Time Makes You Bolder

September 2023

"How long will you be gone?" Leelee asked, watching him pack his case. The jeans and t-shirts were standard fare, but the shirts and slacks piqued her interest.

"5 days? Maybe 6? Depends on how we get on," he replied, walking into his bathroom to grab his wash kit.

"And this is business, right?" She probed further.

"Yeah. Business."

"For your album?"

"Um, well no. Not as such." He squirmed.

Leelee sat down on his bed, indicating that she wasn't going to move until he divulged more.

"I'm just helping out," he replied, not meeting her eye.

"Who are you helping, Dad?" She smiled. She wasn't backing down.

"OK. OK. It's Stevie. I'm helping Stevie." He looked up to gauge her reaction.

"Really?" She grinned. "You're back in with Stevie? She didn't mention it."

"Nothing's back." He clarified. "I'm just helping out on a couple of songs."

"Oh. That's a shame." She moved to get up off the bed and started to walk towards the door.

"You uh, you wouldn't be mad?" He asked, causing her to stop walking and turn back to face him.

"Mad about what?" She played dumb. Wanted him to spell it out for her.

"If uh, if we, maybe, started to spend some time together?" He stumbled; eyes fixed to the floor.

"Why would I be mad?"

"My uh, my behaviour... where Stevie's concerned... well, it's not been. It wasn't appropriate. Not for a family man."

"I'm not gonna lie, Dad. It was hard for us to see Mom go through all of that. But she moved on a long time ago, you should be allowed to do that too."

He closed his eyes and nodded gratefully. He'd never, ever wanted to hurt his children.

"And besides," she added, "if Stevie can make you happy? And you can make Stevie happy? It'll have all been worth it, right?"

~~~~~

Lindsey took an earlier flight to Nashville this time around. He wanted to catch up with her before they got in the studio. He'd again booked himself into the Four Seasons, so that's where he headed first.

He checked in and made his way up to his room on the 37th floor. Climbing onto his bed, he pulled his phone out of his pocket. It was a little after 1pm. He hoped she'd be up.

"Hey Linds, I've been waiting for you." She smiled into her phone.

"Hey! I wasn't sure if you'd be awake?" He smiled, happy to hear her voice.

"Awake and dressed. And famished. Are you hungry?"

"Yeah, I could eat." He had food on the plane, but he wasn't going to tell her that.

"Wanna come to my suite? We can get room service?"

"Is this our first date?"

They both laughed.

"We're going to dinner, Lindsey, we're not going on a date." She clarified, though continued to smile.