“You ready?”she asked.
“As I will ever be.”
She walked them through Phase 1: KBS Radio, Mae’s, Marina, Sunset Acoustic.Keep it quiet, keep it real.Then Phase 2: short, simple video clips around the chorus.Tony nodded through the logistics.Axel joked about needing a personal muffin handler.Maddyn already had notes about which harmonies worked best with a stripped-out acoustic.
When Carlene finished, the room felt settled.Not excited.Focused.
Jami sat back against the sofa, one ankle resting on his knee.“And Phase 3?”he asked.“The part where I hold someone’s hand and look like I mean it.”
She held his gaze.“We don't move unless we need it.”
His features eased a fraction.“Good.”
Sean glanced at the clock.“We have twenty minutes before the call.You want a dry run for the radio bit?”
Livia nodded.“Do two questions.One about the town.One about the chorus.”
Carlene picked up her pad.“Try this.”She looked at Jami.“First question: Why Blossom Springs, when you could live anywhere?”
“Because I need somewhere that doesn't care about my set list,” he said after a beat.“Somewhere that smells like breakfast and ocean and old wood.Somewhere I've lived my entire life.”
It wasn't polished.It was perfect.
“Second question,” Carlene said, before anyone could fill the quiet.“You sing that it has to be more than a feeling.What is themore?”
He hesitated.She watched him choose the honest answer.
“It's honesty,” he said finally.“Quiet after the noise.Company that feels like family.”
Maddyn’s eyes softened.“That will land.”
“It will,” Carlene said.She felt the words all the way down.
They broke for the label call.Tony took it in the studio so the rest could still move through the space.Axel and Maddyn sorted gear.Sean tuned and quietly ran the verse progression again and again, as if muscle memory were a prayer.Jami stood by the open door, looking at the line of the bluff and the bright smear of sky beyond it.
Carlene checked the weather app.The sunset looked clear.She texted a photographer she trusted in town.Shots for socials only.No credits on the images.It needed to look like someone’s girlfriend had taken a photo of him with a phone.
She caught herself on that word and corrected it.Friend.Someone’s friend had taken them with a phone.
Livia reappeared beside her, leaned a hip against the table, and watched Jami watch the sky.
“You don't enjoy thinking about Phase 3,” she said softly.
Carlene didn't pretend.“I dislike pushing people into pictures they cannot get out of.”
“Good answer,” Livia said.“Also true.”
“If I can run this on truth,” Carlene said, “I will.”
“You heard the song,” Livia replied.“You can.”
Tony waved them all in for the call.The label asked for numbers.Tony gave them numbers.The label asked for a hook and a plan.Tony handed the questions to Carlene.She laid out Phases 1 and 2, kept Phase 3 lightly worded, and anchored everything to the chorus.She used calm phrases.The line itself did the heavy lifting.
When the call ended, Tony grinned.“They want a teaser clip by Friday.”
Jami looked at Carlene.“You have what you need?”
“Almost.”She glanced at the clock.“If rehearsal runs smoothly, I want five minutes at the bluff after.You, a guitar, the line.No production.I will cut a fifteen-second clip for socials.”
