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Everything’s fine. Kevin doesn’t talk to me so much as grunt at me, and your father has already called tonight to give him a stern talking-to via speakerphone.
I imagine it didn’t do any good.
Well, Kevin turned down the television volume for the duration of it, so…there’s that.
We’ll figure something out when I get back. There’s gotta be something we can do.
Tim would try anything. Failure was not an option yet.
Hey, don’t stress about it, Heidi said.Be selfish for a few days and maybe it’ll do you some good.
Assuming Kevin doesn’t scare any potential prospect away.
Well, hey. If you find someone who isn’t cowed by his antics, you make sure you put a ring on her so fast it makes her head spin. Sweet-talk her down the aisle before she realizes she’s been lassoed.
He chuckled and imagined throwing Valerie over his shoulder and taking her to meet the magistrate, and then his grin ebbed.
He didn’t know if she wanted kids, or if she’d be willing to become a parent to someone else’s. She was a career-driven rolling stone and had a lifestyle that might have been somewhat incompatible with maternity.
His mother always said that people changed their plans for each other if they wanted each other badly enough, but that hadn’t turned out to be the case with him and Heidi. He’d be remiss in believing it would be true for Valerie, too.
Don’t you think it would be a good idea to be honest upfront?Tim queried Heidi.I mean about Kevin.
The phone’s 4G indicator flashed off and Tim powered down his phone.Fuck.
Heidi’s response probably didn’t matter, anyway. Tim was going to do what he thought was best, and for the moment, that was treading carefully.
He checked radar, made a few course adjustments, and returned to the galley to find Valerie pouring herself yet another bowl of cereal.
“Are you sure you wouldn’t like something a little more substantial?” he asked.
“I’m certain my belly will relay that all this fiber and sugar is sufficient after a slight delay. One more bowl ought to do it.”
“I’ll probably take one, too.”
“That’s right. Hedge your bets,” she said with a wink.
She was so pretty.
I deserve pretty, he thought in a rare moment of vanity, but he wasn’t going to stifle the thought and shame himself for it. The past few years had been rife with stress and low on pleasure. Didn’t he deserve something extraordinary?
“So. What would you be doing right now if not sharing this grocery store delicacy with me?” she asked.
He snorted and poured a little more milk into his bowl. “There’s a small chance I’d still be at work catching up on paperwork.”
“Do you do much building yourself nowadays?”
“On very select projects. Most of what I do now is administrative. I spend more time pushing paper around and negotiating advertising and labor concerns than I do putting boats together.”
“Mmm. That’s why I’d never hang out my own shingle. I don’t need a manager or VP title if it means I can’t do the job I got into the business to do.”
“When did you decide you wanted to become an architect?”
“I was pretty young. I probably picked up on the word watchingThe Brady Bunchor something and later took a closer look at what the profession actually was. The job made a lot of sense for someone with my particular combination of personality traits. I even like the troubleshooting bits—the jobs that don’t go perfectly according to plan. Those always end up being the most fulfilling.”
“What was your fallback career?”
“Probably engineering. What was yours?”
