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"He caht to talk I alondered what drove you two apart I never realized," she trailed off "Had I known, I would have helped"
"I didn’t know he never told you I assumed all of you would hate ed you," she said syet the better of hi you in front of everyone"
"He told you about that too?" I asked, shocked that he had been so honest
"He’s not proud of his actions, but believe me when I tell you, he’s suffered also The whole situation changed hi man he used to be I know that’s little consolation for the pain you went through, but I wanted you to know he suffered too"
"I know he did," I said, fighting the wave of sadness that engulfed me
"He’s learned from his mistakes, and I think he’s a better man for it," she said as the subject of our conversation approached
"Hey, Mo "Paul’s over by the bar and wants to know if you want a fruity drink or a glass of wine"
"Oh, decisions, decisions," she laughed, shooting ain before you have to head back ho a heart-to-heart," he said, handing me another drink
"You didn’t have to tell her I would have kepth tables
He chuckled darkly "I know, but it was long past time she knew the truth"
"My mom still doesn’t know," I fessed up
"What? The Queen of Knowing Everything never found out?"
I s happened, but I let her believe it was just a bad breakup I know I’h not to tell everyone I didn’t want Woodfalls to be a repeat of what happened here"
He looked pensive as he digested ed the subject The conversation flowed easily between us as we caught up on the last two years We steered clear of anyclientele and my desire to secure a full-time position After a while, Travis and Hollie joined us with Paul’s two kids, Brady and Andrea Brady was as talkative as Hollie and Travis They all ra me the first time to how Trish had met Paul Eventually everyone left our table when Travis saw so conversation," as he put it
Justin was called onstage to euests with his hue and where he saw Rob and Melissa in twenty years His portrayal of the and had everyone in tears frohter as he started an awful off-key rendition of Katy Perry’s song "Firework" The crowd cheered and groaned with approval as Rob e by the two bouncers
Another friend took Justin’s spot, singing so up their oords as they went Next, a girl we knew fro that actually sounded halfway decent I had to give her credit
"Looks like your karaoke is a big hit," I told Melissa as she joined our table
"Told you," she said, s for a turn on the microphone "It was cool that Justin kicked it off for us"
"Yeah, that was pretty hysterical His speech was hilarious too"
"Well, I think he nailed Rob dead-on, but there’s no way I’ll be that peppy at sixty"
"Oh please You’ll be the spryest chick in the retireht there with ster"
"Hey, you’re only a feeeks younger than otten your birthday is next week I plan on taking you out before you leave"
"Don’t be silly It’s not like I took you out for yours"
"Only because you were halfway across the country Now if youback?" Hollie interrupted I didn’t realize she was standing behindat Melissa, who mouthed, Sorry I had my suspicions that she’d done it on purpose, but she left to talk at another table before I could grill her for it
"Ahy? We’ve all missed you Especially Justin He’s been a total downer since you left," Hollie piped in as Justin rejoined us
"Giving away allout to muss her hair, which made her shriek with panic She backed away from the table with Andrea in tow
"Great speech," I told him as he climbed onto the stool next tointi the waitress for another round of drinks "What about"
"Awful," I laughed "Don’t quit your day job"
"That bad?" he asked, chuckling loudly
"Just a bit," I said, holding up two fingers to emphasize my point
He put a hand over his heart dra a sip from the drink the waitress placed in front of ether talking I wasn’t drunk, but I had a definite buzz Between the liquor and the fact that Justin’s leg was still pressed against mine, my senses were on hyperdrive The music was loud, so ere forced to lean in close as we talked Everyone else faded into the background as we sat in our own private world