Page 37 of Redemption

They all step out of the bus, some more gracefully than others. Pretty much every old lady from the Griffin’s Beach charter showed up, and she can’t help but feel overwhelmed. She went from having no family to having one of the largest ones she could have ever asked for.

“I told Shep I needed a venue for your party, and he talked to the guys to have the club closed for the night,” Lex says. She unlocks the front door and lets everyone shuffle into the dark room before she hits the lights. “Hit it!”

Music and strobe lights fill the room as male strippers walk out to the stages to Heidi’s old song. Every one of them buff and gleaming as they put on a drool-worthy performance.

Turning, she gapes. Lex pulled all this off? By herself? Holy shit.

Avery gasps beside her, and Lex grabs her, reassuring her it’ll be fine. “It’s okay, babe. I got you.”

“How?” She meant for more words to come out, but this is all she can muster. One word. One amazed word.

“I have a lot of free time on the weekends now, and I’ve never really gotten to throw one before. Plus, you kind of have to go big for a former stripper. I mean, come on.”

Lily walks up and wraps her arms around the hostess. “I plan to get really drunk tonight, so don’t let me do anything too dirty with the strippers.”

“Just wait,” Lex says with a laugh. “There’s one you’ll want to slip away with later.”

She gasps. “I’m a married woman, thank you!”

Tess Molloy and Goldie walk up to congratulate Heidi, but she knows they want to grill Lex. See how she’s doing, and considering the way things went that night at the clubhouse, try and get information she doesn’t plan to give.

“Hey, kid,” Tess says and wraps an arm around Lex. “How you holding up?”

“I’m fine,” she says, her smile never reaching her eyes. It’s a theme Heidi’s noticed recently, and she hates it. “How are you? Ready to start slipping dollar bills into some g-strings?”

Avery rubs her arm. “You don’t have to put on a show for us.”

“She’s not putting on a show for you. She put this show on for me!” Heidi interrupts. “Because she’s the best maid of honor ever!”

The women cheer as buff men in black speedos and bow ties walk around with trays of various drinks. Each woman gets the drink of their choice, assigned by Lex, and Lily gapes.

“I so wish you were here for my bachelorette party!”

“It wouldn’t have been this wild. Or half this wild. Lord help us if Melanie and Jace ever decide to get married. I’m not sure if we can top this for her.”

Melanie stands at the stage with Autumn and Felicity, all waving money in the air as men gyrate and thrust their goods in their faces.

“Yeah, I have no idea how the hell you could top this,” she agrees.

“You’d have to set up a porno set,” Heidi says. “Luckily, that girl is never getting married.”

Tara stands next to them, staring in shocked awe. “I feel like I shouldn’t enjoy this.”

“Why not?”

“Because I have a boyfriend.”

“We all do!” Autumn shouts, and Felicity immediately slaps her. “I mean… shit.”

Lex nods her head. “Because I feel like I’m going to get this many times tonight, let’s just set the record straight. I’m fine. Everything is fine.”

“No, it’s not,” Tess says. “You’re not in the clubhouse with us anymore.”

“This is a party. We’re here to celebrate Heidi’s last days of freedom before she’s tied down for the rest of her life!” Lily says.

“Until she doesn’t want to be anymore.”

Lex bristles, but to her credit, she doesn’t snap back. Instead, she hurries to the stage, shooing the men away. “Okay, ladies, I have a few surprises for some of you. I need the bachelorette up on the stage, along with Tara, Avery, Lily, and Melanie.”

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