Page 28 of Better Luck Next Time

Point to Lola.

“Do you know who I am?”

Adalia snorted, and he flushed a little, knowing exactly what she was thinking.

Pompous much?

“I… I’m just trying to figure out where to get started.”

“I know you founded Big Catch with Dottie’s nephew,” Lola said. “And I know about the sale and some of the fallout.”

“So what do you want to know?” he asked uncertainly.

“You’re at a crossroads,” Lola said. It wasn’t phrased as a question. “Do you find yourself torn between two paths?”

Did he ever. But he only wanted one.

“Yes. I guess one road would be to leave Asheville. To accept that I’m not wanted here. That would probably be the more prudent thing to do. It’s what my parents would like me to do. But it’s not what I want.” He glanced at Adalia.Go big or go home, Finn.“I’ve felt lost lately. Like nothing makes sense anymore. I thought it would be easy to find the next big idea after the sale went through, but I felt empty even before the blowback. Because I let down the people who matter to me.”

He ran a hand through his hair, which was longer than it had ever been in his life. His usual stylist, whom he’d considered a friendly acquaintance, had written a comment on theGazettearticle.I know this guy!!! Good tipper, but he wouldn’t stop talking about himself. SO conceited.Finn had wanted to tell her that he was just someone who liked talking…that he’d thought you weresupposedto talk to a stylist. That she was the one who’d asked him questions. But he’d turned off his computer instead. And let his hair grow.

“I guess I was a little depressed,” he admitted. “I wasn’t leaving the house much. I didn’t know how to feel in my own skin anymore. Then I saw something I shouldn’t have seen—” He looked away from Adalia, not wanting to reveal her secret again. “Anyway, it made me realize I wasn’t the only person feeling that way. It…unleashed something in me. I realized that I don’t need to start another multimillion-dollar business right away.” Okay, he shouldn’t have said that part. He could practically feel Adalia rolling her eyes. “I can do something meaningful. Something that makes people’s lives better. Something that matters. And I want to help that other person too. The one who feels like I do.”

“What if the other person just wants to be left alone?” Adalia asked, the question lacking any of the heat he might have expected.

“Then I’ll do my best to givehimspace,” he said, smiling at her. “Sometimes my eagerness gets away from me.”

“You need to let other people make up their own minds,” she answered. “Even if you don’t like the answer. There may be things you don’t know about thisexceptionallyhandsome and charming young man.”

He glanced back at Lola again. Her eyes had rounded. Probably she felt like she was in the middle of something, because she was. But her presence was pretty much the only reason Adalia had agreed to stick around, so he was grateful she was there. Grateful, too, that Dottie had unwittingly—or maybe not?—sent him Adalia’s way again.

“Shall I take out the deck?” Lola asked, her tone kindly. As if she felt sorry for him.

“Sure,” he said, embarrassed. The psychic thought he was a hot mess. Great. He shot another glance at Adalia. She was looking at him, but he couldn’t read her expression. At least she wasn’t staring daggers of hate at him. He’d take it.

Lola went through the song and dance of shuffling the cards. Then she asked Finn to touch them so he could infuse them with his essence or whatever. So he held his hand against them for a moment, feeling Adalia’s eyes on him. Feeling an uncomfortable throb of self-consciousness.

But he reminded himself this was nothing compared with what he’d witnessed Adalia doing. Worse, he’d shared her secret with River, and by proxy Georgie, which had clearly filled Adalia with shame.

He’d expected Lola to chant, or roll her eyes back, or something equally dramatic, but she just shuffled again, letting his energy guide her or whatever. She frowned as she laid out the cards, so that probably wasn’t good, especially since the first one had a skull and crossbones on it. Was this what Dottie had seen in his tea? Maybe she’d figured it would be best if someone else passed on the sorry news.

He glanced up at Adalia, but her eyes were on the cards. She shifted her gaze up to Lola, her expression accusatory.

“What, do you pick the same draw for everyone?”

“No,” Lola said, glancing from one of them to the other. If she was acting, she was a good actress, the kind who’d win awards. “But you’re right, they’re exactly the same. You’re both in the middle of transitions, so it’s not surprising there would be some overlap, but…well…I’ve been doing this since I was a teenager, and that’s never once happened.”

“Lay it on me,” Finn said, joking but just barely. “Are we both going to die? Is a semi going to barrel down on us as soon as we leave?”

“Trust me, I already asked,” Adalia said in an undertone.

“No,” Lola said, her gaze darting over the cards. Then she gave them another look, first Adalia and then Finn. “No, I think it means you’re meant for each other.”

Chapter Eleven

Adalia burst out laughing. She wasn’t sure why she’d agreed to stay for the reading, but she had, and something had kept her there too. Maybe it was the look in Finn’s eyes whenever he darted a glance her way. That look told her she was his lifeline, and what he’d said to them…he felt just as messed up as she did. Sure, he’d caused his own problems, but couldn’t the same be said of her?

Then Lola had said they were meant for each other, which was so obviously bogus, and now she couldn’t help but wonder if Dottie had somehow manipulated this into happening. Maybe she’d snuck into Georgie’s office and hypnotized Adalia.

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