Page 99 of Forever Enough
“Hey! Georgiana just finished up with the last customer. Are you and Blakley joining us for lunch?” Avery asked as she popped her head into the room.
Morgan and I exchanged a smile before she said, “I’m joining you, but Blakley here is going to be hanging out with her grammy the rest of the day. She’s meeting us at the restaurant to pick her up.”
Avery bounced with joy. “Yes! Total girls’ day! Rose is here, so we’re ready to go.”
We ended up going to a place called Ravalli’s. It was so much fun. After lunch, we played in the arcade for what felt like forever before we moved on to bowling. Then they had a trivia game going on, which rolled into karaoke night. After Georgiana and Morgan cleared things with their husbands to watch the kids, we stayed for that as well. I’d never laughed so much or had so much fun with a group of girls. And Emily was so happy and carefree. There was something about Montana that felt safe. Like nothing or no one could touch us here.
“It’s your turn, Mackenzie!” Avery said as she pulled me up and out of my seat. “You’re the last one to do karaoke!”
My eyes caught Emily’s and she simply smiled.
“I don’t know,” I started to say, even as Avery dragged me up to the stage.
“We have one more!”
The crowd started to applaud, and I felt my cheeks heat. At one time this would have been a high for me. Well, it would have been if I was in a large venue with thousands of people paying to come here me sing.
“What song would you like, young lady?” the gentleman who was running the event asked.
“How about ‘Hallelujah’.”
He raised his brows. “Wow, okay. We have a brave one here, ladies and gents!”
The crowd started to clap and cheer me on.
I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths. Once the music started, I opened my eyes and met my sister’s gaze…and started to sing. I knew the song by heart. I used to sing it to my sister when she was afraid, after the asshat would beat our mother or me.
Glancing around the room, I saw a few people staring at me in awe, some were recording on their phones.
When I sang the last hallelujah, I felt his eyes on me—and turned to see Bradly there.
The crowd erupted into cheers. I could hear Emily whistling, but I couldn’t pull my eyes away from him. He clapped and smiled so big and bright, I found myself laughing as well as blushing.
Bradly made his way over to me, and I set the mic back in the stand and met him halfway. I saw Doug, Ryan, Blayze, and Bryson making their way over to the table. Bradly stopped right before he reached me and slowly shook his head.
“Damn, I knew you could sing, Kenzie, but I had no idea you could sing sing.”
I shrugged. “That song has a special place in my heart. It’s one of Emily’s favorites.”
He reached for my hand and pulled me to him. “I see why, especially if you’re singing it to her.”
Reaching up onto my toes, I kissed him gently on the lips. “I missed you today.”
“I missed you too,” he replied as he tucked a stray hair behind my ear. “Come on, let’s go sit down.”
Once we got back to the table, everyone started to talk all at once with rapid questions about whether or not I took singing lessons, how I’d kept that voice a secret, and others questions that I couldn’t hear because they were all talking over each other. I laughed, and Bradly let out a whistle.
“Calm down, you savages. One at a time!”
Smiling, I sat down as Rose reached for my hand and squeezed it. “Mackenzie, your voice is like an angel’s. Did you sing professionally?”
“Yes!” Emily said. The same time I said, “No.”
Eyes bounced from me to my sister, then back to me. There were questioning looks on everyone’s face.
“I did for a little while. Nothing big.”
“Nothing big?” Emily stated. “She sang a few times with the Atlanta Symphony. Just google her name and…”