The older woman nodded, a tear escaping and running down her cheek.
Georgie grabbed her other hand and turned the woman to face her. “You lost someone very dear to you. Perhaps you should take some time off to grieve.”
Her face fell. “You’re firing me.”
Georgie squeezed her hands. “No! I most definitely am not. I need you.” And to Georgie’s surprise she meant it, and not because the will had stated she couldn’t be fired. “Just like I need River. I can’t do this without either of you.”
“But I just nearly burned down your house,” Dottie said, her gaze darting to the house.
“Nearly. Which means you didn’t. The house isn’t important, Dottie. What matters is that everyone is safe. That you’re safe. I’m sure Grandpa Beau would have hated it if you’d gotten hurt trying to talk to him. You have River. And now you have me. We’ll get through this. I promise.”
“Oh, Georgie.” Dottie threw her arms around Georgie and held tight. “I wasn’t so sure at first, but everything’s unfolding the way it was supposed to. Beau knew what he was doing when he picked you.”
Georgie’s body stiffened. Had Dottie known that River was supposed to get the brewery? Before she could ask any questions, the older woman dropped her hold and walked away.
Chapter Twenty-Two
For a moment there, holding Georgie’s hand in the séance circle, River had felt pretty good about what the future might hold for them—and he’d gotten the impression she felt pretty good about it too, complications aside. And then his aunt had set her house on fire.
How did you even apologize to someone for that? He would insist on paying for the repairs (even if it wiped him out), but that didn’t seem like enough. And nothing could atone for that disaster of a crystal-selection ceremony.
He’d failed Georgie, and Aunt Dottie too. He should have put a stop to the séance back at the idea stage, before everything had spiraled out of control. But he’d gone along with it, in the way he went along with most of his aunt’s crazy plans, because he’d thought it would make her happy. Because he didn’t know how to talk to people who were grieving, even when he was too. But he’d made a mess of everything.
His aunt wasn’t happy.
One glance at her, talking to Georgie, was enough to tell him that. She looked like Beau had just died all over again. And then Georgie took his aunt into her arms, and something in him loosened.
“I’m sorry about the pictures,” the firefighter said. “He’s erased them, of course, and we’ll make him do a hundred push-ups back at the station.”
River had witnessed one of the guys taking phone pictures of the pink crystal dick, sadly disconnected from its statue. In her haste to get him out of the house, Georgie had unwittingly used it to prop open the front door.
“It’s fine,” he said. “I get it. Do you have any recommendations for local companies to clean up this mess?” Although, it occurred to him that they could use the same people who’d taken care of the brewery.
God, it would be a miracle if Georgie didn’t sell the company just to get away from them all.
The firefighter gave him a couple of cards and told him they’d be wrapping up soon. River glanced back at Georgie and saw his aunt walking away from her. He needed to talk to Georgie—hopefully he’d open his mouth and suddenly know what to say—but not before he made sure his aunt was okay.
He hurried after her, calling, “Aunt Dottie, wait!” and she turned to face him just as she reached Josie’s boat of a car.
“Are you okay?” he asked. “I don’t want you to be alone tonight. Will you stay in my spare bedroom?”
“No, dear,” she said, reaching up to cup his cheek. “There’s no need for that. Josie is coming to stay with me tonight. I’m a little too shaken to drive, but she’s agreed to chauffeur me as well.”
“We’re going to meditate about what happened tonight,” Josie said brightly, joining them. She’d been talking to a circle of people by the front yard, and from the looks on their faces, she’d told them enough that he wouldn’t be surprised to see an article about it in the local papers.
Meditation wasn’t dangerous, was it? Of course, he hadn’t thought a séance was dangerous either.
“No old extension cords or open fire, okay?” he said to his aunt. “And absolutely no mind-altering substances.” This time he leveled a look at Josie. She had an edibles habit, and on one memorable occasion, she’d sat cross-legged on the bar at Buchanan Brewery and declared herself a fortune-teller—only she’d cursed the love lives of anyone adventurous enough to ask for a reading.
“If you’re attuned enough to the world around you, anything can be a mind-altering substance,” Josie said airily.
“Oh, you know what I mean.”
She opened her mouth to reply, but Aunt Dottie cut her off. “Josie, go ahead and get in the car,” she said. “I want a word with my nephew.”
Surprisingly enough, Josie complied.
“I’m sorry things went down like that,” he said, “but Aunt Dottie, you really freaked me out in there.” He toed the grass a little with his shoe, and flinched when he saw an incredibly sexy green lace thong that had blended in with the grass. Stooping a little, he grabbed it and pocketed it. “I need to know you’re going to be okay,” he continued. He had to grit the words out past his vulnerability, but he forced himself to say it. Because he loved her. Because he couldn’t lose her too. Because she wouldn’t turn that vulnerability back on him like his mother might have. “Even though Beau’s not here anymore, there are people who need you. I need you. And everyone who came here tonight did it as much for you as for Beau.”
A smile spread across her face, sweet and real, and he felt reassured. Whatever Georgie had said to her had helped turn things around. He’d have to thank her for that. After he apologized at least a dozen times. “I know, dear boy, and you won’t be rid of me yet. I have plenty of work left to do. Speaking of which, did you notice the crystal Georgie picked tonight?”
“Don’t even get me started on the crystals,” he said, shaking his head. Still, he couldn’t help but smile back. “But yes. Of course I noticed.”
“You might want to offer her your spare bedroom.” She glanced up at the smoking house, and at Georgie on the sidewalk, bent over her phone with a grim look on her face. “She won’t be able to stay here, and she might have a tough time checking into a hotel this late.”
If he hadn’t known better, he might have wondered if she’d planned the whole thing, down to the faulty cord.
“I will,” he affirmed.
A sad look crossed her face again. “And find Jezebel, if you would. Beau loved that cat.”
River repressed the urge to say, He’s the only one who did. Even if it was true, it wouldn’t make her feel better, and he still wanted that.
“I’ll do my best. But even if we don’t find her tonight, I’m sure she’ll come back. She haunts that house like a poltergeist, and the people in the neighborhood know better than to mess with her.”
Someone tapped him on the shoulder, and for a moment he thought it might be Georgie, but when he turned around he saw a slightly familiar-looking woman with wavy brown hair and glasses. A small group of people stood behind her, a few of them known to him, the others vaguely familiar in that same way as the woman in front. The neighbors.
“Did you say Jezebel is on the loose?” she asked.
“Um, yeah,” he said.
She flinched as if he’d physically struck her. “What are you going to do?” she asked. “Is someone from the fire department going to apprehend her?”
“Apprehend her?” he asked in disbelief. “She’s not a criminal.”
She just gave him a flat look, which was when he remembered where he’d seen her before. A couple of years ago, he’d been hanging out at Beau’s place with his aunt when this woman had come by, fundraising for her kid’s school softball trip to Henryetta, Arkansas. Jezebel had leapt on the box of cookies in her a
rms. The woman had thought it was cute—until she’d attempted to remove her. Needless to say, they’d bought the whole case.
The others started murmuring their assent, and he figured he’d better say something to pacify them. The last thing he wanted was for Georgie to be chased out of the neighborhood with pitchforks because of him.
“Look, I’ll give you guys my number, and you can text if you see her, okay?”
“Day or night?” someone asked.
“Sure,” he said, “day or night. And I’ll canvass the neighborhood looking for her.”
Not that he thought it would do any good. Their best bet was to put out cans of sardines, or whatever brown and black food she’d been scarfing down with such relish tonight.
They all whipped out their cell phones to take down his information. Then they started to disperse. Aunt Dottie gave him a hug, murmuring something along the lines of, “Oh, all this fuss over a harmless little cat,” and got into the car.
River glanced back at the sidewalk leading up to the house and caught Georgie staring at him. Although her shirt had patches of soot on it, and there was a smudge of it on her chin, she looked beautiful. She immediately glanced away, as if embarrassed, and her cheeks flushed a little. God, she’d be terrible at poker, but he loved her openness. He liked knowing he could trust her.
The fireman he’d spoken with earlier stood beside her, and he felt a little stab of something when he noticed the way the man was looking at her.
“Thanks again,” Georgie told the guy.
“I’m Jake,” he said, handing her a card with a handwritten number on the back. “Please give me a call if we can do anything to help. Like I said, the house should be safe once it’s clean and aerated, although you’ll still need to replace the plaster on the interior walls and repaint.”
“Will do,” she said, but her eyes were on River again. She didn’t look judgmental or pissed. If anything, she looked worried about him.
“My personal number’s on there too,” Jake said. Persistent, wasn’t he? But River found he didn’t care anymore. Georgie wasn’t interested in this guy—he knew it like he knew beer. Somehow he’d gotten lucky—big-time, he-should-play-the-lotto kind of lucky—and she was interested in him. Even now, with Lurch’s Pee Brew crusted in his hair and on part of his jeans, and with every bit of him smelling of smoke. The only question was whether she’d give him a chance.
“Thanks, Jake,” she said with a smile. “I love that everyone’s so friendly here.” River noticed she hadn’t promised to contact Jake, but judging by the triumphant grin on the guy’s face as he headed down to the truck, it didn’t appear he’d caught on.
Everyone else started to leave too, and River took Georgie’s hand and led her around to the backyard. There was a bench there, nestled in the bushes, and it would be private enough for them to talk.
She didn’t object or try to pull away, and he took that as a good sign.
He gestured for her to sit down first, which she did, and he sat beside her, not as close as he wanted but a good deal closer than he would have sat if it had been Lurch next to him.
“So,” he said, feeling awkward suddenly, “I was hoping to talk to you alone tonight, but this wasn’t how I saw it going down.”
She laughed at that, longer and louder than it warranted, and he found himself laughing too. When their laughter started to wind down, he said, “Georgie, I’m so, so sorry for this. For everything. My aunt’s usually harmless, and I figured…”
He stalled out, but she gave him a bright smile. “You wanted to help her. That’s honorable, River. You don’t need to apologize for that. Dottie’s lucky to have you, and you her. It’s rare to find a connection like that, even with family.”
“Well, needless to say, I’ll pay for all of the damages. It doesn’t make up for”—he waved a hand at the house, temporarily at a loss for words—“but at least it’s something.”
“That’s not necessary,” she said. “I’m sure I can work things out with the insurance company.”
God, he hoped so. The damage was fairly extensive.
“Well, then I’ll cover the deductible or whatever.” She looked like she might object, so he shook his head. “Look, it’ll make me feel like slightly less of a failure. How about that?”
“We’ll see,” she said. Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and he remembered the way she’d been looking at it earlier, on the sidewalk.
“Your siblings blowing up your phone?”
“Yeah,” she said with a frown. “Adalia’s over the moon about your aunt, but Jack’s on a bit of a warpath. Lee’s just generally pissy. He doesn’t like that I ignored my father’s request for a business plan, or maybe he doesn’t like that Dad won’t leave him alone about it.”
Huh. Jack had been weird with him a few days ago, but he’d been straight-up hostile tonight. Whatever mystery problem had drawn him home clearly wasn’t going well. Or maybe that wasn’t the problem. Maybe…
Hell, might as well come out and ask.
“Does he have a problem with me because he knows I’m interested in you?”
She looked him in the eye, and the attraction he saw there had him thinking about that kiss again—the sounds she’d made against him, the way the sparks of color in her eyes had danced.
But there was something else in her gaze too, an inner conflict he could guess at all too well. The work situation still stood between them.
“Maybe part of it is that he knows I’m interested in you,” she said softly, “but I don’t think that’s all of it.” She opened her mouth as if on the verge of saying something else, only to close it again without uttering a sound.
He wanted to reach for her, but he couldn’t until they got past this. Somehow. “He wants me out,” he guessed, “and after tonight, I’m guessing Lee feels the same way.”
Her mouth twisted, but she didn’t deny it.
“I’ve been working on a plan for the fall beers all weekend.” He paused, glancing back at the house. “In between helping Aunt Dottie with this fiasco. But it occurs to me that I haven’t actually signed any papers yet, and two of the owners are against it happening.”
A look of horror crossed her face. She took his hand and turned to face him, her knee knocking into his leg. “Oh, River, I don’t want you to think I’d take your work and then go with someone else. I’m going to get the paperwork sorted out tomorrow. You’re the one who made me realize how great this could be. Restoring Grandpa Beau’s legacy, working with Jack.” She held his gaze, her eyes intent. “Working with you. I started Moon Goddess by myself, and while I hired a lot of great people, I didn’t have anyone to brainstorm with. To collaborate with. I want that with you.”
“But we don’t work together yet,” he repeated.
Her eyes widened with understanding. The conflict from earlier was still there, unresolved, but she leaned toward him. “No, I guess we don’t.”
She took out her phone, and for a second he thought he’d been reading her wrong, but she turned it off without looking at the texts. Tucking it back into her pocket, she looked up at him, her lips parting.
He reached up to wipe the spot of soot off her chin, smiling a little when he saw her skin was tinged pink again, and leaned in to kiss her. Her lips were as soft as he remembered, and the kiss was gentle at the start—as if their lips were reacquainted with each other—but it turned fierce as quickly as it had that last time. She wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing him closer, and he lifted her into his lap, eliciting a little gasp from her that was muffled as she changed the angle of their kiss.
She pulled back to look at him, her eyes bright and intense. She looked on the verge of saying something—like maybe they should get out of Beau’s somewhat public backyard, or suggest that they both take a shower, hopefully together—but then her gaze lowered, and her nose scrunched. For a moment, he thought she was staring at his obvious arousal, but then she reached into his pants pocket and pulled something out.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The look of horror on River’s face was almost too much for her to take with a straight face, especially when he started to fumble over his answer. “I…they were on the ground… I thought Josie and I had gotten them all, but then I saw these in the yard, and I—”
“So you were being chivalrous?” she whispered with a playful look.
The tension eased from his face. “Yeah.”
“I think it’s kind of sexy that you have my panties.” She slowly tucked them back into his pocket. “You can keep them for now.”
His body tensed, but she was sure it was for a different reason this time. The growing bulge pressing against her thigh was proof enough.
He stared up at her in wonder. “How the hell are you so forgiving after everything that’s happened tonight? Hell, the last few days.”
Her smile softened, settling into contentment. “You have a good heart, River Reeves. From my limited observations of the male species, that’s somewhat of a rarity.” Her grin brightened again. “And it buys you a few passes.”
Warring emotions flickered in his eyes. “I’ll make it up to you, Georgie.”
Her hand fanned against his cheek as she studied his warm brown eyes. If she wasn’t careful, she might lose herself in them.
“Um…am I interrupting something?” a man asked from a few feet away, his surprise obvious.
River’s arms tightened around her, the sudden tension in him coming in his voice. “What are you doing here, Finn?”
Finn? As in Finn Hamilton, the owner of Big Catch?
Just when Georgie was sure this night couldn’t get any worse, it kept on coming. It might not have been so bad if she hadn’t called Finn for a reference on Friday, and now…
Good Lord. What did he think of her?
Any Luck at All: Asheville Brewing #1 Page 18