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“It can’t hurt,” her mother said. “He could say no.”
“Or he could say yes out of pity because he doesn’t want to hurt my feelings.” Jesus. Nowshewas confused.
Her mother shook her head. “I don’t know that you’ve ever been this insecure in your life. You’re talking yourself out of something rather than into it.”
“I know,” she whined. “I never do that.”
“Nor do you get this frustrated either over anything that isn’t related to food.”
“I guess I just have to man up on this. The worst that can happen is he says no. The best, he says yes.”
“He could say yes, you could get some dinner or you could cook for him. Lots of things. Then you could realize you don’t connect. But you won’t know any of that if you can’t be honest.”
“Fine,” she said. “I’ll see what he says when he picks me up. Now I’ve got a few hours to kill.”
“You mean you’ve got no plans in Boston?” her mother asked. “You came here for lunch?”
“I set this up a few weeks ago. I was hoping it was Lincoln flying me over.”
Her mother laughed. “And if it was Egan then what would you have done?”
“No clue. So I have to not lose this chance. I think I’ll go get some things for Tracy. She’ll need them for work. A good pair of sneakers. I already ordered her two uniforms.”
Everyone got uniforms at work. That was how they kept a strict dress policy.
“That’s nice,” her mother said. “Do you know her size?”
“I was hoping since you got her some things, maybe you did? Otherwise, I was going to guess, which isn’t smart, but I did try to look. Her feet are bigger than mine.”
Her mother pulled her phone out and was texting something. “I just sent a message to Tracy’s case manager. She’ll know those things. It’s part of the information they collect so that we can gather what might be needed. My guess is we purchased some clothing or shoes for her anyway.”
“Thanks,” she said. When the bill came, her mother reached for it before her and put her card down.
“It was going to be my treat,” Grace said.
“I can spoil my kids as long as I want. The fact you came to me and got some advice just made my day.”
She didn’t often call her mother for much.
“Glad I made your day. Maybe mine can be made too.”
“You know you’re going to have to keep me posted.”
“I will,” she said.
Grace left the restaurant shortly after and went shopping, keeping an eye on the time. Lincoln had said he might be running late, but that was fine. She wasn’t on a timeline.
When she got to the docks she didn’t see any of the helicopters there, least of all the one she flew over in with Lincoln.
She parked the family car that was left there and got her bags out of the back. She ended up buying good sneakers for Tracy and another pair for herself, then a few more items of clothing. It’s not like she needed much when she wore a uniform daily.
When she was walking to the offices, she heard the helicopter coming in and knew it was Lincoln. Rather than go inside, she went toward it and waited until he landed and shut it off.
“I’m not late, am I?” he asked, jumping down.
“No,” she said. “I’m early. I didn’t know if you had to go inside for anything.”
“Nope,” he said. “Let’s go if you’re ready.”
