Page 90 of Summer on Sunshine Bay

“We’re not. You’re just banned from riding your bike. We’ll go to Last Call. It’s down on the beach.”

Her sister hesitated. “Eva, I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

“It’s not. It’s a great idea.” Last Call was another of Eva’s favorite bars. It was a popular hangout with the locals and tended to get rowdy. They parked their bikes at the back of Surfside. Johnny would make sure they weren’t stolen, and she’d pick them up in the morning. Lila and Sage looked a little nervous when Eva told them where they were going, but Willow pumped her fist and said, “We’ll join up with you after here.”

Gia reluctantly tagged along as Eva took Jennifer through a shortcut down to the beach. Decorated with Christmas lights, Last Call sat back from the shore, the music so loud its wooden walls were practically pulsating to the beat. The place was packed to the rafters, but Matt, a giant of a man behind the bar, stopped pulling beers to yell, “Heartbreakers are in the house!”

People started cheering, and Eva laughed, waggling her eyebrows at her sister when Jennifer said, “I love this place!” Eva introduced her to several of the people she knew as they made their way to the bar.

“I hear Lila’s going to be the one to break the Rosetti curse,” a man at a table near the bar yelled. “We’ve all got a chance now, lads.”

“Get in line, old man,” said a familiar voice at the bar, and Ryan swiveled on his barstool to smile at Eva. The young woman sitting on a stool beside him, a pretty blonde, didn’t look impressed.

“Hey there, handsome.” Eva patted his chest and smiled at the young woman. “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your girlfriend?”

“Eva, Pam. Pam, Eva. We just met. Pam’s in town to celebrate her parents’ anniversary.” Ryan smiled. “What can I get you ladies to drink?”

“No way. They don’t get their drinks until Eva sings. Who thinks Eva should sing for their drinks?” Matt yelled at his customers, then began chanting, “Eva, Eva” as he thumped a beer bottle on the bar. The crowd soon picked up his chant.

“Fine,” Eva said. “The three of us will sing.”

But her sister and Jennifer shook their heads. “We’ll watch.”

“That’s no fun. Come on, you can be my backup dancers.” She couldn’t change their minds, and a couple of guys at the bar gave them their stools. Eva shrugged and walked to the small stage with a karaoke machine to the right of the bar.

“What do you want me to sing?” She already knew what one of the songs would be. She’d been singing the Sister Sledge song here for years. “‘We Are Family,’” half the bar yelled. She brought up the music and lifted the mic. It felt like old times as she sang and danced on the stage. Good times and great memories. She smiled at her sister and Jennifer, who clapped and cheered louder than nearly anyone in the bar.

She didn’t ask what they wanted to hear next. She already knew what it would be. People laughed and cheered when they heard the music for Helen Reddy’s “I Am Woman.” She put on a show she knew they soon wouldn’t forget. At least thirty people crowded around the stage, Gia, Jennifer, and Ryan included, singing the lyrics with her. She could barely hear herself singing and leaned over to pull her sister and Jennifer up on the stage, the three of them dancing together. When the music ended and she put down the mic, Ryan jumped onstage and lifted her up, twirling her around as he kissed her.

“Eva!”

Laughing, she broke the kiss and looked to where her sister was pointing. James stood with his hands in his pockets watching her, and then he turned and walked away.

“Ryan, put me down,” Eva cried, feeling as if she was going to throw up.

“What’s wrong?” he asked as he set her on her feet.

Desperate to get to James, she didn’t answer him. Her heart was racing as she pushed her way through the crowd. James was halfway down the beach when she finally managed to make it outside.

Fireworks exploded in the night sky above him, and she started to run after him, and then she stopped. She just froze right there in the sand beneath a shower of twinkling starbursts. She wasn’t meant for the life he wanted. She wasn’t made for commitment and long-term relationships. She was a Heartbreaker. It was better this way. Better for all of them.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Stop worrying about it. Your parents are fine,” Sage shouted in Lila’s ear.

Lila glanced at her phone on the table. Her father had called fifteen minutes ago. He’d touched down in Boston at ten and then hired a helicopter to fly him to Sunshine Bay. “You didn’t see my mom this afternoon. I should’ve warned her that I told my dad they were at Last Call,” Lila yelled above the noise in Surfside. The crowd had grown steadily since they’d arrived.

Sage scrolled through her phone and then grinned. Turning the screen to Lila, she pressed Play and turned up the volume. Lila’s mother was on the stage at Last Call, looking stunning in her red dress, surrounded by cheering fans as she sang Helen Reddy’s “I Am Woman.”

Willow grabbed her sister’s phone. “Zia’s singing the Rosettis’ theme song!” she squealed, wobbling when she got up onto her chair. “Watch your drinks!” she shouted as she started to stand up in the middle of the table, singing along with Lila’s mother.

“Willow Rosetti, get down from there right now,” Johnny, the bar’s owner, yelled.

Her cousin just laughed, motioning for all of them to join in as she started the video over. All the women at their table stood, linked their arms, and sang at the top of their lungs. It wasn’t long before the rest of the women in the bar joined in.

“I love Zia so hard,” Willow said as she climbed off the table. “I want to be her when I grow up.”

Johnny walked over with a tray of drinks and set them on the table. “Courtesy of the guys at the bar.” He shook his head at Willow. “Never a dull moment when the Heartbreakers are in the house.” Then he winked at Lila. “Now that you’re gonna break the Rosetti curse, I expect you to put in a good word for me with your mother.”

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