Karaoke Kisses Read online

  Andie glanced over that way. “You said he was annoying you?”

  “Yeah. He kept nudging me to come over.”

  “Oh, so you really only came so he’d get off your back. I see how it is. It had nothing to do with wanting to meet me at all.” Andie wasn’t usually the flirtatious type, and she had no idea what had gotten into her, but hey . . . bantering was kind of fun. And when you’re on vacation, you’re supposed to try new things, right?

  Zack smiled, but there was a touch of seriousness in his expression too. “He only nudged me into doing something I actually wanted to do for myself.”

  Wow. There was some weight in those words. Like he really meant them. Andie felt something in her stomach flop over, but she wasn’t sure if it was excitement or nausea.

  The waiter showed up with their plates and asked Zack if he’d be returning to his table or was relocating. A moment later, he was back with Zack’s dinner, and they all fell to eating.

  Andie’s chicken Malibu was awesome, but she wasn’t giving it the attention it deserved because she kept glancing over at Zack. He and Jamal were joking about something that had happened the other day on the ranch, and she liked his laugh. She liked the way his brown hair was spiked up slightly in the front, and she liked the way his shirt fit his shoulders exactly—not sloppy big, like she’d been seeing a lot lately, and not tight, like she’d also been seeing. Tight shirts made her think that the guy was either overly confident in his muscles, or that he was too oblivious to realize that his clothes didn’t fit. Either way, it wasn’t attractive.

  Rue nudged her arm from the other side. “He’s a nice-looking boy, isn’t he?” she asked a little too loudly.

  Andie glanced at Zack in a panic, but he didn’t seem to have heard anything. “Yes, he is,” she replied, lowering her voice. “How’s your spaghetti?”

  Rue made an impatient noise. “Who cares about spaghetti—we’re talking about a boy!”

  Andie couldn’t help it—she laughed. “You’re right. Who cares about dinner when there are boys around?”

  “Exactly. And what do you think of him?”

  “I just barely met him. Not even five minutes ago. But he seems nice.”

  Rue settled back in her chair, looking content. “Good. Now you’ll be happy here.”

  “It’s a great place—I’m sure I’ll have a wonderful vacation.”

  “No one’s going on vacation, dear.” Rue patted her arm again, then picked up her fork and went back to eating.

  This was going to be a tough one. Andie didn’t want to break Rue’s heart—not for anything—but she was going back to California in two weeks, and she’d have to find a way to explain it. She just hoped that Rue’s faulty memory would work in her favor this time and help lessen the disappointment.

  Chapter Two

  Zach was listening to everything Jamal said, but with only half his brain. The other half was hyper-focused on the young woman sitting to his left. He’d seen pretty girls before—hundreds came through the ranch every year, and he’d had a few dates with girls from Riston too. But there was something about Andie, something a little bit extra. It wasn’t that she was the prettiest—if he was going to be honest, he’d have to say that she was more cute than pretty. But there was something inside her that radiated outward and made her infinitely attractive. He didn’t know what it was, but he wanted to find out.

  There was finally a break in the conversation, and he turned back to Andie. “Enjoy your dinner?”

  “Yes, it was very good.”

  Ask a boring question, get a polite answer. He’d try again and see if he couldn’t turn this conversation around. “What are you planning to do while you’re here? I hope you’ll come rafting.”

  “I’ve been trying to decide. There are so many great activities, it’s hard to narrow it down. But rafting did catch my eye.”

  “Good. We have an amazing river, and some of the best guides in the business, if I do say so myself.”

  “Your friend over there seems pretty with it,” Andie replied, nodding toward the table where Zack had been sitting with Soap.

  “Him? You’d rather go with him than with me?”

  She laughed. “I’m teasing, but now I’m curious. What makes you the best guide? Why should I pick you over him?”

  Zack thought about it for a second. “Soap’s a really good guide, and he’s a nice guy. You’d learn a lot and you’d enjoy yourself, but if you came with me, you’d find that I’m a little more emotionally invested.”

  She tilted her head to the side and studied him. “Oh? Why is that?”

  “Because I want to get to know you better. I want to find out what makes you tick.”

  She chuckled and shook her head. “You just met me. Why would you want to know that?”

  “You intrigue me.” Zack inwardly winced—that hadn’t come out quite right. “There’s something about you that just begs to be noticed.”

  She picked up her water and took a sip, apparently thinking about it. “Jamal tells me you’re not a stalker.”

  “Definitely not a stalker.”

  “And Rue says you bought her ice cream.”

  “Yes, that really happened.”

  She set her water down and leaned forward. “All right, I’ll tell you what. I’ll come out on the river with you, but only if you’ll take me for ice cream afterward. A double scoop. Sugar cone. Is it a deal?”

  That was everything he could have asked for. “It’s a deal. Just check with the registration desk, and they’ll schedule you in.”

  “You won’t drop everything just for me?”

  He grinned. “I would, but the other guests might take issue with that.”

  “Okay. I’ll try to take my turn. That’s what I tell my kids all the time—I guess I should learn how too.”

  Kids? He hadn’t expected that—she looked pretty young to be a mother. “How many kids do you have?”

  “Twenty-four.”

  When his eyebrows lifted, she laughed. “I’m an elementary school teacher. No kids of my own—they’re all borrowed.”

  “Okay. You had me going there—I was trying to figure out how many sets of quintuplets and triplets that would take.”

  “Quite a few. Definitely more than physics and science would make possible.”

  Just then, Mrs. Holt leaned forward and grasped Andie’s arm. “I’m sorry, my dear, but I need to go home.”

  “Of course.” Andie looked across the table. “Kerry?”

  Kerry nodded and stood up. “I’m sorry to cut things short, everyone. I think Mom’s had a lot of excitement for today. Is it all right if we go, Andie?”

  “Of course. I’ll see you tomorrow, Rue.” Andie gave the woman a quick hug, and then Jamal and Kerry left, Mrs. Holt hanging on to Kerry’s arm.

  “That’s a great example of a strong family,” Zack said as he watched them leave. “My grandmother was too sick to live at home and had to stay in a facility, but it’s awesome that Mrs. Holt can stay at the ranch.”

  “She may not always be able to, but it’s definitely a blessing that she can for now. I think it would break her heart not to be with Kerry.” Andie turned back and smiled. “So, it’s just the two of us. Rue’s such a matchmaker that I’d accuse her of faking to give us some time alone, but she really did look tired.”

  “She’s matchmaking us, is she?”

  Andie’s cheeks instantly turned pink. “I wasn’t going to tell you that—it just slipped out.”

  Zack grinned, enjoying her embarrassment. “Tell me more.”

  “Um, she just asked what I thought of you.”

  “Oh? And what do you think of me?”

  “Well, right now I think you’re being a little pushy.”

  “I’m sorry.” He felt terrible until he saw a twinkle in her eye and realized she was teasing.

  Just then, he noticed that the microphones for karaoke night were being set up at the front of the dining room, and the overhead lights had been
dimmed to create more of a spotlight effect on the performance area. “Are you into karaoke?”

  She seemed to hesitate. “I like watching it.”

  “Do you want to stay for a while and watch it with me? I mean, you don’t have to, but I thought it would be nice . . .” Smooth. Real smooth. He felt like he was twelve years old again, asking Becky Barlow to dance at the dumb school spring fling.

  “Yeah, that would be fun. But I’m a watcher, not a participator,” she said.

  “No problem. Watching’s fun too.”

  The waiter came around a few minutes later with a snack menu, and even though Zack was pretty full from dinner, he ordered a bowl of popcorn big enough to share, along with two root beers. “Root beer is kind of a River’s End Ranch tradition,” he explained to Andie.

  “When in Rome,” she replied.

  Arthur came up to the front and spoke into the microphone. “Good evening, everyone. I know you’re used to seeing me on trivia night—well, this week I’m doing double duty. I’ve never hosted karaoke night before, but I’m told it’s just as easy as pushing a few buttons, so let’s give it a whirl. Who’s up first?”

  Zack glanced around, wondering who would come up and make a fool out of themselves for the sake of a good time. Soap was waving at him, but he ignored it. It just wasn’t the right night for it.

  A middle-aged woman in a bright pink shirt came up toward the front and took the microphone. “I wasn’t going to do this, but then I thought, why not?” She giggled nervously. “I’m going to sing ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun.’”

  Zack leaned over and said near Andie’s ear, “That’s how it always goes. They come in here convinced that they aren’t going up on stage, but then they do.”

  “Not me,” Andie replied. “I’m quite convinced that I’m going to stay convinced.”

  “I’m not trying to pressure you. I’m just warning you that the karaoke machine just might start to work its magic on you.”

  “I’m impervious.”

  “Impervious to magic? Is there such a thing?”

  She smiled. “Must be. Because I am.”

  Zack grinned—she really made him do that a lot—and turned to face the performer, who was putting everything she had into the song. She hit about every third note a little sour, but she had so much enthusiasm that everyone in the room was enjoying themselves. When she finished, she got a huge round of applause, and she left the stage with cheeks almost as bright as her shirt.

  Next up was a teenage boy who said he wanted to annoy his little sister by singing a Justin Bieber song. The girl looked like she wished the floor could swallow her whole.

  “Poor thing,” Andie said. “She’ll never forgive him for that.”

  “She might, or it could be a great story to tell at family reunions for years to come,” Zack replied. “I bet someone brings it up at a toast on her wedding day.”

  “That would actually be pretty awesome.”

  Zack groaned when he saw Soap get up next. “This one’s dedicated to Emily, the young lady I met just now when karaoke night started,” Soap said into the microphone. “I believe that fate—and a lack of enough chairs—can bring two people together.” He launched into a completely off-key version of “What Makes You Beautiful,” putting Emily into giggles. When he was finished, he said, “Now let’s give it up for my good buddy Zack.”

  “No, I’m fine,” Zack said, holding up both hands. “I’m sitting out tonight.”

  “No one sits out when she’s lost that lovin’ feeling.”

  Now Zack wished the floor would swallow him up. Or maybe Soap. That would be helpful too. “Seriously, I’m good.” But the music had started, and the regulars in the dining room had started to clap. He glanced at Andie, who had a smirk on her face.

  With a sigh, he stood up and made his way to Soap’s side, taking the pair of sunglasses his friend held out to him.

  Together, they sang the classic Righteous Brothers’ song, and he even got into it a little bit by the end. He didn’t expect one of the spotlights to turn and shine on Andie while they sang. When he returned to the table, he was a little embarrassed to get Andie’s feedback, but she gave him a genuine smile.

  “A little Top Gun, huh?” she asked.

  “Um, yeah. It’s just something we do to goof off.”

  “And to get girls’ attention?”

  “Yeah, some of that too.” Now he was the one to blush bright pink. There was a lot of that going around.

  “Well, you were a lot more in tune than Tom Cruise. You actually sounded pretty good, which I don’t expect from karaoke.”

  “I like to sing, but I’ve never done much with it.” Zack glanced around. “Do you want to get out of here, go for a walk or something? I have to be up early tomorrow so I won’t keep you very long, but I’d like to leave before Soap gets any other bright ideas.”

  “Sure.”

  They stood up and edged outside, trying not to disturb the people who were enjoying an elderly woman’s performance of “Material Girl.” When they reached the walkway outside the dining room, Zack pulled in a deep breath.

  “Sorry about that whole spotlight thing. I don’t know who was running the lights tonight, but believe me, I didn’t ask them to do that.”

  “No, that’s fine. After Soap talked about Emily like that, they probably figured you were on a date too and wanted to liven things up a little bit. They couldn’t have known we just met. Well, I mean, Soap and Emily just met too, but he was obviously a little smitten with her right off.”

  Zack didn’t want to say what he was thinking, which was that maybe he was a little smitten too. He was trying to keep things chill, not freak her out any more than she’d already been freaked. “You’re a good sport.”

  She shrugged. “I’ve never had a spotlight on me before. It was kind of fun.”

  They started to walk along the outside of the building. “So, what’s getting you up so early in the morning?” she asked.

  “I’m taking a group down the river at eight. They flew in from Chicago tonight and they want to leap right into action first thing.”

  “Sounds fun. You know what I’m going to leap right into?”

  “What’s that?”

  “Well, first I’m going to leap into the Jacuzzi tub in my room. Then I’m going to leap into bed, and I’m not even going to be awake at eight, let alone rafting down a river. That’s what a vacation is to me—sleeping in. If I’m not sleeping in, it’s not a real vacation.”

  “What time do school teachers have to get up?”

  “I’m out the door by seven thirty, so I’m awake around six thirty. That’s after being up until two watching movies. I know, I know—I should go to bed earlier, but you know how when you’ve been watching Netflix for a while and they ask you if you’re sure you want to keep going? They invented that for me. I’m the queen of binge watching.”

  Zack laughed. “Favorite shows?”

  “Oh, wow. Um, everything. I’m not crazy about vulgar language, but I’ll watch just about anything funny or romantic or dramatic . . . or reality TV . . . or documentaries or biographies . . .” She looked a little sheepish. “The world’s an interesting place, and I want to know more about it.”

  “Nothing to apologize to me for. I love watching the History Channel.”

  “You do? That’s awesome.”

  They walked around to the front of the building as slowly as two humans could possibly walk, and then they sat on the bench next to the door leading into the bunkhouse. “Favorite conspiracy theories?” Andie asked.

  “Hmmm. Let’s see. Fake ones or real ones?”

  “I was going for fake ones, but who really knows which are which?” She waggled her eyebrows.

  “I’m not sure yet what I think about chemtrails or the Kennedy assassination, so I’m going with New Coke.”

  “New Coke?”

  “Yes. Nice, noncontroversial topic, don’t you think?”

  “Not if you’re a
die-hard Coke fan.” Andie leaned back and looked up at the sky. “The stars are so bright here.”

  “A lot of our guests comment on that, but I guess I’ve stopped noticing.”

  “That’s the problem with young people today. You get too busy to pay attention to what really matters.” The voice came out of the darkness, but then Jaclyn stepped into the circle of yellow provided by the light mounted on the wall over the bench. She wore a baby sling sideways across her body.

  “Hey, Jaclyn. How are you tonight?” Zack asked.

  “I’m worried about Carrot Breath.” She motioned to the sling, and Zack could now see a pair of white ears sticking up out of the fabric. “He needs to see the vet tomorrow, and I can’t make him understand that it’s for his own good. He’s been sulking ever since I made the appointment. He knows Jess will take good care of him, but still, he’s behaving abominably.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that.” Zack turned to include Andie in the conversation. “Jaclyn, this is Andie. Andie—”

  “Wait, wait, wait.” Jaclyn held up her hand. “Yes, I’m supposed to meet Andie, but not until tomorrow. I’m just going to pretend that this little encounter never happened. Goodnight, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  She disappeared into the darkness again, leaving Andie sitting there with a bewildered look on her face.

  “Jaclyn manages the RV park here on the ranch, and she’s a little eccentric,” Zack explained.

  “I gathered that.” Andie shook her head, but smiled. “Frank told me a little bit about her as we were driving in from the airport.”

  “So, you were somewhat prepared?”

  “I wouldn’t say that, necessarily. So, I’m supposed to meet her tomorrow?”

  “Sounds like it. Her place is easy to find—you just go that way toward the RV park, and her house is right at the entrance. She’s got gnomes all over her yard.”

  “Real ones or fake ones?”

  “Real bunnies, but fake gnomes. And for most people, the jury’s still out on the fairies.”

  Andie laughed. “Frank told me she talks to fairies. I think that’s awesome.”