When he stepped up onto the deck, he found Lori sitting on the swing with Jesse on her knee. He could see a red bump on the little boy’s forehead.
“Hey, what happened?” asked Jake, coming to kneel in front of his tearful young son. “You ok, big guy?”
“Me fell,” said Jesse still sniffing back tears.
Looking up at his wife for an explanation, Jake raised an eyebrow.
“He was running and tripped. He fell over his own train set and hit his head on the leg of the lounger,” explained Lori, cuddling her son in close. “He’s fine. Got more of a fright than anything else.”
“Where’s Miss Melody?”
“She disappeared indoors. Not sure where she went,” confessed Lori. “I was busy calming this little guy down.”
“I’ll check on her,” said Jake, getting to his feet.
He found their daughter in her bedroom practising her chords. She was sitting on the bed with her tutorial book spread out in front of her. When he saw which page she had it open at, Jake smiled.
“Hey, Miss M!” he called out. “Sounding sweet.”
“Thanks, Daddy.”
“What you playing?”
“New chords,” she replied, pointing to the book. “Mommy said you were going to be busy. I was trying to learn these myself.”
“And can you play them?”
“Almost,” replied the little girl, looking and sounding very pleased with herself.
On a whim, Jake said, “Want to come for a drive with me? I’m going to take a run out to JJL.”
“Yes!” squealed Melody excitedly. “Will I get to play for Dr Marrs?”
“We’ll see,” replied Jake with a grin. “Let me go and tell your Mom where we’re going.”
Having promised to bring in steak sandwiches and cheese fries for dinner, Jake and Melody set off in the truck with the windows down and a Molton song blaring through the speakers. The traffic heading out of town was heavy but it was still flowing as the day-trippers retreated from the heat. As they headed up the highway, Melody sang along with each song that came on. Listening to her attempt to reach Tori’s high notes made Jake smile. Before they reached the studio, the album ended and Jake put on a classic rock playlist. Much to his amazement, he listened as Melody sang along, word perfect, to Deep Purple’s Smoke On The Water.
“Where did you learn that?” he asked as he turned off the highway into the studio’s long drive.
“Ellen taught me,” replied Melody seriously. “Said it was one of her favourites.”
“And when was Ellen giving you singing lessons?”
“While you were on tour. Scott brought her over for dinner and she taught me some songs.”
“Sounds like she did a good job,” complimented Jake as he parked the truck. “I’ll need to watch my back or you’ll be after my job!”
Giggling, Melody said, “Don’t be silly. I’m a little kid. I can’t be a rock star.”
Smiling at her innocence, Jake walked around the truck then lifted his daughter down from her car seat, “Melody, you can be anything you put your mind to.”
“I think I’d like to be a singer or a teacher or an artist like Mommy.”
“Plenty of time to decide, baby girl,” he said smiling. “And nothing to stop you being all three.”
Cool air and loud guitar music hit them as they entered the foyer of JJL. The lounge was deserted when father and daughter wandered through. Having told Melody to take a seat, Jake fetched them both a cold drink from the refrigerator.
“Wait here till I see if Dr Marrs is free,” instructed Jake as he loosened the lid on Melody’s bottle of apple juice. “Don’t spill that.”
Leaving his daughter sitting with her juice, Jake headed over to the control room, knocking on the door before waiting to be waved inside.
“Hey, Jake!” greeted the producer. “What brings you out here?”
“My truck,” he joked as he stepped into the small room. “Thought I’d bring Melody out to visit and check that everything was in place for the workshop sessions.”
“Where is she?”
“Out in the lounge. I left her with some juice. She’ll be ok out there for a few minutes.”
“If you’re sure,” said Dr Marrs calmly before turning his attention back to the live room. “Garrett, give me fifteen minutes. Go grab a coffee then we’ll go for it on track seven.”
Pushing his chair back from the console, Dr Marrs said, “Come into the office and we’ll check it’s all in the diary.”
It was almost half an hour later when Jake and the producer came back out of the office. The first thing Jake noticed was that the lounge was empty. The second thing that both he and Jim Marrs noticed was that there was music coming from the live room. The two men exchanged glances then followed the strains of the blues melody into the studio.
Much to Jake’s amazement, he found Melody sitting on a stool with one of Garrett’s guitars and the older musician talking her through a simple chord progression. She smiled when she saw her daddy but kept playing.
“Sounding good, Miss Power,” complimented Dr Marrs sincerely. “Your dad been teaching you?”
“Yes,” replied Melody as she struggled to hold down the chord on an unfamiliar full-sized guitar. “He bought me a guitar for my birthday.”
“Jake,” interrupted Garrett as he plugged his own guitar in, “Can I borrow this young lady for an hour? I want to try something.”
“Sure,” agreed Jake, a little bemused. “Can I listen in?”
“From the control room,” replied Garrett. “Yes.”
Knowing that his friend preferred not to have an audience in the live room, Jake acquiesced without complaint. As he took a seat in the live room beside Dr Marrs and Lee, the sound engineer, he asked, “What’s he up to?”
“We’ve been fighting with track seven on the board
