Chapter Forty-Seven Getting the Party Started
Tenn
When Friday finally rolled around, Tenn left work early and drove to Quinn’s, wanting to check in with her, make sure she was okay with going ahead with everything they had planned, or if she wanted to modify things and just spend some one-on-one time together before everyone showed up. The minute he stepped inside, and the door was firmly shut behind him, he pulled her into his arms and just held her, breathing her in and loving the way she snuggled into his chest with a contented sigh.
“How are you doing?” He murmured, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
“Pretty good considering my husband has been using me as emotional support following breaking up with his affair partner.” She stepped back as a timer went off in the kitchen, and he could see the sheer disbelief and disgust on her face. “He goes to work, comes home right after, and just follows me around like a lost puppy, begging for affection and apologizing endlessly for being such a terrible husband.” Gesturing for him to follow her, she went into the kitchen, took a pan of chocolate chip cookies out of the oven and put in another one. “How are you?”
“I’m good. Luckily, Frannie has seen the writing on the wall and is understanding to a degree about why things are over. She spent this week discussing things with Viki and trying to get a feel and idea about the breakdown. Viki just cries and apologizes endlessly for her behaviour and blames things on her miscarriages, which, yes, I can see and understand that it was devastating for her, but she’s not taking any responsibility for how she handled her grief. She tried to blame it all on me, that I didn’t care that we lost our children, but her mother shut her down hard.” He chuckled as he remembered Frannie’s firm rebuttal.
“What did she say?” Quinn passed him a bowl. “Stir this for me, please?”
Tenn nodded and stirred the batter for her. “She told her that was bullshit. Frannie flew up and stayed with us for a month or so after each miscarriage, and she saw firsthand that I was upset. She told Viki that I put aside my own grief to help her, and she was ashamed of her for taking advantage of me financially for as long as she did without looking into counselling. Viki tried to yell at me for bringing her mother into our personal business, and Frannie snapped at her that I was only doing what I did to look out for her because I didn’t know how to handle her erratic behaviour anymore and that she agreed with me that she should be evaluated psychiatrically, which prompted another meltdown and agreement to get professional help when her mother didn’t fall for it.
“I hope she does get the help she needs,” Quinn murmured. “It’s sad that it took her mother stepping in to make it happen.”
“Right?” Tenn handed the bowl back to her and watched as she began making crepes. “I also wanted to make sure you’re okay with what we’re planning to do or if we should modify it.”
“Honestly, I flip-flopped on it a lot this week, but I always come back to the same conclusion. This is the consequences of their actions. They were selfish, manipulative and gave no fucks about our health or feelings. This all could have been avoided if they had been honest with us about their kinks and fetishes in the beginning. By lying and hiding it, they took away our choice at the beginning of our relationships.” She flipped the crepe and looked up at him. “I never would have stuck around if I knew what he was into.”
“I really don’t think Viki knew what she was into until she met Joel. Not to get too deeply into things, but we weren’t exactly vanilla or prudes in our sexual relationship. We had the conversation about what we were into, and our hard no’s, and we explored different things; she never once brought up being a sub; I’m a switch, and I would have happily indulged her.”
Quinn raised her eyebrow with a grin. “A switch, huh?”
“Well, maybe switch is the wrong term. I’m happy to be in control, and I’m happy to let my partner be in control. As long as we both get off, it’s all good.” He shrugged and leaned forward, grabbing a cookie and taking a bite as the doorbell rang.
“Who’s that?” Quinn looked up in panic. “It’s way too early for people to get here.”
“Bishop,” Tenn stood up and started toward the front door. “He said he’d close the shop early to come to help me set up the party space. Give me a shout if you need help.”
Quinn
After Bishop poked his head in the kitchen to say hello to Quinn, he and Tenn moved all the furniture back against the walls in the living room and brought in her wicker patio furniture for extra seating and tables to set things on, pushed the long dining table against the wall opposite the bar, and moved the round table from the breakfast nook and put it in the corner for desserts. They were finishing up when Quill and Rilla arrived and pitched in, helping set up the warming trays and cooking. When everything was ready, Quill and Tenn left to get ready and pick up Chrissy, Viki, and Frannie and Rilla and Bishop piled into Quinn's room with her to get dressed and do their hair and makeup. Joel came home a half hour before the party was supposed to start and stuck his head in to say hi. He frowned when he saw Bishop stretched out on his side on the bed, watching Rilla do Quinn's hair.
“Is this appropriate?” He grumbled.
“Relax, Joel, I've seen her naked lots of times,” Bishop smirked. “Not that it gets old.” He reassured Quinn, who turned around and raised her eyebrow.
“I got ready in the bathroom, Joel, don't worry.” She gave him a quick smile as she turned back to the mirror. Joel shut the door, muttering about double standards.
“Had to piss him off, huh?” Rilla chuckled at her husband as she ran a straightener through Quinn's hair.
“Well, yeah. I know he hates that I got Quinn's V-card, not him.” Bishop smirked lazily.
“Virginity is a social construct.” Quinn rolled her eyes. “Technically, the dildo I bought on a dare in grade twelve took my virginity.”
“I know he hates that my cock was the first real one inside Quinn's pussy.” Bishop rephrased as he nodded. “And I will be forever grateful to Sergio the Dildo for making our first time as pain-free and enjoyable as it was.”
Rilla and Quinn's eyes met in the mirror. “I asked for that.” Quinn acknowledged ruefully.
“Yeah, you did.”
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Joel was still in a bad mood when they got downstairs, but it improved when his parents and brother arrived. When they hugged Quinn hello, she felt a pang of guilt. She didn't want to hurt her in-laws, who were very kind to her. Then she remembered he had brought this on himself and tried to shrug it off.
Tenn arrived shortly after with Viki, her mother and his parents in tow. He introduced them all to Quinn, but she couldn't stop to talk because B.R. and Linda were right behind them. Tenn excused himself from his family and joined Quinn near the door to greet their guests. “How are you doing?”
“I'm really nervous.” She murmured, her hands were shaking slightly, and she felt a little clammy. “This might turn into a shit show.”
“Yeah, I thought about that. Don't worry, Ron, Quill, Bishop and Del are on standby if anything happens.”
“You already told your brother?” She glanced at him in surprise. She didn’t know he had told anyone in his family what was going on. She didn’t know how his family felt about Viki other than Tenn mentioning in passing about her being his mother’s favourite in-law and she didn’t want them to think badly about her.
“Yeah, I wanted to tell him about you.” Tenn wasn't looking at her as he spoke. “Don’t worry, Viki has not made herself any fans besides my mother, and she really sucks up to my mom.” They were maintaining a safe distance from each other and behaving like friends. “My mother-in-law is watching us like a hawk right now.” He mumbled. Quinn laughed like he was telling a joke.
“I noticed.” More people came, and Tenn introduced her to his brother, who gave her a thorough once-over before smiling and shaking her hand. His sister-in-law immediately hugged her. Quinn thanked her for the cheesecake with a grin, and she laughed.
“Hey, I'm getting a child-free afternoon out of it. It was my pleasure.”
Ron and Deedee showed up not too long after one another, Tenn introduced them, and they headed to the bar Bishop was now manning. Queenie and Killian were next, giving Quinn a perfunctory hug. Queenie's eyes swept over Tenn with interest, but Tenn smiled politely and distantly. Joel appeared beside her, and she smiled as he led her off, talking animatedly to her.
Killian rolled his eyes. “I see he still has his crush.” He drawled, his Texas accent on max before turning to Quinn and giving her a quick once over. “How are you doing kiddo?”
“I'm doing great, Killian.” Quinn smiled up at him. “If you want to piss him off, hit on the woman with the blonde curls.” Killian raised his eyebrow, immediately understanding what she was telling him.
“He didn't.”
“Oh, but he did.”
“Are we witnessing his downfall this evening?” Killian grinned happily and rubbed his hands together with evident glee. Joel had fallen out of his favour when he triggered her, and while Queenie had been quick to forgive him, Killian had offered to pay for a hitman.
“And hers.” Quinn giggled at his expression. “She's Tenn's wife.”
“And that's...” They both nodded, and Killian's sharp hazel eyes narrowed. “And are you two?” They nodded again, and he let out a bark of laughter. “Quinn.” He bent and kissed her cheek. “You are my favourite little drama queen.” He shook Tenn's hand and wandered off.
“He's also battled anorexia,” Quinn explained. “Queenie told Killian what happened to me when she complained about Gramma leaving her a dollar, and he lost his shit. She’s lucky he still married her.” Tenn's other siblings arrived, and after Tenn introduced them, she glanced around. “I think that's everyone.” She ran her hands over her dress, nervously smoothing it out.
“You’re sure you want to do this?” He asked quietly.
“Yeah, a little nervous, that's all. We didn't make a plan for the aftermath.”
“Quill and I did, don't worry. Let's mingle with our guests for a bit and then get the party started.” They made their way through the room, Quinn eventually getting back to Rilla and dragging her off to her bedroom.”
“I'm panicking.” She admitted as she closed the door and dropped down on her bed. “I want to do this. He deserves it, but maybe we shouldn't have invited his family or her mom.”
“Quinn, honey.” Rilla sat beside her and took her hand. “He cheated on you for four months. How many other contracts did you find?”
“Six.”
“He cheated or attempted to cheat on you seven times that we know of. You had to get tested for STIs... Did you get that back, by the way?”
“Yeah, we were both negative.”
“That's a relief.” Rilla smiled. “He took her away for a weekend in Atlanta. You caught him fucking her in your bed. He possibly bought her a Porsche but made you buy your own, and you didn't even want it.”
“Okay, I'm pissed again. Let's go do this.” Quinn nodded and stood up. “You got the PowerPoint ready to go?”
“Sure do.” Rilla grinned. “I spliced in the information you sent me about the lecture series first.”
“You're amazing.”
“Aw, no, you are.”
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Quinn found Deedee standing with Ron in the living room, chatting as they watched everything. “Okay, so we'll have Joel and Viki stand at the front of the room with us. I will announce their support, and you will hand them the envelopes. Rilla will play the PowerPoint, starting with information about our lecture series, then switch to the other stuff.” She looked at Ron. “I know Tenn has given you a job, but I'd like an official 9-1-1 caller if things get out of hand.”
“Absolutely. Don't worry, Quinn, we have your backs.” Quinn nodded gratefully and moved over to where Tenn was talking to Quill and Bishop.
“Hey. Are you ready?”
“So fucking ready.” He grinned, and they stood in front of the wall the projector was set up on. Tenn put his fingers to his lips and let out a deafening whistle, grinning when people winced and looked around.
“Quinn and I want to thank you all so much for coming out and celebrating this with us this evening. When she approached me about her plan two weeks ago, I had no idea it would change my life as completely as it has. It's been an incredible two weeks of discoveries and plans, new connections and friends. But rather than listening to me drone on about it, Quinn and Rilla have prepared a PowerPoint that dives into detail. So, grab a drink and some food and find a seat. It's about twenty minutes long.”
“But before we get started, can we have Joel and Viki come up here, please?” Quinn waited as they came up, avoiding looking at each other. “You guys have been so patient and supportive of us over the last two weeks, and it's about to get worse before it gets better. So, we got you something so you don't have to worry about us anymore. Deedee?” A smile spread across Quinn’s face as Deedee brought up the envelopes and handed them over to Joel and Viki. “Don't worry about opening it now, and don't worry about it being tickets to all the lectures. We haven't printed them yet. It will make sense at the end of the PowerPoint. Rilla, if you don't mind?”
Bishop shut off the lights, and upbeat music played as the slides for the lecture series began. Three minutes in, just as people started shifting in their seats from boredom, the music switched to Sam Smith. The first photo of Viki and Joel appeared on the screen. It became completely silent. Tenn and Quinn stood facing the group and watched as Joel and Viki froze.