Meant to Marry Me: Nashville Country Dreams Part 1

The beach was everything Bree had hoped it would be and then some. Lying on a towel in her two-piece, watching the clouds trace across the sky, feeling the warm sea breeze while the relaxing scent of the ocean filled her lungs had Bree feeling calmer than she had in as long as she could remember, certainly since before she’d realized Trent was getting married.

Seeing him that morning brought a new perspective to her. He was the same Trent he’d always been, her friend from high school, the one who always cheered her on, made her smile, knew her better than anyone else. The fact that she’d essentially lost five years of time she could’ve been spending with him made her heart ache. So they weren’t meant to be a couple? So what? Could they not still be friends? The bottom line was, she missed him and wanted him back in her life, even if that meant a distant friendship as she followed her dreams with her music, and he started his new life with Monica.

Monica was another story altogether. Bree’s gut instinct had been to not trust her. She just seemed disingenuous. Perhaps it was just the fact that this was her wedding that made her seem that way. She was Lilly’s sister, after all, and Lilly was one of the kindest, sweetest people Bree had ever met. So Monica couldn’t be that bad, could she?

And she knew Trent would never pick someone who wasn’t worthy of him, and he was as close to being the perfect guy as anyone Bree had ever met--even if he hadn’t called her after that kiss.

The waves were calling her, and Bree spent some time in the water, letting the warm waves wash away her worries. Then, back on her towel, she started to doze off and might’ve actually fallen asleep if it weren’t for the sound of footsteps approaching her.

Lots of families were on the beach, enjoying the sun and surf, but even with her eyes closed, she knew that those footsteps sounded familiar. Not that she’d ever heard them on sand before, but the cadence was what caught her attention--a heavy step and a bit of a shovel. When she raised her head and used her hand to shield her eyes from the sun, she wasn’t surprised at all to see Hank coming her way.

“There you are, beautiful,” he said, smiling at her before he dropped down on the sand next to her. The place she was sitting was sheltered by some large rocks. He leaned back against one and let out a deep sigh. “How’s it going?”

“I’m pretty good,” Bree said with an easy grin. “How are you?” He was wearing nice shorts and a polo, basically the same thing Trent was wearing when she’d seen him hours earlier.

Hank shrugged. “All right. How come you weren’t at brunch and mini golf?”

She giggled. She’d forgotten about the mini golf but was glad she’d missed it. Something told her Monica wouldn’t be that much fun to play against at the moment. “I decided the beach was more my style today. Did you have fun?”

He was thoughtful for a moment. “I mean… I’ll never turn down food. You know that. But, I don’t know. I sorta felt out of place. I went to college with most all of these folks. I don’t really care for Monica’s friends. They never treat me like I’m worth their time. Trent’s other friends are all right--Matt and Dwayne--but I usually only hung out with them if he was.”

Bree nodded. “I know how you feel. I don’t know anyone except for you and Lilly. And Trent. And his parents, but I can’t see me and Mr. Walker hanging out at mini golf, shooting the shit.”

laugh Bree had been looking for. Then, his face got serious again. “Look, I know it’s probably not easy for you to be at any of that stuff either, but I think you and me

do you mean it’s not easy

“Come on, Bree. There’s really no one else in the whole world who knows the situation better than I do.

rush to her face and simultaneously drain, and Bree wasn’t sure if she looked pale or

saw what happened--or almost happened--at that dance in high school and then again when I came to tell you that your aunt and uncle were there to pick you

but that was years ago. Nothing

about it. Bree, he was thinking about you. For a long damn

was hard to lie to Hank. They’d

write a well-known song about

makes you think that

think that ocean is full of water? Some things a person

hot breath, Bree said, “Okay, fine. Maybe it was at

but that he also wouldn’t press the issue. “Look, all I’m saying is, this isn’t exactly easy on me, either. And I don’t want to go into it any more than you do. So please, woman, for the love of God, will you please promise me you’ll go to all of the rest of this junk with me? So I don’t have to face it alone? I

asking a lot of questions that she wouldn’t voice at the moment. His eyes showed he was in a lot of pain, a sort of pain she was familiar with on a level

to drag her easily over the sand and beach towel. He was a personal

off Trent, she had lost Hank,

she could do now was be the best friend to Hank possible and help him through whatever it was that was making his heart ache. She couldn’t go back to that time when she’d had a chance with Trent either, but she could be a good friend to him now, too, which was something he also might appreciate because, the more Bree got to know Monica, the more she wondered what in the world he was doing with her in the first place. If she was really as shallow and self-absorbed as she seemed, Trent was in for more than a week of uncomfortableness. The idea of such a sweet guy being permanently tied to a woman who couldn’t form a sentence without the

dreaming of spending the evening in a nice, relaxing bath and then reading

dancing at a local club,”