Page 120 of Bad Luck Club

“Now, who’s ready to break into the suckling pig cake?”

“It doesn’t have any actual pig in it, does it?” Harry asked in an undertone—who he was talking to was anybody’s guess.

“Just tell him it does, Dee,” Augusta cackled. “More for us.”

“No, Harry,” Dee said with a long-suffering sigh. “It’s a peaches and cream cake. I saw it on Pinterest.”

“You should go on thatNailed It!show on Netflix,” Nicole said with a grin. “They all try to make things from Pinterest and flub it.”

They were just teasing her, but Blue could see the way her smile was wobbling. Dee’s confidence wasn’t much better than Lee’s had been in the beginning.

Cal took a step forward, probably to comfort her, but Lee approached the cake and picked up the knife that had been left out, serving himself a heaping portion. He took a forkful and made a generous sound of approval.

“It’s delicious, Dee,” he said. “You’re giving Bear a run for his money.”

“Oh, it was nothing,” Dee said, her cheeks a little pink.

Cal sidled up to Blue, who was smiling so wide she thought her face might break.

“I guess you got your answer,” he said, giving her a little nudge.

“I guess I did.” She looked up at him. “Thank you for talking to me earlier. It helped.”

“I’m glad.”

“Because that’s why you said you started the club,” she said, studying him. “Redemption.”

He smiled at her, though there was plenty of sadness behind it. “Maybe so, but that’s not why I’m happy I helped you. You’re my friend, Blue. You deserve to be happy.”

“But so do you,” she said, holding his gaze while she said it.

He shook his head ruefully. “No, that’s the last thing I deserve.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to ask why, but suddenly a pig’s snout was being shoved into her hand, a Ring Pop gleaming up at her menacingly.

Lee grinned at her. “Saved the best piece for you.”

Cal smiled at her again, giving her a short salute, and walked off to talk to Dee.

“What is it?” Lee said, sensing her disquiet.

“It’s Cal,” she said. “He doesn’t think he deserves to be happy.” She lifted her fork to her mouth, grimacing a little at the dry texture of the cake and the gooeyness of the overdone peaches. Still, she’d eat the whole plate if it made Dee feel better.

“Maybe he’ll get lucky like I did, and someone will come along to make him see differently,” he said. The words themselves were teasing, but she could see in his eyes that he meant them.

“We’d better suggest that we do that Hula-Hoop contest fast, because I’m not sure how much longer I can wait,” she said under her breath. Then choked down another bite of the cake.

Lee set his mostly empty plate down immediately. “Who’s up for a Hula-Hoop contest?”

Blue laughed so hard she dropped her plate.

The Ring Pop winked at her as she picked it up to throw it away, making noise about the sad loss, and it struck her. Would she be willing to get married one day, after everything?

Yes, she realized. It made her uncomfortable to think about trying for a third time, but yes, she would.

Even if he asked with a Ring Pop.

Smiling, she threw the plate away and joined the others in the living room.

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