Page 86 of Better Luck Next Time

Georgie shot him a look, like maybe she was surprised that he’d said it, or maybe it was his tone that surprised her. He clearly meant it.

“But I have to warn you,” River said, “the rules of parley have been broken. You mentioned Bev Corp in my apartment, so now you have to talk to us about Adalia.”

Finn’s gaze shot to Georgie, who did not look amused. “Um, what do you want to know?”

“As you probably know, Adalia’s going through a lot,” she said, “and she needs the people in her life to be there for her. Especially when things get rough.”

What did that mean? Was that Alan guy still bothering her? She hadn’t wanted to watch a movie over video chat the previous night, but she’d insisted it was because she was tired after her dinner with Jack—and because they’d stayed up way too late the previous night—and he’d believed her. Was something else going on?

“Is Alan still bothering her?” he asked.

Georgie shot another look at River. “Maybe I’ve said too much. Adalia’s the person you should ask about this.”

Finn wanted to push for answers, but he knew better. Georgie’s opinion of him had soured further, and if there was more to the Alan story, he’d prefer to hear it from Adalia. In person. So he just nodded, taking her up on her challenge. Because ithadbeen a challenge.

“I don’t have any intention of going anywhere. If you hadn’t heard, your sister and I are meant for each other. Dottie’s psychic said so, and I don’t argue with people who can read the future.” His words were tongue in cheek, but he tried to communicate with his eyes that he sort of believed it, however crazy it sounded.

“So Dottie keeps saying,” Georgie said.

Which meant they’d talked about him. He wanted to know what had been said, but that was the people-pleasing part of him kicking in, and at the end of the day, he didn’t need Georgie to like him. He could live with her tolerating him, so long as she wasn’t actively pushing her sister away from him.

“Shall we eat?” River said.

As fast as possible.He wouldn’t ask Adalia to join them. Although part of him thought it would help, having her here, he didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable.

The lasagna was delicious, and some of the awkwardness leaked away over the course of the meal. Georgie laughed at one of Finn’s stories, and they all hypothesized, with no small amount of trepidation, what Dottie was planning for the company Halloween party. Although Jack was handling most of the brewery events, he’d agreed to let Dottie take the lead on employee events.

The Halloween party was her favorite, but there was always some sort of fallout. One year, Lurch had superglued a wig to his head as part of his costume and proceeded to wear it around for two weeks afterward. And people still talked about the year Dottie had run a haunted house out of her bungalow. One of the rooms had been haunted by “bad decisions,” and everyone who entered was reminded of all the mistakes they’d made (from the perspective of a former staff member, Josie, who’d been hidden in the closet). Most of them were minor complaints, like finishing all of the half-and-half in the staff fridge and putting the empty carton back in, but Josie knew plenty of gossip too, and had exposed an affair between two staff members.

Hops had further de-escalated the situation by settling down on top of Finn’s feet and refusing to move.

After dessert—salted caramel ice cream from one of the local ice cream shops—Finn said goodbye to Georgie, who’d warmed toward him a little (or maybe just thawed), and River offered to walk him out.

“I wasn’t aware this was a date,” Finn said as they headed for the door.

“Do you think I make lasagna for just anyone?” his friend quipped.

Finn stepped outside, and River joined him, shutting the door behind him. “Is this where you tell me that Georgie hates me?” he asked. “Because I kind of already got that impression.” Before River could object, he added, “Not that I blame her. I realize I haven’t made a great impression.”

“She doesn’t hate you,” River said. “She just worries about the people she cares about. And I won’t lie to you, she’s especially worried about Adalia. You really should talk to Addy. I’m sworn to silence, but I think she could really use the support.”

“Thanks, man,” Finn said, clapping him on the back. “I intend to. We’re going to spend the day together tomorrow.”

River smiled. “Huh. So she’s not actually visiting a goat farm to look at paintings of murderous farm animals.”

Finn laughed. “No, we did that last week, but Adalia’s got a real talent for description.”

“I haven’t said this to Georgie in so many words,” River said, studying him, “but I think Aunt Dottie’s right about you two. I’ve never seen you like this with anyone else.”

“Thanks, River. That means a lot.”

“And about the Bev Corp thing?”

“Yeah?” he asked cautiously, still worried River would explode. He wasn’t quick to anger, but by God, when someone finally managed to burn up the last of his long fuse…

“It kind of kills me to say so, but it’s a good idea. I think we’ll probably do it.”

Finn checked his phone as soon as he got to his car—no messages—and although part of him thought he should wait to text Adalia, they had promised to check in with each other. He wrote:I’m not dead, so there’s that. It’s possible they might go for it. I hope you’re having an epic time and you don’t see this until later.

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