Page 51 of Any Luck at All

Getting caught thinking naughty things about River made her flush even more. “Um…no thanks, I’ll be fine.”

“You sure?” he asked, cocking an eyebrow as he watched her in the rearview mirror. He pulled a small photo from his visor and held it up for her to see the middle-aged woman. “My Nina gets hot flashes all the time, and I’d rather turn the car into an icebox than have you strip off your clothes.”

Georgie’s mouth dropped open, unsure which part of his statement to take offense at—his supposition that she might be menopausal, something that especially chafed given she’d discovered she was at least three years older than River, or his worry that she’d strip in the back of his car. “I think I’ll be able to restrain myself.”

“You sure?” he asked again as he pulled away from the curb. “They hit my Nina right out of nowhere, and boom, the next thing you know, she’s taking off her clothes. Last weekend at Mass, Nina was walking down the aisle to take Communion when a hot flash hit her. One minute, she’s standing there, her head bowed and her hands folded together in silent reflection as she contemplated receiving the Body of Christ, then the next thing you know, she was standing there in her bra and granny panties and fanning herself with the church bulletin. We had a devil of a time trying to explain it to Father Timothy.” He shot her a serious look in the mirror. “She had to say six Hail Marys and promise to run bingo for the next six weeks.”

“Um…” she stuttered, trying to figure out how to purge the image of Nina stripping in church. Having seen her face made it more difficult. “Sure. Turn it down.” The way she’d been behaving recklessly and out of character…perhaps shewoulddo something as crazy as take off her clothes.

But River’s kiss stayed with her, and she reached her fingers to her lips, savoring the memory. She’d never been kissed like that before. And of course, it had to be the one man who was off-limits.

Of course, she couldn’t let it happen again. On Monday morning, she’d take River into her office and apologize, telling him she regretted her behavior. It was unprofessional and the brewery would be in a world of hurt if they went forward with a romance and things ended badly.

When she got back to her apartment, she drowned her sorrows in too much wine, telling herself she was drinking it because she had no idea when she’d be back, and the bottle was too good to go to waste. But she found herself comparing it to the beer flight River had set up at Beau’s house…and thinking about the moment he’d almost kissed her that night. She hadn’t imagined that, right?

No more thoughts about River. You need to focus on saving that failing business, not finding a boyfriend.Because business always trumped personal, a lesson her father had taught her at an early age.

Despite her copious wine consumption, she managed to pack three suitcases of clothes and personal effects and made arrangements with the management of her condo to have someone drop by her unit to check on it from time to time and notify her if her mail wasn’t being forwarded. The building manager had also agreed to hand her car keys over to the transport company she planned to hire on Monday. She’d have to figure out what to do with her condo and her belongings, but Beau’s house was fully furnished and she didn’t want to put so many things in storage. She’d let it sit for now, and figure it out later.

She took occasional breaks from packing to take a deeper dive into the accounting for the brewery, which was what her sister Adalia would mockingly call a Georgie kind of break. It was not necessarily a good idea given how much she was drinking, but she didn’t have to be sober to see the brewery was genuinely in trouble. It wasn’t the employees’ fault they were closing temporarily, and Georgie didn’t want to start from scratch, which meant she’d have to come up with enough cash to pay their salaries, even if at a slightly reduced rate, until they reopened.

Her flight on Sunday was delayed, and she sat next to a screaming baby from Boston to Charlotte, which didn’t help her raging hangover headache. Then she was put at the back of the plane to Asheville, next to a toilet that became clogged about five minutes after takeoff.

So by the time she drove her new rental car to Beau’s house, she was bordering on cranky and considering another night at the hotel to avoid dealing with Dottie’s nuttiness. Only Adalia had texted during her Boston flight that she was really looking forward to the séance and she was 93.4% sure Lee would be there too.

93.4%?Georgie texted in reply on the tarmac at Charlotte.

Don’t question it, Georgie. Just trust me. I can’t wait for you to taste the specially planned menu and describe it to me

Georgie was so hungry, she was looking forward to it too. Everything Dottie had left in Beau’s fridge had been delicious. It was the séance part that worried her.

Her other concern—being alone with Dottie—was quickly overshadowed when she saw River’s car parked on the street. There were a bunch of other cars too, but in the short time she’d been in Asheville, she’d learned that parking came at a premium and it wasn’t unusual to see cars parked on the street. But it was River’s car that had her on edge. Had Dottie invited him too? Once she parked the car in the driveway, she opened the text, and sure enough, River’s number was at the end of the list.

After she put on the parking brake, she got out and wrestled all three suitcases out of the trunk. She could wait and ask River for help, but it didn’t seem like a good idea—or very fair—to ask him for favors, so she decided to try to carry them to the front porch herself. She backed the two slightly smaller bags together, one pressed against the other, and grabbed the handles in one hand while balancing her overnight bag on top of them, her purse slung over her shoulder. Her other hand maneuvered the bigger suitcase. It might have worked out if the driveway hadn’t been on a hill.

She’d made it to the porch steps when her purse slipped around and knocked into the hand holding the two suitcases. Her fingers flexed as pain shot through her knuckles, and the bags broke free, rolling down the driveway. She tried to chase after them, while still holding the other suitcase and overnight bag, but the wheel of the big suitcase caught on a small rock and overturned, sending the bag flying into the yard.

Georgie heard a crash and turned just in time to see one of the smaller suitcases get smashed under the wheel of a large Buick that looked like it came straight out of a ’70s police show. The other was nowhere to be seen. At least one of them had made it.

The car tried to back up, but the tire was stuck on the suitcase. It rocked back and forth, trying to work itself free.

“Georgie?” she heard River call out behind her. She was surprised at the panic in his voice. “Are you okay?” he asked as he stopped beside her.

She ignored the flutters in her stomach when she saw him. “I’m okay, but my suitcases…” she cried out in dismay. “I lost two of them. One of them is under that car, but I don’t know where the other one is.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll find it,” he said. She presumed he was trying to sound reassuring, but he hadn’t quite hit the mark. Not that she blamed him. The bag under the tire was nearly completely smashed flat. No coming back from that.

That was the bag holding her cosmetics, her blow drier, and curling iron.

The car’s engine revved and the vehicle finally broke free, shooting backward. A loud crashing sound filled the air. The smashed suitcase had been freed, but the car appeared stuck again.

“I think we found your other bag,” River said with a grimace, sneaking a glance at her.

They walked down the driveway together, their view of the mess partially obscured by a car in the street, but when they reached the edge of the driveway, Georgie gasped. Underwear and bras were lying on the street, on the parked cars, on the side of the road. A blue bra hung from a tree branch on the side of the road.

Josie got out of the car and stared at the mess with a look of wonder. A breeze kicked in and a silky pair of black panties blew up off the road and hit Josie smack in the face. She peeled it away, beaming as though she’d just won the lottery. “When my horoscope said good fortune would rain on me today, I never suspected it would be underwear.”

Georgie stared at her in shocked silence. Every piece of lingerie she owned—other than what she was wearing—was scattered all over Flint Street. In front of River.

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