Start Again

Part 16

"Is it not good?" Lindsey asked his daughter Leelee, referring to the cheeseburger and fries in front of her that had gone cold. 

"I'm not really hungry, Dad." Leelee turned her head to look out the window, resting her chin on her clenched fist.

"I can tell there's a lot on your mind." Leelee nodded to that. "And you should know that you can talk to me."

"What's there to say?" She sighed, picking at her food. "I hate everything."

"Don't say that, sweetheart... I know things are going to be different from now on, but-"

"Dad, I'm not a small child. I don't need that speech from you. Things aren't just going to be different." She emphasized the last word. "Mom cheated on you and she's going to have another man's baby." Leelee stated the obvious. "That's just so wrong." She shook her head. "I can't believe she would do something like that and she's pretending like everything's totally fine. Like it was meant to happen sooner or later anyway."

"I'm sure your mother wasn't planning for things to go the way they did, Lee." Lindsey said in defensive of his soon to be ex wife. "It hurts, of course it does, but I have to respect her choice. Maybe your mother and I weren't meant for each other after all. There was love between us, but, I guess, it simply wasn't strong enough. The feelings we have or had for each other weren't as strong as the ones we have for other people." Lindsey only realized what came out of his mouth when it did.

"I don't think Mom loves Brian. I know you love Aunt Stevie. There's a difference."

"I- I-" Lindsey stuttered, but Leelee stopped him.

"I'm not stupid, Dad. I have eyes. Besides, you're living with her, aren't you?"

"I am, but we're just friends." Lindsey was quick to explain. "We sleep in different rooms and everything. I'm just living under her roof, that's all. Nothing's going on." 

For the first time since Lindsey picked Leelee up, he saw her smile. "It's okay. To be honest, I don't really care. You love her, that's all I know. If something happens, it's up to you. I support you either way."

"You're such a grown up." Lindsey teased, patting the back of Leelee's hand across the table. "I'm not sure if anything could happen between us." He sighed. "Some guy named Jack reappeared. Stevie's with him right now."

Leelee wasn't sure what to say to that, so she didn't say anything. However, she could tell that her father was upset. 

After lunch, Lindsey drove Leelee home. He said goodbye to his daughter, while seated behind the steering wheel. He wasn't going to go inside nor was he welcomed to do so, he knew it. Pulling out of the driveway, Lindsey took his time making his way to Stevie's. He was sure she wouldn't be home yet. He had already come up with several scenarios of how her date with Jack was going to go and none of the outcomes sat well with Lindsey.

However, Lindsey was surprised, when he unlocked the front door and he found Stevie back already. She was sitting by herself in the kitchen with a cup of most likely tea in her hands, staring off into the distance. Somewhat carefully Lindsey approached her and took a seat on her right.

"Hey."

"Hey." Stevie echoed him, but it didn't seem like she was going to say anything else.

"It didn't go well, I assume?"

Stevie shrugged, remaining silent for a moment longer. "I don't know what I was expecting, reopening old wounds. I shouldn't have called him, I shouldn't have gone to see him."

"Did you two argue? Did he say something to upset you?"

A glimpse of a smile crossed Stevie's lips. She liked how protective Lindsey could get over her. "Not really, no. Just..." Stevie sighed, facing Lindsey. "Jack and I were serious. Almost nobody knows this, but he and I... we were engaged." Lindsey's eyes grew wide. 

"When was this? How do I not know about it?"

"We were together for about two years, we broke up just before Fleetwood Mac went on the road in 2014. So, it's been a while since I've seen Jack."

"I would have never guessed you were going through that." Lindsey said, feeling like a shitty friend, because he wasn't there for her. 

"It wasn't easy, but going on tour helped me a lot. I didn't have time or the energy really to think about it. Besides, I had Chris with me. She knew." 

"What happened? If you were engaged, Stevie, what happened that you called it off and went your separate ways? Did he cheat?"

"No. Nothing like that." Stevie shook her head. "On the other hand, it depends on how you look at it." Inhaling deeply, she went back to a few years ago in her mind. "Jack had been married before. He was officially divorced when we were together, but he loved his wife. I don't know if I could say he and Melanie had what you and I have, but I know it was strong. They had two children together, they spent thirty years together. One day Jack received a call from their daughter. She told him that Melanie was diagnosed with cancer. She had no family on her side, all she had were Alison and David, the kids. They wanted to help her, be there for her, but Melanie simply said no. She refused to be a burden." Stevie said, using air quotes. "So, Jack stepped up. He promised to be by her side until she gets better. Nobody knew how long that would take. Jack told me that no matter what, a part of him would always love Melanie and he couldn't just not do anything. If all he could do was support her financially, drive her to treatments, whatever... he'd do it."

"Was it necessary for you to break up?" Lindsey asked, frowning.

"After Jack and Melanie divorced, she moved from California and she refused to come back, saying, she had always hated it here. At first, we were going to try the whole long distance relationship thing, but..." Stevie shrugged. "It wasn't really working out for us. Under different circumstances maybe, but knowing he moved in with his ex wife?" She sighed, shaking her head. "It was too much for me. So, we sat down, we talked and Jack left. He packed all his stuff and he left." Stevie finished as tears escaped.