figure job. I live in New York City. I’m not moving to Asheville to make beer.”

“I have a life too,” Adalia said. “And friends. And my art. What is it you expect me to do?”

“You don’t have to live here if you don’t want to,” Georgie said. “Jack and I will run it.”

“You don’t know the first thing about running a brewery, Georgie,” Lee pointed out again. “And from the sounds of it, neither does Jack. And you’re going to give up your life in Boston and move toAsheville?” He said Asheville as though it were a trash dump.

“If you knew anything about my life, you’d know that I have nothing to do at the moment, and I hate standing still. I’ve been looking for my next project, and I’ve decided this is it.” She leaned closer to the table. “But most of all, Grandpa Beau thought I could do this, and I don’t want to disappoint him.”

“News flash,” Lee said. “You can’t disappoint the old man because he’s dead.”

She cringed at him calling their grandfatherold man. “He trusted me with his brewery. And Jack and I are going to make it great.” Her brow lifted. “Plus, we hired a brewmaster who’s going to put Buchanan Brewery back on the map.”

“You already hired someone?” Adalia asked. “Without consulting us? You can’t do that, Georgie. We’reselling.”

“We’renotselling,” Georgie said, infusing authority into her tone. “And yes, Jack and I hired him together. You and Lee can be silent partners, and we’ll work out how we’ll deal with the profits when we start making them. For now, Jack, River, and I will work on rehabbing it together. And Lee, when we start paying you your share of the profits, if you want to give your share to Dad, be my guest, but I’m keeping mine and so is Adalia.”

Lee looked like he was about to have a stroke. “You can’t do this, Georgie.”

“I can and I will.” She was so furious with her brother it took everything in her to not wring his neck. “You say you’re proud of me because I built Moon Goddess from nothing and sold it for five million, but you never thought I could make it work.” She stabbed the table with her index finger. “I took an idea and made it into a multimillion-dollar business. I can do the same with our grandfather’s brewery.” Tears burned her eyes. “Foronce, Lee, I wish you’d have just alittle bitof faith in me.”

Regret washed over his face. “Georgie.”

She sucked in a breath and gave him the best resting bitch face she could muster. “Jack and I both want to do this, and Grandpa Beau wrote his will so that only one of us had to want it. I don’t need your blessing or your help. Call me stupid for wanting it anyway.”

“It’s going to take a lot of work, Georgie,” he said, his voice soft.

“I’m not afraid of hard work,” she said. “If you’d seen any part of me building Moon Goddess, you’d know that.”

He grimaced. “Ouch.” Then he added, “but I suppose I deserve that.”

“I can do this, Lee,” she said earnestly.

He studied her for a moment. Then a soft smile spread across his face. “If anyone can, it’s you.”

“You’re giving her your blessing?” Adalia asked in disbelief. “What about Dad?”

Something flickered in Lee’s eyes, but it was gone too quickly for Georgie to register what it might have been. “Dad should know by now how headstrong Georgie is. He’ll just have to get over it.”

“You’re really agreeing to this?” Adalia asked.

Lee’s face broke into a huge grin. “Yep. The Buchanan siblings own a brewery. What would Mom think of us now?”

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