Page 170 of On The Rocks

“Yep. I need the word out. Everywhere.”

“Everywhere?”

“Not just around here. I need her to get real pissed. Us together, her left out, no control—all of it.”

“Oh.” She gripped my arm. “Are you sure you want her that pissed?”

“Only way it’ll work.”

I just hoped to keep the backlash to a minimum.

Chapter 34

Lennon

Dexterity Game Is A+

It 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 hadnotbeen 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.

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