Page 91 of Getting Lucky

When he saw her, Finn’s eyes lit up like he was a kid who’d just found his mother in a crowded shopping mall. “You’re here!”

She leaned in and hissed in his ear, “I said get him drunk or get him out. I didn’t say get him so sloppy he’s going to puke.”

He shrugged helplessly. “He wouldn’t stop. Like I said, something’s going on with him.”

Jack had come to a stop beside her. He was looking at Lee with a helpless expression that she understood all too well. They’d come here to talk to a sober person. What were they supposed to do now?

“It’s you,” Lee said, coming to a stop. He put a hand on Jack’s shoulder. “My brother from a different mother.” He paused. “Did you know the model for that awful painting at my sister’s house is here? He’s the designated driver, but he’s been pounding beer for longer than I have.” He started laughing, and the waft of alcohol from him made Maisie cringe. His mood turned more serious as he stared at Jack. He was looking at his face like he was searching for some resemblance between them. Their coloring was different, but it was there, undeniable as their identical noses. “Finn’s right. I shouldn’t have said that to you earlier. I don’t know you, but you don’t know me either. That conversation you overheard was personal.”

If he had trouble with near strangers knowing his personal business, he wasn’t going to enjoy talking about what they’d overheard at Shebeen.

A pause, into which Lee hiccupped. “I didn’t expect to meet you like this.”

Jack raised his brows. “Oh? I was under the impression you would have preferred not to meet me at all.”

A shadow passed over Lee’s face. “I almost went to your bar half a dozen times on my last business trip to Chicago.”

Shock filled Jack’s eyes. “But you didn’t?”

“No, I was…” Lee trailed off, looking like he’d lost the point, or maybe like he didn’t want to admit to his little brother that he’d been scared. And for the first time, Maisie felt something like sympathy toward him. Maybe he wasn’t what he seemed, just like Jack wasn’t the humorless, straightlaced man she’d taken him for.

“Why don’t you take him to the bar?” she suggested, gesturing toward it.

“Do you really think more alcohol’s the solution here?” Finn asked in an undertone.

She let out a little huff of laughter. “In lieu of one of Dottie’s miracle hangover cures, I was going to suggest coffee.”

“Who are you?” Lee asked, shifting his attention to Maisie. “You were at Thanksgiving, weren’t you?”

Before she could confirm it, Jack put his free hand on her hip. “She’s my girlfriend.”

He said it hastily, then threw her a look, obviously worried about how she might react.

She just leaned into him and said, “I also have a name. I’m Maisie.”

“Oh, you’re the one who—”

Alarm knifed through her. Had Georgie told him something about her? Did he know she’d had feelings for River? She certainly didn’t want Jack to find out from his drunk-as-a-skunk half-brother.

“—who’s friends with Adalia,” he finished.

The relief was real. And when Finn pulled her away, giving her a pointed look that was probably obvious to everyone, she let him.

“We need to go check on River!” he announced, speaking louder and more emphatically than was necessary.

Jack gave her a look like maybe he didn’t want her to go, but he didn’t attempt to pull her back or refuse. In fact, he hooked an arm around Lee’s shoulders and helped him stagger over to the bar.

Maybe Jack would get enough coffee into Lee that he could relay the bad news. Or if their talk went really poorly, and he was feeling spiteful, he could just tuck the photos in his jacket into Lee’s pocket to give him a surprise for later.

She chuckled to herself at the thought, which was the kind of thing Molly would have come up with as punishment for a vindictive ex. Oh God, Molly was going to be pissed, but Maisie couldn’t let her write about this train wreck, even if the names were left out. It had become too personal for Jack.

“You think he’s going to be okay?” Finn asked nervously as soon as Jack and Lee were out of hearing.

“Which one?”

“Both of them, I guess. I feel kind of bad about Lee. I gave him some high-gravity beers back at the house. He started drinking hard after Jack left. I think he felt guilty about how things went down…and he just kept going once we got here.” He shot her a glance. “From what he said, I take it things aren’t going great with Victoria.”

She stifled a laugh.

---