Making Me Believe Read Free Page B

the day I was born until I graduated from college.”
    “Wow. That must have been great. We moved around quite a bit because my dad was a manager for a retail chain. They’d move us to new areas to open new stores, and then move us again once it was up and running,” she said. “My parents have moved back to Illinois, and Dad said he’s not moving again.”
    “So that Yankee accent I hear is Illinois? I was wondering.”
    Rose sighed. “After eight years, you can still hear the accent?” When she first moved to Texas, she didn’t think that the Mid-Western states had accents. Now when she went back to visit, she would almost cringe at the strong nasal voices.
    “Once a Yankee, always a Yankee,” he teased. “Did you have to show them your green card when you started your job?”
    “You’re one of those, are you?” she asked, referring to native Texans who tended to think that everyone from any other state was a foreigner.
    “Yes, ma’am, I’m proud of it too!” he grinned.
    She laughed. Looking out the window she realized they were headed north on highway 360 and had left Arlington behind. “Where are we going? I figured you’d take me somewhere in Arlington.”
    “Nahh. I found this great little place up in Grapevine. I figured I’d take you there. I get more time in your company that way,” he said.
    “Okay,” she answered. “You said your mom stayed home with ‘us’. How many brothers and sisters do you have?”
    “It’s just me and my kid sister, Sarah. She’s married and has a little boy. They live here in Arlington. How ‘bout you? Any brothers or sisters?”
    “I’m an only. My mom always wanted more, but it just didn’t happen.” She knew her mother had been disappointed in only having one child, and she’d really been torn up when Rose had decided to stay in Texas when they moved back home. They remained close, though.
    “So were you a typical spoiled only?” he asked.
    “I don’t think so. I mean, my parents made sure I knew that I was the center of their world, but I didn’t get everything I wanted whenever I wanted it. They expected me to work hard and get good grades. I had to get summer jobs in high school, and they expected me to get a scholarship to pay as much of my way through college as I could.”
    “Sounds like they raised you right,” he said with a grin. “That’s the kind of parent I plan to be someday.”
    “I’m so glad you approve,” she said sarcastically. She did note that he wanted children. That was definitely a point in his favor.
    He laughed and said, “You should be! I’m the most important man in this truck!”
    “You sure are!” She grinned. “How did work go today?”
    “It was good. I think we should be done within the next couple of weeks, and that thrilled the client. I’m ready to move on to other projects,” he said.
    “What do you have in the works?” she asked.
    “Just some more houses. I think that’s going to be my niche. Custom homes. I have no desire to design the cookie cutter homes that you find in every neighborhood.”
    “How long have you had your own business?” she asked.
    “My dad was an architect. When I graduated, I worked with him for a couple of years, and then he retired, and I took it over. It’s been mine for about four years now. Some of the guys who have been there forever still think of me as the boss’s kid.”
    “Does that make it tough?” she asked. She couldn’t imagine having to constantly live in her father’s shadow.
    He shrugged. “I guess it did at first, but now it’s no big deal. They always do what I say, and that’s what matters when you get right down to it.” He pulled the truck into the parking lot of a small restaurant.
    He ran around the truck to open her door for her, taking her hand and helping her down. “Those manners your mama taught you seem to have stuck,” she said.
    “They better have! She’d take after me with a wooden spoon if they hadn’t,” he said