Page 47 of Lillian

He said he’s ready to take on the responsibility of a kid, but this weekend can be a good test because she’s about to make a mess of his life and his apartment.

“Got it!” she calls back from her own room. A few seconds later, she’s charging into mine with her little hands clutching the straps of her backpack and her shoes on her feet. Untied, though. I think she’s even more excited to see Lincoln again than I am. All week, he’s all she’s been able to talk about.

Is Linc coming over?

Did he say he’d be my dad?

Can we get ice cream with Linc?

I’m not sure who she heard his nickname from. But it’s beenLincall week. Not Lincoln. Honestly, it’s kind of cute.

“Hop up, sweets. Let me tie those shoes.” I pat the bed for her to sit on. She huffs, impatient as all get out, but jumps up anyway.

I kneel down to tie her shoes. “Now, do you remember what Mommy said about this weekend?”

She rolls her pretty little blue eyes and answers. “Use my manners.”

“And?”

“And no nannigans,” she says, and I laugh.

“And no shenanigans,” I laugh right back. “That’s right. We don’t want to break any of Linc’s stuff, right? That’s why we’re bringing your toys from home.”

“Iknow,Mommy.” Her tone is beyond fed up with this conversation. Something tells me she’s going to need to be reminded when we get there, though.

“Okay, kid. Let’s get going then.” I stand up and ignore the way my knees crack. They do that in front of Lincoln and he’ll turn the old jokes around on me.

Little feet pitter patter out of the room. “Got my bag!” she says and is running out the front door without me. I heft up my own that looks incredibly over-packed for a weekend trip only two hours from home.

“Hold on!” I yell to Grace, who is tugging over and over on the door handle of the car while I lock the house up.

“Hurry!” she shouts back.

“This is going to be a long drive,” I mutter quietly as I walk to the car, open the back door, and get her buckled into her carseat.

Two and a half hours later, we lucked into finding some street parking outside of the high rise Lincoln works at. With rush hour traffic, we’re a little later than we initially talked about, but he texted and said that was fine.

“Okay, sweets. Ready to go see Linc?” I ask Grace, looking at her in the mirror. She slept for most of the drive but woke up at the honking that started up when we hit the city limits.

She gives me a huge grin and nods her head aggressively.

“Don’t get out, okay. Let me come get you.” My nerves ratchet up just thinking about her jumping out of the car like she typically would. Her carseat is on the side of the car closest to the road. I watch for a break in traffic, jump out, and then walk around to the backseat of the car facing the sidewalk.

“Unbuckle and come this way,” I tell her, holding out my arms for her to jump into. “Crawl over the seats to me.

“Can I bring my backpack, Mommy?”

“No, let's leave that for now. We’ll get it after we say hi to Linc, okay?” She pouts, but the prospect of seeing Linc gets her moving.

Two steps through the elevator door on Lincoln’s floor and I immediately feel out of my element and completely underdressed in jeans, a tank top, and my chucks. Wealth is on display everywhere.

Putting aside the fact that everyone is going to be in business clothes, there is still somethingmoreabout these people. Women are wearing red bottom shoes and walking in them like they’ve been born to do it. Their shoulders are thrown back, hair perfectly in place. The men walk confidently with an air about them that’s hard to place. Then, I watch one of them laugh and have to stifle a smile because it’s such arich person's laugh.

Holding Grace on my hip, I walk up to the reception desk. A kind-looking older woman is on the phone, so I wait until she hangs up, just glancing around the office. I’m glancing down the hall, people watching and looking for any sign of Lincoln, when she hangs up.

“Can I help you, ma’am?” she asks in a polite and professional tone.

“Yes. I’m looking for Lincoln Walton’s office.” She frowns, but looks at something on her computer.

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