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He smiled as images flooded his mind. “Tell me about your day.”
“It was uneventful. Work crawled, but we won our softball game.”
“That's great! Sorry I missed it.”
“There are still a few games left. It's not as much fun when you're not there to cheer me on. And then Charlotte and creepy guy came over.”
She’d reduced Charlotte’s new boyfriend tocreepy guy, and Will wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He certainly didn’t like the idea of him going over to Elizabeth’s house, even though he was always with Charlotte.
“Don’t let him come over anymore if he makes you uncomfortable. Better yet, have him come over some night that I'm there, so I can—”
“Intimidate him? You could hit him with the full force of the Fitzwilliam Darcy glare. He'd run screaming.”
“Ah, there it is. That's what I miss. The teasing.” He sighed and grew serious. “Just promise me you'll be careful. I don't even know the guy, and I don't trust him.”
“I’m going to talk to Charlotte. But don't worry, I can take care of myself.”
“I know you can. Just humor me.”
“Okay, enough talk about creepy guy. What happened at your meeting? Why were you overwhelmed?”
“It’s nothing big, I just…I came to the realization that even after all the research I've done, trying to learn as much as I can, I don't know half as much as I should about green design. And I know even less about starting a new company. RJD was well established when it was handed to me; all I had to do was step in and take over where my father left off.” He paused. “I just keep thinking, what if I fail? This is my father’s legacy. What if I screw it up? What if I don’t live up to his expectations?”
She didn’t respond, and his cheeks warmed.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to dump that on you.”
“You didn’t dump, you talked. I was just thinking about what to say, because my automatic response is to tell you not to worry, that you havenothingto worry about… But honestly, I think everyone worries about failure at some point. You have to try not to be so hard on yourself. Your father had faith in you. He knew you were the man who could lead his company, his legacy, into the future. You just have to have faith in yourself.” She paused. “When this new branch gets off the ground, what will you call it?”
“Um, RJD Design, I guess, since it will be a subsidiary of RJD Properties.”
“Why don't you give it a different name? It's going to be your company. I mean, I know that RJD Propertiesisyour company, but this will be different. This will be somethingyoucreated; it will beyourpart of the Darcy legacy. Why don't you give it your own name?”
Will started at her words; he'd never thought of that.
“What about FRD Design?” she went on. “If you want to keep with initials, that is. This will be something that's all yours, so it should carry your name. Maybe it will help you separate it from your father's legacy, and help to take a little of the pressure off.”
“Have I ever told you how sexy you are when you're showing off your brain?”
She laughed. “You have, actually.”
“Thank you for helping me see things from a different perspective.”
“Sometimes it takes someone else to point out what's right in front of you.”
“I guess so.” He paused. “Are you afraid of anything?”
To him, she was fearless. She certainly hadn’t been intimidated by him when they first met, and as he’d gotten to know her, he realized there wasn't anyone or anything she wouldn't take on. But he knew that shedidhave fears, about him and their relationship. Where they stemmed from and the extent of them were still a mystery, but he hoped that with time, he could help her get past them.
“Of course there are things I'm afraid of,” she answered. “But we're not talking about me, we’re talking about you.”
“No, weweretalking about me. Now I want to talk about you.”
She sighed, and he understood that now was not the time to delve into it.
“All right, forget I asked…for now,” he said. “We shouldn't get into this over the phone, especially since you're not here toreallymake me feel better.”
“I wish I was.”
