Stronger Within (The Silver Lake Series Book 1)

by McCallum, Coral

  The small apartment felt lonely and unwelcoming when he entered it. Throwing his jacket down on the couch, he wandered through to take a shower. Once under the hot jet of water Jake began to feel his maudlin mood shift. By the time he came back through to the living room, with a towel round his waist, he felt more like himself. On his way through to the tiny galley style kitchen, he flicked on the stereo and filled the apartment with the sound of Guns N Roses. Without realising it, he began to sing along as he made himself some coffee and tidied up the mess from the previous day’s breakfast. Totally engrossed in the song, he almost never heard the hammering at his door. Adjusting and tightening the damp towel round his waist, he opened the door to find Rich in the hallway.

  “I just heard about Sandy,” he said, pushing past Jake. “Shit!”

  “Did Grey call you?” asked Jake, closing the door behind his friend.

  “No, Paul did. He’s up in Dover at his sister’s. He’s heading back later. Grey called him,” explained Rich. “Said you’d taken care of Becky last night.”

  “Yes. Well, Lori did,” began Jake then he filled the guitarist in on the details of the night before.

  “Now what do we do?” asked Rich. “What do we say to Grey?”

  “We carry on,” stated Jake bluntly. "We do whatever Grey needs us to do. You say what feels right to say. He was hanging in there when he left Lori’s this morning. If anyone gets him through this it will be Becky. We just need to take our lead from him.”

  “I guess.”

  “Look, I don’t know if it’s the right thing to do or not, but Lori’s suggested we all go over to her place later. I think we should go,” suggested Jake. “Let’s take some beers. I’ll bring my guitar. We can BBQ and toast life. Who knows, maybe Grey will join us.”

  “It’s as good a plan as any,” Rich agreed. “But go easy on the beer. Remember, you have a meeting with the principal at nine tomorrow.”

  “Looking forward to it,” said Jake, unable to hide his grin. “First time in the principal’s office for a while.”

  Back at the beach house, Lori had fetched herself another coffee before heading through to the study. She turned on her laptop and called up her email account. It had been a day or two since she had checked them and, by the time she had deleted the junk, she was pleasantly surprised that there were only a dozen left that needed her attention. One jumped out at her. It was from Maddy and the subject heading was “Silver Lake idea”. Quickly she opened it. Typically Maddy, it was short and sweet. “I can get them into the studio in New York. Full team. Full support staff. Only free date is week of June 10th. Should be a few strategic folk recording in the studio next door. It will cost. Call me if you want it set up. M “

  Reaching for her cell phone, Lori hit Maddy’s contact details. The phone rang out for several rings before her friend picked up the call.

  “Maddy here.”

  “Hi,” said Lori. “I got your mail. What’s the deal?”

  “Well, hello,” replied her friend. “How’s life in beach paradise?”

  Quickly Lori filled her in about Sandy’s death.

  “Shit, that’s tragic,” said Maddy, sounding stunned by the news. “Maybe we should abandon this idea.”

  “No,” disagreed Lori. “What’s the deal?”

  She listened while her friend explained there had been a last minute cancellation by an A-listed band. The whole team were on standby as she had promised to fill the vacant slot. A cancellation fee had been paid, but anyone taking the slot would still need to pay part of the costs. The best she had been able to negotiate was fifty percent off, but that still ran well into five figures.

  “You know they can’t afford that kind of money,” stated Lori.

  “But you can,” countered Maddy. “They need never know. It’s your call.”

  “That’s a bit presumptuous, Maddison,” she chastised softly. “If they ever found out…..”

  “You haven’t told Jake, have you?” challenged her friend.

  “Look, Maddy,” began Lori. “I haven’t told him much about my private affairs. I haven’t told him much about New York, apart from the fact I still have an apartment there.”

  “Ok. Ok,” protested Maddy. “I get it. Do you want the slot or not?”

  “Yes,” stated Lori firmly. “Send the bill to David. You know the address. If you breathe a word of this to the guys, I’ll never forgive you.”

  They spent a few minutes working out the “story” and agreed on a plan – the cancellation had led to a “free slot” with a full production team. It was simple. Loosely the truth – the slot would be free for Silver Lake. Details of the opportunity had to come via Maddy. There could be no direct involvement on Lori’s part.

  “That bit’s easy,” giggled Maddy. “Paul gave me his number. I could innocently call him.”

  “You never did anything innocently in your life, girl!” declared Lori, laughing.

  “Ok, leave this bit up to me. Remember to act surprised,” cautioned her friend. “I need to run. Duty calls.”

  “Thanks, Maddy,” said Lori. “Take care.”

  “You too. See you soon.”

  ♪

  Temperatures were starting to climb into the low eighties by mid-afternoon – warm for the first week of May. Lori was trying to relax for a while before Jake arrived with Rich but she was fidgety and couldn’t get comfortable. She had tried working earlier, but her head wasn’t in the right place for it. Her book also lay discarded beside her on the deck, its tale unable to hold her attention. Every time she tried to settle to something, her mind was flitting between worrying about Grey and Becky, to wondering if Maddy had called Paul yet. If she had, how would the guys react? Would they want to go? Was this chance really what they all wanted, especially now? Only time would tell, she figured. In a final attempt at relaxation, Lori lifted her iPod from beside her book, snuggled her earphones into her ears then lay back on the sun lounger. Carefully, she stretched her leg out, gently rubbing the length of her scar through her flimsy summer skirt. Now that she had been moving about more and doing more strength work with Jo, she could feel an improvement in the muscle bulk and tone. With a sigh, she wondered if she would ever be free of her canes; would she ever be back to normal. Time would tell on that one too.

  As she listened to some gentle country rock music, she must have drifted off to sleep. The next thing she knew, Jake was bent over her kissing her gently.

  “Wake up, sleeping beauty,” he whispered, kissing her again. “You have guests.”

  “Sorry. I must have slipped away,” she murmured sleepily.

  “Stay where you are,” said Jake warmly. “You still look tired. Rich and I have this under control.”

  Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Lori sat up and greeted her other guest. She saw from the pile of bags on the picnic bench that the boys had been food shopping for BBQ supplies, including beers. Both guys happily took control. Jake busied himself lighting the coals while Rich fetched her a beer.

  “I could get used to this,” declared Lori with a giggle, as she accepted the beer from him. “Thanks.”

  “We’ll even serenade you later,” Rich joked, indicating the two guitar cases by the patio door.

  “I’ll look forward to it,” said Lori then added. “Is Paul coming over?”

  “He should be here about four,” replied Jake, taking the top off his own beer. “He’s on his way down from Dover. I spoke to Grey. He said he might drop by but he’s still sorting stuff out.”

  “How did he sound?”

  “Surprisingly ok,” Jake admitted. “There’s only so much he can do as it's Sunday.”

  “I guess,” agreed Lori, unplugging her headphones from her iPod and rolling them up. “Rich, do you want to plug this into the dock in the sunroom?”

  Soon the three of them were sitting relaxing with a beer and with the gentle strains of Lynyrd Skynyrd filtering out across the deck. Inevitably, they ended up talking about Jake’s new job a
nd Rich’s plans for the music department. There was only a month of school left before the summer break, but he felt it was enough time to pull together an end of term concert. The guys bounced ideas around while Lori sat quietly enjoying the normality of a Sunday afternoon BBQ. An engine roar from the front of the house disturbed their tranquillity, as Paul raced up in his beat up old Mustang. It was his pet project and the car spent more time in pieces in his garage than on the road.

  “Hi guys,” he called brightly as he ran round the side of the house. “Guess who just called me?”

  “Who?” asked Jake, handing him a lite beer.

  “Maddy,” announced Paul, sprawling himself out on an empty chair. “She has a business proposition for us.”

  Both Rich and Jake stared at him. “What kind of business proposition?” asked Rich curiously.

  “A week in a Manhattan recording studio with full production support for free. All we need to do is get there and play.”

  His announcement was met with stunned silence.

  “She says the studio had a cancellation and she’s talked them into giving us a shot at it. The other studios are booked out solid. She said it would be a good chance to be heard by the right people,” he continued enthusiastically. “We’ve got seven full days from June 10th.”

  “Maddy? Where does she fit into this?” asked Rich, not really believing what he had just heard.

  “I can guess,” said Jake turning to look at Lori suspiciously. “Maddy wouldn’t happen to be short for Maddison would it, Mz Hyde?”

  “I believe it is,” replied Lori with a smile.

  “And she wouldn’t happen to be Maddison Addison by any chance? Jake continued. “A&R empress and tour manager to the stars?

  Now it was Paul’s turn to look on in disbelief as Lori nodded, “Yes, I believe she would be.”

  “And she just happened to get an invite to visit you over the Surfside weekend?”

  Lori nodded again, trying hard not to giggle, “But she really is one of my best friends from New York. We’ve been friends for years.”

  “I’ll bet!” exclaimed Jake. “I don’t know whether to hug you or murder you for your deviousness, Mz Hyde!”

  “I’ll make that decision for you,” laughed Rich rushing over to hug Lori tightly. “Did you know about this, Mz Hyde?”

  “Not really,” confessed Lori. “Yes, I wanted her to hear you guys play. I had no idea if she would like what she heard. She obviously liked it when she’s offered you this chance. I didn’t ask her for any special favours.”

  “Are you sure?” asked Jake, trying to feign anger and failing miserably.

  “I promise I didn’t,” said Lori seriously. “So, are you going to go?”

  There followed several minutes of heated debate amongst the three musicians as they tried to agree their schedules, budget for travel and general logistics of the whole New York thing. About the only aspect they agreed on was that if Grey couldn’t go, then none of them would go without him.

  “Can I make an offer that might help?” interrupted Lori eventually.

  “Of course,” replied Paul. “All help gratefully received in sorting this out.”

  “You could stay at my apartment. It’s not too far from the studios and I can get guest parking for a couple of cars without too much trouble. Assuming Grey wants to go and wants to take Becky along, then I’m sure I can keep her amused while he works on the bass tracking.”

  “I never knew you had an apartment in Manhattan!” exclaimed Rich loudly. “Will there be room for all of us?”

  “I’m sure we can all squeeze in,” she assured him, hesitant about revealing too much about her city home.

  “Lori,” began Jake, “Are you sure?”

  “If you guys agree to go then it’s the least I can do to help you out. Hotels and parking aren’t cheap.”

  “Thank you,” said Rich before his band mates could say anything else. “So are we agreed? As long as Grey says yes to this then we go?”

  They agreed and immediately Paul and Rich began discussing playlists and music. Only Jake remained quiet. He busied himself at the BBQ, putting some burgers on the grill. As she watched him from across the sun deck, Lori was worried that he was angry with her; worried that this was all a bad idea. Slowly she made her way over to stand beside him, forgetting to use her canes to assist her. Balancing herself by leaning on the small table beside the grill, she reached out and put a hand on his shoulder.

  “Are you ok?” she asked softly. “Are you mad at me?”

  He looked round and smiled at her, “I’m not angry, li’l lady. I’m just blown away by all of this. It’s the chance of a lifetime and you’ve been instrumental in handing it to us on a plate. I’m trying to figure out how I- how we –can ever repay you.”

  “This chance is on me,” she replied, hiding the truth in her carefully chosen words. “Carpe diem”

  “What?”

  “Seize the day,” she translated. “If this weekend has taught us nothing else, it’s about living for today. You’re the one that’s made me pick myself up out of the depths of self-pity. Without you, I’d still be acting like an invalid and dwelling on what ifs.”

  “I love you, Lori,” he blurted out, then blushed red right down to the neck of his T-shirt.

  “Likewise,” she replied, putting her arms round his waist. “Now can you do something for me?”

  “What?”

  “Help me over to that chair before I fall.”

  “It’s the least I can do, li’l lady.”

  Once the burgers had all been cooked and devoured, Rich and Jake’s conversation returned to music and the expectations of the school. While they debated what Jake could, and what perhaps he best not, bring to the music department, Paul helped Lori to clear away the leftovers and to load the dishwasher. By the time they returned to the sun deck, the two guitarists had picked up their guitars and were working on a melody. Soon Paul was drumming along on the edge of the table. It struck Lori just how relaxed and comfortable the three musicians were in each other’s company. They were so engrossed in the music that none of them heard the car pull into the driveway.

  “Hope there’s a beer left,” called a voice from the side of the house. It was Grey.

  After a fresh round of condolences and expressions of sympathy, he joined them in a beer. His face was strained, but Lori was glad he had made the effort to come over.

  “How’s Becky?” she asked, as she passed him the bag of tortilla chips that they had all been nibbling on.

  “Kind of quiet,” he admitted. “My mom’s with her at our house.”

  “When’s the funeral?” asked Paul, not being one to beat around the bush.

  “Friday, I think,” began Grey. “But in the circumstances, it’s a private family only affair. I know you guys are like my family, but her mom wants it this way. It’s probably for the best.”

  There were several nods from the group and then an awkward silence settled upon them. Suddenly Paul let out a yelp, “Shit! We’ve got a gig on Friday night.”

  “Dammit,” muttered Jake. “So we do. At that new bar in Lewes.”

  “No way I’ll be there,” said Grey, stating the obvious.

  “Ok,” began Rich, taking calm control. “We have two options. Cancel or play an acoustic set?”

  After a quick debate and a lot of persuading by Grey, they agreed to call the bar, explain the situation and confirm if they were ok to do an acoustic set.

  “I think the guys have forgotten to tell you something,” Lori prompted, giving Jake a nudge in the ribs.

  “Ouch!” he squealed, rubbing his side. “That hurt, girl!”

  “Lori’s right though,” said Rich with a smile.

  Suddenly the penny dropped and they all realised that they had forgotten to tell the Grey about the studio offer in New York. All too soon they were all talking at once and bombarding the stunned bass player with information and ideas.

  “Slow down, guys,” he
snapped sharply. “This is all happening too fast. I don’t know what I’m doing tomorrow, never mind next month. I need some time here.”

  “Sorry,” apologised Jake, feeling a wave of guilt wash through him for stressing his friend out even more.

  “Well, book it and, if I can’t go, get Maddy to find you a new bass player,” he snarled, getting to his feet. “I’m out of here.”

  As they watched him storm off round the side of the house, Lori urged Jake to go after him. They could all hear heated raised voices, but not exactly what was being said. Slowly things seemed to calm down and, about ten minutes later, they heard a car drive off. A fresh surge of guilt and remorse swept over all of them, including Lori. They had all acted insensitively to his grief and general heightened emotional state. Their only hope was that Jake had managed to calm him down and smooth things over. Eventually Jake came back round, running his hands through his hair and shaking his head.

  “It’s ok,” he said, sitting back down beside Lori. “He’ll be there as long as he can sort himself out by then and as long as Becky is ok. He made it crystal clear that she comes first.”

  “Thank God,” sighed Rich. “We’re idiots for even mentioning it.”

  “That was my fault,” apologised Lori quietly. “I’m sorry for interfering”