Page 115 of Bad Luck Club

Harry narrowed his eyes. “You could have just randomly made that up,” he said, “but you seem pretty sincere…” He pushed out a sigh. “Blue doesn’t know that you’re here. Let me see if she wants to see you.”

Which meant that Lee was at Harry’s mercy, not a place he wanted to be, but he wasn’t going to bust the door down. He suspected any grand gesture that required Bear to invest in home repairs wouldn’t be appreciated. Harry went back inside, and about thirty seconds later, Bear opened the door, wearing his own Hawaiian shirt, lei, and Bermuda shorts. He took one look at Lee and burst out laughing, then beckoned him inside. “Come in. You’re always welcome. Harry shouldn’t have left you out on the porch.”

Lee really wanted to go in, but these were Blue’s friends, her people. He didn’t want to interfere with that. “Maybe I should wait for Blue outside.”

“You’re gonna have to wait a bit. She and Dee made a run to town for more ice.”

Ice in the middle of winter. It sounded like a Bad Luck Club party.

“Oh…”

“But come inside. The group will be glad to see you.”

He wasn’t so sure of that, but he figured it wasn’t a bad idea to do some groveling. They were important to her, which meant they were important to him.

When he walked into the house, Nicole was stirring the punch at the kitchen counter. She was dressed in all black, like she hadn’t gotten the dress theme memo, but she had a lei around her neck. Cal stood next to the fireplace, stoking the fire. He had on a light-blue shirt, cargo shorts, and sandals but no lei. Augusta was sitting in a chair, wearing a floral print housedress and lei, eating some cut pineapple on a paper plate and piercing the chucks with a small plastic sword.

“Where’s Ruby?” Lee asked. As rambunctious as the dog was, she was sure to terrify Buford.

“Shut up in the bedroom,” Bear said.

As if on cue—he had said her name—Lee heard scratching and a soft whine from the back of the house.

“What’s with the cape?” Augusta asked through a mouthful, spattering out juice and tiny pieces of pineapple. “Did you not get Bear’s email about the theme?”

“Not all of us like to conform to societal expectations,” Nicole said over her shoulder. “Very classy cape, Lee. You make a great Count Dracula.”

He nearly groaned. He hadn’t set out to look like a vampire, but he’d already been called one twice. “Impressive performance at the arboretum,” he said with a nod. “I wish I’d caught the whole thing. How’s your foot, by the way?”

“I iced it when I got home, and the swelling went down by the next day,” she said, then gave Augusta a dirty look and pointedly said, “Thanks for asking,Lee.”

“No one made you kick that statue,” Augusta said as she stabbed another piece of pineapple. “That was your artistic choice.”

Cal gave Lee a look, and it struck Lee that while Bear, Cal, and Harry clearly knew that things hadn’t gone well in New York, Nicole and Augusta didn’t. They didn’t even seem to know he’d left the club.

Bear tried to get him to load up a plate with food. Despite the abrupt change in the timing of the party, someone had taken the Hawaiian theme and run wild with it, making a cake shaped like a suckling pig, although significantly smaller. The amateurish recreation made it clear it wasn’t real, but he still found it disconcerting, especially the red Ring Pop eyes.

He glanced over at Harry, pointing to the cake. “Hey, don’t let Buford near this, okay?”

Harry shot him a glare, and Lee couldn’t help wondering if he’d made the cake, but he dismissed the idea. It seemed more like Dee’s handiwork.

Then the front door opened, and Lee spun around to face it, as eager as one of Pavlov’s dogs. Blue was wearing a gray coat over a pale blue sweater, a pair of jeans and brown boots. So she hadn’t gone for the luau look either, or maybe she just hadn’t gone home yet. Her eyes went wide when she saw him, and he realized she must not have noticed his car.

“Lee…” She shook her head as though she thought she was hallucinating. “Is this aHarveymoment, or are you really here?”

“Oh, he’s here,” Harry said. “Your eyes don’t deceive you.”

Lee had no idea what they were talking about. His mind was too focused on calming the beating of his heart. He wanted to reach for her, but he knew it wouldn’t be welcome right now.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“I know I have no right to ask you this, but can we talk? Alone?”

Dee slipped past Blue, her smile spreading. “Lee! What a lovely surprise. Blue just told me in the car that you wouldn’t be able to make the party on account of it being moved.”

It was just like Blue to have made an excuse for him, even if it meant lying on his behalf. He tried to catch her eye, to somehow convey his gratitude that she hadn’t outed him as the complete asshole he was.

“How could I miss Blue’s graduation party?” he asked, rubbing the back of his neck. “Of course I wanted to be here.”

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