Joe and Bee had left Hannah with the matron of honor, Dawn, who upon seeing Hannah’s display on the dance floor, had run to assist with the spectacle. She’d been the one to successfully force Hannah off the dance floor and into a chair out of Tom’s sight line. She’d squatted in front of Hannah, instructing her to maintain her poise until she’d made it off the country club’s grounds. Bee and Joe had rolled their eyes together upon hearing Dawn’s advice to the drooling bridesmaid. “You must rally!” Dawn yelled at her just before Bee and Joe took off toward the tower to find Vicki.

Bee had asked Joe to hold the train of her dress so she didn’t trip as they hurried across the grounds. Joe felt strangely proud as he assisted his niece, her dress in his hands as she moved across the grass. His heart pounded.

He was supporting Bee, the one relative who still liked him, and was on his way to rescue Vicki, the woman he really wanted to sleep with.

But about five steps up the spiral stairs, Joe’s stomach sank. He and Bee stopped short to listen in terror when they heard a pounding sound from the top floor, where Vicki was supposedly looking for Hannah’s bags. Something terrible was happening up there. Joe jumped to the conclusion that one of the country club’s staffers was murdering Vicki with an ice pick. Or worse, raping her. Bee apparently had the same thought.

“Hurry,” Bee said, panicked, as she sprung herself from one step to the next, almost losing her white shoes under the bottom of her gown. Joe dropped the train of Bee’s dress, bouncing up the steps behind her.

When they made it to the top, they were overwhelmed by loud grunts and thuds coming from the center of the room. “Find the light,” Bee screamed, as she tried to focus in the dark. Joe frantically ran his fingers along the wall until he felt the plastic switch.

He flipped it, causing rows of fluorescent bulbs to illuminate the space.

Closer to him than he would have imagined was the source of the noise. There was Jimmy Fee, Bee’s brother-in-law, on top of Vicki, whose black tights and cotton underwear were in a pile on the floor next to her. Based on Vicki’s position—her legs hooked around Jimmy’s ankles and her hands clutching his shoulders—Joe knew that whatever was happening in front of him was consensual.

Vicki slapped the back of Jimmy’s head, responding to the lights. “Someone’s here,” she said, incapable of ending her sentence without letting out a small, euphoric moan. “Stop!” she ordered.

“What?” Jimmy responded casually, still pumping away, seemingly unaware of their new visibility.

“Jimmy, there’s someone here,” Vicki said again, to which Jimmy replied, “What?”

“The lights are on!” Vicki snapped, pushing against his chest. Jimmy stopped suddenly and twisted his torso so he could see behind him, and then smiled wide at his audience. He was still inside Vicki, who smiled weakly at Bee.