“My daughter,” he explained. “I bought her a half size guitar for her birthday.”
“How old is she?”
“Five,” replied Jake. “But, one of life’s natural musicians. She’s like a sponge when you’re teaching her something new. Can’t get enough of it.”
“The younger kids start to play, the better,” agreed Nicole as she fetched two beers from the refrigerator.
“Exactly. She’s already a recording artist,” said Jake, accepting the bottle of beer and following Nicole out onto the shady balcony.
“A recording artist?”
As they drank their beers, he explained about taking Melody out to JJL and about Garrett putting her to work in the studio.
“That was really sweet of the guy,” acknowledged Nicole when he finished his story.
“Garrett’s one of the good guys,” commented Jake. “But he is incredibly focused in the studio. He’s agreed to help out next week though.”
“Anyone else you’ve lined up?”
“Paul and Grey from Silver Lake,” began Jake. “And Todd, my guitar tech.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“What happened to Rich Santiago?”
Gazing out at the oblique view of the boardwalk, Jake replied, “He was found dead in the Smoky Mountains, near Gatlinburg.”
“Suicide?”
Silently, Jake nodded.
“Must be hard to pick up the pieces after something like that,” she mused softly.
“Ask me after we’ve picked them up,” countered Jake, “We’ve talked things through and agreed to keep going but there’s still a lot to work out. There’s to be a memorial show in Baltimore at the end of next month. To be honest, I’m trying not to think about it just now. If I survive this workshop then I’ll think about the Silver Lake show.”
“One step at a time, eh?”
He nodded as he drained the last of the beer from the bottle.
“Bit like life after divorce,” sighed Nicole, finishing off her own beer.
“I hope I never have to find out what that’s like,” replied Jake with a smile. “Happily married.”
“A happily married rock star who can unblock a sink?” laughed Nicole. “A rare creature indeed.”
“Unique,” commented Jake, grinning. “I’d best head home. If there are any other odd jobs you need a hand with, let me know.”
“Thanks, Jake. Appreciate it,” she replied. “It’s not easy getting established somewhere new.”
“Just takes time,” he assured her. “And this is a great place to make a fresh start.”
“I hope so.”
Over the course of the week, life took on a new rhythm around the beach house. After an early morning run along the beach, Jake would head off to school to continue with the workshop. While he was at school, Lori alternated her days between motherhood and work. She didn’t like putting the kids into daycare more than she had to but her commitments meant they were both there every second day for the full day. On the alternate days, she organised plays dates for them, took them into town or to the outlets or simply let them play down on the beach.
When Jake got home from school, he would play with them for an hour before dinner then, while Lori got Jesse bathed and into bed, would spend an hour tutoring Melody. Once she was in bed, he retreated to the basement for a few hours to work on the Silver Lake project. Sitting up at her drawing board, Lori listened intently to the new music that was evolving slowly.
After school on Friday, Jake made a detour to the post office to collect a parcel that required his signature. When he saw the flat box, he felt his stomach lurch with nerves. It was Rich’s laptop. When he’d called Maria, she had said he was welcome to it and explained that she hadn’t been able to access it. As he drove home with the box lying on the passenger seat beside him, he wondered if he’d have better luck getting into it.
With the kids tucked up in bed and Lori relaxing in the sunroom, Jake fetched a beer, lifted the package from the dining room and headed down the steep steps into the basement. Flicking on the lamp, he laid the box down on his cluttered desk and sat staring at it for a few moments before opening it. A note fluttered out of the box from Maria, listing all the passwords she had tried unsuccessfully and wishing him luck. She had asked if he found any photos on the computer that he send her copies of them.
Taking a chug on his beer bottle, Jake watched the laptop fire up then sit at the home screen waiting for the password. What would Rich have chosen, he wondered. His gut instinct told him it would be something straightforward, most likely a name. Spying his own acoustic guitar sitting on its stand, inspiration struck. Carefully, he typed in “Isabella”, the name Rich had given to his acoustic guitar and also his late mother’s name.
Success!
Watching the machine open up felt like spying on his late friend. He felt as though he was intruding. In typical organised Rich fashion, the desktop was neatly organised with clearly labelled folders. Ignoring the email folder, Jake clicked on “photographs” and found a screen full of neatly catalogued photos dating back years. He checked the size of the overall folder and quickly determined he’d need more than a flash drive to send these on to Maria. He clicked on the folder named “Silver Lake” and smiled as he saw memories of each of their tours pop up. For almost an hour, he enjoyed a trip down memory lane as he flicked through photos of their early shows and first tour, photos taken at JJL and even some from their first-ever studio experience in New York. Deliberately, he avoided photos from their last tour.
Closing the photo folder down, Jake clicked on the “Music” folder, hoping to find out if Rich had any ideas stockpiled.
