1022 Evergreen Place - Debbie Macomber [11]
The name meant nothing to Linc. “Bellamy?”
“Lori comes from a wealthy family and you were trying to—”
“Now, just a minute here!” Despite his efforts, Linc was fast losing his temper. “I don’t need your money or your name.”
Bellamy scowled back at him, his expression filled with disbelief and disdain. “We’ll see about that.” His threat hung heavy in the air.
Linc wouldn’t allow Bellamy to intimidate him. “You might own this building, but you don’t own your daughter. I suggest you leave now, before we both say or do something we’ll regret.”
Bellamy jabbed his index finger at Linc several times, then whirled around and stormed out the door. He slammed it so hard the windows rattled.
The room seemed to vibrate with tension. Lori burst into tears, and Linc put his arms around her. He held her tight against him, his shirt absorbing her tears as he gently stroked her hair.
“My mother’s friend Brenda owns the dress shop and…she must’ve told Mom. She promised she wouldn’t say anything until I’d spoken to my parents but…”
“It’s okay, Lori,” Linc whispered into her hair. “We should’ve told them sooner.”
“I know…I know—but I was afraid of what my father would say, what he might do….”
“He’ll get used to the idea soon enough.” Linc said, hoping that was true.
“You don’t know my father.”
“We’ll give him time,” Linc said. “I’ll do everything I can to prove to your family that I’m going to be a good husband.”
“It won’t matter,” she whispered. “Daddy will never forgive me…. He was still angry about Geoff and—and then I married you.”
“Do you want to end the marriage?” he felt obliged to ask.
“No, never,” she said, her arms tightening around him.
“Me, neither,” Linc murmured, and he thought he felt her smile against his shoulder. “Come on,” he said, easing her out of his arms. “We have some celebrating to do.”
She looked up at him blankly.
“I signed the final papers for the garage this afternoon, remember?”
Lori smiled weakly, then slipped her arms around him again. “I don’t care what my family thinks. I’m grateful I married you.”
Linc was grateful, too. Swinging her into his arms, he moved toward the bedroom.
“Will it always be like this?” she asked, sighing as she kissed his jaw.
“I hope not,” he said with a chuckle. “This much happiness just might kill me.”
Three
Staring at the phone on his desk, Will Jefferson mentally prepared to call Shirley Bliss—again. Twice now she’d come up with a convenient excuse to turn down his invitations. Either the woman had an incredibly active social life or she wasn’t interested. Without being vain, he found that difficult to believe. Okay, he was a little vain. He knew he was a good-looking charmer—smooth but not too smooth. Smart, successful and sexy, the latter according to more than one woman.
He was also persistent. He hadn’t come this far in life without a healthy dose of good old-fashioned grit. He’d returned to his hometown, purchased a failing art gallery and was determined to make a fresh start.
Admittedly he’d made his share of mistakes. If he had it to do over again, he would’ve done certain things differently. For one, he would’ve paid a lot more attention to his kid sister’s best friend, Grace.
Years later Grace did attract his notice, but by then it was too late. They’d reconnected shortly after Will learned of Dan Sherman’s death. He’d sent her a sympathy card and, on a whim, added his email address. Not long after that, they’d begun a friendly correspondence.
Will hadn’t known about the crush Grace had on him while they were in high school. That information had soothed his ego. His marriage was deteriorating; he and Georgia were just going through the motions. About five years into the marriage he’d stumbled into an affair with one of the women from his office. Naturally he regretted it and begged Georgia to forgive him. She did, and he was grateful. Yet his indiscretion had always been there between them, like a bad