Serendipity by Carly Phillips Read Free Book Online Page B

in practice, and never recovered. So he came home and runs his dad’s hardware store.”
    â€œGive the man a round of applause,” Joe said when Bill’s off-key rendition was finished.
    Faith dutifully clapped.
    â€œWho’s up next?” Joe asked.
    Nobody responded.
    â€œA boring crowd. Just what I need. Come on, folks.” He glanced around the crowded room and his eyes settled on their table. “Ladies!” he crooned in a sexy voice.
    â€œOh, no,” Faith muttered.
    â€œLadies!” Joe said again. “I know you’re as talented as you are beautiful. Want to know how I know? Because I went to school with you and at least two of you were in chorus. One of you even had a solo!”
    Faith placed her hands on her burning cheeks. He remembered? She and Kate used to be all rah rah, participating in clubs and activities like cheerleading, chorus, and even an afterschool singing club.
    â€œLook at them acting shy when just last month they brought the house down!” He pointed to the three women sitting beside her.
    Faith’s eyes opened wide. “You did?”
    Lissa shook her head and groaned. “I’d just broken up with my boyfriend. My kid was staying at his father’s in New Jersey.”
    â€œShe was drunk!” Stacey gleefully reminded her.
    â€œSo were you!” Lissa shot back. “And you.” She pointed at Kate. “As a matter of fact, you dragged me up there!” This time she spoke to Tanya.
    â€œI’m waiting!” Joe said. “We’re all waiting.” The patrons in the bar responded, clapping and encouraging them to sing.
    Suddenly a waitress appeared at their table with shots of vodka.
    â€œWe didn’t order these,” Faith said.
    â€œOn the house!” Joe spoke into the microphone as if he’d heard her. “Have a few of those and we’ll get back to you in a little while. Jean here wants her turn.” He handed the microphone to a middle-aged woman with frizzy black hair and a housedress on. She began singing while her husband clapped and egged her on.
    Faith glanced at the small glasses of vodka, sure Kate would turn down the straight shots of alcohol, but along with the others, she picked up the small glass.
    â€œFaith?” Kate cajoled, clearly expecting her to join in.
    â€œYeah, Faith ?” Lissa called her out.
    A definite dare. Her tone, her stare, her expression clearly stating she thought Faith would say no. Because she was too good to sit in a bar and do shots with the locals.
    Well, maybe a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old Faith Harrington would have said no, but more because she’d have been afraid she would get in trouble. But she definitely would have been curious. Without a doubt, Faith Harrington Moreland would have considered herself above this kind of behavior.
    And that was the driving factor behind her choice now. Never breaking eye contact with Lissa, Faith picked up the shot glass.
    â€œTo old friends, new friends, and becoming friends.” Kate held Lissa’s gaze as she spoke.
    Then all three women downed their shots before Faith could blink.
    Faith tipped the glass and did the same, forcing herself not to cough as the fiery liquid burned its way down. Faith glanced at the stage and knew it would take more than one to give her that kind of courage.
    â€œAnother round?” she asked the waitress.
    Three shots later, Faith found herself tipsy and on stage with the other women, singing “Kiss Me” by Sixpence None the Richer, from 1999, and revisiting her youth.
    Apparently, the alcohol had done its job, relaxing her, spiking her energy and her mood, because she got into the song as well as the dance to go along with it. She hadn’t expected to have such a good time.
    Oh, kiss me beneath the milky twilight
Lead me out on the moonlit floor . . .
    She sang the chorus when suddenly a sense of heat and awareness swept through her. She glanced