Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 110113 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 551(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 367(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110113 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 551(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 367(@300wpm)
Lots of cute guys in cowboy hats.
Some of them have to be real cowboys, right? Not like it matters. I don’t want to waste a precious night of freedom on another subpar guy. I’m here to let loose with my sisters, pure and simple. If getting a divorce has taught me anything, it’s that my relationships with women are a lifeline. I have so much more fun with them than I ever did with guys.
So, no cowboys for me.
I pull some cash out of my wallet and order a round of shots with beer backs, which the bartender slides across the sticky wooden counter.
Bee holds up her glass of Jim Beam. “A toast, to my big sister Ava and the start of her new life as the best damn trainer in barrel racing history.”
“Giddy-the-fuck-up.” Dottie holds up her shot glass too. “Proud of you, A.”
Smiling, I carefully tap my glass against theirs. “Thanks. I’m proud of me too.”
I mean that. My marriage and my career fell apart not long after I had June, and I’ve been working my ass off to rebuild my life from scratch ever since.
It’s been a journey. A long, often-terrible, sometimes-chaotic journey, but I’m finally in a place where I feel excited for the future.
I finally feel like I’m giving Junie the kind of life she deserves now that I landed my dream job as a trainer at the prestigious Wallace Ranch. June and I are moving into a cute carriage house apartment on the Wallaces’ property next week. I start my job shortly after that.
Not only is rent covered as part of my compensation package, but June and I also get our first taste of freedom after being under my ex’s thumb. He agreed to the move because the Wallace Ranch is somewhat close to where we all lived near Killeen.
Technically, he and I split custody fifty-fifty. But Dan agreed to only take Junie every other weekend now that I’m moving to Hartsville. I have no idea if that will change when June gets into the cute little preschool in Hartsville, the closest town to the ranch. Despite it being a teeny-tiny place, there’s currently a wait list for the three-year-old class because we’re applying a couple of months after the school year started back in late August.
My chest tightens. My daughter is in good hands—Mom and Dad offered to look after her this weekend so I wouldn’t have to mess up my schedule with Dan—and I was long overdue for a break. But I still miss my little Bug.
I’m also really happy to be away this weekend. I have no responsibilities other than drinking the occasional water between whiskeys. Motherhood has shown me that many things can be true at once—you can love being with your kid, and you can love getting a break from them too.
“You should be proud. You’re gonna kill it, Ava.” Bee brings her shot glass to her lips. “Cheers, y’all.”
We knock back our whiskey. I close my eyes to savor the familiar, slightly sweet burn of the liquor as I swallow. The band is playing the Garth Brooks classic “Friends in Low Places,” and I start to tap my heels to the beat.
Opening my eyes, I grab my ice-cold beer, take a long sip, and keep smiling.
I’m here.
I’m alive.
I made it through hell, and now I get to celebrate in my own version of heaven.
“I don’t know about y’all,” Bee says, sipping her Shiner Bock, “but I think the lead singer of that band is cute.”
Dottie glances over her shoulder. “Should we take a closer look?”
“I’m happy to play wingwoman,” I reply.
She meets my eyes, judgment written all over her face. “Where the hell is your main character energy?”
“June’s the main character,” I say, shrugging.
Bee gives me the same exact look, right down to the arched brow and pursed lips. “Have you ever read a romance? There can be more than one main character in a story.”
“I’m good with that. As long as one of those characters—”
“Isn’t a man. Got it.” Dottie glances out across the dance floor. “What was it that Cher said? Something like, yeah, you don’t need men, but life is more fun if they’re in it?”
“I’m here to have fun with y’all.”
I mean that. Fun was in very short supply toward the end of my marriage. Dan would never approve of me being out on a Saturday night to go dancing with my girls. Much less me being gone for a whole weekend.
What an idiot I was to think that would be my happily ever after, waiting hand and foot on a man who never took it upon himself to return the favor in any meaningful way.
If I learned anything from being a wife, it’s that commitment inevitably leads to disappointment. Men don’t carry their fair share of the load, and loving them ends up trapping you in a never-ending cycle of housework, childcare, and loneliness.