1105 Yakima Street - Debbie Macomber [102]
“I’d never have given it.” Bellamy seemed to take grim pleasure in informing him of that.
“Possibly not, but I hope you will now.”
Bellamy glared at him across the desk. “Are you out of your mind? What would ever make you think I’d give you and Lori my blessing? Especially now that Kate—” He stopped abruptly, his lips pinched, as though he regretted mentioning his wife’s name.
“I hope I’ve proved myself to you,” Linc said. “You threw a number of roadblocks in my way when I tried to establish my business in Cedar Cove.” He took a deep breath. “Nevertheless I’m making a go of it.”
Bellamy didn’t deny it, which only went to show what Linc already knew. His father-in-law had done everything he could to sabotage his auto body shop and had nearly succeeded. If not for his brother-in-law and Sheriff Davis, Bellamy would have succeeded.
“What puzzles me most is why you object to me when the two of us are so much alike.”
“I sincerely doubt it,” Bellamy snapped.
“From what I gather, your own father worked as a welder.”
Bellamy stiffened. “That means nothing.”
“It means you came from a family with a strong work ethic, which is the same ethic my father taught me. As it happens, I followed in my father’s footsteps. I might have chosen my own path, but that option was taken away from me when both my parents were killed and—”
“And you saw a faster way of getting what you wanted by marrying my daughter,” Bellamy interrupted.
Linc inhaled slowly in an effort to hold on to his temper. “You might find this hard to believe, but when I married Lori I didn’t have a clue that she was from a wealthy family.”
“You’re wrong, I don’t find that hard to believe. I find it impossible to believe.”
Rather than argue, Linc said, “My point is this. Like you, I’m willing to work hard. I’m ambitious—”
“Of course you’re ambitious. That’s the reason you married Lori.”
“I married your daughter because I’m in love with her. Lori is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
Bellamy snickered loudly.
“All you have against me is that we didn’t wait to get your approval before we married. By your own admission, it’s unlikely you would’ve given it, anyway, so it’s a moot point, right?”
“As a matter of fact, it isn’t,” he countered. “And my situation was completely unlike yours. I fell in love with Kate the minute I set eyes on her. When I learned she was from one of the richest families in the state, my heart sank. I was afraid she’d never go out with me.”
“But she did.” Now it was Linc’s turn to interrupt and show his father-in-law that he wasn’t completely in the dark. Thanks to Kate, he knew the family history now and had a better grasp of Bellamy’s feelings toward him.
“Yes, Kate did accept when I asked her to a school dance.”
“You were college juniors.”
Bellamy stopped and glared at him. Linc might have squirmed under such scrutiny, but instead he smiled pleasantly and waited for Bellamy to continue.
“I know darn well when we met,” he said irritably.
“How long did you date?”
“Five years,” Leonard said, and grew wistful. “I worked three jobs and saved every penny I could.”
“And Kate’s father? How did he take to his daughter dating the son of a welder?”
“Ambrose and I were…friendly.” He didn’t elaborate beyond that.
“In the end, perhaps, but that’s not the way I heard it. Kate said that when you first started seeing each other, her father objected.”
“I proved myself to Ambrose and to Kate’s mother, as well.”
“So she told me.”
He ignored the reference to Kate.
“Five years I waited,” he said, growing morose. “Five torturous years. By the time I married Kate, I’d purchased my first business complex and was saving for a second.”
“I’m hoping for the opportunity to prove myself to you,” Linc said. “The way you proved yourself to Kate’s family.” He paused for a moment. “Unfortunately, we started off on the wrong foot, but I’m willing to let bygones be bygones if you are.”
Bellamy laughed but there was little amusement. “I’ll wait five years to make my decision about you, the same way Ambrose did with me. Five years before he