Chapter 40: LUCAS

This day is going by too slowly.

We have five minutes to go before our meeting with Evelyn. Jayne has been out of the office all morning and she'll miss her mother's ten o'clock visit.

Declan is sitting at his desk and he is restless. He's just as thrilled about this meeting as I am.

I'm sitting off to the side of the desk in a chair and we've set up a seat in front for Evelyn. While we agreed to this meeting, we don't need to pull out all of the stops to make her comfortable.

The elevator pings and Declan leaves the room to meet her out front, leaving me on my own to take a few deep breaths before I need to speak with her.

For a moment, I consider remaining seated in silent protest of her presence but then I remember Howard raised me better than this and I begin to stand.

Speaking of Howard, I hear the faint sound of his voice.