SILVER COULDN’T REMEMBER the last time she’d been so nervous about an event. She’d handled much larger parties—Bethany and Cade’s “we’re getting married” shindig was going to be huge, but she was only mildly concerned about that one. The bachelorette party was only twelve women. What was the big deal?
Georgiana arrived right on time. Silver had already done most of the prep work, setting out glasses and bottles, getting the ice machine cranking and giving the space a last-minute polish. Georgiana greeted her and got right to work chopping up garnishes.
“This is going to be so fun,” she said as she worked. “You and Drew did a great job with the space. I love the stripper poles. Are they bringing in an instructor tonight? I really want to see them in action.”
Silver grinned. “I don’t think the poles are supposed to move.”
Georgiana rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean.”
“I do, and yes, bride-to-be Jessica said she was bringing in someone to teach pole dancing.”
Georgiana looked over the drink list and grimaced. “Don’t these girls know the more sugar in the drink, the worse the hangover?”
“The theme is forever love and the party is supposed to be all things sweet.”
“Still, chocolate vodka shots and cotton candy champagne? What’s wrong with a nice Cosmo or a lemon drop?”
“It’s their party.”
“And they can barf if they want to?” Georgiana looked around. “Oh good. The way to the bathroom is clearly marked. Because you know they’re going to be throwing up later.”
“I really hope not. The strawberry Jell-O shots aren’t too sweet.” The vodka–Jell-O mixture had been poured into actual strawberries that had been hollowed out. Silver wasn’t sure if the addition of fruit was going to help or hurt.
Silver was prepared for a long night. Drew was going to stay with Autumn until Silver was done downstairs. Not only would he provide company for Autumn, he would let her know if they’d done enough soundproofing.
The bridesmaids began arriving a little after six. They were all pretty and dressed in cute flirty dresses and heels. Silver tried to put names to faces but they were a blur of Tiffanys and Chelseas. She made sure she knew who Brittany was. As the maid of honor, Brittany was making all the decisions.
“This space turned out fabulously,” the busty redhead said. “We’re super excited.” She pointed to the boxes the other women had carried in. “We’ll just get our banners in place. Tiff is bringing the balloon bouquets.”
Silver stared as several banners proclaiming One Penis Forever followed by a sad face emoji were fastened to the wall.
“Did the theme change?” she asked casually.
“Uh-huh. The forever love theme was just too cute, although we are definitely keeping the drinks and the food. We’re just mixing things up. Oh, and don’t worry about us getting drunk. Limos are coming at eleven. Then we’re going out on the town.”
At least once they left, they weren’t her problem, she thought with a smile.
More decorations went up. There was a mug shot station which Silver hoped wasn’t tempting fate too much, along with posters of naked men with massive erections. White plastic first aid boxes had been relabeled as Hangover Kits.
“They’re going to need those,” Georgiana murmured as she walked to the bar.
Just before seven, the rest of the women arrived. Jessica, the pretty blonde bride, wore a short white sundress and nothing but a thong underneath. When Jessica bent over to drop her handbag on the floor, Silver got a view of way more than she’d bargained for. It was going to be one of those nights.
By seven-thirty, all the women were on their third drink. By eight, when the pole dance instructor arrived, they were definitely drunk.
Adam was tall and male with muscles for miles. After setting up a pair of speakers and plugging them in, he turned to the group.
“Let me be clear,” he said cheerfully. “You are not the team I play for, so don’t bother coming on to me. Having said that, enjoy the show.”
Before Silver could figure out what he meant, he stripped down to a tiny thong that barely contained his, um, assets. He was tanned, muscled and five kinds of gorgeous, and the bridesmaids looked at him like hungry sharks at a surfing convention.
He set his phone in the docking station for the speakers. Instantly music began to pound. The girls shrieked and raced to poles.
“We’re going to start with a few stretches,” Adam said, winking at them as he shouted over the music. “I don’t want you to be sore tomorrow morning, at least not for the wrong reasons.”
Everyone laughed. Silver looked at Georgiana, who rolled her eyes. The music was incredibly loud. At least the soundproofing would get a big test.
Adam took them through basic moves. They started with the wraparound, then moved to easy climbing. More than one of the bridesmaids slipped to the ground. Two of them abandoned the lesson and started making out in a corner. Silver fought the beginnings of a headache.
While the girls continued with their lesson, she and Georgiana brought out the food. It was all appetizers.
“There’s a lot of salt here,” Georgiana murmured. “They’re going to be hungover and puffy and hungry. Of course they’ll be throwing up so they probably won’t notice being hungry. This is a bad plan. What were they thinking?”
“I just want this party over,” Silver told her. “Only two more hours.”
Adam finished his lesson, then joined the women on the sofas. Everyone had another round, but they were eating, too. Which was something, Silver supposed.
Her sense of being slightly out of control faded a little as time went on. Adam finished his drink, dressed and left. Silver put on her own music, at a slightly lower volume. The women continued to drink, but they were chowing down on the appetizers and seemed to sober up just a little. Just as they were settling down to open presents, a guy walked in.
He looked nothing like Adam. He was of average height and attractive in an ordinary way. He wore jeans and a T-shirt. But what actually caught Silver’s attention was the stricken look on his face. This was not a groom jokingly crashing his bride’s bachelorette party—this was a guy with really bad news.
“Turn down the music,” Silver told Georgiana. “They’re going to have to be able to talk.”
“Who has to talk about what?” Georgiana spotted the guy. “Oh, that’s not good.”
“I agree.”
They both watched anxiously as the man approached Jessica. She looked up and saw him.
“Tyler! Hi! Were we expecting you?” She rose unsteadily to her feet. “Everyone, this is Tyler. He’s my baby brother.”
Brittany rolled her eyes. “Jess, we’ve known Tyler forever. Everyone here knows Tyler.”
“Oh right.” Jessica plopped back on a sofa and patted the seat next to her. “You’re here! That’s so great. You should have a drink. They’re wonderful. We’re having such a good time. I love you, Tyler.”
Her brother sat next to her and took her hand in his. Tears filled his eyes. Actual tears. Silver braced herself for whatever was going to happen next. She knew it was ridiculous, but there was a voice in her head warning her it was going to be bad.
Tyler swallowed. “Jess, I love you so much and I’m so sorry.” He brushed away more tears. “God, I don’t know how to say this. Jess, Dominic slept with Mom.”
The room went quiet except for the pounding beat of the music. Georgiana reached over and turned off the speakers, making the silence complete. The bridesmaids looked at each other, then at Jessica. Jessica stared at her brother.
“What?”
“Mom and Dominic. I walked in on them together at the hotel. I’m sorry, Jess. I didn’t know what to do. I’ve been driving around, but then I came here. I had to tell you. Please, let me know I did the right thing.”
His anguish was palpable. Silver’s stomach twisted as she thought about the nightmare that had just been unleashed. There was no recovering from the groom sleeping with the bride’s mother. The wedding hadn’t just been destroyed—an entire family was ripped apart.
Jessica sprang to her feet. “My mom slept with Dominic?” Her voice was a shriek. “My mother and Dominic?”
Everyone started moving back. Silver had no idea what they were doing until Jessica reached down, grabbed a champagne glass and threw it against the wall. Glass and liquid went everywhere. The bridesmaids either ducked or ran for the door. Jessica bent down and overturned the coffee table, sending presents and food flying. She grabbed another drink and threw it. Tyler ducked as it sailed past his head.
“That bastard!” Jessica screamed. “I will kill him.”
Silver walked up to her and got in her face. “You need to calm down. I understand you’re pissed, but don’t take it out on my place.”
“Bitch!” Jessica screamed. “I hate that bitch. I hate them all.”
She pushed Silver out of the way and began throwing packages. She ripped the banners off the wall. Silver was reaching for her phone when she saw Georgiana was already on hers. The local police were used to unruly wedding parties. They came fast and they knew how to handle a crowd.
In the five minutes it took the three police cars to arrive, Jessica chased two of her bridesmaids with a champagne bottle, destroyed all of her presents, smashed three more glasses and ran right into one of the stripper poles. She staggered around for a couple of seconds, her hand over her left eye.
“That’s going to leave a mark,” Georgiana said from behind the bar, where she and Silver had taken refuge.
Silver stayed put until the police arrived, then she walked out and met the officers.
It took nearly an hour to get everything sorted out. Tyler did most of the talking while Jessica held an ice pack on her eye. All the bridesmaids had taken off, leaving only maid of honor Brittany to remain by Jessica’s side. Partway through the explanation, Dominic arrived. He was a big, linebacker kind of guy, who rushed toward Jessica.
“Baby, what’s going on?” he asked, trying to reach for her.
“Don’t you ‘baby’ me, you asshole,” Jessica screamed. “You slept with my mother.”
Dominic’s look of shock and guilt only confirmed the ugly truth. Tyler shocked Silver by punching the much-bigger guy right in the nose. Blood went everywhere and Dominic screamed like a little girl.
One of the officers approached. Garrick was six years older than Silver so they hadn’t been in school together, but he’d lived next door to her uncle. She’d known him for years. She’d had a bit of a crush on him the year she’d moved to Happily Inc, but at twenty-one the last thing he’d been interested in was his fifteen-year-old neighbor.
“You two okay?” Garrick asked.
Silver nodded. “Obviously Jessica will not be getting her security deposit back.”
“Wasn’t this your launch party?”
Silver sighed. “It was.”
“You might want to rethink hosting bachelorette parties. I’m just saying.”
“Thanks for the advice.”
Garrick nodded toward the open door. “Come on. Let’s go take pictures and document this whole thing in case you decide to press charges.”
Press charges? Why would she...
Silver followed Garrick inside, Georgiana trailing behind. They all came to a stop when they saw the damage.
While it had been happening, Silver hadn’t had the chance to absorb the reality of the destruction. Now she saw the broken glass, the overturned and smashed tables, food everywhere. Her heart sank. She and Drew had put so much time and money into the place. They’d had such high hopes. She was sure a good cleaning would make everything look better, but still.
Georgiana hugged her. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I thought the parties were a good idea, too.”
“Not every party ends this way,” Garrick said. “I’m sorry, Silver. This is a mess.”
She honestly didn’t know what to say. She stood back while Garrick took pictures. When he was done, he told her to call him if she wanted to make a statement.
He handed her his business card, then nodded at Georgiana and left. Silver stood there, not sure what to think.
“It’s a big mess,” Georgiana said. “But I’m not sure there’s actually that much damage. Glasses, a couple of the tables. The carpet will need cleaning. What’s the security deposit?”
“Five hundred dollars.”
“Oh, I don’t know if that will cover everything, but it should be close.”
Silver hoped so. Telling herself things looked worse than they were was all fine, but she was still shaken. No, she thought as she pressed a hand to her stomach. She felt violated. She had business insurance to cover any large damages and as Garrick had suggested, she would press charges, but was that enough to make her feel better about what had happened? Who did this sort of thing? It was supposed to be a fun party.
She glanced at the card Garrick had given her and realized he’d handed her two. One was his, with his direct line. The second card was for a cleaning service that handled unexpected emergencies, according to the information on the card.
She had a brief vision of a gory crime scene and shuddered. At least she wasn’t dealing with anything like that. But still...
She sent Georgiana home, then locked the doors before going upstairs. She found Drew on the sofa, reading. Autumn was sound asleep in bed. Silver went to check on her, then returned to the living area. Drew smiled at her.
“How did it go? Was it a great party?”
She stared at him. “You didn’t hear any of that?”
“Any of what?”
She motioned for him to follow her outside, onto the landing. They sat next to each other on the top of the stairs.
“You didn’t hear the party?”
“No, not the music or anything.” He stared at her. “What happened?”
“A bride went crazy.”
Silver explained how the party had started out and how she’d totally misjudged the crowd. She told him about the pole dancing, the drinking, the arrival of the bride’s brother and the revelation that followed.
“One second we were all in shock and the next, she went totally insane. Georgiana called the police. They were out in five minutes and handled everything.”
Drew stood and went downstairs. Silver followed. He unlocked the door and flipped on the lights.
Seeing the damage after a little break was actually worse, she thought. It was such a kick in the gut. Their beautiful space was in ruins.
“Be careful of the glass,” she said, pointing to the shards on the floor. “She shattered a dozen or so glasses. She might have broken a champagne bottle or two, as well. I’m not sure.”
Drew turned and pulled her close. “I’m sorry you went through all that by yourself.”
“I didn’t. Georgiana was with me.” She hung on to him. “I never expected anything like this to happen. With AlcoHaul, it’s different. I’m pretty removed from the actual party. I know Pallas has had to deal with some rowdy revelers, but nothing like this. I know in my head not every bachelorette party ends like this, but still, it sucks.”
She reached in her back pocket and pulled out the business card. “Garrick gave me the number of a cleaning service,” she added. “This is going to be a big job. No dead bodies, but still a mess.”
“Give me the card,” Drew told her. “I’ll leave a message tonight and get with them in the morning. I’ll arrange to have this place cleaned, then we’ll assess.”
“Assess what?”
“What we want to do. If we’re going to rent out the space, we need better ground rules and larger deposits. If this is going to happen, we have to figure out if it’s worth it or if we should rent out the space to someone else. That’s still an income stream.”
His words surprised her for a second, then she sighed. “You’re right. We have to talk about it but not tonight.”
“You going to be okay?” he asked. “Want me to stay? I can sleep on the floor.”
“I’ll be fine,” she told him. “I was shaken up, but I’m all right now. Thanks for looking after Autumn. Did you have a good time?”
“We did. We’ve graduated to chess. She’s just learning but she’s going to be really good. Dinner was fun and we didn’t hear anything from downstairs.” He kissed her. “Come on. I’ll walk you to your door.”
She smiled. “That’s so romantic.”
“I know. Face it, Silver. I’m irresistible.”
As promised, he walked her upstairs, kissed her again and left. She went inside and collapsed on the sofa. She told herself she had to get up and wash her face and brush her teeth. In a minute, she thought, her eyes closing. For right now, she wanted to think about Drew because he was a much-nicer topic than remembering her horrible night. As for him being irresistible, she happened to know he was right.
* * *
DREW SAT WITH Autumn on the back patio of his house. They watched as Millie and her friends walked around the animal preserve.
“You have the best view ever,” his daughter told him. “I know everyone always wants to look at the ocean or a lake, but this is way cooler. Don’t you dare move. I want to come back and sit right here next time I visit.”
“I want that, too,” he told her.
Autumn’s time in Happily Inc was over. In a couple of hours, Leigh and Denton would arrive to take her back to Los Angeles. He couldn’t believe how quickly the week had sped by.
Less than two weeks ago, Autumn had been little more than a theory. Now he knew her laugh, her smile, how she rolled her eyes when she thought an adult was being stupid. He knew she was smart and irreverent and caring and funny. He knew her and he was going to miss her more than he’d ever thought possible.
“Are you and Silver going to get married?” Autumn asked, glancing at him. “And don’t tell me you aren’t dating because you totally are. I’ve seen how you look at her.”
“When did you grow up?”
“That’s not an answer.”
He was mentally scrambling for what to say. He and Silver were together, but neither of them had defined their relationship, probably because neither of them wanted to. A definition would box them in. They were in business together and sleeping together and he liked her a lot. For now that was enough.
“She’s great,” he began.
She sighed. “Boys are so lame.”
“What’s wrong with thinking she’s great?”
Autumn looked at him. “I’m only eleven and even I get it. If you’re not going to marry her, you need to find someone. Men don’t do well alone. You need a life partner. I had to read a bunch of articles for my health class and one of the ones talked about that.”
She was a constant surprise, he thought with a smile. As for getting married, while he was perfectly fine single, he’d always assumed he would find someone and settle down. Ashley Lauren had put him off commitments for a while, but he’d recovered and now... And now...
He realized he honestly had no idea why he wasn’t involved with someone and falling in love. He enjoyed women. He liked being in a relationship. Look how well he and Silver got along. It had been great when they’d been kids, but in some ways, it was even better now. They were older and they could appreciate what they had.
“You could start with a dog,” Autumn told him. “You took care of Mr. Whiskers, so a dog would be good. Once you can manage that, you can look for a wife.”
“I’m not feeble,” he grumbled.
Autumn smiled. “Mom and Denton said we could get a dog when we get settled in the new house. Not a puppy, though. I want a rescue dog. One that’s older. I want to make a difference, which is really hard when you’re eleven.” She sighed. “I’m sorry about the real estate signs. The more I think about it, the worse I feel. I need to be more mature.”
“You’re pretty mature now.”
“I’m trying.”
“I’m going to miss you.”
“I’ll miss you, too, but we can text and talk on FaceTime and stuff. Plus, you can come visit me whenever you want.”
“I’d like that.” He was hoping that Leigh and Denton would want to leave her here more often and go off on vacation. Or maybe he and Silver could have her for a couple of weeks in the summer.
He wasn’t sure how that was going to work, but he wanted to give it a try. He’d just found Autumn—he didn’t want to let her go now. He would, of course, but he didn’t want to.