Page 10 of Never Too Late
‘Hi, Ethan. No problem. Your recording engineer’s just been giving me a private concert; and a very good one at that.’
Steph was quick to explain. ‘I needed a bit of music I could record and play back so I could spend a bit of time fiddling with all the gizmos on Keith’s amazing equipment.’
‘Let’s see how it sounds.’ Ethan headed for the console and slumped into one of the new chairs. ‘Keith, if you feel like playing something, I’d like to try laying down a track or two so that, like Steph says, we can play around with it and use that to familiarise ourselves with everything your gear can do. Acoustic or electric, you decide.’
Steph was relieved to hear him sounding authoritative, even if he did look as though he had just crawled out of bed. She sat down in the other chair, and they looked on as Keith picked up an acoustic guitar.
‘I’ll give you a few snippets of some of the new songs I’ve written. See what you think.’
In all, he played for about twenty minutes while Ethan supervised the recording and occasionally gave an order to step back from the mike or to lean in. It was all very informal, almost as if Keith was on stage and they were part of a very intimate audience. By the time he finished playing, Steph was getting a very good feeling about the chances of success for the new album. What she had just heard was unmistakably still Royalty, but with a softer, more mature feel to it and she felt sure the public would love it.
Shecertainly did.
Chapter 5
Lunch was a cold buffet on the terrace with a delicious selection of antipasti, salads and cold fish and meat dishes. Steph helped herself to a plate of salad, a handful of prawns and some fresh soft goat’s cheese. When she took it back to the table, Faye looked across at her accusingly.
‘Is that all you’re having? You’ll fade away and die if you don’t eat.’
Sky nudged Steph with her elbow. ‘Don’t listen to Mum, she’s always trying to get me to eat more too.’
Steph grinned at both of them. ‘Thanks, Faye, but this’ll be great. I’m saving myself for tonight. When I took the iron back to Donatella she told me she’s doing pizza for dinner. I love pizza and I haven’t had an authentic Italian one since before my dad died so I need to save room for it.’
They all sat around a single big table and Steph found herself between Sky on one side of her and Ben on the other. In spite of his haggard look, she couldn’t help feeling a little thrill of excitement and she just wished she could record this moment and somehow send it back to her teenage self to let her know that dreams really did come true. Although he didn’t say much to her, she felt comfortable in his company as, in fact, she did with all of them now that Denver and Willow had gone off to Florence for the day.
She enjoyed chatting to Sky, who told her about her up-coming wedding in mid-December. This was to be held in an old manor house in the Cotswolds and Steph wondered if it would be a glittering showbiz affair. It turned out Sky was only two years older than she was; just about to turn thirty-two, and they had a lot in common. Sky had a job in marketing but she had grown up playing the guitar and although she claimed to have got rusty over the years it was clear that the Bailey family had music in their blood. She was good company and Steph began to strike up a real friendship with her.
After lunch the guests gradually retired to their rooms or to the pool – Ethan was hopefully heading for the shower and a change of clothes – until Steph found herself alone with Faye. They chatted easily and Steph gently enquired about the reason why the relationship between Denver and Sky appeared to be strained and maybe also with her other son, Robert, the owner of Waldorf the Labrador. The answer was edifying.
‘There’s always been friction between the three of them and if I’m honest, most of it has come from Denver.’ Faye sighed. ‘I think much of the problem stems from the fact that Den’s their half-brother. His mother was Keith’s first wife, and that marriage didn’t last long.’
This was news to Steph. ‘What happened? Did they divorce?’
‘No, she just disappeared one day, leaving the toddler behind. Keith didn’t hear a word from her for days until news arrived that she’d gone off with the drummer from another group. Only a matter of weeks later she was killed along with all the members of that group in a plane crash. I don’t know if you heard about it.’
The details of the horror crash in the Rocky Mountains came back to Steph, even if she hadn’t realised that Keith’s first wife had been among the victims. ‘Wow, that must have been tough on Keith, and tough on Denver growing up without a mum.’
‘It certainly was awful for both of them. I met Keith a couple of years later. I was working as a nurse in Bournemouth, and one of my friends was going out with a musician. I went with her to a party and quite literally bumped into Keith. He was blind drunk and he almost knocked me down the stairs. As it was, he banged his head, I bandaged him up, and the rest, as they say, is history. One thing led to another, and he and I got together, and the result was Sky, followed by Rob – with a wedding ceremony somewhere in the middle.’
‘And you took on little Denver as well.’
‘Of course. He was only five when I first saw him and, although I’ve tried my hardest, we’ve never really hit it off. My therapist tells me she thinks he subconsciously blames me for his mother’s death. Alternatively, it’s just jealousy that his father moved on and settled down with me. Whatever it is, there’s always been tension between the two of us, and Den’s never got on very well with the other two. Sky’s a strong character – of course she’s a woman and we’re way tougher than men – and she’s always been able to handle him, but Rob struggles.’ She glanced around discreetly before continuing. ‘Den can be a bully and Rob’s never been able to break out of it. That’s why he keeps himself to himself when his big brother’s about.’
‘You said Robert lives here now. Do Sky and Denver still live at home with you?’
‘God, no. Sky would scratch Den’s eyes out if they did – if Keith didn’t throttle him first.’ She shuddered. ‘Den’s now moved to California, and that’s been a liberation for all of us. Sky and Tom are in Manchester, and she rarely sees her big brother, which is no bad thing. As for Rob, he’s only too happy to stay well out of the way here in Italy.’
‘So we won’t be seeing Robert as long as his brother’s here?’
‘It’s probably for the best. They only fight otherwise. Rob’s quite happy, especially since he got Waldorf.’
‘Man’s best friend…’
That evening, before dinner, Steph had a chance to chat to Ben’s wife, Lottie, and what she learnt about her teenage crush was instructive. Lottie confirmed that he had been struggling with a serious drug problem for years and had done no fewer than four sessions in rehab. Three times he had relapsed afterwards but the last time it had finally worked, and he had now been clean for over two years. The fact that he had been a bit dozy the previous day was because he had been having trouble sleeping recently and was just feeling tired. Nothing more sinister. Hopefully this holiday would do him a lot of good.
Lottie waited until Keith and Johnny embarked on their pre-dinner concert before carrying on with her tale. Ben was just looking on like the previous night and Lottie explained his hesitation. ‘He’s taking it a day at a time – we both are – but so far so good. I have no idea whether he’ll be able to summon up the courage to start playing with the others again, but I live in hope. It’s so sad to see the toll addiction has taken on him. Do you realise? He’s two years younger than me, but sometimes I think he looks more like my dad.’
Steph was quick to offer reassurance. ‘He doesn’t look that old. It’s just the grey hair.’ Although they both knew it wasn’t just that. ‘He was looking good at lunchtime, and I can see a difference in him already after just one day.’ At that moment Keith and Johnny finished their version of Bon Jovi’s ‘Livin’ on a Prayer’ and launched into another of their old Royalty hits but still, Ben remained a bystander. He made no attempt to join in but neither Keith nor Johnny tried to force him. Once they had started again, Steph queried this with Lottie.
