“No,” she giggled, before explaining about the distraction of him playing and her plan to convert the attic into a studio for herself.
“It’s worth checking out,” agreed Jake, pouring them both some wine. “I’m no construction expert, but I guess it could be done.”
“I’ve emailed David and asked him to find an architect to design it. We’ll see what he comes up with and if it’s possible. The structure of the roof might be an issue.”
With a couple of hours work completed and her zombie drain design sent off for approval, Lori headed out to visit Maddy and the twins. The new family were renting a former farmhouse on the outskirts of town, out beyond the outlets. En route, Lori stopped and picked up some steak sandwiches for lunch, then drove out to Wolfe Neck Road. It wasn’t an area she was overly familiar with but she had been out to visit a few times since they had moved in, usually with Jake driving. When she spotted the driveway and Maddy’s Mustang outside, she breathed a sigh of relief. Grabbing the insulated bag with lunch in it, her canvas tote and her cane, Lori climbed out of the car. Paul was standing in the doorway waiting for her with one of the twins nestled in the crook of his arm.
“Glad you made it!” he called out cheerfully. “Did you bring lunch?”
“Of course,” declared Lori as she carefully climbed the front steps. “Steak sandwiches all round.”
“Perfect!” stated the band’s drummer, stepping aside. “The boss is in the kitchen. Go on through.”
The large kitchen at the back of the house was bright and airy with a huge bleached pine kitchen table being the focal point of the room. Over at the sink, Maddy was busy preparing bottles of formula for the twins. At the sound of Lori’s cane on the tile floor, she turned to welcome her friend.
“You’re looking fabulous!” said Lori, hugging Maddy tight.
“Thanks,” replied the new mother with a worn-out smile. “I feel like a zombie.”
“It's early days,” sympathised Lori, noting the dark circles under her friend’s eyes. “I brought hot sandwiches. We’d better eat them before they get cold.”
“Oh, you’re an angel, Lori!” sighed Maddy. “Let me grab some juice to go with them.”
With the twins sleeping peacefully in their stroller in the adjoining family room, they were afforded the luxury of time to relax and chat over their meal. Neither of the new parents had really been out of the house for over a week, apart from Paul’s occasional trip to the food store, so they were keen to hear what had been happening in the world beyond the farmhouse. Lori got the feeling they were disappointed when she said that all she had really done was work. She told them about her completed “zombie drain” project and about Todd turning up looking for help but that was all the news she had. Pouring them a coffee at the end of their meal, Paul said he would take a run out to see Jake for an hour or so. Exchanging glances, the girls laughed and Maddy suggested he take his time.
Just as Paul was preparing to leave, the babies began to cry. He stopped in his tracks, but Lori said, “You go on. I’ll help Maddy out here.”
“Thanks, Lori,” he replied, looking relieved at being able to escape for a couple of hours. “I’ll be back by four, Maddy.”
“No rush,” she called back as she went to warm up the bottles of formula milk. “Lori, are you sure you’re ready for this?”
“As I’ll ever be,” giggled Lori a little nervously. “This is a whole new experience for me.”
Under Maddy’s guidance, Lori went through a steep learning curve over the next hour. Amid a lot of giggles, she managed to change her first diaper, despite a rather wriggly Wren trying to make the task nigh on impossible. With the diaper secured and her body suit fastened up, Lori lifted the restless baby girl into her arms and sat on the couch to give her a bottle - another first. As the little girl suckled on the teat, she marvelled at the perfection of her mouth, her long dark eyelashes and big bright brown eyes. The baby stared up at her intently with a look that seemed to say, “You’re not my mommy or daddy, but you’re feeding me so that’s ok.” Soon the bottle was empty and Maddy explained to her that she would need to “burp” the baby. Obligingly, Wren let out an almighty burp for such a tiny person then uttered a soft whimper of a cry.
“I think she gave herself a fright,” laughed Lori, settling the little one in her arms.
“She’s done that a few times,” admitted Maddy as she laid Hayden on her shoulder, rubbing his back gently. “It’s as though she knows it’s not ladylike whereas this young man would release gas all day and not flinch!”
“Typical guy!”
With Paul out of the house, the two friends spent the afternoon enjoying a good “Girl’s Club” chat. Understandably, it was initially centred round the babies and the trials and challenges of getting through the day with them. Both babies fell asleep as the girls talked and eventually conversation moved on to music and art and Silver Lake.
“Jason called yesterday,” commented Maddy as she put Hayden down in the stroller to continue his nap.
“Not about work, surely?” asked Lori, reluctantly putting Wren in beside her brother.
“Yup,” replied Maddy. “He wanted to know if I was planning on going on the festival circuit over the summer with the band.”
“He’s something else that guy! What did you tell him?”
“That I’d think about it,” confessed Maddy quietly.
“You wouldn’t take the twins out on tour so soon surely?”
“I don’t know,” said Maddy with a sigh. “It’s not like a regular tour. I told him to ask me again at the end of June. Paul’s already said he wants the three of us with him if it’s practical.”
“I guess you’ve got plenty of time to work out the logistics. I know Grey’s keen to take Becky with him. Maybe between you, you could hire a nanny to watch all the kids,” suggested Lori, silently thinking that it sounded a nightmare of an idea.
As promised, Paul returned shortly after four looking more relaxed. Excusing himself, he went through to the study with his laptop, explaining that Jake had given him some tracks to work on before the band got together next day.
“Oh, Lori,” he exclaimed as he left the room. “Jake asked me to tell you to pick up some paint for the fence on the way home. That kid arrived as I was leaving.”
“Thanks, Paul,” said Lori. “I’d better make a move if I’ve to go to the hardware store on the way back.”
“Do you have to go so soon?” Maddy asked.
“I’d better,” said Lori with a smile. “I don’t want to get caught in traffic. Why don’t you all come over on Sunday?”
“Oh our first family outing!” proclaimed the new mother. “I’d love to! After lunch?”
“Whenever you are ready,” said Lori, lifting her bag. “If it’s nice, we can BBQ.”
“Sounds wonderful!” Maddy declared with a smile.
It was over an hour later before Lori pulled into the driveway at the beach house. She had stopped off to buy some white paint for the fence and some paint brushes, but had then got stuck in the late afternoon traffic on the highway. Leaving the paint in the car, she entered the house via the back door. There were voices and acoustic guitar music coming from the sun room. Quickly she poured herself a glass of water, then wandered through to see how the lesson was progressing.
“Hi, Miss Hyde,” called Todd cheerfully when he spotted her in the doorway.
“Hi. And its Lori, Todd,” she corrected.
“We won’t be long, li’l lady,” said Jake with a grin. “Fifteen more minutes.”
“Ok,” replied Lori turning to leave. “Oh, I got the paint. It’s still in the car.”
“We’ll fetch it when we are through here,” promised Jake then he returned his focus to his student. “Once more from the top, Todd.”
Leaving them to finish the lesson, Lori headed through to the study to check her emails. The gentle strains of guitar music were almost soothing as she read her way through the messages.
It didn’t take long to deal with the handful of mails and to delete the usual barrage of junk mail. There was a response to her “zombie drain” design. The artiste had approved it and requested that she expand on it and add four T-shirt designs to the commission. She referred them to David to re-negotiate the costs involved, relieved that the design had been approved so quickly. For a few moments she sat studying the design, trying to work out which bits to extract for the T-shirt designs. Lifting her sketch pad and a pencil, she began to roughly draw one of the faces, trying to visualise it tearing through the cloth of a T-shirt. Engrossed in the gross drawing, Lori didn’t notice that Jake’s fifteen minutes stretched to almost an hour. It was the squeal of the patio door sliding over that brought her back to the present.
“School’s out,” declared Jake a few moments later as he walked past her work space. “How was Maddy?”
“She’s doing great,” said Lori, closing over her sketchpad. “The twins are gorgeous. I invited them all over on Sunday.”
“You are remembering that the boys and I are going out tomorrow to celebrate the twins’ arrival?”
Lori nodded. “I just felt that Maddy could do with a change of scenery. She’s not been out of the house in over a week.”
“It’s fine with me. Paul might not be so keen. He was planning to party tomorrow night,”
“So there’s a reasonable chance he’ll be here?”
“If I was a gambling man,” began Jake, “I’d say yes.”
“I see tomorrow night getting messy,” prophesied Lori. “Now, what’s the plan for dinner, rock star?”
Neither of them could be bothered cooking so Jake suggested they go into town for some sushi. It had been a while since they had been to their favourite sushi restaurant and Lori didn’t take much persuading. As they left the house a few minutes later, she handed the car keys to Jake and asked him to drive. With the rock radio station playing loudly, they headed into town. Cars lined the street outside the restaurant and Jake had to circle a couple of times before finally securing a space two blocks away. Putting a protective arm around Lori’s shoulder, they walked back down the street. He noticed that Lori was walking better than she had been for a while. Her cane and her limp never bothered him, but he worried about her if she seemed to be limping more than usual. Today, despite her trip out to Maddy’s, was obviously a good day.
The restaurant was busy when they finally arrived, but the hostess said they had a table ready. Soon they were seated at the corner table in the window, browsing the familiar menu. When the server returned with their drinks, she asked if they were ready to order. Without a second glance at the menu, Lori ordered for both of them.
“You’d think we’d been here before,” teased Jake as the girl headed back towards the kitchen.
Giggling, Lori confessed, “I just ordered all my favourites.”
“I noticed,” commented Jake, smiling at her. He sat staring at her for a few moments, then reached over to take her hand. “Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight, li’l lady?”
Blushing, Lori lowered her eyes, fixing her gaze on the edge of the table.
“It’s easy to forget how lucky I am,” he continued softly, still holding her hand. Fingering her engagement ring, he added, “I don’t know what I’d have done if you’d said no.”
“Someone’s in a romantic mood,” observed Lori with a smile. “What’s brought this on?”
Shrugging his shoulders, Jake said, “I’m not sure. A song I was working on earlier. A few things Paul was talking about. Got me thinking.”
“Happy thoughts?”
“Some of them,” he admitted. “Song was quite deep and emotional. Stirred up a few memories.”
“The dangers of looking inside yourself,” she observed, before taking a sip of her white wine spritzer.
“I guess,” he conceded, then raised his beer. “Here’s to us. To long life, good health and happy thoughts.”
“Amen to that.”
By the time they had paid the check and were leaving the sushi bar, it was growing late. Most of their fellow diners were long gone. Only two other tables were still occupied. Their hostess wished them a safe journey home as she held the door open for them. Outside a small group of their fellow diners were standing chatting. Spotting Jake and Lori, one of the women approached them.
“Excuse me,” she began politely. “Can you help settle an argument please?”
“If we can,” said Jake, taking Lori’s hand.
“Are you the singer with Silver Lake?”
“Perhaps,” replied Jake with a smile. “Depends on why you are asking?”
“My friend here recognised you from the Surfside festival last year, but the guys say we’re wrong,” she explained, looking a little awkward. “They say you’re a teacher at one of the local high schools.”
“What if you’re both right?” teased Jake.
“Jake, stop it!” laughed Lori, unable to control the fit of the giggles that was welling up inside her.
“Sorry,” he apologised sincerely. “Yes, I sing with Silver Lake and yes, I taught at the high school.”
“I knew it!” exclaimed the young woman. She turned to her friends and declared, “We were all right. Kind of.”
“Is there anything else I can help you with?” asked Jake.
“An autograph would be nice,” she said, rummaging in her bag for a pen. She produced a fine tipped marker pen and handed it to him.
“Do you have a piece of paper?” he asked, tugging the lid off the pen.
“Sign here please,” she said, sliding down the waistband of her jeans. “Across my hip.”
“Are you serious? This is a permanent marker.”
“Deadly serious. I’ll get it inked in tomorrow. I’m going anyway.”
“Tattooed!” exclaimed Jake in disbelief. “You want my signature tattooed on your hip?”
“Is that a problem?”
“Not at all, but that’s a hell of a commitment,” responded Jake, glancing over at Lori. “It’s your body though. Just my signature?”
“Yes, unless you want to add a design.”
“I’ll leave designs to Lori,” commented Jake as he carefully autographed the girl’s skin. “There you go, angel.”
“Mz Hyde?” asked the girl. “Can I tempt you to add something? And your signature too?”
As Lori was about to decline, Jake gently nudged her, “Go on, li’l lady. Dress up that name.”
“If you say so, rock star,” said Lori taking the pen. “Hold still, honey.”
Quickly she drew a few musical notes below Jake’s signature, then signed her own name.
“Will that do?”
“Perfect,” declared the young woman. “Thank you so much. Sorry for interrupting your evening.”
“I have to ask,” began Jake, curiosity getting the better of him. “Why?”
“Why ink anything?” countered the girl. “I’ve collected a few over the years. Rock stars. Actors.”
“So who else has signed your body?”
“Here. See for yourself,” she replied, bending over and lifting up her T-shirt. Much to Jake’s amazement, her entire back was covered in signatures and doodles. He recognised Dan Crow from Weigh Station’s autograph, Slash’s, complete with drawing and the date, Lemmy’s from Motorhead, plus at least half a dozen award winning actors.
“Wow!” he exclaimed. “That’s some collection. And you’ve met them all?”
“Every last one for a few precious moments,” she replied proudly.
“I’m honoured to be asked to join the collection. It’s a motley crew,” said Jake, still amazed by the array of names in front of him.
“They’ve signed up too,” she joked. “Thank you for being so sweet about this.”
“Who’s going to ink it in for you?”
“Danny,” she replied. “Who else?”
“Touché!” laughed Jake. “Tell him I said hello.”
“You know him?�
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“He’s done all of my own ink,” explained Jake. “Now we really need to get going. Good luck with the tattoo.”
“Night,” she called. “And thanks again.”
Jake was still marvelling at the eccentric young woman’s request when they reached the car. Her tattoo collection prompted a discussion about why people choose to have certain images added to their skin. The debate continued until they reached the house. Both of them agreed that tattoos were very personal things; both of them agreed that celebrity autographs were a unique form of self-expression and not one that either of them intended to copy.
“So what’s your next addition to the art gallery going to be, rock star?” asked Lori as they entered the house.
“Still trying to decide on that one,” he replied. “I know where. I just don’t know what. What about you?”
“I’m undecided,” she admitted. “But I suspect there may be a second one at some point.”
“I told you so,” teased Jake. “One’s never enough.”
♫
Sun shone down on Rehoboth next day, sending the mercury levels soaring up into the low eighties. As the morning wound towards noon, the various members of Silver Lake arrived at the beach house to rehearse. Gary, with Scott in tow, was the last to arrive. The basement studio felt crowded with all six of them crammed in. After a while, Gary called them all to attention and asked what they expected to achieve from the band meeting.
“A time frame for getting the record done for a start,” stated Rich bluntly.
“Some loose agreement on the new songs we’ve been working on,” added Jake.
“Ok, that’s a start,” agreed Gary glancing round at the band. “Here’s where I’m at with Jason and the record company. They want the album recorded by the end of July with a provisional release date of October 7th. I called Dr Marrs yesterday and confirmed the dates that he’s available. I’ve provisionally booked out his time from June 10th through until around the end of July. We have a few days there to play with. That’s assuming that you want to work with him again?”
“So that gives us about six weeks to finish writing and agree on arrangements?” quizzed Grey.
Impossible Depths (Silver Lake series Book 2) Page 5
