Wrapping his little sister in his arms, he held her tight, “You ok, Lucy Lou?”
“Getting there,” she replied quietly. “Looking forward to a few days down here.”
The previous summer, Robb had walked out on his family, triggering several months of nasty divorce discussions. After several long tearful phone calls with Lucy, Jake had given her the cash she needed to buy her way out of the marriage and to secure her family home. He couldn’t impact custody arrangements but the least Jake could do was to secure Lucy financially. His two older brothers had also contributed by picking up the bills for the boys’ school fees. After multiple failures to take the boys as agreed, Lucy had taken Robb back to court and secured sole custody of her sons. The months of legal wrangling had taken its toll on all of them.
“And how are you guys?” asked Jake, smiling as he looked at his two nephews sprawled out on the sun loungers.
“We’re good,” replied Sam, the older of the two boys. At almost fourteen, he was trying to assume the role of the man of the house.
“Any plans or special requests for this week?” quizzed Jake as he took a seat on the bench beside his sister.
The boys both shook their heads.
“Josh,” prompted Lucy, addressing her younger son. “Didn’t you have something to ask Jake?”
His parents’ divorce had hit the sensitive twelve-year-old hard. Over the months, he had grown quiet and withdrawn, causing Lucy to fret about how he was really coping with it all.
“You ask, Mom,” murmured the boy softly.
“No,” said Lucy firmly. “You ask.”
Glancing up from the game on his iPad, Josh said slowly, “Will you teach me how to play guitar, Uncle Jake?”
“Sure,” agreed Jake with a grin. “We have daily lessons after dinner. Miss M is learning too.”
“Thanks, Jake,” sighed Lucy, before her son could protest at learning alongside his younger cousin.
“Sam, what about you?” asked Jake.
“I’ve been taking drum lessons,” revealed Sam.
“Great. Paul’s practice kit is still set up downstairs. How about you show me what you’ve learned later?”
“Ok,” agreed the teenager shyly.
“Lori was telling me you’re in the middle of teaching a music workshop,” said Lucy. “Is this something I can share on the band’s fan page?”
“No,” said Jake swiftly. “I’d rather keep this under wraps for now. Maybe when it’s over.”
“Oh, ok,” replied his sister, looking and sounding disappointed.
Hating to let her down, he sighed then said, “Alright, you can get some candid stuff from around here. A few, and I mean a few, at home shots.”
“Thanks,” she replied, her mood instantly brightening.
True to his word, after dinner Jake fetched two acoustic guitars from the basement and set up an impromptu music class out on the sun deck. While Lucy and Lori went for a walk with Sam and Jesse, he patiently tutored Melody and Josh. He had worked out a practice exercise for Melody to focus on. While she was working on that, he spent time showing Josh some chords. His nephew was initially shy and awkward, his hands clumsy but, as his nerves settled, he managed to master a couple of chords.
“Do you have a guitar of your own at home?” asked Jake as they were winding the lesson up.
“Not yet. I’m hoping to get one at Christmas,” replied Josh. “When school starts, the music department might rent me one for a semester.”
“Leave that thought with me,” said Jake with a wink.
By the time the girls came back, the sun was setting and the two younger children were tired and ready for bed. Seizing the chance to sneak indoors, Josh and Sam headed into the sunroom to watch TV while Lori and Lucy put the little ones to bed.
Alone out on the deck, Jake picked up his guitar and began to play. The melody that had been haunting him was at the forefront of his mind. Thinking about the lyrics he had found on Rich’s laptop, he altered the tune slightly, singing it over in his head. As he played, he wondered how much of the music he’d found that the band would be able to use. He hoped Dr Marrs could work some magic with the files to enable Rich to “play” on their next album. Still half-daydreaming, he kept playing, letting his imagination flow through the strings.
“That’s pretty,” commented Lucy, coming out onto the deck with three cold beers. “New one?”
“Just improvising,” said Jake with a smile. “We hit the studio in a few weeks and I’ve not got much to take in there with me yet.”
“Seeking inspiration?”
“I guess,” he said, reaching for his beer. “Josh did great earlier. For a first lesson, he did really well.”
“Thanks for spending time with him. He’s a bit fragile still.”
“I guessed,” acknowledged Jake, setting his guitar down. “How would you feel about letting me buy him a guitar of his own?”
“As long as you don’t spend a fortune on him that would be awesome,” said Lucy, looking relieved.
“I’ll see what I can sort out,” promised Jake. “We can take a run out to the store in Lewes after school one day.”
“How did you get roped into teaching again?” quizzed his sister curiously.
“Rich had the workshop scheduled. I didn’t want to see the school or the kids let down. So far, it’s going ok. I’m taking them out to JJL for three days this week so that might be a bit of a challenge.”
“Can’t be easy stepping into his shoes like that.”
“It’s been tough at times but they’re a good bunch of kids. I’ve had them writing songs that we’ll take into the studio to record. Gave them free rein.”
“Brave.”
“Or stupid,” he laughed. “So far, I have three rock songs, one country ballad and one really heavy track. They’ve written
