Chapter Nineteen, Maternal Instincts
Posted by DiF on Saturday, August 13, 2011
Title: Midnight Shift: Chapter Nineteen, Maternal Instincts
Rating: R [language, alcohol, sexual fantasy]
Summary: Some more interactions with Bob which leads to unpleasantness. But there's a near Hollywood ending to this chapter... almost.
Keeping his word had been very difficult, but he did not want to cause undue stress for Summer. So Jimmy stretched out on his couch, after playing for her softly until she fully fell asleep. He really wanted to crawl in bed with her, feel her lithe body curl and mold around his. And yet he acted with far more restraint than he actually felt and kept his distance. Should Robert come in search of his little lover, he would find her safe and untouched. And yet the singer had not shown up for her. He could not imagine Robert forgetting her – unless perhaps Bonzo had urged him to drink into oblivion. If Robert had not come back yet, maybe he would not be, maybe it was safe to crawl over to Summer and –
The single candle which flickered on the nightstand next to the bed quickly extinguished. Jimmy jumped off the couch, stumbling for the light switch. He could hear her panting in fear and wondered how it was that he had not sensed her impending fear.
“Summer!” he calmly approached her once the overhead light flickered on.
Already on her feet and turning about wildly, she stumbled into his arms. Babbling incoherently her fingers clutched at his tee shirt. His arms circled her tightly, his fingers gently stroking her golden hair as he muttered words meant to calm her. For a few long moments they stood thusly, Summer hardly breathing in her fear.
Instructed by Jimmy to take a few calming breaths, Summer finally managed to calm her hysterics. The guitarist eased her into sitting back on the bed, his lips touching her temples reassuringly. Though she no longer clung to his shirt, Summer still cowered in his arms, seeking comfort from whatever in Jimmy’s strength.
“Summer… princess… what scares you so?” he asked gently.
“Oh, Jimmy... Jimmy, it was horrible!” she expressed.
“What was, sweetheart?”
She pulled out of his embrace, only to climb directly into his lap, curling up into a protected ball. Her body trembled slightly, inciting his arms to tighten more about her. Without even thought he kissed her forehead, causing her haunted eyes to go to his. Before Jimmy could object, not like he would, she pressed her mouth to his. As her lips parted to deepen the kiss, Jimmy felt the intense spark of passion shoot through and eviscerate his restrained concern for her. She was kissing him. He could not be held responsible for her actions – but as soon as that thought plundered through his mind, he had to pull back.
“Summer, tell me what scares you so much,” he requested, both hands framing her face to keep her stationary.
“It was horrible, horrible nightmare, Jimmy. We – I don’t know who the other person was – were in a car. It must not have been here because the driver was on the other side – whoever it was. And we were driving along a small and winding road next to the ocean. And… oh god, Jimmy,” she squeezed her eyes closed.
“What happened, Summer?”
She shook her head slightly, “It was horrible, Jimmy. Horrible.”
Leaning forward he kissed her mouth gently, “It was just a dream, Summer.”
“Oh no, Jimmy, it wasn’t. It can’t have been just a dream. It was far too real. I can feel blood on my fingers now; can hear the screams. It wasn’t just a dream.”
He understood the girl’s fear, had a few super realistic dreams himself. But they were just dreams, he knew that. She had to as well. Regardless Jimmy lifted her hands up and kissed each and every single fingertip. With each kiss, he felt her relax just a bit more. As his lips lingered on her small pinkie finger, Summer leaned forward, pressing her forehead to his shoulder.
“I’m never going to sleep again,” she muttered.
“No, no. Of course you are. It was just a dream. Everything is okay,” he declared. “Just take a deep breath and –”
“Oh no, Jimmy. It’s never going to happen again. No more sleeping,” she repeated.
He kissed her softly again, “I’ll play for you again, princess. That will make you feel better.”
Summer instantly crawled out of his lap. Standing Jimmy kissed her forehead once more. He quickly retrieved his acoustic and returned to her side. For the next hour he noodled about on his guitar, playing melodies she recognized and building off of them. His dark eyes flicked to hers, watching her tension carry away on the notes. Once he noticed her eyes droop slightly, Jimmy returned the guitar to its stand.
“Sweetie,” he sat next to her once more, “trying laying back down and –”
“Only if you lay with me.”
His eyes snapped to hers, “Summer, if Robert found us li –”
“He’s not coming. If he was going to come for me, he would have already,” she refuted.
“Summer, I don’t want you to –”
“Sleep with me, Jimmy. Please.”
He could not tell her no.
Laying flat on his back on some hard surface, Robert forced his eyes open. Searing white light filled his eyes, making his soul burn. His body felt leaden, his tongue the size of a brick. What the hell had he done the night before and where was he? Figuring the answer to one would lead to the answer of the other, Robert rolled over.
And fell directly into the pool.
Flailing about briefly, he quickly surfaced. That was quite the way to wake up after apparently boozing all night. His hangover as immense as it was certainly did not react favorably to the pool. As he pulled himself out of the water, Robert suddenly thought of Summer. He had abandoned her, forgot her, in his drunken haze. She had to be upset. He would find her immediately and –
First he would get something dry to wear. As Robert distinctively remembered Bonzo being involved in the night, he fully intended to harass the drummer. His clothes would not fit Robert but it would at least be something. Then he would seek out his girlfriend.
Squishing down the hallway a minute later, a trail of wet puddles marking his tracks, Robert approached Bonzo’s room. Without pause he tried the door. Surprisingly it was locked, but he was not about to allow that to stop him. With little consideration Robert threw his shoulder into the door. Twice he did this before the lock gave away and the door swung open, banging into the wall.
A groupie squealed and fell out of the bed, taking all of the blankets with her. Bonzo made no attempts to cover himself, but merely folded his arms behind his head. Smirking he greeted Robert with a quick “‘ello.”
“I need some clothes,” Robert declared.
“How is that my problem? Why are you all wet anyways, Percy?”
“Because I rolled into the pool when I woke up.”
“Well if you didn’t have any dry clothes that probably would not be the smartest thing you’ve ever done,” Bonzo remarked, barely glancing at the girl as she hurried out of his room, completely ignored by Robert.
“Because it was certainly intentional,” he declared before pulling open Bonzo’s drawers. “Have you seen Summer?”
“Not since last night. Did you lose her?”
“I haven’t seen her since we… started drinking,” he admitted as he began to peel off his wet clothes.
“I haven’t seen Jimmy since then either.”
Robert froze, his leg half-removed from his jeans, “You don’t think she’s with him, do you?”
“Nah. She’s probably with Jonesy. Jimmy hates her puppy and I can’t imagine she’d sleep somewhere without her,” he instantly replied.
Robert nodded, pulling the stolen clothes on, “I’ll try Jonesy first.”
Waking mid-afternoon was like waking on a dream cloud. Not because the time of day or even the bed he slept upon. Rather it had everything to do with the precious angel sleeping in his arms. They fit so perfectly together. Lying on their sides, her back pressed against his chest, her firm ass against his crotch set Jimmy firmly between heaven and hell. It would have been better if she woke first and moved out of his arms. Instead Jimmy’s mind and body raced light years in front of hers. His imagination began to wander away, wondering if it would be all right to cup her small breast that rhythmically rose near his hand. He envisioned her quickly warming to his touch and glancing over her shoulder to kiss him. His fingers itched to slip under the hem of the long shirt and tease her sex into happy submission. He could practically feel her legs parting for him to slide in from behind, to make her his.
But that couldn’t happen. Not yet. Summer suddenly stirred, her waking actions causing her body to wiggle against his. Jimmy could hardly handle it. Before he could quickly pull away a portion of his dream came true: she glanced over her shoulder and invited him into a kiss. How could he be so lucky?
“Mmmm. Good morning, Jimmy,” she muttered, pulling slightly away so that she could turn to face him.
He reached up and caressed her cheek, “It certainly is, Princess.”
“Thank you for staying with me last night.”
“Of course,” he stole another kiss.
“We better go eat. I’m starving,” she pulled away before he could object.
Taking deep calming breaths, Jimmy tried to not watch her change back into her clothes, tried to not focus on her walking away into his bathroom. He needed to wipe away his unclean thoughts, he really did. But as she stepped out of the bathroom, her face dewy and her hair pulled back messily, Jimmy wanted nothing more than to tackle her and make hot love to her on the tiled floor.
Approaching the bed, she leaned towards him and kissed him quickly, “I’ll meet you upstairs.”
As the door closed behind her, Jimmy bolted into the bathroom. He needed a very cold shower before seeing Summer again.
Stepping out of the elevator a few minutes later, Summer headed into the ballroom. Queenie, who had spent the night curled up on John Paul’s bed, instantly saw her human companion and bolted towards her. Catching the puppy, Summer giggled as the puppy licked her face.
“I was wondering when you would surface,” John Paul stated as she stood up. “Where did you stay last night? I noticed Percy sleeping pool side this morning.”
“In Jimmy’s room,” she answered unabashedly.
“Summer, that’s –”
“Dad?” she glanced beyond the bassist, seeing Bob seated not far away. “What are you doing here?”
He rubbed his face and looked away briefly, “Summer, we need to talk about your mother. But you better eat something first.”
That statement alone nearly made her appetite disappear. But having a feeling that he would not give in, she nodded and headed to the catering tables, the puppy trailing closely behind. Her mind raced. There was no way he could have seen her mother yet; it took at least seven hours to drive to San Francisco. Unless maybe he had flown? But then again, she had not told him where the farm was yet. What could he possibly want to discuss?”
Entering the ballroom, Robert instantly spotted the bassist. Before he could say anything to John Paul, his eyes found his girlfriend. Nodding to himself, he headed directly over to her. The puppy yipped a greeting but while that made Robert smile, Summer did not even seem to notice.
“Summer?” he spoke up.
Her eyes flicked away from the table, her plate still empty, “Oh, hello, Robert.”
Her cool greeting instantly concerned him, “Baby, are you okay?”
“Dad’s here. And he wants to talk about my mother,” she answered.
“I’m sure everything is okay, Summer,” he kissed her quickly. “We’ll get some food and go sit with Bob.”
Though she nodded, Summer hardly seemed to notice as Robert filled her plate for her. She felt his hand enfold hers and lead her to the table where Bob sat, but she was mostly numb. And she did not even know why yet.
“Bob,” Robert greeted the man as he set Summer’s plate down.
“Robert,” he responded in kind before his eyes focused on Summer. “Summer, are you okay?”
“No,” she replied. “What do you have to say about my mother?”
He blinked, “Before I go up there, I thought it would be a good idea to have my lawyer look into the paperwork to see how difficult it would be to get your mother to sign what we want her to and… Summer…”
“Just say it, Dad.”
Unable to look at her, his eyes glanced about the room, noticing Jimmy enter and make a beeline towards them. He decided to wait until Jimmy arrived, not that the information pertained to the guitarist, but rather because he felt Summer would want the extra support. Her eyes flicked to the darker man, smiling slightly when he sat on her left side.
“Summer, the thing is… well… we do not need her signature for anything… ever again,” Bob said vaguely.
“I don’t understand,” Summer responded.
“Three days ago, I presume after you called her, she filed papers at the county courthouse,” he explained. “She legally disowned you, Summer.”
Her eyes went wide, as did Robert’s and Jimmy’s. Her bottom lip trembled slightly, almost as if she was trying to form words but could not. Tears glimmered in her eyes, threatening to spill down her cheeks. Her gaze wavered from Bob and she suddenly pushed away from the table. Evading Jimmy’s and even Robert’s grasp, she hurried out of the ballroom, the puppy only a step behind her. She quickly avoided everyone and rushed to the far opposite end of the rooftop terrace. Slamming into the railing, her fingers clutched at it as she gasped for breath, not from the impact of the railing but from Bob’s words. Her mother had disowned her.
“Summer? Sweet pea?” Bonzo’s soft voice spoke a moment before his hand touched her back. “Sweetie?”
She whirled around quickly, right into his arms. Confused, he embraced her gently, hushing her and rubbing her back. Her sobs were uncontrollable. Her hands clenched into fists, pressed but not pummeling his chest.
“Summer? What happened? Was Percy a jack ass? I’ll kick his arse if he –”
“She disowned me, John,” she managed to utter.
He snapped back, “She did what?”
“D-dad s-said she d-disowned-d m-me. Wh-why d-doesn’t sh-she w-want m-me?”
Bonzo pulled her back to him, holding her tight. In his bear-like hug, he was barely able to contain his shock and anger that anyone would do what Summer’s mother apparently had done, especially to the little girl in his arms. He could not answer her question because he himself could not formulate anything else except the same question. Why the fuck wouldn’t someone want Summer? She was smart and pretty and loving and… fuck. If he ever saw her mother, he was certainly throwing out his belief of not striking women clear out the window. He would –
“Summer?” a gravelly voice spoke up behind the two.
She slowly pulled enough away from Bonzo to look at the speaker. A moment later she pulled fully out of the drummer’s arms and quickly fell into her father’s embrace. Mumbling incoherently amidst sobs, she buried her face on his chest. Like Bonzo had a few moments before, Bob attempted to calm her, to assure her that she most certainly was wanted.
“Summer,” Bob uttered, “I don’t know what Adele’s problem is, but I fully intend to find out soon. She is not worthy your tears. Do not cry, daughter.”
“She doesn’t w-want me, D-dad.”
“She’s a fool, a damn fool,” he uttered. “And not worth a tear more.”
Not sure what to do both Jimmy and Robert hung back. Bonzo soon joined them. All three men watched as Bob consoled Summer, wishing there was more they could do. Scratching the back of his head, the drummer glanced to his mates; hoping one of them would say something, anything. Someone needed to lead the way to what they were supposed to do in this situation, because he hadn’t a fucking clue at all.
Bob kissed Summer’s forehead as her sobs finally quieted and she pulled away from his embrace, “I will never abandon you, Summer. I promise you.”
She nodded, “When you see her, I want you to give her something.”
“Whatever you want.”
Pulling away from him quickly, she hurried back into the ballroom, hardly even glancing at the four men, as John Paul had since joined and been appraised of the situation. Returning a minute later clutching the small leather purse she now carried instead of the larger shoulder bag, Summer stopped in front of Bob. She pulled out a handful of photographs. One by one, she tore each image into pieces before handing it to him. Everyone understood exactly what she was doing. Frowning Bob accepted each torn photograph and shoved the pieces into his pant pocket.
“And this too. I don’t need Jerry’s luck,” she handed him the necklace she had worn the night she met Robert.
After Summer explained how to find the farm, Bob wished her well, promising to check in with her as soon as he returned. They embraced quickly before Bob turned towards the elevator to head out to understand what Summer’s mother’s problem was. Left standing where she was, her knees buckled and Summer crumpled to the concrete floor.
Robert jumped forward and gathered her in his arms, “I will always want you, Summer. Always.”
“Robert… can we… can we leave here?”
“Anywhere you want.”
“Can we go to the Canyon?”
“Absolutely, baby.”
He was livid, absolutely livid. Luckily no one else was around now, all out trying to find something to do for the rest of the day. Normally he was not the kind of person to go around destroying things; he left that to Bonzo. But never had he heard such news as what Bob informed Summer of. While Jimmy did believe the young woman deserved to know what she had been told and it did make getting her out of the country that much easier, he could not understand why Summer’s mother would be so cruel, so cold-hearted. It was one thing to ignore one’s progeny, it was completely different to legal sever ties with them. He hated her. He had never met the woman and he hated her.
In his room, which Jimmy swore still smelt faintly like Summer; he looked for something, anything to take his anger and frustration out. He didn’t have the kind of instrument that was really open for hard aggression. And he was not entirely in the mood for aggressive sex with some groupie either. He needed some release though, before something far more dangerous happened.
The phone rang, likely some media asshole wanting to talk about something. The harsh squealing phone became Jimmy’s target. He stalked over to it and tore the entire thing from the phone, not caring about the large hole it caused in the wall. Without even a thought, he hurled it across the room, right into the mirror. Watching as the silvered glass shattered and fell to the ground, Jimmy smirked in satisfaction and stalked over to his mini bar, his anger briefly tempered.
Grumbling he pulled out the bottle of Jack, even though it was nearly empty, and headed to the couch. Sitting down he removed the cap and tilted the bottle into his mouth. As the liquid burned down his throat, his thoughts wandered away from him once more. The woman had hurt his princess. She was going to pay. He didn’t know how just yet, but she was going to pay. Dearly.
Walking down the street in Laurel Canyon hand-in-hand with Summer was near bliss to Robert. He wished it was under better circumstances, that her mind was not troubled, but he also thought their stroll would help ease her worried mind. It was certainly helping his. In fact this was his ideal. A beautiful woman and a dog at his side, strolling down the canyon in California were the kinds of things that dreams were made of or sometimes song lyrics. The particular bent did not matter to Robert; he had Summer and that was all that mattered. Oh and making her smile.
“Summer?” he spoke softly, eyes glancing down at her.
“Joni lives up here,” she commented.
Robert nodded carefully. He knew Joni lived up in the canyon, knew quite a few people did. Did that mean they should be going to Joni’s house? No. Nor did he have any clue where the songstress lived. Perhaps if he had, he would have found some way to run into her before. Would they even be welcome had he known where she lived? He didn’t know and wasn’t entirely too keen on finding out.
“She said I could come by whenever I wanted to. Do you think she’ll be home?”
“I… I don’t know where she lives, Summer.”
“I do.”
Rather than argue with her, as he was not entirely sure he could argue against her, Robert nodded, “Well then, I don’t see any harm in going to see if she’s home.”
Within a few minutes, Summer and Queenie lead Robert up to a front door. He felt butterflies rise in his stomach. Could this have been the very house where Joni and Graham Nash had lived, leading to the writing of that iconic song? Was he really about to enter hallowed ground? Before he could really ponder those questions, Summer knocked on the door. A moment later it opened and there she stood the epitome of femininity in his eyes. As he watched the older woman embrace his girlfriend, Robert saw things far more clearly than he expected. Summer sought out Joni as a mother figure, something she so poorly needed especially now. She might not have been aware of that, but he certainly was. And Joni mothering Summer warmed his heart. There was no one more perfect to take care of the one he loved than the one he revered. It was an awesome feeling.
“Come in, come in. Would you like some tea?” Joni offered.
“Yes, thank you,” Summer answered as Robert was completely struck dumb by being inthe Joni Mitchell’s house.
Within a few minutes they were all seated in her living room. Robert focused intently on the cup of tea for a few minutes, afraid to let his eyes wander about the room. The two women chatted softly, mostly focusing on the puppy at Summer’s feet. He knew it was the buildup, the small talk before Summer would admit everything that had happened to her. And he thought he should care. All he could keep thinking about however is that he was feet away from Joni Mitchell. Things like this did not happen to him. It was almost as big as meeting Elvis – no, maybe bigger. He wasn’t sure.
“She disowned me,” Summer whispered.
Robert’s eyes snapped to his girlfriend before flicking to Joni. The older woman calmly set her tea cup down and moved over to sit next to Summer. Silently her arms wrapped around Summer, pulling her into a maternal embrace. Robert reached out quickly to take Summer’s cup from her seconds before the girl curled up into Joni’s embrace. That was precisely what his girlfriend needed: a mother.
Feeling a bit out of place, Robert got to his feet and took the tea cups into the kitchen while Joni and Summer bonded. He set the cups in the sink and glanced around. It was so homey, so natural being in Joni’s house. And it made him long for the day when he too could set up house with Summer. He envisioned it would be something just like this, something without all the trappings of fame and fortune. He could not even imagine his little girl wanting to live the high life. They would live in a small house, perhaps in California, perhaps in the hills of England, and have children. They would be surrounded by music and nature and everything that was good in life. It would be a euphoric utopia.
Glancing back into the living room where Summer sat close to Joni, though no longer in her embrace, Robert smiled slightly. That was precisely what she had needed. There really had been no one he could have asked to step into that role. The band did not spend time around older women, motherly types. Their wives were the closest to that role, but none of them were in America – oh how that would have massively complicated matters had they been. Somehow Summer knew instinctively what she needed and asked for it. And that something was offered to her in the form of Joni Mitchell.
It struck him ironic that not only was her father the biggest male name in folk music but that a woman who was arguably ranked nearly as high in his mind was becoming her mother. Perhaps in a perfect world, Summer would have been the progeny from such a union; she seemed to represent a lot of what was good in both of them. Granted neither would likely approve of her rock and roll lifestyle, but prior to a few weeks before, Summer had been living the ideal, natural life. Love just had a funny way of turning things on their heads sometimes. Robert wasn’t opposed to the idyllic life, not in the least bit. He could walk away from rock and roll tours in a heartbeat if she asked. He would give it all up for her; do what was right for her.
“Rob?” Joni looked up to him.
He found it a bit amusing that she called him Rob without even asking, but he made no comment on it, “Yeah?”
“I think we would like to go to dinner tonight. Why don’t you take Summer home to shower and change and we’ll meet at the Pacific Dining Car in about two hours?” she suggested.
“Uh, sure,” he nodded, instantly feeling like it was going to be a repeat of the meal with Bob.
“Thank you again, Joni,” Summer commented softly. “I can’t begin to explain how much better I feel now.”
She reached up and tucked Summer’s hair behind her ears, “You are a remarkable young woman, Summer. Never forget that. I’m sure Rob and Jimmy will remind you of that. But know it in your heart and you will fly.”
Prior to his lawyer’s discovery, Bob had been looking forward to re-uniting with Adele. His heart still pined for her in ways he would never be able to explain. But as he stepped out of the plane in San Francisco, he felt a pit of dread plummet into his stomach. He knew very well she would not be the Adele he fell in love with seventeen years before; that Adele never would have disowned her daughter. But then again he had never expected her to run out on him in the middle of the night. It worried him that he would not recognize her, whatever form she had taken.
Shoving his hands into his pockets, he headed to the waiting car. His fingers idly played with the torn up photographs in his pocket. While he understood Summer’s actions, he was also very glad he had kept that photograph of her and her mother she showed him the night they met. Hopefully one day she would thank him for keeping it. Even bad memories were better than no memories.
It was odd how – no, on second thought it wasn’t. It was not the least bit odd that he was so much attached to Summer. She was his daughter – but not just any daughter, the daughter born of his first true love. He saw in her glimmers of Adele, the Adele he loved, but more importantly he felt that she had something powerful to do or say in the world. He loved his younger children without a doubt, but there was something special about Summer. He only hoped he did not feel this way because he had missed so much of her life. That could not be the reason.
Seated in the car, Bob gave the driver the directions Summer had given him, receiving a smirk in response. That alone made him wonder exactly what he was driving into, but it didn’t matter. Summer deserved an explanation.
And so did he.
Rating: R [language, alcohol, sexual fantasy]
Summary: Some more interactions with Bob which leads to unpleasantness. But there's a near Hollywood ending to this chapter... almost.
Keeping his word had been very difficult, but he did not want to cause undue stress for Summer. So Jimmy stretched out on his couch, after playing for her softly until she fully fell asleep. He really wanted to crawl in bed with her, feel her lithe body curl and mold around his. And yet he acted with far more restraint than he actually felt and kept his distance. Should Robert come in search of his little lover, he would find her safe and untouched. And yet the singer had not shown up for her. He could not imagine Robert forgetting her – unless perhaps Bonzo had urged him to drink into oblivion. If Robert had not come back yet, maybe he would not be, maybe it was safe to crawl over to Summer and –
The single candle which flickered on the nightstand next to the bed quickly extinguished. Jimmy jumped off the couch, stumbling for the light switch. He could hear her panting in fear and wondered how it was that he had not sensed her impending fear.
“Summer!” he calmly approached her once the overhead light flickered on.
Already on her feet and turning about wildly, she stumbled into his arms. Babbling incoherently her fingers clutched at his tee shirt. His arms circled her tightly, his fingers gently stroking her golden hair as he muttered words meant to calm her. For a few long moments they stood thusly, Summer hardly breathing in her fear.
Instructed by Jimmy to take a few calming breaths, Summer finally managed to calm her hysterics. The guitarist eased her into sitting back on the bed, his lips touching her temples reassuringly. Though she no longer clung to his shirt, Summer still cowered in his arms, seeking comfort from whatever in Jimmy’s strength.
“Summer… princess… what scares you so?” he asked gently.
“Oh, Jimmy... Jimmy, it was horrible!” she expressed.
“What was, sweetheart?”
She pulled out of his embrace, only to climb directly into his lap, curling up into a protected ball. Her body trembled slightly, inciting his arms to tighten more about her. Without even thought he kissed her forehead, causing her haunted eyes to go to his. Before Jimmy could object, not like he would, she pressed her mouth to his. As her lips parted to deepen the kiss, Jimmy felt the intense spark of passion shoot through and eviscerate his restrained concern for her. She was kissing him. He could not be held responsible for her actions – but as soon as that thought plundered through his mind, he had to pull back.
“Summer, tell me what scares you so much,” he requested, both hands framing her face to keep her stationary.
“It was horrible, horrible nightmare, Jimmy. We – I don’t know who the other person was – were in a car. It must not have been here because the driver was on the other side – whoever it was. And we were driving along a small and winding road next to the ocean. And… oh god, Jimmy,” she squeezed her eyes closed.
“What happened, Summer?”
She shook her head slightly, “It was horrible, Jimmy. Horrible.”
Leaning forward he kissed her mouth gently, “It was just a dream, Summer.”
“Oh no, Jimmy, it wasn’t. It can’t have been just a dream. It was far too real. I can feel blood on my fingers now; can hear the screams. It wasn’t just a dream.”
He understood the girl’s fear, had a few super realistic dreams himself. But they were just dreams, he knew that. She had to as well. Regardless Jimmy lifted her hands up and kissed each and every single fingertip. With each kiss, he felt her relax just a bit more. As his lips lingered on her small pinkie finger, Summer leaned forward, pressing her forehead to his shoulder.
“I’m never going to sleep again,” she muttered.
“No, no. Of course you are. It was just a dream. Everything is okay,” he declared. “Just take a deep breath and –”
“Oh no, Jimmy. It’s never going to happen again. No more sleeping,” she repeated.
He kissed her softly again, “I’ll play for you again, princess. That will make you feel better.”
Summer instantly crawled out of his lap. Standing Jimmy kissed her forehead once more. He quickly retrieved his acoustic and returned to her side. For the next hour he noodled about on his guitar, playing melodies she recognized and building off of them. His dark eyes flicked to hers, watching her tension carry away on the notes. Once he noticed her eyes droop slightly, Jimmy returned the guitar to its stand.
“Sweetie,” he sat next to her once more, “trying laying back down and –”
“Only if you lay with me.”
His eyes snapped to hers, “Summer, if Robert found us li –”
“He’s not coming. If he was going to come for me, he would have already,” she refuted.
“Summer, I don’t want you to –”
“Sleep with me, Jimmy. Please.”
He could not tell her no.
Laying flat on his back on some hard surface, Robert forced his eyes open. Searing white light filled his eyes, making his soul burn. His body felt leaden, his tongue the size of a brick. What the hell had he done the night before and where was he? Figuring the answer to one would lead to the answer of the other, Robert rolled over.
And fell directly into the pool.
Flailing about briefly, he quickly surfaced. That was quite the way to wake up after apparently boozing all night. His hangover as immense as it was certainly did not react favorably to the pool. As he pulled himself out of the water, Robert suddenly thought of Summer. He had abandoned her, forgot her, in his drunken haze. She had to be upset. He would find her immediately and –
First he would get something dry to wear. As Robert distinctively remembered Bonzo being involved in the night, he fully intended to harass the drummer. His clothes would not fit Robert but it would at least be something. Then he would seek out his girlfriend.
Squishing down the hallway a minute later, a trail of wet puddles marking his tracks, Robert approached Bonzo’s room. Without pause he tried the door. Surprisingly it was locked, but he was not about to allow that to stop him. With little consideration Robert threw his shoulder into the door. Twice he did this before the lock gave away and the door swung open, banging into the wall.
A groupie squealed and fell out of the bed, taking all of the blankets with her. Bonzo made no attempts to cover himself, but merely folded his arms behind his head. Smirking he greeted Robert with a quick “‘ello.”
“I need some clothes,” Robert declared.
“How is that my problem? Why are you all wet anyways, Percy?”
“Because I rolled into the pool when I woke up.”
“Well if you didn’t have any dry clothes that probably would not be the smartest thing you’ve ever done,” Bonzo remarked, barely glancing at the girl as she hurried out of his room, completely ignored by Robert.
“Because it was certainly intentional,” he declared before pulling open Bonzo’s drawers. “Have you seen Summer?”
“Not since last night. Did you lose her?”
“I haven’t seen her since we… started drinking,” he admitted as he began to peel off his wet clothes.
“I haven’t seen Jimmy since then either.”
Robert froze, his leg half-removed from his jeans, “You don’t think she’s with him, do you?”
“Nah. She’s probably with Jonesy. Jimmy hates her puppy and I can’t imagine she’d sleep somewhere without her,” he instantly replied.
Robert nodded, pulling the stolen clothes on, “I’ll try Jonesy first.”
Waking mid-afternoon was like waking on a dream cloud. Not because the time of day or even the bed he slept upon. Rather it had everything to do with the precious angel sleeping in his arms. They fit so perfectly together. Lying on their sides, her back pressed against his chest, her firm ass against his crotch set Jimmy firmly between heaven and hell. It would have been better if she woke first and moved out of his arms. Instead Jimmy’s mind and body raced light years in front of hers. His imagination began to wander away, wondering if it would be all right to cup her small breast that rhythmically rose near his hand. He envisioned her quickly warming to his touch and glancing over her shoulder to kiss him. His fingers itched to slip under the hem of the long shirt and tease her sex into happy submission. He could practically feel her legs parting for him to slide in from behind, to make her his.
But that couldn’t happen. Not yet. Summer suddenly stirred, her waking actions causing her body to wiggle against his. Jimmy could hardly handle it. Before he could quickly pull away a portion of his dream came true: she glanced over her shoulder and invited him into a kiss. How could he be so lucky?
“Mmmm. Good morning, Jimmy,” she muttered, pulling slightly away so that she could turn to face him.
He reached up and caressed her cheek, “It certainly is, Princess.”
“Thank you for staying with me last night.”
“Of course,” he stole another kiss.
“We better go eat. I’m starving,” she pulled away before he could object.
Taking deep calming breaths, Jimmy tried to not watch her change back into her clothes, tried to not focus on her walking away into his bathroom. He needed to wipe away his unclean thoughts, he really did. But as she stepped out of the bathroom, her face dewy and her hair pulled back messily, Jimmy wanted nothing more than to tackle her and make hot love to her on the tiled floor.
Approaching the bed, she leaned towards him and kissed him quickly, “I’ll meet you upstairs.”
As the door closed behind her, Jimmy bolted into the bathroom. He needed a very cold shower before seeing Summer again.
Stepping out of the elevator a few minutes later, Summer headed into the ballroom. Queenie, who had spent the night curled up on John Paul’s bed, instantly saw her human companion and bolted towards her. Catching the puppy, Summer giggled as the puppy licked her face.
“I was wondering when you would surface,” John Paul stated as she stood up. “Where did you stay last night? I noticed Percy sleeping pool side this morning.”
“In Jimmy’s room,” she answered unabashedly.
“Summer, that’s –”
“Dad?” she glanced beyond the bassist, seeing Bob seated not far away. “What are you doing here?”
He rubbed his face and looked away briefly, “Summer, we need to talk about your mother. But you better eat something first.”
That statement alone nearly made her appetite disappear. But having a feeling that he would not give in, she nodded and headed to the catering tables, the puppy trailing closely behind. Her mind raced. There was no way he could have seen her mother yet; it took at least seven hours to drive to San Francisco. Unless maybe he had flown? But then again, she had not told him where the farm was yet. What could he possibly want to discuss?”
Entering the ballroom, Robert instantly spotted the bassist. Before he could say anything to John Paul, his eyes found his girlfriend. Nodding to himself, he headed directly over to her. The puppy yipped a greeting but while that made Robert smile, Summer did not even seem to notice.
“Summer?” he spoke up.
Her eyes flicked away from the table, her plate still empty, “Oh, hello, Robert.”
Her cool greeting instantly concerned him, “Baby, are you okay?”
“Dad’s here. And he wants to talk about my mother,” she answered.
“I’m sure everything is okay, Summer,” he kissed her quickly. “We’ll get some food and go sit with Bob.”
Though she nodded, Summer hardly seemed to notice as Robert filled her plate for her. She felt his hand enfold hers and lead her to the table where Bob sat, but she was mostly numb. And she did not even know why yet.
“Bob,” Robert greeted the man as he set Summer’s plate down.
“Robert,” he responded in kind before his eyes focused on Summer. “Summer, are you okay?”
“No,” she replied. “What do you have to say about my mother?”
He blinked, “Before I go up there, I thought it would be a good idea to have my lawyer look into the paperwork to see how difficult it would be to get your mother to sign what we want her to and… Summer…”
“Just say it, Dad.”
Unable to look at her, his eyes glanced about the room, noticing Jimmy enter and make a beeline towards them. He decided to wait until Jimmy arrived, not that the information pertained to the guitarist, but rather because he felt Summer would want the extra support. Her eyes flicked to the darker man, smiling slightly when he sat on her left side.
“Summer, the thing is… well… we do not need her signature for anything… ever again,” Bob said vaguely.
“I don’t understand,” Summer responded.
“Three days ago, I presume after you called her, she filed papers at the county courthouse,” he explained. “She legally disowned you, Summer.”
Her eyes went wide, as did Robert’s and Jimmy’s. Her bottom lip trembled slightly, almost as if she was trying to form words but could not. Tears glimmered in her eyes, threatening to spill down her cheeks. Her gaze wavered from Bob and she suddenly pushed away from the table. Evading Jimmy’s and even Robert’s grasp, she hurried out of the ballroom, the puppy only a step behind her. She quickly avoided everyone and rushed to the far opposite end of the rooftop terrace. Slamming into the railing, her fingers clutched at it as she gasped for breath, not from the impact of the railing but from Bob’s words. Her mother had disowned her.
“Summer? Sweet pea?” Bonzo’s soft voice spoke a moment before his hand touched her back. “Sweetie?”
She whirled around quickly, right into his arms. Confused, he embraced her gently, hushing her and rubbing her back. Her sobs were uncontrollable. Her hands clenched into fists, pressed but not pummeling his chest.
“Summer? What happened? Was Percy a jack ass? I’ll kick his arse if he –”
“She disowned me, John,” she managed to utter.
He snapped back, “She did what?”
“D-dad s-said she d-disowned-d m-me. Wh-why d-doesn’t sh-she w-want m-me?”
Bonzo pulled her back to him, holding her tight. In his bear-like hug, he was barely able to contain his shock and anger that anyone would do what Summer’s mother apparently had done, especially to the little girl in his arms. He could not answer her question because he himself could not formulate anything else except the same question. Why the fuck wouldn’t someone want Summer? She was smart and pretty and loving and… fuck. If he ever saw her mother, he was certainly throwing out his belief of not striking women clear out the window. He would –
“Summer?” a gravelly voice spoke up behind the two.
She slowly pulled enough away from Bonzo to look at the speaker. A moment later she pulled fully out of the drummer’s arms and quickly fell into her father’s embrace. Mumbling incoherently amidst sobs, she buried her face on his chest. Like Bonzo had a few moments before, Bob attempted to calm her, to assure her that she most certainly was wanted.
“Summer,” Bob uttered, “I don’t know what Adele’s problem is, but I fully intend to find out soon. She is not worthy your tears. Do not cry, daughter.”
“She doesn’t w-want me, D-dad.”
“She’s a fool, a damn fool,” he uttered. “And not worth a tear more.”
Not sure what to do both Jimmy and Robert hung back. Bonzo soon joined them. All three men watched as Bob consoled Summer, wishing there was more they could do. Scratching the back of his head, the drummer glanced to his mates; hoping one of them would say something, anything. Someone needed to lead the way to what they were supposed to do in this situation, because he hadn’t a fucking clue at all.
Bob kissed Summer’s forehead as her sobs finally quieted and she pulled away from his embrace, “I will never abandon you, Summer. I promise you.”
She nodded, “When you see her, I want you to give her something.”
“Whatever you want.”
Pulling away from him quickly, she hurried back into the ballroom, hardly even glancing at the four men, as John Paul had since joined and been appraised of the situation. Returning a minute later clutching the small leather purse she now carried instead of the larger shoulder bag, Summer stopped in front of Bob. She pulled out a handful of photographs. One by one, she tore each image into pieces before handing it to him. Everyone understood exactly what she was doing. Frowning Bob accepted each torn photograph and shoved the pieces into his pant pocket.
“And this too. I don’t need Jerry’s luck,” she handed him the necklace she had worn the night she met Robert.
After Summer explained how to find the farm, Bob wished her well, promising to check in with her as soon as he returned. They embraced quickly before Bob turned towards the elevator to head out to understand what Summer’s mother’s problem was. Left standing where she was, her knees buckled and Summer crumpled to the concrete floor.
Robert jumped forward and gathered her in his arms, “I will always want you, Summer. Always.”
“Robert… can we… can we leave here?”
“Anywhere you want.”
“Can we go to the Canyon?”
“Absolutely, baby.”
He was livid, absolutely livid. Luckily no one else was around now, all out trying to find something to do for the rest of the day. Normally he was not the kind of person to go around destroying things; he left that to Bonzo. But never had he heard such news as what Bob informed Summer of. While Jimmy did believe the young woman deserved to know what she had been told and it did make getting her out of the country that much easier, he could not understand why Summer’s mother would be so cruel, so cold-hearted. It was one thing to ignore one’s progeny, it was completely different to legal sever ties with them. He hated her. He had never met the woman and he hated her.
In his room, which Jimmy swore still smelt faintly like Summer; he looked for something, anything to take his anger and frustration out. He didn’t have the kind of instrument that was really open for hard aggression. And he was not entirely in the mood for aggressive sex with some groupie either. He needed some release though, before something far more dangerous happened.
The phone rang, likely some media asshole wanting to talk about something. The harsh squealing phone became Jimmy’s target. He stalked over to it and tore the entire thing from the phone, not caring about the large hole it caused in the wall. Without even a thought, he hurled it across the room, right into the mirror. Watching as the silvered glass shattered and fell to the ground, Jimmy smirked in satisfaction and stalked over to his mini bar, his anger briefly tempered.
Grumbling he pulled out the bottle of Jack, even though it was nearly empty, and headed to the couch. Sitting down he removed the cap and tilted the bottle into his mouth. As the liquid burned down his throat, his thoughts wandered away from him once more. The woman had hurt his princess. She was going to pay. He didn’t know how just yet, but she was going to pay. Dearly.
Walking down the street in Laurel Canyon hand-in-hand with Summer was near bliss to Robert. He wished it was under better circumstances, that her mind was not troubled, but he also thought their stroll would help ease her worried mind. It was certainly helping his. In fact this was his ideal. A beautiful woman and a dog at his side, strolling down the canyon in California were the kinds of things that dreams were made of or sometimes song lyrics. The particular bent did not matter to Robert; he had Summer and that was all that mattered. Oh and making her smile.
“Summer?” he spoke softly, eyes glancing down at her.
“Joni lives up here,” she commented.
Robert nodded carefully. He knew Joni lived up in the canyon, knew quite a few people did. Did that mean they should be going to Joni’s house? No. Nor did he have any clue where the songstress lived. Perhaps if he had, he would have found some way to run into her before. Would they even be welcome had he known where she lived? He didn’t know and wasn’t entirely too keen on finding out.
“She said I could come by whenever I wanted to. Do you think she’ll be home?”
“I… I don’t know where she lives, Summer.”
“I do.”
Rather than argue with her, as he was not entirely sure he could argue against her, Robert nodded, “Well then, I don’t see any harm in going to see if she’s home.”
Within a few minutes, Summer and Queenie lead Robert up to a front door. He felt butterflies rise in his stomach. Could this have been the very house where Joni and Graham Nash had lived, leading to the writing of that iconic song? Was he really about to enter hallowed ground? Before he could really ponder those questions, Summer knocked on the door. A moment later it opened and there she stood the epitome of femininity in his eyes. As he watched the older woman embrace his girlfriend, Robert saw things far more clearly than he expected. Summer sought out Joni as a mother figure, something she so poorly needed especially now. She might not have been aware of that, but he certainly was. And Joni mothering Summer warmed his heart. There was no one more perfect to take care of the one he loved than the one he revered. It was an awesome feeling.
“Come in, come in. Would you like some tea?” Joni offered.
“Yes, thank you,” Summer answered as Robert was completely struck dumb by being inthe Joni Mitchell’s house.
Within a few minutes they were all seated in her living room. Robert focused intently on the cup of tea for a few minutes, afraid to let his eyes wander about the room. The two women chatted softly, mostly focusing on the puppy at Summer’s feet. He knew it was the buildup, the small talk before Summer would admit everything that had happened to her. And he thought he should care. All he could keep thinking about however is that he was feet away from Joni Mitchell. Things like this did not happen to him. It was almost as big as meeting Elvis – no, maybe bigger. He wasn’t sure.
“She disowned me,” Summer whispered.
Robert’s eyes snapped to his girlfriend before flicking to Joni. The older woman calmly set her tea cup down and moved over to sit next to Summer. Silently her arms wrapped around Summer, pulling her into a maternal embrace. Robert reached out quickly to take Summer’s cup from her seconds before the girl curled up into Joni’s embrace. That was precisely what his girlfriend needed: a mother.
Feeling a bit out of place, Robert got to his feet and took the tea cups into the kitchen while Joni and Summer bonded. He set the cups in the sink and glanced around. It was so homey, so natural being in Joni’s house. And it made him long for the day when he too could set up house with Summer. He envisioned it would be something just like this, something without all the trappings of fame and fortune. He could not even imagine his little girl wanting to live the high life. They would live in a small house, perhaps in California, perhaps in the hills of England, and have children. They would be surrounded by music and nature and everything that was good in life. It would be a euphoric utopia.
Glancing back into the living room where Summer sat close to Joni, though no longer in her embrace, Robert smiled slightly. That was precisely what she had needed. There really had been no one he could have asked to step into that role. The band did not spend time around older women, motherly types. Their wives were the closest to that role, but none of them were in America – oh how that would have massively complicated matters had they been. Somehow Summer knew instinctively what she needed and asked for it. And that something was offered to her in the form of Joni Mitchell.
It struck him ironic that not only was her father the biggest male name in folk music but that a woman who was arguably ranked nearly as high in his mind was becoming her mother. Perhaps in a perfect world, Summer would have been the progeny from such a union; she seemed to represent a lot of what was good in both of them. Granted neither would likely approve of her rock and roll lifestyle, but prior to a few weeks before, Summer had been living the ideal, natural life. Love just had a funny way of turning things on their heads sometimes. Robert wasn’t opposed to the idyllic life, not in the least bit. He could walk away from rock and roll tours in a heartbeat if she asked. He would give it all up for her; do what was right for her.
“Rob?” Joni looked up to him.
He found it a bit amusing that she called him Rob without even asking, but he made no comment on it, “Yeah?”
“I think we would like to go to dinner tonight. Why don’t you take Summer home to shower and change and we’ll meet at the Pacific Dining Car in about two hours?” she suggested.
“Uh, sure,” he nodded, instantly feeling like it was going to be a repeat of the meal with Bob.
“Thank you again, Joni,” Summer commented softly. “I can’t begin to explain how much better I feel now.”
She reached up and tucked Summer’s hair behind her ears, “You are a remarkable young woman, Summer. Never forget that. I’m sure Rob and Jimmy will remind you of that. But know it in your heart and you will fly.”
Prior to his lawyer’s discovery, Bob had been looking forward to re-uniting with Adele. His heart still pined for her in ways he would never be able to explain. But as he stepped out of the plane in San Francisco, he felt a pit of dread plummet into his stomach. He knew very well she would not be the Adele he fell in love with seventeen years before; that Adele never would have disowned her daughter. But then again he had never expected her to run out on him in the middle of the night. It worried him that he would not recognize her, whatever form she had taken.
Shoving his hands into his pockets, he headed to the waiting car. His fingers idly played with the torn up photographs in his pocket. While he understood Summer’s actions, he was also very glad he had kept that photograph of her and her mother she showed him the night they met. Hopefully one day she would thank him for keeping it. Even bad memories were better than no memories.
It was odd how – no, on second thought it wasn’t. It was not the least bit odd that he was so much attached to Summer. She was his daughter – but not just any daughter, the daughter born of his first true love. He saw in her glimmers of Adele, the Adele he loved, but more importantly he felt that she had something powerful to do or say in the world. He loved his younger children without a doubt, but there was something special about Summer. He only hoped he did not feel this way because he had missed so much of her life. That could not be the reason.
Seated in the car, Bob gave the driver the directions Summer had given him, receiving a smirk in response. That alone made him wonder exactly what he was driving into, but it didn’t matter. Summer deserved an explanation.
And so did he.
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