The Wild Heart (Original Series Part 5)

It'll Be Here Better Than Before

***Congratulations to the new Mr. & Mrs. Buckingham!!! Stevie and Lindsey's wedding in the previous chapter continues here with the reception, in true Fleetwood Mac style! The last chapter is coming soon, so let's sit back and watch two people who REALLY deserve it after what works out to be 26 years of loving and longing in my series... "Twisted" > "The Dance" > "Without You" > "On With The Show" > "The Wild Heart". Stay tuned for a few references to these stories and the little things that make these two the perfect couple, and a party that unites a bunch of people whose lives have been interwoven for decades and manage to love each other through all of the slings and arrows... Enjoy. <3

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Evening, Saturday, November 27, 2021

Buckingham Nicks At The Beach,

Maui, Hawaii

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He could not take his eyes off of his bride for a second.

Lindsey was standing at the bar on the far end of the deck that faced the Pacific Ocean, talking to John McVie, completely oblivious to the sunset over the water because about ten yards away from him, Stevie stood with a glass of champagne in her hand, talking to Waddy, Lori and Dave Stewart, and Dave must have just said something funny because she had thrown her head back in laughter, her hair flying like a golden cape in the wind behind her at the toss of her head, and the combination of her throaty, mischievous, almost dirty cackle juxtaposed with the gentle grace of her golden hair flying in the evening wind made his heart stop beating for a moment, made him forget everything and everyone, when she caught his attention. How could she possibly still be this beautiful? How could just hearing her laughter, a whopping FIFTY-FIVE YEARS after the first time he'd heard it, take his breath away like this and make him want to go over there and steal her away from Waddy and Lori and Dave and pull her into his arms in a dark corner of the party and whisper in her ear how beautiful and amazing she was as he touched every inch of her body? He slowly became aware that John had been talking to him the entire time he'd been watching her. Mike Campbell had joined the conversation and Stevie was laughing again, pitched downward this time as she grabbed Mike by the shoulder. Forty-five years ago, such a scene would have brought out the possessive side in Lindsey, made him pull her away from the conversation and scold her for talking to men in such a way and make her sullen and angry at him for the rest of the night. Not now. Everything that had brought them here to this moment today had proven to him that she was his and he was hers and nothing would ever come between them again. He thought for a moment of one of the lyrics to her song, "The Wild Heart"..."Not even you could tear us apart." He knew nothing ever would again. He smiled, gazing at his beautiful wife. His wife. He still couldn't believe it.

"I feel like it's 1976." John McVie's voice, which was by far the least prominent of the five of them, cut through Lindsey's thoughts. John had always been a man of few words, so Lindsey had always listened when he spoke. He said, "I'm discussing bass lines in 'Don't Stop' with you and you're staring at her." But John was smiling. This was very different.

"Sorry, John." Lindsey could not swipe the grin off of his face. "So we're going to do 'Don't Stop' how we did it in The Dance, but let's wait till after speeches and cake. Let the dance music go on playing for awhile." He looked over at Stevie, who was holding hands with both of his daughters on either side of her as they danced their way to the dance floor to "Levitating" by Dua Lipa, Stevie's current favorite pop song that she played over and over at night as he teased her about watching videos on YouTube on his iPad - modern technology! - was not the devil after all. Lindsey was smiling a far-away, lovesick smile as he told John, "She's too happy."