Meet the Boys Part III - Link

Meet Link

We’ve come to the last of the “men of interest” in Girl’s Night Out. Link is, well, Link is complicated. And yet, he is so simple. I’m going to let the girls--two of them anyway--give you the rundown. Amanda is up first with the basic background:

Link (aka Lincoln Miller) had been Holly’s closest non-Cookie friend since kindergarten. Once the two of them had bonded over their passion for turtles they were geeked-out besties for life. To this day, they took turns caring for each other’s reptiles when on vacation or during a busy time at work. Jayne and I were grateful Holly had someone to “ooh and ah” with over the latest turtle mating habits or dietary suggestions. Our love for each other only went so far. I mean, reptiles? Gross!

My eyes found him across the room as I searched for something to say. Link was cute in a Greg Brady kind of way. He was tall and lanky, with dark curly hair and bright blue eyes. There was nothing too remarkable about his features—until he smiled. Then the boy could light up the whole room.

Doesn’t he sound dreamy? Oh, sorry! I was totally channeling my inner Holly. Let’s take a peek inside Jayne’s mom’s Easter extravaganza to get to know Link a little better. It looks like Amanda is up once again. She sure has a lot to say about, well, pretty much everything…

“Ah, girls, there you are,” Mrs. Waters observed. “Lincoln and I have been looking for you.”

I cocked my head to the side. Holly was referred to as Ms. Jones. I was referred to as Ms. Perkins. Why was Link referred to as Lincoln and not Mr. Miller? It must have something to do with the oddly close relationship between Jayne’s mom and Link’s mom. It reminded me of Susan Sarandon and Goldie Hawn in The Banger Sisters—except there was no way Mrs. Waters was ever wild and crazy. Perhaps one day we would discover the root of their connection.

“You found us!” Holly beamed.

Mrs. Waters narrowed her eyes at Holly. “Are you feeling well, Ms. Jones? You seem a bit more enthusiastic than you normally are.”

I gave Holly a subtle elbow to make it clear I would answer for her. She was capable of putting her foot in her mouth faster than anyone I had ever encountered and drinking only made it worse.

“She’s had a long week, Mrs. Waters,” I explained. “When Holly is overly tired, she gets a little punchy.”

Mrs. Waters raised an eyebrow and smiled. “I hope that is not in the literal sense of the word.”

“No, but it would be fun!” Holly giggled.

I mouthed “help” to Link while Mrs. Waters’ head was turned.

Link coughed. “Uh, Mrs. Waters, I’ve had a wonderful time catching up with you, but I believe I’ve been neglecting my gentlemanly duties thus far. I haven’t asked Ms. Jones to dance yet.”

Brian and I stared at him. He had the whole pseudo refined, stick-up-your-butt speak down pretty well. As he most certainly did not grow up in Jayne’s world, he must have picked up a few things during his mother’s visits with Mrs. Waters. Very impressive indeed.

“My, but you are a catch, Lincoln.” She patted him on the back. “Please do ask your lady friend to dance.”

“Oh, I’m not his la—”

I tugged Holly toward me. “Let me fix your hair, sweetie. You can’t be seen on the dance floor with all those fly-aways, now can you?”

As I smoothed her hair down, I hissed in her ear, “Just smile, say thank you and escape to the dance floor, okay?”

Holly took Link’s proffered hand, smiled at Mrs. Waters and said, “Thank you for such a wonderful party.”

“You’re welcome, dear.”

Say what? She had never used an endearment with any of us over the years. Perhaps Holly’s close connection with Link had earned her some props in Mrs. Waters’ eyes. It was too bad she didn’t appear to feel the same about her daughter’s connections.

Link is such a sweetie! Oh, and Jayne’s mom is quite the character, isn’t she? Only four more days and you can meet all these characters for yourself. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s get a quick word from Holly about Link:

The truth was, throughout our youth I could never quite get a handle on my feelings for Link. I knew we were more than simply run-of-the-mill friends, but I wasn’t sure if romance was part of the picture. I couldn’t define my feelings and I couldn’t find the courage to ask him about his. As a result, I felt it better to ignore the nagging questions as well as the voice telling me to stand up for him by bitch slapping Amanda. (Although there were days when she really needed it.)

In hindsight, I believe I had known from almost the first moment I had met Link that I…

Oh, snap! That she what? The answer will come to you on Tuesday, November 27th—the day Girls’ Night Out is released. Woohoo! I can’t wait!