Page 16 of Sounds Like Love

I sat down beside her. “The who?”

“A cover band.”

“What do they play?”

“Covers,” she supplied, “of Kate Bush songs. Honestly, the last time they were here, the audience kept requesting for them to play ‘Running Up That Hill’ over and over and over. By the end of the night, the Bushels were more like twigs. Terrible time. I hope it happens again.”

I gave her a look.

She popped a roasted peanut into her mouth. “Don’t deny a dying woman her pleasures.”

“Mom—”

“AND WE’RE OPEN!” Dad called.

I turned in my seat, expecting a flood of people. The Revelry was a tourist destination. It was featured in music videos, on Food Network for our pickleback fried pickles, in brochures and Outer Banks guides. Our crowds were full of both longtime patrons and new ones, so when Dad shouted that the doors were opening, I braced myself.

But … no one walked in.

I kept checking my watch every minute, until five minutes passed, then ten—

“Is … thisnormal?” I asked Gigi, who started cleaning out the dishwasher.

She hesitated, as if wondering how best to answer, and decided on a shrug. “Sometimes? You know how Thursday nights are.”

“They’re usually packed,” I replied. “Thirsty Thursdays and all.”

“Maybe there’s another concert somewhere else,” she said, and then went to go put the glasses up on the shelves, though I think she left a little too quickly tojustbe doing chores.

Huh. Strange.

Dad would be up at the box office until just after the show started, so I reached over for a peanut and asked Gigi for a beer. She slid over a cider and turned away to reply to a text. It was probably Mitch. I tapped my fingers against the cold condensation of the bottle and took small sips. Gigi said that they were short-staffed tonight, but this was … a skeleton crew atbest. What happened to sound checks? Roll call?Anyof it? Mitch wasn’t supposed to be the one to go and get a band if their van broke down—it was Mikey’s job, or Jay’s. And what about Gigi being behind the bar? Where had Claudia gone? How about the tech crew—Miguel and Nona and Beans?

And where the hell were the patrons?

It was almost eight o’clock now, and only a few stragglers had shown up, gotten a drink, and taken a seat at a table. I didn’t remember it being this bad during the holidays in December, but then again I didn’t really come to the Rev then. We were all just a little distracted between Mom’s diagnosis and my hit song. Everyone tried to concentrate onthatpart, but the joy felt hollow.

“Annnnd your savior has arrived!” Mitch cried as he threw open the emergency exit doors, the headlights of the Revelry’s decrepit van behind him.

My brother was handsome in that Danny Zuko way, or so Gigi claimed. I didn’t see it, and I was thankful that I didn’t. He was ten months older than me, with short jet-black hair and our mom’s brown eyes, and we always joked that he got his physique from the milkman because Dad was not nearly as broad. He had a birthmark between his first and second fingers in the shape of a heart and cried in the first ten minutes ofUp, and his favorite band was, unironically, Nickelback.

He was okay, I guess.

Mom clapped enthusiastically. “Our hero!Bravo!With ten minutes to spare!”

He bowed. “Thank you, thank you. Now I need some help with the equipment—stat,” he added, jabbing a thumb behind him to the van. As he left, he did a double take at me. Then squinted. “Jo?”

I nudged my chin toward him in greeting. “’Sup, fart-head.”

He blew me a kiss.

As it turned out, the Bushels managed to pull in a decent crowd by the time they were scheduled to play. “Running Up That Hill” really was a hit again thanks toStranger Things.

Once Mitch had finished setting up the stage for the band, he returned to the bar and greeted me properly with a hug. “Nice to see you home, sis.”

Dad cleaned his glasses with a rag from his pocket. “Good, everyone’s here. There’s something your mother and I want to tell you.” He put his glasses back on and looked at the three of us. Gigi was, by and large, part of the family anyway.

“Tell us what?” I asked, exchanging a curious look with Gigi.

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