LITMIR.BIZ

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Men Auto and Body Shop—formerly Three Wyse Men—in Cedar Cove. His brothers were competent enough to handle everything in Seattle. By starting a second shop, he was giving them an opportunity to succeed on their own. Besides, one of the three needed to be close at hand to keep an eye on Mary Jo, although he had to admit that was more of an excuse than a reason. Linc liked living in Cedar Cove.

      Okay, to be honest, he liked living with Lori.

      “I only work until three this afternoon,” Lori said, moving about the room. She slipped her arms into a black jacket that didn’t match the skirt but looked good with it, then pinned a cameo to the lapel. Even Linc, most comfortable in a T-shirt and jeans, recognized that Lori had a real sense of style. He supposed it was why she worked in a high-end dress shop in Silverdale. She dabbled in designing, too, and knew how to sew.

      “I’ll get groceries on the way home.” She brushed her hair, slung her purse over her shoulder and was about to leave.

      Linc grabbed her hand. “Aren’t you going to kiss me goodbye?”

      A smile made her eyes sparkle mischievously. “No, kissing leads to other things and I’m already late.”

      “One kiss,” he begged. “Please?”

      “Linc,” she groaned, but then complied.

      Her kiss left him weak in the knees. He had to clear his throat before he could speak again. “I’ll be back from the title company around four.”

      “Great. I’ll pick up a bottle of wine so we can celebrate.”

      “Good idea.”

      “See you later,” she said, and kissed him again, letting her mouth linger over his. She was well aware of what she was doing to him, and he nearly staggered backward when she abruptly broke away.

      “You’re an evil woman, Lori Wyse,” he called after her.

      Linc headed out fifteen minutes after Lori. He had several stops to make, plus he needed to drive into Seattle and meet with his brothers about the business there.

      By the time he returned to Cedar Cove, he had to sign the papers for the garage. That all took longer than he’d expected and it was almost five when he’d finished.

      Linc collected the keys to the garage and went home, hoping to pick up Lori and take her down to see the garage. He had a notebook filled with ideas on how to build the business. He wanted to tell her about them, and above all, he wanted to share this moment with her. They’d take the wine over to the property and toast there.

      When Linc arrived home, he saw a black Town Car parked in the very spot where he normally left his truck. Even before he reached their apartment, he heard raised voices.

      “Don’t say that, Daddy!” Lori cried. She sounded close to tears.

      Oh, boy. Lori hadn’t told her family yet that they were married. Linc didn’t understand why she’d delayed, but the decision was hers. When he’d asked her about it, Linc could see how uncomfortable the subject made her, so he’d dropped it.

      Now her father was upset, and frankly, Linc didn’t blame him. He’d do his best to set things straight.

      Squaring his shoulders, Linc opened the door and walked into the living room. Lori stood next to the fireplace, her father—a balding, heavyset man—no more than a foot away. One of his hands was raised, as if he’d been wagging his finger at her. The other was clenched at his side. At Linc’s entrance, they both turned to stare at him.

      “Hello,” Linc said, hoping he sounded calm and composed. “You must be Lori’s father. A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Bellamy.” He thrust out his hand, which the older man ignored.

      Instead, Leonard Bellamy turned back to his daughter. “Is that the man?”

      “Daddy, this is my husband, Lincoln Wyse. Linc … this is my father.”

      Linc walked over to Lori’s side and placed his arm protectively around her shoulders.

      Bellamy continued to ignore him. “You’ve pulled some stupid stunts in your life, but this takes the cake.”

      “Mr. Bellamy, I realize—”

      “If I want to hear from you, I’ll say so,” the older man shouted. “Don’t you have any sense, Lori Marie? You married this man and you don’t even know him? What about his family? Who are his people?”

      “If you’d allow me—”

      “You,” Leonard said, pointing an accusing finger at Linc, “mind your own business. This is between me and my daughter.”

      Lori squeezed his arm, indicating that Linc should do as her father said. He didn’t like it, but he clenched his jaw and waited impatiently for the other man to get to the end of his rant.

      “First, you were engaged to that … that felon.”

      “Geoff was a mistake.”

      “A mistake!” Leonard shouted. “So that’s what you’re calling him. He was a major embarrassment to the whole family. How do you think your mother and I felt when we had to cancel the wedding? We couldn’t even say it was wedding-day jitters or make up a decent excuse. Oh, no. Geoff’s name was plastered across the front page of every newspaper on the Kitsap Peninsula. Everyone in the entire county knew why the wedding was canceled.”

      “I … I didn’t know what kind of man Geoff was,” Lori said, defending herself. Her voice quavered with mortification. “I agree I misjudged Geoff, but you liked him, too, remember?”

      Her father brushed off her comment. “What makes you think you have better judgment this time?” he demanded. “How long did you two know each other, anyway?”

      “Long enough,” Linc said, unable to remain silent.

      “I asked you to stay out of this,” Bellamy shouted. He started pacing, then stopped and glared at Lori. “What were you thinking?” Briefly he closed his eyes. “What on earth possessed you to marry a stranger?”

      “Daddy …”

      “Can you imagine how your mother felt to have a friend—mind you, a friend—announce that you’d recently married?”

      “Daddy, please …”

      “You couldn’t have told us yourself?” he bellowed, refusing to let Lori explain.

      “Mr. Bellamy,” Linc said, trying again.

      Lori covered her face with both hands and began to sob.

      “You’ve really done it this time,” Leonard said. “You’ve consistently shown poor judgment, and worse, you never seem to learn from your mistakes.”

      Frowning, Linc took a step forward. He understood why Lori’s father was upset, but the man was crossing the line now.

      “No one in the family has ever done anything like this. Your mother’s beside herself.”

      “I’m sorry,” Lori sobbed.

      “As you should be. You made one stupid mistake and then you immediately followed that up with another.” He whirled around and studied Linc through narrowed eyes. “A mechanic, Lori? For heaven’s sake, why would you marry a mechanic? It isn’t embarrassing enough that our daughter elopes without a word to her family, but then you have to marry a man with oil under his fingernails, an uncouth, uneducated … mechanic? What’s the matter with you, girl? Don’t you have a brain in your head?”

      “Mr. Bellamy,” Linc said, his voice hard. It was one thing to belittle him, but Linc wasn’t going to stand idly by while Lori’s father chastised her as if she were a child. “I can see why you’re upset. I’ll be the first to admit that we rushed into this marriage, but that doesn’t give you the right to come to our home and ridicule my wife.”

      “Your

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