Karaoke Chemistry: A Witchy Small Town Romcom (Sacred River Book 2)

37. Epilogue

MY HANDS ARE a little sweaty as I write my song selection down. As I hand the pen to Riggs, Carol looks at what I wrote and grins at me. “Excellent choice.” She looks so much better than a month ago, but hasn’t been inclined to tell me if I had anything to do with it. Honestly, I don’t think I did.

Riggs chuckles as he reads what I wrote. “How am I supposed to top that?”

I shrug and smile happily, even though I can’t seem to stop shaking. Riggs finishes up, then walks back to join our group. I grab the pen once more and write down a second song. “Can I do these back-to-back? Ignore Riggs’s request.”

Carol’s grin gets even bigger. “Who’d you bring with you?”

“My family.”

My family. All of them. And I am so nervous that I’m an absolute mess. I turn to join them back at the bar, my stomach flipping at the sight of them.

Mom. Jasmine and Juniper. Willow. Aspen. Clementine and Quinton. Even Hazel is here, looking so sleek and out of place next to the rest of us as she smiles brightly at my grimace. And there, off to the side and beaming, is Riggs.

Love of my life.

No—more than that. He brought me to life. And as he holds his arms out for me to step into, I’m so grateful for him. “Thank you,” I whisper.

“For what? Being awesome?” he jokes.

Hazel slides a glass of soda over the bar to me. “Can’t believe we get to hear you sing after all these years!”

I look at the soda, then at the bartender’s questioning glance. He takes it without a word and replaces it with a tumbler of whiskey.

Hazel eyes me. “Um, who are you and what did you do to my sister?”

I laugh. “Believe it or not, Zelly, I do, in fact, drink.”

“But…whiskey?” She looks at Riggs. “Did you do this to her?”

He holds his hands up. “Hey, Seven was like this when I met her.”

Hazel’s eyes soften. “Is that what you went by? Seven?”

I nod, trying to swallow the lump in my throat. When Hazel grabs me into a monster hug, it’s harder than ever to keep from tearing up. She releases me, and I blink rapidly. “It’s what I still go by when I’m here. Only now, everyone knows.”

“Well, I love it. And I love you.”

“I love you, too,” I rasp. “We all miss you.”

A shadow crosses her face in the dim light, and there’s no mistaking the dip her aura takes. When she doesn’t respond, I raise my glass. “To sisters.”

She brightens and gets the rest of the sisters’ attention. “To sisters,” we all say, then clink glasses and sip.

“Please tell me you’re up first,” Clementine says. “My back and hips are killing me.”

“You look adorable,” Jasmine says.

“The cutest little sprite on the planet,” Juniper coos, then laughs and easily avoids the punch that Clementine throws at her.

Carol gets the crowd’s attention, and instead of kicking it off herself, she calls me up.

My family claps as I grip Riggs’s hand for support. “Go get ‘em, tiger,” he murmurs, giving me a kiss on the cheek.

Blowing out a breath, I make my way to the front and take the mic from Carol. “This is for my family.” And as Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family” starts, I scan the audience. This isn’t a hard song, not by a long shot, but it means so much. To have them all here, with Riggs supporting me as always, it’s…well, it’s everything.

The last month has been full of revelations, one after the other, and I understand that I’m at the very beginning of my journey. And as I begin to sing about having all my sisters with me, the joy that pours into me is almost too much to bear.

And then they all come up. Every sister, plus my mom, climbs onto the small riser and sings with me. A laugh escapes me as I keep going, because holy cow, Jasmine can not sing, and she’s the loudest, but it doesn’t matter. Because we’re all singing, our arms around each other, as Riggs and Quinton watch with big smiles on their faces. Behind them, Ava and her boyfriend enter the bar, along with Mrs. Hayes, Mr. Dander, and Coach. And I swear, the whole place is alight in yellow hues of joy, because I’m so full of happiness and love I might burst.

When the song ends, the audience claps as we all hug. Aspen holds on the longest, and as she pulls away, she cups my face. “I’m so fucking proud of you, Mags.”

Oof. My heart. I manage a watery smile as she steps off the riser, and then I compose myself. “Riggs,” I gesture him onto the riser, then look at Carol.

He hops up without hesitation and takes the extra mic I hand him, then busts into laughter as Beyoncé’s “Crazy in Love” comes on. He barely misses the intro, jumping in on Jay-Z’s lyrics and pumping his arms to get the crowd going.

I drop my hips and do my best to channel Queen Bey—there’s only so much this white girl can do, let’s be real—but I can sing the hell out of this song. Also, I might have practiced a little.

A lot. I practiced a lot.

But I got this. For Riggs. For me. And I give Riggs every bit of my attention as I sing about how someone’s love can do what no one else’s can.

His eyes are sparkling, partly with love and partly with amusement, because he knows, he knows, that even though this is my way of showing him how much I love him, it’s also me challenging him to bring it with Jay-Z’s part.

And he does. The man doesn’t even look at the monitor as he drops into the flow. And when he gets to the part about his texture being the best fur, he smooths his hand over his hair and pulls some kind of Elvis move that has the whole place howling.

God, I love him. So much.

It’s no hardship to sing the next part about being sprung. We sing the rest of the song, Riggs joining in to sing the chorus while I make a vocal run up and down, making the crowd cheer. And it’s such a gift, all of it. To be up here with him, singing for my family, knowing that I’m right where I’m supposed to be. Finally.

When it’s over, and we’re both breathing hard and grinning like absolute idiots beneath the multi-colored lights, Riggs pulls me in for a kiss. And it’s perfect.