Stevie sat at home for a couple of hours after they had left. She cleaned up the kitchen, ran the vacuum, picked up some clothes that had been thrown in the hallway and took care of any other small mess the boys had made on their way out the door. But by the time the sun started to come up over the clouds, she decided to head to the restaurant... do something to get her mind off of how quiet it was at home.
So after she'd stopped to get herself some much needed coffee, she trailed in through the front door, where her staff was running circles around her to get things ready in order to open for the morning.
"Hey, Stevie." One of the younger girls greeted her with a soft smile as she put out the sugars, butters, and napkins on each table in the dining room.
"Hi, sweetie." Stevie returned the smile as she set her purse down on the counter. "Did you have fun this weekend?" She wondered, pushing her reading glasses up as she began scanning over papers that were waiting for her on the pastry showcase.
She hadn't been to work in a couple of days, only because she'd been so busy with her parents being in town, the kids all packing up, and her husband trying to spend a little time with her before he left... She had really devoted some time to her family, which was far more important.
She nodded her head, setting her serving tray down on the table as she began to put on her apron. "Yeah, it was busy though." The younger woman chuckled. "My kids had like three soccer games on Saturday morning, so my husband and I were running all over the place." her words were ironic in the moment... It made Stevie feel a little bit bad.
"Soak it up, dear." She didn't look up- she didn't think she would be able to without crying. "One day they'll be all grown up and leaving you behind." She added, swallowing hard right after as she began to feel a wave of emotion wash over her.
Those first couple of days for her were always the hardest. Usually, after Lindsey left the house to hit the road, she would take the boys out to dinner or the movies- something to get her mind off of his sudden absence, but since it was just her this time around, she was feeling a little more nostalgic than usual.
It was hard to believe they were grown up enough to go on tour.
"Did the boys all head out this morning?" Kelly could tell the younger girl had come to a loss for words, so she jumped in after she finished sweeping up the hardwood floor.
With a gentle sigh, Stevie nodded her head. "They're off to San Francisco tonight." She wanted to go, she really did, but she couldn't do it anymore.
There was too much happening at home for her to just jump on a tour bus with them and head around the country for a couple of months... She wasn't twenty- five anymore.
"It's going to be awfully quiet around here without DJ Levy." Ben teased, a soft smile on his face as he slipped around the group of women to grab a couple of things up front.
Levy had kept things interesting in the kitchen the last couple of weeks. He had brought in a big speaker to listen to the music extra loud at the end of the night, made friends with most of the people, and all the regular customers thought he was just great.
Tossing her head back, Stevie let out a soft laugh. "He has a big personality." She assured, nodding lightly as her eyes fell back down to the words on the printed paper.
"It'll definitely be boring around here without him." Kelly agreed, happy to see that Stevie was actually a little big giggly.
They didn't normally see her for a couple of days after Lindsey left. She took that time to be with her three boys, but since they were all gone too, Kelly was certain that the boss would be in there a lot more than usual.
"They'll be keeping Lindsey on his toes for the next few weeks." Ben chuckled, eyes melting right into Stevie's for a brief moment.
He thought she was beautiful... The hair, the face, the smile and her bubbly expressions.
He really liked her, a lot.
"Yeah," she shifted awkwardly, trying not to stare too prominently. "He has his hands full, that's for sure." Stevie's voice shifted as she picked up all of her things. "I'll be out to help wait tables in a while." She mentioned as she headed through the side door to get to her office.
~~~
With a glass of whiskey in hand and a smile on his face, Lindsey sat on the leather sofa backstage, listening to his two sons go back and forth strumming different tunes on their guitars. "Sounds pretty good." He nodded, tapping his foot on the concrete floor as he took a quick sip of his drink.
"Good enough to maybe play a few songs...?" Crosby raised a brow lightly, really hoping to get the chance to do more than just set up lighting equipment.
But Stevie had already made Lindsey promise that he wouldn't let them play on stage, yet they had been asking since the moment they got on the plane and though he knew where his wife was coming from, he also knew how excited they were....
Who was he to tell them not to follow their dreams?
"We'll see." He nodded lightly, eyes traveling to the door as it slowly crept open.
"Hi, guys." Lindsey's personal assistant came in, a very soft smile on her face as she lingered in the doorway.
She was older- in her sixties and she'd been on the road with him forever... Ever since Stevie had hired her in the seventies.
She kept things in order, which was a real sigh of relief.
"Hey," the two boys said it unison as they continued to stare down at the sheet music sprawled out on the floor in front of them.
Chucking softly, Lindsey glanced up. "How's it going?" He asked, looking back down at his watch to make sure it wasn't time to hit the stage.
"All is well." Meredith nodded, leaning into the doorframe lightly. "Stevie is on the phone...." She added, a very soft smile on her face when she watched him push himself up to stand immediately.
"Thank you," he moved through the room, slipping out into the hallway to follow the burnette into another room. "Hello?" His voice filled the phone the moment he brought it up to his ear.
"Hi, baby." She replied on the other end, which caused a little grin to dance across his face.
"You're making it hard already, Stevie." He teased, leaning back against the wall as he stared down at the floor.
She giggled, biting down on her lower lip. "I just wanted to wish you luck tonight and tell you that I love you." Her voice was soft- much quieter than normal.
Nodding his head, he brought his glass up to his lips. "I love you, too." He assured before he finished off his drink.
