Blessed Tragedy(45)

I bowed out after three songs, knowing that I'd gotten up there cold, but those three songs were amazing. If it was possible, being up there with them felt more right than it ever had in the past.





Epilogue



Sitting at my mom's grave on the one year anniversary of her death, it still hurts like hell to know she's gone. I'll never get to see the look on her face when I get done with a show. I'll never get to hear her tell me she's proud of me. Yes, it's incredibly selfish but I want those things for myself.

As much as it hurts, I've stopped wishing that things were different. If I hadn't had the problems with my family, I probably wouldn't have turned to partying and drugs. Sure, life might be simpler if I wasn't a recovering addict, but it's that addiction that led me to Travis, and in turn to Blessed Tragedy.

Joining the band opened so many doors for me it's impossible to list them all. Most importantly, Colton and I became best friends without any expectations of more. For a long time, that was enough for me.

And it's because of my difficulties with my family that Colton and the guys refused to let me deal with Mom's death on my own. While I've never said as much to him, I think I fell in love with him the morning I got off the bus to come home. The way he was there for me even when I was pushing him away showed me the depth of his feelings for me.



Losing my mother too soon will always be one of the most painful moments in my life. I wish like hell she was here every day, but today is, without a doubt, the worst.

I wish she was here to help me get dressed. I wish she was here to meddle and worry about crazy things no one cares about. I wish she was here to give me that last piece of advice as I take my dad's arm for him to walk me down the aisle.

The only comfort to be had from losing her is the thought that she's somewhere out there and had a hand in leading Colton and I together. I know, if she was here, she'd love him just as much as I do.

“Thanks, Mom. For everything,” I whisper towards the sky. I place a single calla lily from my bouquet on her headstone so I know she'll be with me as I begin the rest of my life as Madeline Bradford, wife to Colton and still the biggest badass bitch in the business.




Blessed Fate

Coming May 2013



You know Rain's side of the story, now it's time to hear it from Colton's side...



Prologue

“Okay guys, you need to have an open mind,” Travis warned.

We'd been sitting around his crappy studio apartment for the better part of three days trying to figure out what we could do to get more gigs. Our band, Blessed Tragedy, had a loyal following at Wilson's Pub but we all knew it was time to branch out a bit.

Jon and I looked at one another and shrugged. At this point, I don't think there's anything we weren't willing to try if it meant we'd be able to make our mark on the world. Okay, so that might be a bit dramatic, but if you're gonna dream you gotta go big.

“Lay it on me,” Jon said, leaning forward on Trav's ratty sofa left over from the seventies.

Travis picked up his cell phone and sent a quick text while he grabbed another round of beers out of his fridge. “Okay, so I've been thinking. We've got a good thing going here, but we need to change it up. And I think I have just the thing.”

About that time, there was a light knock on the door. Travis opened it slowly, said something to the person on the other side. He looked back to us and swung the door wide open. “Guys, meet Rain.”

I had no clue what Travis was thinking, but standing next to him was one of a beautiful girl who look utterly terrified to be here. If she worked at the ring in her lower lip much harder with her teeth I was worried she'd rip it right out. Between that and the way she was twirling a lock of bright red hair around her finger, it seemed like she'd rather be anywhere but in our presence.

“Hi,” she said, her voice barely over a whisper.

“Rain, meet Jon and Colton. They're the *s I was telling you about,” Travis said pointing to each of us. “Guys, you have got to hear this girl sing. I really think that if we re-arrange some of our current stuff, she's gonna kill it up there.”

Rain turned to Travis, “I never said I was going to do it. I said I'd come over and see what was going on.” Even though she was nervous around us, I could tell from the way she snapped at Travis that she was feisty. I liked that and looked forward to the day she'd feel comfortable enough around me and Jon that I could make a point to push her buttons.

“I know, I know. But you need a band, we need a change, it's a win-win. You'll see.” Jon glared at Travis, appearing more than a little put off by him taking control on such an important decision. While we'd all formed the band together four years ago, Jon had always been at the forefront of all of our decisions.

Jon stood and made his way across the tiny living room in three long strides. “Nice to meet you.” It took her a minute to take in the sight of Jon and I didn't blame her. He towered over her the scowl that seemed to be a permanent fixture on his face could intimidate even me and I'd known him a hell of a long time. “Come grab a beer,” he said, motioning her further into the apartment.

Jon handed her the beer he hadn't yet started to drink and grabbed another for himself. Rain looked around the living room for a place to sit. Bad news, little girl, it's the couch or the floor. Yeah, it was going to be fun getting to know her.

“Come on, we don't bite,” I said patting the cushion beside me.

“Often,” Jon added. When Rain looked at him like he was serious, the room erupted in laughter.

“First rule if you plan to hang...lighten the f*ck up.” Despite the signals this girl was giving off, I put a hand on her shoulder, gently massaging out the tension. When she didn't flinch away from me, I turned her slightly allowing both hands to go to work. Her neck and back were so tight it felt like concrete. I wasn't sure what her deal was but I planned to find out.

The four of us sat there for the next two hours talking about music. She'd left home after high school hoping to make a living making music. How in the hell she wound up in Portland, I'll never know because there are so many places better if you're chasing that particular pipedream. She didn't have anything in the way of a musical background but damn, the girl had more passion than most people I knew in the business.

Jon seemed to ease up as it got later; a combination of beer, Jack Daniels and the fact that Travis just might have been onto something. “Okay kid, you talk a good game. Now, let's see if you can back it up.” He tossed my guitar at me, nodding. “Go on, tell him what you wanna do. He's not as dumb as he looks, he'll be able to muddle through it.”

I scowled at Jon as I pulled my long blond hair back into a low ponytail. “Never mind him. So, you tell me...” She'd eased up considerably but I could tell her nerves were still frayed.

“Black Velvet,” she said, her eyes fixed on mine. “Don't f*ck it up.”

She sat up at the edge of the cushion, swaying as I started playing the intro. The way she was bobbing her head and biting her lip, I had a feeling we were about to get schooled. Alanah Myles has a voice that's hard to beat and Black Velvet is one of those songs you don't attempt if you can't do it well.

“Mississippi...” From the very first word, I had to remind myself that I was supposed to be accompanying her. She kept her eyes closed through every beat of the song, the expression on her face telling the story as much as the words coming out of her mouth.

When she finished, Jon slowly clapped from the kitchen island. “Damn little girl, you got some pipes on ya. That's not what we normally do, but shit!” Seeing Jon close to at a loss for words was rare. I'm just glad he found something to say because it was going to take a while before I could pick my jaw up off the ground.

“Not bad.” She draped her arm over my shoulder and pulled me in for a hug. Yeah, there was definitely a chemistry there that said she'd make magic with us.



It took over a month for us to convince Rain that she really was badass and would be doing us a favor by rounding out Blessed Tragedy. During that time, she hung out with us every day, mostly doing covers from eighties greats like Pat Benetar and Joan Jett.

Every Saturday and every other Friday, she'd join us at Wilsons. The first three nights she was there, she sat at our table to the right of the stage and watched us perform. The following Saturday night, Jon came out from behind his drum kit two songs into the second set. It wasn't unusual for him to decide he had something to say, but normally it was planned. I gave him a curious look before stepping to the side.

“What would you say if I told you we had a surprise in store for you folks tonight?” Jon yelled into his mic. The nearly capacity bar went wild with cheers. “Well, you're in luck because we've got one hell of a big one!”