Meant to Marry Me
The Reason

Bree sat down on her stool in the practice room and took a sip of her coffee, her eyes trained on the lyrics of the song they'd be going over next. It was a new one, something she'd written a few weeks ago and brought in for the rest of the band to collaborate on. She was really liking the way it was coming along. Every time they played the melody, they made a little more progress on getting the tune together. With some luck and determination, by the time they got ready to cut their new record, the song could be included. She thought it was going to be something special, along the lines of "Meant to Marry Me" and "Lead Me Home."

"Are you all right, Bree?" Shawna asked, coming from around her keyboard to help Zach, her boyfriend, rearrange his guitar pedals.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said with a shrug, turning her head to look at the only other girl in the band. "Why do you ask?"

"I don't know," Shawna said with a friendly smile. "You just looked a little... lost in thought."

"Oh, I was just thinking about how 'You Are the Reason' is coming along, that's all."

"I think it sounds great," Zach chimed in, checking the spacing with his pedals. "We should try playing it Saturday night at Grangers."

Saturday night was their next gig. While she agreed the song was coming along, she wasn't sure she was ready to play it live yet, especially in just three days. "You think?" she asked as Shawna stepped back behind her keyboard. They were waiting for Chase, the rhythm guitar player, to come back from taking a call.

"Sure. Why not?" Zach asked, satisfied that he had the proper set up. If they were in a bigger space, he wouldn't have to make so many changes between songs. "It sounded really good yesterday."

Bree didn't quite remember it the same way. By the final time they'd gone over it, the song sounded good enough, but not perfect. They'd made several changes to the structure, and there were still some kinks to work out. "Let's see how it goes today," Bree suggested with a smile that said she wasn't totally against his idea, but she wasn't ready to vote for it either. It might be her name as the headliner, but her band was a democracy. Everyone got a say.

Chase came back, and the rest of the band got into position as he looped his guitar strap over his head. "Are we ready?" Bree asked, checking with each of the other members.

She got nods from everyone, so she signaled for Dominic, the drummer, to count them down, and the band came together with the opening notes, just as expected.

Zach was right; the song did sound good. Maybe they could perform it on Saturday. Bree came in with the first verse, feeling the song like it was one she'd sang a hundred times before. By the time she got to the chorus, her eyes were closed as she lost herself in the music.

"You are the reason I'm alive.

You are the reason I can breathe.

You are the reason I survive.

You are the reason I can be

Here to face anything the world throws my way

Your hand in mine, I'll fight another day.

Because you are the only reason that I need."

If you're loving the book, nel5s.org is where the adventure continues. Join us for the complete experience-all for free. The next chapter is eagerly waiting for you!

By the time they finished the song, Bree was beginning to agree with Zach. The song did sound good. It was one of the first songs they'd all contributed to as a band, which definitely made it better than the songs she'd come up with on her own and even the arrangements she'd worked on with the musicians who helped her record her first album.

"Wow--that was awesome!" Shawna said, her fingers lifting off of the keyboard to release the final chord.

"It really was great," Griffin, the bass player, agreed. "The solo was solid, Zach."

"Thanks." Zach smiled meekly, not elaborating. He was very modest about his unbelievable talents on the guitar.

"It's too bad we weren't invited to play at Nashville Nights," Shawna added with a sigh. "That song would be fire for models to walk down the runway to."

"I thought they weren't announcing the invited bands until tomorrow," Chase said, resting his hands on his guitar.

"I thought it was today." Shawna pulled her phone out of her pocket. "Hmmm.”

While she searched for whatever it was she was talking about, Bree asked, "What's Nashville Nights?"

"It's this local modeling show that country bands play for," Griffin explained. "It's sort of like that Christmas special that big women's lingerie company does on TV every year, only not quite as big."

If you're loving the book, nel5s.org is where the adventure continues. Join us for the complete experience all for free. The next chapter is eagerly waiting for you!

"It's being televised on the Nashville Network this year, though," Chase added. "It would be great publicity."

"It says all but two of the slots have been accepted." Shawna held her phone up as she read. "Looks like there's a band yet to accept or decline and one more spot they haven't filled yet. One of the modeling agencies has yet to extend their offer."

"That's weird. I wonder why not," Griffin muttered.

"Who knows?" Shawna shrugged and placed her phone back in her pocket. "Anyway, it would be really cool. Maybe next year."

"For sure," Dominic agreed from behind his drum set. "I'd kill to see those lovely ladies parading around in their underwear." "What would your girl think of that?" Chase asked with a grin.

"It's all part of the job," Dominic said with a mischievous chuckle.

"All right. Let's move on to the next song," Bree said, wanting to change the subject from modeling. Modeling reminded her of Monica, and she didn't want to think about her. While the rest of the band was right, it would be nice to have the sort of publicity they'd described, modeling shows were not likely to be her thing.

It wasn't difficult to get the others to shift their focus back to the music. Bree knew the words to the next song by heart, but she switched the pages on her music stand anyway just because and waited for her cue to come in, trying to get Monica's image out of her mind, praying the music would carry her away like it usually did. If there was ever a time to lose focus on her thoughts, now was the time.