34. Lennon
Chapter 34
Lennon
Dexterity Game Is A+
I t ended up taking more than a week to get the show set up.
Between tickets and wrangling people to play the benefit, there were a lot of moving parts. Instead of the showcase the orchard usually had for Memorial Day, it became the Taproom Benefit.
Bridger Everett was the main local act, as well as a few smaller bands jumped on-board.
But the big draw was Reversal of Fortune and special guests.
Laverne had pulled the aunt card. Her niece, Zoe, was married to Ian Kagan. Ian was always up for a good time. Unfortunately, Oblivion was in the UK on tour, so they couldn’t jump in to help. But Ian, being the charming and wily man he was, dragged Flynn Sheppard into playing, as well.
Which increased the ticket sales on the entire deal.
Jessica, and her social media wizardry, had people whipped into a frenzy for the show. The tickets were cash only. Preorders were available at the orchard in all the shops, and then on the day of the show. Beckett had not been on board with a benefit but he’d agreed to it when we did a flat fee ticket and kept it reasonable.
No price gouging, no resales. The only way to get in was just an old school paper ticket. And no overnight campouts for a spot in the general admission area.
Not with the Irene specter hanging over them.
The extra weeks had given Griffin and his band time to rehearse, as well as to get the nerves out. Bridger actually played drums, as well, and he was going to fill in for their set. He was like a kid with his heroes and had been early to every rehearsal.
And because they had the extra time to build the ridiculous throne for Marc, Justin had jumped in to help there. He was already a huge fan of Reversal of Fortune but add in the throne, and he’d been in his glory. He wouldn’t show any of us—except Marc.
In fact, both of them had been working overtime in Justin’s workshop at night after rehearsals. Baron had fallen hard for the orchard—as everyone seemed to do—and made fast friends with Dean. I was pretty sure Baron was also falling back in love with music, thanks to his tutoring sessions with Dean.
Dean taught him how to bartend, and in return, Baron gave him guitar lessons.Baron kept trying to keep his walls up, but Dean was far too friendly and open not to like.
Which I was thankful for because it also gave me long, crazy nights with Griffin. I was pretty sure the fact that Irene hadn’t showed her face, or played any of her dangerous games, had added to the desperation between us.
I’d never had anyone in my life like Griffin. And now, seeing him in his element, made it all the more real. And the more amazing. He worked as hard as he played—with me.
The orchard was in full summer mode. Work on the rentals had stopped for the season. Brothers Three ended up with six units to rent out and were already fully booked, thanks to the concert lineup Griffin had masterfully finagled, right through fall for the regular season.
I’d been practicing most of the morning. Because it had been so dry, I skipped my fire batons for some bottle acrobatics. Without the limited space behind the bar, I had more room to stretch my wings. I modified one of my winning routines from Vegas and hoped it would stir up the crowd for the final set of the show.
I dabbed my forehead with the back of my forearm. It was only May, and the humidity and temperatures were soaring. It was going to be a hot one for the show.
The concert was the next day and there were people all over the place, working on the stage, lights, finessing sound, and of course, rehearsing for the main event.
Jessica was running around, making videos for our socials. People seemed to like behind-the-scenes clips the most, and we had a lot of interest.
Bridger and his band were packing up to go home for some well-deserved rest. He waved at me then he gave me a double thumbs-up. He knew just what a moment this was going to be to further his career and was all in-on working his ass off.
“There you are.”
I turned to smile at Bells. “Hey. I was just hiding from Jessica. Every time she sees me, she makes me do a video for her like a trained monkey.”
She laughed. “She’s no joke. You should see her following me around during a wedding.”
“She’s…tenacious.”
“One word for it.” She laughed and fanned her face. “I hear you’re going to perform at the old shack.”
“Yeah, I wanted to do my part to lure people in. If I get any more bruises from training, Griffin is going to tie me to the bed.”
She gave me an arched brow with a wicked smile. “As if that’s a hardship.”
I cleared my throat. “Moving on.”
“C’mon, you never give any good details.”
“He’s your soon to be brother-in-law.”
“So, I see how hot he is. And those hands.” She pulled the material of her dress away from her chest. “Mama.”
“They are very talented hands.”
“See, I knew it!”
“Dexterity game is A-plus.”
“Now you’re just bragging.”
I laughed. “As if you have complaints.”
She shrugged. “Only every other day.”
“Speaking of Kain, I swear, we’re never going to start on the renovations. Your man is driving me crazy with all his changes to the plans.”
She nodded to the lemonade tent that we had set up in deference to the heat. I could definitely go for one of those. “Try living with him. Our house might never get finished because he keeps coming up with ideas to make it better.” She drew air quotes around the words. “Even though he hates it when his clients do that to him.”
“This client isn’t. He’s the one doing it.” I smiled at the guy working behind the vat of lemonade. He was also peeling apart wrist bands for the next day’s tickets. “Two, extra ice.”
He nodded. “You got it.”
We took our lemonades over to the shack where there was a bit of shade. “But there’s one change I am excited for.”
Bells stepped over one of the benches of a picnic table, her hands around the sweating cup as she sat. “Tell me.” She leaned forward to drink deeply from her straw.
“I want to make a mini stage for some local music when there isn’t a concert. It’ll be covered like a pavilion, I guess is the best word for it. But it’ll be part of the taproom so we can close it in when there’s weather.”
“For your rockstar boyfriend?”
I laughed. “Something like that. I think Bridger will bring a whole lot of people in too. I’m going to see if he’s interested in signing on to be like our in-house band. Until he blows up, anyway.”
“You really have been thinking this through.”
I nodded, taking a quick sip of my drink. Then another because damn, it was hot. “We’re also going to extend the patio out to do more outdoor seating.” I blew out a happy breath. “It just kinda of fell together. I wish it hadn’t happened this way?—”
Bells grabbed my arm. “What’s done is done. You’re just moving forward. And maybe it’s the shakeup we needed for the orchard, anyway. This place is growing every year.” She turned in her seat to look at the stage that had doubled in size from the first shows years ago.
“Those Manning men know what they’re doing.”
“They sure do.” She swung back around to face me. “So, Kain wants to play with Griffin and the guys so badly.”
Well, that was a topic shift. Maybe that was why she’d come to find me. “He plays?”
She twisted her cup in the puddle of condensation. “Bass.” She grinned at me. “I think he plays guitar too, but he really loves his bass.”
“So, why doesn’t he? Griffin would love it.”
“You think so?” Her dark eyes met mine.
“I do. Griffin wants to connect with him so badly. They’ve come a long way, but I think it would really cement it, you know?”
“I’ll push him to do it.”
“Good. That would be a helluva surprise if he joined in for the big jam thing at the end of the night.”
Her eyes widened. “You’re so damn clever.” She lifted her plastic glass.
I tapped it with mine. “To the concert tomorrow.”
“To the concert.”
As we finished up, Bells got pulled away for an emergency at the Lodge. A bride had an idea that would change the whole reception for the next morning. Leave it to this orchard to have a wedding and a massive concert at the same time.
I spotted Jessica and quickly darted up the stairs behind the stage, so she didn’t spot me. I slid around the curtain and froze. “Sorry!”
Ian and Zoe broke apart, her mouth swollen from a good makeout session.
Been there, girl.
“Hey, Lennon.” Ian’s British voice made my name sound far sexier than it should have. “My Magic stopped by and we had a moment without our delightful children. I couldn’t resist.”
Zoe elbowed him. “Downshift on the libido.”
“Never.” Ian draped an arm around her shoulders. “Your Griffin is a delight. My brother said he’d played with him at some sort of festival years ago.”
“Simon?”
“The one and only. He’s jealous. Says Griffin plays a mean guitar.”
Zoe stuffed her hands in the front of her overalls. “They’ll be here at the end of the season to play. Griffin was very persuasive calling in all the favors.”
“Did he now?”
“Yeah. It’s been years since they played at the orchard. Nick is just excited he’ll get spoiled rotten from Aunt Laverne.”
“She seems to do that with a lot of people.”
Ian grinned. “She helped me scheme to get my lady back.”
“Scheme?” I pressed my lips together against a laugh.
“Oh, you haven’t heard the story?” Ian’s eyes lit up.
“And she doesn’t have time for one of your long-drawn-out stories.” Zoe wrapped her arms around Ian and aimed him back out of the curtain. “See you at dinner later?”
“Not sure. Depends on Griffin’s perfectionism.”
Ian waved. “Nice to see you again.”
“You too.”
I heard voices deeper backstage. There were a staggering number of amps, speakers, and black trunks that could fit a whole person in them. They were wide open to show off shiny guitars, both acoustic and electric.
“You gotta put ‘Come Together’ on the setlist for the jam, man,” a voice smooth as whiskey said.
“The jam is going to be longer than our sets the way we’re going.” Baron’s voice was wry.
“And the crowd will lose their collective shit,” the guy added in his whiskey voice.
“We’re going to have to make some cuts.”
I finally got to where they were sitting on amps, both of them with a bottle of Hot Honey cider in hand. Baron had on a sweaty tank and his face was streaked with dust.
The other man was craggier and wore a GNR shirt that had seen better days, but the smile he shot me stopped me in my tracks.
“Well, hello there.”
My heart did a little flip. I’d never really had the rockstar reaction before Griffin, but this man had an energy built for the stage. “Hi. You must be Flynn.”
“Guilty as charged.” Slowly, he straightened and walked over to me. “Unfortunately, I don’t know who you are, but I would love to find out.”
“Oh, brother.” Baron lifted his bottle to his lips, his espresso dark eyes dancing. I was pretty sure that was one of the first times I’d seen him truly happy.
Flynn glanced back at him. “What? Just because you’re a monk doesn’t mean I am.” He turned back to me.
“Lennon Hathaway,” I said and held out a hand. “Thanks for coming to help us out.”
He took mine in his calloused one, gentle and firm at the same time. “You gonna come on stage with us, darlin’?”
“Sorry, my talents lie elsewhere.”
His eyes crinkled at the corners. “I’d love to hear all about it.”
“You heard G yammering on about her all afternoon and you already forgot her name?” Baron asked.
“Oh...damn.”
I laughed. “Sorry. Happily taken.”
“There’s no ring on that finger. As far as I’m concerned, you’re still fair game.” He winked at me and went back to the amp he’d been leaning on.
“Far too much testosterone going on back here for me.” I laughed. “I vote for ‘Come Together’ too.”
“Of course, you do, with a name like Lennon.” Flynn held up his bottle. “For you, beautiful, I’ll make sure it stays off his chopping block.”
Baron fell back on the amp, holding up his bottle so it wouldn’t spill. “Save me from this man’s endless pickup lines.”
“You haven’t heard my pickup lines, son.” He gave me a wolfish grin. “And neither has the fair Lennon.”
“Now it’s my turn for the ‘oh brother’. Have you guys seen Griffin?”
“He was on the phone with someone. He headed out on stage.”
“Thanks.” I slid past them, ignoring the low whistle from Flynn as I strode away from them. I couldn’t even be mad.
That was one smooth operator. I’d bet it worked with more than one woman in a night.
I ducked through the curtains and up the three stairs to the main stage. Griffin was pacing the length of the stage as he spoke to someone in hushed tones.
I enjoyed the view. He was wearing one of his broken-in jeans and a vintage Doors shirt with a baseball cap against the relentless sun.
“No, it’s okay. We’ll come out.” He noticed me and smiled. “Text me the details.” He clicked off his phone and crossed to me. “Hey, you.”
“What was that about?” I slid my hand under his shirt to his warm skin.
He laughed and dropped a kiss on my upturned mouth. “Surprise.”
“Who do you have left that could possibly come to this thing?”
“Maybe it’s something else. I have plenty of tricks under my sleeve.”
“Is that right?” I went onto my toes and delved deeper into a longer kiss. My hand slid around from his chest to the muscular planes of his back. “Sure I can’t convince you tell me?”
“Nope, but I don’t mind if you try,” he said against my mouth and backed me up to the large trunk behind me. He boosted me on top and I instinctively curled my legs around him.
“Well, hello there,” I whispered. “This is new.” Lightly, I scored my nails down his back. “I’ve been watching you on stage for weeks now and have never been on it.”
“Like what you see?”
I leaned around him to look out on the empty pavers that kept the crowd from sliding in mud during weather. New bleachers had been built along the back for people not interested in the general admission area. “Kind of fascinating.”
“I meant me , darlin’.”
“Oh, right.” I toyed with the hair sticking out of the back of his hat. “Maybe I have found a certain fetish for a man who plays guitar. Definitely a new kink unlocked.”
“Kink?” One eyebrow spiked. “Is that right?”
I let my voice go into a falsetto. “Oh, Griffin. I’ve always dreamed of being with you. I kissed your poster every night.”
He chuckled. “Is that all you did to the poster?”
I licked my lips. “Does it count what I did in front of the poster?”
“You are an evil woman.”
I smiled, pulling him back down to me. “I am. Wanna make me come on stage?”
“With every breath, but there are a damn lot of people.” He glanced over his shoulder at the guys working on the lights at the front of the stage. “Pretty sure Mick is right up there too.” He pointed up at the massive overhead lights.
“Too bad.” I rubbed myself against his zipper, which was showing off that at least part of him really didn’t care about the audience. “I guess we’ll have to pick this up tonight.” I pushed him back and hopped off the case. “Handily, I have an exceptional imagination.”
“That evil thing—yeah, you just took it up a notch.”
“Why?”
“It’s going to be a late night with the whole crew tonight.”
I sighed. “Fine. Good thing there’s only one more night before we can relax a bit. Well, if your brother would finish the plans for the taproom maybe then we can.”
“Changed it up again, huh?”
“This time, it was a good change. You’ll see.” I went on my toes and kissed his cheek. “Text me when you’re on your way home and maybe I’ll still be amenable to a little play.”
He grabbed my ass and hauled me back for a head-spinning kiss. “Count on it. Hey, be careful. I don’t like that it’s been so quiet.”
“Maybe she’s so pissed off that she got on a plane to England or something.”
“She doesn’t like the UK. Maybe she pissed off to Turks and Caicos. That’s much more her speed.” He was smiling but I saw the worry in his eyes. “Can you go stay with Bells and Helena tonight?”
“Actually, I think I’m going to stop over at Annette’s place. She’s been way too quiet. I’m going to see if I can convince her to come tomorrow.”
“You’re a good friend.”
I sighed. “I try. I just feel bad that she had to go back to that job she hates until we reopen.”
“Then go cheer her up. Watch one of those murder shows you like so much.” The lines between his brows eased a bit.
“Maybe we will. Text me later.”
I put a little extra sway in my step when I walked away and down the stairs. I glanced over my shoulder, and he was still looking. I was still smiling when I hiked up to the taproom.
All the action was still in the concert area, leaving the taproom quiet as a tomb. The whole place was buttoned up tight—for safety and to prevent any more damage.
Just cleaning the place was going to be an undertaking requiring a special crew. Finally, they’d be starting after the holiday weekend.
I jogged between Ronan’s workroom and the taproom to the parking lot where I’d stashed my Jeep. It was so nice that I couldn’t resist taking off the hard top, stashing it into the back.
I took out my phone to text Annette.
“Finally,” a husky voice said behind me.
I hissed as something stuck me in the arm. The purple of my Jeep wavered then I got slammed into the side of my car.
“Not so fast. I can’t pick you up. I swear, you two are never apart for more than ten minutes. Do you know how pathetic that is?”
I shook my head, but the blurriness started making dots. “Irene?”
She pushed me aside to open the door. “Why the hell would you want this manly car?” She pushed the seat forward and shoved me toward the back.
My shoulder connected with the floorboard, and I tried to cry out, but my tongue didn’t work.
“For crying out loud.”Then suddenly, she was pulling me from the other side. “Don’t pass out yet. Fuck, this is easier in a bed.”
I tried to swing at her, but my arms wouldn’t work. She laughed and it was a bone-chilling sound. Light and full of delight as if she was having the best time.
God, I hated this bitch.
Finally, she rolled me onto the backseat and slammed the door.
What the hell did she give me?
She hopped in the front seat then she turned to give me a wide smile. “My, my, you are a picture back there.”
“Fuck you,” I said aloud, but it sounded more like a mumble.
“Don’t try so hard to talk. Save your strength.” She pushed the ignition and backed up over the lip of the walkway. “Oops, my bad.” She shifted again and my head bounced hard against the door. “Off we go!”
The black dots multiplied until the blue sky above me went dark.