Satisfied that the young girl was in safe hands, Lori wandered back over to the BBQ to see her fiancé. Without her cane to steady her, she was extra careful as she made her way towards him.
“Having fun, li’l lady?” asked Jake as she reached him.
“I still can’t believe you organised all this,” she replied, hugging him tight. “I love you, rock star.”
“Love you too.”
Their intimate moment was interrupted by the arrival of Jake’s brother, Simon. He appeared from the path beside the house, carrying a huge bouquet of flowers and a bottle of champagne. Setting his gifts on the table, he swept Lori up into a warm hug, wishing her a very happy birthday. He kissed her on both cheeks, then turned to greet his young brother. Spying her brothers together, Lucy came rushing over and threw her arms round both of them.
“I’ve brought a guest,” said Simon calmly. “I hope that’s alright.”
“Of course. The more the merrier,” declared Lori brightly. “Where have you left them?”
“Sitting in the car,” he replied, looking a little anxious.
“It’s not another new woman is it?” teased his young sister.
“Not at all,” he answered. “It’s Peter.”
Both Lucy and Lori exchanged worried glances, then both turned to look at Jake, trying to gauge his reaction. His face was a mask of calm as he focussed on turning over the shrimp on the grill. Silence hung in the air among them. Laying the tongs aside, he finally spoke. “Grab yourself a drink, Simon, I’ll go and fetch him.”
“Are you sure this is ok, Jake?” asked his brother.
“I’ll go and fetch him,” repeated Jake, his voice void of all emotion.
They watched him stride round the side of the house without a backwards glance.
Out in front of the house, the driveway was crammed with cars. It was easy to identify Simon’s rental car with the company logo emblazoned down the length of it. The passenger door was open and Jake could see his eldest brother sitting in the seat with his head bowed. Even from this distance, he looked pale and drawn. The two brothers hadn’t seen each other for the better part of six years. Their last conversation, at their mother’s wake, had been decidedly hostile, when Peter had confronted Jake directly about his drug abuse. His words still rang loud and clear in Jake’s memory. Taking a deep breath, he walked over to the car.
“Peter,” he said calmly.
His brother looked up. “Jacob.”
“It’s Jake,” he corrected, his voice level and quiet.
“My apology,” said Peter with a sigh, “One of many I owe you.”
“Many?”
“I was a complete bastard towards you at mom’s memorial. I’m sorry,” apologised Peter, his tone sincere. Avoiding looking Jake in the eye, he added, “I should’ve tried to reach out to you then. Tried to help you. I didn’t. I let her down.”
“That was a long time ago,” began Jake, hearing his brother’s scornful words echo from the past in his mind. “Let’s leave that shit back there. Fresh start?”
“More than I deserve,” replied Peter, with a rueful smile. “But a fresh start sounds good to me.”
“Come and get a beer,” suggested Jake with a warm smile. “And I’ll introduce you to the birthday girl herself.”
“Best idea I’ve heard all day,” agreed his brother as he swung his long legs out of the car. The movement seemed to make him flinch and he let out a low groan.
“You ok?” asked Jake, getting a sudden sense that all was not well.
“Didn’t Simon say?”
“Say what?”
“The reason he got sent overseas and then back here to Dover was to escort me home,” admitted Peter, his voice quiet and self-conscious. “I was wounded in action. He flew in with me and my boys. I lost four good men out there, Jake.”
“Sorry to hear that,” replied Jake, fully understanding what it meant to his brother to lose his crew. He’d heard his father talk about it long enough and often enough over the years. “And you?”
Standing up a little unsteadily, Peter drew himself up to his full height of six feet five and shrugged his shoulders. The action caused a grimace of pain to wash over his pale face. The short sleeve of his checked shirt hung empty on the left.
“Shit,” muttered Jake, feeling the blood drain from his face as he spotted the bandaged stump below the hem of the sleeve. “I’m sorry. I…. “
“Don’t, Jake,” said Peter swallowing hard. “I’m alive. I’ll get over this. My men won’t.”
Without another word, Jake reached out and hugged his brother. Neither of them said anything; the silent exchange healing years of ill feeling.
“Let’s get you that beer,” said Jake warmly.
“Thanks. I think I need it.”
Together they walked back round to the sun deck. From the tear-stained look on Lucy’s face, it was clear that Simon had explained what had happened to their brother. When she saw him, she rushed towards him, flinging her arms round his waist and sobbing quietly into his broad chest.
“Sh. I’m ok, Lucy,” he said, smoothing her hair gently. “Don’t cry.”
“Oh, Pete, I’m so sorry,” she sobbed.
“I’m alive. I’m here,” said her eldest brother calmly. “Now I thought this was a party?”
“It is,” confirmed Jake, who was standing close by with his arm around Lori. “And let me introduce you to the birthday girl, my fiancée, Lori Hyde.”
“Nice to finally meet you,” said Lori with a smile.
“The pleasure’s all mine,” said Peter, taking her hand and kissing it theatrically. “Happy Birthday, Mz Hyde.”
“Thank you,” she replied, blushing at another demonstration of the Power charm. “Come and get a drink.”
As afternoon wound its way towards evening, the party spread out throughout the house. Early on, Todd and Kate had made their excuses and left, hand in hand. After hours of playing on the beach with Becky, Lucy’s two sons were exhausted. The three weary children were contentedly sprawled on the couches in the sunroom watching cartoons. In the lounge, David, his wife and Linsey were all chatting with Grey about education in the area. Everyone else was still out in the sun, including the twins who were contentedly lying in their mother’s arms. From her seat on the sun lounger, Lori subtly watched the three Power brothers chatting together over at the grill. They appeared relaxed in each other’s company, the past well and truly left behind them. Peter eventually stepped away and wandered off down towards the beach on his own. Without making a fuss, Lori picked up her cane and casually followed him down onto the sand. The air force captain hadn’t gone far. He was standing at the shoreline gazing out across the vast ocean.
“Any dolphins?” asked Lori as she approached him.
“Pardon?”
“Dolphins,” she repeated with a smile. “They usually come by here around this time of day. I love watching them.”
“I haven’t seen any,” replied Peter quietly. “I was lost in my own world.”
“I’ve stood here often enough lost in mine too,” commented Lori, casually leaning on her cane for support. “The ocean’s good for healing the soul.”
He turned to face her and nodded, noticing her cane for the first time.
“Simon said you would understand. You’ve made quite an impression on him.”
Reaching out to touch his hand, Lori said, “I understand about pain. About injury. About loss. The healing has to come from within, Peter. I came here after my accident to recover physically and mentally. It takes time.”
“It’s been a few weeks though….”
“Peter,” interrupted Lori softly. “Don’t rush it. You need to go through all the emotions. The anger. The grief. The “why me?” You have to allow yourself to go through it before you can pick up the pieces. You’ll get there. We all do in our own time.”
“Jake’s a lucky man,” commented Peter taking her hand. “I’m not too proud to admit I was scared
about coming here today. I said a lot of things to him the last time that we met that I’ve regretted. I wasn’t sure I’d be welcome.”
“I can understand that, but surely Simon reassured you?”
“He tried.”
“Come on back up to the house,” Lori suggested warmly. “We’re missing the party.”
As they turned to walk back across the sand, Peter said, “Do you think Jake would play his guitar for me? It’s a long time since I’ve heard him play.”
“You can ask,” said Lori. “He doesn’t usually take much persuading.”
Like all good parties, it had found its way into the kitchen by late on in the evening. Most of the guests had said good night but Grey, Rob and the three Power brothers were congregated in the kitchen talking NASCAR. In the sun room, the three children were sound asleep on the couch. After some persuading, Lucy had agreed to stay overnight instead of leaving to find a motel. Leaving the sleeping children, the two girls fetched some wine and retired to the lounge to chat. Eventually the boys wandered through, beers in hand, to join them. As Jake settled himself on the floor, leaning back against Lori’s chair, she leaned forward and whispered in his ear. Nodding, he got up and disappeared down to the basement. When he came back into the lounge, he was carrying two acoustic guitars. With a wink, he passed one to Grey.
“The birthday girl has requested some music,” he teased as he sat down again. “Grey, you ok to help out with that?”
“For a while, then I need to get Becky home,” replied the bass player. “Plus Dr Marrs is expecting me in the morning.”
“Message received,” said Jake as he adjusted the tuning. “Track six, if you please. I want to try something.”
Grey nodded. “I’ll do my best. Not my usual weapon of choice. Too many strings.”
The new, unfinished song was unfamiliar to Lori and she wasn’t prepared for the powerful intro to it. Music filled the room as Grey played a simple bass line, then Jake began the lyric. His voice was warm and rich, the song teasing out a fresh depth and warmth. In the rocking chair by the fireplace, Peter sat mesmerised, totally entranced by his brother’s impromptu performance. With the new track out of the road, Jake began the intro to Simple Man knowing it was one of Lori’s favourites.
“Encore!” declared Peter when the song ended.
“Not from me,” said Grey, resting the guitar against the wall. “I need to get Becky home and I need my beauty sleep.”
After Grey had departed, Peter asked Jake to play some more. As Lori had said, he didn’t take much persuading and contentedly played a variety of rock classics and Silver Lake songs until after midnight.
“I’m done,” he stated after playing Maggie May at Lucy’s request.
“That was incredible!” enthused his young sister. “When do we get to see you on stage next?”
“End of July,” replied Jake with a yawn. “We’re playing a rock festival near Bethlehem.”
“I’ll be in the front row!” promised his sister proudly.
“And we’ll be right beside you to make sure you behave,” added Peter, with a wink to Simon.
“Well, let’s see what I can sort out,” said Jake. “I’ll talk to Gary about VIP passes, if you guys are serious.”
“I’m serious!” Lucy stated emphatically.
“We’d never have guessed,” teased Simon glancing at his watch. “Peter, we’d better get going. The search party will be out for us.”
“I suppose,” said Peter getting reluctantly to his feet. “Thank you for a fantastic day.”
“Come back any time,” said Lori, genuinely meaning it. “How long are you in Dover for?”
“I’m not sure,” replied Peter. “Maybe a few weeks. Maybe long term.”
“I’m leaving tomorrow night,” added Simon, searching in his pocket for his car key.
“Well, we’re around for the next few weeks,” said Lori. “If you want to come over just pick up the phone and one of us will drive up and get you.”
“I’d like that,” said Peter giving her a hug.
Listening to the sound of his brother-in-law snoring in the guest bedroom, Jake lay awake, sleep evading him. He cast his mind back over the day. It felt like he was the one who got the biggest surprise at Lori’s surprise party. Seeing his elder brother again after all those years had been a shock. In the dark, he reflected on his relationship with Peter as they had grown up. He was five years Jake’s senior and was always right – something he never let Jake forget as a kid. Seeing a vulnerable, softer side to Peter at the party had been alien to Jake. Both his air force focussed brothers had always appeared so upright, strong and invincible. To see Peter, wounded as he had been, had been tough. Tough to handle; tough to accept.
Under the duvet beside him, Lori wriggled into a more comfortable position. When they had come to bed, she had declared it had been the best birthday she had ever had. Now, as she lay asleep beside him Jake realised he had forgotten to give her his gift.
His mind wandered away from family towards the band’s new album and to the songs he had been asked to re-work. In his heart, he knew Dr Marrs was right about the lyrics from the two tracks. A theme had been gradually emerging for the new record so it felt right to re-work those songs in a sense. In another, Jake felt it would destroy them, turn them into something other than the vision he had had for them. The only alternative was to come up with two new songs. Staring up at the ceiling as if it was a computer screen, showing the inventory of material that he had to draw from, Jake began to recall an entirely different melody- one from a long time ago; one from his own dark days. Hearing the melody playing in his head, he silently tried to compose a chorus for it and a strong riff.
Creativity drove any thought of sleep from his mind. Soundlessly, Jake slipped out of bed, hauled on a T-shirt and a pair of jeans, then crept out of the room and down the hallway towards the door to the basement. Despite his best efforts, the door creaked loudly as he eased it open and squealed again in protest as he closed it behind him. Once downstairs, he switched on the lights and his laptop, then trawled through his music files until he found what he was looking for. He listened to the melody a few times, then picked up his guitar. Conscious that he didn’t want to wake the entire household, Jake tried to work the song out softly. It was one of those rare, precious nights when everything fell into place. The old scrap of music became the foundation stone for a new Silver Lake anthem. Lyrics flowed effortlessly from his pen onto the pages of his journal. Jake wrote from his brother’s perspective about the loss of his men, loss of his limb and of a dark night engulfing him. Focussing on creating the guitar solo for the midpoint of the song vanquished any lingering thoughts of sleep.
In the kitchen next morning, Lucy and Lori were relaxing over their coffee when Rich knocked at the back door, before striding in. Without waiting to be asked, he poured himself a coffee and joined them at the table.
“You hungry?” asked Lori. “There’s bacon in the refrigerator or there’s bagels over in the drawer.”
“Coffee’s good, thanks,” he replied. “I need to be away by three. I’ve to pick Linsey up. Where’s Jake?”
“I’m not sure,” confessed Lori. “He might have gone for a run. I haven’t seen him this morning.”
“He’ll turn up,” said Rich with a smile. “He always does eventually. So what’s your plans for the day?”
“We’re heading home,” said Lucy sadly. “Rob needs to get back for work.”
“You know that you and the boys are welcome to stay,” offered Lori warmly.
“It’s tempting,” sighed Lucy. “Very tempting.”
“Why not stay on for a few days?” quizzed Rich. “Could your husband drive back down on Friday night?”
“He could. And the boys would love to be at the beach for a few days.”
“It’s up to you,” said Lori, getting up to fetch the coffee pot to refill their mugs. “I’ve some work to finish off this week, but you can walk into town fro
m here. Jake’ll be coming and going too.”
“Let me go and talk to Rob,” Lucy stated. “If he’s ok with coming back down next weekend, we’ll stay.”
Excusing herself, she went off to find her husband, leaving Rich and Lori at the table. Draining his mug, Rich said, “I’m going to head downstairs and make a start.”
“I’ll send Jake down when he shows up.”
Nodding, Rich poured himself another coffee, then headed down to the basement studio. A few moments later he was back in the kitchen, trying hard not to laugh.
“What’s up?” asked Lori curiously.
“Come and see your rock star,” laughed Rich, taking her hand and leading her towards the door.
When they reached the bottom step, Lori tried hard to stifle a giggle. The band had spread a few old rugs around the basement and Jake was curled up sound asleep in the centre of one, using a soft guitar bag as a pillow.
“Will you waken him or will I?” asked Rich quietly.
“Oh, I think you should,” whispered Lori with a mischievous grin. “Musically.”
“I hear you, Mz Hyde.”
Without disturbing the sleeping musician, Rich crept over to the far side of the room, picked up a guitar, plugged it in and began to play the intro to “Smoke On The Water” at full volume.
“What the….” screeched Jake as he sat bolt upright.
Instantly the music stopped, only to be replaced by the helpless laughter of Rich and Lori. Lying back down on the carpet, with his heart pounding, Jake began to see the funny side of it.
“Thanks, guys,” he muttered as he got awkwardly to his feet. “What time is it?”
“Almost nine,” giggled Lori. “Have you been down here all night?”
Jake nodded as he ran his hands through his hair. “I couldn’t sleep so I came down here to write. It was after five before I lay down there.”
“Why didn’t you come back to bed?” asked Lori, giving him a hug.
“The intention was to close my eyes for a few minutes, then to get back to work. Guess I fell asleep.”
Impossible Depths (Silver Lake series Book 2) Page 10
