Whiskey and Country

My gaze landed on my best friend, our previous disagreement mostly forgotten. Carter grinned at me and mouthed, “Don’t look at them, Dah. Look at me. I’m right here.”

Those words. They were the same he’d spoken to me before we started playing. Whether as kids performing on a makeshift stage in my backyard or the last time I played before retiring after our second world tour. The ones that soothed the frantic beatings of my heart.

With my eyes trained on him, I continued, “Let’s see if I can do this by myself.” He bobbed his head, showing me just how much he believed in me. It acted as a calming blanket around my hyperactive heart.

I inhaled a cleansing breath, straightened my back, and kept going.

“It took me years to get to this place in my life where everything finally made sense again, and I couldn’t have done it without many of you. Cart, you’re my family. Forever.” He offered me a lopsided smile, raising his glass of water in my direction. “None of this would have ever been possible without you. I love ya. We’ve been through so much already, but one thing I wouldn’t change is our everlasting friendship. It’s one of the most important and precious treasures of my life. Addi, thanks for being by my side in all my ventures. You’re the one person who knows how to cheer me up on the days I’m a mess. Your help today is priceless; you actually have no idea. And by the way, you’re good at this. Riley, June, Belle, and Stud, you being here means the world to me. We don’t see each other as often as I’d like, but I’m grateful I can still call you my friends after all these years.” I thanked all the people important to me. Those without whom I wouldn’t stand here today. “And finally, thanks to my new friend, Nick. Consider this your official welcome to town. I’m glad you walked in here by mistake that day. All y’all, cheers,” I said, raising my champagne glass.

“See. I knew you could do it,” Carter said, as soon as I joined him, still surfing the happiness cloud. He wrapped me in his embrace and kissed my temple. “I’m proud of ya.”

“Not too often, though. At one point, I thought I’d faint. This is your thing,” I said, clinking my glass to his.

Carter’s phone went off, and he excused himself. I slithered through the small crowd to reach Nick, deep in a conversation with Riley about a commercial development in Chicago he had shares in. My heart did a happy dance. Yeah, Nick, fit right in with my friends.

Later, we were gathered around my ex-manager. “Okay, we were in France. And these guys had one show left to the European leg of their first tour. We were in that restaurant, all of us exhausted and drinking a little too much when a man came to us, asking if we could pretend to be that band of country losers from the US to surprise his wife, who was a huge fan. We all looked at him without saying anything. I remember that day as if it were yesterday,” Riley said, as I wiped the tears of hilarity welling in my eyes, the memory still fresh in my mind.

“That was epic,” Carter said.

“I can’t believe I missed that,” June added.

“What did you guys do?” Nick asked, engrossed in the story.

“We went to the hotel bar, took over the stage, and sang one of our songs,” Stud chimed in. “Afterwards Carter said to the wife, ‘Hi, we’re those country singer losers you love so much. Care to take a picture with us?’ Riley made one VIP ticket appear for the next day’s show and gifted it to the wife, adding she was invited backstage after the concert. When the man argued she couldn’t go alone, Riley added, ‘We wouldn’t want to force you to watch a bunch of US turkeys onstage for two hours. You’ll be better off not going,’ then clapped the man’s shoulder, walking away as the wife yelled at her husband for insulting us.”

“Shit. I wouldn’t have wanted to be in his shoes,” Nick said.

“Yeah. We have so many stories like this one. All worse than the others,” Stud said. “A trip down band-days lane is always fun.”

Riley lifted his glass. “Whenever you’re ready, losers.”

I hadn’t laughed this much in a long time.

These people. My band family. No wonder they were still a part of my life. I loved each of them so much. They were my ride or die, and no matter how much time passed since the last time we saw each other, our bond never faded.

We grew up together. And reached the top together.

Cried hard. And fought harder.

And saw each other at our worst. But still, we stuck with one another.

No matter what. Nothing would break us apart.

We loved one another. Unconditionally. Our friendship had only grown over the years.

We were family. All of us in it for the long run.

Around eleven, after the guests left, Riley made a crate of liquor appear. We drank, all of us sitting on pillows in the area in front of the dressing rooms.

Addison brought a tray, filled with leftovers, as we settled down. Eating and passing the booze around, we listened to Riley as he regaled us with more stories about our days in the band.

Carter scooted closer and draped an arm around my shoulder. From habit and years of doing so, I sank my body into his. His fingers played with the loose strands of my hair. We were just being Dahlia and Carter again. The kids unable to spend a day apart growing up. The teens sleeping in the same bed, doing nothing else but holding on to each other’s hands for hours. The co-parents learning how to change diapers together. How to survive when their entire world crumbled.

Nick appeared in my line of sight, and my insides clenched.

Carter and I were nothing but friends, but somehow, having Nick here, witnessing us being so close physically, felt wrong. Our friends didn’t care. They were used to our antics. But Nick had no idea. Sure, I’d told him Carter and I were family. And that we were everything to each other, but being us, like this right now, felt like a mistake.

Nick sat on our right, his legs folded before him, his crossed arms resting on his knees. I sensed his gaze on us. Questioning.

Getting on my feet, I went toward the restroom. Addi caught up with me halfway there.

“Hey girlfriend. What’s wrong? You have that look on your face.”

“What look?” I asked, avoiding her eyes.

“That look. You know, when you’re overloaded with emotions and I can’t decide if you’re sad, upset, happy, or about to throw a fit.”

I poked my tongue out at her. “I don’t have that look.”

“You do. What happened? Did Cart say something?”

I shook my head. “It’s Nick. It feels wrong being all over Carter when he sits next to me. He’s not used to our relationship. It looks weird from an outsider’s point of view. Nobody but you guys get it.”

“Oh, so you do like like him,” she said, her lips stretched wide.

I placed a hand over her mouth. “Shhh. Lower your voice. He’ll hear ya.” I lost my balance, drunker than I thought. “I’m desperate to kiss him again.”

“Again?”

I gave her what I thought was my most innocent look.

My friend clamped my upper arms and shook me as if I were a palm tree and she craved a coconut. “Naughty girl. I knew it. You secretive little flirt. Way to go, woman. I got to talk to him a little tonight, and he’s perfect for you. And those golden eyes. They look like pools of whiskey. You’ve earned the right to get lost in them. He could do damage with those. Or set your panties on fire. Girlfriend, be wild for a change. Be like me. You’ll thank me tomorrow.”

“Addi, I’ve never done anything like this before. What if it destroys what we’re developing? What if it blows up in our faces?”

“Dah, do you want to kiss him?” I bobbed my head multiple times, the same way my son always did. “You have your answer. You don’t need my advice. Or permission.”

* * *