“You’re still the best bartender ever.” I slammed down my glass. “Just don’t tell Bruce.” I shot a look to Nita and Louie who nodded their agreement. “I missed you, Eddie. Honestly. That summer was way too much fun. I still can’t believe you remembered me.”
“Of course, I did! We had fun that summer. Lots of laughs, some late-night talks, and who could forget the girl who got up on the bar and sang into an empty wine bottle on more than one occasion? And that night you schooled me at bar dice? Three rounds in a row!” He slapped the bar and grinned.
“What?” Louie and Nita said in unison and whipped their heads toward me.
“You sang? In public?” Nita’s eyes bulged.
“Mostly lip synced,” I corrected.
“You guys should have seen her up there! After a few Jägermeister’s this girl would be dancing on the bar belting out songs for an hour.”
“Now that I want to see!” Louie grinned. “I didn’t know you were the bar dancing type!”
“One summer I was.” I laughed, shaking my head. “It was the one time in my life I was wild and free. No planning, no over-analyzing, just fun all the time. No one knew me, so I kicked up my heels that entire summer.”
“Do you have a time machine back there so I can go back and see Ellie singing in public?” Nita snorted. “She’s so shy about singing she mouths the words to ‘Happy Birthday’ instead of singing it out loud.”
“No time machine back here, but Husby’s across the street has karaoke tonight. She’s had a couple Jäger’s, so maybe our little singing Ellie will come back out?” His lip pulled up in a taunting smile.
“Karaoke?” Louie screeched and almost spit out his sip of martini. “There’s karaoke tonight?”
“Yep.” Eddie nodded. “Right over there.” He pointed to the bar across the street and we all leaned back, looking through the window to the bar that looked packed with people. I had a lot of memories from that little bar, and even though I had no intention of singing karaoke, I was excited to see it again.
“Oh my God. You’ve been amazing, Eddie, but you need to close our tab. It’s time Door County got a taste of my melodious voice and my killer dance moves!” Louie shimmied in his chair.
“Oh, God,” Nita groaned. “Please don’t sing I Will Survive.”
“You’re just jealous of these pipes,” he said, following it up with a sing-song melody.
“It’s happening, isn’t it?” She shook her head.
“Only if you’re lucky!” He tossed his credit card to Eddie, who closed out our tab and handed it back.
“You kids have fun. Stop back over for a Jäger again when you’re ready!”
“We will, Eddie!” I leaned over the bar and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you. You are helping to erase the douchebag.”
“Good. Go have fun. You deserve it. And you’d better get up there and sing!”
I shook my head and he glowered at me, crossing his arms. “Bye, Eddie. I’ll be back!”
The three of us hopped off our bar stools and made our way out the door and down the steps, crossing the street with our arms linked. The music thumped from inside the small bar and I wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol or the energy coming from inside, but I felt a little skip in my step again.
When we pushed open the door, we were flooded with the smell of sweat, beer, and suntan lotion. The bar was packed with college-aged kids dancing and laughing, and I remembered back to when I was one of them. They were likely a mix of tourists out celebrating their vacation, and college summer workers who’d spent the day on the beach before rushing off to a serving job. Now they were out and getting hammered like one does when they’re twenty-one... or twenty-eight and recovering from a nasty heartbreak. I wished for a moment I could go back and do it all again. This time, I would try to avoid meeting a Liam, though.
“This. Is. Awesome!” Louie immediately started bouncing to the music while we pushed our way through the crowd. “Why didn’t anyone tell me Door County was packed with all these young hotties in the summer? Damn!” He eyed up a dark-haired guy as he passed by.
“Seriously!” Nita said, scanning the crowd. “I may be a bit of a cougar, but I have no problems teaching a few of these little cubs a thing or two. Like that one.” She pointed to the tanned guy with the sun kissed hair sipping a Spotted Cow in the corner. “Ooh! Or that one!” I gave up trying to follow her and Louie’s fingers as they jutted at every attractive man in the bar. I had no interest in men right now and made my way to the bar for the one thing I was in the mood for.
“What can I get you?” the bartender asked as he raced by.
“Three dirty martinis, please,” I said with a smile.
He paused, scrunching his brow together as he rubbed his beard. “So, three Bud Lights?”
“What?” I shook my head. “No, I said three dirty martinis.” I shouted louder over the deafening crowd and the woman crooning into the microphone.
“Three Bud Lights,” he answered back, pulling three beers from the ice bin and popping them on the bar. “This is as close to a martini as you’re getting when I’m three deep, darling.”
I looked at the beers and shrugged. “Three Bud Lights it is!” I laughed.
“My kinda girl. Start you a tab?”
“Yes please!” I said, bumping Louie with an elbow to hand over his credit card.
“What?” he asked, turning away from his intense search for the man whose lips he would be locked with soon. “Oh, sorry. Credit card. Here you go.” He slapped it on the bar and his eyes roved off again.
“You really should pick one for yourself.” Nita reached across me and furrowed her brow when she saw beer instead of martinis. “Seriously? Bud Light?”
“It’s a martini at Husby’s. When in Rome!” I grabbed the bottle and knocked hers with mine.
“Fair enough.” She grabbed her own and took a swing, cringing when she finished. “God, that’s really awful. But it will get better.” She drank again.
“Look at me! I’m drinking beer!” Louie beamed and took a long swig. “Think this makes me seem more manly?”
Nita and I exchanged a look and answered with simultaneous nods. “Absolutely.”
“Good. I’m gonna go find the DJ and put in my song requests!” Louie skipped off and Nita and I leaned up against the bar in the only place we could squeeze in.
“How ya doing, kid?” she asked.
“I’m alive. Barely.”
“I’m really sorry, Ellie. I’m so sorry that we pushed you and it ended so badly. You were right not to want to open that door again.”
I took another swig of my beer and shook my head. “No. As much as I hate to admit it, I’m glad I went. It’s not how I wanted it to end, obviously, but at least I can move on and stop holding every man I meet up to the impossible standard that was Liam. It turns out he is far from perfect. Very far. And now I have some closure. And I have my new career path picked out. Teaching kids. Little ones. Ones that won’t call me names and send me home in tears every day.”
“I still think it’s crazy you met that woman in the street. Maybe this trip wasn’t about Liam at all. Maybe it was to help you figure out what you wanted to do with your life.”
“Maybe. At least something good came of it. When we get back, the first thing I’m going to do is look into different teaching options for me.”
“I think that’s so great, Ellie.” She rubbed my arm and we exchanged a smile. “It will give you something to focus on other than Liam.”
“Ugh.” I groaned. “Seeing him on the street with that woman, hearing her say she was his wife. How could I be so stupid? His mother?” I spat. “Here I thought he was so noble to be taking care of his mom, and really he was married. He probably doesn’t even have a mother! It was all just a ruse to keep me away from his house... you know, the one he lived in with his wife?”
“That is fucked up.”
“So fucked up. The crazy part? He wanted to introduce me to th
is ‘mother’ of his the night I left. I bet he rented a house and paid some homeless woman to play the part of his mom. Then he was going to just move me in with this strange woman and go on ‘business trips’ several days a week, when he went home to his real house and his wife.”
“I think you’ve seen too many movies.”
“It happens, Nita! I’ve seen it in the news. There are men out there with like, three families! And none of them have any idea about the others. I was about to be that dumb woman whose husband has a whole different family. Just me and the homeless actress I’d be living with.”
“Seriously, Ellie. That’s fucked up.” She chuckled.
“What’s fucked up? Us? Getting there!” Louie bounced up behind us slamming the last of his beer. “I’m pretty sure drinking beer put hair on my chest. Did it?” He opened a few shirt buttons, and we peeked at the smooth skin.
“Not yet. Maybe another?” I asked.
“Hells yeah!” He caught the eye of the passing bartender and pointed to his empty beer. After acknowledging us with a nod, he plopped another one on the bar.
“Thank you!” Louie called after him while the bartender darted off to help the mob of intoxicated people all vying for his attention. “Well, the playlist has been requested and soon Door County will be chanting my name and asking for my autograph.”
“Is that so?” Nita arched an eyebrow.
“You’ll see!” Louie took a chug of his beer.
The bartender came back toward us holding the portable bar phone to his ear. “Are you Ellie?” he asked me.
“Um, yes?” I answered nervously. “How did you know that?”
“It’s Eddie across the street. He says you have to get up and sing before I can serve you any more drinks tonight other than this Jäger he’s sending you now.”
“Oh God, no!” Shaking my head furiously, I stepped back while the bartender poured three shots. “I’m not singing!” I shouted at the phone.
“He says to stop being a chicken shit.”
“Just give me the shot and we’ll see.” I stepped forward and pulled it up to my mouth.
“Wait! Photo op!” Louie said, pulling out his phone. We all leaned in toward the bartender and he quick snapped the hundredth Instagram photo since our arrival.
“Cheers, Eddie!” Louie shouted toward the phone while he hoisted his shot. The clinking of our glasses rang out, and we each tossed the Jäger down our throats.
Nita crinkled her nose. “God, they really love their Jäger up here.”
“I love this place. We’re coming up every weekend.” Louie sighed.
“No complaints from me,” Nita said, catching the eye of a guy who smiled while he walked past. “None what-so-ever.”
“Louie Carter! Louie Carter!” The voice boomed through the speakers and induced a squeal from Louie.
“I’m up! I’m up! Come on!” Grabbing our hands, he dragged us through the bar to the area with the make-shift stage where the microphone stood alone in the ray of blue light. Louie squeezed us through the dance floor packed with people until we arrived at the DJ’s booth.
“I’m Louie,” he said, dropping my hand and leaning in to whisper in the DJ’s ear. Nita and I stood in front of the stage, waiting for him to finish securing his song. And I didn’t need to wonder which one he was going to start with. It would be I Will Survive. It always was.
“All set!” He stepped back by my side and I saw the twinkle of excitement in his eyes.
“I Will Survive?” I asked.
“Nope.” Excitement bubbled out of him.
“Change of plans,” the DJ said into the microphone. I looked over to see him staring directly at me. Oh shit. “Ellie Anderson is up next!”
“What?” I shrieked while I backed away from the stage. “No! Hell no!”
“Come on, Ellie! Do it!” Louie begged, catching me by the elbow.
“No way!”
I saw the eyes of the crowd surrounding me all turning to stare as I tried to turn and run.
“Don’t you guys think she should sing?” Louie shouted into the crowd.
“Sing! Sing! Sing!” They cheered, and I felt the energy of the room explode.
“No,” I whined, covering my face with my hands.
“No fear! Go big or go home! Do it, Ellie!” Nita joined in. “Do it! Do it! Do it!”
The same chant that made me message Liam that fateful night caught on and soon the bar chanted with her. Pursing my lips, I lifted my head and impaled Louie with a glare before taking a deep breath, letting the chants of the crowd urge me on.
“I’m going to kill you,” I said before slamming my beer and stepping over to the DJ, whispering in his ear.
My stomach twisted in knots while I stepped onto stage and blew out a breath, fighting the fear threatening to send me running. Fuck it, you’ll never see these people again. Just have fun. When I grabbed the microphone, the chants erupted into screams and I burst into nervous laughter.
“You got this, Ellie!” Nita cheered from below.
The screen beside me started to glow, and I heard the familiar notes of my breakup anthem pouring out of the speakers. The words came across the screen and my shaky hands gripped the microphone tighter. I started singing the lyrics to Here I Go Again On My Own, but nerves only let the words out in a whisper.
The crowd cheered as the song built, and I felt my anger toward Liam bubbling up inside while I gained more confidence with each note. I thought I had it all... that I finally had my Liam and my single days were done. Now here I was, on my own again. When the chorus hit, I pulled that microphone to my mouth and belted out the lyrics, my anger forcing them out at levels that shocked even me.
The crowd screamed as I ripped out those lyrics, and I heard their voices join in on my song. While they jumped up and down, our voices merged into one, and I let everything go on that stage while I poured my heart out into my breakup anthem. It was the very one I thought I’d never need to play again when I’d heard Liam say I love you. Yet here I was, screaming my heart out over a sea of strangers, and it felt amazing to let it all go. The anger. The hurt. The betrayal. And I knew, while I sang those lyrics, that as bad as this hurt, I would be fine. I’d get over him and find my happiness again.
For five minutes I stalked across that stage like a rock star, pumping my fist in the air while I let all my anger pour out of me. As the song neared its end, I hit those impossibly high notes and the roar of the crowd wrapped around me and pushed me on. We sang the last verse together, Louie and Nita playing air guitar below me causing me to laugh and choke out the last words. When I finished, I lowered my arm and let the screams fill the bar while the applause bounced off the walls.
As quickly as my confidence came, it fluttered off and left me blushing on stage while I stared at the screaming people begging for more. My eyes roved over the crowd and then settled on a figure in the shadows leaning up against the door on the opposite side of the room. Even from this distance I could see those ice-blue eyes burning out of the darkness. The microphone slipped out of my hand and bounced across the stage.
“Mic drop!” Louie shouted obliviously below me.
When he stepped forward into the light, it felt like the stage was collapsing below me and I grabbed the microphone stand for balance. Liam.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Ellie
Shock glued my feet to that stage, and I struggled to exhale the breath trapped in my lungs. I didn’t know whether to run, puke, slap him, or all three. The crowd swallowed him up, and I strained to find him again, still not convinced he was real. The DJ thanked me, and I started off the stage in a daze. Louie and Nita jumped around me praising my performance, but soon quieted when they noticed my expression as I kept moving through the crowd.
“Ellie? Are you okay?” Louie said, walking beside me. “Ellie?”
I couldn’t answer. It couldn’t be him. It was impossible. An ocean stood between us. But that was just physical because the gap he�
��d created with his lies put him on another planet. Yet some random guy in a Door County bar looked just like him. That had to be what it was. Between the bright spotlight affecting my eyes and the alcohol that was catching up with me, it was the most logical explanation. Or was it him? Ducking out the side door onto the porch filled with people enjoying the fresh air, I pressed my back against the wall and shut my eyes tight.
Nita pressed a hand onto my shoulder. “Ellie? What’s wrong? Are you embarrassed you sang? Because you shouldn’t be! That was like an ‘American Idol’ quality performance! Eddie wasn’t kidding. You can sing!”
I didn’t answer.
“Ellie?” they asked in unison, and I opened my eyes.
“I think I saw Liam.”
“What?” they shouted together, and both heads turned around on swivels.
“You’re shitting me?” Nita said, taking a protective step toward me.
“He’s here? Are you sure?” Louie asked, looking around some more.
“Yes. Well, no. How drunk am I? I feel pretty buzzed, but am I completely hammered and just don’t feel it? Like those times I say, ‘I’m not drunk’ and then the next day can’t believe how wasted I was? Is it like that? Am I just oblivious to my level of intoxication? Is it possible I’m drunk enough and heartbroken enough to be seeing things?”
“Touch your fingers to your nose,” Louie said.
I closed my eyes and touched my nose with my finger and hit it dead on.
“Nope. You’re not hallucinating drunk.”
“So he’s here.” My heart hammered in my chest.
“Maybe just someone who looked like him?” Nita touched my shoulder. “He’s in Italy, Ellie. I think you’ve got him imprinted on your brain so you’re seeing him.”
“I’m sure he’s not here, Ellie. How would he even know you were here? You blocked him on social media, right?” Louie searched my face that felt cold since the blood had drained from it.
“Yes. While I was at the airport in Naples, I blocked the shit out of him. Phone, social media, everything. There’s no way he can find me.” Remembering that helped calm me down. I knew I would succumb to him if he reached out to me, so I’d digitally erased him, and with it any opportunity he could contact me, and I could fall for more of his lies. Liam couldn’t know I was in Door County. There was no way he had jumped on a plane and followed me here. It had to be someone who just looked like him, and with my beer goggles, I was mistaken.
The Big One (Second Chance Romantic Comedy) Page 20