~S~
We get so caught up in making plans, life just happens right in front of us and that was one of those times.
And the incredible thing is, life moves on. We keep going, even when things feel complicated and confusing...
So we worked through it, literally. We were still in rehearsals, we still had things that needed to be done and that was it. That's how it has always gone.
"Hey, Steph?" He caught me just as I was getting ready to walk out the door for the night... I was ready to go home.
I had my jacket on, my purse in one hand, my coffee in the other and I was three feet from the back door, but I stopped... "Yes?" Raising a brow, my eyes met Karen's for a brief moment before I turned back to look at him.
We had been fine. It had been weeks since he'd announced that to us and honestly, I was really just over it.
I was too tired to fight over the same things we had been fighting over for years.
"Can I talk to you for a second?" He motioned towards an empty room off to the side, silently asking me if we could chat alone....
"I really want to go home, Lindsey." I was honest and not in a mean way, in a gentle, sympathetic way.
I didn't want to go talk... I wanted to go curl up in the comfort of my home and call it a night.
"Five minutes." He pushed open the door, holding out a hand to welcome me in first.
I thought about it for a second, looking deep into his blue eyes before I finally decided to slip in through the doorway. "What is the problem now?" I had a feeling it had something to do with music- that's all we ever talked about at that point.
We had no reason to speak about anything but work by then...
"Is Lark doing okay?" The way he slouched down in that old swivel chair actually made me feel a little bit sorry for him. "She hasn't returned any of my calls in days..." that hurt him a lot- I know it did, because I would hurt me... It would hurt any parent, or at least, it should.
My heart sank and my eyes grew soft. "She told me that she had dinner with you the other night...?" I recalled.
"I haven't seen her in weeks." He had tears in his eyes and that hurt... a lot.
This was coming from a man that had not gone a week without seeing his daughter in her entire life. In fact, even when we were traveling solo, he made it a point to visit her, wherever she was.
Nodding my head, I shrugged lightly. "She's fine, Lindsey." My tone was very mundane- I was trying to act like I wasn't phased by his sadness, but of course, I was.
I couldn't believe she would say that she'd been calling him and seeing him, when she hadn't... That wasn't like her, not at all.
"She's been with Austin quite a bit, and she's hanging out with her friends." I was trying to make it sound like she had been busy, because maybe then, he wouldn't take it so personal.
He nodded his head, still looking me right in the eyes. "I didn't want-"
"She's fine and I'll have her give you a call." I don't know what he was going to say, but I didn't want to hear it... I didn't care at the time. "Go home and get some rest." I added as I pushed the heavy wooden door back open to head into the hallway.
I was home a little while later, not surprised to see Austin's car parked out front. He had been over a lot- they'd been cooking dinner, having movie nights in the living room, and swimming until the wee morning hours... They were nineteen and they had their entire lives ahead of them.
They were having fun and I was happy to be witness to it.
"Hey, Stevie." Austin greeted me with a big smile the moment I stepped into the kitchen, where they were moving around one another with the radio on and the lights dim.
"Hi, mom." She smiled as well, holding the mixing bowl with one arm and stirring the cookie mix with the other hand.
"Looks like a mess." Karen teased, trailing in right behind me to set some things down on the kitchen table.
Lark let out a gentle giggle, nodding her head in agreement. "Karen's not getting any cookies." She joked, which caused my personal assistant to chuckle as well.
I was super thankful that they had become good friends too, especially since Suzanna had left and things had gotten awfully quiet around the house... I needed them to see eye-to-eye.
I smiled lightly, waiting until she set the bowl down before I spoke up. "Lark, I need your help with something in the den." I was lying, but I couldn't wait- I needed to talk with her.
"Of course." She knew- I'm sure she did, but she still followed me into the other room and without me having to ask, she sat right down on the chair.
"I talked to your dad today..." That was news in itself, I'm sure... We hadn't been speaking for weeks, not even at work. "Why haven't you talked to him?" I was very kind and gentle about it...
Her feelings and emotions were incredibly valid and I wasn't there to tell her what to do. She was an adult by then- the choice was hers, but I still felt a bad about it.
"He's been busy." She shrugged a shoulder. "And I've been busy, so I figure when life settles down, we can work it out." And in that moment, I was reminded that she really was all grown up. "I have my own life to worry about."
