Page 83 of Better Luck Next Time

“And welding something onto one of the sculptures?” Lee said.

It wasn’t really proof, and they all probably knew it, but it was something. It was definitely something.

Georgie shot her a look she didn’t need to be a mind reader to understand. Her sister had lied to Stansworth, saying she had photos of Adalia sculpting the pieces. It had been a lie, so far as they knew. If they had opened the conversation to Lee months ago, they might have worked through this a whole lot sooner.

She nodded, feeling unsettled, wishing Finn were here to hold her hand and reassure her that everything was going to be okay.

When had she become so clingy? The fact that she felt like she needed him left her more unsettled.

“Thanks, Lee,” she said. “You have no idea how much I appreciate this.”

“I’m gonna nail this bastard to the wall.” He shot a glare at his older sister. “Which is what should have been done in the beginning.” He glanced to the side and made a face. “Gotta go. I’ll get in touch after I make the arrangements.”

Before they could respond, he disconnected the call. He hadn’t asked about their schedules—in his usual Lee way, he’d assumed they’d be able to drop everything and hop on a plane at a moment’s notice. Then again, he wasn’t wrong, at least not about her. And a quick glance at Georgie told her what she’d already known on some level: her sister would make the time for this too.

The two sisters were quiet for a long moment. Then Georgie asked in a soft voice, “Do you think Lee is right? That I should have handled it more aggressively from the beginning?”

“Aggressive isn’t your style,” Adalia said.

“Which is why I wonder if we should have gone to Lee in the first place.”

“For what it’s worth,” Adalia said, taking her sister’s hand, “I wouldn’t change a thing. Going aggressive in the beginning would have been a mistake, and I wasn’t ready for it. But Lee is a good backup team.”

“More like cleanup.”

“No, backup. We both went with the approach we thought would work best, andyougot him to drop the charges. That was no small thing.”

Georgie nodded, but she didn’t seem fully convinced.

Adalia squeezed her sister’s hand. “I love you. I’m glad I’m here with you.”

“I love you too.” Georgie studied her for a moment, her expression changing. “You look happier. Does that have anything to do with Finn?”

The corners of her mouth ticked up. “I wondered how long it would take for you to bring that up again.”

Georgie hesitated. “Maybe I was too harsh. Finn seems nice enough, but I worry that loyalty isn’t his strong suit. Just be careful with your heart, okay?”

It wasn’t much of an improvement on Georgie’s previous assessment of Finn, but Adalia had to admit her sister had a point. Was the Big Catch situation a one-off, or was Finn capable of doing something like that again, but with her this time?

“Thanks for the advice,” Adalia said with a small smile. “I bet River appreciates having the wisdom of a much older woman at his disposal.”

Georgie gasped, then playfully swatted Adalia’s arm. “Ugh! He’s only three years younger.”

Laughing, Adalia shook her head. “I’m teasing, but you make it much too easy. There’s something else I wanted to mention,” she said, getting to her feet. “I’m going out for drinks tomorrow night with Maisie and an artist I met last week, Blue Combs. She’s amazing. Would you like to join us? We could both use a girl’s night out.”

Georgie looked excited at first—obviously she needed a night out; the woman even dreamed about work—but it quickly faded. “I can’t. For one thing, I’m not Maisie’s favorite person.”

“Why?” Adalia asked. “Does it have anything to do with the tension between her and River? It was thick enough to gag on yesterday.”

Georgie hesitated, then said, “I don’t know this for certain, but I’m fairly sure Maisie has a thing for him.”

“They’ve been friends forever,” Adalia protested. But she thought back to the meeting—to the hostility Maisie had shown toward River before she softened at his mention of her dog. It made sense.

“Which makes it hard,” Georgie said. “Especially since River has no idea.”

Did Finn know? She suspected he did based on the way he’d acted at the rescue shelter. After seeing River’s car, he’d avoided the back room like a vampire at the entrance to a garlic festival.

“You said for one thing,” Adalia said. “What’s the other?”

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