The Gift (29 page)

They shook hands and Maggie kissed Tucker once more and
then they drove out of the driveway to the airport.

Maggie got home to find a huge bouquet of flowers from
Tucker with a note that read “Thanks for your contribution to the new album.
I’m thinking we should work on an album of duets next. Take care and see you at
the Grammys, Tucker.”

Maggie showed the note to Zak.

“That must have been a successful couple days, Maggie.
What an honor to get to work with Tucker.”

“It was one of the high points of my life, Zak. Oh and
by the way, he gave me something for you.”

“Really, what’s that?” asked Zak.

Maggie went over to her suitcase and pulled out the
Nudie suit and handed it to Zak.

“This is the suit that Tucker wore to the Grammy awards
in 1972. He won that year and he wanted to lend you the suit for good luck.”

Zak whistled softly. “This is the most incredible suit
I’ve ever seen. It kind of looks like the suit that Gram Parsons wore.”        

“Yes, they were both made by Nudie. This suit is worth a
lot of money Zak and it was extremely generous of Tucker to lend it to you.”

Zak fingered the material and looked at the embroidered
guitars and flowers.

“I don’t know Maggie, it’s pretty flashy. I’m not sure I
could pull it off.”

“I think you can. You would look incredible in this
suit, especially with your long hair. No one would be able to take their eyes
off you. Why don’t you try it on and see if it fits.”

“O.k. Maggie,” said Zak resignedly. He took off his
jeans and t-shirt and slipped into the pants and jacket. He was standing in
front of the mirror in the bedroom to check out how he looked when suddenly
Gabriel ran into the room and looked at Zak with wide eyes.

“Daddy is pretty,” Gabriel said.

“Thank you, Gabriel,” Zak said seriously, then he looked
at Maggie and laughed.

“Well, I guess I’ll have to wear it, because God knows
that it’s important to look pretty at the Grammy awards.”

 Maggie laughed too.

“Well, just don’t look prettier than me,” she said.

“That would be impossible Maggie,” Zak said. “I’m sure
you will be the most beautiful woman there.”

.

Chapter 30

Three weeks later, Maggie and Zak dropped off
Gabriel and Isabel at Zak’s mother’s, and then picked up Justin and drove to
the airport in New Orleans. Jim, Carole and Tom were meeting them there and
they were all going to fly to Los Angeles together to attend the Grammy awards.
Spencer was flying in from Boston and he told them that he would meet them all
at the hotel. Maggie had gotten a phone call from Abbie and Jerry and they said
that they would be attending the awards ceremony too. Maggie was happy that she
would be sharing the experience with her husband and friends.

Maggie sat in between Zak and Justin on the plane and
felt peaceful and safe with both men beside her. Carole, Jim and Tom sat in the
row in front of them. Maggie whispered to Carole that she was glad that they
didn’t have to drive all the way to LA in the van, which made Carole laugh.
Carole whispered back that she felt like she was on a class field trip.
Eventually, they settled down and Maggie fell asleep leaning against Zak’s
shoulder. Finally, she was awakened by the sound of the landing gear coming
down and the plane landed smoothly on the runway at LAX.

They disembarked from the plane and picked up their
luggage and then went to find cabs to take them to their hotel. Abbie had made
reservations for everyone at the Beverly Wilshire hotel in Beverly Hills. It
was near Rodeo Drive and she thought that Maggie and Carole might enjoy
checking out the stores. Abbie and Jerry had also reserved a suite where they
planned on throwing a small party after the awards ceremony was over.

After checking into their rooms, Maggie, Carole and
Abbie decided to do some shopping on Rodeo Drive. Maggie thought she would look
for some black heels to go with her dress and Carole and Abbie wanted to window
shop. Zak and Justin told them that they planned to take advantage of the spa
in the hotel and get massages.

Maggie thought that sounded very nice, especially after
the long plane ride. They all agreed to meet back at the hotel and then go out
to dinner together.

Maggie enjoyed going out shopping with the other women.
They especially had fun in the expensive lingerie shop. Maggie decided she
needed some beige bikini underpants to wear with her black dress because the
back of the dress was cut so low. Abbie also encouraged Maggie to get a
revealing nightgown to surprise Zak. As a mother, she knew that Maggie and Zak didn’t
have too many opportunities to spend a romantic night together without their
children. Abbie and Carole bought some lingerie also, and they all left the
shop giggling about their purchases. Next they went to look at shoes. Maggie
bought some black heels that looked sexy, but weren’t too high. She was nervous
about tripping on her long dress if she had to go up onto the stage during the
awards ceremony. Abbie ended up buying black heels to go with her cranberry
colored gown, and Carole found some silver heels to go with her navy dress.
They all had fun and were quite satisfied with their purchases, so they decided
to go back to the hotel.

Maggie invited the other women to come in and have a
drink with her in her suite. As she unlocked the door, she noticed a large
flower arrangement on the coffee table. Abbie saw that there was a card in the
flowers so she handed it to Maggie. Maggie was having trouble reading the
handwriting, so she asked Abbie to read it to her. Abbie opened the card and
told her it was from Tucker.

“What does it say, Abbie?” Maggie asked.

“Good luck tomorrow, partner. Love, Tucker.”

“That was thoughtful of him,” said Abbie.

Just then they heard a knock on the door. Carole opened
it to find Tucker standing in the hall carrying a guitar case. Tucker kissed
her on the cheek and entered the room and kissed Abbie and then Maggie.

“Well, congratulations everyone,” he said. “I hope that
you are all excited about tomorrow. It’s going to be a great night.”

“Thanks for the flowers, Tucker,” said Maggie. “That was
very kind of you.”

“You’re welcome darlin’,” he said. “I have something
else for you. I wanted to get you a present to thank you for helping me with my
album, so I stopped by Gruhn’s in Nashville. I know you’ve been working on your
guitar playing with Justin, so I got you a little something to inspire you.”

Tucker opened the case and took out the guitar and
handed it to Maggie.

“It’s a Martin D-45, I hope you like it.”

He handed Maggie a guitar pick and she played a couple
licks on the guitar and was impressed with its tone.

“Oh Tucker, thank you so much. What a beautiful
instrument.”

He leaned over and kissed Maggie on the mouth.

“I hope you’ll use it to write some more songs for me.” he said.

Then he turned to Abbie and said “Maggie and I are
planning on working on an album of duets together.”

Abbie congratulated Maggie and said she thought that
would be an excellent idea. Just then they heard a key in the lock and Zak and
Justin opened the door and walked into the room.

“Hi Tucker, hi girls,” said Zak. He kissed Maggie and
said “That’s a gorgeous guitar,”

“Tucker just gave it to me to thank me for working on
his record.”

“That was thoughtful, Tucker. I’m sure Maggie will enjoy
playing it. Oh, and thank you for the suit by the way.”

“So are you going to wear it tomorrow night, Zak?”
Tucker asked.

“Definitely, it’s quite a work of art.”

“Well, it takes a man with balls to wear a suit like
that. I should know,” Tucker said and then he laughed.

“I’m sure Zak will get a lot of attention,” Maggie said
and smiled. She knew that Zak enjoyed being the center of attention, something
that still made her uncomfortable.

“Speaking of which,” Abbie suddenly broke in. “I was
hoping that I could get some photographs of everyone before the awards show.
I’d like to have some to send out for publicity purposes. Would it be o.k. if
you meet the photographer in the hospitality suite for a few minutes before we
go to the show?  I’d like photos of Little Maggie and the Bayou Blasters if
possible.”

“Sure, no problem,” said Zak.

“And that journalist from
Rolling Stone
would
still like to interview you, Maggie and Zak.”

“I don’t know, Abbie. I feel like I’ve done enough
interviews for one year,” Maggie answered.

Justin looked at her. He knew that she wanted to avoid
being interviewed because she still hadn’t fully come to terms with her
disability from the accident. They had discussed this several times after her
appointments with her therapist.

“Maybe you’ll feel like it some other time, Maggie,”
Justin said and gave her a warm smile. Maggie smiled back. She knew that she
could always count on him to support her.

The next afternoon, the three women went down to the
salon at the hotel to get their hair and nails done for the awards show. Maggie
whispered to the hair stylist that she was concerned that her hair was thin, so
he offered to style it in a French bun that would look very sleek and
sophisticated. Maggie thought that was a good solution, especially since if she
wore her hair up it would emphasize the bare back of the dress.

After their hair and nails were done, the women returned
to their rooms to dress for the awards show. Then they were all going to meet
at the hospitality suite so that the photographer could take photographs of
them before the awards ceremony. Zak still hadn’t returned, so Maggie proceeded
to get dressed by herself. About an hour before they were supposed to leave,
Zak, Tucker and Justin showed up. Everyone was in a good mood, Maggie could
tell that they had all started partying early. Tucker called down to room
service for some champagne while Zak went into the bedroom to get dressed.
Tucker and Justin had already gotten dressed and were looking dapper in their
tuxes. Tucker picked up the guitar that he had bought for Maggie and started strumming
a few songs while they were waiting. He played the song that he and Maggie had
written in Nashville.

“C’mon Maggie, sing with me,” he said.

Maggie smiled at him and joined him with a harmony on
the chorus.

Zak emerged from the bedroom wearing the flashy Nudie
suit and said “Is that the song you wrote in Nashville? It’s pretty catchy, it
will probably be a big hit for you, Tucker.”

There was a knock on the door and a waiter delivered the
champagne and some glasses. Tucker popped the cork and poured champagne for
everyone.

“Well, congratulations to everyone on their nominations
and hopefully we will all win tonight. I have a feeling that Maggie and I will
be back again next year too.”

Everyone finished their champagne and then Tucker
invited Zak and Justin to go out on the balcony with him to look at the view.
Maggie wasn’t an idiot and knew that they were going outside to indulge in some
sort of illicit substance, but she decided to ignore it for one night. Just
then there was another knock on the door and it was Spencer and Tom. Maggie
opened the door and gave them a hug and invited them to come in for some
champagne. Tucker, Zak and Justin came inside from the balcony to greet them
and after finishing up the rest of the champagne, they all proceeded to go
downstairs to have their photos taken in the hospitality suite.

As they were walking down the hall towards the elevator,
Maggie pulled Tucker aside for a moment and spoke to him in a low voice. “Tucker,
I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t give Zak any drugs. He promised me that
he would stop taking them and he’s been good about it up until now.”

“Ahh Maggie, c’mon. Let us have a little fun tonight.
It’s a special occasion. What’s the harm in it? You can let Zak off the leash
for just one night.”

“I really don’t like it, Tucker.” Maggie replied.

“God, you’re as bad as my ex-wife,” Tucker complained.

“Well, maybe she was just worried about your health,”
Maggie retorted.

“Nah, she was just a pain in the ass,” Tucker said.

When they got to the elevator, Zak looked questioningly
at Maggie and asked “What’s the whispering all about, you two?”

“Nothing, Zak. Let’s just go down and have our photos
taken and go to the awards ceremony.”

They entered the hospitality suite to find Abbie and
Jerry, and Carole and Jim waiting for them. There were some more bottles of
champagne on ice and some platters of food which Maggie was grateful for by
this time. She hadn’t eaten since lunch and didn’t want to go through the whole
evening without something to sustain her.

The photographer showed up and took photos of everyone
in various configurations, Little Maggie, the Bayou Blasters and a few photos
of just Maggie and Zak. The photographer asked Maggie to stand facing Zak but
half turning to look back over her shoulder so he could get a shot of the back
of her dress. Then he asked Zak to put his arm around Maggie’s waist.

“That’s a beautiful shot, Maggie” said Abbie. “You and
Zak look very sexy together.”

Maggie grimaced a little and said that maybe that was
enough posing for one night. Then Abbie said it was time to go, and she started
to herd everyone out of the suite and down to the hotel entrance where there
were some limos waiting to take them to the Grammy awards. As they walked
through the lobby, Tucker whispered to Zak that he needed to use the men’s
room. Zak looked at him and said that he would join him.

The two of them made a brief detour and then joined
everyone in front of the hotel as they got into their limos.