Page 76 of Getting Lucky

River swallowed again. “Georgie means more to me than whether my name is on the ownership papers. I’ll be happy as long as I can work there with her. But you have toswearthat you’re one hundred percent on board with this marriage, because like I said, your blessing is important to her, and I’ll do whatever it takes to give that to her.”

Lee shifted his weight with an air of confidence that reminded Jack of their father. “So, just to be clear, you’re willing to give up any claim of ownership to Buchanan Brewery to marry my sister?”

River lifted his chin. “I’d give up everything and anything to marry her.”

Lee stood, glaring at River.

River stood and held his gaze, issuing a challenge of his own.

“I’ll have the papers drawn up and you can sign them before the engagement party tomorrow night,” Lee said in a tight voice. “Andifyou sign them, I’ll make a toast to the happy couple, giving you both my blessing.”

“Even though you’ll probably piss off your father?” River asked.

Lee shrugged. “Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to keep him on his toes.”

Finn looked surprised, and so was Jack. Both men had been privy to enough video conversations between Addy and Lee to know he was an ass-kisser where their father was concerned. What had changed?

Lee extended his hand to River, and River clasped it. Both men put a lot of effort into their firm grips, enough so that Finn stepped in and broke them apart.

“Maybe now would be a good time to start the movie,” he said. “I’ll order some pizzas.”

“Sounds good,” Lee said, going back to his seat and focusing his attention on the blank TV screen. “I’ll take anything as long as it’s not hippie, new age, or vegetarian. And no pineapple.”

“You know what I like,” River grunted, returning to his vacated seat.

Finn grabbed his phone and started to place the call, then seemed to remember Jack. “What about you?”

“I ate before I came over.” A lie, but he’d lost his appetite.

Jack’s gaze swung from Lee to River. Both men were less tense after their discussion, but he wouldn’t exactly call them friendly. Still, they’d reached an agreement, which was more than he and Lee had done.

Jack felt invisible. He knew he could make Lee acknowledge him, but what was the point? He’d suffered enough humiliation with Prescott—he wasn’t going to invite any more from his half-brother. But wasn’t his blatant dismissiveness a humiliation of its own?

Jack was close to making some excuse to get out of this torture session, but then he thought of Maisie and how excited she’d been to see him tonight. He’d stick through this for her and her alone.

Chapter Twenty-Five

“Thank you,” Georgie said, looking Maisie in the eye.

Which was about the last thing she’d expected Georgie to say when she’d dragged her to the bathroom. Of course, she wasn’t sure what shehadexpected her to say. Except that it was probably about River, and she almost certainly didn’t want to talk about it.

“For what? Being your bathroom buddy?”

“No,” Georgie said, waving to the door. “For helping with Victoria. Lee hasn’t told Adalia yet, but he’s thinking of breaking up with her.” She made a face. “I didn’t mean to tell you that part. I think Addy put more schnapps in my hot chocolate than she let on.”

“Why wouldn’t he tell Addy that?” Maisie asked in genuine shock. “That would be, like, the best Christmas present ever for her.”

Georgie shrugged. “You’re no more surprised than I was. He doesn’t usually confide in me. I think he probably wants to be the one to inform Victoria they’re through. You know Addy wouldn’t be able to help herself if she knew.”

Maybe. Either way, it struck Maisie as another case of Buchanan dysfunction. Adalia had told her that the siblings had struggled to communicate with each other after their mother died, and although things had improved, clearly the struggle was ongoing. At least with Lee. Of course, her impression of Lee, whom she’d still never met, wasn’t all that great.

Maisie had about a dozen other questions about the whole Lee/Victoria quagmire—why bring someone to a family event if you planned on breaking up with them? Why spend Christmas with someone you didn’t love? And the real clincher: Why would anyone, for any reason, ever date Victoria?

But she settled for asking, “What do you think she’s going to do with the wedding dresses? Shred them?”

Georgie laughed. “Or maybe she just repurposes them. They could be from her last would-be engagement.”

“Imagine being the guy who goes home with her for the first time and finds a closet full of wedding dresses.”

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