Page 16 of Better Luck Next Time

“Have you chosen a charitable cause for the first show, or do you plan on crowdsourcing it?”

It was a little funny to hear Dottie say “crowdsourcing,” and he couldn’t help but think of his own grandmother, who’d passed away several years ago. She’d been such a prim and proper woman, always dressed in long skirts that almost looked Puritan, and she’d had a look of horror reserved for kids who ran around with raspberry jam on their faces and touched her antique furniture. He couldn’t imagine her ever using a word like that.

Maybe it was weird that he came to see his friend’s great-aunt by himself, without River, but Dottie had told him that he should consider her family too, back when he and River were working together. And after the whole mess with Bev Corp, she’d told him they werestillfamily.

Family doesn’t change with the weather, boy. Either you are or you aren’t.

His family had never really been like that. He didn’t have any siblings, and while his parents cared about him, they weren’t warm in the way Dottie was. Their kind of caring came with expectations and in the form of unsolicited five-year plans.

“No, I haven’t gotten that far yet.”

“Might I suggest that you talk to Maisie? From what I understand, one of the shelter’s regular sponsors fell through.”

Maisie was River’s best childhood friend, someone Finn counted a friend as well, even though he’d been too embarrassed to reach out to her after the whole Bev Corp mess. She was loyal to River first and foremost, and like Adalia, she was not the kind of woman to mince words. She would have totally eviscerated him. He would have deserved it, of course, but he’d already felt pretty low at the time.

It had lifted his spirits a little when she’d texted him after seeing the article in theGazette, pointing out that the author, who’d attacked him for his parents’ donation to Duke, had gone to a school that had a building named after his family.Takes a bro to know a bro, she’d said with a wink emoji. And because he knew Maisie meant the “bro” thing somewhat fondly, at least where it concerned him, he’d laughed.

He’d hoped to see her at the reopening of Buchanan, but she hadn’t shown. Maybe because her business was suffering. She ran an independent, no-kill dog shelter, a labor of love.

Suddenly, he remembered how Adalia’s eyes had lit up when she talked about Hops, plus the fact that Buchanan Brewery had used Hops on some of their new labels. It fit with their relaunch, didn’t it? Maisie could even bring in some of the animals to make a whole thing of it. Maybe that, plus the inclusion of Buchanan Brewery, would be enough to convince Adalia to take part.

“Good idea,” he said. “I’ll talk to her after I discuss this with River.”

They continued eating and talking, although the conversation veered away from the art show. When they finished their lunch, she reached out her hand expectantly. Did she want to sing “Kumbaya” or something?

Before he could wonder too hard, she said, “Your teacup, please.”

He’d drunk all of two sips, so he gulped down the now tepid tea and handed it over.

“Oh dear,” she said, her eyes sparkling. “Yes, I’m glad you’re going to see Lola.”

He waited, but she didn’t explain.

“You’re not going to tell me what you saw?” he asked.

“If I did, you might not keep your appointment.”

He rolled his eyes. Given how many times she’d urged him to visit this Lola, he couldn’t help but wonder if she was trying to set them up.

Why did his stomach give a weird lurch at the thought?

The answer made him feel even more off course.

Because part of him wished that if she were setting him up, it would be with Adalia.

Chapter Seven

By the time Adalia left the coffee shop, she’d created a résumé and uploaded it to a job site, but she hadn’t mustered the will to actually apply for a position. Not yet. Baby steps.

She nearly didn’t go back to the brewery. She was embarrassed about how she’d handled things, even if everything she’d said was true, and this mess with Finn and her uncertainty about her job had created a whole tempest of emotions straining for release. She was dying to go to Dottie’s garage, but her previous safe space now felt tainted.

So she did the right thing—the grown-up thing. She sucked up her pride and went back to the brewery, because she actually had some work to do for the social media accounts. Might as well face Georgie and everyone else. It wasn’t like she was quitting; she was just going to put in the appropriate amount of hours given the work she had to do. No more handouts or pity work.

She caught some of the staff watching her when she strolled through the tasting room around two, but they quickly turned back to their work.

Georgie was sitting at her desk, her forehead scrunched as she studied her computer screen, but she glanced up as Adalia walked in the room.

“Addy,” she said, her face a mixture of concern and contrition. “Are you…do you…”

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