Page 17 of Bad Luck Club

So shewasas crazy as the rest of them.

He gave Dottie a nudge. “Well, this has been fun—”

Dottie refused to budge. “We have a lovely lunch planned, and you’ll sit through all of it before you run off and do…whatdoyou plan to do, dear?”

Lee pushed out a sigh. “I’ll give you fifteen minutes, and it starts now.”

Blue’s full lips lifted into an amused smile. “Then I guess we better get started.”

Chapter Six

Last night, Blue had dreamed of owls. Perhaps it was only the power of suggestion, but each time sleep had dragged her under, she’d seen their big eyes in the dark, heard their hooting.

Then, this morning, at 4:30 a.m., she’d awoken to a text from her mother.

They’re watching us through the cameras in our computers again. Block yours with tape, Blue.

She’d replied instantly.Mom, did you stop taking your pills? You promised.

Of course, she didn’t really expect a response to that, and she didn’t get one. So she sent off a few rapid-fire texts to her mother’s best friend.I think Mom’s off her meds again. Can’t come down until the weekend. Please check in with her tomorrow and get her to her doctor if you can.

The thing was, no one couldmakeher mother take her medication. Nor could they compel her to seek out medical treatment. They could only wait until this latest bout of mania, if that was what was happening, ran its course, or until she did something bad enough that she was forced to get help.

Blue hoped it wouldn’t come to that, but she’d learned she couldn’t hinge her life on her mother’s illness. No good would come of blowing off her commitments for the day and tearing off to Greenville. Because when her mom was off her meds, she wouldn’t listen to anyone who told her to go back on them.

My mind feels like my own again, Blue, she’d told her once. The creativity is lapping in like waves. You’re an artist too. You know how important that is.

She didn’t want to understand, but she did. And that scared her more than anything.

Knowing sleep wouldn’t come, she’d made herself chai and watched the sun rise, thinking of her mother, thinking of Lee, and thinking of this moment and what she would say.

Now, as she stared at him across the table, all of her plans went out the window. She just lifted her brows and said, “Your sister thinks it’s a cult too. But she’s so worried about you that she wants you to come anyway. And it sounds like you suddenly have plenty of free time on your hands.”

Lost his job, he’d said. But his sisters would never have fired him. He’d quit. And a man who’d just walked away from his last hope was crying for help, whether he was willing to admit it or not.

He grunted, but she saw the tension in his face. The joyful sense of freedom she’d glimpsed in him the night of the Christmas party had been boxed away along with the ornaments on the Buchanan family tree, it would seem. This man was as closed down as a tight knot in yarn. Somehow she had to open him up without breaking him.

She glanced at Dottie, who reached across the table for her hands, slipping something into one of her palms as she squeezed them. Then she got up. “Oh, there’s Sylvie. I hear she’s doing someveryinteresting performance art these days. I’ll be back shortly.”

She was gone before Lee could progress from gaping at her in shock—shehadjust begged him to stay, after all—to objecting.

Blue glanced down into her hand, which now held a lovely piece of jasper. She squeezed it, trying to summon her strength and confidence. Her will.

“Is she really coming back?” Lee asked. For a moment, he looked like a lost little boy, as if Dottie had been providing him with some sort of handholding. Probably she had, although he clearly didn’t realize he’d wanted her there.

Dottie’s sudden departure was part of the plan, because Blue really did care about abiding by the club’s rules, and the first one was so important they’d said it twice.

Rule #1. Don’t give details about Bad Luck Club to anyone who’s not luck-challenged.

“I see the way you’re looking at me. We’re not mentally ill,” she said softly, firmly. “Bear and his son, Cal, started this group six months ago to help people who are struggling. There’s something miraculous, Lee, about being around others who understand what that means. Bear and Cal had hurts of their own, but they poured their pain into creating something that matters. Into helping other people. I’m one of them.”

Some of his apprehension had faded, but she hadn’t convinced him yet. Not that she would have thought it would be so easy.

He shook his head with a little twist of those perfectly formed lips. “River. Bear. Blue. I’d never heard such strange names before coming here. Is that your real name?”

“I chose it.”

He smirked a little. “Is that part of this club of yours? Choosing names? Sounds a lot like a cult to me. I’m not going to go around asking people to call me Maple.”

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