The Sweetest Gift (The Gift) (8 page)

Justin walked back to the main house and was almost
knocked over by Gabe and Belle who were chasing each other out the front door.
They disappeared around the corner of the house into the back yard. Jake was
trailing behind them and tears were rolling down his face.

“Come back and play with me,” he cried.

“Do you want to do something with me, Jake?” Justin
asked.

“Yes, Daddy. I want to play guitar with you.”

Justin was incredibly touched. It was the first time
that Jake had referred to him as ‘Daddy’.

“O.k.,” he said. “Let’s go inside and tell your Mama
where we’re going and then I’ll take you over to the studio.”

They went into the living room where Tucker and Maggie
were having some coffee.

“Daddy and I are going to the studio to play guitars,”
Jake said proudly. He was starting to enjoy having a special relationship with
Justin that wasn’t shared by his brother and sister. “Do you want to come too,
Mama and Grampa?”

“Sure,” Maggie said. “Why don’t you start over and we’ll
join you in a couple minutes.”

“O.k. Mama,” Jake said happily. He took Justin by the
hand and led him out the door towards the studio. Justin looked back at Maggie
and she could see that he had tears in his eyes.

After they left, Tucker turned to Maggie and said, “What
was that all about?”

“I guess that Jake is starting to accept Justin as being
his father.”

Maggie was visibly moved, she had tears in her eyes too.
Tucker didn’t say anything, but he had a thoughtful look on his face. They
finished their coffee and then walked over to the studio which was next door to
the guest house. They went inside and saw Jake playing Gabriel’s mandolin and
Justin was accompanying him on the bass.

“Mama, come play with me and Daddy,” Jake requested.

So Maggie picked up an acoustic guitar and played the
chords to “Wheel Hoss” while Jake slowly picked out the melody. Tucker saw
Maggie and Justin exchange a tender look as they looked down on their
precocious son. Tucker started to feel a little left out of the family circle.

“I’m going to go back to the house, Maggie. I have some
calls to make about the tour.”

She looked up at him briefly and smiled.

“O.k. Tucker, we’ll be in before too long.”

Tucker went back to the house and took the phone into
the living room so he could call his booking agent. While he was looking out
the window, he saw Maggie and Justin walking up the driveway with Jake in
between them. They were all holding hands so that they were linked together.
Occasionally they would lift Jake up in the air and swing him forward, much to
his delight. As he came running in the house, Tucker heard him laugh and say,
“That was fun, Mommy and Daddy.”  Tucker heard Maggie reply, “That was fun son,
Mommy and Daddy enjoyed it too.”

.

Chapter 10

Later that afternoon, Tucker asked Maggie and
Justin if they had booked their flights to San Francisco. He encouraged them to
do that soon, so they could get a special fare. Justin got on the phone and
called the airline and made reservations. They were going to leave in two
weeks. Tucker said it was a good time for him because he was going to be
helping a friend of his record an album in his studio. Then Justin called his
parents in San Francisco and told them that he was bringing their grandson Jake
to visit them. He also wanted them to meet Maggie and her other two children.
Next Justin called some of the members of his band and told them he was coming
back for a while and he was hoping that they could schedule some practices
while he was there.

“Oh, and by the way,” he said very casually, “I’m
bringing my son Jake and his mother Maggie Mae Williams.”

The members of Justin’s band were very surprised to hear
this. They had known Justin for over four years and they realized they didn’t
know much about him. They had no idea that he had a son and he certainly had
never told them that he had a relationship with Maggie Mae Williams, the
country star. They did know that he had played in a band with her because they
had won a Grammy award for the album that they had made together, but they were
all under the impression that she was married to Tucker Travis. They started to
wonder if this was why Justin had never gotten seriously involved with any of
the women he had dated.

Maggie, Justin and the children spent the next two weeks
at Tucker’s. The children enjoyed being home, they had friends from school that
lived nearby and there was a lot for them to do at Tucker’s. He had an
in-ground pool and a stable with horses. Gabe and Belle had been taking riding
lessons and were pretty competent with the more gentle horses. Tucker sometimes
rode an Arabian stallion named Samson that was fairly spirited, but the
children weren’t allowed to take that horse out. Tucker had been thinking of
buying a Shetland pony for Jake, but that had been put on hold until Maggie and
her children returned from their travels.

One afternoon, Tucker invited Justin to ride with him.
Tucker’s horse needed the exercise and Tucker preferred to ride with someone
else. They went down to the barn and saddled the horses, and took them out onto
a trail that ran around the periphery of Tucker’s property. Maggie went down to
the barn too, but didn’t go out with them. She had taken some riding lessons
when she was young, but she didn’t feel totally comfortable on a horse since
she couldn’t see well. Justin tried to persuade her that she would be fine on
Tucker’s mare Delilah, but she said she would wait for them to get back. Maggie
fed some apples to Tucker’s three other horses and petted the barn cat. When
the two men returned from their ride, Justin got off his horse and led it over
to Maggie. He tied it to a rail fence outside the barn and told Maggie that she
should get on the horse.

“I don’t know, Justin. I don’t feel comfortable riding
when I can’t see.”

“If you slide up to the front of the saddle, I think I
can get on behind you Maggie. We can ride together, I’ll hold the reins.”

Tucker watched them, but didn’t say anything.

Maggie put her foot in the stirrup and swung her leg
over the saddle until she was on the horse.

“O.k. Maggie, now slide towards the pommel. You can hold
on to that. You’re going to have to take your feet out of the stirrups so I can
get up.”

Maggie did as she was told and then Justin mounted the
horse and swung up on the saddle behind her. He put his arms around Maggie and
then grabbed the reins. Tucker untied the mare, and Justin kicked the horse and
she walked towards the trail. Maggie got used to the horse’s gait after a
while. As soon as they got out of sight of the barn, Justin started kissing the
back of Maggie’s neck.

“How are you doing, Maggie. Are you having fun?” he
whispered in her ear.

He could feel Maggie relax in his arms. He waited until
she seemed completely comfortable and then said “Let’s step it up a notch,” and
he kicked the horse into a trot.

“Justin, I feel like I’m going to slide off since I don’t
have any stirrups,” she said.

“Don’t worry, Maggie, I’ve got you. I won’t let you
fall.”

He pulled back on the reins and the horse slowed back
down to a walk. Justin held Maggie even tighter against him, his arms
surrounding her waist and his legs enclosing her legs.

“Maggie, I want you so much,” he whispered softly in her
ear as they headed back towards the barn. Maggie was starting to feel aroused
by her close proximity to Justin and the way they moved together on the horse. When
they got in sight of the barn, they saw that Maggie’s children and Tucker were
waiting for them.

“Mama, I can’t believe you’re riding,” Belle called out.

“I think we should help your mother get comfortable on
Delilah and then maybe she would be able to ride by herself,” Justin suggested.

“I’m not sure that I would ever get to that point.”

“You never know what you’re capable of Maggie, until you
try,” Justin answered.

Justin halted the horse in front of the barn and
dismounted. He held the bridle while Maggie found the stirrups and swung down.
They led the horse back to its stall. Justin put the saddle and tack away while
Maggie curried the horse. She enjoyed the feel and smell of the horse and could
sense its gentle spirit. Justin put his arm around her so he could retrieve the
curry comb. He left it there a few moments longer than was necessary.

“I’ll finish grooming the horse, Maggie,” he said as
Tucker and the children entered the barn.

“I hope you enjoyed your ride, darlin’,” Tucker said.
“Maybe Justin could take you out some more while he’s here.”

“Maybe you could go for a ride with us, Mama,” said
Gabe. “That would be fun.”

“We’ll see,” Maggie said. She was surprised to think
that riding with her children might even be a possibility.

“That mare is very gentle, Maggie. I’m sure you could
handle her. Maybe we could try to go for a ride with the kids before we leave,”
said Justin. He put his hand on her shoulder as she smiled at him.

“O.k., we can give it a try at some point,” she said
much to her children’s delight.

The next day was hot and humid, so they decided to spend
the afternoon in the swimming pool. Jake watched his brother and sister racing
each other across the pool and suddenly he went over to Justin and took him by
the hand.

“Daddy, teach me to swim,” he pleaded.

Jake was pretty competent at the dog paddle, but he
wasn’t allowed to swim in the deep end of the pool.

“I think that’s an excellent idea, Jake,” Justin
replied. “Maggie, it would be a good idea if he was a little more comfortable
in the pool.”

Maggie agreed. Zak had taught Gabe and Belle how to
swim, but due to the divorce, Jake and been overlooked in that regard. So
Justin spent the next week teaching Jake the crawl and the back stroke. He also
taught him how to tread water in case he had some sort of emergency in the
water. By the end of the week, Jake had become a lot more proficient with his
swimming skills. Maggie was relieved that Jake would be a little safer around
the swimming pool.

Justin had also been working with Maggie so that she
would feel comfortable horseback riding. They went out for an hour or two every
day and by the end of the week, Maggie had gotten to the point where she was
riding Delilah by herself. She found that the horse was so gentle that it would
follow another horse and if Maggie accidentally dropped the reins, she would
just stop moving until Maggie could recover them.

Maggie started to enjoy these trail rides, Tucker’s
property was extensive and included rolling pastures and woods. Maggie began
looking even healthier than usual with all this exercise and time outdoors.
Tucker wondered if there was another reason that Maggie appeared to be glowing,
but kept his suspicions to himself. The week culminated with Maggie
accompanying Gabe, Belle and Justin on a trail ride. Tucker stayed home with
Jake and played guitar with him. When the other children came home and joined
them in the living room, they were excited by the expedition with their mother.

“Uncle Justin told Mama that he’s going to teach her to
ride a motorcycle next,” said Gabe approvingly.

“I’d like to see that,” Tucker said and laughed.

“Well, that’s probably not going to happen,” said Maggie
as she entered the living room.

“You never know Maggie,” laughed Justin as he came into
the room after her. “I have a bike out in California that you might like to
try.”

“Just bring her back in one piece, Justin,” Tucker said
and smiled.

.

Chapter 11

The next day, Maggie and Justin helped the
children pack for the trip to San Francisco. They didn’t want to bring too much
luggage so Maggie and Belle shared a suitcase and so did Jake and Gabe. Justin
loaded the suitcases in the trunk of his rental car and then went back into the
house to say goodbye to Tucker.

Maggie was sitting with Tucker on the couch with her
arms wrapped around him. She had tears in her eyes as she kissed him goodbye.

“Ah darlin’, don’t cry. You’ll be back before you even
have time to miss me.” Tucker said.

“You know that’s not true. I always miss you when we’re
apart,” Maggie said softly.

Tucker turned towards Justin and said, “Take good care
of Maggie and the children. And make sure you show them a good time. The kids
need to have some fun before they go back to school.”

At the mention of school, Gabe and Belle groaned. Jake
smiled to himself because he was looking forward to starting kindergarten in
September.

 Then they all walked out to the driveway and got into
the car, leaving Tucker by himself on the front porch of the house. Justin
started the car, and Maggie leaned out her open window to wave goodbye to Tucker.
She felt guilty about leaving him alone, but at the same time she looked
forward to spending some time with her children and Justin in San Francisco.

After a long, uneventful flight, Maggie, Justin and the
children disembarked at San Francisco International Airport and walked over to
the Hertz counter to rent a car. They drove up Route 101 towards Justin’s house
in Sausalito. He had recently rented a two-bedroom duplex that had great views
of the Bay and Angel Island. It was close to the beach and within walking
distance of town and the ferry to San Francisco. It was a bit small for the
five of them, but Justin figured that he and Maggie could take one bedroom,
Gabe and Jake could take the second bedroom and Belle could sleep on the
fold-out couch in the living room. They would probably spend a lot of time
exploring the sights and visiting Justin’s friends and family, so they could
probably survive for a week in the somewhat cramped quarters. Justin’s parents
lived nearby in Tiburon and he was hoping that they might take the kids one
night so that he could spend some time alone with Maggie.