“Ridiculous,” Francis responds. “Let the man spoil you, dear.”
“Oh, we’re not…” I trail off. “He’s just trying to make me feel better since I was fired,” I explain. “I mean, you saw me before. I’m still trying to figure out what I’m going to do, and Lincoln has been very nice about it.”
About a lot of things.
Francis narrows his eyes, a smile playing on his lips. He doesn’t look away from me, even as he asks, “Are you often in the habit of pulling favors for complete strangers, Lincoln?”
“No, only the people I care about.”
Francis smiles wider, and I feel my face heat. “Fascinating.” He then jumps up and claps so loudly I feel the air shake. “You must stay and watch us rehearse,” he says before loudly whispering, “Julian needs the extra help.”
“More like you want to preen,” Julian calls out, picking lint off his cape as he stands. “And I’m not overselling the confession.”
“You bloody well are,” Francis retorts.
Julian rolls his eyes. “Ivy, be a dear and tell Francis he’s an aging husk and his best days are behind him.”
I laugh, and Francis turns back to wink at me before he straightens his cuffs and takes ownership of the room.
Damn. He doesn’t just command the stage, he rules it. There’s no taking my eyes off him, eager not to miss out on a single reaction.
“I felt a similar awe watching you work the room that night,” Lincoln says softly. I flush. I still remember the weight of his eyes following me as intimately as my shadow.
I also remember how powerful it was to free myself. The fun of letting my imagination run wild. Like I was sifting through a box of childhood mementos and remembering who I used to be.
How did Lincoln know I needed that, even before he knew anything else about me?
“The first show I ever saw was in this theater,” I tell him, swallowing past the lump in my throat. I was in middle school. I can’t even remember which class it was for, only that it was this musical I hadn’t heard of.
I didn’t know then that my heart would immediately be yanked from its moors, pumped with the voices of the chorus, and then— just for good measure— gloriously pulverized with “On My Own.”
“Mum took me to my first play,” he says, a soft smile on his face. “I was fourteen and bored off my arse, but Mum loved it, and it was nice to see her happy.”
My heart aches. Family means so much to him, but everyone is so busy keeping the peace, they don’t see how much it’s keeping them apart. If there was ever a time for Lincoln to catch my foot-in-mouth disease, now would be it. Maybe then they’d all stop quietly pining for the past.
“Astrid would love this.” Maybe I shouldn’t meddle, but I can’t stand aside and not try. Not after all the advice they’ve given me. Besides, when Lincoln decides he doesn’t need me for practice anymore, I want to know that they’re okay.
Family is too important.
“She thanked me, you know, for finally convincing you to move back. I hated that she didn’t know how much she means to you.”
It’s hard, sometimes, to read anything in his expression, but when he speaks, his tone is somber. “I’m sorry for making you lie to her.”
Making me? “I’m the one who started this, and if you ever want to end it?—”
“I don’t,” he says immediately. Something raw and selfish inside me roars. I don’t want to either. “But,” he adds, and my stomach sinks into my sneakers. “I won’t make you continue if you’re uncomfortable.”
“The reunion’s a week away,” I say, because as much as I know I should, I can’t bring myself to end this yet. I just want a little more of it first.
“I don’t care about that. Ivy, I only want you to be happy.”
Crack.That’ll be the thin ice my heart is currently skating on.
I swallow. “I am happy,” I half-lie. He doesn’t look convinced.
“Just so you know,” I say, picking up our linked hands as a distraction. “Today has been amazing, but just holding hands is good too. Sometimes all you need is knowing that there’s someone there for you.”
Lincoln reaches up with his free hand, brushing my cheek as he attempts to tame my hair behind my ear. It’s fighting him, popping out again. I can’t bring myself to stop him, too enamored with the pinch of determination creasing his brow. On his third try, I have to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing.
