Graceless (Grace Notes #2)

“Like it?” she asked. Cassidy nodded rapidly. It was stunning and yet incredibly peaceful looking. “Me too,” Brynn sighed. “It’s my favorite studio. Much less confronting than the one Savannah uses.” She shuddered.

“Are we doing this or what?” Greta asked sternly. Brynn pointed at her with a finger gun and stepped immediately through the door. “You, sit there,” Greta addressed Cassidy. “Don’t talk and don’t touch anything.”

Cassidy sat. On the other side of the window, Brynn stepped up to the mic. Immediately, a young guy ran into the room and made a stack of adjustments, fitting her with a set of oversized headphones. Brynn’s usual smile for everyone had disappeared, replaced with a look of deep concentration, clearly getting herself into some kind of zone. She looked over to the sound room and nodded. Greta pressed more buttons and flicked more switches, then suddenly the room swelled with music. Brynn opened her mouth and began to sing along with the backing track.

Cassidy froze still. The voice coming out of the woman behind the glass was… oh god, she had no words for it. The Longing duet had been spectacular, even Cassidy had to admit that, but this? Cassidy had long stopped believing in God, but the sound in the room made her want to fall to her knees. Brynn sang some kind of redemption song, where pain and brokenness lead to home and safety. To her absolute horror, Cassidy felt tears trickling down her face. She couldn’t wipe them in case she drew Greta’s attention, so she let them slide down to the neckline of her dress, glad for once to be invisible.

The song ended. Brynn picked up a bottle of water and took a long drink. Greta leaned over and pressed a button.

“Again,” she said. “From the top.”

Cassidy couldn’t believe it. To her it had sounded note perfect. Brynn just nodded and stepped back up to the mic, and the music flowed once more.

“I was there the first time Brynn sang in a studio,” Greta addressed her out of nowhere. “Personally, I don’t cry, but if I ever did, it would have been then.” She returned her focus to the sound deck.

By the end of the morning, Cassidy wanted to climb the walls. She’d heard the same song, the same vocals, over and over for hours. She had no idea what Greta was hearing that could possibly need correction and she had even less idea how Brynn hadn’t lost her mind and screamed with frustration.

Finally, they broke for lunch.

“Come on, kid, let’s get fed.” Brynn looked a little drained, but otherwise far more upbeat than Cassidy would have been in her shoes. She wanted to protest being called ‘kid’ again, but she was also dying for food.

Brynn led her out the door and into the heat of the day. They walked about half a block before Brynn walked her into a big old diner, with dark hewed floorboards, brown vinyl booth seats, what looked like four thousand craft beers on tap and a small stage which was currently unoccupied, though a big chalk board behind it announced Live Music Tonight! Cassidy gazed at it, her chest getting a little tight.

“They do catering back at the studio, but I figured you might want to see a bit more of the city than just one building,” Brynn told her as they got seated in a booth.

“Thanks,” Cassidy replied in surprise. It was a kind thing to do.

They ordered their food from what seemed to Cassidy to be a wildly excessive menu. Trying to hide how overwhelmed she was, she ordered plain biscuits and gravy, longing for some sense of familiarity and safety. Brynn turned to her and smiled.

“So how did it go with Greta? She talk to you at all?”

“Only a little.” It had literally been the two lines: the warning not to bug her and the acknowledgement of her tears.

“Really? Wow. You’re lucky.” Brynn nodded at her. “The first time I met her, she didn’t address me directly once. Unless you count scaring the pants off me.”

“She’s kind of intimidating,” Cassidy admitted. “Do you have to work with her?”

Brynn looked surprised.

“I’m insanely lucky to have got her. She’s the best in the business. I’m the lowest profile artist she works with by a long shot,” she said easily. “She’s a hard taskmaster, but my album will be ten times what it would have been without her.” She paused. “She still scares the absolute crap out of me though,” she admitted conspiratorially.

Cassidy snorted a small laugh.

“I’m glad it’s not just me then.”

“Oh my god no. You know, she’s half the reason I finally realized your sister was actually into me.” Brynn smiled goofily. “She swooped in to save me from Greta as well as my somewhat Greta-induced panic attack. That had to be love.”

“That was Longing?” Cassidy definitely would rather talk shop than hear loved-up talk of her sister.

“Yeah,” Brynn said. “My first ever time in a studio. I did not cope with it.”

“My sister gave you your big break,” she said pointedly.

“Sure did,” Brynn agreed. “Before I met her, I’d never sung in front of anyone. In fact, before I met her, I thought I hated country music. She forced me out of every single one of my comfort zones.” Brynn got a soft look on her face, thinking about it.

“And she got you your record deal.”

“Yeah. The head of the label turned up to hear Savannah recording, and I was sharing vocals with her that day. Later they offered me the deal, off the back of Longing and a couple of other songs I co-wrote with her.”