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He shook his head. “No. They don’t really post in the town group.”
I nodded. “Good. But you better not go back on telling me everything.”
“I won’t,” he said, and he pressed a kiss to my mouth. “Have fun.”
I was tempted to stay and hear about everything, but I went out and got into Grace’s tiny sedan.
“Girls’ night!” she cheered the second I was in the car. She wore a blue dress and her curly hair was tied back. Jade had on a green top and her hair was freshly dyed to match.
“Wow,” I said as I looked at them both. “I feel underdressed.”
“Stop, you look amazing.” Grace rolled her eyes. “And you’ve been to the bar before. Half of the people never wear anything nice.”
“I’m only looking like this because I hear it’s packed withpeople from other towns.” Jade winked. “I’m gonna try not to go home alone.”
“And don’t worry,” Grace added. “Even if she bails, you’ll have me to bring you back.”
“Thank you for coming all the way out here,” I said.
“It’s not much farther than the nearest Walmart,” she said. “Don’t worry about it.”
Jade caught me up on what they were talking about. Apparently, Brooke had decided she wanted to be a country singer and was considering auditioning in Nashville. Grace wanted her to do well, but wasn’t sure that singing was the career for her, especially since she’d heard how her sister sounded in the shower. No one wanted to be the one to break that news to Brooke, however.
The town square was packed when we finally pulled in, and the inside of the bar was even worse.
“Wow,” I said loudly. “It’s busy.”
“When Tammy volunteers to run it for Mark, she makes special drinks. Everyone wants one.”
Tammy was behind the bar, hands busily pouring and shaking drinks. She had on blue eyeliner and laughed with all the women waiting for their order. Some of them I didn’t recognize.
“Are they from Strawberry Springs?”
“No, some of these ladies travel to be here. Karaoke night getsreallywild.”
“Please tell me we’re not singing,” I begged.
“It’s not in the plans.” Jade shook her head. “Unless we get drunk enough to not care about our pride. Youaretrying one of Tammy’s drinks, right?”
I thought about turning them down, but I trusted these people. I liked it here. I could let loose just this once.
Between the strong cocktail and me being a lightweight, Ifelt the effects immediately. I was laughing louder at the ladies singing their hearts out on stage, and by the second one, Jade and I were on the stage singing a country song about killing cheating exes.
By the third, I was telling people how I never enjoyed my life back in the city, and everything started going blurry by the time I was on my fourth.
I must have really been out of it, because I thought I saw someone hanging out by the bar I didn’t expect.
“Kerry?” I asked. “Are you really here?”
She turned with a laugh. “Oh, you look drunk. I bet Cain’s gonnalovethis. And yes, I’m here. I might be a mom, but I can have fun too.”
“Good,” I said. “You deserve to have fun.Allthe fun in the world.”
“What did you do to her, Jade?” Kerry asked.
“Girls’ night!” she exclaimed. I blinked, wondering if there were enough words there for Kerry to understand. Jade then grabbed my shoulders. “Come sing another song with me.”
“I want another drink.”