Page 90 of Any Luck at All

“Didn’t hesitate to make yourself at home,” Finn said, ignoring River’s comment and shifting his glance to Georgie. Something ugly played in his gaze.

“What the hell?” River said, tugging Georgie a little closer. “You don’t have any call to talk to her that way. In her house, no less.”

“Yeah,” Adalia agreed. “I might have to rescind your part of the invitation. More wine for us.”

Finn sighed and ran a hand through his hair, a nervous gesture that suggested something was preying on him. His eyes had circles under them too.

“Sorry. You’re right. I’m going to head out… It’s just…River, can I talk to you for a minute before I go? There’s something I need to tell you.” His gaze lowered to River and Georgie’s linked hands. “And I’m starting to think it really can’t wait.”

“Whatever it is, just say it,” River said. “You can talk freely in front of them.”

“I really don’t think I should.”

Adalia had been pouring wine, only three glasses now—she’d dramatically pushed the fourth away—but she stopped, watching them.

“Well, I’m not leaving right now,” River said, sick of being jerked around. “So if you want to talk to me, this is where it’s happening.”

“Just remember that you’re the one who made that call,” Finn said, fidgeting a little as he stood there.

Georgie’s hand suddenly felt clammy within his, and a feeling of foreboding stole over River. It occurred to him that maybe he’d made a mistake, that they shouldn’t talk about this here, in front of Georgie and Adalia, or maybe it would be better not to talk about it at all, but it was too late, Finn was already opening his mouth to speak.

“Look, man, I’m not happy to be the bearer of bad news, but I’ve been using Henry Manning’s office to look over the Big Catch papers, and someone connected to the office—not naming names here—told me something you deserve to know.”

A little gasp escaped Georgie like a sudden exhale of air.

“Turns out Beau was going to leave it all to you—the brewery, even the house—before your girlfriend here showed up in Asheville and convinced him not to. And there’s a clause in the will that gives the brewery back to you if Buchanan doesn’t place in the top five at Brewfest next spring.”

River felt a pit open in his gut, each of Finn’s words tearing into him like an actual missile. What. The. Actual. Hell. Could that be true? Had she known all of this and kept it from him? Had she thought he’d, what, sabotage the brewery if he knew?

One look at those beautiful hazel eyes, swimming with tears, told him all he needed to know. He let his hand slip away from hers.

“You didn’t know that, did you?” Finn asked, his tone softer now, his gaze beseeching. “I didn’t think so.”

“You should go now,” Adalia said from somewhere behind him. “Unless you want to get clocked with another crystal.”

Dimly, River registered that Finn did leave. And the sound of footsteps indicated Adalia was making herself scarce too.

All he could think was that he needed to leave too. The safety he’d found with Georgie, the feeling of home—it had all been a lie. She’d only let him into her world underherrules. The fraternization clause. The noncompete. This. She and her brothers, or at least Jack, had known about the will all along.

It made it worse that Beau himself had arranged this. That he had played them like they were pieces in some sort of twisted game. Sure, Aunt Dottie had made Beau skew toward eccentric toward the end, but this kind of manipulation was something he’d expect more from the son than the father. This was a side of Beau he hadn’t known well, and one he was ashamed to realize he didn’t much like. It felt wrong to think ill of the dead, when Beau couldn’t do a thing to explain himself.

“River?”

He realized it wasn’t the first time she’d said his name, and her voice was shaking, with tears running down her cheeks.

In a weird way, he still wanted to comfort her, to trace those tears with his fingers and hold her, even though he was the one she’d hurt.

“I didn’t convince him to do any of that, River,” she was saying. “I didn’t know what he was planning. I wanted to tell you when I found out, I really wanted to tell you, but Jack was adamant. He wouldn’t have agreed to work with you if you knew, and—”

“When did you find out?” he asked, his voice sounding funny and flat to his own ears. “How long have you known?”

Her face, which had gone pale, lost even more color. “The day Jack and I signed the papers,” she said. “I’ve known since then.”

“That’s what I thought,” he said, but the truth drove the knife deeper. “Were you going to tell me?”

“Yes! Of course! I was trying to figure out a way to make it right. I figured I’d buy out Lee and Adalia after Brewfest, if we win, and make you partner. And if we don’t, you’d have control anyway.”

“You were going to wait that long?” he asked, anger threading into his voice now. “You were going to wait nearly a year?”

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