She tipped her head up and kissed him at that, and he almost forgot Lurch was at the window, and there were people outside the room waiting for fortune readings, and this whole party was a massive disaster unfolding around them. But when he edged back toward the bed, she poked him.
“No, we need to get out of here before it’s too late. If we don’t hurry, there’s going to be a fire or a flood, or who knows what, and we’ll never have the chance.”
He opened the door, ready to sneak out—although how he was supposed to do that with the boss in his arms, he didn’t know—only to find everyone gathered in a semicircle at the end of the hall, Aunt Dottie standing next to the Beau statue, Adalia grinning at them from Beau’s right-hand side, in front of an enormous cake. It had been decorated with surprisingly accurate renditions of Georgie and River.
“Surprise!” Adalia said. “Dottie spent hours working on it. It was my idea! Want to make the first cut?” She held out a knife, and it was only then River caught sight of the computer set up in the corner, Jack watching everything unfold with a look of fascinated horror, as if wondering what he was in for if, or when, he did move to Asheville.
“Sure,” he said, because why not.
He exchanged a look with Georgie, who said, “You better not cut off my nose.”
The moment was weirdly, wonderfully perfect. He had a feeling they’d remember the day Buchanan Brewery closed down for years to come. That one day they might tell heavily edited versions of this story to their kids.
He leaned down to kiss Georgie again, in front of everyone, and they all whooped and cheered.
Epilogue
“Oh, my God,” Adalia groaned. “If I’d known you two would be so disgusting, I never would have orchestrated getting you back together.”
Georgie and River were sitting hand in hand in the wicker chairs on the back porch, watching Hops romp around in the backyard. Jezebel, who was surprisingly tolerant of the puppy, sat in a dry bird bath watching like a prison yard guard.
Laughing, Georgie said, “From what I heard, Dottie had a lot to do with it too.”
River raised his free hand. “I’m pretty sure I should be included on that list.”
Georgie shot him an ornery grin. “Of course you were.” She turned to her sister, who stood in the open doorway. “And we’re not even doing anything.”
“You’re holding hands.”
River chuckled, shaking his head as he turned to look at her. “You’ve never struck me as a puritan, Addy.”
Georgie smiled to herself. River had taken to Adalia’s nickname almost immediately, as had most of the staff at Buchanan, but Dottie was quite adamant about calling her Adalia, saying her name fit her too well to alter it.
Adalia shuddered. “Gross. Why would you insult me like that?”
Georgie turned to face her sister, a huge grin on her face. “I’m confused as to why you’re upset.”
“You’re like an old married couple, content with just sitting together. Watching your dog. It’s gross.”
Amusement lit up River’s face. “So what would you have us do?”
“You can start by coming inside. I have something important to show you. You know, before you officially give up the ghost and check yourselves into an old-age home.”
Georgie glanced at River, and she saw something knowing in his eyes. He had some idea of what Adalia intended. Interesting. Well, she was grateful for whatever had caught Adalia’s interest. So few things did, lately.
Adalia had become a near hermit, something completely unlike her. Other than the parties two weeks ago and going to the brewery, she hadn’t ventured out at all. Her sister wouldn’t even give in to Dottie’s persistent coaxing to “make something fabulous with her.”
Georgie wasn’t sure what to do or how to help. She’d already cornered Alan Stansworth into dropping the legal charges against her sister. The Monday after the party, she’d called him up and coldly informed him that Adalia had photographic proof that she had created the sculptures he’d appropriated, and unless all charges were dropped, she would be hiring the very best attorney the Buchanans could find to ensure the art community knew exactly who he was and what he’d done. The charges had been dropped that very afternoon.
When Georgie called Adalia into her office to tell her as much, Adalia had said, “Georgie, I don’t have any photos of me making those sculptures.”
Georgie had given her a conspiratorial grin. “You know that, and I know that, but apparently Alan Stansworth doesn’t know that.”
“You bluffed him,” Adalia had said, gaping at her. “I never knew you had it in you.”
Georgie had winked. “Did I mention that I considered going to law school? There are a lot of things you don’t know about me.”
“So I’m finding out.” Adalia had given her a rare serious look. “Thanks, Georgie. For everything. I honestly don’t know what I would have done without you.”
Georgie had gotten up from her desk and given her a hug. “That’s what sisters are for. I’m here, Addy. I’m not going anywhere.”
And apparently neither was Adalia. Which meant Georgie would have plenty of time to figure out how to draw her out. She’d hoped that making the Stansworth problem go away would do it, but what had happened obviously left scars.
So of course she would do Adalia’s bidding.
She shot her sister a look. “Okay, I’ll bite. But only if you do the dishes from dinner.”
River laughed. “I love your devious side.”
She leaned over and kissed him. “There’s plenty more where that came from.”
Adalia lifted her hands in front of her face. “Now you’re really being gross. Are you going to leave Hops back here, at Jezebel’s mercy?”
“He’ll be fine,” River said, glancing at her over Georgie’s shoulder. “He knows better than to mess with her, and if anything she’s happy to have a minion.”
“Which seems fitting since they’re the new mascots for the brewery,” Georgie said. It had been her idea to use Hops, who was surely cute enough to sell beer, and Adalia’s suggestion that Jezebel would be an inspired choice to market the sours River was making. “Speaking of which, are you still good with handling the photo shoot next week, Addy? We’ll need to buy a thousand sardines for Jezebel.”
An emotion Georgie couldn’t name flickered in her sister’s eyes, but it passed just as quickly. “I’ve got it covered. Now, get inside before I have to lasso you. I really don’t feel like watching a YouTube tutorial right now.”
Georgie laughed at that, but that look weighed on her. She’d been seeing variations of it for weeks.
Adalia preceded them inside, and Georgie got up before River did and held out her hand to him. He grinned at her as he accepted the boost. “I love it when you go all knight in shining armor on me.”
“I know you know what this is about,” she murmured, without any heat. She liked River’s surprises, the side of him that was a little more like Dottie than he realized. Just last week, he’d given her a long silver necklace with a beautiful pink crystal pendant. Made, he told her, from the pink crystal she’d thrown at his head that first night.