Say Goodbye

So You Face Yesterday

Chicago, Illinois
Sunday, September 15, 2003
(5:00 pm)
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"I'm going to fuck up 'Red Rover'. I can feel it in my bones."

Lindsey stood camera-ready in his classic jeans and leather jacket, pacing around Stevie's dressing room while two people did things he didn't understand to her hair. Stevie was not due onstage until halfway through the show, but her preparation took much longer than his, and she'd been in the chair for awhile now, "turning into Stevie Nicks," as she called it.

"Lindsey, you can do 'Red Rover' in your sleep," Stevie assured him. "Five minutes ago you were worried about the timing on 'Peacekeeper' and we've been doing it every night!"

"But as a we, Stevie!" he reminded her, as if to bolster his case for being nervous. "Not in a solo performance. I can swap in an easier current one like 'Miranda' or 'Bleed To Love Her'...I don't know." He sank into a nearby makeup chair, dropping his head into his hands.

"You sound like me before my shot of tequila," Stevie said, turning her head just slightly while a straightening iron was attached to her hair on one end and a woman named Peg on the other. "You are ready for this, Linds. You are more than ready. You are Lindsey fucking Buckingham and you are amazing."

Lindsey couldn't contain his smile. He'd been smiling all day, thinking of the fact that he was going to the taping tonight with Stevie, the woman he loved, the one he'd started his career off with in the first place. His jubilant mood had attracted attention from a few people, mostly Ray, who joked that someone had replaced Lindsey Buckingham with a pod person. Lindsey knew his reputation for intensity was legendary, but he couldn't help how he felt. He was in love.

He was also in the throes of stage fright, and when Stevie took a break from being styled, she took him by the hand and brought his around the corner to an empty corridor and without saying a word, pulled him into her arms. She held held him close and whispered, "You've been working all your life for this, sweetheart, and you're going to be amazing. I love you."

Lindsey felt himself getting suddenly emotional. If he was being honest with himself, he'd been dreaming for six years of a moment like this - Stevie pulling him into an encouraging hug before a show and telling him she loved him. He fought the tears that suddenly welled up in his eyes, and pulled her closer. "I love you so much," he whispered into her ear. "I couldn't do this without you, angel."

Stevie could hear the emotion in his voice. "Oh, baby..." She kissed the top of his head where it lay on her shoulder. "This is how it's supposed be, you know. This is what we used to talk about on Keith's basement floor every night...this is the dream, sweetheart, and you're going to be amazing."

Lindsey raised his head from her shoulder and their faces nuzzled together. "This is a new beginning too, you know...Buckingham Nicks, Take Three."

Stevie's forehead dropped softly onto his. She said, a note of humor in her voice, "Lindsey...this is like Take Fifty-seven." They both laughed, and Stevie took his jaw gently into her hand and pulled him into a kiss.

"If you want to get technical, yes," he said, his blue eyes shining along with the smile he could not possibly put away. "Thank you for doing this, Stevie."

"You have to talk me down off the ledge with stage fright every night, Linds," she reminded him, but he shook his head.

"I don't mean just now - but obviously yes, thanks for this - I mean this, Stevie. The show. The songs. Everything." He looked at her with a special kind of gratitude she had not seen him display towards her in years, possibly ever, and she had to remind herself not to cry because of her makeup.