Page 46 of Bad Luck Club

Lee nodded silently. He was no expert, but this didn’t seem to be the way to initiate someone into therapy. He should have asked Blue how long these things typically lasted.

Harry, the one who’d been told to shut it, lifted a hand in greeting from his position at the window. “Hi. I’m Harry, and I’d like to state for the record that I thought this was aterribleidea.”

“Thanks,” Lee said.

“I’m Augusta,” the older redhead said, “and I would like to state that Harry is a know-it-all, onlyafterthe fact.”

Lee was tempted to tell them he’d heard them say those very things no less than two minutes ago, but he thought better of it.

“Augusta,” the dark-haired man admonished again before turning to Lee. “I’m Cal. Co-founder of the group.” He tipped his head toward Bear, who was in the kitchen loading his plate with veggies. “Bear’s my father.”

“Oh.” Lee wasn’t sure what to say. He was too taken aback by how different Cal looked from the man in the kitchen. There was something intense about him, like he enjoyed heading out into the woods and staring down bears. He definitely didn’t share his father’s carefree, laid-back vibe.

“Lee,” Lee said with a nod.

“We’re happy to have you here,” Dee said. “We don’t usually welcome people like that, but Bear thought it was funny you were so convinced this was a cult, and we decided to just run with it.” She shrugged her shoulder and scrunched her mouth. “Some of us needed a little excitement.” She leaned closer and lowered her voice. “The kind that’s not from bad luck.”

“Maybe Lou considers this wholeinitiationbad luck,” Nicole said in a dry tone.

Lee wasn’t sure if it was a good sign that he found himself most aligned with the teenage hippie.

“It’s Lee,” he corrected. “And I have to admit it was a memorable greeting.”

He heard his father snorting in the back of his head.Memorable? It was juvenile and pedestrian. What the hell are you doing, Junior? You’re a thousand times better than this group of losers. Get the hell out of there.

That did it. He was definitely staying.

Cal took the black sheet from Harry and started folding it until it was a small, very neat square. “Blue, why don’t you take Lee to get some snacks, and we’ll get started.”

“Okay,” Blue said, then looped her hand through Lee’s arm and tugged him into the kitchen. “See?” she whispered up at him when they were several feet away from the others. “They’re perfectly normal people once they lose the capes.”

The dog shot out from a back room, still wearing the witch hat and carrying a stuffed toy that looked like a long link of sausages in her mouth. They were so long they trailed behind her on either side.

“That’s Ruby,” Blue said, grabbing a paper plate covered in the same dancing skeletons as the cups. When she realized he wasn’t grabbing a plate, she asked, “You don’t want anything?”

“I had a late lunch.”

She gave him a dubious look but nodded. Setting her plate on the counter, she ladled some of the red drink into a cup. “Thirsty?”

If the refreshments were playing to the cult theme, Lord only knew what that punch might be spiked with. “No, thanks.”

She frowned, making him momentarily sorry that he’d turned her down. But then Bear laughed and clapped Harry on the back, congratulating him on finding the capes so the whole scene was as authentic as possible.

And Harry was the one who’d thought this little tableau they’d set up was a terrible idea.

Stay away from the punch.

Lee followed Blue back into the living room. Harry and Augusta had already claimed the sofa, but Cal was dragging two dining room chairs out next to a well-worn leather recliner. Blue claimed those, while Nicole sat on an obviously custom-made window seat, pressing her back into the frame and pulling her knees to her chest. Dee sat in the recliner, while Bear lowered onto a third dining chair near the entrance to the kitchen, and Cal claimed a wooden rocking chair by the fireplace.

Lee leaned into Blue’s ear. “Isn’t everyone else going to get snacks?”

“Based on how much is left, I suspect they were snacking while they set everything up.”

“Okay,” Bear said with a warm smile. “Let’s get started, everyone, and Lee will figure it out as we go along.”

The group murmured their agreement.

Bear clasped his hands and gave the group a fatherly look. “The challenges we assigned one another last week were about boosting confidence. Augusta, why don’t you tell us what you did?”

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