Page 48 of All the Ugly Things
Thank goodness I went to Target. I fit in based on a quick scan. David hadn’t lied about their relatively casual dress code.
It made my heart skip a beat. Small measures of honesty mattered when I hadn’t been able to trust much.
Noticing what looked like the main desk, hard to miss with a security guard standing behind a woman around my mother’s age and a wall of plexiglass, I headed there.
“Lilly Huntington to see Mr. Valentine, please.”
Her nameplate said Cori Lawson. I glanced at it and then attempted a smile. My pulse raced with trepidation. Behind her, the guard stood firm. Bald with a mustache and a gut and gun at his belt, it was his fierce expression that held my focus.
Like he knew who I was and what I’d done and he was watching me.
“Yes, Lilly. David told me he was expecting you.” She held out her hand. “I just need to see your ID, please.”
My gaze went back to the surly security guard. With shaking hands, I reached for my purse. “Why?”
“To make your visitor badge.” She might as well have added aduhto the end.
I gave her my ID, cringing at the highlighted words “Identification Card” beneath Iowa instead of Driver’s License. It wasn’t often the different look made people pause and if this woman noticed, she didn’t say anything.
“Thank you.” She took it, scanned it in front of a small machine and then that machine whirred to life, printing out a piece of paper.
She handed both back to me. The paper wasn’t paper, but a sticker, complete with my name and VISITOR stamped in bold, black ink.
“Do I need to wear this?”
Another blank look from the woman. “Yep.”
Right. Obviously. I tore off the paper and tossed it into a small basket on the counter filled with similar crinkled paper and tucked my ID away.
“Eighth floor. You can head on up.”
“Thank you.”
“Elevators are to your left.” She gestured. “Have a great weekend.”
My gaze flickered to the guard. His expression was the same.
“Th-thank you,” I jumbled the words and ducked my head so he couldn’t see how nervous he made me.
Fortunately, the elevators arrived quickly and I waited for at least a half-dozen people to step out. Smiles on their faces. Lunch bags draped over their arms while they happily chattered about weekend plans.
I watched them go with envy filling my veins and stepped into the lift.
Alone.Thank God.I exhaled and pressed the button for floor eight and settled into the back corner.
* * *
“Lilly.”
David called my name, walking toward me at a quick pace. I glanced up from where I’d been looking at the floor to see the remnants of a smile fall from his face. “What happened to you?”
I brushed my hand to my cheek. “Nothing. It’s okay.”
“It’s absolutely not okay.” A heavy, heated pulse of anger surged toward me, and I stepped back, not from fear of him, but in surprise.
Tears beckoned. In one fraction of a moment, he showed me more care and concern than my own father ever had.
“You’re right. It wasn’t okay, but I’m fine, or I will be. And I didn’t come today to discuss this.”
