Page 58 of Bad Luck Club

Hence Bear’s hesitation to add another person to the Bad Luck Club. Maybe he’d had the right idea.

Dottie gave her a pointed look as she took a sip from the first teacup. “Lee is a changed man this week. In some ways. In others his soul is more out of balance than ever.”

So Dottie had noticed that too.

“Adalia mentioned he’s been pouring himself into the business.”

“Yes,” Dottie said, selecting a green petit four for herself, “but in the way of a drowning man. What happened, dear? It’s clear as quartz that you two complete each other.”

Blue nearly spat out her latest sip of tea. “Oh no, Dottie, I’m not looking for anything like that…and I don’t think Lee is either.”

“Because you’ve been married twice. Addy told me.”

Blue would have been annoyed at Adalia, but she knew it was hard to deny Dottie anything—hence her presence here.

“That’s part of it, yes.”

She thought again of Remy, who still wouldn’t leave her alone. He hadn’t called back yet. But he would. He always did, even if several months had passed since the last time. It was his way of feeling he still had some control over her, that she hadn’t taken it all back.

“I was married to a fool for thirty years, Blue, and before that I almost married a cheater. It was only then that I met my Beau. I know a thing or two about third chances.”

Blue laughed a little at that. “You don’t hear much about third chances,” she said. “People usually stop at two. When you get beyond that, people stop thinking you deserve another chance.”

“We’re proof that’s just not true,” Dottie said, waving for her to have more tea. Blue finished the first cup and moved on to the second. “Most people think the first go-round hurts the worst, but it wasn’t like that for me,” Dottie mused. “It was the man I went to afterward, the one who was supposed to correct all my mistakes, who took the most from me. For thirty years, he tried to make me someone I wasn’t. I didn’t bend, Blue, but it took away some of my enjoyment. And for what? To avoid a divorce? Out of fear of failure?”

Blue sucked in a breath, caught off guard, and looked into her tea. Still two gulps left, so she took them.

“You came here after you left him,” she guessed, her intuition throbbing, “to Asheville.”

Just like Blue.

“I did,” Dottie said. “I was drawn here, and I didn’t want love any more than you think you do.” She met Blue’s gaze and held it. “But I was wrong, Blue. Something deep inside of us longs for love, even if we can’t think beyond the hurt it might bring us if we get it wrong again. That’s true of everyone, not just artists, but we’re more attuned to emotion. Poor Lee has spent his whole life fighting his feelings.”

“Exactly. Even if he was interested in me—and after this last week, I think I can confidently say he’s not—he’s in no position to get involved with anyone right now. He—”

“His grandfather wasn’t either,” Dottie said with a twinkle in her eye. “Or so he thought. Fate had something different in store for us. Life never loses the ability to surprise you, Blue. Remember that.”

Dottie’s words lit something hopeful inside of her, a struck match wavering in the February wind.

“Keep drinking, dear,” Dottie said, nodding to the third cup of tea.

She felt full to bursting with tea and all of the conflicting feelings at war inside of her, but she took a sip. “Dottie, I can’t get involved with Lee. Even if I wanted to give it a try, it’s against the rules of the Bad Luck Club for a sponsor to date a sponsee.” She considered the wisdom of sharing more information about the club with a nonmember, then decided Bear wouldn’t mind if she shared a couple of basics. “We’re given challenges each week. Last week I was supposed to help someone because I wanted to, not because I was asked or manipulated.”

“Ah,” Dottie said. “And you chose to help Lee.”

“Exactly, and he won’t forgive me for it.”

“The male ego is a fragile thing, my dear. He may think he’s angry, but I suspect he’s hurt.”

Blue shrugged helplessly. The same thing had occurred to her, but she couldn’t talk him through his anger or whatever other emotions he was feeling if he wouldn’t talk to her at all. And did she really want to be in a relationship with someone who didn’t communicate? Dan had proven to her she didn’t.

“My challenge this time is to go on a date with someone. I think it’s a sign that I need to move on.” She glanced down into her last teacup. “I can’t deny I feel something for Lee, but there are too many circumstances against us, and the timing is all wrong.”

“Math is a funny thing,” Dottie said. “Sometimes you need a lot of wrongs to make a right.”

Blue wasn’t sure what that meant, practically speaking, but Dottie had a way of making anything sound like words of wisdom. All the more reason to be cautious. Yet she found herself drinking the last of the tea quickly, wanting Dottie to read the leaves.

“I can’t get kicked out of the club, Dottie. I need it.” She’d come to count on Harry’s eclectic mix of dour and fun, on Bear’s muffins and banana bread and warmth, on Cal’s dry humor and ability to see past people’s barriers, on Nicole’s ferocity, on Dee’s strength, and on Augusta’s…Augusta-ness.

---