11
But not long was the interval of tranquility; for when supper was over, singing was talked of. —Pride they must have practiced this, perhaps even choreographed the dance routine. Then again, those two are so in tune with each other, they could very well be making up these moves on the spot. At the line about her wearing his wedding ring, Jane holds up her ring and waves it to the crowd. Everyone cheers.
They are so blissfully in love; it makes me sick. No, I think the right word is jealous. How cool would it be to have your person? I glance over at Lettie, sitting a couple rows in front of me and to my right. Colin’s arm rests on the back of her chair. The oldest move in the book. I’m confident she doesn’t like this guy, so why bring him?
When Jane and Charlie finish, Lydia drags Aedan and Max on stage to sing “Hot to Go” with her. She’s teaching them the dance on the spot. They’re terrible, but it’s awesome.
There’s a lull after Jane’s dad performs “Billie Jean.” Probably because no one wants to follow his epic performance. The guy can seriously moonwalk; I did not see that coming. Perhaps I should have. I mean, he was a professional soccer player. Charlie takes the empty seat beside me and whispers, “I’ve got ‘Lady in Red’ all cued up for you.” He nods his head slightly toward Lettie, who is indeed wearing red.
“That will never happen,” I answer.
“Oh, I think it will,” Charlie replies with a knowing grin. “It will. If not tonight, eventually.”
I know exactly what Charlie means, even if I pretend not to. I can’t help it. I glance over at Lettie again. Jane pulls her out of her seat, tugging her hand all the way to the front. Lettie protests but is laughing when they get on the stage. The music swells; Lettie takes the microphone. She seems nervous at first, but she has a fine singing voice. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised; her cousin is April Rain. My phone tells me the song is “Crazy for You” by Madonna.
Lettie quickly warms up to the performance and is soon totally lost in the song. I might be reading too much into this, but it feels like she’s purposely not looking my way, which suits my purposes. I stand up and take out my phone to film about 30 seconds of her karaoke performance. She doesn’t dance, rather she sways. Behind her, Jane dances and sings backup with zest. Whenever they look at each other, they break into smiles in a way that makes me think they’ve sung this song together many times. I put my phone away and enjoy the show.
Lettie reaches the chorus again, and her gaze lands on me. She fumbles over a couple words. I expect her to hurriedly look away, but she keeps her eyes steady on mine. She continues, her voice gaining assurance. Looking right at me, she sings with more emotion and less polish, giving each word extra meaning. I realize too late that the song has ended, and everyone is clapping. I’m still standing, staring at Lettie while she and Jane take a bow.
Colin marches on stage, a man on a mission. He says something to Lettie as he passes her. She returns to her seat; my eyes follow her every move. He takes the microphone and belts out “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran. And in case anyone doubted his intentions, he points at Lettie as he sings. I have to hand it to the guy; he puts his whole heart into it. And whoa, this tune is not subtle. At first, Lettie watches his performance with composure, but every time Colin sings about finding the love of his life, her mask cracks a little until her expression is polite terror.
Lydia outright cackles when he belts out about finding a love to carry his children. I’m trying so hard not to laugh my shoulders shake. I put a fist over my mouth. Just then, Lettie looks my way. She scowls at my barely suppressed mirth. I shrug my shoulders as if to say, can you blame me? She breaks out laughing. That’s all I need; I crouch as I move up the aisle to her row. I steal the empty seat next to her.
As soon as I sit, she leans over. “For the record, that’s my standard karaoke song.”
“Are you saying you weren’t singing ‘Crazy for You’ to the surgeon?”
“No, nor anyone else.” Her cheeks pinken.
“Yeah, right.”
She not-so-playfully punches my shoulder. “I’m serious.”
“I know,” I whisper low in her ear, so close that I can smell her perfume. “Obviously, you weren’t singing to me.” She goes still. I’m enjoying this too much. “And how much you want me to kiss you.”
She turns to me, her eyes wide, sputtering. “No . . . Liam! . . . That’s not . . . ”
“I’m kidding, Lettie. It’s obvious that’s your standard song, and you’ve sung it with Jane lots. You were really good.”
“Oh! Thanks.” She smiles sheepishly. I mean what I said, I’m confident she didn’t select that song with me in mind. I saw Jane coerce her to go on stage. However, I’m holding out hope that as she sang, she felt some of the lyrics particularly apt for our situation.
Everyone claps, and our eyes return to the stage where Caroline takes the microphone.
“Now, it’s your turn,” Lettie says wryly.
Crap! I completely forgot about Caroline. I left her at our table with all the parents. Not my best move. I hold my breath, dreading her song selection. I hope it will be a fun song with no hidden meaning, like “We Are the Champions.” But nope. She’s cued up Adele’s “Someone Like You.” At least she’s not pointing at me as she sings. But every so often, she looks right at me, and I have no doubt she chose this song for a reason—especially when she sings “Old friend.” The old friend in the song is married, so it’s not a perfect fit. But watching her sing, I am very uncomfortable. I like Caroline. We’ve known each other since my family moved to El Dorado Hills. We’ve been through a lot, and I care about her, just not romantically. I’m sinking in my seat, miserable. “See what I mean,” Lettie whispers in my ear. “It’s not as funny when it’s your date.”
I nod. I feel like a total jerk. In my defense, I asked Caroline tonight, first and foremost, to make things easier with her family. I also had this vague idea that maybe things could work out with her this time around. But the moment Lettie climbed out of that stupid truck, that plan unraveled. Since then, my mind has been wholly occupied with Lettie and how I can get a moment alone with her, and in Lydia’s words, “Go at it.” But now I know it’s Caroline who I need to pull aside for a heart-to-heart. I need to stop leading her on.
Sometime during Caroline’s performance, Colin returns and sits on the other side of Lettie, proprietarily draping his arm around her. Even in the fading silver light, I can see Lettie’s annoyed expression. Considering how well she dispatched me on our date, I’m confident she’ll be able to dodge his advances. I excuse myself to make things right with Caroline.