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My mom sang the second solo about Southern drawls and hunks, then joined in once again about wanting love.
I thought they would both sing the third verse, but it was all Emily.
Somehow, she spotted me in this sea of folks and sang right to me about how some men knocked you right off your feet with their big, blue eyes and sweet talk. How they drove you wild then treated you cruel.
Fuck if that didn’t go right to my heart and shattered it into a million pieces. I even caught the hitch in her voice.
“She’s fucking killing me,” Dustin said.
“Same here,” Gabe echoed.
When they all joined in and sang the chorus for the last time about wanting a man to make a fuss and to take his time with his love, I wanted to disappear into the floorboards.
Instead, when the beers arrived, I guzzled down half of it without giving it another thought.
“Fuck, but I’m an asshole,” I said, as they finished Give A Little Love, a huge hit by The Judds, and the place went wild with applause, whistles, and cheers.
“We all are,” Gabe said.
“Yeah, but Cody here gets the biggest dick prize,” Dustin said, and I had to agree.
“Biggest and nastiest dick,” I repeated. “Maybe we should just leave. Might be easier on everyone.”
“Nope,” Dustin said, as he clapped a hand on my shoulder. “We’re going to face her and apologize. She’ll either accept, or she won’t, but either way, I’m not leaving here until we do what’s right.”
“Besides,” Gabe began. “She sounded amazing, as did your mom and Tammy. I think they deserve to know what we thought of their performance.”
“Not only did they sound good but look at them… Look at the audience loving them. Those three women are incredible together. If they sound and look this good with virtually no practice at all, what the hell could they be like if they put some actual skin in the game?” Dustin had a point, but damn, the thought of my mom doing a concert tour was a little more than I could handle at the moment.
“Natalie would have a meltdown,” I told them.
“All the more reason to keep them singing. In the long run, it might do your sister some good,” Gabe offered.
I had to admit, the thought of finally standing up to my bully sister brought me a kind of comfort that I had been dreaming of since I was a kid.
Like my mom told my dad before she came back here, it’s my turn now.
Emily 14
I couldn’t believe that the guys were in the audience. When Jimmy first told us, I wanted to run. Had they returned to make sure I understood why we couldn’t have a relationship? What could possibly be their reason for returning, when Cody had been so adamant on why they had to leave?
I wanted to get in my car and drive back to LA right then and there, but the more I thought about it, the more I didn’t care. I had a show to put on. Tammy and Martha had kindly invited me to join them, even helped me to pick out a fringed top. Then we went over all the songs they wanted to sing for each set and how I could be incorporated in each number.
No way could I disappoint them. Not after all that. They’d unknowingly picked me up off the floor and gave me purpose. I wasn’t about to run out on them or myself.
We’d planned on singing Give A Little Love, by The Judds as the last song of the final set, but once we heard the guys were in the audience, I couldn’t resist. I insisted we sing the song first and dedicate it to them. Even Martha went along with my idea.
When I spotted Cody in the sea of faces, I couldn’t help but sing my solo directly to him. Only thing was, I’d gotten a little emotional seeing how he reacted to me, as if he truly cared… which I knew he didn’t. He’d made that clear.
Still, why the fuck was he here?
Why were any of them here?
“Shouldn’t you three be in Houston or Nashville or anyplace other than Sweet Whiskey?” I asked without looking at any of them. I followed Tammy and Martha back to our backstage waiting room after our final set. I wanted to get out of this shirt before I drove back to my cabin. The guys followed along with us, close… way too close.
“We have something to say,” Dustin said.
“Darling, you should’ve said it the other night,” Martha offered, defending me.
