Page 9 of Better Luck Next Time

“Stealing Dottie’s art,” she said, something in her softening. “Yeah, you said. And I suppose I do have the car of a would-be art thief.” She rubbed between her eyes. “I’m sorry I’ve been so snappy. I guess I’m a little embarrassed. Dottie lets me use the studio, and it’s a bit of—” her lips tipped up, “—art therapy. They say it works wonders, right? Anyway, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t say anything about this to Georgie or River. I don’t want to worry them. They’re so busy right now, and…”

Her words trailed off, like she’d maybe run out of them.

“I meant what I said,” he said, seeking out her gaze. She wouldn’t look him in the eye. “Your talent…it’smagnificent. Look, I’ve been feeling lost lately.” Somehow it was easier admitting that to her after what he’d seen. Like maybe she understood. “I thought the world would open up to me after I sold the company, but it didn’t work out like that. The ideas all dried up.”

“Because of the article in the local paper?” she asked, as if drawn in despite herself.

“No,” he said, admitting something to her he’d barely admitted to himself. “Before that. It almost felt like there were too many opportunities. I couldn’t focus on anything.”

She huffed a little at that, not that he blamed her. He’d heard it before. Poor little rich boy. And the people who had said it to him—or thought it of him—were right.

“My parents have been after me to leave Asheville. My father says I need to find a bigger pool. But I likethispool. Even if it no longer likes me.” He couldn’t help but let a little of his hurt leak into his tone.

“Oh, they’ll get over it,” Adalia said, waving a hand. “People love gossip. Just you wait. Someone’s going to do something totally cracked in a week or two, and no one will remember.”

“But I’ll remember,” he said. She lifted her gaze then, looking at him. Looking into him, it seemed. She had lovely, deep hazel eyes—hadn’t some old, dead English guy said eyes were the window to the soul?—and he felt a strange longing to touch her cheek. But that was beyond foolish, and he ignored it. “I’ve been lucky for as long as I can remember. Except I’ve realized it wasn’t luck at all. Or not just luck. My parents have been boosting me up the ladder for so long that I didn’t even realize it was happening. It just felt normal. It was my life.”

He’d done a lot of introspection after finding out about the endowment his folks had given to Duke. Thought of at least a dozen other instances of them “helping.” Hell, the building they’d landed for Big Catch had been owned by an old golf buddy of his dad’s.UncleCarl.

“And now?” she said softly.

“And now I want to do something without them.” A corner of his mouth ticked up. “Something they wouldn’t like.”

She smiled back at him. “Now you’re talking.”

“This city has done a lot for me. Even if the people here aren’t so fond of me right now, it feels like home. More so than my own home ever did. I want to give something back.” And because he had trouble shutting his mouth sometimes—River had told him he couldn’t help himself—he added, “And I want people to change their minds about me. I want them to realize that I might not have been born here, but I care about this city too. I’m part of it.”

She mimed checking off an invisible list, one item at a time. “So this new enterprise you’re thinking of is inspired by one part revenge, one part ego, and one part genuine emotion. Gotcha.” She tilted her head. “No offense, but what does this have to do with me?”

He got up, feeling so much energy thrumming through him he needed to be on his feet. “Adalia, your work inspired my new idea. I want to put on an art show, featuring little-known artists, for charitable causes benefiting the city. It can be a biannual thing. Maybe we’ll even let people vote on the cause in one of the local papers.”

“Like theGazette?” she asked.

He couldn’t read the look on her face, but he definitely had her attention now.

“Sure,” he said, “I don’t hold a grudge.”

“And I’m sure it wouldn’t hurt if they published something that made you look like a saint,” she said, challenging him.

He shrugged, not denying it. “We’ll rent a warehouse for the opening, and whatever hasn’t sold by the end of the first month can be part of a traveling show. We’ll let breweries and whatnot display them. They’ll want to, because it’ll be a good blast of publicity. In fact, we can have them bid on who gets to host the pieces. The artists will get their portion of money from their sales…” He felt the need to mention that upfront; he’d seen her car. “… but any profit above that will go to the cause.”

“We?” The look in her eyes was an open challenge now.

Hadn’t he made himself clear? She was the person who’d inspired this. He couldn’t do it without her. Dottie had already agreed to participate, and she’d indicated she had a few friends who might be interested. But it all fell apart without Adalia. She was the lynchpin for his plan. The reason for it.

“Yes,” he said. “You have a talent that deserves to be seen. To be experienced.”

She laughed again, although this time there was no hint of real humor. “Oh, is this performance art, then? You want me to make pieces and destroy them in front of an audience?”

He frowned. She’d been right earlier—thiswasn’tgoing well. He’d hoped that by explaining himself, by telling her his reasons for wanting to do this, she’d be more open to participating.

“No, that wasn’t exactly how I was envisioning it,” he said. “Maybe you could leave the utility knife at home.”

She got to her feet, and even though she had to be more than half a foot shorter than him, it felt like she was staring down at him.

“Look, Finn. You don’t know me. I’m sorry you’ve been through a shitty experience, but that doesn’t mean you’re in any special position to understand me and whatIhave been through. Which you haven’t even asked about, by the way. Believe it or not, normal people, who are stable enough to show their art, don’t destroy their own things. Besides, in case you haven’t noticed, I have a job. I’m helping at Buchanan.”

“Yeah,” he said, “I saw the shirts you came up with. And the labels. They’re brilliant. And River told me that you’ve been handling the social media accounts.”

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