Page 331 of A Merry Mountain Christmas

“And you let this happen?” she asked, turning on Finn.

He gave her a helpless puppy dog look that might have worked on Adalia but surely was not going to work on her.

Why hadn’t Jack told her?

Because it’s in his best interest for River to sign those papers.

If River didn’t sign, then Jack could lose his stake in the brewery and possibly his job. He wouldn’t, of course—River would never pull his job out from under him—but Jack didn’t know him like she did. He’d pinned all his hopes on the brewery, and he didn’t want to see them come tumbling down.

“I don’t care,” River said. “I really don’t. If this is what it takes to get Lee’s support, I’m all for it. God knows Georgie’s father is still doing everything he can to tear us apart.”

More than he even knew.

She just nodded distantly and turned from them to search the room for Jack and Lee. But her search was interrupted when she spotted someone else she knew—Blue, sitting with a brown-haired man in a brown shirt and khaki pants. Was she on adate? She didn’t like beer, so it was the last place Maisie would have thought to look for her.

Blue hadn’t been sharing her usual awful dating stories on the group chat she had with Maisie and Adalia. But if she was dating someone, why hadn’t she told them?

She could practically see Mary giving her that disapproving look.

Because people worry you’ll make fun of them, Maisie. You and Molly need to work on your people skills.

Really, fair enough, Phantom Mary. She and Adalia had made a few jokes about the Bad Luck Club—they’d sent increasingly wild theories about what it was—and Blue seemed pretty sensitive about it. Maybe this guy was someone she’d met there.

“Hey, guys,” she said. “I’ll be a minute. I’m going to go say hi to Blue and then find Jack and Lee.”

River gave her a look. “Be gentle. Like I said, I’m okay with this. The guy’s kind of a dick, but he didn’t ask for anything I wasn’t willing to give.”

She squeezed his shoulder—“I know”—and thought, but didn’t say, that it hadn’t been Lee’s right to ask.

“Should we head back over?” Finn asked, gesturing to the table they’d left. Maisie had to smile to herself because it was clear from the way he said it that he really would rather not.

“Not yet,” River said. “Let’s stay over here awhile and talk.”

Maisie made her way over to Blue, whose eyes widened when she caught sight of her. There was a nearly untouched beer in front of her, but the man she was with had finished three quarters of his pour.

Blue didn’t seem happy to see her. No, that wasn’t quite true. Her first reaction had been the kind of happiness you weren’t expecting, but it had given way to nerves.

“Hey, Blue,” Maisie said as she got closer. “I guess I forgot to tell you the bachelor party would be stopping here tonight. Surprise!”

“Oh, are you with that group over there?” the guy asked, nodding toward the bar. He didn’t say it with a tone, not really, but something in his face said he disapproved.

“Yeah, that’s us,” she said, holding out a hand and reminding herself to reserve judgment. “I’m Maisie.”

He shook her hand. “Dan.” He glanced at Blue. “And you’re a friend of Blue’s?”

Blue gave a pained smile. “Yeah, a good friend.” An awkward pause hung between them for a moment. Then Blue said, “Hey, Dan? Would you mind getting me a glass of water from the bar?”

“No, not at all,” he said, getting up. He was a tall man with dishwater brown hair and brown eyes fringed with long, sandy lashes. Good-looking, but in a somewhat generic way she wouldn’t have expected from a man who’d gained Blue’s interest. He turned to Maisie on his way past and said, “It was nice to meet you.”

It kind of rubbed her the wrong way, like he expected her to be gone by the time he got back, but she just nodded and said “likewise” before turning to Blue with raised eyebrows.

“New boyfriend?”

Blue gestured for her to sit. Biting her lip, she said, “Sort of. We’ve been seeing each other for a few weeks.”

A flash of hurt must have shown in her eyes, because Blue lifted a hand. “I’m sorry. It’s just…I was nervous about introducing him to you and Addy. He’s not my usual type, but the Bad Luck Club has helped me realize my old patterns weren’t working for me.” She waved toward Dan, who didn’t stand out from the crowd of men he’d disappeared into. “Dan’s a good guy. He hasn’t asked to meet my friends or see my studio. He lets me be my own person, and that’s what I need right now.”

It was on the edge of Maisie’s tongue to say it wasn’t necessarily a great sign that he didn’t want to take part in those aspects of her life. Although codependency was a trap she understood, it was possible to be part of someone’s life without taking it over, and vice versa. But it wasn’t really her business to say so, and she didn’t want to give Blue any more reasons to pull away from her. From now on, any theorizing about the Bad LuckClub would have to be strictly limited to texts between her and Addy.

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