Not Quite Over You
Page 52

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?”