Meant to Marry Me

Concentrating at work was easier now that Trent was assured that Bree's hand was on the mend. He sat in his office, thinking about how well she'd been doing. Hearing her play the guitar again was music to his ears, even if it wasn't quite the way that it used to be. She made more mistakes. The music wasn't always smooth. But it was still wonderful to hear her getting better all the time, and after a few weeks of practice, she'd decided today was the day she was going to get the band back together.

It was a bit of a distraction waiting for her to call to let him know how practice had gone, but he knew she wouldn't be done for another few hours, which let him focus on his work. It seemed the firm was acquiring new customers left and right, and since he tried to approve every account himself, that was enough to keep him busy most days. Celia was capable of vetting all of them as well, but she had her own accounts to manage, as well as overseeing most of the other workers, so he didn't want to bother her with this when he was in the office and could do it himself.

Sometimes, he missed accounting--just running the numbers. He'd considered taking on a few of his own accounts just so he could do that again, but he knew that Bree would be wanting to go on the road again soon, and he wanted to be there with her if he could. After what had happened on her last road trip, it didn't matter to him how many security personnel the record label had hired. He wanted to make sure Bree was safe himself. Which meant, for now, he'd have to leave the actual accounting to the others.

He was just finishing a review of a major account when Celia approached his open door. "Hey! Did you hear the good news?" A wide smile lit her face as she walked inside carrying what looked like a memo or announcement of some sort. "What news?" he asked, leaning back in his chair and waiting for his eyes to fully adjust. He'd been staring at his computer screen so long, he had to rub them to get them to stop glazing over.

"The NNEOTY awards are out!" She sat down on the edge of his desk, the way she had been doing recently, so that her bare leg was right next to him.

Trent scooted his chair away from her. "The what?"

"The New Nashville Entrepreneur of the Year awards. It's a pretty big deal. Look."

She handed the announcement over to him, and Trent read through it quickly, seeing the name of his firm, Walker Accounting and Finance, at the top. "So... we won an award?" He'd had no idea they were even nominated for an award. "Yeah! Isn't it great? There's a gala next Saturday night where they'll present you with the award. You make a little speech. It's a huge deal here in Nashville. Something like this can really take the firm to the next level. Isn't that awesome? And, you'll have the opportunity to rub elbows with the Nashville elite--we're talking the upper echelon of high society--all of which have a lot of money and might be interested in our services!"

"Wow, Celia. That's great." Trent understood now why she was so excited. It did sound like a great opportunity, even if he'd never heard of it before. "Do they have an old entrepreneur award, too?"

She smirked and gave him a playful push in the shoulder. "No. That's just the Nashville Business of the Year awards, silly. Only companies that have started doing business in the last calendar year are eligible for the NNEOTYs."

She was pronouncing it like it was a word instead of initials, which was one of the reasons he was so confused when she'd first made her announcement. "Well, I am very honored we have won an En-knee-oty award," he confirmed. "When is this gala?"

"Next Saturday, April 15th. You can bring a guest. It's at the Briar Inn, you know, that fabulous five star hotel up town?"

He had heard of it. "Yes, I'm slightly familiar."

"Better tell Bree to get a ball gown if she doesn't already have one. They'll expect you to be dressed to the nines." She stood, and he thought she looked slightly jealous that she wouldn't be attending. It was too bad. She'd done so much to get the company where it was now. He wished she could go instead of him, but he had a feeling that would be frowned upon by the community. "I'm sure your actual invitation will be here in a day or two." Celia headed to the door and stopped in the doorway. "Do you have a tux?"

Trent stifled a laugh. If she only knew.... "Yeah, I have a tux." He thought about the fact that he had loaned the jacket to some kids at the beach after the wedding, and how when he'd gotten it back, it was less than perfect. Maybe it was time to get a new one....

"Cool. I bet you look great in a tux." She smiled in a way that made his eyes widen and then disappeared, leaving him to question what that was supposed to mean.

Trent glanced over the announcement again, looking to see what other business had won in the smaller categories. His eyes landed on a modeling agency and he couldn't help but wonder if that was the one Monica worked for. Hopefully not. But then, if the founder was only allowed one guest, what were the chances Monica would be there anyway?

He added the event to his calendar and made a mental note to tell Bree about it when she called to tell him about band practice. Then, Trent refocused on his work. If he was going to continue to be at the top of industry, he needed to get busy.