Page 30 of Party Favors
“I can check ‘sneaking into an event I’m not invited to’ off my bucket list,” Amanda said.
“You need to get out more,” Benji said. “That event sucked. We’ll find you a fun one next time.”
“That was plenty fun for me.” Amanda smacked a kiss on the crown of Wren’s head. “Just the right amount. Thank you, Wren.”
Chapter Eight
When William found Amanda, Wren, and Benji at the bar at six, they were all a few sheets to the wind and avidly waiting for karaoke to start. Amanda had never done karaoke, but she was looking forward to it like a kid waiting for Santa’s sleigh.
“What is going on here?” William asked after Benji laid a huge kiss on him.
Amanda sighed. She loved kissing. She wished she could kiss Wren like that.
Wren sat up straight from her slump against the bar. “We were in-doctor-i-na-ted into a pyramid scheme this afternoon.” She spoke very slowly like she wanted to get all the words correct.
“Early bird karaoke is about to start, William. Sit down, sit down,” Benji said. “Amanda’s going first. It’s an oldie resolution or something.”
“An old year’s resolution,” Amanda explained.
“Yes. That. Babe, when you take over this bar, you have to keep early bird karaoke.”
Wren and Amanda nodded.
“It’s so fun,” Wren said.
William glanced around. “It hasn’t even started yet, and the bar is empty.”
From the stage, a woman in a black polo shirt with the Father Time Farm and Resort logo on it, said, “Howdy folks, welcome to our last karaoke session of the year! We’re so excited to have you all here this evening. We’re going to start things off with a bang! Up first is Amanda, singing”—the woman glanced at the screen in front of her—“Mariah Carey … Oh goodie.”
Amanda skipped to the stage. She realized that the bar was in fact pretty deserted. There were a few elderly ladies, two bartenders, a couple making out by the door, and her friends.
And geez, how cool was that? She had friends. And those friends didn’t care about her family’s money, or where she’d gotten her clothes, or which VIP restaurant she could get a table at.
And she had Wren.
Beautiful, bubbly Wren.
Wren, whose kiss hit her with the force of a train. Every single time.
The song lyrics appeared on the screen in front of her, and she almost lost her nerve. But no, this was happening.
She sang the breathy beginning of Mariah Carey’s “Auld Lang Syne.” It was impossible to do Mariah Carey justice, but luckily, no one was paying her much attention besides Wren, Benji, and William. Once the tempo sped up and the instrumentation transitioned into dance music, Wren dragged Benji to the stage.
They stood directly in front of Amanda, arms around each other’s waists, and swayed while singing along with her.
Her voice wasn’t great. She could match pitch … if it were a normal non-Mariah Carey pitch. So yeah, it wasn’t amazing, but it was fun.
By the end of the song, William had joined Wren and Benji, a crowd of three cheering her on and singing with her. She belted the end just for them.
It was something she never would have done before, so that was a check off the old bucket list. If she had one.
The only list she had was the one she’d made in that wackadoodle GLOF workshop this afternoon. A list where she’d spelled out her dreams of opening a vintage clothing store, of quitting her job, of figuring out how to live closer to Wren.
Fairytales, more like, but she was holding them close to her chest.
Once she’d finished her song, Benji was up. He sang “Funky New Year” by the Eagles. William watched Benji like he hung the moon as he strutted and danced over the stage.
Wren was anxiously awaiting her turn. As Benji’s song wound down into spoken word, she turned to Amanda. “Wish me luck.”
