Page 35 of Any Luck at All

Morebad news?

Josie flinched from him, reaching for her energetic necklace, and went to sit on her stool.

Since no good could come of them standing in the middle of this mess for what had every hallmark of a difficult conversation, River said, “Come on, let’s sit at one of the tables in the tasting room while we talk. I’ll grab a pitcher of water from behind the bar.”

“Like aunt, like nephew,” Georgie said softly, giving him a little smile even though she still looked shell-shocked, both from whatever had clearly happened before their meeting and from the mess.

“Sure, fine, whatever,” Jack said, stalking off and claiming a seat at the nearest picnic-style table. Josie followed, bubbles sticking to her clogs, and took the farthest possible seat from his position. Georgie closed the door on the mess and went to sit beside Josie, probably trying to make her more comfortable, while River filled up a pitcher behind the bar (one of two in the space) and grabbed a stack of pint glasses.

He took a quick gauge of the situation, and after setting down the water and glasses—he wouldn’t pull a full Aunt Dottie; anyone who wanted one could take one—sat down across from Georgie.

“…I thought they’d all pop by the time you got here,” Josie was saying. “I danced around and tried to pop them, but there were just too many.”

“And how’d there come to be so many bubbles?” Georgie spoke with an understanding tone, although he could see the strain on her face. Jack wasn’t attempting to hide his poor mood.

“Sounds a lot like sabotage,” he sneered, looking right at River as he said it.

“No,” Josie said. “Or not intentionally. He was just really, really drunk. He’s actually still in the back. I let him lie down on my shawl in the corner. I managed to clear that much space, at least.” She fingered her necklace again, still seemingly unaware that she had yet to name who “he” was. “You see, he found the bubble machine out on the street, and he thought he was paying tribute to Beau. It’s beautiful, really—he filled the brewery with bubbles because Beau had made so many bubbles in life.”

Georgie’s face drained of color as she looked first at River, then Jack.

“Lurch,” River said.

Josie nodded sadly. “He’s upset Beau’s ungrateful grandchildren are taking over the brewery. Never wrote to him or called him. Only one of them paid him a visit—and even then, he had to ask her. Can you imagine? Such a nice man.”

River cleared his throat, and a surprised look crossed Josie’s face.

She looked from Georgie to Jack, and back. “Oh, you’re his grandchildren, aren’t you?”

“Can we fire her?” Jack asked Georgie.

“You’re being sarcastic again, aren’t you?” Josie said, shaking her head. “I’ve always thought sarcasm was the lowest form of humor.”

Rather than break the news that Jack was obviously serious, River looked her in the eye. “Can you take me back to Lurch, Josie? I need to know what else he did.”

If it was only a mess, they could clean it. Not the best first impression of the brewery, but whatever. They’d all known there would be work to do.

Turning to Georgie and Jack, he said, “I’ve known him for years. I can talk him around.”

Jack gave him another suspicious glance, then said, “Okay, but I’m going with you.”

“Do you have some kind of problem with me, man?” River said, getting kind of pissed. “If I remember correctly, this whole thing was your idea.”

“Yeah,” Jack said with an aggrieved sigh. “I guess it was. Don’t mind me. Just woke up on the wrong side of the bed.”

A massive understatement, but he’d let it go for now.

“I’ll go with him, Jack,” Georgie said. “One of us should go, and you’re not in the right headspace.”

Jack just nodded, pressing his hand to his forehead as if he had a headache.

“Are you sure you don’t just want to go on the tour?” Josie asked, cocking her head. “We can take our shoes off, if you’re worried about getting them dirty. Then maybe Lurch will wake up on his own.”

“Wouldn’t that be unhygienic?” Georgie asked, her brows pinched together.

This was spiraling out of control pretty fast.

“Josie, maybe you should go home,” River said. “I’ll put your shawl aside after we talk to Lurch.”

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