Mae gave her a concerned stare. “Ryan called me. He’s worried about you. When I didn’t find you at your apartment, I knew you had to be here.”
“When did Ryan call you? I didn’t know Dex wasn’t coming until a few minutes before you walked in.”
“He wasn’t worried because of Dex.”
Bailey looked up at Ryan, now singing “Truth Be Told,” one of his original songs. “I can’t believe he has such a big mouth.”
“Bailey, I’m so sorry. I can’t believe your mom lied to you all this time.”
Bailey leaned forward and rested her forehead on her fist. “I can’t either.”
Mae picked up the beer Wade placed in front of her. “Being adopted isn’t the end of the world, hon. I know it hurts to find out something like this, but your parents loved you hard.”
“Yeah, well, it gets worse.”
“What are you talking about?” Mae scrunched her eyebrows together. “What else could there be?”
“They adopted me after finding me…” She stared at Mae’s confused expression. “I was abandoned by my birth parents—left in the snow to die. My dad found me in his side yard, next to the trash can.” Her voice went up an octave when she said it. She quickly downed another shot and prayed for numbness. She slammed the shot glass down and looked over at Mae’s wide eyes.
“What the hell.” Mae stared at her for a moment. “That can’t be right. How could they keep that from you? I feel like everyone would know about it. Wouldn’t something like that be in the news?”
“We’re from Wisconsin, remember? It was all over the news there. We moved here before I started kindergarten.”
“Oh, right. Well, shit. You’re having a shitty week.”
Bailey laughed, unable to help herself. “And then my boyfriend stood me up.”
“I’m so sorry. Jesus, Bailey, go ahead. Have another shot.”
Bailey poured another shot and knocked it back.
“With the pile of discarded lime wedges in front of you, I guess it’s safe to assume you haven’t done any research yet.”
Bailey sucked on a lime wedge then shook her head with a chuckle. “No. My only plan, for the time being, is to be a sad excuse of a human being.”
Bailey reached for the bottle as Wade took it away. “Hey, stop. Bring that back.”
“I won’t contribute to this pity party. How dare you sit there and whine? Hell, Ryan learned a country song just for you.”
“I know. He’s great. Can I have my bottle back now? Please?” She batted her eyelashes at him, and the fact that her voice was already slurring didn’t escape her attention.
“I’m going to ask Lucas to bring you some food. I’ll give this”—he waved the bottle— “back if you promise to eat something.”
She put on her biggest fake smile. “I promise to cease the pity party and to eat. Please tell Lucas I’d love some atomic nachos. I can share with Mae.”
Mae shook her head. “Hell no, I can’t eat that.”
“Okay, tell Lucas to make them only half atomic. The other half can be wimpy for Mae.”
Wade put the bottle back down. “I’ll tell him.” He grinned at her as he snatched one of her limes. “Watch this.”
Wade stuck the lime wedge between his front teeth and sidestepped over about five feet to a pair of young women sitting at the bar with tequila shots. He winked at one of the girls as she downed the shot, then he leaned over the bar, and she sucked the lime wedge from between his teeth, ending the exchange in a heated kiss.
“Uh, God, he’s such a slut,” Mae said.
Bailey threw her head back, laughing at him. “But he gets away with it.”
Mae rolled her eyes. “Only because he’s so hot.”
Bailey perked up, lifting an eyebrow. “You know…”
“Forget it. He’s not so hot that I want to be another notch on his bedpost. No, thank you.”
“Ah,” Bailey sighed. “But what fun he would be.”
“Yeah, well, that kind of fun is overrated.” She lowered her lashes. “I much prefer brooding and dangerous over fun.”
“Yeah. I know. I’ve had to nurse all your bad boy heartbreaks, remember?”
“Anyway,” Mae said, rolling her eyes.
“Anyway,” Bailey repeated with a knowing chuckle. “I should go home. I’m not fit for the public right now. I only came in to meet up with Dex. I had no intention of getting sloppy drunk.”
“I hope you’re done with Dex.”
Bailey rested her head on the bar. “I don’t know, but I sure wish my mom were here to tell me what to do.”
Mae tilted her head and rubbed her hand up and down Bailey’s back. “Oh, babe, I know you miss her.”
Tears welled up in Bailey’s eyes, and she took a deep breath. “I’m so mad at her, Mae. How could she not tell me about this?”
Bailey took another shot and sucked the lime before placing it in a neat pile on a cocktail napkin. Then she took another cocktail napkin and wiped a few spots off the high-gloss, cherry bar top.
When Bailey lifted her head, she found Mae wearing an expression of trepidation as she watched Ryan on stage. Then she quickly turned back to Bailey with a sad smile.
“What’s wrong?” Bailey asked, turning to Ryan.
“Nothing’s wrong. I’m just watching the show. Ryan sounds good tonight.”
“He always does.”
“I think he’s pretty upset about your mom, too.”
Bailey sighed and looked back down at the pile of discarded limes. “I know. I’m trying to hold back with him. I don’t want him to be forced to take care of me when he’s grieving, too.”
Mae snorted. “Good luck with that. He’ll go to his grave
