"Come on!" She playfully shouted down the beach, waving at him to emphasize that he needed to hurry up.
He smirked softly, one hand in the pocket of his jeans as he trailed through the sand. "Slow down, speedy." Lindsey couldn't take his eyes off of her, he hardly ever could, but especially that evening.
She was in a long satin dress, hair half way up in a clip and makeup done perfectly to enhance her already stunning facial features.
They had gone to dinner that night, but a couple of days earlier, they were invited to their neighbors end of summer party and Stevie insisted they go, even though he wanted to stay in and soak up their last couple of nights together... She got her way, like always and he was perfectly content with it.
She couldn't help but chuckle, eyes traveling up to the night sky as she slowly started to spin in a small circle. "I don't want it to end." Stevie was still clutching the unopened bottle of red wine to her chest as she held onto her shawl with the other hand.
She had already had a couple of glasses of wine and to say she was feeling it might have even an understatement.
Lindsey nodded softly as he slowly slipped his hand around her waist to stop her from twirling for just one second. "You're so beautiful." He whispered once she'd melted into him.
She giggled, rolling her eyes softly. "Even at fifty...?" she lingered as she raised an eyebrow playfully.
Fifty was intimidating to a lot of people, but for her it was sort of the end of an era... She still wanted more kids and once she'd walked into the surprise party Kim and the three children had thrown her, she realized that want was unrealistic and that broke her just a tiny bit.
"What?" He chuckled, shaking his head lightly. "Of course." He still had that soft grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. "You're an incredible fifty." Lindsey assured, taking her free hand in his to spin her around and pull her back in.
She paused for a moment, looking deep into his eyes before she spoke once more. "Can we sit?" She wondered, pulling away but still holding on tight to his hand.
He went down first, and then held out both hands for her to get situated comfortably in the warm evening sand. "The stars are really out tonight." He announced as he slowly fell down to lay on his back and stare up at the sky.
She let out a deep sigh, sinking down as well. "Is it ever going to be different for us?" That was at a point when Stevie was very hopeful for them still... With time it would change, but in that moment, she still had dreams.
And that was an odd time in both of their lives, so it felt fitting to wonder. Stevie had been sober for a couple of years, and she was ready to start a new chapter. While Lindsey had been having so many issues at home, he wasn't sure he'd even have a wife by the end of the summer.
It felt like their time, but it never really was.
"We could get married..." she whispered, head resting on his chest. "And we could run away and retire..." she added, knowing that was so far fetched.
He nodded softly, chewing on the inside of his check as his eyes remained focused on one star in particular. "One day, Steph."
~~~
"What are we going to do with all this stuff?" Stevie pulled him back into reality, totally unaware of the fact that he'd been lost in thought for quite a few minutes. "I mean, we have so much here." She added as she motioned around the kitchen as she carefully stirred pasta in an old cast iron pot.
He was sitting across the counter on a barstool, having offered to help make dinner but totally zoning out instead. "Umm," Lindsey shrugged softly, raising a brow as he glanced away from her for the first time in ten minutes. "We have time to figure it out." He added, not very interested in talking about it.
They always had to revert back to that, which was driving him crazy... He wanted to talk about anything else.
She chuckled, staring at him with the softest set of brown eyes. "We have less than a week..." she reminded him, even though he was trying his best to forget. "And then-"
"Dance with me?" He cut her off, the sweetest smirk on his handsome face as he looked deep into her eyes.
Stevie let out another soft laugh, motioning towards the stove. "I'm cooking..." she lingered, eyes following him around the counter.
He slowly reached out and wrapped his arms around her waist gently. "Five minutes and then you can cook all the noodles you want." Lindsey grinned, carefully using one hand to turn the knob and lower the heat on the burner as he kept her wrapped up. "Five minutes..." he whispered in her ear as they slowly backed away from the counter.
Her head fell back to his chest instantly, feeling him leave a few kisses on the curve of her neck. "There's no music." Stevie's lips formed into a smile as she slowly turned in his arms to look up at his face.
He always looked the same, even though he wasn't. He had changed and age, but to her, he was timeless.
Cradling her face in one hand, he got lost in her trance. "I love you." He told her for the billionth time in their nearly fifty years of knowing each other... and he meant it- he always did.
She nodded her head, giggling quietly. "Spin me." She told him, eyes already glossed over.
He carefully pushed her out, holding onto her hand as she spun in a circle and then came right back in to his arms.
She paused for a moment when their eyes locked once more and then she repeated the same thing he'd told her for years; "One day...."
