Getting Lucky

by A. R. Casella

  She assumed something must have—both from what Iris had said in the car earlier and the fact that Iris now lived with him. It wasn’t a normal arrangement for a sister to live with her brother when she had two perfectly alive parents.

  “I’ll level with you,” Maisie said, leaning in a little. “I wish you’d made this.” She nodded to her lemon drop martini.

  “Oh yeah?” he asked, his eyes speculative. “Mine was better?”

  “Much.”

  “It was so good you left it on the counter after taking one sip,” he said, his eyes dancing. Because he remembered exactly why she’d left it, and so did she.

  “It was a tragic mistake, and I think of it often. I should have taken the drink, tucked Diego under my arm, and run for the hills.”

  His gaze lingered on her lips, but Adalia coughed, shifting their attention to her.

  “You okay?” Jack asked, patting her on the back.

  “Yeah, my drink just went down the wrong way.”

  But something about the way she was coughing seemed fake. What had Jack said to her?

  Before the bathroom break, she’d seemed so eager to set them up Maisie had half-expected the waitress to deliver a piece of chocolate cake in the shape of a heart with two forks, a hotel room key embedded in the middle. Now, Adalia was practically choking herself to end a flirty moment between them.

  The cough stopped as soon as Jack’s pats became harder.

  Faker.

  “Maybe we should talk about the engagement party,” Adalia said. “You know, since we’re all in the wedding.”

  Huh. Maybe that was it. Maybe Jack had said he didn’t want to get involved with Maisie because he couldn’t commit to a relationship and they were going to have to keep seeing each other at wedding events. She couldn’t fault such logic. Hell, she was in total agreement, but she still wished they could have a little fun.

  “I don’t know,” Jack said. “I told Dottie I’d keep her in the loop.” He eyed the door as if he feared she might come in and find them talking about it.

  “You’re afraid of Dottie,” Maisie said with a grin.

  “Of course I am,” he said, “and I’m not ashamed of it.” He took a sip of his drink, his expression contemplative. “She reminds me a little of my grandmother. I mean, my grandmother didn’t push crystals on everyone she met or throw wild parties that always went horribly wrong, but she cared about people like Dottie does. She basically raised me.” He was saying it for Maisie’s sake, because Adalia was nodding in a way that spoke of foreknowledge.

  “I’m sorry you lost her,” Maisie said. Because she could tell he had—she heard it in his tone, soft and reminiscent. Jack was also not the sort of man who would’ve left his tottering, much-loved grandmother hundreds of miles behind with his mother, who apparently wasn’t much of a nurturer.

  He met her eyes, his gaze intent and serious, and simply said, “Thank you.”

  It was on the edge of her tongue to tell him that she understood the pain of loss, but she could tell he knew. So she simply said, “Dottie’s like that for a lot of us. I’d never give her the satisfaction of hearing me say so, but it’s like she has a sixth sense for who needs some extra love.”

  Adalia reached over and squeezed Jack’s hand, and the quick motion startled Maisie. She’d forgotten her friend was there—for a moment, it had felt like she and Jack were alone at the table.

  “Don’t worry,” Adalia said, “we’ll only discuss it in general terms.” It took a second for Maisie to realize she was still talking about the party. “Now, what can we do to ensure that Victoria and my dad almost certainly won’t come?”

  Adalia looked so serious, Maisie couldn’t help but laugh. “I don’t know if I want to help you,” she said. “I look forward to meeting the infamous Victoria.”

  Adalia had told her and Blue dozens of stories about her, from the fact that she had a timeline for her relationship with Lee to the fact that she’d monogrammed all of her bags with the initials VB, Victoria Buchanan, and pretended the store had made a mistake. She was so controlling Lee couldn’t call either of his sisters without first ensuring she wasn’t around.

  Maisie couldn’t understand why anyone would put up with that kind of behavior. Her sister Molly would quote the movie 10 Things I Hate About You and suggest Victoria had beer-flavored nipples, although in the case of the debonair Lee, she suspected he’d prefer something snooty like port. But Maisie didn’t think looks or prowess in the sheets were enough to compensate for someone being a blowhard. She’d sooner spend the rest of her life alone—like Josie predicted—than be with someone who tried to control her or keep her away from her family and friends.

  “Trust me, you don’t want to meet her,” Adalia said. “Tell her, Jack.”

  “I didn’t exchange a single word with her,” he said.

  “Maybe not, but you pay attention to everything.”

  He glanced at Maisie again, his gaze taking her in as if she were the bourbon in his glass. “You won’t enjoy meeting her,” he said at last. Then his lips twitched with a held-back smile. “But the rest of us would very much enjoy witnessing it.”

  “You think I’d eviscerate her,” she said.

  “I know it,” he said, his eyes gleaming.

  “And I’m counting on it,” Adalia added, “unless, of course, we figure out a way to avoid her altogether, which would be preferable.”

  Maybe it was because Maisie had been thinking of an excuse to get out of it herself, but the answer came to her quickly. “That’s easy,” she said. “Forget having the party in January. Have it on Christmas. Or maybe just before. Yeah, Christmas Eve. No way would she want to spend the holidays in Asheville.”

  Adalia’s eyes lit up as if Maisie had just given her a gift.

  “I don’t know,” Jack said, plucking at his napkin. “I don’t want to sabotage the party. Georgie will be really disappointed if Lee doesn’t show.”

  “Oh, he’ll come,” Adalia said. “But this’ll give him an excuse to leave Victoria at home. He’d rather come without her anyway.”

  What kind of relationship was this, exactly?

  “And Georgie might fool herself into thinking otherwise, but she’ll be much happier if Dad stays home. We all will.” This last was said in a small voice that indicated Adalia certainly felt that way.

  Jack clearly saw it too, because he nodded encouragingly. “Let’s float the idea. See if Lee’s in, and if everyone else in the crew is going to be around. We can make it an open house type thing so family, friends, and people from the brewery can stop by.”

  He plucked at the napkin a little more, depositing the little shreds into a neat pile.

  “Keep doing that and there won’t be anything left,” Maisie said.

  He glanced up at her and smiled in the way of someone who felt seen. “I haven’t told Iris yet, but Mom doesn’t want her to come back to Chicago for Christmas. She’s going on a cruise with a new…friend. Iris isn’t going to like that.”

  “We’ll cheer her up,” she said, reaching out and putting her hand over his. She hadn’t meant to, but there was something in his eyes. That sweet sadness for his sister, for himself.

  “What about you?” Jack said. “Are you going to be here?”

  “I am.” The words came out before she remembered she was supposed to be getting out of this quagmire, not worming her way into it. But Molly was going to follow up the successful Datesgiving piece with the Twelve Dates of Christmas (Maisie had argued it was a blatant rip-off of the holiday movie, which Molly had openly admitted—“…but hey, free publicity!”), and Mary had invited Maisie to come stay with her family in Virginia. Maisie couldn’t travel on the holidays, or at least not on a big one like Christmas. She usually gave everyone the day off and took care of the dogs herself. Although Mary would give her a sad look if she said so, it was fun. She liked the traditions she’d established with the dogs. Taking pictures with Santa Paws (okay, it was always just River or Finn in
the suit with a tacked-on beard) and giving the dogs turkey and stockings full of chew toys and treats. So, yeah, she was staying.

  “Then the important people are all available,” he said. He meant the whole wedding party was available, because Georgie had picked Adalia, Dottie, Victoria, and Iris, and Maisie, Finn, Jack, and Lee were standing up with River.

  Still, there’d almost been a sensual purr to his words, and if that didn’t send tingles straight to her—

  “Oh, good, you’re still here,” Blue said, bustling up to the table. With glossy, curly black hair and high cheekbones, Blue was a striking woman, and Maisie found herself glancing at Jack to see how he reacted.

  But when she looked at him, he met her gaze. He hadn’t looked away.

  Something about the moment sent a stab of vulnerability through her, and Maisie turned from him, flagging down a server.

  “Sangria,” Blue said without glancing at the menu.

  “So,” Adalia said as soon as the server walked away. “Tell us everything about this support group-slash-cult you’ve joined. Although if it’s a pyramid scheme, please don’t ask us to host parties. I love you, but I refuse to sell crappy Tupperware for you.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” Blue said with a smile. But her gaze shot to Jack, and it was clear she didn’t feel comfortable talking about her personal business in front of someone she didn’t know. The realization that Jack and Blue were strangers to each other came as a bit of a shock. But just a few weeks ago she hadn’t known Jack either, other than having seen him a couple of times in his role as Adalia’s brother.

  “I’m going to order an Uber,” he said, slapping some cash down on the table. “I’d like to think some more about what we were discussing.” He had to be talking about the party, and the possibility of holding it on or in the vicinity of Christmas, but for some reason he looked at Maisie as he said it. And she couldn’t look away.

  “I didn’t mean to chase you off,” Blue said, which was kind of funny, really, because Blue was the one they’d planned to meet in the first place. Leave it to Blue to apologize for attending her own girls’ night. She was too damn nice, that was her problem.

  “I’ll see you ladies later,” Jack said, and then they all said their goodbyes, and he left. His absence was so marked, it felt like his empty seat had turned into a black hole.

  “What in the world is happening between the two of you?” Blue asked, fanning herself to mime the heat that had been passing between them.

  “Nice try, Deflector,” Maisie said. “You were telling us about your support group.”

  Blue looked to Adalia for help, but Addy shook her head. “We’ll get to Maisie later. After we put your new group through the cult test.”

  “Sorry to disappoint,” Blue said, “but it’s not a cult.” The server delivered her drink, and she took a long gulp. “You guys know I’ve gone on a lot of awful dates lately.”

  Maisie huffed a laugh. “That’s an understatement.”

  Blue had reentered the dating world after some experience (heretofore unmentioned) had soured her from it, and every man she met seemed to be awful in a unique way. There’d been Leo, with his recycled tinfoil fashion creations, Rupert, who had a fake English accent but was from New Jersey, and David, who’d seemed normal and cute until half an hour into their drinks date when he’d revealed he was—shudder—a professional clown…and offered to dress up for her in the bedroom.

  Blue nodded. “Well, I was on Craiglist…”

  Adalia groaned out loud. “Don’t tell me you went on a Craigslist date. That’s how half the people in Lifetime movies get murdered.”

  Blue made a face. “No, I was looking for some affordable bolsters for my yoga classes, but I stumbled on this ad for the Bad Luck Club. It said it was for people who’ve had a bad run in life. With dating, or I guess work, or relationships or whatever.”

  “And you’re telling us this now?” Adalia asked. “I would one hundred percent have wanted to come with you.”

  “I know,” Blue said, looking down into her drink. “But you don’t exactly have bad luck right now, do you?”

  It was true. Adalia and Finn were gooey over each other in a way that would have been absolutely annoying if Maisie weren’t so happy for them, plus Adalia had returned to her art and was preparing for a big show in February.

  “What about me?” Maisie said. Although it was kind of funny to be hurt that your friend didn’t think your luck was bad enough to warrant an invitation to a group of sad sacks.

  Of course, she suspected that wasn’t the reason Blue hadn’t invited them. There was something from her past she didn’t want them to know about.

  “I figured you’d think it was stupid.”

  “Was it?”

  “No, it was nice,” Blue said warmly. “It feels good to talk to other people in the same situation.”

  “Did you meet a guy there?” Adalia asked.

  “No, nothing like that. I mean, yes, there are guys in the group, but people don’t go there looking for dates. We’re discouraged from dating other members.”

  “So what did you do?” Maisie pressed. “Exchange stories?”

  “I can’t really talk about it,” Blue said hesitantly. “That’s another one of the rules.”

  It sounded like the founder had probably watched Fight Club too much, but there was something earnest about Blue’s tone, and she didn’t want to upset her by saying so. Or pressing her.

  Adalia coughed into her fist. “Sounds like a cult.”

  “If it takes joining a cult to turn my luck around, I’ll be the first to sign up,” Blue said.

  Which was puzzling really. Other than the bad dates, which, whatever, Blue had it pretty good from what she could tell. She was a beautiful, talented artist, in possession of a giant rabbit (thanks to Maisie) and good friends. What made her so unlucky?

  Something had clearly gone down in her past, and while Maisie’s usual habit would be to poke at it, she found herself thinking about how Jack would approach the situation.

  He’d leave Blue alone, wait until she was ready to talk.

  So Maisie cut off Adalia, who obviously intended to ask more questions, and said, “So I haven’t told you guys this, but all of this wedding stuff is going to be a bit tough for me. I used to have feelings for…”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Jack left the restaurant and started walking, grateful for the cool night air. Although his situation hadn’t changed, it was getting harder to stay away from Maisie. Which was unfortunate given he’d apparently be spending Christmas with her. No, doubly unfortunate given he was excited about it. After he’d walked a bit, stewing, he pulled out his phone and texted Georgie.

  Addy and I were just talking, and we have an idea for your engagement party. Do you have time to talk about it tonight?

  Truthfully, it had been Maisie’s idea, but he sensed Georgie would more likely approve of it if he made it out to be a sibling collaboration.

  She called him a few seconds later. “I thought Addy had a girls’ night out?”

  “Long story,” he said with a short laugh, “but I got invited, and we got to talking about your engagement party.”

  “Must have been a sad girls’ night out if you were talking about our engagement party and it’s already over.”

  He laughed again. “They’re still hanging out, but I decided to take off. Anyway, like I said, Addy and I had an idea. Would you and River be up for talking about it?”

  “We’re both here, so yeah, come on by.”

  “I need the address.”

  She paused. “Jack… Oh…I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay,” he said, refusing to admit that it bothered him. River and Georgie had been to the Buchanan house plenty of times, but he’d never been to their loft. While he’d gotten to know Adalia fairly well, he and Georgie were still a small step above colleagues. Hence his blurted-out offer to plan the party. He’d done it to save her from the madness of a full-on
Dottie party, but he’d also figured it would be a chance for them to spend time together. “Just text me the address and I’ll head over.”

  “Okay.”

  He ordered an Uber to take him to Georgie and River’s address and found himself at their front door less than fifteen minutes later.

  Georgie opened the door seconds after he knocked, and it surprised him to see her in yoga pants and a long-sleeved T-shirt. She looked so much more approachable this way. At the brewery she was always so put together, even though she had obviously dressed down her business attire to try to fit the laid-back Asheville vibe. And she typically dressed up for family parties and gatherings too.

  “Jack,” she said with a bright smile. “Come in.”

  He walked through the door and the scent of something delicious filled his nostrils.

  “I know you just left a girls’ night out,” River called out, “but did you have a chance to eat, or was it more of a cosmo diet?”

  Jack laughed. “I confess I never made it to the dinner portion of the evening, but we had some appetizers. And for the record, no cosmos were involved.”

  “That’s surprising,” River said. “Maisie loves her cosmos.”

  Something about the way he said it irked Jack, but maybe that was just because he’d been thinking about Maisie’s friendship with River and Finn earlier, wondering if she’d ever been involved with either of them. She and River had known each other longer, and…

  And he was being an idiot. Even if they had meant something more to each other at some point, it was none of his business.

  “Well, good, because I was hoping you’d join us for dinner,” Georgie said as she held out a hand. “Here, let me take your coat.”

  He slipped out of his jacket and handed it to her. She opened the coat closet and hung it up as he walked toward the dining table, which was set for three.

  River set a casserole dish on a trivet. “Good thing you said yes because we already set a place for you.” He beamed. “You have impeccable timing. You’ll get to try Georgie’s famous pasta bake.”