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Olivia beamed. “Okay, ladies, time to go put on our faces.”
Jeremiah rolled his eyes. “I’ll never understand women. You all look just fine right now.”
Ruth and Olivia exchanged glances and then, at the same time, said in exasperation, “Men.”
I laughed as the three of us headed upstairs.
An hour and a half later, we’d arrived at Landlubbers, a bar that was… eclectic to say the least. The largest décor items on the wall were a large, old wooden kayak and oars, not to be outdone by the multiple fully-stuffed deer heads with antlers, along with license plates from all over the country that covered the walls floor to ceiling.
But there was also a large dance floor that was filled with people on a Friday night, and a music system absolutely blasting music.
I could barely hear Ruth when she yelled, “All right, baby. Let’s get you on the dance floor.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” I said, standing by the bar. “I just ordered—”
But Ruth wasn’t having it. She took me by my wrists and pulled me, her walking backwards while she dragged me forwards onto the dance floor, a giant grin on her face.
With her curly hair blown out and wild around her face and makeup on, including loud red lipstick, she looked like a completely different person to the one I usually saw over the kitchen table.
I’d declined Olivia’s heavy-handed makeup and curling iron when she’d come my way, opting for just a light mascara and colored lip balm. I’d spent too much of my life buffed and shined to a perfect sheen to ever go back.
“BITCHES!” Olivia screeched, walking towards us with both arms raised up to the sky, a beer in one hand. She’d gone to the other end of the bar to order. We’d taken a divide and conquer approach. “Are you ready to par-tay?”
Ruth dropped my wrists only long enough to give Olivia a big hug, as if she hadn’t seen her only ten minutes before. Then again, Ruth had downed two margaritas before we’d left home, so she’d been giggling the entire ride over and had hugged me multiple times as soon as we got inside. She dragged Olivia over towards me.
I was still amazed by how easy these women were with each other. I’d only seen people like this in movies but here they were, in real life, right in front of me.
“Come on, we gotta give Charlie a good night,” Ruth said, snatching Olivia’s beer and dipping her head back as she chugged it.
“Hey!” Olivia said, grabbing for her bottle as soon as Ruth’s head righted.
Ruth handed it back over and then hooked an arm around my neck. “She’s been knee-deep in it all calving season.”
“Oh honey, then you’re the one who really needs this.” Olivia shoved the apparently communal beer bottle towards me but I laughed and waved her off. I knew I could have a beer and still be fine to drive, but I hated the taste of it. Jeff loved the stuff and the smell of it on his breath had turned me off it forever.
She shrugged and then repeated Ruth’s action, throwing her head back and chugging the beer. I just watched in awe as the liquid in the bottle disappeared inch by inch until it was gone.
“Damn, Liv,” Ruth laughed when she was done and let out a surprised little burp. “That kinda week, huh.”
Olivia just gave her a look and then nodded. “Dear God, if I have to listen to one more rich middle-aged white lady going on and on and on about how the gays are ruining the country—” She raised her finger as a gun to her head and then released her thumb, pulling the trigger. She looked at Ruth. “Didn’t we have more in mind than this when we were little kids dreaming about what we wanted to be when we grew up?”
“Oh honey,” Ruth laughed from deep in her chest. “I’d drink to that, but you finished off the beer and I want to dance and forget all that bullshit anyway.”
She grabbed one of Olivia’s hands and one of my hands and then started jumping frantically to the music, mostly on beat.
I laughed, caught up in her joyous, rebellious mood in spite of myself. She might not know what she was doing with her life or what her next move was, but she was enjoying the hell out of this moment, and so could I.
Why had I been so dour lately, anyway? Ruth was right, coming out tonight had been a good idea. Getting cooped up at the ranch wasn’t good for anybody.
So I leaned into the rhythm with my body and moved. My hips hit with the beat, roll and pop, roll and pop, back and sway, with each drum hit. It was a sexy, upbeat Lizzo song. My hands went up over my head as I gave into the energy of the crowd more and more.
