"Do you think we should leave it that color?" Stevie was standing in the living room, having pulled the pictures off the wall for the first time in years... and it was obvious.
She had decorated everything more than thirty years earlier, so the paint on the walls was no longer the color it originally was.
Raising a brow, he was leaning against the doorframe... stunned. "I didn't realize we smoked that much in here." Lindsey shook his head softly, slightly disturbed but also finding it kind of funny.
She tossed her head back, letting out a light laugh. "Well..." shrugging a shoulder, she set her old painting down on the rug carefully. "I think an updated color will help with the sale, anyway." Stevie mentioned, turning back towards him.
He couldn't help but smile when his eyes scanned her over, finding her to be very beautiful in times like that. "Whatever you think." He was just there to nod and carry stuff- he didn't care what she did, because his mind was made up already... He couldn't let that place go.
She gave him a gentle smile, hands falling to her sides as she tilted her head. "Will you at least drive me to the store to get some paint?" She knew he wasn't going to be very helpful, not when he was too set on keeping it.
He was a stubborn man... Always had been, but she had a feeling it was going to come out a lot more in the next couple of weeks.
Lindsey chuckled as he nodded his head. "I'll even carry it for you." He assured, motioning for her to lead the way out of the living room.
She grabbed her shawl on the way out, throwing it over her shoulders as she slipped into her shoes by the door. "I'm thinking a eggshell will be good." Stevie mentioned, taking one last look at the living room to try and decide.
Creasing a brow, he stuck one hand in his pants pocket as he lingered in between the two rooms. "Eggshell?" He smirked lightly, hating the sound of that.
"Have an imagination..." she replied, reaching out to pull him closer. "No more icky blue..." Stevie lingered as she nearly forced him to look back at the room. "It'll be new and renovated, and ready to put on the mark-"
"Can we get dinner while we're out?" He cut her off, patting her hip softly as he turned back to the door.
He didn't want to hear about it... he really didn't. She could paint the walls the ugliest green color the hardware store could order and nothing would make him love it any less.
She sighed softly, nodding her head. "Sure, Lindsey." She slipped her hand in his, giving it a soft squeeze as he guided her down the sidewalk.
Stevie couldn't be annoyed with him, not over his lack of interest in selling, because she understood. She hated the thought of it too, but she knew it was time.
And she would repeat that a million times over if that's what it took to get him to see it her way.
~~~
Lindsey had a moment of déjà vu when he stood in the center of the living room, watching Stevie carefully climb the ladder with a paint brush in hand.
There was such a nostalgic feeling that afternoon.
It might have been the way she had twisted her long blonde hair into two braids with an old bandanna that she'd found in a drawer to keep her hair back. Or maybe it was the fact that she was wearing an old skirt that she'd left there 20 years prior- one she wouldn't wear in public anymore but he still thought it was cute... He wasn't sure exactly, but either way, he felt young in that moment.
It was like they had traveled decades into the past when things were easier and the thought of leaving Hawaii behind was crazy to both of them.
"Please be careful." He had offered to do it once he'd seen her on the first step, but she insisted... She wanted to do it and there wasn't much he could do but watch.
She chuckled softly, steadily taking another step. "As much as my kids and Karen would like to think.... I'm really not that helpless." Stevie occasionally got a little annoyed with the fact that someone else constantly had be right beside her, or behind her... It was tiring sometimes.
He smirked lightly, nodding his head as he picked up his cup coffee off the table. "Those girls worry about you, that's all." Lindsey took a seat on the sofa, not far but not super close either.
He wasn't going to hover over her but if she needed him, he was still right there... Like always.
Raising a brow, she turned back to the wall as she mentally tried to decide where to even start. "They should worry more about themselves." She added, shaking her head softly.
He sank down, biting on the inside of his cheek as he just nodded in return. "I like you like this." It was the tone lingering in her voice that told him that continuing that conversation probably wasn't in his best interest, so he took it upon himself to change the topic.
"Like what?" She chuckled, pressing the roller against the wall that was primed and ready for a fresh coat of paint. "Grumpy?" Stevie added with a soft smile.
He grinned lightly, eyes still following her every move. "You're a good kind of grumpy around here." Lindsey mentioned as he sank down back a little further. "The cute kind..." he added.
Glancing back over her shoulder, her brown eyes melted into his from across the room. "Why can't you be like this all the time?" Stevie wondered in a genuine manner.
He paused for a moment, nodding in agreement as he took a moment to think about that. "I could..." Lindsey's voice was so gentle. "If you'd let me, you know that I would treat you the way you've always deserved to be treated." He added, which caused her heart to sink into the very pit of her stomach.
He was serious- of course he was but she didn't like it. In fact, she couldn't stand that.
She held up her hand, shaking her head lightly. "You're distracting me, Lindsey." Stevie mumbled, motioning to the wall.
She couldn't have that conversation again, not when it always ended the same way. When he said things like that it usually lead to an argument, because nothing ever changed. It was always the same game of running in constant circles and it was exhausting.
There was a time, not long before when they both promised each other the world... But then the summer would come and go and life would go back to normal.
She was too old for the lies.
"And this..." he raised a brow as he pushed himself up. "This is why we have never made it work." Lindsey added, referring to the lack of communication skills between them.
Biting down on her lower lip, she let out the deepest sigh. "I know." She whispered to herself as the tears lingered in the brims of her brown eyes. "And I'm sorry..." she mentioned, only loud enough for her to hear.
