Page 22 of The Vineyard Bride

Chapter Nine

“What’s the NewlywedGame?”Lola asked, eyeing Valerie as she sat front-and-center in the living room with the rest of her crew around her.She kept her voice light and electric, despite her simmering fear that Valerie was about to burn the cabin down due to her inner demons.

Audrey shuffled toward her backpack and dragged her laptop out, propping it up on a shelf so that everyone could see it.“Amanda and I never thought in a million years that Tommy would agree to it.We approached him in April about the idea and he was all for it.”Audrey flashed her eyes back toward the Bachelorette Party as she brought up a video on the screen and pressed play.

In the video, Tommy sat outside the Sheridan House on the porch swing.He wore his freight windbreaker and had a thicker beard than normal, evidence that this had been taped about three weeks ago.Lola remembered laughing with Tommy every time he’d kissed her, as his beard had scratched her chin.

“Hi, Lola.”Tommy spoke nervously toward whoever filmed, his hands on his thighs.“Audrey and Amanda approached me with a radical idea they call ‘The Newlywed Game.’Apparently, it’s a test to make sure we know each other well enough to marry.I told Audrey that we have the rest of our lives to play stupid games with each other, but she insisted this would make your bachelorette party more fun.So, I’m going along with it.”

Lola laughed joyously as he fell into his “actor persona.”

“Wow.He isn’t bad,” Charlotte quipped.

“The camera loves him,” Audrey said.“To be honest with you, I think he might have a thing for acting.When we were done with filming, he asked us several times if we’d gotten everything we’d needed.”

“He is cute...”Valerie murmured, sipping more champagne.“I’ll give you that.”

“Anyway.Lola Sheridan, my future bride, I’ve come up with a series of questions for you.For every question you answer correctly, the rest of your bachelorette crew must drink.For every question you answer incorrectly, you must take a drink yourself.Obviously, the point of your bachelorette weekend is to party yourself silly.I hope this game helps you on your journey,” Tommy continued onscreen.

“Really, really cute,” Valerie affirmed, nudging Jenny with her elbow.

“Let’s get started,” Tommy began.“Number one.Which Caribbean Island did I live on when I was twenty-two years old?”

Even before Audrey had a chance to pause the video, Lola snapped her fingers.“Barbados.”

“Uh oh.She sounds sure of herself,” Claire said with a laugh.

“The answer is Barbados!”Tommy cried.

The bachelorettes groaned, laughing wildly as they drank.Lola beamed at Audrey and whispered, “This is funny.”

“Okay.Next question,” Tommy began.“What was the first gift I ever gave you?”

“Oh.Easy one,” Lola muttered.“A necklace made of amber from the Baltic Sea.”

“The Baltic Sea?”Valerie demanded.

“Yeah.He’d gone sailing there and collected amber,” Lola explained.“He shined the amber himself and made a necklace out of it.I keep it on my nightstand because I’m so terrified of losing it.”

“The answer, my love, is the amber necklace,” Tommy boomed.

“Oh no.We’re screwed,” Christine offered as she sipped her drink.

“Don’t worry.He hits some harder ones later on,” Audrey said.“Childhood questions.Stuff like that.”

“Uh oh.”Lola wagged her eyebrows.“Lucky for me, I have a pretty dang good memory for stuff like that.”

“She really does,” Jenny interjected.“We would have been lost without your memory during our twenties.”

Lola’s heart lifted as she played through Tommy, Audrey, and Amanda’s game, which led her down the path of Tommy’s life.Ultimately, she missed only four questions, which made the rest of her bachelorette troupe groan and laugh at once.

After The Newlywed Game, Audrey announced a game of “How Well Do You Know The Bride?”

“Uh oh,” Christine said mischievously.“I have a hunch it’s about to get messy in here.”

“Based on what we just learned about your peanut butter and pickle fascination, I’m a bit worried about how I’ll do on this game,” Susan said with a laugh.

“You should be nervous,” Valerie touted, arching her brow.

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