Page 20 of Firefly Effect

“I hope you’re okay,” I say then add, feeling desperate, “If you are and you get this, can you call me? I would really like to talk to someone and you’re the only one who knows everything I’ve been through.” I pause. “Doreen wants me to see this replacement guy. He’s a psychologist. I guess he’s nice and stuff, but the last thing I want to do is explain my life story to someone new.”

I’m just rambling now, but it’s almost as therapeutic as an actual therapy session.

At the same moment I hang up the phone, I am halted at the crosswalk as cars whizz by at their green light. I’ve paid no attention to where I was going, but it seems that instinct played me once again. Directly across the street from where I stand is a familiar building with a large rectangular window. The lights are on, and Lincoln Reed sits at his desk, typing as he focuses on the screen of a laptop.

Desire hits me. Not lust or sexual desire, but a sensation so strong that I can’t even begin to explain it.

I want to talk to someone. I miss talking to someone. And if that someone can’t be J.D. Wright, then perhaps I should take Lincoln up on his offer.

After a final deep breath and a slow exhale, I cross the intersection, walk up the steps of Calm Waters, and step straight up to Doreen’s desk.

“Evie.” She practically gasps my name. “It’s so nice to see you again.”

My pulse is racing. “I need to talk to Doctor Reed.”

Doreen’s eyes flash wide. “Oh. I’m afraid he’s done with his appointments for the night, but I can?—”

Just then, the office door swings open, the sound causing Doreen to spin around in her chair. Lincoln’s gaze settles on my face like he’d been expecting me. Like he knew I would need him at this very moment.

“It’s all right, Doreen,” he says. “I have time for one free consultation before I go home.”

Her face falls. “Oh, I was just about to leave for the night. Do you need me to stay?”

He shakes his head. “No, no. You’re fine to head out. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Doreen’s entire body seems to let out a sigh, then she smiles at me. “Excellent. Have a great session, you two.” She immediately begins to gather her things.

Lincoln’s focus turns back to me, and for a moment, I imagine something else sizzling beneath the surface of his professional demeanor. “I’m ready for you now, Ms. Vaughn.”

CHAPTER

SIX

LINCOLN

“It’s Evie,” she corrects me as soon as I’ve shut the door to my office behind her.

I chuckle silently but stop as soon as she swivels to face me. “I hope you don’t take my formalities in front of Doreen as a sign of disrespect. It’s quite the opposite.”

She blinks and her mouth falls open, drawing my attention to the perfect form of its natural pink pout. “Every time someone calls me Ms. Vaughn, I think of my mother. Let’s just say I’ve made it my life goal to be nothing like her.”

A tinge of excitement lights me up from inside at this new piece of information. Even if I had guessed that she had difficulties with her mother, the confirmation from Evie is oh-so-satisfying. “Then I apologize, Evie. Can we start again?”

Her frown begins to smooth. “Sure.”

“Why don’t we start with why you decided to come in tonight?” I try not to let concern break through my features and tone. I’ve only known Evie for the past two weeks, but there’s no denying she’s a strong, smart woman who lives her life by comfort and habit. While I couldn’t know for sure, I had thought she might come back to the office.

The why—what triggered her—is what I want to find out.

Instead of answering my question, her eyes shift from mine and begin to roam around the office. She takes one step forward, then another, until she’s slowly perusing my diplomas and the personal photos on my wall.

“Your decor is so much different than J.D.’s.”

“Artistic tastes are cultivated over time and with experience. From what I know about Jenkins, he was a homebody. Perhaps that has something to do with it.”

She pauses while tracing a slow finger over a piece of art I collected during my studies in Athens, Greece. “Plato’s Academy,” I tell her, in case she isn’t aware. “The world’s first university. What I would give to be among such a brilliant cast of philosophical minds.”

Evie glances over her shoulder, her expression one of curiosity and confusion, like she’s trying to piece together a puzzle just by looking at the image on the box. “I thought you majored in psychology.”

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