Stronger Within (The Silver Lake Series Book 1)

by McCallum, Coral

  The dark green dress complimented her petite figure perfectly. It set off the blue of her eyes and the sun kissed golden highlights of her hair. Her natural beauty took Jake’s breath away.

  “You look stunning, li’l lady,” he said, his voice hoarse with emotion.

  “Thanks,” she whispered, as she adjusted her balance. “Time to get this show on the road, rock star.”

  Jake held her coat for her as she slipped her arms through the sleeves, then grabbed his own leather jacket.

  “Right, let’s rock ‘n’ roll, li’l lady!”

  Lori had only just got herself settled in the passenger seat of the Mercedes when Jake declared he had forgotten something and would be back in a minute. Watching him run back into the house, she shook her head. Never had she seen him so nervous before a show. He was back a few moments later, a copy of the set list clutched in his hand.

  “Was that all you’d left behind?” she asked, as he handed her the sheet of paper.

  “Yes,” he answered, starting the engine. “How does it look?”

  Quickly she scanned down the list of songs. “More or less the same as it did in Glasgow and London.”

  “Appropriate for school?”

  “Perfect,” she assured him. “Just remember not to swear if you’re talking to your audience.”

  “Shit. I hadn’t given that any thought.”

  Fairy lights illuminated the front entrance to the school and, as the lights twinkled, they added to the festive air of excitement. The car park had been cleared of snow but Jake still fussed round Lori as she walked carefully towards the entrance, anxious in case there were any patches of black ice. They were a little early but, from the number of cars in the car park, not the first to arrive. As they entered the warmth of the gym hall, the principal came striding over to greet them.

  “Good evening, Jake. Miss Hyde,” he said with a welcoming smile. “What do you think of the decorations?”

  Since the band had departed, Linsey’s team of artists had been hard at work. Behind the small stage the large backdrop was suspended on two wires and that, coupled with some clever shading, created a 3D effect. A long mural ran down one side of the hall creating the image of a large crowd of fans clamouring to be allowed into the private party.

  “These worked out really well,” replied Lori, nodding approvingly.

  “They’re fabulous!” declared Jake gazing round. “I hope that back drop’s secure. We don’t want it landing on Paul’s head while he’s playing.”

  “It’s fine,” promised Lori with smile. “Anyway, its light. Trust Linsey.”

  “Let me show you to the table we’ve reserved for your party,” suggested Dr Jones smoothly. “We’ve an adjacent table for staff and another for invited guests.”

  There were a few members of staff already gathered at the tables, most of whom shouted a cheerful greeting to Jake.

  “There’s a drinks reception in the refectory shortly,” explained the principal. “I hope you’ll both be able to join us through there.”

  “Sure,” agreed Jake, glancing at Lori. “I’ll need to go and finish warming up about six thirty.”

  Spotting more guests arriving, the principal excused himself, leaving Jake and Lori to mingle with the staff. After a minute or two, Lori saw Rich and Linsey entering at the back of the hall. The art teacher waved and rushed over. She was enthusing about how fabulous the mural looked before she even reached their table.

  “Nice to see you made it on time,” teased Rich, clapping Jake on the back.

  “He’s a bag of nerves,” laughed Lori. “Go easy on him, Rich.”

  Gratefully Lori lowered herself onto one of the chairs and propped her crutches up on the wall behind her. Jake sat next to her, casually draping his arm around her shoulders, then began nervously fingering her hair. With a smile, Lori put her hand on his thigh and whispered, “Relax.”

  Next to arrive was Grey, accompanied by Gary and Scott, who was armed with a large bag of camera equipment. As agreed, he had been in earlier and set up some cameras on stage to record the band. The school had agreed to him placing a couple around the hall and these were discretely mounted around the room near to the stage. Some of the students had also begun to arrive and were congregating in small groups at the far end of the hall, furthest away from the adults. Dead on the stroke of six, the three “stage crew” arrived at the table.

  “Punctual,” complimented Rich. “Good start, guys.”

  “We can’t afford the late fine,” joked Todd bravely.

  “Very funny, kid,” teased Jake. “Your checklists are on stage and back stage behind the curtain. Don’t touch Scott’s film equipment. Don’t break anything. Don’t unplug anything. One of us will be up to check on you shortly.”

  “Yes, sir,” said Andy, saluting Jake and Rich.

  “Get to work,” laughed Rich, with a grin.

  As the three students made their way towards the stage, Maddy and Paul arrived with Jason and two record company representatives, who introduced themselves as Eric and Cameron. Maddy looked striking in her long black dress. The soft folds of the fabric draped over her baby bump, but the red lace side panels still gave her figure a seductive shape. She had taken care with her make-up and had even added some sequins to the stars tattooed beside her right eye.

  “You look stunning, Maddison,” said Jake, as he hugged her.

  “Love the dress,” declared Lori approvingly, without making a move to get up, “It’s perfect for you.”

  “Thank you,” said Maddy, blushing slightly at the compliments.

  “Mz Hyde,” Jason said smoothly, bending to hug her. “Beautiful as ever. I heard you’ve had a set back to your recovery.”

  “Hi Jason,” she replied. “Bad news travels fast.”

  “Maddison says it was caused by sitting on the stool at the side of the stage,” he said disbelievingly.

  “Apparently,” acknowledged Lori. “Sitting for long periods of time with my leg unsupported has stressed the partially healed bone or so my doctor reckons. I’ll live.”

  “I hope so,” said the Englishman warmly. “I’ve more work to put your direction next month.”

  In the background, Rich noticed that the principal was inviting everyone through to the school cafeteria for drinks and canapés. Once he had escorted Lori through and was content that she was in safe hands, Jake excused himself to go and warm up. As he walked along the corridor, away from the reception, he could hear the buzz of conversation and was sure he could hear Lori’s musical laugh.

  When he returned to the hall an hour later, Lori, Maddy and Linsey were sitting with Jason and the record company “suits” at the band’s table near the front of the stage. There was no sign of Gary or his fellow band members. Having checked that Lori was alright and exchanged pleasantries with a couple of his teaching colleagues, he made his way backstage in search of the others.

  “How’s it going back here?” he asked, as he slipped behind the curtain. “Are we nearly good to go?”

  “A few more minutes should do it,” said Grey. “This junior crew are fantastic. I think we should hire them.”

  Todd passed Jake his dark cherry red Gibson SG and asked him to double check the tuning.

  “Spot on,” nodded Jake, handing it back. “Well done. Are the others done?”

  “All except your acoustic,” replied the boy. “I was warned not to touch it.”

  “Smart move,” said Jake, reaching over to lift it out of its case. “That acoustic and I go way back. It was a present from my mom for my eighteenth birthday. No one touches it but me. No offence intended. I’m just kind of funny that way about it.”

  “It’s a beautiful instrument,” admired Todd wistfully. “I hope to get one half as nice for my eighteenth.”

  “When’s that?” asked Jake, idly strumming the guitar and fiddling with its tuning.

  “December 30th,” replied the boy. “But I seriously doubt if my mom will buy me anything. She doesn
’t bother much with presents.”

  There was an air of defeat about the boy’s tone of voice and choice of words that touched Jake’s heart. Todd was one of his most talented students with a natural ear for music. He made a mental note to stop by the music store on Monday after school to see what he could pick up for the boy. Every young musician needed a break now and again.

  When the band were all happy with their pre-show set up, Kate was despatched to find the principal to inform him that Silver Lake were ready whenever he was. Once she was out of sight, Paul produced a Santa hat from his jacket pocket and put it on.

  “You look like a fucking garden gnome,” Grey stated gruffly glowering at the drummer.

  “Just be thankful he didn’t get us all one,” laughed Rich, shaking his head.

  “Where’s your Christmas spirit, guys?”

  “Still in a bottle in the bar,” quipped Grey.

  Kate re-appeared at that moment with the principal in tow, cutting short their banter.

  “I’d just like to say thanks again for agreeing to do this for us,” said Dr Jones looking round at the four musicians. “In all my years of teaching, it’s the first time an international rock band has performed at the Christmas social. I hope it’s not the last.”

  “Say that after you’ve heard our set,” joked Grey “And dealt with the angry parents.”

  “I’m sure there will only be disappointed parents who missed out on being here,” countered the older man with a knowing smile. “If you’re ready, I’ll go out and introduce you.”

  Without waiting, he turned on his heel and walked out onto the stage. Andy handed him a cordless microphone that the principal switched on as he reached the front of the stage.

  “Good evening, everyone and welcome to our rocking Christmas extravaganza,” he began. “I’d like to thank you all for coming this evening. I’d like to welcome our invited guests. There’s too many people to thank everyone individually, but I would like to thank Linsey Bergman and the art students for decorating the hall and also Miss Lori Hyde for her artistic direction.”

  The students, teachers and guests all applauded politely.

  “Now without further ado I’d like to welcome our very special guests out on stage. Please give a huge welcome to Silver Lake!”

  Handing the microphone back to Andy, the principal retreated from the stage. The lights dimmed and Silver Lake quietly took up their positions. As soon as the stage lights went on, they launched straight into “Dragon Song”. Two hundred eager students were standing in front of the stage spellbound. For the band, it made a pleasant change to have their audience so close to the stage and not to be divided from them by a row of security personnel. Due to a lack of space, their performance was less physical than the norm, but Jake poured his heart and soul into the vocal.

  “Thank you,” he said with a grin, as the song ended. “Not too loud for you?”

  “NO!” screamed back the students.

  “OK. Time to rock this joint!” roared Jake, as the band began their next song.

  While the band played their next two hard and heavy rock numbers, Lori looked round at the crowd. There was a strange mix of emotions on display. The students and younger teaching staff were obviously loving it; the more mature members of staff and invited guests looked less impressed. If the band noticed, it didn’t affect their performance. In the relatively small hall, the huge Silver Lake sound drowned everything out.

  At the end of the third number, Jake switched guitars, accepting his acoustic from a rather nervous Todd. He declined the stool that Andy brought out. Having plugged the lead in, he moved to sit on the edge of the stage, lowering the microphone stand to the lowest setting.

  “Change of tempo, folks, to let our more mature members of the audience recover,” said Jake, with a wave towards the staff table. “I would normally sit on a stool on stage for this, but I discovered recently that wooden stools can be bad for your health.”

  A small round of applause came from Silver Lake’s guests and he guessed, correctly, that Lori had gone scarlet with embarrassment.

  “The next two songs were written for a very special person who’s here tonight,” continued Jake, gently strumming the guitar. “Lori, this is for you, li’l lady.”

  To Lori, “Stronger Within” and “Lady Butterfly” had never sounded better. The small audience listened in silence as Jake’s haunting voice and delicate playing filled the hall. Perhaps it was the intimacy of the setting or just a reflection of how fragile she had been feeling all week, but Lori had to fight back her tears as the acoustic interlude came to an end. As Jake stood up, he turned towards her and blew her a kiss. She caught it, placed her hand over her head, then blew one back out to him.

  Over the next thirty minutes, Silver Lake rocked the gym hall with a mix of their own songs and some rock classics that were a last minute change to the proposed set. Staff and students entered into the spirit of things and were soon all on their feet in front of the stage.

  “Still with us?” asked Jake, grinning as sweat began to run down his forehead. “We’re going to try a couple of extra numbers for you now. These are genuinely unrehearsed, so this could be a complete car wreck, but we’ve had a couple of requests for these tonight. For those older rockers out there, here’s some Led Zeppelin for you.”

  “Immigrant Song” was the shortest song the band played, but, whether it was rehearsed or not, it came across as the most intense part of their performance and left no one in the room in any doubt about Jake’s vocal ability.

  “If you know the words to this one, join in,” cried Jake, wiping the sweat off his face and running his hand through his hair. “Our token festive tune.”

  The staff cheered louder than the students as Silver Lake played “Merry Xmas (War Is Over), the John Lennon and Yoko Ono classic. Soon they were all singing along, totally captivated by the band’s performance. As the final notes died away, the band took their final bow to rapturous cheers and cries for more. Exchanging swift glances, the four members of the band silently agreed to two more.

  “You’re wearing us out,” Jake joked. “Two more, then it’s time for us all to party. This is one of my personal favourites. Sweet Child O’ Mine.”

  The band followed the classic rock number with their usual set closing number, “Flyin’ High”. All of them gave the last song everything they had and left the stage to the triumphant cheers of their exclusive audience. As the stage lights dimmed, the speakers began to play more traditional Christmas social music and the principal announced that a buffet was being served in the refectory.

  While Jason and Gary went to fetch some food for the table to share, Maddy declared, “I had my doubts about tonight but that was brilliant. Seeing those kids lapping it up was quite something. Amazing.”

  “It was something special,” agreed Lori, sub-consciously rubbing her thigh. “Do the babies not react to the noise?”

  “Yup,” nodded Maddy, smoothing her dress down over her bump. “They’re starting to squirm a lot. It feels weird in a nice way.”

  “Poor kids will be born with their ears ringing,” teased Jake, appearing beside them.

  “Probably,” laughed Maddy rubbing her bump.

  “Do you ladies want something from the buffet? The guys already went through, but I thought I’d check if you were ok,” said Jake, resting a hand on Lori’s shoulder.

  “We’re fine, rock star,” replied Lori. “Jason and Gary already went to fetch us a plate.”

  “Good. I’ll go grab myself something and be right back.”

  By the time Jake returned with his plate piled high with food, the others were already crammed round the table. Carefully, he squeezed in beside Lori, having taken a spare chair from the next table. It wasn’t the band’s normal after show party but all of them were relaxed and entering into the festive spirit of the occasion. The music had started up and soon Paul had led Maddy up to dance. Staff and pupils were mingling on the dance floor, all genuinel
y having a good time. Looking rather shy, Kate came over and invited Jake up to dance. Flashing her one of his “Power” smiles, he took her hand and followed her out onto the dance floor. It struck Lori that that was the first time she had seen him dance. From where she was sitting, he looked to dance as well as he played guitar. Soon one of the other senior girls came over to ask Rich up to dance. Scott was discretely mingling with the dancers, filming the members of Silver Lake. The whole scene reminded Lori of her own school days and she smiled to herself as the music discretely slowed down as the evening wore on and the students paired off into couples.

  She was contentedly resting her head on Jake’s shoulder when Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight” began to play.

  “Come on, li’l lady,” said Jake softly. “Humour me. We’re going to dance.”

  “Jake, I can’t,” she began to protest.

  “Trust me,” he said, helping her up. “Leave the crutches. I’ll hold you.”

  Keeping a tight hold of her waist and supporting her weight, Jake guided Lori over to a quiet corner of the dance floor.

  “Stand on my feet,” he said. “And let me dance for both of us.”

  “What?” she giggled, doing as he asked. “Oh, what the hell! A little weight on my left side can’t hurt for a few minutes.”

  With his arms securely around her waist and her arms draped around his neck, they danced gently to the beautiful ballad.

  “I asked them to play this,” confessed Jake, whispering the words softly into her ear.

  “Good choice,” agreed Lori, gazing up into his hazel eyes.

  “Lori,” he began, his voice husky. “Will you marry me?”

  She stared at him for a moment, tears welling up in her eyes for the second time that evening, then whispered simply, “Yes.”

  Tears in his own eyes, Jake hugged her then supporting her weight with one arm, he reached into his jeans pocket and brought out a delicate diamond ring. Slowly he slipped the ring onto her finger, then kissed her passionately, oblivious to their surroundings.