“God I’ve missed you, Lori,” he whispered. “Missed all of you.”
“We missed you too,” she confessed. “But, you’re home now. Home for the whole summer too, I hope.”
“Home for the foreseeable,” promised Jake, kissing the top of her head. “No recording. No tours. No shows. Just family time.”
“Sounds good to me.”
Their moment was interrupted by a loud clatter as something landed on the floor and a shrill squeal of “My Daddy!” rattled around the room.
“I think your son is trying to get your attention,” commented Lori with a smile before turning around to declare “Jesse, stop throwing your sippy cup on the floor!”
“Hey, mister,” said Jake, reaching out to pick up their two-year-old son. “We don’t throw things. You know the rules.”
Gazing at him, with hazel eyes the mirror of his own, Jesse said, “Sorry.”
“Apologise to Mommy,” instructed Jake firmly. “Then pick up your cup.”
“I sorry, Mommy.”
Setting the little boy down, Jake pointed to the cup. Immediately, Jesse scampered to fetch it then said, “Need juice.”
“Ask nicely, Jesse,” prompted Jake.
“Juice please, Mommy.”
“In a minute,” promised Lori calmly. “Sit back at the table and finish your cereal first.”
“Cheerios stinky!”
“Finish your breakfast, Jesse,” stated Lori. “Then you can get some more juice.”
Taking his usual seat at the table, Jake smiled. Normal family mealtime chaos. It felt good. It also didn’t feel a million miles away from the squabbles on the tour bus about who finished the OJ or who used the last of the half ‘n’ half and put the empty carton back in the refrigerator. Sipping his coffee, he listened to Melody telling Lori about their walk along the beach.
“Can you keep an eye on these guys till I take a shower?” asked Lori a few minutes later.
“Sure,” said Jake, getting up to refill his coffee cup. “What’s the plan for today?”
“No plans,” replied Lori. “Just a lazy family day…. well… I need to work for a few hours but I can do that later.”
“Your deadline looming?”
Lori nodded. “I need the drawings finished by Friday. Three days, four if you include Friday. I’m almost done.”
“How about I take the kids into town this afternoon for a couple of hours? Would that help?”
“Oh yes!” sighed Lori. “But don’t you need to grab some sleep?”
“Later,” muttered Jake. “Go jump in the shower then I’ll bring my gear in. It’s all still in the truck. Need to find my house keys too.”
“They’ll turn up,” laughed Lori, knowing that her husband “lost” his keys on a regular basis and they’d never been truly lost yet.
Allowing the jet of hot water to rain down on her back, Lori sighed. She was relieved to have her rock star home. One look into his eyes was all it had taken to tell her how road-weary he was. Since they had spent the weekend together in Baltimore six weeks previously, she had been fretting about him. The tour had taken its toll, especially as it had followed on so swiftly from the Weigh Station run. It hadn’t surprised her either to hear his voice so rough and husky. Maddy, the band’s tour manager, had confided in her a week before that Jake was starting to struggle. The two friends had agreed that he needed a break, a long break. As she turned off the water, Lori hoped that he would be sensible for once and actually enjoy his downtime.
When she limped through to the sunroom a short while later, she found the two junior members of the household watching Sponge Bob and Jake sprawled out on the couch sound asleep.
“Kids,” she said softly. “Time to get showered and dressed. No arguments. Let Daddy sleep for a while. He’s tired.”
Without complaint, the two youngsters followed her out of the room.
A buzzing from his jeans pocket roused Jake several hours later. Rubbing sleep from his eyes with one hand and reaching for the cell phone with the other, he caught the call just as it was about to go to voicemail. It was Grey, Silver Lake’s bass player.
“Hey,” said Jake sleepily. “What’s up?”
“Afternoon. Did I wake you?”
“Yeah,” mumbled Jake, gazing round the sunroom momentarily disorientated about where he was. “What time is it?”
“One thirty,” replied Grey. “I’ll not keep you long. Just wanted you to know I’ve lifted two of your guitars last night along with mine. Your cherry SG and your Taylor.”
“Hadn’t noticed. My gear’s still out in the truck,” confessed Jake, struggling to sit up. “Lost my keys so was locked out when I got back here.”
“Again?” laughed Grey.
“Again,” echoed Jake wearily. “I’m taking the kids into town later. Will you be home? I could run by and pick those ladies up.”
“We’ll be home till six then Kola and I are heading out to dinner. Mom’s going to watch the kids for a few hours.”
“We’ll be there well before six,” promised Jake.
Hearing her daddy’s voice, Melody came running into the sunroom. Jumping up and down, she begged him to play with her.
“Later,” said Jake, stuffing his phone back into his pocket. “I need to empty the truck then grab a shower. We’re going out after lunch. You, me and Jesse.”
“Where to?”
“Into Rehoboth. I need a haircut,” stated Jake. “And your brother looks like he could do with one too.”
“Good luck with that plan,” called Lori from the kitchen. “That kid hates getting a haircut!”
“Right, Miss M, time to work,” declared Jake, getting to his feet. “You can help me unload the truck.”
“Me help too,” protested Jesse as he ran through to join them.
“Come on then,” said Jake, taking his son’s hand. “Think you can
