The Bridgeport Mysteries by Heather Elizabeth King

Author:Heather Elizabeth King [King, Heather Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

THE AUDITION

I HAD ENOUGH time to get back home, shower, and change for my cantor audition at St. Anne’s. I was a tad nervous. Singing in a church was a lot different than singing in a bar or concert hall. In a bar or a concert hall, especially when I was singing my own music, there was leeway to change things up if I was feeling the music differently that night. Every note did not have to be perfect. Singing in a Catholic church, especially as a cantor, every note had to be perfect. Many of the older members of the congregation had been singing these hymns for decades. Literally.

I was down in the sunroom, looking over the music one last time before heading out. There were two songs I’d had to prepare. Shepard Me O God, a popular Catholic hymn, and Schubert’s, Ave Maria. I’d only had a little over a day to learn them, but I was familiar with Shepard Me O God, from attending mass. And everyone knew Ave Maria.

I grabbed my purse, tucked the music in a folder, bundled up, then set out. I went through the bookstore. I knew my mom would want to see me beforehand.

“Are you ready?” she asked when she saw me.

“I am.” I motioned to my scarf. “And I’m already bundled up. It’s freezing outside.”

“Come through when you’re done. I want to know how it went.”

I told her I would, then set out on foot to the church.

I shivered as soon as I was outside. Despite the cold, and my mother’s pleasure over seeing me in a scarf, the scarf was more to protect my throat than it was protection against the cold. I’d still be able to sing cold, but I’d feel I had more control over my voice if I were warm.

Walking as fast as I was, it only took me a few minutes to get to the church.

“Fantastic.” Gloria had spoken the word fantastic, but the grim look on her face told me she thought my arrival time was anything but fantastic.

Gloria was the director. At only forty-seven, she was one of the youngest directors the church had ever employed. Even though she was young, her dark hair was graying. Most said that was due to the three boys she’d raised all on her own.

I’d taken off my coat and scarf and set my music on the music stand beside the piano. The accompanist, Brady, was there, poised and ready at the piano. Brady was Gloria’s husband. Her second husband. They’d been married a little over two years, so he’d come on the scene just as the youngest boy was graduating high school. Perfect timing, if you asked me. He was a little older than Gloria, but not by much, and he had a head full of jet black hair that most in the congregation thought was dyed.

Along with Gloria and the accompanist, three members of the choir were there, Joel, Tanny, and Michelle.

“Okay, Hon. What song do you want to go over first?” Gloria asked.

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