"I think that looks really good." Lindsey grinned softly, trailing back into the living room with a cup of coffee in hand.
He had made himself comfortable in her suite- not at all nervous or shy, which she was incredibly thankful for... She liked that, but she also really liked him, which encouraged her to have the same laid back attitude.
It had been a long time since anything felt that easy going for either of them.
"The bow isn't too much?" She held up the box that was wrapped in gold paper with a red ribbon tied perfectly around it.
She had been wrapping her kids Christmas gifts for the last hour, trying her best to finish up before they left in the morning, all while Lindsey sat on the floor with her. He was in charge of keeping track of the tape dispenser and the scissors, even though he wasn't very good at it.
"I don't think so." He shook head softly, setting his cup down on the coffee table before he took a seat in the same spot he had been taking up residency at since they crawled off the couch.
"I'm so sorry, Lindsey." She chuckled softly, biting down on her lower lip as she tilted her head to the side. "This has to be awfully boring for you..." she was sitting across the rug from him, only wearing a silk nightgown with her hair pulled up into a clip and her glasses on her nose.
She was beautiful.
Creasing a brow lightly, he let out a faint laugh. "I like this." He admitted, shrugging his shoulders as his eyes scanned over her face. "You're fun to be with." Lindsey gave her a playful wink, which caused her cheeks to turn a soft shade of pink.
She didn't know how he did it, but he had the ability to make her feel like the only woman in the world...
"Well..." she raised a brow lightly, trying hard not to smirk as her dark brown eyes stayed locked with his blue storms. "I'm glad you think so, because I was wondering if you wanted to stay for dinner?" Stevie wasn't nervous at all anymore... That had kind of faded away.
Instead, she was feeling very comfortable as well and having him there felt more natural than it probably should have.... it was far easier than being in the presence of the man she'd been married to for forever, if that tells you anything.
"Aren't you worried about your husband coming back and-"
"No," she cut him off, not in a harsh way, but instead assuring him that they didn't have to worry about that.... "He won't come back." She added, totally certain of herself.
Tom would have rather been anywhere else than there, stuck at the Inn with his wife.
Lindsey paused for a second, really tempted to ask her what was really happening in her marriage but silently reminding himself that it wasn't his business... He had no right to ask that sort of stuff. "In that case, I couldn't think of a better way to spend the evening." He admitted, even though in the back of his mind, he had a million things he wanted to know.
How could her husband be away from her almost every night of his trip? It didn't make much sense, not to Lindsey, who had nearly inseparable from his wife...
Smiling softly, her eyes fell back to the box in her hand. "There's nothing that I love more than spending the holidays with my kids." She announced, trying hard not get too personal and weird him out... She wasn't sure if he was as comfortable with her as she was with him and the last thing she wanted him to think was that she was moving too quickly.
But it was so simple with him, it really was. It didn't feel pressured or rushed... It seemed more natural than anything she'd experienced in a really long time.
"When they moved out, it nearly destroyed me." She admitted, shaking her head softly as she let out a faint sigh.
She couldn't talk about that sort of stuff with her husband, and not because he didn't care, but because he didn't understand. He thought it was great when the kids left for Boston and then he thought Stevie was silly for being so overwhelmed by it.
He had never taken into consideration the idea that she didn't know how to be married to him without their kids there... She's always had them and they had always needed her.
But back then, Tom was always reminding her of the fact that it was something that they had always wanted for their kids. As parents it should have been their dream to have successful, independent children and they did... but that didn't stop Stevie from crying almost every night for weeks before she finally came to terms with both of her children being all the way across the country.
"That just means you're a good mom and you raised good humans." Lindsey had said that a million times, but that was the first time he'd ever said it to anyone that wasn't his wife...
"I love that." She chuckled lightly, heart fluttering so faintly, she could have sworn she'd just fallen in love.
He was so soft, it made her feel weak in the knees.
"I'm sure you feel the same way though...." She wasn't sure why she was so curious, but she was and maybe it was because she felt like their relationship could possibly be more than sneaking around for the couple of weeks that he was in town.
"I would give anything to have one more Christmas that felt like it used to." He assured, wanting her to know that he understood... Even if they weren't in the same dilemma, he knew how she felt.
He had also lost a lot, but not in the same way that she had, even though she didn't know that.
"But," he held up his free hand, shrugging a shoulder softly. "We have to let some chapters of our lives close so new ones can begin." Lindsey mentioned, a soft grin trailing across his face as his eyes scanned over hers. "And if life hadn't been so unfair at times, we probably wouldn't be here..." he was a song writer, so not only did he know exactly what she wanted to hear but he also knew how to put it into words.
