Bright lights had Bree blinking, but that was all right. This was the biggest audience she’d ever performed in front of. Over five hundred people dotted the auditorium in front of her. It was all surreal. Her heart was pounding out of her chest. She couldn’t wait to start her songs.

After graduating with her degree in musical art a few months ago, Bree had taken a chance and moved to Nashville, Tennessee, one of the most popular places in the world to live if you were a musician and/or a songwriter. She was both. Now, after a huge amount of marketing and networking, here she was opening for a band at a local theater. Crawfish was a great band, up and coming on the country music scene, and Bree was thrilled to have this opportunity.

“Good evening, everyone,” she said, hearing her voice shaking slightly. She cleared her throat, took a deep breath, and smiled. It was hard to be nervous when you were smiling. “How are y’all doing tonight?”

The crowd roared. They were clearly ready to hear some music. “Great! I’m so unbelievably happy to be here with you. My name is Bree Mathews, and I’m going to play you a few songs. This first one is one I wrote a few years ago for my mama, it’s called, ‘Rock Me in Your Arms.’”

Once again, the people in front of her cheered, and Bree tried not to look surprised. It was as if some of them actually knew who she was and were familiar with her music. It was possible. She had almost a hundred thousand followers on her YouTube channel, and all of her videos got lots of likes and comments. They were mostly her sitting in her apartment, playing her guitar, or live sets at the clubs and bars she was still gigging at, but it was awesome to think perhaps a few of these people were there to see her.

She started playing her guitar, all by herself, as she had been doing since she and Sam split almost a year ago. Immediately, the crowd in front of her faded away, and it was just Bree and her guitar. When she began to sing, a hush came over the auditorium as everyone listened, and a freedom soared through her veins like nothing she’d ever experienced before.

“Rock me in your arms.

Keep me safe from harm.

Though the night is dark,

I can hear your heart

Beating, beating, beating in my ear.

And I know you’ll be there.

Whenever I call,

And I’ll never fall

As long as you rock me in your arms….”

With the reverberation of the last chord, the audience went wild with cheers. Bree couldn’t help but smile from ear to ear. “Thank you! Thank you so much!” She tuned her guitar while she spoke, explaining that the next song had been written one night when she was lost on the way to a gig. She played, “Lead Me to You,” and everyone loved that song, too.

For the next thirty minutes, Bree played four more songs that she’d written and did a cover of “Landslide” by Stevie Nicks that got a huge response. This was the most fun she’d ever had, and she was so thankful to have gotten this opportunity. If she never walked on another stage again, she’d keep these memories forever. But, hopefully, this was the beginning of a long line of success for her.

“This last song I’m gonna sing tonight is one so close to my heart. I wrote it for a boy I used to know, one I haven’t seen in a long time. One I thought I could love. This is called, ‘Meant to Marry Me.’”

Every time Bree played the song she’s written for Trent, emotion overcame her. She hadn’t ever actually cried on stage, but she knew part of the charm of the song was the fact that it struck home with her, so it did with the audience as well.

She put her entire heart into her performance and was fairly sure that others were singing along with her, especially on the chorus. When she got to the last line, she sang, “Baby, you were meant to marry me,” and let the guitar ring out.

It was silent. The audience was quiet, her guitar strings stopped vibrating, and the entire room was still. Bree held her breath and waited. Had they hated it? Had she messed up? Did the microphone fail? Then, as if everyone exhaled at the same time, a huge applause broke across the crowd. Everyone was cheering, whistling, clapping, shouting her name. She could hardly believe it! With her cheeks bright red from the realization that she’d made so many people that happy, Bree thanked them all and then headed off stage, still unable to register how excited everyone was to hear her play.

As she walked off, Howard Alvord, the lead singer for Crawfish stopped her. “Man, that was something else! Great job, girl,” he said, giving her a high-five. “Did you write that song?”

“I did,” Bree said, grinning up at the man with wild, dark hair that hung past his shoulders.

“Killer! You’re going to be big someday. You keep writing songs like that, and Crawfish will be opening for you one day!”

“Wow--thank you Mr. Alvord,” she said, bowing her head at the kind words.

“Please. It’s Howard. You’re amazing, Bree Matthews. You just made a bunch of new fans. We want you to open for us again next weekend at The Happening. Can you be there?”

“Yeah, I’d love to.” Bree was pretty sure she had something on her calendar for next weekend, but she’d definitely move it if it was a conflict. The chance to open for such a big band again, to have an audience this large, was a huge break.

“All right. Our manager, Dudley, will give you a call. Nice job, kid.” He clapped her on the back and got ready to go on stage.

Her face was beginning to ache from smiling so big for so long, but that was okay with Bree. She felt amazing. The song that she’d written might’ve come out of heartache, but the response it was getting her was nothing but pure joy. Maybe the only reason she and Trent never got together was because otherwise she wouldn’t have written this song. If “Meant to Marry Me” was going to be the song that made her a household name, perhaps it was worth it.

Bree put her guitar in its case and sat down backstage to listen to Crawfish play. She knew a lot of singers would’ve used this time to go sell merchandise, but she didn’t have any yet. It wouldn’t hurt to get some, though. She could sign autographs and take pics with people, too. That would help her build a name as people posted those pictures.

The band was warming up and switching out instruments, so she pulled her phone out of the pocket of her jean jacket and noticed she had a missed call and a text from Lilly.

“Girl, what are you up to?” she asked under her breath. Lilly had been her best friend for so long, but when she’d transferred schools, they’d grown apart. She wasn’t even sure what Lilly was up to. Had she gotten a job out of college or was she still searching? Where was she living now?

Deciding it must’ve been important for her to call, Bree sent her a text. “Hey, I’m at a show right now, so I can’t call. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything is fine,” Lilly texted back a few minutes later. “Just wanted to say hi. I’ve been missing you. I hear you’re doing great in Nashville. Sometimes I watch your YouTube channel.”

“Aw, I miss you, too. What are you up to these days?”

“I’ve taken a job in Lexington at an elementary school, teaching computer science. I absolutely love it! It’s not exactly what I saw myself doing, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

“That’s great. How’s your sister?”

“She’s good. She’ll graduate in May. She’s got a serious boyfriend. Not sure what she’ll do with her degree in fashion but she’s pursuing modeling. How’s your family?”

“Good. I miss them, though. This is the furthest away from them I’ve ever been.”

The friends continued to chat via text for a while, and Bree was enjoying catching up when one of the stagehands came over to her. “Hey, you’re Bree, right?” he asked, a little out of breath.

“Yeah, that’s me.”

“Cool. Howard wanted to know if you could come sing backup on ‘Whispers in the Wind.’”

“Me? Come on stage with the Crawfish?”

“Yeah, you mind?”

“No, no, not at all. I’d love to.”

“Awesome. It’s up next, so just come on over next to the stage and when you hear him say your name, go on out. He’ll show you where to stand, but you’ll just share a microphone with Mike. You know, the bassist?”

“I know Mike.” She smiled. Share a mic with Mike. “Got it.”

Bree was breathing fast, but she knew she could do this. It was a great opportunity for her, and she appreciated Howard taking the time to think of her.

When she heard her name, she inhaled deeply once more, and came out to the stage. Everyone cheered again, like they were happy to see her again. It looked like the crowd had grown even larger, which was really cool. She took her spot by Mike, as Howard indicated, and as the band began to play, she listened carefully to the melody and harmony so that when it was time for her to come in on the chorus, she could sing the high harmony. Howard gave her a thumbs up, which made her smile, and she continued to sing, having the time of her life.

After the song, Howard said, “Let’s give Bree Matthews another round of applause. Wasn’t she awesome, ladies and gentlemen?”

Bree nodded her thanks and waved at the crowd, beaming with glee, and headed backstage again, thankful she’d waited to hear the band. She’d caught another big break, and it felt awesome.

She was definitely on her way up and so excited to see just how high she could go.