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IholdAnnie’shandas we walk into Mercury Slice. She keeps trying to tuck her hair, the way she does when she’s nervous. I squeeze her hand to comfort her. “Don’t worry. They’ll love you.”
Inside, I lead her to my family’s regular booth in the corner. It’s an enormous booth, a semi-circle, designed to accommodate an entire party. I introduce Annie to Will, Theo, and Holly. She smiles prettily, shaking everyone’s hand.
Will and Theo both raise their eyebrows at me. I have one-night stands. I don’t have girlfriends. Annie is different, and they can both tell.
I beam with pride back at them as Annie and I slide into the booth. “Is Beth grabbing our scorecard?”
Holly shakes her head. “There’s been a change-up tonight. The trivia guy is sick. So, they’re doing karaoke instead. Your sister went to sign Will up forBe our Guest.”
We all laugh. “Beth made us watchBeauty and the Beastevery day when she was little,” I explain to Annie. “We all know every word by heart.”
“But Will has the best French accent.” Beth slides into the booth. She holds out a hand to Annie. “I’m Macbeth Jones. I have a thousand questions about you and Ham, but I learned my lesson about butting into my brothers’ love lives. So, I’ll just say, ‘Welcome.’”
Theo nudges her in the side. “Nice job, sis. I think you may be growing into a decent human being.”
Holly laughs. “Ease up, babe. That’s my best friend you’re talking to.”
Just then, a voice booms through the restaurant. We all turn to face the front, where a petite woman holds a microphone like she’s getting ready to spike a football. “Howdy, y’all!”
“Reba,” Holly says.
Beth shakes her head. “Shania.”
“Journey,” Theo chimes in.
“Michael Jackson,” I say, before explaining the rules to Annie. “We try to guess what the person will sing. Winner gets the first slice of pizza.”
“Ah,” Annie says, catching on. “Taylor Swift.”
The opening notes toShake it Offstart to play and Annie pumps her fist.
“Nicely done,” says Holly.
Seeing Annie fitting in so well with my family fills my heart with joy. “This is so perfect. Wait until you guys hear Annie. She’s amazing.”
Annie shakes her head vigorously. “No. I don’t do karaoke.”
I lean down to whisper to her. “Come on, babe. This is just a smalltown pizza parlor. It’s the perfect trial run for Nashville."
“Fine,” she whispers, “but I get to pick the song.”
“Whatever you say, babe.”
Eleven
Hamlet
WhenIwakethenext morning, I’m still grinning from ear to ear. The night was perfect. Annie was amazing at karaoke. I’d known she would be, but she was beyond my wildest imagination.
She chose a song by Lizzo, and as soon as the music started, shetransformed.
There’s no other word to describe it. She morphed on stage, putting on a show worthy of Madison Square Garden. She’s natural on the stage,bornto perform.
I hadn’t been able to tear my eyes away from her, and neither had anyone else in the restaurant. People jumped to their feet, clapping and singing along.
“Oh, my God,” Macbeth shouted, pulling her cell phone out of her pocket. “She’s terrific. We have to record this. She’ll be YouTube famous by the weekend.”
I look over at my rockstar, sleeping peacefully next to me—exactly where she belongs. Still smiling, I lean over to grab my phone from the nightstand, expecting to see a message from each of my siblings congratulating me on finally giving up my man-whore ways.
