Living on the edge in LA,
Has never been a crime
LA gets too hot,
New York seems too cold
The girls keep getting younger,
Or maybe you’re getting old
All the stories you’ve been telling,
Have already been told
All the dreams you’ve been selling,
Have already been sold
“Is this about me, Maggie?” Justin asked.
“Well, not really. It kind of started out about you and then I think there is a part in there that’s about Zak. It’s just fiction, all jumbled up, based on my experiences.”
“This doesn’t sound like a bluegrass or country song,” he said.
“I know, it’s definitely a rock song. I think I want to start singing in a rock band again, Justin. I had so much fun last night.”
“I think that might be a good idea. Do you want me to come up with some music for your lyrics?”
“Yes please, Justin. I’m sure you could come up with something great.”
“O.k., I’ll give it a shot later if I have some time alone in the studio.”
They went back inside the house to find that the children had emerged from the basement and were rummaging around in the kitchen trying to find something to eat for breakfast. Justin got some milk and orange juice out of the refrigerator as the older kids poured cereal in bowls for everyone. Justin poured the juice into glasses for the kids and then proceeded to start some coffee. Denise came out of her bedroom wrapped up in a long terry cloth bathrobe. She smiled at Justin and Maggie.
“It looks like you have everything under control. We should have a couple hours of relative peace and quiet before everyone starts arriving for the barbeque. It should be a pretty big crowd.”
Maggie turned to Justin and said, “If you think we might want to stay a few extra days, maybe I should call Tucker now.”
“O.k. Maggie, that might be a good idea.”
“There’s a phone in the master bedroom Maggie, if you would like some privacy.” Denise led Maggie to the bedroom and showed her the phone. Justin poured himself a cup of coffee and went outside to sit on the deck. After a couple of minutes, Ray joined him.
“That was a lot of fun last night, Justin. I thought Maggie sounded great singing with the band.”
“Yeah, she did. She’s an amazing singer, she can sing anything.”
“She sure can,” Ray agreed. “So what’s the deal with you two? Any chance that you have an open relationship?”
“What are you saying, Ray?”
“Well, I hope you won’t take offense at this, but I think Maggie is extremely attractive. I was just wondering if you two were exclusive.”
“I’m not offended, but I am hoping that Maggie is going to marry me.”
“Oh o.k., Justin. No problem, you can’t blame me for trying.”
“No, I can’t,” Justin replied and smiled at his friend.
Just then, Maggie returned from making her phone call. She sat down next to Justin and Ray.
“What’s up you two?” she asked.
“Not too much,” Justin said with a slightly guilty look on his face. “How did your phone call to Tucker go?”
“O.k., he encouraged me to stay longer. He said he thought it was good for you and Jake to have some extra time together.”
“Well, I guess we should change the plane reservations then. We might have to postpone the trip to Boston for a while if Jake is going to start school on time.”
“That’s probably a good idea, Justin. I’m sure my parents will understand. Maybe we can go visit them over Thanksgiving.”
“If we’re going to change the reservations, maybe we can take some time to go back to San Francisco for a day or two. I’d like to take the kids to Chinatown and maybe you’d like to see Berkeley, Maggie, since that’s where your parents met.”
“That might be nice. We probably won’t be back here for a while,” Maggie said.
“I hope that’s not true, Maggie,” Ray said. “You and the kids are always welcome to visit any time you want.”
“Thanks, Ray,” Maggie said and smiled at him.
Justin took one last swallow of his coffee and said to Maggie, “It looks like things might be relatively quiet for an hour or two. I think I’ll go down to the studio and see if I can work on your song. Can you watch the kids for a while?”
“Of course Justin, thanks.”
After Justin left, Ray brought out an acoustic guitar from his bedroom.
“The kids are playing happily down in the playroom, Maggie. Why don’t you sing a few songs with me?”
“O.k., maybe just a few while we wait for Justin to get back.”
Ray was obviously familiar with Maggie’s albums because he played a few of the songs that she was known for, like “Truck Stop Girl” and “Light in the Darkness”. Then he started to play the Beatles tune “Here Comes the Sun”. Maggie stopped singing so that she could listen to him better, and realized that he was an incredible fingerstyle guitarist. When he was finished, he started playing and singing the “Hesitation Blues”.
“Well, a nickel is a nickel,
I said, a dime is a dime.
I need a new gal,
She won’t mind.
Tell me how long
Do I have to wait?
Can I get you now,
I said, must I hesitate?”
Ray looked deeply in Maggie’s eyes as he sang it, until she felt herself start to blush.
“I’ve always loved Hot Tuna,” she said.
“How about the Jefferson Airplane’s ‘Somebody to Love’, Maggie? You’d sound great on that. We should do a set of covers of tunes by San Francisco bands.”
“Not a bad idea,” said Justin as he walked up the stairs to the deck.
Ray started playing an intro to the song, and Justin laughed.
“It definitely needs an electric guitar and bass,” he said.
Maggie started singing Grace Slick’s signature song and Justin joined her with a harmony on the chorus. When they were done, Ray said “That definitely has possibilities. Why don’t we try it again later with the rest of the band.”
Ray went into the house to see how Denise was coming along with the food preparations, leaving Maggie and Justin alone on the deck.
“You might want to be careful around Ray,” Justin said. “He’s a lot like Zak as far as women are concerned, only even worse.”
Maggie laughed. “It’s o.k. Justin, I can take care of myself. I had already figured that out.”
Justin smiled at her and didn’t say anything more. He reached for Ray’s acoustic guitar which he had left leaning against the deck railing.
“Do you want to hear your song, Maggie?”
“Did you finish it already?”
“Yes, you have to imagine it being played by a full rock band though.”
Then Justin played the song all the way through. Ray came back out from the house during the middle of the song and listened carefully.
“What’s that song?” he asked when Justin had finished.
“That’s a song that Maggie and I wrote today. What do you think, Maggie?”
“I love the music you wrote for it, Justin. Maybe we can try playing it together a little later.”
“Maybe I can play it with you,” said Ray. “That’s going to need some electric guitars.”
“At the least,” Maggie said and laughed.
.
Chapter 17
As the afternoon progressed, more and more guests arrived. Maggie hung around in the kitchen with the women and helped prepare food for the barbeque. She made some potato salad from a recipe that she had learned from Spencer. It had mustard in it and small pieces of bacon. She also helped Denise make a large salad, slicing the organic tomatoes and cucumbers with great care so that she wouldn’t cut herself.
“Do you need some help with that, Maggie?” Denise asked. Justin had pulled her aside previously
to let her know that Maggie was vision impaired.
“No, I’m fine. I can do it, it just takes me a while.”
As Maggie was finishing the salad, the children came running in from the back deck. An additional four kids had joined the group since the morning. Maggie laughed to herself, thinking that they were starting to look like a small herd. The children availed themselves of some snacks and then disappeared again into the back yard.
Justin walked over to Maggie and put his arms around her waist. He whispered in her ear, “The rest of the band is here. I’m going to go down to the studio for a while and play. Do you want to come join us?”
Maggie looked at the other women for a moment.
“Maggie, I’ll watch the kids if you want to go play for a while,” Denise said.
“Thanks, Denise. I think I would like to do that.”
So Justin and Maggie walked over to the studio. The drummer was just finishing setting up his drums, and the keyboard player was playing some riffs on his Hammond organ. Four people were huddled around in one corner of the studio and Maggie could hear some intermittent sniffing going on. She looked at Justin and he gave a little shrug.
“Here, let me get your mandolin out for you, Maggie,” he said.
He took out the mandolin and pulled a chair over in front of a microphone. Maggie sat down and started to tune the mandolin as Justin pulled his bass out of its case. Ray picked up his acoustic guitar and came over to stand next to Maggie.
“I hope you’re careful that the kids don’t see you doing coke Ray,” Maggie said. “I had a lot of problems with my ex-husband in that respect.”
“Sorry, Maggie. We’ll make sure we’re careful about that.”
“O.k.,” she said. “What do you feel like playing?”
“Why don’t we start off with some low-key bluegrass tunes. Justin told me that this is your favorite tune,” and Ray started playing “Little Maggie”.
Maggie laughed and rolled her eyes at Justin.
“Thanks,” she said. “I’m starting to feel haunted by this damn song,” but she played mandolin along with the others.
Although Justin’s band primarily played rock and roll, they often played a bluegrass set. One of the reasons they had picked Justin to play in their band was because he had won a Grammy award for playing bass with Maggie’s bluegrass band as well as being nominated for a Grammy award for playing with the Bayou Blasters. Like Maggie, Justin was a versatile musician who could play in any musical genre.
The band proceeded to run through a dozen bluegrass standards, some of the tunes like “Dark Hollow” and “Shady Grove” they had learned from the Grateful Dead. Maggie had spent quite a few hours during her college years listening to the Dead, so she knew all those songs too. The band had obviously listened to Maggie’s album because they requested that she sing a few songs from that, songs like “I Still Miss Someone” and “Wait a Minute”. After a mellow hour-long set of acoustic music, the band decided to take a break to have some food. When they returned, the sound level increased exponentially as the guitarists plugged their electric guitars into their amplifiers and the drums and Hammond organ were added to the band.
The guests were still outside eating barbeque, so Ray suggested that maybe they start off by learning the new song that Maggie and Justin had written over the weekend. Justin borrowed Dave’s Les Paul so that he could lead them in the song. After a few times through, Dave took over as rhythm guitarist, Ray played lead and Justin returned to playing bass. Maggie sang lead and Justin sang harmony. It was an up tempo blues/rock song with a memorable melody. When they finished, Ray and Dave looked at Maggie and Justin approvingly.
“That song really kicks ass, you guys. We should play it at the gig and maybe record it sometime,” Ray said.
Maggie and Justin smiled at each other.
“You guys certainly did it justice,” Maggie said. “That was a lot of fun.”
The band then went on to play a two-hour set of very loud rock and roll. Maggie sang lead on “Somebody to Love” and “Piece of My Heart” and then sang harmony on the band’s signature tunes. After a while, she started having trouble hearing herself over the instruments. She noticed that her ears were starting to ring a little in between songs, so she told the band that she was going to take a break for a while.
She went back to the house to sit on the deck. From there she could see the children running around the yard with glow sticks. Maggie’s children seemed unusually excited, maybe from being around so many other kids or because of the loud music. Denise brought out some marshmallows from the kitchen and took them over to the barbeque where she supervised the kids roasting them on sticks over the embers. When they were done eating the marshmallows, Denise came over and joined Maggie on the deck.
“The boys are pretty loud tonight,” she said. “I usually won’t let the kids in the studio when they’re playing like that.”
“Yeah, I had to leave because I noticed my ears were starting to ring.”
“Ray is starting to have hearing problems, so I wish they would turn it down. I keep ear plugs around so sometimes I’ll let the kids go in to hear the music if they’re wearing them.”
“One of the problems with living with a rock musician,” Maggie commiserated.
“I guess you would know about that Maggie,” Denise said. “Not to mention the drugs and the women. Ray likes to think that we have an open marriage, but that’s just his excuse for fooling around. I don’t think he would like it too much if I was sleeping with his friends.”
“No, he probably wouldn’t,” Maggie said quietly.
“It’s none of my business, but I was wondering if you and Justin were in a committed relationship,” Denise asked. “We always kind of wondered what was going on with him. There were always a lot of beautiful women throwing themselves at him, but he never seemed that attracted to them. When he told us that he had a child with you, then we realized that might have been the reason for his disinterest.”
“Actually, Justin asked me to marry him, but I’m not sure if I’m ready for that. I had a really rough time going through my divorce from my first husband Zak.”
“We assumed from that article in Time magazine that you were married to Tucker Travis.”
“I think a lot of people had that impression. Tucker and I were planning to get married until Justin came home and we found out that he was Jake’s father. It kind of changed everything.”
“Justin seems a lot different these days. He seems more serious and responsible. He obviously loves Jake. And Maggie, he seems to love you too. I’ve never seen him be physically affectionate with other women, the way he is with you.”
Maggie and Denise halted their conversation as they heard footsteps coming up the stairs to the deck. Justin and Ray emerged from the darkness and sat down next to Maggie and Denise.
“How are the kids doing?” Justin asked.
“Oh they’re fine, they came in a little earlier and went down to the playroom to watch a video. I think they’re finally starting to get tired.” Denise answered.
“Maybe we should put Jake to bed, Maggie. He probably shouldn’t stay up too much later.”
“You’re probably right, Justin.”
Maggie and Justin went into the house and walked down the stairs to the playroom. The kids were in their sleeping bags watching “The Little Mermaid”. Jake could barely keep his eyes open.
“Jake, it’s time for you to go to bed,” Justin said.
“Oh, Dad. Can’t I stay up a little bit longer?”
“No, it’s bedtime now,” Justin answered firmly.
Maggie was impressed with how quickly Justin had settled into his new role as father. Zak still had trouble denying Gabe and Belle anything and as a result they would argue with everything he said. Maggie always had to be the one to tell the kids to go to bed or to pick up their rooms.
Jake got up out of his sleeping bag and Justin took his hand and led him upstairs to the guest bedro
om. Maggie followed after them and tucked Jake into bed. She made sure that he had his stuffed sea lion and then both Maggie and Justin kissed him good night. They turned on the night light and then shut the door and went back out on the deck.
Denise and Ray were sitting in the hot tub along with the two young women.
“Come on in and join us, Maggie and Justin. There’s plenty of room,” Ray said.
Justin looked at Maggie and when she didn’t say anything, he said “I think we’re going to go to bed, Ray. It’s been a long day. Good night, every one.”
Justin took Maggie’s hand and then they went back to the guest bedroom and got into bed with Jake who was sleeping peacefully.
“There’s no better birth control than sleeping in the same bed as your kid,” said Justin and he laughed quietly.
“Well, if you want to have sex Justin, you can always go back and join the two young ladies in the hot tub,” she teased.
“No thanks Maggie, I’m fine right here,” and he put his arm around her even tighter and kissed the back of her neck. Within a couple of minutes, they were both asleep too.
.
Chapter 18
The next morning, Jake woke up at dawn wanting to rejoin the other kids sleeping down in the playroom. Maggie and Justin got up with him and settled him in downstairs in his sleeping bag with the older children who still weren’t quite awake. Then they went into the kitchen to make coffee and breakfast. They noticed that the two young women were still sleeping in the chairs out on the deck where they had spent the night. As the sun started to rise, the remaining barbeque guests drifted into the house from the studio, happy to help themselves to coffee and leftovers from the previous night. Eventually Denise emerged, still dressed in her bathrobe, and offered to make scrambled eggs and toast for the stragglers.
After everyone finished breakfast, Ray and Dave joined the two young women on the deck and they passed a joint around. Maggie and Justin watched them through the glass sliders from inside the kitchen.
“I can’t believe they’re getting high already,” Maggie said. “Is it always like this around here?”
The Sweetest Gift (The Gift) Page 10
