Meant to Marry Me: Nashville Country Dreams Part 1 novel Chapter 35

“Play a song!” Monica insisted, sitting on a bench set back from the fire. After dinner, everyone had played on the beach until the sun went down, and now the wedding party was roasting marshmallows. It was a warm evening, so the fire was low, and the benches were nowhere close enough for the sticks to reach, so anyone who wanted a treat had to stand and approach the flames. Bree was content to eat the sugary snacks without warming them first.

“Do you know ‘Unchained Melody’?” Monica asked as Bree considered whether or not to make an excuse as to why she didn’t want to play while Monica sang.

“I do,” she said. When she’d agreed to bring her guitar, she’d figured it would be for a sing along, not to listen to the bride-to-be serenade the rest of the group. But… it was her wedding, and Bree didn’t want to be contrary.

“Good, good! Play it, and I’ll sing it for Trent.”

Bree shifted her attention slightly to Trent for a moment before she stood to grab her instrument. He was sitting next to Monica, and she was draped all over him, as usual. He didn’t look like he wanted to be serenaded, but it was obvious he wasn’t going to protest either.

With her back to the crowd, Bree got her guitar out of its case and found a smile. By the time she got back to the bench, she was calmer. She didn’t look at Trent as she tuned her guitar and then started to play the intro to the song Monica had requested.

When she got to the part where Monica was supposed to come in, she gave a nod at the bride, and she started to sing.

It was awful.

Bree had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from making a face. If someone would’ve handed Monica one of the buckets the children who’d been out with their families earlier playing in the sand had been using, she wouldn’t have been able to carry the tune. In order to keep herself together, Bree couldn’t look at Monica or anyone else, but she knew there were other people trying their best not to laugh.

As she got to the bridge, Bree happened to glance over at Trent. He had a huge smile on his face, and to anyone walking by, it would appear as if he was smiling at his beautiful bride as she sang to him. But Bree knew better. He was also trying not to laugh at her horrible singing.

She messed the words up going into the last chorus and looked at Bree like it was her fault. Bree waited for her to sort it out, and Monica got even more frustrated. She yelled, “Stay with me!” and then started that part over again. Bree jumped in, no longer thinking anything about the situation was funny as she tried not to shoot daggers out of her eyes at the bride. She saw Trent’s hand tighten around Monica’s leg, likely a sign to her that she needed to calm down, and Monica went into her big finale.

When she was done, everyone clapped, and someone, maybe Matt, yelled, “I’ll never forget that!”

A few people snickered, but Monica was too busy trying to find Trent’s tonsils to reply.

“Play one of your songs,” Trent’s aunt said to Bree, probably not wanting to see her nephew swallow his bride’s tongue.

“What would you like for me to play?” Bree asked, praying it wasn’t the song she was supposed to sing at the wedding.

“Play ‘Under the Moon,’” Lilly said.

“Okay.” Bree thought that was a fitting song, so she started to play. As she sang, she kept her eyes off of Trent and Monica. She wasn’t the only one avoiding them. Hank, who was on about his seventh or eighth beer, was sitting with his back to the fire now, across the way from Bree. She was worried about him, especially now that she knew what the problem was. Bree tried to lose herself in the song. It was easier than thinking about where she was or why.

When she finished, someone shouted for her to play “Top of the World” by The Carpenters so they could all sing along, and she gladly did so, noticing that Hank got up about halfway through and started wandering toward the ocean. She kept an eye on him, thinking she should go see if he was okay, but as long as the crowd wanted music, she was obliged to comply.

She just hoped the request list would run out before Hank ran out of patience and ended up doing something stupid.