Page 52 of Any Luck at All

“I know this is bad,” River said in a calm voice. “I’m sure not everything is ruined.”

Josie left her car door open and squealed as she started picking up clothing off the bushes. “It’s like an Easter egg hunt!”

Georgie looked up at River. “Josie was invited to the séance.”

It wasn’t a question since the answer was so obvious.

Hesitation filled his eyes. “Aunt Dottie said she and Lurch had unfinished business with Beau.”

“Lurch is here too.” She shook her head as her gaze shifted back to Josie, who was looping her arms through Georgie’s panties like they were bracelets. “Of course he is.”

“Georgie…”

“Is there alcohol at this séance?” she asked. “Because I need lots and lots of alcohol.”

River turned to stare at Josie, then back to Georgie. “Well, there’s beer, of course, and my aunt’s elderberry wine.” He hesitated, then added, “And she said she was making punch.”

“Punch?”

“Pineapple and orange juice, champagne, and beer.” He hesitated again. “Fair warning… Aunt Dottie’s calling it Lurch’s Pee Brew.”

Georgie stared up at him and the absurdity of it all hit her head-on. She began to laugh, breaking out into hysterical giggles that put a stitch in her side.

River watched her first in horror, then in concern, and then finally his mouth twisted into an amused grin.

“I won!” Josie exclaimed, waving both arms—one lined with panties and the other with bras.

Georgie stopped laughing.

River’s smile fell. “I’ll deal with this, Georgie. You go on inside.”

She didn’t respond, just headed for the front door, leaving her other suitcase and overnight bag in the yard. They weren’t going anywhere…unless Josie decided to plow through the yard with that monster car of hers.

Georgie had no idea what to expect when she walked through the door, but nothing could have prepared her for the sideshow in front of her.

“I need some of Lurch’s Pee Brew,” she called out on the way to the dining room. “Stat.”

Chapter Twenty

It had been no more than forty-eight hours since River had last seen Georgie, but what a forty-eight hours. Since sending him an invitation to the séance, Aunt Dottie had followed up with no less than thirty texts asking him to do various tasks in preparation. A few of them had seemed to have no obvious connection to the event, and he feared the moment when their usefulness would come into clarity. In between brainstorming recipes for the rest of the Buchanan beers, he’d done his aunt’s errands, all of them, because even if she was a little, well, dotty, he loved her with all that he was and she was mourning in her own way.

The first and easiest of the tasks had been to set up the video conferencing. Apparently she did not, in fact, know how to do that and had been relying on him to make the arrangements. Maisie had a big flat-screen computer she’d donated to the cause, large enough for all of the Buchanans to take part. Maisie had gotten an invitation too—because apparently his aunt had been feeling pretty free with them—but she’d declined. The way she’d done it, averting her eyes, had made River wonder if it was because of the awkward moment they’d had on Friday night. He’d tried to encourage her to come anyway, but he hadn’t tried too hard, truth be known. And not just because she’d agreed to puppysit for Hops to ensure he didn’t destroy the entire apartment.

Truth was, he was hoping for a chance to talk to Georgie. Privately. In the midst of what was sure to be a madhouse.

Scratch that, it was already a madhouse. Georgie’s plastic suitcases had broken open like piñatas, and some of the sexiest yet classiest lingerie he’d ever seen was strung on Josie’s arms.

Good God. Why couldn’t he have seen them on Georgie instead?

Although he’d barely had a free minute to breathe all weekend, he’d found himself remembering the feel of her every night.

“It’s a sign, River,” Josie said confidently once Georgie disappeared inside the house.

“That you need a new car?” he murmured, his eyes lingering on the door. “Any one of us could have told you that.”

“No, I mean it’s a sign Beau changed his mind.” He turned to her in annoyance, and she gave him a serious look through her oversized glasses.

“Is this because they fired you?”

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