Page 37 of Missing Pieces

I am stunned. Absolutely stunned. I cannot believe he gave me the truck that meant so much to him and caused so much pain. A tear rolls down my cheek.

Ivy gets up and wraps her arms around me. “It’s okay sweetie. It’s been nine years and Tacoma has always hung that truck over Easton’s head. When I saw you driving it. I knew. I just knew how he feels.”

“What do you mean?” I murmur into her hair.

“Well for one it means he likes you. I’ll let you figure out the rest on your own.”

Summer must have walked up to us as she rests her hand on my back. “It’s alright sweetie. And I hate to be the one to break up this feelings fest but it’s my bachelorette party and I kinda wanna have some fun.”

Ivy peels herself off me and agrees with Summer. The other ladies miraculously reappear in the living area of the suite. Laney leaves to go talk to Tacoma.

We spend the next hour getting ready to go out. I surprised Ivy and brought a few of my designer dresses I kept. She forces me to wear my favorite, the champagne sequined one. Ivy wears a skin-tight royal blue one that fits her like a glove. I don’t know how I ever wore it considering my boobs are a few sizes larger than hers. Surprisingly Tacoma asks if she can wear the dark purple one. I didn’t think she was going to talk to me the rest of the night, but she seems to have gotten over the whole truck incident. She looks dynamite in it. It’s a super short fit and flare style dress. Her body has a similar shape to mine so we don’t need to pin the bust at all, but she has beautiful legs that will cause jaws to drop. She pairs the dress with a pair of chunky, grommeted platforms and a matching belt.

The rest of the girls look just as hot as we do. And Summer’s golden tan skin allows her to pull off the slinky white number she’s wearing.

Just as we are about to leave Charlotte hands her a tiara and a sash that says “Bachelorette” and then we head out the door.

* * *

We eat dinner at a super nice Italian restaurant because as Summer put it, “she wants to load up on as many carbs as she can get so she can drink more.”

We all had a mutual agreement to not drink during dinner. I ate a delicious chicken pesto and so much bread that I was starting to rethink the dress I had on. Once we finished our meal, we agreed to order a couple of bottles of wine before heading out on the town since it was getting to the time where lines were forming at the bars and clubs.

“Oh my god, you guys,” Ivy shrieks holding her phone in her hand. We all look at her waiting for her to continue but she types madly on her phone. “Trace knew the whole time y’all could hear us having sex in the back acres. He said that’s why he always brought me in the trees instead of going to the back house. He thought it was funny.”

We all burst out laughing as Ivy’s face flames in anger. She finds a waiter and orders a round of Fireball for the table. She calms down a bit after the shot, but I can tell she is still pissed at him, especially when she mumbles he is not getting laid for a week.

We end up going to Tootsie’s first. We’re even able to skip the line that was beginning to form thanks to Summer’s bachelorette gear. The place is packed. There are rows of tables against the right wall facing the stage that is in the front of the bar. I can see a backroom up and to the rear of the place. Grace manages to squeeze between two larger men in leather jackets to reach the bar. She orders us all cold beers and we pass them around. A band starts playing a few minutes later and there is a ton of hootin’ and hollerin’ going around the room. Everyone is having so much fun as I scan the overcrowded bar. I slam my beer and begin to loosen up again letting the drama from earlier fall away.

After a few songs one, of the singers climbs up on the bar and starts singing and dancing around. I thought this kind of thing only happened in the movies, but it seems to be real here. I don’t remember ever going out to a club in Chicago where the crowd was so lively and everyone was having fun. I didn’t see crying girls in the corner or guys fighting over something stupid. This was an honest to goodness good time. I order us another round of beers along with Fireball shots since apparently that’s what everyone drinks around here. I do have to admit, it tastes delicious.

We all do the shots and cheer for Summer. A few hot guys come up to her and offer her one last ride before she’s hitched, but she just laughs and pushes them away.

We decide to head to another bar after Tootsie’s. We hit up a couple over a two hour period and I can tell we’re all feeling a little tipsy. Laney screams out that we should go to karaoke. Almost everyone agrees except for Tacoma, but she gets dragged along anyway.

We find a karaoke bar off Broadway and sit at an empty table. Someone must have ordered more beers and shots because a server comes over and drops them at the table.

Summer leans into me. “Sing a song with me, honey.”

Tacoma scoffs. “She probably doesn’t know country, she’s from the city.”

Bella hits her on the head. “You’re being rude. You live in New York City. Did you forget about country and all the little people from this small town here?”

Tacoma glares at her and turns around in her seat to watch the horrible rendition of “Friends in Low Places” some drunk guy is singing. Does he even know the lyrics?

I turn toward Summer and say, “Let’s do a duet!”

She claps her hands and bounces up and down in her seat. “You know country?”

I put my hand to my chest. “Guilty.”

“Yay! Oh my god, I have the perfect song for us but I ain’t gonna tell you until we get up on stage because I want it to be a surprise for everyone.”

“Alright. I hope I know it.”

“Honey, if you listened to country radio in the last couple years you’ve probably heard it more times that you can count.”

Ivy gets on stage and sings “Your Cheatin’ Heart” pretty well. Grace and Charlotte both sing Reba songs. We make it through some more good renditions and a few bad ones and then me and Summer are called up on stage.

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