The Gift (31 page)

“Do you want me to take the guitar, Maggie? We have an
extra seat that we could use for it since you’re not going back with me. That
way you wouldn’t have to check it when you’re going home.”

“Maybe you should leave it with me, Zak. I don’t know
how long I’m going to be here, and I might want to work on some new songs if I
have any free time.”

When Zak finished packing, Maggie and Justin walked with
him down to the lobby of the hotel so they could say goodbye as he caught a cab
to the airport. Maggie threw her arms around Zak’s neck and kissed him for a
long time.

“I’m going to miss you, my love,” she said. “I’ll get
home as soon as I can.”

“I love you, Maggie,” Zak said. He turned to Justin and
said “Take care of Maggie for me.”

Then he got in the cab and it drove away.

After Zak left for the airport, Maggie and Justin took a
cab over to the hospital to visit with Tucker. He seemed to be feeling a little
better and had finally been able to get in touch with his estranged daughter in
Australia. She told him that she would fly to Nashville in a week so that he
would have someone to stay with him while he recovered from his heart attack.

“In the meantime Tucker, Justin and I can stay with you
for a while until you get back on your feet,” Maggie said.

“Maggie, you don’t have to do this. I know you probably
need to get back to your children.”

“Tucker, you shouldn’t be alone at a time like this. You
have done so much for me, let me return the favor. We’ll stay here with you
until you get out of the hospital and then Justin and I will escort you back to
Nashville and help you get settled there. Then your daughter can take over.”

“Maggie, you’re an angel,” Tucker said. “Too bad none of
my ex-wives were as sweet as you.”

Maggie leaned over and kissed Tucker on the cheek. The
nurse came in the room to tell them that visiting hours were over, so Maggie
and Justin went back to the hotel.

When they got back to Maggie’s room, Maggie asked Justin
if he would mind staying with her. She told him that she found it a little
difficult to get around by herself because of her limited vision.

“Of course, Maggie.  I’m happy to help you, but how
about if I stay on the couch? I’ll be able to hear you there if you need
anything.”

Justin wanted to support Maggie, but he was feeling
increasingly conflicted. He loved Maggie, but he loved Zak too and didn’t want
to hurt him in any way. He felt it would be better for everyone if he and
Maggie put the brakes on their relationship. Justin was getting dangerously
attached to Maggie and he knew that ultimately their relationship didn’t have
any future.

They spent a quiet evening in Maggie’s room. They
ordered room service, but didn’t have any wine with their dinner. They watched
some movies on tv until midnight, and then Maggie said she was tired and wanted
to go to bed. She went into the bedroom and prepared to go to sleep. She put on
her nightgown and then remembered that she had bought the new one at the lingerie
shop for the romantic night that she had planned to have with Zak after the
Grammy awards. She decided to try it on. She thought that it looked sexy, and
felt sad that Zak wasn’t there to see it. Maggie lay down on the bed thinking
about the events of the last few days and fell asleep.

Several hours later, Maggie woke up disoriented again.
She hadn’t felt like that since the tour because Zak was always beside her, but
she couldn’t control feeling panicky when she woke up alone and couldn’t see.
She called out for Justin and then instantly regretted it. She didn’t want to
disturb him and be a burden. Justin woke up in the next room when he heard
Maggie call out his name, and he opened the door to her room to see if she was
o.k.

He saw Maggie sitting bolt upright in the bed with a
pillow clutched to her chest. Justin sat down on the bed next to her and put
his arm around her.

“Honey, I’m here. Are you all right?”

“I’m sorry, Justin. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“It’s o.k., why don’t you try to go back to sleep.”

Justin reached over and took the pillow from Maggie with
the intention of putting it back down on the bed so she could go back to sleep.
As he took the pillow away, he realized she was wearing an incredibly sexy
nightgown, it was black lace and so sheer that it left nothing to the
imagination. He groaned inwardly for a moment and then said “Um, Maggie, don’t
you have a robe or something. It’s driving me crazy seeing you in that
nightgown. Where did you get that anyway? I’ve never seen you wear anything like
that before.”

“Carole helped me pick it out at a store on Rodeo Drive. She thought that maybe Zak and I needed a romantic night away from the kids. Of
course, that never happened since we spent the evening in the hospital with
Tucker.”

Tears spilled down Maggie’s cheeks, and Justin felt the
need to comfort her. He put his arms around her and started stroking her bare
arms. One of the thin straps on the nightgown fell off of Maggie’s shoulder,
revealing part of her breast. This time Justin groaned audibly. He kissed her
shoulder and her breast and then started kissing her lips. Maggie started to
moan softly too and he could feel how much she wanted him.

“God Maggie, I want you so much, but we can’t keep doing
this. I love you but I can’t really have you. I don’t know what you want from
me.”

“Justin, I’m sorry. I don’t know. I feel so close to you
sometimes and I’m attracted to you. I should never have gotten married so
early, I just wasn’t ready. I tried to tell Zak that.”

“Maggie, it’s too late to even think about that. You
have two kids now,” Justin said. He thought for a moment and then continued, “Maggie,
what would have happened if I had made my move first in New Orleans? Would you
be married to me now, or would you still be in love with Zak?”

“That’s a good question, Justin,” Maggie said. “I’m not
sure that I know the answer though.”

“Maggie, I know you love Zak and I also know that you
would never do anything to hurt Gabe and Belle. I don’t think it matters if we
love or want each other. We need to use some restraint and do the right thing.”

Justin pulled the nightgown strap back onto Maggie’s
shoulder and held her while she cried. She knew he was right, but it didn’t
make the moment any less painful. Maggie lay down on the bed and cried into the
pillow. Justin covered her with the bedspread and then wrapped his arms around
her and held her until they both fell asleep.

When Maggie woke up the next morning, she felt
embarrassed by her behavior from the night before. She got up and quietly got
dressed in a t-shirt and jeans and went into the living room. She sat and
thought about the previous night and then suddenly had an idea for some lyrics.
She found a pencil and some paper in the desk and started writing them down. By
the time that Justin woke up half an hour later, she had pretty much finished
the lyrics to a song. When he came into the living room, Maggie told him that
she needed to take a shower and left to go into the bathroom. Justin sat down
on the couch and saw the words that she had written down on the pad of paper.

“Get over it, that’s what they say

You don’t have a right to feel this way

I can’t forget the pain in your eyes,

I’m tired of deception and compromise.

I can’t let go, I can’t move on.

I reach for you, where have you gone.

I am lost without you here

My only one.”

Justin was moved by the emotion in Maggie’s lyrics. He
knew that she was in pain, because he was in pain too. He also knew that this
was a situation that couldn’t be resolved without someone getting hurt.

Justin picked up the guitar that Tucker had given Maggie
and started to play around with some chords and melodies for Maggie’s song. By
the time that Maggie came back into the living room, her hair wet from her
shower, he had worked out some music for her lyrics.

Justin looked at Maggie and said “These are incredible
lyrics, Maggie. I hope you don’t mind but I tried coming up with some music for
them.”

“Oh Justin, I didn’t really want you to see that,”
Maggie replied.

“Sorry, Maggie. This could be a great song though,
because the emotion behind it is so honest. Here, let me play for you the music
that I wrote for it. Tell me what you think.”

Maggie listened to him play and sing her lyrics, and it almost
moved her to tears.

“I’m not sure that I could ever sing that song. It would
probably make me cry.”

“That’s o.k. Maggie. I think that’s the sign of a great
song though.”

Maggie listened to Justin play through the song again,
and this time it made her feel better to hear her emotions expressed through
the music.

“Maggie?”

“What Justin?”

“I want you to know that I will always love you,” he
said.

“I will always love you too, Justin. Thank you for
supporting me and being part of my life.”

Later that afternoon, Maggie and Justin went over to
visit Tucker. He had been moved out of the ICU into a regular hospital room.
Maggie brought over Tucker’s Grammy award in a large handbag so that he could
see it. She also brought in the guitar he had given her so she and Justin could
play her new song for him.

Tucker was thrilled to see the Grammy award. He told
Maggie that even though he had won several Grammys before, it was still
exciting. He also told Maggie that this award was very special to him because
he had won it for making a record with her. Maggie thanked him and kissed him
on the cheek. Then she told him that she and Justin wanted to play a song for
him that they had written that morning. Tucker listened very carefully and when
they were done, he squeezed Maggie’s hand.

“There is a lot of true emotion in that song that people
will be able to relate to, Maggie. You should definitely record that on your
next album.”

Tucker looked at Justin and said “Great job on the
music, it’s a memorable melody Justin.”

“Thanks, Tucker. I appreciate that.” said Justin.

Tucker had a sad look in his eyes for a moment, then he
said, “Maggie and Justin, would you mind playing that Beatles song that was on
your album?”

“Here Comes the Sun?” Maggie asked.

“Yeah, that’s the one.”

Maggie looked at Justin and he started to play. Then she
started to sing,

“Little darling,

It’s been a long, cold lonely winter

Little darling,

It seems like years since it’s been here 

Here comes the sun, here comes the sun

Here comes the sun

And I say, it’s all right.”

Tucker listened with his eyes closed. When they were
done, he smiled and thanked them.

“That song always makes me feel better,” he said.

“It makes me feel better too, Tucker,” Maggie said, and
as she said that, she realized that she did feel better.

.

Chapter 33

Maggie and Justin stayed in Los Angeles for the
next four days until Tucker’s doctors decided that he could fly home to Nashville. They accompanied him on his flight home and then stayed at his estate for a
couple days until Tucker’s daughter Clara arrived from Australia. Then Maggie told him that she had to go home to care for her children. Tucker said that
he would miss her, and invited her to come back with Zak and the kids.

Maggie and Justin flew back to New Orleans and rented a
car at the airport to drive home. Maggie was looking forward to seeing her
children and Zak again. When they got to the house, Justin helped Maggie carry
in her suitcase and guitar. As they walked in the back door into the kitchen,
Gabriel came running and threw his arms around Maggie’s knees.

“Mama’s home,” he yelled.

Zak came into the kitchen from the living room and
hugged Maggie and kissed her. “How’s Tucker?” he asked.

“He’s doing pretty well, especially now that his
daughter is there to take care of him. He’s looking forward to spending some
time with her, he hasn’t seen her in several years.”

“Mama, mama, I have something to show you.”

Gabriel took Maggie’s hand to lead her into the living
room.

“What’s up Gabe?” she asked.

“Mama, I can play the man’lin.”

Maggie sat down on the couch and Gabriel sat beside her.
Zak took out Maggie’s old Harmony mandolin and gave it to Gabriel. Justin stood
in the doorway and watched with amusement as Gabriel started to play “Twinkle,
Twinkle, Little Star”. Maggie was amazed to see Gabriel’s tiny fingers find the
notes on the fretboard. She looked up at Zak with tears in her eyes.          

“We wanted to surprise you, Maggie. Gabe has been asking
me for a while if I would show him how to play the mandolin.”

“Well, it’s a good size for him, it’s not much bigger
than his toy guitar,” Maggie said.

When Gabriel was done playing, Justin said “Good job,
man. Gimme five,” and Gabriel slapped his outstretched hand and laughed.

“Well, if you like that, you should hear him play ‘Wheel
Hoss’,” Zak said and laughed. Maggie laughed too.

“Seriously, Maggie, Gabe picked up that song incredibly
quickly, I think he has a gift,” said Zak.

“Well, it’s no wonder Zak,” said Justin. “Gabe’s been
constantly surrounded by music since he was born. There is no way that he could
grow up to be anything but a musician.”

“Maybe one day he can take over mandolin duties in
Little Maggie,” said Maggie.

“I’m not so sure about that, sha,” said Zak.

“Why do you say that, Zak?” Maggie said.

“Because I’ve started to teach him to play electric
guitar.”  Zak smiled at Maggie and she smiled back at him.