I continued to stare at Lincoln as she gave me a timid look of embarrassment.
“It starts with an S. Sandra Bullock! That’s who it was.”
“You designed Sandra Bullock’s house?”
“Well, she designed one of them. Which one was it?” Jan asked, moving in closer to Lincoln.
“I, um . . . well, I . . . nondisclosure and all.”
Jan nodded. “Oh, I understand. Those bigwigs like throwing their weight around like that. Well, all I can say is, we’re lucky here in Hamilton to have you, Lincoln. Did you see what I did there? The presidents’ names and all?” Jan tossed her head back and laughed like she’d just said the funniest thing ever.
Lincoln let out a nervous laugh. “I saw. That was a good one.”
“We’d better get going. You guys enjoy the rest of your afternoon and evening!”
“Blayze!” I shouted before he ran off too far. “Kiss and hug?”
“Right, Dad!”
“Dad . . . did you hear him call me Dad? What happened to Daddy?” I asked Lincoln.
After a quick hug and a kiss for me, Blayze turned to Lincoln and wrapped his arms around her legs. “Bye, Miss Lincoln!”
She returned the hug. “See ya around, Blayze.”
And, just like that, Lincoln Pratt and I were alone, and Lord only knew what sort of trouble that could mean.
Chapter Eleven
LINCOLN
Easy conversation flowed between me and Brock as he drove us to an Italian restaurant in the middle of the small town square. It felt as if I had known him for months. He wasn’t the same guy from a few days ago who had acted like a complete jerk. Although I could tell something was bothering him, especially after the conversation he’d had with his friend Dirk.
“So, what made you move to Hamilton, Montana?” Brock asked.
“Well, I was tired of Atlanta. Tired of the hot summers, tired of my parents trying to run my life for me. If it were up to them, I’d be married with two point five kids now.”
Brock laughed. “They’re controlling? Like how?”
I took in a deep breath and blew it out. “I wanted to be an interior designer since before I could remember. Before I even got out of college, I was hired on with one of the best design firms in Atlanta. I was stupid and naive to think I had done it on my own merit. My father had gotten me the job; I just hadn’t known at the time. He owns an investment firm in Atlanta, so he knows a lot of . . . influential people.”
“He has some power?”
“You could say that. After a while, he wasn’t happy that his little girl was playing second fiddle in this company, so he bought a building for my twenty-fourth birthday and told me it was mine. I could start my own business. At first, I was excited and ready to take on the challenge. Unfortunately, my father wasn’t as keen on me slowly growing the business, so he brought business to me . . . by way of bribing people to use me instead of anyone else in Atlanta. It took me some time to figure it out, but eventually I did. The whole governor’s summerhouse and all.”
Brock smiled.
“Needless to say, I was devastated, and I started to question my own talent.”
“Damn, what was he thinking?”
With a half shrug, I replied, “He was doing what he’s always done. In my father’s eyes, I’ve never really been quite capable of doing things on my own. If I wanted to try and build a piece of furniture myself, he’d tell me I shouldn’t. I needed someone to do it for me, and before I knew it, there was a carpenter ready to build me whatever I wanted. Stupid things like that.”
I felt a sadness in my heart that I hadn’t felt since I’d sold my old design firm. “Anyway, I knew that I had to make a major change. That meant leaving Atlanta and proving not only to myself but to my parents that I could do this on my own. I started putting out my résumé. I uploaded it to a website, and Karen Johnson contacted me. Told me she was from a small town in Montana and that her business was growing, especially in Billings, which was a few hours away. She needed to be able to travel and have someone here in Hamilton. At first, she didn’t want to contact me because she thought I would turn her down, but the moment I read her email, I knew this was what I wanted.”
Brock pulled into the parking lot and found a spot to park. “You’re not sad about leaving your family behind?”
I shrugged. “I am, but this feels right. It’s something different and beautiful. I can walk outside, take in a deep breath, and feel the excitement of starting over coursing through my blood. In Atlanta, I felt like I was always suffocating. Between my folks, the business, the traffic . . . I needed something new. Not to mention, I feared for my life if I was out alone at night. Here, it’s just the opposite.”