Landslide (Original Series Prequel 2)

Maybe The Landslide Will Bring It Down

Aspen, Colorado
Friday, October 25, 1974
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Stevie didn't know which emotion to let out first...anger or fear.

Lindsey was in a terrible mood, even worse than he'd been in the winter when he lost his father. He had been oddly quiet then, once the initial crying days had dissipated...but this was different. He was oddly quiet again, but he was not leaning on her. In fact, she got the distinct impression that she was why he was so angry...well, her and whatever the hell had happened with Don Everly to bring him back to her at the motel early.

"I'm not going to ask you what you were up to out there, Stevie, and we're going to leave it at that," he said, suddenly rifling through the Yellow Pages he'd found under the phone on the nightstand at the motel where she and Teri had returned.

Too afraid to argue that point with him the way he was, Stevie asked instead, "What are you looking up?"

"Auto repair," he said, picking up the telephone receiver, his index finger positioned over a phone number on a page of the phone book as he began to dial on the rotary phone. "The one silver lining to this bullshit is at least I earned enough to fix the fucking reverse on the fucking car!" He waited as the phone rang on the other end, and Stevie sat quietly, Ginny in her lap on the bed as she stroked her ears, while he began to speak. He said, "Good morning. I was wondering if you guys took walk-in repairs or if I need an appointment." There was a pause, and then he said, "Yeah, I have a Toyota sedan that's about six years old, and it's got two issues - the reverse gear is out and it's a California car that's frozen in the Colorado cold up here, and I was hoping to get it fixed so I can drive it back to Los Angeles tonight or tomorrow." Another pause. "That would be excellent, thanks." Stevie didn't care for the way he'd said "so I could drive." He waited a moment while the other person spoke and said, "Buckingham....half an hour? Sounds great. Thanks for your help." And he hung up.

"You're getting the reverse fixed?" Stevie was frozen in her spot, and she realized she'd been holding Ginny a little too tightly. She was also becoming very acutely aware that this sore throat of hers was not going away, and she had a feeling it was actually strep throat from the cold air. She had also been nauseous for about two weeks now, and people around her were wondering why she would order a drink and just sip it because, for some reason, alcohol tasted terrible to her.

"I'm going to have to if I want to get to California in one piece," said Lindsey.

"Lindsey..." She dared herself to ask, "Do you want to talk about it? What happened with Don Everly, I mean? How did it go?"

"No, Stevie, I do not want to talk about it. Why is it that you always want to talk about it? I mean, some things just are and some things are not...you know? Why make a federal case out of it?"

"If you're upset about Teri and me hanging out with those guys...trust me, there was nothing going on...hard as Teri tried...it was lodging and some sightseeing, nothing more."

"Fine." That was all he said. He grabbed the keys to the Toyota where they sat on the table beside the phone, then reached for his jacket and zipped it closed against him. "I'm going to get the car fixed. Pack up the dog's stuff." And he didn't say anything more before he was out the door.

Stevie sat in the sane spot for a long time, terrified. Teri had decided to go back home a few days ago, and Stevie began to become afraid that Lindsey was angry enough to leave Aspen without her. She lay back on her side against the pillows after awhile and hugged her little dog and tried to calm herself down by talking to her. She said, stroking her little white curls, "Don't worry, baby. Daddy's going to be okay. He's not happy today, but he still loves you, Jennifer Sara Nicks. You're his little baby and you're my little baby, and we love you. You're going to be okay."