The Sweetest Gift (The Gift) (10 page)

“Hey, Justin. It’s good to see you. How’s that Alembic
bass been treating you?” He obviously knew Justin well and they shook hands.

“Love the bass, Randy. It’s my current favorite,” he
replied.

“Wow, aren’t you Maggie Mae Williams?” Randy asked.”

“Guilty,” she said smiling.

“I’d recognize you anywhere, I’ll never forget that
cover on
Rolling Stone
.”

“Me either,” Justin said smiling. He had been there when
they had photographed Maggie half-naked with her husband’s hands covering her
breasts while she was seven months pregnant.

“I don’t think I’ll ever live that down,” Maggie said as
she looked at Justin.

“No, it was an incredibly beautiful photo, I went right
out and bought the album,” Randy said.

“Well then, it worked the way it was intended to,”
Maggie said and laughed.

“I have a couple mandolins that you might want to look
at Miss Williams. We have a 1928 Gibson F-5.”

“That’s what I play now. My ex-husband gave me his F-5
when we got married,” she said.

“Well, we also have an F-style mandolin that was made by
the luthier Brice Weaver. It’s in perfect condition and it has a beautiful open
sound. It’s made out of top grade flame maple with a one piece back. It has
gold Waverly tuners and an ebony fingerboard and tuning pegs.”

“Why don’t you look at it, Maggie? You could probably
use another mandolin or maybe Gabe or Jake would like to play it.” Justin
smiled tenderly at her.

“I’d like to hear what it sounds like. A friend of mine
had a Weaver and I liked his mandolin.”

Maggie sat down in a chair at the back of the store and
Randy went to get the Weaver. He handed the mandolin to her with a pick and she
tuned it briefly. She played a couple quick chords to test its ‘chop’, and then
played a medley of fiddle tunes in D.

“Justin, I have a 1941 Martin D-18 that you might like
to try,” said Randy as he took the guitar off the wall and handed it to Justin.

Justin checked to make sure the guitar was in tune and
then he said, “How about ‘I Still Miss Someone’?” Maggie nodded and then they
launched off into an impromptu concert. Some of the customers gathered around
them in the back of the store, irresistibly drawn in by their sweet singing and
incredible musicianship.

“Would you play ‘Light in the Darkness’, Miss Williams?”
a woman requested when they were done playing.

“I’m surprised you remember that one, it was on my first
bluegrass album. Justin played bass on that,” Maggie said and smiled at him.

Maggie and Justin played that song and then a man in the
crowd asked for “Truck Stop Girl”. It had been a big hit on the radio because
it had been a duet with Tucker who was already a popular country star.

“I usually sing that with Tucker Travis,” she said, “but
I’m sure that Justin can sing it too.”

“I think I can manage,” Justin said and laughed.

As they were performing the song, Justin’s parents and
Maggie’s children entered the store and heard them playing. They walked up to
the back of the crowd and listened. Maggie saw them, so when they were done
with the song, she said “I see my children over there, so I guess we’re done
for the afternoon.” The small crowd applauded and several people came up to
Maggie and Justin and asked them for their autographs. Justin may not have had
his photo on the cover of
Time
magazine, but he was well-known in the San Francisco area for playing bass with one of their most famous bands. Maggie’s children
and Justin’s parents waited politely for them to be done.

“Thanks kids,” Maggie said as the crowd dispersed. She
looked over at Gabe and saw that he was checking out the inventory of electric
guitars with Randy.

Gabe pointed at a 1962 Fender Stratocaster and said
“That looks just like my Dad’s guitar.”

“Would you like to try it, son?” Randy asked while
looking at Maggie.

“It’s o.k. Randy, my son knows how to play.”

Gabe sat down in a chair with the guitar and Randy
plugged it into an amplifier. Maggie handed Gabe her guitar pick and he whipped
off a few blues licks.

“Wow, I’ll say he does. How old is he?”

“He’s ten.”

“Did his Dad teach him to play like that?”

“Yes, Zak started teaching him when he was very young.”

“You should hear Gabe play mandolin,” said Justin.
“Maggie started teaching him mando when he was two.”

“He’s going to be a monster guitar player in a couple
years,” Randy said with a stunned look on his face.

Justin looked at Gabe who was still playing and laughed.

“I know, it’s kind of scary.”

Randy looked at Belle and Jake.

“Do they play instruments too?”

“Of course,” Maggie smiled. “There’s no way that they
couldn’t play instruments.”

After Gabe was done checking out the Strat, Randy put it
back on the wall behind the counter. Justin leaned over and whispered something
in Randy’s ear. Randy looked at him and whispered something back. Maggie was
occupied with rounding up her brood and ushering them out of the store. They
gathered on the sidewalk in front of the store with Justin’s parents, and a
couple of minutes later Justin came out of the store.

“That was fun,” he said.

“They certainly have some gorgeous instruments in
there,” Maggie replied.

“I know, it’s hard to get out of there without buying
something,” Justin said smiling to himself.

“That was a nice man’lin, Mama,” Jake said.

“You’re right dear, it was,” said Maggie smiling.

They all walked back up the hill toward Justin’s
parents’ house.

The kids were holding small white paper bags filled with
penny candy, and occasionally stopped to have a fireball or jawbreaker. Maggie
and Justin held hands, laughing occasionally as they discussed the events of
the afternoon. As they approached the house, Justin let go of Maggie’s hand and
lingered behind so he could talk to his mother.

“I enjoyed hearing you and Maggie play together dear,”
Justin’s mother said.

“Thanks Mom, we enjoyed it too.”

Justin slowed down his gait, until the others had
reached the house.

“Mom, I was wondering if I could ask a favor of you.”

“What, dear?”

“Well, you know how you asked Maggie if we were going to
get married? I was wondering if you could babysit for the kids a couple times
so Maggie and I could spend some time alone. I would like to take her kayaking
and maybe out to dinner in San Francisco without the kids.”

 Justin had a thoughtful look on his face like he was
hatching some kind of plan.

“What’s up, Justin?”

“How would you like it if Maggie was your
daughter-in-law?” he asked.

Justin’s mother smiled and said, “I think that would be
fine.”

.

Chapter 13

The next day, Justin
began his campaign to woo Maggie. They spent the morning taking the kids to the
beach to fly their new kite, and then Justin’s parents came over in the
afternoon to watch the children while Justin took Maggie out sea kayaking.

Justin told Maggie to dress warmly because it sometimes
got cold out on the water. They both put on sweatshirts, jeans and sandals
since they would have to step into the water to get into the kayaks. They
packed a change of clothes in a backpack as Justin wanted to take Maggie out to
dinner afterwards. They said goodbye to the kids and Justin’s parents, and then
drove down to the kayaking center in Sausalito. After parking the van, they
walked over to the sandy beach and rented a double kayak. The staff brought
over their kayak and some windbreakers and lifejackets, and after a quick
orientation they began paddling out along Sausalito’s waterfront.

“How are you doing, Maggie?” Justin asked.

“This is fantastic, I can’t believe how beautiful it is,”
she said as they floated past some harbor seals sunning themselves on a dock.

“Did you see that pelican land on the green houseboat
over there?” Justin asked. Sometimes he wasn’t sure how much Maggie could see.

“Yes,” she answered. “Can we paddle up a little closer
so I can see it better?”

“Sure thing.”

“What is that mountain in the distance?” she asked.

“That’s Mount Tamalpais. I thought we would take the
kids over there in a day or two. The view from the summit is incredible.”

“Well, I like this view of the Golden Gate Bridge.”

Maggie took a small camera out of her pocket.

“Justin, please take some photos for me. I’d like to
show them to the kids.”

Another reason that Maggie wanted the photos was so that
she could look at them herself. Since her vision was blurry, it helped her
remember how things looked if she had a photo that she could look at later.
Justin took some pictures of the bridge, the mountain, the houseboats, the
seals and the birds. He turned around and took some photos of Maggie, smiling
broadly in the sun. He didn’t think he had ever seen her look so relaxed and
happy. The sun was just starting to set, reflected in the rosy hue of the
harbor. They started getting tired, so they paddled back to the beach and
turned in their kayak.

When they got back to the car, Justin had a surprise for
Maggie. He had reserved a room in a small inn near the ferry landing so they
could spend the night together. His parents had been kind enough to agree to
watch the children overnight. Justin grabbed the bag with their change of
clothes and they walked over to the inn. He registered at the desk as Mr. and
Mrs. William Monroe which made Maggie laugh.

“I guess you’re not used to your new name yet, Maggie,”
Justin said and winked at her. “We’re on our honeymoon,” he explained to the
woman behind the desk.

 “Well, enjoy your stay with us, Mr. Boudreau and Miss
Williams.”

“Thank you,” Maggie and Justin said, holding back the
laughter until they were out of sight down the corridor to their room.

“You know, sometimes it’s annoying that everyone seems
to know who we are,” Maggie said.

There was a knock at the door and when they opened it,
there was a waiter standing outside with a bottle of champagne.

“Compliments of the Inn,” he said as Justin tipped him.

They closed the door and Justin said, “See there are
benefits to being famous, Maggie.”

“Unless they brought the champagne because we are on our
honeymoon,” she said and laughed.

“Speaking of which….” Justin pulled her to him and
kissed her for a long time. He started pulling off her sweatshirt and
unbuttoned her jeans. He noticed that she was shivering, so he said, “I think a
long, hot shower is our first priority,” and he led her into the bathroom. The
bathroom was completely steamed up by the time they emerged forty minutes later
wrapped up in the white bathrobes that had been provided by the inn. They sat
on the bed and Justin started kissing Maggie again.

“Stop for a minute. I have to comb my hair, if I don’t
do it while it’s wet, I’ll never be able to get the comb through it.”

“Let me do it, Maggie,” and Justin carefully combed
Maggie’s waist length blonde hair which had gotten snarled from the wind when
they were kayaking. Maggie didn’t mention it, but this reminded her of the
night of her wedding to Zak. Zak had brushed her hair after making love to her
before they went down to their wedding reception.

“This is sort of feeling like a honeymoon, Justin,” was
all she said. “But a honeymoon without the pressure.”

“I’m not sure exactly what you mean Maggie, since I’ve
never been married.”

“I guess when I married Zak I felt like the honeymoon
was supposed to have been something incredibly special.”

“And wasn’t it?”

“Well, not exactly. I think both Zak and I felt some
stress as a result of unrealistic expectations. It wasn’t exactly the best sex
we ever had.”

“I don’t want you to worry about that tonight. It will
just be nice spending some time alone without the kids being around.”

They changed into some clean clothes, and then walked
out of the hotel into the town so that they could get dinner. They ended up
going back to the seafood restaurant where they had taken the kids for lunch
two days before. After several cocktails and a relaxed meal, they strolled
leisurely back to the inn. They smiled at the woman behind the desk as they
walked up to their room. Justin unlocked the door and they entered the room to
find the bed turned down, Ghirardelli chocolates on the pillow, and a second
bottle of champagne. Maggie laughed when she saw the champagne.

“Well, in this respect it’s not anything like my
honeymoon with Zak. I was pregnant and he had just gone through rehab, so
neither of us could drink.”

“There’s nothing stopping us from drinking tonight,”
Justin said. He smiled as he popped the cork and poured out two glasses of champagne.

“Are you trying to get me drunk so you can have your way
with me, Justin Boudreau?”

“That was the plan, Miss Williams.” And he leaned over
to kiss Maggie.

Maggie and Justin woke up late the next morning. They
lingered in bed until they started feeling guilty for leaving the children for
so long. They left a generous tip for the maid and then went down to the desk
to pay the bill. Maggie waited in the lobby while Justin paid with his credit
card.

On their way out, the desk clerk called after them “Have
a nice day, Mr. and Mrs. Boudreau.”

“Well, at least she thinks we’re married,” Maggie
laughed.

“Does it seem so unbelievable?” Justin asked seriously.

“Of course not, Justin. It’s just that I’ve been
thinking that I may not ever get married again.”

“What about your engagement to Tucker?”

“I guess I’m going to have to talk to him about that. I
don’t think I can marry him after spending the last week with you.”