“Good afternoon, we are here today on Nashville Rising Star with one of the newest voices in country music, Bree Matthews. Bree, it’s nice to have you with us.”

“It’s nice to be here.” Bree took a few deep breaths and tried to still her racing heart. In the last year, she’d done a ton of interviews, but this was the biggest one to date. Alice Kingston was one of the most popular journalists in Nashville, and her show had a huge following. Bree was so thankful her agent, Zelda, was able to get this booking for her.

“Tell us, Bree, what’s it like to be one of the most popular up and coming faces in the country recording industry today?”

“It’s amazing,” Bree said with a giggle. Even though this was a radio show and podcast, she knew it was also recorded and put on YouTube and other sites. She was sitting in a radio station room a few feet away from Alice, who was a lot shorter in person, with giant red hair that would’ve looked perfect in Texas. Her producer, a man by the name of Frank Wilson, sat on the other side of a glass window in a little booth, signaling them mostly with his hands, unless there was a commercial, then he might talk to them.

“Have you always wanted to be a recording artist?”

“Absolutely. Ever since my mama taught me how to play the guitar when I was a little girl, I’ve dreamt of living this life--playing my music for people. It’s certainly a dream come true.”

“That’s great. You say your mama taught you how to play. Does she sing as well?”

“She does--though not professionally. We would sing at church together sometimes. And sometimes my grandma would join us.”

“What a nice little family trio,” Alice chuckled. “What about your dad?”

“Oh, no. Daddy always joked if you gave him a bucket to carry a tune in, he’d still manage to trip and spill it.” That got Alice laughing again, which put Bree at ease.

The interview went on for about thirty minutes with a few breaks for commercials before Alice said, “Now, Bree, tell us about your most popular song. Anyone who listens to radio stations like ours that play up and coming singers will recognize it. It’s called ‘Meant to Marry Me.’ What was your inspiration for such a beautiful, heartbreaking song? You’re not old enough to be thinking about getting married, are you?”

Bree laughed, though Alice had asked a question that pained her to think about. “I’m old enough to get married now, but when I wrote it, I probably wasn’t really. I wasn’t ready to anyway. It isn’t really about getting married, though, obviously, if you listen to the lyrics. It’s just about growing up thinking your life is going to be one way--maybe you’ll have a certain job, or live in a certain place, or marry a certain person, and then you get there, and you find out it’s not really like that at all. You have to be able to say it’s not what I wanted, but I’m gonna have to move on, that’s all.”

“Deep thoughts for a woman your age. How old were you when you wrote it?”

“I was twenty-one,” Bree said, remembering that night in the dorms when she’d discovered Sam was cheating on her like it was yesterday.

“And now you’re, what, twenty-three?”

“Almost twenty-four.”

“So still, pretty young for these sorts of philosophical thoughts. We heard from a young man a few weeks ago who said on his Twitter feed that he was there the night you wrote it, that you’d caught your college sweetheart cheating on you, and that’s where the song originated. Is there any truth to that?”

Bree had heard the same thing--from Jeff. He had been there that night. She shook her head. “No, not exactly. While it’s true that I did write the song after I caught my then-boyfriend sleeping with my college roommate, the song isn’t about him.”

“Would that be Sam Fowler, the guitar player for the band Back Roads? It’s fairly common knowledge that the two of you dated and used to play together.”

Sam’s band had also been doing well lately, which was great for him. He’d apologized so many times for what happened, Bree wasn’t even angry at him anymore. But she’d never give him another chance. Still, she didn’t want to embarrass him. “I did date Sam in college. He’s a great guy. I would rather not get into the specifics, if you don’t mind.”

“That’s understandable. But you say he wasn’t the one who inspired the song? Was it someone else that you thought you might marry?”

Again, Bree couldn’t bring herself to talk about that. She’d never said anything to directly tie Trent to the song, not in concert, not in an interview, never. She shrugged. “It’s probably more of a figurative person, someone who’s comprised of a lot of different people in my life. As we grow and change, we move on, and the people in our lives change as well. We go from being children who see our parents every day to adults who see them occasionally in the blink of an eye. The same can be said for our friends, neighbors, coworkers, everyone. Sometimes we think we’ve found someone who will be with us always, but they’re not. It can be hard. But we have no choice but to adjust and keep going.”

“Wow--all deep thoughts from a very talented young lady. Ladies and gentlemen, keep your eye and ear on this one. I guarantee Bree Mathews will be a household name soon enough. Thanks so much for joining us today, Bree.”

“Thank you so very much for having me,” Bree said with a smile.

Frank told them they were clear, and Bree took her headphones off, as did Alice.

The hostess came over to her. “That was great. You are such an amazing interviewee.”

Smiling, Bree said, “Thanks. I appreciate that.”

“I’ve gotta know, though, off the record, is that song about Sam? I’ve met the guy, and while he’s plenty nice enough, I can’t see him being the guy who broke your heart.”

“No, it’s not about Sam. I promise.”

Alice nodded. “But it is about someone specific, isn’t it? You can’t write emotion like that for a make-believe person or an amalgam.”

Bree shrugged. “Yeah, I guess so. But I’m not gonna tell you who.” She winked at Alice, and the journalist smiled.

“Fair enough. Any chance you might get back together with him, now that you’re on the brink of fame and fortune?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Bree said, trying to keep her emotions in check. “It definitely wasn’t about fame and fortune for him. The timing was always off. Even when I thought we finally got it right, I was wrong.”

Alice nodded. “Well, I hope you’re wrong. A guy who can inspire a song like that is worth having.”

Bree smiled and thanked her again before heading out of the studio.

“You did great!” her manager, Zelda, who’d come along with her, said as she stepped out into the hall. “You really have a talent for this.”

“Thank you, Zelda. I appreciate you arranging it for me.”

“You bet. Next thing you know, we can attack the national circuit!”

Thoughts of going on national radio shows, or even television shows, made Bree’s heartbeat staccato. She would love to work on her national presence, but she had to try to stay humble. Things were still building upward. She’d played a lot of gigs in the last year or so since she’d opened for Crawfish, but she wasn’t exactly a headliner yet.

As they walked out to the car, Zelda went over her schedule for the rest of the month. “You have the weekend after next off, but that’s it. You’re booked solid, other than that. So you should go do something fun--go to the beach. Or go visit your folks. Then, next month is crazy packed, too. Your popularity is building right now, girl, and we’re going to take advantage of it!”

“Sounds good,” Bree said with a smile as a gentle late-spring breeze lifted her hair from her shoulders. She had no idea what she might do with an entire weekend off. She hadn’t had one in so long. Visiting home sounded enchanting--but then, so did the beach. A ton of her friends from high school and college had been begging her to make time to catch up. She just couldn’t do it. But… maybe now she could make the time.

They got into Zelda’s ginormous black Cadillac SUV, and she piloted them toward Bree’s house. She had a personal assistant now, too, a sweet girl named Chalisa who was on top of everything. Most of the time, she worked out of Bree’s apartment and sometimes didn’t go home until late in the evening. Bree envisioned having a big house one day with enough room in it that Chalisa could live with her if she wanted to so she could keep Bree on track every moment of every day.

Zelda pulled into Bree’s apartment complex drive and made her way over to Bree’s building. “All right, doll, if you need anything, give me a holler. I sure am proud of you!”

“Thanks, Zelda. I’ll be in touch.” She got out, smiled, and waved, before heading inside. Zelda was as close to a mother as she could ask for now that she was in another state from her own folks, and Bree felt so blessed to have such a trustworthy, loving manager.

Bree headed into her apartment, glad to be done for the day, and thought she might take a few minutes to see if she could find a nice beach vacation for one for the next weekend. It might not be as fun as spending time with her friends, but it might be relaxing, and at the moment, Bree needed something easy to take her mind off of her crazy life. Excitement was definitely not what she was looking for when it came to her free weekend. No, Bree would stay as far away from excitement as she could get!