"Two left feet kinda guy, huh?" Elise smirked softly, eyes pointed towards the ground before they traveled back to her father- in- law.
He chuckled softly- the first time he'd found anything even slightly funny in days. "I said that I would try- I didn't say that I'd be good." Lindsey gave her hand a gentle squeeze as his gaze fell to their feet as well.
When Elise told him that his wife had been taking dance classes in exchange for cooking lessons for almost eight months- he was shocked... Very much so, actually.
She had never mentioned anything about wanting to learn to ballroom dance, which is what kind of bothered him more than anything else.
He felt like he had always been very supportive of her- anything she ever wanted to do, he stood right behind her... She dreamt of owning a restaurant- he co-signed on the building and started off in the kitchen with her. She wanted a house on a hill to raise their kids- he spent hours with an architect designing a house that she'd fall in love with. And as they got older, he felt like he'd been equally supportive as well.
He encouraged her to do things she was interested in. When she wanted to do yoga- he went to look at mats with her. And when she wanted to paint, he sat through a couple classes with her.
He loved doing things she loved... he always had, and he couldn't figure out what had happened to the security they'd shared.
She trusted him with everything, yet suddenly she was keeping dance class from him... It really bothered Lindsey, because it felt like he'd failed her at some point.
"Just relax a little bit." She giggled softly, patting his shoulder gently.
"I haven't danced in a long time." He admitted, raising a brow softly.
"Did you dance at your wedding?" She wondered, looking up into his weak set of blue eyes.
She really felt for him- she did, but she also understood her mother-in- laws reasoning as well... Stevie had begged him to get sober years earlier- she'd been on that roller coaster with him multiple times and it had to have gotten tiring.
"Oh, yeah." Nodding his head, he finally cracked another faint grin. "Stevie and I spent weeks practicing that first dance." He recalled as he suddenly drifted back in time. "I can't remember what song we danced to, but I remember exactly what she looked like that day." His words caused Elise's heart to sink into the very pit of her stomach.
"I bet she was beautiful." She knew that she was- Stevie always had been.
"She was more than just beautiful..." he chuckled, suddenly remembering every little detail of that day. "She was stunning and..." he paused for a second as another little smirk danced across his face. "And everything I ever dreamt of." He couldn't have pictured a more perfect person to spend the rest of his life with, yet there he was, many years later and still struggling to show her how amazing she was.
Elise grew quiet for a long second as she slowly sank into him for a hug. "That's sweet, Lindsey." She knew he needed it- she could tell by the look in his eyes. "It's gonna be alright again, I know it is." She said in a very gentle, very low tone.
"It has to." He agreed with a faint nod. "I will do everything I can for that woman." When he said that, he meant it.
"I know." She assured, really feeling for him in that very moment.
"Hey," Levy's voice caught their attention just a second later as causally danced towards them with his wife stumbling right along. "How are you doing?" He asked with a little smile trailing across his face.
It was his idea to find a ballroom dance class for his dad, but since he wasn't just going to throw him to the wolves, he promised he'd tag along and bring two dance partners... Janie and Elise.
"We were just talking about how pretty your mama is." Elise announced, looking from Levy and then back towards Lindsey.
"Prettiest woman in the world." The older man immediately agreed.
~~~
Leaning into the kitchen counter, staring down at the home phone, Stevie listened as her husbands voice filled the room.
"Hi, baby...." He paused for a second, really hoping she'd pick up the phone instead of letting it go to voicemail. "I, uh..." His tone sounded just as lost as he felt. "I was just calling to tell you that I really miss you, Steph." He knew that was no secret to her- she knew how much he loved her. "I don't think we've ever gone this long without talking..." he added with a really forced chuckle. "But, uh...just give me a call whenever you're ready, please." The way he sounded caused her heart to sink into the pit of her stomach. "I love you." He said before the machine clicked, making it clear that he'd hung up.
She sighed softly, pursing her lips to on side as she nodded her head. "I love you, too." She whispered to herself as she reached out to delete his message.
"Mom?" Everleigh caused her to flinch. "I didn't mean to scare you." She half laughed, silently assuring her mother that she hadn't heard Lindsey's voicemail.
""You're fine, sweetie." Stevie let out a soft chuckle, even though her heart was beating a mile a minute. "What's up?" She pushed her reading glasses to the top of her head as she let off a soft, welcoming smile.
Leaning into the side of the doorframe, Evee's eyes fell to the floor. "Something's really been bothering me..." she admitted, even though she wasn't sure she was ready to face it.
Creasing a brow, Stevie started to slowly head through the room. "Honey, what's wrong?" She wondered, motioning for her to take a seat at the kitchen table as she pulled a chair out. "Let's talk about it." She added as she sat down, watching her daughter do the same across the table from her.
Ev paused for a second, staring into her mothers brown eyes as she thought about what she was going to say. "Did you force Lucy and Tammy out of my life?" That wasn't exactly how she wanted to start their conversation, but that was the entire point of it, so...
Stevie's heart sank instantly as she wrinkled her brow. "Where is that coming from?" She asked, stunned that Everleigh would even ask such a question.
She didn't push Lucy and Tammy out of her life, they ran...
"Did you force them out of my life?" Her tone shifted as she stared intently at the woman that raised her.
With tears in her eyes, Stevie shook her head. "No, we didn't." She admitted. "Why would you think that, Ev? We-"
"Why don't I believe you?" She wasn't being mean- she was being serious and it wasn't easy for her either.
Stevie shifted in her chair as she brought her hand up to her face to collect her tears. "If that's what those people are-"
"Those people?" Everleigh scoffed, immediately disgusted with the choice of words. "Those people are family to me." She slowly pushed herself back to stand up once more.
"I didn't mean it like that, Ev." She said that, but they both knew, deep down that she did mean it like that.
"I shouldn't have even brought it up." She shook her head lightly as she waved a hand lazily.
"Who said that to you?" Stevie wasn't going to just drop it- that really bothered her.
Everleigh stared at her for a long moment and then she replied. "My mom and my grandma..."
