Page 6 of Luck of the Draw

“Yeah. I guess I saw the guy’s bald head and got excited.”

“That guy’s got to be at least a foot shorter than Lurch, based on what River told me,” I said. “Careful. You don’t want to end up tackling Georgie’s uncle or whatever.”

“Good point,” Daniel said, popping a mint from under the bar. “I’ll bet that’s a no-no in Georgie’s book.”

“You wouldn’t be earning any points, that’s for sure.”

Dottie arrived then, cutting through the crowd to make her way to the bar, and the only person who squawked was an obvious out-of-towner. The not-Lurch guy, actually.

But Dottie ignored him so thoroughly that he had to satisfy himself with some long-suffering sighs.

Her hair was still bright pink, her dress a paler shade of the same color, dotted with bright yellow flowers. She should have looked insane, covered in pink from head to toe, but somehow she didn’t.

“Hey, Dottie, want a drink?” I asked.

The long-suffering man squawked again, as if he were a chicken, and he said something snarky about the bar not being open for the rest of them, but I joined Dottie in ignoring him.

“Yes, that would be lovely. Some of that lemon drink, please.”

I poured a cocktail for her and handed it over.

“You know,” she said, taking it, “I am well aware that River told you to look out for a few of my friends, but you needn’t worry, dear boys. I’ve taken care of the whole thing.”

“Oh?”

“Blue knows someone who books Caribbean cruises,” she said with no small amount of satisfaction, “and I’ve sent Lurch and Josie away for the weekend.”

Blue being her grandson’s girlfriend. People here had names that sounded like lyrics picked out of a country song.

“And you didn’t tell River?” I asked, surprised. “He seemed pretty nervous about them showing up. I bet he’d be thrilled.”

Her look turned grim. “Well, I was quite pleased with myself. But Ididn’tsucceed in waylaying Stella, unfortunately, and although she wasn’t invited, she did say something about walking one of her goats in the garden to get a peek.” She glanced around. “Regrettably, the grounds aren’t entirely closed to the public. Shecouldget in.”

“River showed us her picture too,” Daniel said, “not that I needed to see it. She and Lurch come around the tasting room sometimes, or they used to before Dylan started.” Turning to me, he grinned. “They probably heard we have a bouncer now and decided to stay away. Come to think of it, River was almost as worried about Stella trying to come as he was about Josie.”

“With good reason, I’m afraid. I must admit that her goats are not well trained, and she persists in flirting with my grandsons even though all of them are taken.”

If I was remembering Stella’s picture correctly, she had to be at least mid-sixties.

Only in Asheville.

“Well, we’ll keep an eye out.”

“Do look out for other uninvited guests too, if you wouldn’t mind,” she said, more nervous than I was accustomed to seeing her. “Lee’s ex-girlfriend, Victoria, has been attempting to contact him, and although he’s made it quite clear to her that he’s not interested in talking with her, I worry that she might try to corner him here. She knows he’ll be here, you see, and although she’s not supposed to leave New York…well, I worry. I don’t have a picture of her, boys, but she had long, dark hair. The poor dear is troubled, but I’ll not let her ruin River and Georgie’s wedding.”

Lee was Georgie’s brother, another of my bosses, technically, and Victoria was somehow wrapped up in the Buchanan dad’s legal snafu in New York. None of my business. But apparently we were still very much on guard duty.

I glanced at Daniel, whose gaze was fixed on a guest in a short, flowy dress.

Okay, so I was on solo guard duty. Although I’d had nothing more than a short fling and a couple of dates since moving to Asheville, I was good at compartmentalizing. I’d only check out the guests to ensure they weren’t crashers.

It should be simple, really. Goat Lady was a no-brainer. We weren’t likely to see anyone else walking by with a goat. The ex might be harder to spot—as Daniel had clearly noticed, there were a lot of women in attendance. Many of them were beautiful.

But a party crasher would arrive late, to avoid being noticed. And they’d do their best not to be seen. Sometimes that was the easiest way to notice someone, when they were trying too hard to blend in.

“Oh dear, that’s not good,” Dottie said, and I whirled in the direction she was looking to see a flock of birds had moved in over the tables, and several of them had left little presents.

So much for the crisp white tablecloths.

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