Page 36 of Bad Luck Club

She nodded, then said, “There’s nothing hot chocolate can’t cure.” It was something their mom had said to them. A smile crested her face. “Hey, maybe we’ll win Brewfest with hot chocolate. Wouldn’t that be a twist?”

He laughed, happy to hear her joke about it. Brewfest was a constant source of stress at the brewery, more so with every passing day.

Now that he’d tasted Home Sweet Home, he knew an important truth, one that would have been clear to him long ago if he’d had the ability to trust more easily. River was good at what he did—damn good—and he wasn’t trying to throw the competition. He wanted to win.

It struck him that maybe he should talk to everyone about the competition, especially given that they only had a little over a month to prepare. He should take an active role. Help them secure the win they deserved. But he still wasn’t sure he was ready.

So he just smiled at Georgie. “Maybe so. No one would expect it.”

They spent the next hour making multiple batches of hot chocolate, adding and subtracting ingredients until they both agreed a recipe with dark chocolate and a kick of cayenne pepper was the perfect blend. They were sick of cocoa, but they filled mugs anyway and headed into the living room where Georgie curled up on the sofa with a throw, and Lee sat in the overstuffed chair.

“You don’t have to work for the brewery,” she said. “We’d love to have you there, but I understand if it’s not a good fit.”

“I don’t even know whatisa good fit,” he said. “I feel like I have no idea who I am.”

She was silent for a moment. “That’s fair.”

“But I need to work, and I ran Phil off. So I’ll do what I can until you find a replacement.”

“And after that?” she asked, nursing her mug.

“We’ll see.”

“You want to go back to New York,” she said. “You want to go back to your old life.”

“Does it make me a dick?”

“Of course not.” Her eyes lit up with a grin. “Otherwise New York would be filled with nearly eighteen million dicks.”

He lifted his shoulder in a lazy shrug and made a face that suggested it was possible.

She laughed, then turned somber. “Asheville’s not for everyone, and I can see that it might not be for you. Of course Addy and I want you here, but we want your happiness even more.”

“Thanks.”

“We’ll support you, no matter what you decide. Even if that means not working with us and moving away.”

He noticed that she hadn’t said anything about him staying for Brewfest or her wedding, although of course she’d want him to. In fact, she never mentioned her wedding around him anymore, even as it was fast approaching. Originally they’d wanted to do it in March, but the madness of Brewfest had gotten the better of them, and they’d settled for mid-April. Even so, he thought they were causing themselves undue stress by scheduling it so close to the big event.

He’d suggested as much to Dottie once, and she’d looked at him sadly and said, “Dear, they don’t want to wait.”

“I want you to be happy too, Georgie,” he said. “I’m glad you’re getting married.”

She lifted her eyebrows. “Even if it’s to River?”

He shrugged. “We may have gotten off on slightly the wrong foot. I’m sorry for that.”

“I’m going to quote Dottie here and say I have faith that fate will iron things out.”

“Maybe so.”

“I hope so, because I want you to walk me down the aisle.”

That felt like a gut punch, mostly because he didn’t feel like he deserved it. He swallowed back emotion and nodded. “Of course. I’d be proud to do it.”

They sat for a moment, drinking their cocoa or pretending to. Then he added, “I think I need to do some work on myself.”

Her eyes widened slightly, and she seemed to choose her words carefully. “Dad would never approve.”

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