The Sweetest Gift (The Gift) (4 page)

“It’s awfully humid here in Louisiana,” he said. “I
don’t know how you can live here year round, Zak.”

“I guess I’m just used to it. Maggie used to find it
difficult though, being a Northerner.”

“You’d like the climate in San Francisco, Maggie. It’s
moderate all the time,” said Justin.

“Sounds good to me,” said Tucker.

“Have you been back to Boston recently to see your
parents?” Justin asked.

“We were back about a year ago. Tucker and I were hoping
to take the kids before we got married.”

“My parents moved out to California two years ago. They
live about half an hour away. It’s nice to have some family nearby,” said
Justin.

“So it sounds like you’re committed to staying out
there,” Zak said.

“For the moment, but things can change,” Justin answered,
giving Maggie a long look.

“Did I hear there were some plans to go visit Spencer
tomorrow?” Zak asked.

“Yes, we thought we would have a Little Maggie reunion.
Carole and Jim are going to come out and we thought that we would start working
on some new material,” Maggie said.

“I assume that Justin is going to play bass. What about
you Tucker?” Zak wanted to know.

“I’m not sure yet, I guess it depends on how I feel
tomorrow.”

“O.k., if you want to hang out here, Maggie and Justin
could take the Porsche. They might find that fun,” Zak suggested.

Justin shared Zak’s love of fast cars, but drove a van
that could accommodate his bass guitar and amp. Justin looked at his friend and
said, “I know I’d enjoy it, Zak.”

“I’m sure that Spencer would like seeing Tucker again,
so let’s just decide tomorrow,” Maggie said decisively.

However, the next morning Tucker said he was tired and
just wanted to relax with Zak and the kids.

“Are you sure, Tucker?” Maggie asked. She wasn’t sure
that she wanted to spend time alone with Justin. She didn’t know if she would
be able to control herself if he kissed her again.

“Yes, I’m sure Maggie. You and Justin go off and have a
good time.”

Zak got the keys to the Porsche off the counter and
threw them over to Justin

“Yeah, you two enjoy yourselves. Just bring the Porsche
back in one piece please.”

“You know I’m a good driver,” said Justin. “You’re the
one who keeps having the accidents.”

“Not for a long time, I’m older and more mature now.”

“Well, definitely older. I’m not sure about the mature
part,” Justin teased his friend.

“Are you sure you want to watch the kids, Zak?”

“Sure, Maggie. Go have fun. Say hi to everyone for me.”

Maggie kissed the kids and Tucker goodbye and then she
and Justin climbed into the Porsche and took off down the driveway. There
wasn’t much room in the car for instruments, but they knew that Spencer had a
mandolin and bass that they could use. Maggie looked forward to spending time
with her friends and playing some bluegrass music without having to worry about
her children. Justin looked forward to spending time with Maggie.

.

Chapter 5

Spencer only lived about twenty minutes away,
so Justin suggested that they take the ‘scenic route’ so he could enjoy driving
the Porsche a little longer. He wanted to take the car out onto the highway so
he could get a feel for how fast it could go. Maggie asked him to take it easy,
she never liked it when Zak drove fast. Fortunately, Zak didn’t buy the Porsche
until after their divorce, so she didn’t have to share in that experience with
him. Justin took the car out on the I-10 and waited for some space to open up
before unleashing the horse power. He hit the accelerator and let the car get
up to almost 100 mph and then sensing that Maggie was getting nervous, brought
it back down to a safe speed.

“What did you think Maggie? That was really something.”

“I’m just glad that Zak waited to get this thing until
after we were divorced. I bet his girlfriends like it though.” Maggie laughed.

“Yeah, well it’s pretty sexy. A lot sexier than my
mini-van,” Justin replied.

“Well, at least you don’t need two cars, the sports car
and the van to haul the kids around.”

“I don’t know, sometimes I think maybe I should have
more fun instead of always being so practical.”

“It’s probably possible to do both,” and Maggie smiled
at Justin.

She realized she was having fun and feeling carefree in
a way that she never did when she was around her children. She reached over and
put her hand on Justin’s knee. He took his hand off the steering wheel to hold
her hand for a moment. He held it up to his lips to kiss it before he released
it to shift into gear.

Ten minutes later, they pulled into the driveway to
Spencer’s house. This house actually belonged to Maggie and Zak. It was the
first house that they had lived in together and when they built their new house
they decided to hold onto it and rent it to Spencer. Maggie always loved
visiting Spencer here and spending time in her old house that held so many
memories. Justin had lived with Maggie and Zak in the house for a while and the
house held a lot of memories for him too, especially of the first night that he
had slept with Maggie. Maggie had caught Zak with his old girlfriend Jacqueline
and Justin and Maggie had ended up getting drunk and sleeping together.

As they entered the house, Justin saw the couch in the
living room where he had made love to Maggie. His memories of that night were
extremely vivid, he had never been able to put them out of his mind. Maggie, on
the other hand, couldn’t remember much about what had happened and that had
always haunted her.

Spencer was in the kitchen getting some snacks together
to serve the band. He was cutting up some wedges of cheese and slices of apples
and arranging them on a platter with some crackers.

“Hey guys, how’s it going? Ready to do some playing?”

Spencer hugged Maggie and kissed her on the cheek and
then shook Justin’s hand.

“It’s so good to see both of you. Anything new?”

Maggie and Justin looked at each other and then Justin
said, “Not much. Maggie finished touring with Tucker and they’re about to take
the kids back to Nashville. I’m done touring for a while too. It’s good to be
home.”

“I remember how tough it was touring with Little
Maggie,” Spencer said. “But I wouldn’t mind doing it again.” Spencer laughed.
“Let’s take this out to the studio, Carole and Jim should be here any minute.”

Spencer carried the large platter out the back door with
Maggie and Justin following behind. He opened the door to the renovated garage
and they went inside. Justin put his hand on Maggie’s shoulder for a moment. They
both were thinking of the same thing, the time they had played together with
Zak in the studio when they had first met.

“You can borrow my mandolin, Maggie and I have a Rickenbacker
bass that you can use Justin.”

Spencer picked up his Martin guitar from its stand and
they all started tuning up.

Spencer started singing:

“Now yonder stands Little Maggie,

With a dram glass in her hand,

She’s a drinkin’ away her troubles,

She’s a-courtin’ another man.”

 It was an old Stanley Brothers song that he always
played in honor of Maggie. It never failed to elicit a smile from her. Justin
started playing a simple bass line while Maggie played mandolin chords on the
off beat.

 Carole and Jim opened the door and carried in their
instrument cases. Carole took out her fiddle and Jim strapped on his banjo and
they joined in on the song. They traded some breaks and then all finished
solidly together.

“Well, that sounded pretty good guys,” Maggie said with
satisfaction. “How are you doing, Carole and Jim? It sounds like you’ve been
practicing.”

“We’re still going to the jam in Church Point, so we’ve
been keeping our hand in,” Jim responded. “Nothing close to what you’ve been
doing, Maggie and Justin. Are you both done touring?”

“For the moment,” said Maggie. “Tucker’s booking agent
is working out a world tour though. It probably won’t start for another couple
months.”

“That’s great, Maggie,” said Carole. “I know you’ve
wanted to do that for a while.”

“Well, now that the kids are a little older, it seemed
like a good time. By the way, I brought some tapes for everyone of some songs
that I wrote recently. Maybe you can take them home and listen to them a few
times and then we can get together and work out some arrangements. In the
meantime, how about if we practice some of our old tunes?”

“Sounds good Maggie,” said Jim. “What do you want to
start with?”

“I’d love to hear Spencer sing ‘I Still Miss Someone’
and then maybe Carole and I can sing a duet on ‘The Sweetest Gift’.”

Justin laughed to himself as Maggie subtly took control
of the practice. There was a reason that the band was named after her, although
she would never admit to being the band’s leader.

They played one song after another until everyone
started slowing down a little. Carole got a cramp in her left hand and declared
that she was done for the day. Jim said that his banjo was starting to feel a
little heavy and that he would have to stop too.

“I guess practice is over then,” said Maggie. “Justin
and I were hoping to practice a couple times over the next week while we’re
here. Is that o.k. with everyone?”

Spencer, Carole and Jim all agreed to that and they
scheduled the next practice for in two days. Carole and Jim packed up their
instruments and then walked out to their cars together. Maggie and Justin
walked back to the house with Spencer who offered to make them some dinner.
Spencer liked to cook for people and he didn’t get that chance too often. He
decided to make some baked chicken while Maggie and Justin took their beers
into the living room. Justin took Maggie’s cassette and loaded it into
Spencer’s tape deck and played the new songs that Maggie had written. Maggie
had recorded them with Tucker, she played mandolin while Tucker played guitar.

“Are you sure you don’t want to save these songs for
your next album with Tucker, Maggie?” Justin asked.

“I think these would sound better with a complete
bluegrass band,” she replied. “Besides, I’ve missed playing with you guys. It’s
so much fun to play with a group, everyone trading breaks.”

Spencer came into the room to join them in a beer.

“Did you bring me a tape of your music, Justin?” he
asked.

“Yes, I left one for you on the coffee table,” Justin
said.

“Why don’t you put it on when Maggie’s tape is done,”
Spencer said. “I’d like to hear it.”

Justin obliged, and they sat around listening to the
loud rock and roll.

“You’re making me miss playing in a rock band,” said
Spencer. “Remember when we used to play in Lost Highway, Maggie? We really rocked
those clubs some nights.”

“How could I forget, Spencer.  I still have trouble
hearing out of my left ear.”

Spencer and Maggie smiled at each other. This was one of
many private jokes that they shared. Spencer had always stood to Maggie’s left
when they played out.

“If you’re having hearing problems, it’s probably due to
the drums in Zak’s band or maybe Justin’s thunderous bass lines,” Spencer
teased.

Maggie and Justin smiled at each other. They had always
enjoyed playing in Zak’s band, the Bayou Blasters.

“I miss playing with you guys, we had so much fun in the
old days,” Maggie said.

“I miss playing with you too, Maggie. You have an
incredible voice for rock and roll. You should get back to that sometime,”
Justin said.

Just then the buzzer on the stove went off and Spencer
went back into the kitchen to take out the baked chicken. Justin turned off the
tape and sat down on the couch next to Maggie. He put his arm around her waist,
turned her head towards him and kissed her on the mouth.

“I’ve missed you so much, Maggie,” he whispered.

Spencer could see them kiss from the kitchen so he
puttered around a little longer than necessary. After a couple minutes, he
asked them if they were ready to eat. They came into the kitchen and sat down
at the table and he served them the chicken, mashed potatoes, biscuits and
salad.

“Sorry, I didn’t have time to make anything fancy,”
Spencer said.

“This is delicious, Spencer and just what I needed. I’m
starving,” Maggie responded.

“How about another beer, Justin?” said Spencer.

“Thanks, man. That would be great.”

They ate their dinner and then retreated to the living
room to catch up on the news. Spencer and Justin had a couple more beers and
smoked a joint.

“What about you, Maggie?” Spencer said and offered her
the joint.

“I have enough problems getting around without being
high, so I guess I’ll pass,” Maggie said.

Spencer and Justin finished the joint and Spencer put on
an old tape of Lost Highway.

“Man, those were the days, Maggie. You sounded so
great,” Spencer said.

Maggie leaned against Justin and closed her eyes. She
listened to Spencer and Justin reminisce and then drifted off to sleep. She
woke up an hour later, and realized that the guys had smoked a few more joints
and drunk a few more beers.

“I can barely keep my eyes open,” Spencer said. “I’m
going to bed. You can take the spare bedroom or someone can sleep on the
couch.”

After Spencer left the room, Justin leaned over and
kissed Maggie deeply for a long time. She started to feel aroused, especially
when he murmured in her ear how much he wanted to make love to her. He started
to unbutton her pants when suddenly it came back to her, that night they had
spent together making love on the couch.

“Oh god,” she moaned.

He responded by kissing her even more deeply.