Time Makes You Bolder

May 2023

"Am I keeping you up, old man?" She laughed into her phone.

"Ha!" He yawned again, glancing down at his watch. 1:36 am.

They'd been chatting for almost 2 hours, and while he was enjoying every minute, he wasn't used to keeping such nocturnal hours.

"Some of us need to be up before noon, you know?"

"Touché," she grinned. "So will you think about it? We'll be there 17th to 21st?"

"I have. You've got your own stuff going on, I don't want to step on anyone's toes," he replied.

"We've been through this," she sighed. "This tour is kicking all our asses. None more so than Waddy's. You know he's not precious. We could use the help," she wasn't above begging. "Besides, it'd be great to see you again. It's been too long."

He smiled. It had been too long. He pretended he didn't know where Stevie was up to on her tour, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Raleigh tonight, next up Knoxville and Nashville following that, where Stevie had invited him to fly out and meet her.

He was surprised when she mentioned that she was writing. She, like him, seemingly finding her creative juices flowing once again.

She planned to be in Nashville for 5 days, in and around her show, and was renting out a studio to tinker with one of the songs she'd recently written.

She'd asked him to come in and work on the guitar parts. Waddy was more than capable, but they were all tired and could use the help. And if it meant another chance to see him again, then that wasn't a bad thing.

"I'll think about it," he replied.

~~~~~

Not wanting to appear too keen, Lindsey booked himself onto the second to last Nashville-bound flight leaving LAX that day. No use arriving before dark anyway, he thought.

Stevie and her team were staying at the Four Seasons, so that was where he reserved himself a room. He considered swinging by there first to check in and drop off his bag, but given the late hour, thought best to head straight to the studio.

As he pulled his rental car into the studio parking lot, he felt butterflies in his stomach. This shouldn't be nerve wracking, but it was. He knew Stevie had softened considerably, but, aside from the brief encounter with Mary at Christine's memorial, he hadn't run into any of her other entourage yet. He had no idea how they'd respond to him.

Slinging his guitar case over his shoulder, and taking a deep breath, he strode purposefully towards the entrance.

"Lindsey! Great to see you! So glad you could make it." Dave stood from his seat at the mixing desk and walked across the small room to give Lindsey a warm handshake.

"Glad to help," Lindsey replied with a smile.

Stevie had mentioned that she'd recruited Dave Stewart to put together this new album. And although Lindsey believed that no one could produce her as well as he could, there was a healthy respect there.

"She's just finishing up," Dave confirmed.

Lindsey could see Stevie on the other side of the glass partition facing him. She met his eye, and her face immediately broke into a wide smile. She took off her headphones and left the recording space to come and greet him in the control room.

"Hey, you're here!" She quickly looked him up and down, before wrapping her arms around his shoulders and burrowing her head into his chest.

"Hey!" His arms enveloped her waist in response, pulling her tightly into him.