“Not this soon.”
“It’s okay, Bree,” I say, shooting Colby a look. “No one is going to force you to do anything you’re not ready for. Besides, you can’t get on that stage because I’m definitely not ready for that, and I made that promise.”
She gives a weak laugh.
“Will you still do the video, Cole?” I ask him.
“Sure. It’s your best chance for a wide spread, Bree. You give people something to share along with the music, and a place to leave a caption.”
I wish I’d thought of it first, but I’m not a PR guru, and I don’t have Colby’s genius brain. When I face Bree, she’s watching me, waiting for my reaction. I nod. “I think it’s a good idea. If you’re up for it.”
“I’m up for it. But I don’t know if anyone’s going to want to see my face.”
“Since when have you let anyone else have power over your feelings?” Colby asks. “Don’t you have a song about owning your emotions?”
Her mouth opens, but no sound comes out. She promptly closes it again.
“‘Mine to Feel’, right?” I ask.
“Yeah, that’s the one.” She’s oddly quiet.
“If you want to skip the beach thing, we can use my backyard. I have a shot in mind that would work.”
“I don’t mind shooting at a beach,” she says.
“We could do both, then.”
“What about Duncan’s Landing? There’s a good cove there.”
Colby nods. “Sure. That works.”
“Wait…” Bree says, “what if we did a parody?”
“Of what?”
Bree’s smile widens, her eyes flashing between us. She draws her arms tighter around herself, but her smile is open. “You mentioned the places they filmedThe Birdsaren’t too far away, right?”
Colby laughs. “Aren’t you terrified of that?—”
“Not in broad daylight,” she says, cutting Colby off with a wave of her hand. “The song has a few bird themes in it, so it’s not totally unconnected. It would give me a sense of connection to this time in my life, too, and this refuge. Besides, this is where the song was created. But it’s subtle. Unless people are major fans of the movie, is anyone really going to make the connection on their own?”
“I don’t know, Bree. Your fans are super sleuths.”
“Not that super, or they’d have found me already.”
“She makes a good point,” Colby concedes.
“Well, if you want to check out the school they filmed at, I can take you over tomorrow. It’s in Bodega. We can scout it as a location for filming.”
“That sounds good.” Her grin widens. “But if we see even one blackbird, I’m out of there.”
A slow, low chuckle rolls from my chest. So much for broad daylight, eh? “That’s fair. We can head over around noon. Colby?”
“I’m busy, and I’ve seen it a million times. You guys look around. When you have all your locations chosen and the song recorded, we’ll worry about shooting.”
“Give us a week, then.”
“Thanks for doing this,” Bree says, sounding extremely grateful.