Mir was sitting in the back of the SUV, and she was chattering about stuff I wasn’t paying much attention to as Killian drove, but it almost felt like a date. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been out on one. Maybe early last year? Nor could I remember a time when there had been this many butterflies in my belly. I didn’t think I was this excited when I went out with the first-string quarterback from my high school.
The drive to Sam’s Brew was short. Killian jumped out and opened my door for me. Mir knocked on the window and said, “Hey, what about me?”
“You have arms,” he said, then reached over and opened it for her anyway.
My smile widened a bit. You could figure out what kind of man you were dealing with by looking at how he treated his mother and sister. And I liked what I was seeing between Killian and Mir.
The sign outside the squat wooden building read: SAM’S KARAOKE NIGHT! SING, DRINK AND BE MERRY! $4 HOP HOP HOORAY! Judging by the noise coming from inside, there were a lot of people there already. But then, it was a little after seven thirty now.
I took a deep breath. It was inevitable that I’d have to deal with the people in Kingstree at some point. At least I wasn’t facing them all by myself. If I got lucky, they’d be too busy interacting with Killian to notice me much. And at least the rumors about me being a yeti would disappear after this outing.
Killian held the door open; Mir walked in, and I followed. Killian put his hand at my back, the touch warm, and moved inside with me, matching my pace half a step behind.
The interior was dimly lit, with lots of small tables. Three giant TVs hung from walls, each one showing a different sport, although the sound was muted. A pool table occupied one corner, along with a dartboard and a jukebox. In the area opposite the main entrance was a raised stage, big enough for about four to five people to stand and sing, with a drum set in the back.
A middle-aged man in an unbuttoned flannel shirt over a white undershirt and jeans was belting out “We Are the Champions.” Given the accompaniment from the speakers, he was butchering the melody, but nobody seemed to care, since a lot of the patrons were singing along with him.
People in the bar were dressed just as casually as the singer, so that made me overdressed. So was Mir. I should’ve known better than to believe her. Sam’s Brew was a bar in a small town with casual folks.
I leaned over to her. “Dress code?”
“Maybe things have changed since last time I was here.” She shot me a shameless grin.
I snorted, then decided it didn’t matter. She’d probably just wanted to dress up with me, and that was fine. I could use dressing like a normal, responsible adult once in a while. Besides, it had been worth it to knock Killian’s socks off. That was an ego booster.
“Hey, Killian! And Mir! I didn’t think you’d come!” someone said in a loud, growly voice.
“Here to have fun with a friend.” Killian tilted his head my way.
“Oh?” The man’s eyes widened as he checked me out thoroughly. “Who’s this?”
“Emily. My next-door neighbor.”
The man looked like he’d just gotten sucker-punched. “No way. I mean… Yeah. I just… Huh.”
I almost laughed. If he’d seen me around town before, no wonder he couldn’t recognize me. “Nice to meet you,” I said, extending a hand.
“Yeah. I’m Bob. Pleasure.” He held my hand like it was made of glass, then let go slowly.
“So, Eric’s in a great mood today?” Mir said, glancing toward the singer.
“Yeah.” Bob grunted. “His team is playing, and this is his good-luck song. He said they win every time he sings it.” He looked at the stage ruminatively. “Practice ain’t made him any better, though.”
“It’s an improvement from what I remember,” Mir said, then went to get a table as its occupants left.
“There’s no waiting list or anything?” I asked.
“Nope. First grabbed, first served,” Killian said, leading me over.
Eric struck a triumphant pose, one fist in the air, as he sang the last note. “To victory!”
Everyone clapped as we sat down. A waitress came by and cleared the table. “Hey, guys. Want something to drink?” she asked.
“Hop Hop Hooray raspberry, if you have it,” I said.
“Two,” Killian said.
“Three. And Sue, you know I want one of each appetizer.”
“Smart,” Sue said with a grin. “You always know how to have fun, Mir.”
Mir laughed. “What’s life without fun?”
After Sue left, I turned to Mir. “You know everybody.”
“Kingstree’s a small town. Killian knows everyone, too.” That made me pause for a second, but it made sense. He’d said he grew up here, and when he heard my characters’ names, he’d made connections to actual people in town.
I saw Sunny get on stage and grab the mike, which was a little weird. The supermarket owner always seemed so proper. On the other hand, I guessed this was how she had fun and blew off steam.
“You know, it’s downright unfair of me to sing when we have our own homegrown rock star here. I didn’t know he’d be out on the town tonight,” Sunny said with a small laugh.
I gave her a look of sympathy even though she probably didn’t see it from the stage. I imagined that vocals were touched up in the studio to make them sound better than in real life. But if Killian sang live even half as well as his recordings, it was going to be a tough comparison for Sunny.
“Nobody cares. It’s not an audition,” somebody called out.
“Then why don’t you come up here with me, Calvin?” Sunny said.
“You know I flunked music.”
“Flunked? You didn’t even take the class!”
“What were you gonna sing?” Mir called out.
“‘Bohemian Rhapsody.’”
“Two Queen songs back to back?” Mir said.
“I sing better than Eric,” Sunny said with a wink. “But I don’t sing better than Killian.”
“Let’s get our rock star up on stage.”
As though in agreement, the people started to chant Killian’s name. I clapped to the beat of their chant, smiling at the crowd’s eager reaction. It was inevitable they wanted him on the stage. What was that 911 dispatcher had said? Right. Free concert. And given how small the town was, they didn’t often have a big star show for a concert, free or otherwise.
Killian took a sip of his water. “You wanna go up there with me?” he asked me.
“Ha! And embarrass myself? I don’t know this song well enough to sing. Besides, I don’t do music, remember?”
He pursed his lips. Before he could find a way to drag me up there with him anyway, I quickly added, “But I won’t mind it if you go up there and wow me.”
“Well. If you insist.” He stood with an easy grin, his eyes on mine.
And for some reason, it felt like he was doing this for me—to wow me like I’d asked him to. My cheeks warmed.
The people hooted and shouted encouragement.
Killian held up his arms. “All right, all right, you cattle wranglers! Let’s be civilized here,” he said, then hopped on stage.