Lindsey drove back to the house he and Stevie bought a few years ago. The actual drive took up a few minutes only, the distance was that short from where she was living now. He entered the house and tossed his keys on the counter by the front door. He took off his shoes and his leather jacket. Lindsey ran a hand through his hair and exhaled deeply. Why was it always like that with them? Fighting was what Stevie and Lindsey did best. Despite that, they loved each other dearly and if they were honest, neither could live without the other.
Lindsey was tempted to open a bottle of whiksey and get completely drunk, but that wouldn‘t do him any good, would it, he thought to himself. Besides, he had promised Stevie awhile ago he‘d be sober except for really big celebrations, which required a tost. There wouldn‘t be any way for her to see him wasted, but a small voice in his head was telling him that what if she had a change of heart and came back tonight. Of course, there was no way with her being so stubborn.
Stevie always had her beloved dog Sulamith with her, but as a family they had a big beautiful golden retriver, that came to comfort Lindsey. “Hey, buddy.“ He petted the dog and asked to be followed to the kitchen in order to be fed. Lindsey opened the fridge and closed it soon after. If his wife were home, the fridge would be full of her low fat, diet chicken and yoghurt. Silly, he thought, Stevie was a gorgeous woman, not to mention she turned 66 in May.
On his way upstairs, Lindsey passed the long hallway that had framed pictures hanging on the walls. The time period took place from the late 60‘s up to now. The last picture before the first step of the stairs was of the two women Lindsey loved the most, his wife and daughter. They both seemed so careless, on the beach in Hawaii, while the sun was setting into the ocean, when the three of them were on vacation.
Lindsey felt his eyes water. He was close to losing the love of his life and their daughter wanted little to do with him. She was not even a Buckingham. Alice Nicks was born in 1988. She would only get to see the loving eyes of her mother. Lindsey didn‘t want to be a part of neither Stevie nor Alice‘s life. Stevie had stopped using cocaine, she came back to her old self, being the beautiful and loving woman that she was before the money and fame. Lindsey couldn‘t take his eyes off of her at that party they met, so they got drunk together and it resulted in a one night stand. Stevie found out she was pregnant a few weeks later, told Lindsey and he simply said he wasn‘t ready to have a child. After that, he also quit the band.
Right up to 1997 Stevie was a single mother. When The Dance reunion happened, she and Lindsey reconciled and they told the whole truth to Alice. Ever since the girl had a problem warming to her father. All she knew was that her mother was the most remarkable woman in the world and she couldn‘t understand how someone could have hurt her so badly. It took years for Alice to start calling Lindsey her dad, they had their moment, they bonded, they had the father daughter connection, but when Stevie and Lindsey decided to take a break from their marriage in the mid 2012, Alice once again felt nothing towards her father.
What worried Lindsey even more was the fact Alice was getting ready for her wedding and she hadn‘t asked him to walk her down the aisle yet. Could he really have damaged his own daughter that badly? He was an asshole, he knew it. Lindsey now often thought about his actions and how horribly he treated Stevie when she needed him the most. If he were honest, he couldn‘t even be mad at Alice. All he could do was hope, there was still a little time.
He swung the bedroom door open and faced the king sized bed he used to share with his wife. Right after Stevie left, he would sleep on her side of the bed, just because it smelt like her, but days, weeks, months went by and the smell vanished, as if she had never lived in this house.
It had a lot to do with Lindsey‘s stubbornness and stupid pride. He should have not let himself drift so far apart from Stevie. He was supposed to show how much he loved and needed her. But then he would remember her saying just how obsessive he was and Lindsey would take a step back and do nothing.
Could this be really the reason Stevie needed her ‘space’? Just like now, Lindsey was lying on the bed, thinking and not being able to shun the thoughts of his wife having an affair. He only ever cared for her, he loved her, was that such a terrible thing? So bad that it would drive her insane enough to want their marriage to take a break? Surely there had to be more. Lindsey‘s mind was dead set on her and Dave. He watched them work together and get them really close very fast. He couldn‘t bare thinking of another man‘s hands roaming his wife‘s body, she belonged to him. But maybe Stevie was genuine saying they were friends, just two people who got on like a house on fire, who enjoyed and loved working together.
Lindsey was going back in time. Why? Just why everyone wanted a piece of someone that was his? No, Lindsey, you don‘t own her, you can‘t, he reminded himself. He gave an exaggerated sigh. It was just fine when it was the two of them. Then came Fleetwood Mac and all of a sudden, Stevie decided to end their relationship. It would have been fine if he didn‘t have to see her every day and do things for her, he might have even managed to get over her. Sometimes Lindsey wondered whether she dated so many men after him only to make him jealous. Right after him there was Don Henley, Mick, Jimmy Iovine, Joe Walsh in a matter of a couple of years and god knows who else she had been with.
Thinking about your own wife fucking other men won‘t do you any good, Lindsey thought. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, undressed and got under the covers. Tomorrow, he would start making things better tomorrow.
