Shattered Hearts

by Coral McCallum

  “This is your show, not mine,” challenged Jake calmly.

  “Bill just says plus special guests. You’re my plus one here, Jake.”

  Recognising that he had no choice, Jake nodded, “Ok, I’ll do it,”

  “Thanks. Knew you wouldn’t let me down.”

  “Guess I’ve another set to work out now.”

  “Looks like it,” laughed Garrett, trying to stifle a yawn. “Personally, I’m calling it a night and going to bed.”

  Glancing at his watch, Jake was shocked to discover it was almost five o’clock in the morning.

  “Sleep then set,” he agreed.

  “Feel free to treat this space as your own,” offered Garrett warmly. “And remember your masterclass is at ten-thirty this morning.”

  “Thanks, Garrett. Appreciate it. Who needs sleep anyway?”

  Try as she might, Lori’s design progress was slow. She lost three whole days when both kids were ill then a fourth as she went out to Beebe for more pre-natal appointments. Her baby bump was growing rapidly and the sonogram revealed that for a third time she was measuring above average and larger compared to her first two pregnancies. Baby number three was going to be another big baby. When the consultant cautioned that she could be placed on full bed rest by Christmas, Lori had burst into tears. The thought of twelve weeks on bed rest scared her, bringing back dark memories of the days after her accident. Drawing on every last ounce of her inner strength, Lori vowed to herself on the drive home that she would avoid bed rest until after the Silver Lake album launch mid-February.

  Pulling into the last free space at the school, Lori spotted Grey’s truck on the far side of the parking lot. An idea hit her. Awkwardly, she manoeuvred herself out of the driver’s seat, steadied her balance then, leaning heavily on her cane, walked across the parking lot. Spying her approaching in his mirrors, Grey came out to meet her.

  “Hi. You look fabulous today!” he complimented warmly, genuinely glad to see his friend’s wife.

  “Cut the crap, Grey,” laughed Lori as the baby launched a furious assault on her ribs. “I look as though I’m ready to give birth!”

  “Not quite,” he laughed, eyeing her obvious baby bump. “But there’s no hiding that bump now.”

  “I know,” sighed Lori, rubbing her belly. “I’m just back from Beebe. Looks like Power Pack number three is going to be bigger than one and two were.”

  “Shit! That’s not such great news, is it?” sympathised Grey.

  “No, it’s not but we’re both fit and healthy so that’s all that matters,” replied Lori philosophically. “Anyway, I came over to beg a favour. Can I borrow Becky for the weekend?”

  “Sure, but why?”

  “The kids were sick Sunday through till Tuesday and I’m behind schedule on the design for the cover. If Becky could watch the kids Saturday and Sunday, I should be able to catch up. Maddy needs the design by Wednesday,” explained Lori hopefully. “I’ll pay her of course.”

  “You’ll do no such thing,” countered Grey sharply. “Becky’ll be over on Saturday morning. You coming to our Hallowe’en party on Friday night?”

  “Yes,” replied Lori smiling. “Kids are super excited about it. They’ve even agreed a theme for their costumes.”

  “And what are you? Who or what are you dressing up as, Mrs Power?” teased Grey. “A pumpkin?”

  “Hey! That was cruel,” giggled Lori, punching his arm playfully. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”

  “You’ll look fabulous whatever you’re wearing.”

  “Grey, you are impossible!”

  Securing her messy bun with a hairpin, Lori realised her young daughter was watching her closely. Having dressed the kids in their costumes first, Lori was now rushing to get herself ready. She’d kept her own outfit simple. Safe in the knowledge that all the adults at the party already knew she was pregnant, she’d customised a black tunic top by spraying it with glitter, painted on a huge full moon then carefully drawn in the silhouette of Elliott and ET on the bicycle from the classic movie ET. The theme Kola had set was films and TV and her simple costume fit the bill to perfection.

  “Mommy, what are you dressed up as?” asked Melody curiously.

  “A scene from the film ET,” replied Lori with a smile. “Don’t think you’ve seen that movie yet. It’s an old one.”

  “And your tummy is the full moon?”

  “That’s right, Miss M.”

  The little girl continued to study her for a few more moments then said, “Mommy, is there a baby in your tummy?”

  “Damn,” thought Lori, realising that her intuitive daughter had rumbled her. Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, Lori turned to Melody and said, “Yes, but it’s a surprise. You can’t tell anyone yet. Not Jesse. Not your daddy when he calls. No one. Do you understand?”

  “Why is it a surprise?”

  “I want to tell your daddy myself when I see him,” explained Lori. “If you tell him, it’ll spoil the surprise.”

  “When will you tell him?” asked Melody.

  “Soon.”

  “And when will the baby be here?”

  “Not until the spring,” replied Lori. “April.”

  “Is that after Christmas?”

  “Yes, a long time after Christmas. Near Easter.”

  Melody looked serious for a moment then declared, “You’re not hiding the surprise very well by making it a big shiny moon, Mommy.”

  Laughing, Lori said, “No, I’m not but this bump is getting too big to hide anymore. The others know the secret so they won’t tell your daddy either.”

  Grey had lined his driveway with pumpkin lanterns and had a string of green, spooky lights wound along the rail of the front porch. As Lori and the kids approached, carrying a large bucket of candy, a skeleton lit up in the corner of the porch and let out a blood-curdling scream. Both kids let out a yell and Jesse began to cry with fright.

  “It’s ok, Jesse. It’s only a pretend skeleton,” soothed Lori as her son wound himself round her legs.

  “Mommy, I’m Jessie! Jesse’s Woody!” protested Melody, trying to act as if the skeleton hadn’t scared her at all.

  “I thought I heard screams,” laughed Grey, opening the front door. “You kids look great! Love the costumes. Wait till you see Anna and Linzi.”

  All thoughts of being scared momentarily forgotten, the children ran on ahead into the house. Hallowe’en themed music was blaring from Grey’s sound system as she entered the room. Spying Anna and Linzi, Lori collapsed into a fit of giggles. The two little girls were dressed as Slinky, the dog from Toy Story, and were wired together with curly electrical cable.

  “That’s fantastic!” she laughed, watching the two sisters attempt to run after Melody and Jesse.

  Both Kola and Grey had gone with a Star Wars theme and were dressed as Princess Leia and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Spying little Kaya in her bouncy chair, Lori laughed again. The baby girl was dressed as an Ewok.

  “Oh, Kola, she’s gorgeous,” declared Lori, smiling down at the wide-eyed Kaya. “Too cute.”

  Their conversation was interrupted by more screams from the front porch announcing the arrival of Paul, Maddy and the twins, who had come dressed as the Addams family.

  “Where’s Becky?” asked Wren, looking round.

  “Just getting ready,” replied Grey. “She’ll be down in a few minutes.”

  “Who is she dressed up as?” quizzed Melody curiously.

  “It’s a surprise,” said Kola softly. “Now, who wants a glass of blood juice?”

  Just as Kola came through with a tray of blood-red drinks that were really cherry Kool-Aid, they all heard a bell tinkling and then there was a loud “pop”. A glittery confetti cannon hidden up inside the centre light exploded showering them all in “fairy dust” as Becky made her entrance dressed as Tinkerbell.

  “Photo!” shrieked Maddy excitedly, once the glittery dust had finally settled. “Family photo time.”

  Gathering everyone tog
ether, the Silver Lake tour manager endeavoured to take a group selfie. It took her a few attempts but, eventually, she managed to get them all in.

  “Fabulous!” she declared as she checked the photo.

  Soon everyone was settled in the lounge room with a drink and some Hallowe’en themed snacks. The younger members of the extended Silver Lake family were playing in the dining room under the watchful eye of Becky.

  “Lori,” called over Maddy. “Are you going to have that design ready by midweek?”

  “Hopefully,” replied Lori, subconsciously rubbing her bump. “I’m borrowing Becky for the weekend so I should catch up. Things got a bit crazy at the start of the week.”

  “Careful you’re not overdoing things,” cautioned Kola calmly. “Working long hours won’t be good for you.”

  “I’ll be fine,” assured Lori with a smile. “Although this might be my last commission for a while.”

  “But you’ve months to go yet!” countered Maddy shrilly. “Is everything ok?”

  “So far so good,” replied Lori. “The doctor was mentioning the possibility of total bed rest from twenty-eight weeks though.”

  “Oh, that’s early!”

  “Well, we’ll see,” said Lori, almost under her breath. “With a bit of luck, I can stall till about thirty-two or thirty-four weeks. If I cut back my workload that should help.”

  “Take care of yourself,” cautioned Grey. “You and this not so little Power Pack come first.”

  Lori nodded.

  “And when are you going to tell Jake?” asked Kola in her usual direct way.

  “Next weekend,” answered Lori softly.

  “You coming to Garrett’s launch?” quizzed Paul.

  “That’s the plan,” she replied. “I need to be in New York on Thursday for a board meeting at Hyde Properties then I was planning to stay for the weekend.”

  “You taking the kids?” checked Grey, knowing how anxious Jake was to see his family.

  “Yes,” assured Lori smiling. “And your mom to watch them for me.”

  “My mom? Good luck with that!” laughed Grey. “Just do me a favour and keep her out of the casinos!”

  “No promises,” giggled Lori, knowing that part of the deal she had struck with Annie was a trip to the best casino in the city on the Sunday night.

  Entering the dragon’s lair on his own on Saturday afternoon, while Garrett was working upstairs in the store, felt surreal to Jake. With only six days to go until the album launch, he knew time was running out to pull his solo set together. Still wondering how he’d let himself get talked into this, Jake opened his leather-bound journal and grabbed a pen with the intention of writing out a list of ten songs. A piece of folded paper fell at his feet. Picking it up, he unfolded it. Immediately a lump filled his throat and his eyes filled with tears. He had no idea how long that piece of paper had lain hidden in his lyric book. It had obviously been there for a while. Written across the page was the message “I love you, Daddy. Melody xx” and in one corner she had drawn a bright yellow sun.

  The urge to hold his daughter in his arms tore at his heart as he smiled down at the drawing through a veil of tears.

  Somehow, he had to fix this mess; somehow, he had to get his family back.

  Gazing down at the message, Jake smiled. A simple melody line began to play in his mind as the idea for a new song began to bloom. Sitting down on the cool tiled floor, Jake spread the piece of paper out beside him and began to jot down the lyrics that were forming in his mind along with the music.

  Solo set momentarily forgotten, Jake spent almost an hour working on the song, keeping it simple. He ended up with an almost countrified nursery rhyme about the “sunshine” moments in life. Deciding that he’d try to work up the rest of the song over the next few days, he turned his attention back to the potential songs to be played during his solo support slot. All the new material was embargoed until after the album release. He knew roughly what Garrett was planning to perform and wanted his own set to compliment that.

  Pulling together a list of ten songs should have been easy but, another hour later, he only had four on the list. Scrawling through them roughly with the pen, he turned over the page and started again. Deciding to keep the set purely acoustic limited his choices making it somewhat easier to come up with ten possible contenders.

  More than two hours after he’d entered the dragon’s lair, Jake finally had a draft setlist written up and was ready to rehearse. Picking up the borrowed Martin, he began his rehearsal with Stronger Within.

  Almost as an afterthought, he’d added Simple Man into the set and had just begun to run through it when the door opened and Jethro stepped into the room. Indicating that Jake should keep playing, the older man took a seat on a nearby stool, happy to sit and watch and listen.

  “When we talk you into recording a solo record that needs to be on there,” stated Jethro plainly as the song came to an end.

  “No solo records.”

  “We’ll see,” replied Jethro, a twinkle in his eyes.

  “Wasn’t sure about adding that one in,” sighed Jake as he laid the guitar down.

  “She’ll be there, son,” assured the older man warmly. “I’ve a feeling in my braids.”

  “I hope so,” sighed Jake wearily. “How am I meant to fix this mess, Jethro?”

  “By doing exactly what you’re doing,” began Silver Lake’s white-haired manager. “Give her time. Give her space. Let the wounds heal over a bit. That crazy-ass bitch sent Lori some pretty vile messages and the picture Maddison painted to her wasn’t a pretty one. Lori’s a smart girl. Stubborn but smart. She’ll come round when she’s ready to.”

  “Do you really believe that she’ll be there Friday night?” Jake asked hopefully.

  “I already said so, didn’t I? Have you tried asking Paul or Grey?”

  Jake shook his head.

  “Well, if anyone can talk some sense into her, my money would be on Grey.”

  A storm had blown in overnight off the ocean and the beach house was creaking in the gale-force winds when Grey and Becky arrived on Saturday morning. Without bothering to knock, the band’s bass player held the back door open while Becky ran into the kitchen then dashed in at her back.

  “Morning,” greeted Lori, noting how dishevelled they both looked. “Bit breezy out there?”

  “Feels like a fucking hurricane!” declared Grey bluntly. “There’s two trees down out there along the lake already.”

  “Not surprised,” commented Lori. “You guys had breakfast?”

  Grey nodded, “But coffee would be nice.”

  “Lori,” interrupted Becky politely. “Will I take my bag upstairs or is Miss M wanting me in with her?”

  “She does but I’ve put fresh sheets on the bed in the front bedroom upstairs for you. Take your things up there,” replied Lori with a smile. “I’m not promising that she won’t try to sneak up there tonight to snuggle in with you.”

  “It’s cool,” replied Becky brightly as she headed towards the door to the attic.

  Watching her leave the room, Lori smiled, “She’s growing into a beautiful young lady, Grey. Where did that little blonde girl go that was with you the first day I met you?”

  “Looks like she grew up while I just grew old,” laughed Silver Lake’s bass player. “Can’t believe she’ll be fifteen on her next birthday.”

  “She’s a credit to you,” complimented Lori, pouring them both a coffee. “And thanks again to you and Kola for last night. The kids had a great time. We should take turns and do that every Hallowe’en.”

  “Is that you volunteering to host next year’s Silver Lake family Hallowe’en bash?”

  Giggling, Lori handed him his coffee, “I guess so, assuming you’re not out on the road.”

  “Yeah, there’s a fair chance we will be,” acknowledged Grey. “Maddy wants to talk tour schedules at the band meeting next week.”

  “Sounds like you boys are in for a long day,” sympathised Lori
. “Can’t say I’m looking forward to my board meeting at Hyde Properties. David sent through the agenda and it’s pretty full.”

  “Once you get that corporate suit on, you’ll be fine,” teased Grey, knowing how much Lori hated the formalities associated with her extensive property empire.

  “The corporate suit doesn’t fit,” she replied with a giggle. “I need to stop off at the outlets on my way out of town and pick up something to wear.”

  “You’ll look stunning in the power suit.”

  “Sh,” she said, blushing then, changing the subject, said, “Can I show you something?”

  “Sure.”

  “Come through to my workspace.”

  There was a blank piece of paper covering the partly-completed design on Lori’s drawing board. Feeling slightly nervous about revealing it to Grey, she lifted the piece of paper off with trembling hands.

  “Well?” she said, stepping aside to let him look closely at the artwork. “Like it?”

  With goosebumps standing proud on his arms, Grey studied the drawing in front of him, temporarily unable to speak. Eventually, he tore his eyes away from the image, reached out to pull Lori into an embrace then, as he held her, whispered huskily, “It’s perfect. Fucking perfect.”

  “Thank you,” she said, relieved that it had met with his approval.

  “Who else has seen it?”

  “Just Paul,” replied Lori quietly. “He saw my rough sketch and loved it. He’s not seen this one. I’ve deliberately not submitted a choice of artwork. This is the final design.”

  Grey nodded, “We’ll both back you up on that. Doesn’t need alternatives. It’s absolutely fucking perfect as it is.”

  “That’s what I hoped you’d say,” said Lori, a relieved smile crossing her face. “I’ll have it finished for you to take to the meeting. Not a word to anyone till then. Reveal it at the table when everyone is there.”

  “Sounds like a plan to me,” agreed the band’s bass player, staring down at the drawing. “What if Maddy’s looking for merchandise designs too?”

  “In hand,” assured Lori confidently. “There’s four of them so far.”