Eternal Love: The Dance (Book One: Eternal Love Series)

Chapter 24

The Nissan stadium in Nashville was packed with a sold-out show. George stood in front of his dazzled audience, wearing a black rhinestone studded outfit, singing with his band. Natalie watched on a screen from the camera control room as George seemed to shine so brightly as he sang his heart out. He sang Hound Dog by Elvis Presley, which seemed to drive the women wild. After he did one of his own songs that the people loved even more and as he finished that song, he took a bow. "Alright! Now I want to do something tonight that I haven't done in a while," he announced. The venue grew silent as everyone was waiting for his next move. "I want to show my band some love tonight and you to help me! How about that?" He announced. Thunderous cheers and applause filled the air. George walked over to the man playing lead guitar. "Here's Mr. Dylan on lead guitar!" He said, and Dylan played a quick solo to the song they were about to do as the crowd cheered wildly. George walked over to the man with the fiddle. "This is Mr Jake on the fiddle!" He announced as Jake started playing a quick little solo. The crowd went wild again. George approached the man with the acoustic guitar. "Here's our Canadian B3 on the acoustic guitar!" He announced. And the man strummed a little tune, sending the crowd into another frenzy of cheers. "Alright, here is Dino on the five string bass guitar," he said, and Dino played a few strings. "And here's Mr Alan on the drums!" He said, motioning to him and stepping back to let him play his little solo. As he did, George noticed how captivated everyone had been. It gave him an undescribable feeling. He had come so far in his career. He went from a little boy in restaurants of very few patrons to stadiums filled with thousands of fans. And it didn't hurt he was getting paid damn good money either. George sat behind an instrument. "This is something I used to watch my dad do, and he taught me when I was nine years old," George said, placing his hands on the strings of the instrument. "It's been a while, so let's see if I still can play this here steel guitar!" He said, adjusting his headset. He began playing a blue grass tune, and the fans loved it, cheering him on.

"Walkin' down the railroad tracks
Goin' on down to my little shack
I've cried my last tear and drank my last beer. "

As he sang, the people listened intently. He stood from the steel guitar picking up his acoustic and began strumming the song on his guitar with the band backing him. As they finished the last note, George lifted his guitar high and strummed the final chord. He kissed his cheap guitar pick and threw it into the audience. "Thank you, ladies and gentlemen! Give it up for the boys in the band!" He said, and the crowd went wild with applause. "Thank you, Mom and Dad, for helping me start out and your endless support. Thank you to my beautiful wife, Natalie, for showing me the true meaning of love," George said. "God bless you!" He said before he walked down the stage stairs and started walking up the center aisle in front of Jayden to get to the bus. Fans reached out for him, hugged him, kissed his cheek, and asked for autographs. As he signed the last autograph, someone screamed something George couldn't make out, but as gunshots rang out, he understood. "Mr Taylor! Get down!" Jayden yelled, tackling him to the ground with such force it knocked George's hat off. Jayden pulled him to his feet as people ran in fear. Jayden led George outside frantically. George held his side and breathed raggedly. "Mr Taylor, we're almost to the bus," Jayden said, assuming his side hurt from the fall. This was proven wrong when George fell to his knee and looked at his blood-soaked hand. As Jayden realized what had happened, Natalie ran out of the building and to George's side. "He must've been hit," Jayden said. Natalie held his hand as he passed out from the excruciating pain.