Chloe nods and finishes off her side of the braid, securing it with a band. “A little messy, but not too bad for my first try. What do you think?”
“It looks great. If we work on it every time we meet up here, you’ll have it down in no time.”
“You’re coming back here, huh?”
I know without a doubt that I’ll be coming back, with or without Lincoln. “Absolutely. This place is great.”
“I’m glad you think so. Linc and I love coming here, and we love seeing Heather.” Moving around the chair, Chloe looks at the little girl. “Your hair is gorgeous.”
“It is?”
“Oh yeah. Wanna see?”
Heather nods, and Chloe stands up to take a picture.
“See,” she says, holding the phone out for Heather to see.
“Wow. It looks just like Rachel’s, only better. Don’t tell her that, though, because I don’t want to hurt her feelings.” Heather hands the phone back to Chloe and turns around to look at me. “Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome,” I tell her. “I’m glad you like it.”
“I love it.”
With the flick of her head, she spins and runs across the room to a group of girls huddled around the scrapbooking table. The girls fawn over Heather’s braids, and Chloe nudges me in the arm.
“You were great with her.”
“Thanks.”
“Are you two finally done?” Lincoln slides an arm around my waist, holding me close to his side.
Chloe looks at his arm around me and fights a grin. “We are.”
“Good. We need to go.”
I blink. “Why? I’m having fun.”
“Because something came up.”
Chloe takes a step toward her brother. “Is it Dad? Is everything okay?”
Lincoln looks at Chloe long enough to reassure her. “He’s fine. But we need to go.”
“Okay.” My mind is racing, trying to figure what could’ve come up that would cause us to leave Kid Connection early.
Did I do something wrong?
Lincoln gives Chloe a one-armed hug. “I’ll call you later. Don’t forget to register for graduation.”
She gives him a mock solute and smiles sweetly at me. “It was great meeting you, Adley. Maybe we can get together soon?”
“That would be wo
nderful.”
With my hand cradled in his, Lincoln all but drags me out of Kid Connection. Several kids and a few of the mentors holler out goodbyes, but Lincoln just throws up a hand, not stopping to acknowledge anyone.
“Lincoln, slow down.”