Page 128 of Not Your Average Vixen
“What do you need to do?”
He pulled his gaze from the door plate and caught her eye, then gave her the saddest smile she’d ever seen. “What a best friend should do.”
This must be him coming to peace with Lori and Tom’s marriage. A warmth settled in her chest.
“I should double-check that everything I need for tomorrow is in the storage closet,” she said, heading down the aisle to give him a moment.
He nodded as his gaze slid back to the framed plate.
There honestly wasn’t much to do. She straightened the garlands and arranged the candles. After a few minutes, she felt a rush of cool air and glanced at the door.
Soren stood at the entrance. “It’s a big night. We should head down. I can see the gondola making its way back.”
Look at him! Ready for a big night. She’d give him an even bigger night once all the festivities were over.
She joined him, and they rode down the mountain in a peaceful, easy silence, staring out at the winter wonderland all around them. Life had never felt so full of promise. A new man combined with the newfound desire to take a leap of faith with her career had left her giddy.
“What are you thinking about with that big smile on your face?” he asked.
The mountain house came into view, and she sat back.
What was she thinking?
How her once predictably empty existence now felt new and exciting?
Yes, that was it, exactly.
“I’m thinking about…” she began, then stopped and cocked her head to the side.
“Yes,” he coaxed, but she couldn’t focus on his question.
The front door to the mountain house was wide open and flashing neon lights extended out onto the porch.
There was nothing about neon lights in her rehearsal dinner plan.
The gondola came to a stop, and she hurried toward the house. In the short amount of time they’d been up at the chapel, at least another few inches of snow had fallen. She lumbered through it, kicking up the white powder with Soren on her heels as music streamed out the door.
“Do you know what this is all about?” she asked, then stopped dead in her tracks as they took in the scene.
She glanced up at Soren and watched as the color drained from his cheeks.
Her sister and the Abbotts stood slack-jawed along with Delores, Dan, and Tanner while four young women, dressed in nothing but skimpy lingerie, gyrated and flashed cleavage as they danced around the Christmas trees. A neon strobe light flashed, and music boomed as Nancy, looking as shell-shocked as the rest of the group, scooped up Cole, then took Carly by the hand and ushered the children down the hall to their suite.
It looked like the rustic version of a seedy holiday gentleman’s club.
Bridget waved wildly to Dan and Delores. “What is this?”
Delores shook her head. “I don’t understand it at all. These ladies said they were paid to come here for the bachelor party. I told them they had to have gotten it wrong. But the dancer in the red number over there said they’d already been paid double to be here tonight for Tom.”
For Tom?
Bridget grabbed Soren’s coat sleeve as Tom pulled the cord to the strobe light, then turned off the stereo, and the room went dead quiet for a beat.
“Hey, these are the gals I met in the village!” Russ said with a stupid grin, waving to two of the scantily clad women.
“Russ, go help Denise and Nancy with the kids,” Tom said, his voice a tight, forceful whisper.
“Sure, Tom,” the man replied, confusion written on his face, but he complied.
