And the sunset over the water? Spectacular. She could stand here and watch until it faded away.
As Caleb set down the guitar cases, four auburn-haired girls, who looked like sisters aged about thirteen through eighteen, stepped out on the porch and squealed at the sight of Ariel. She pulled her ever-present autograph pad and paper from her pocket and asked their names.
“I’m Veronica.” The oldest girl waited for Ariel to sign her paper. “I’m in my school choir. I wish I could take voice lessons from you. I try to sing like you, but it doesn’t sound the same.”
Ariel smiled at her, handing her the autograph. “You have a lovely speaking voice, so I’m sure you can sing at least as well as I can.”
“I don’t know. Sometimes it doesn’t sound right.”
“Do you know ‘The Long Way’?” At the girl’s nod, Ariel strummed the intro. “Sing along, and I’ll listen for anything we could improve.”
They sang through the verse and chorus, then Ariel stopped the song. “When I was a girl, much younger than you, my aunt taught me to stop sounding nasal.” She sang a line with a nasal twang. “She taught me to quit closing off my nose and let some air through. It made all the difference.”
Veronica sang the line a few more times, finally losing the nasal tone.
“So much better!” Ariel gave her a quick hug. “I’m proud of you. Now you can go home and tell your choir director that you learned a new singing technique.”
“That helped me so much!” When a red-haired woman in her late thirties came through the doorway, Veronica ran to her. “Mom, Ariel Sullivan gave me a voice lesson.”
The girl’s sisters asked for lessons too, but their mother stepped in. “You’ve taken enough of her time. Thank you, Ariel.”
Veronica squeezed in one more line as her mother escorted her down the steps. “You should give voice lessons before your concert. For all the kids who want to sing better.”
“Thanks! I’ll think about it.”
With the family now walking down the sidewalk, Caleb turned to Ariel again. “She’s right. You should think about it.”
“I always do when I make a promise.” She hesitated and thought about the girl’s request. For about two seconds.
“No, seriously. You knew exactly how to help her. Six more bands are scheduled to play, so what if we announce on social media that you’re forming a high school choir to sing one more song before the concert? You could charge a fee to donate to the island restoration, practice the Saturday before, and conduct as they sing.”
“Plus it could bless a lot of people. Help me craft a social media post later?”
“Absolutely.”
After greeting some guests who had gathered on the porch and signing a few autographs, Ariel and Caleb tuned the instruments near the inn’s front door. “Let’s start with ‘The Long Way.’ Want to take the melody?” he asked.
She gave an exaggerated shudder. “No way. Aunt Dahlia always sings melody in this song.”
“Why not? The highest note is just a D. You hit it in some of your other songs.”
“I can sing the note, but not the part.” Ariel smiled at the cloud of confusion in those beautiful eyes. “See, you could sing Drake’s part, even with him standing next to you, and nobodywould care. But it’s different with her. Every soprano in the Nashville music scene defers to her, asking her to sing the melody if she’s anywhere near the venue when they play one of her songs. It sometimes makes some interesting impromptu entertainment.”
“Now that you bring it up, I did hear that a while back.”
“It started after her first record, ‘Colleen,’ went gold, during the time she hung around the Nashville bar scene, scouting fresh talent. But somebody always spotted her in the wings and asked her to sing with them. Showing up so often, she stepped in to sing a lot, and it became a tradition.”
“I doubt she’d care tonight.” Caleb gave a half grin. “She’d probably say, ‘Sing however you want in front of this huge crowd of twenty-three people.’”
Ariel had to smile too. He was right—a couple dozen fans had shown up but definitely not a mob. Yet. “All right, then let’s end with your band’s new song.”
“‘I Got Jesus’? Agreed.” Caleb handed over her guitar, and they chose a spot ten feet from the door. “Want me to take the lead part, and you can play rhythm?”
She nodded, whispered a four-count, and strummed the first chord. While they played a rather lengthy intro, she hummed the melody vocal line.
He was right—Aunt Dahlia was not here on this porch. If Ariel sang the melody, her aunt wouldn’t know, so she couldn’t possibly care.
For the first time, Ariel wanted to sing that part.
