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Taking a deep breath to calm myself, I found my voice. “Not very long, and I haven’t designed very many projects. Bryson’s will be the largest.”
Mom cleared her throat and launched into her proud mother mode. “Rose designed our nephew’s house, and not only did she design the outside, but she helped him with a lot of the interior design as well. She has an eye for color.”
“Is that so?” Anna said with an arched brow. “I’m terrible at interior design. Just ask the boys.”
“Nonsense,” Greg stated. “Our home is beautiful inside and out. You should see the gardens.”
Anna blushed. “Fine. I do have a green thumb, and my favorite place to be is digging in the dirt.”
“Oh, I love to garden as well!” my mother said.
Greg and my dad quickly launched back into their conversation about bulls and bull riding. It was clear Greg was interested in the subject, or maybe simply curious. It wasn’t every day you met someone who raised bulls for bull riding.
“Do you have any idea what you’d like the house to look like, sweetheart?” Anna asked Bryson.
“We haven’t gotten that far.”
“I assumed we would be talking about that tonight at dinner,” I added as I looked at my father, who caught me glaring at him. He gave me an innocent smile and then winked.
“And do you work for a local firm?” Anna asked.
Bryson cleared his throat and moved around in his seat, as if suddenly not so sure this whole dinner was a good idea. At least that was what I had assumed he was thinking judging by the expression of regret on his face.
“I did until your son nearly got me fired.”
Anna’s eyes went wide, and Greg turned to look at me with a disbelieving expression on his handsome face. Goodness, he really did look like an older version of his son.
“What?” they both asked at the same time.
I waved off my hand and let out a humorless laugh. “Not to worry, I quit before I could get fired. So, I negotiated hard when it came time to design Bryson’s house.”
They both swung their gaze over to their son as his mother asked, “What did you do, Bryson David Robinson?”
Bryson at least looked regretful for his actions. He shyly looked at me before he addressed his mom and dad.
“I might have asked—”
Clearing my throat, I stated, “Demanded.”
Nodding, he went on. “I sort of demanded to her boss that they let Rose do the designs for the house.”
All eyes were back on me, and I decided I was not a fan of attention. At least not from two sets of parents.
When no one spoke, I did. “I worked at the architectural firm for a number of years in the summer and interned there last summer. I assisted with a few designs over the years, but not actually designing them. I believe my old boss enjoyed my eye for design when it came to the interior and would often ask my thoughts on that. I don’t think he thought I was old enough to design a full house. Let alone one for a professional baseball player.”
Anna frowned. “So what if you’re young? Age has nothing to do with it. It’s all about talent. You might have more talent in your pinky finger than all those architects do combined.”
I heard my mother say, “I like this woman. A lot.”
“I don’t have the proper degree, nor do I have the experience. I’ve designed my cousin’s house and a few barns. I’m nowhere near qualified, so Bryson will still have to end up hiring an architect to do the actual building plans.”
“I disagree,” Bryson stated. “And once everyone sees the designs for the house, they’ll all see exactly how talented you are.”
“What is your degree in, Rose?” Greg asked.
“Environmental design. The degree is versatile with jobs in architecture, urban planning, landscape architecture, and interior design. The focus of my studies is on designs with environmentally sustainable spaces.”
My father decided to join the conversation at that point. “My brother, Brock Shaw, has a foundation here in town where he has built a community center as well as a health center that focuses on mental health care. Rose has been working alongside Brock with designs for a new water area for the kids and an outdoor arena for charity rodeos.”
“This is the house she designed for Brock’s oldest son, Blayze.”
Man, the cheerleading section for Rose Shaw was strong tonight.
Mom handed her phone over to Greg, and he and Anna flipped through photos. Anna looked up at me, her eyes sparkled with delight.
Greg was still looking at the photos when he said, “Rose, I do believe you’re being modest. This home is stunning. You have to know a lot about the engineering structure of a home to design something like this.”
“And you had a hand in the interior as well?”
