Page 121 of Better Luck Next Time

The way he said it made it obvious the mother was the one he didn’t trust—and it was also apparent why Jack kept going back to Chicago.

“You take care of her,” he stated.

“Not enough,” Jack said. “But I plan to do better. Come on. Let me get you those peas.”

“No, that’s okay,” he said. “I need to find Adalia. Do you know where she is?”

Panic rippled across Jack’s face. “You can’t tell her. I need to be the one who does.”

“I won’t,” Finn said, “and not just because I don’t want you to punch me again.” He managed a slight smile, which hurt like hell. “Believe me, we have plenty of other things to talk about. But you should tell her soon. Georgie too.”

Jack nodded slowly. “I’m glad you’re going to see her. She’s at that Italian tapas place downtown with Maisie and Blue.”

There were at least three restaurants that could loosely meet that description.

“Do you remember which one?” he asked.

Jack shrugged. “Nope. But let me get you those peas.”

Since it really did hurt, and the gesture would clearly make Jack feel better, Finn just nodded. “Meet you around front?” he suggested. “I left something on the porch I need to pick up.”

“Sure,” Jack said. Then his gaze lowered to the rain stick. He picked it up, his brow furrowed, and said, “Here’s your…thing.”

“It’s not mine,” Finn said. “It was on your porch.”

“Dottie must have left it here,” he said, shaking his head a little, although his expression was fond. He lowered the stick and propped it against the bench. “She leaves things here all the time. One time I came home, and there was a purple ukulele sitting on the porch. She said she saw it and thought of me.”

“And have you played it?”

Jack smiled. “Wouldn’t you know it…I have. She was right.”

They parted ways, and Finn circled around to the front, reclaiming the Alan file. Tyrion was still howling agitatedly, and a superstitious part of Finn worried that maybe Adalia really was in trouble. He was anxious to find her, but he’d said he would wait for the peas, and he didn’t want to give Jack any reason to doubt or dislike him. He’d leave as soon as he had the peas, though, and he’d go to every single Italian restaurant in town if he had to.

Jack finally opened the door, a bag of peas in hand, but Tyrion charged him from behind, pushing him so hard he staggered through the opening.

The dog slipped past Finn and raced down the hill and then the street, moving at a speed that might have won him the Iditarod if he’d been born in a different state.

“Shit,” Finn shouted. “Follow that dog!”

He and Jack raced down the street on foot—Jack with a bag of peas in his hand, Finn with his arms wrapped around the file.

Tyrion was so far ahead, Finn worried they’d lose him, especially in the poorly lit areas, but he continued to see a flash of white ahead, the tip of Tyrion’s fluffy tail.

Then it dawned on him—Tyrion was heading in the direction ofhishouse.

Jack was ahead of him, because he was apparently some kind of super athlete with a hell of a right hook. But sure enough, he slowed and then stopped as he reached Finn’s house. The look on his face said he’d found Tyrion, so Finn let himself walk the rest of the way.

That was when he heard her—“I guess maybe you were right about that fence.”

And he found it in him to run the rest of the way after all. Adalia was sitting on the steps, wearing a red sundress that made her hair look like a gilded crown. Tyrion sat at her feet, as regal and untroubled as if he hadn’t just hurtled across half the neighborhood.

“Finn,” she said, getting to her feet. Then she gasped. “Your eye.”

Which was when he realized he was covered in sweat and one of his eyes was likely black and definitely swollen. This wasn’t exactly how he’d envisioned his grand gesture.

“Your brother hit me,” he blurted out, his mind firing at warp speed. Why was she here? And Tyrion…it was like he’dledFinn to her. It was something that shouldn’t be possible, but he knew Dottie would say it was. That it was the same kind of impossible that had led to them getting the exact same tarot draw. And to Finn and River falling in love with sisters.

“What?!” Adalia barked, turning on Jack.

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