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"I’ll be there" It was already three-thirty Linc realized that if he didn’t leave right away, he’d be late No doubt Bellamy would add that to his list of crimes

Linc washed up, then drove the entire distance above the speed li spot, then ran to the don office complex He’d only been here once before, and an unpleasant scene between hih time to consider what he wanted to say to Bellaht and honest as possible

He dashed up the steps to the building and caught an open elevator Getting off on the top-floor lobby, he checked his watch and heaved a sigh of relief Right on schedule

A lanced up as he approached She had short salt-and-pepper hair and looked every inch the professional assistant she was Her nameplate identified her as Ms Helen McDonald

"Lincoln Wyse," he said

"I’ll let Mr Bellamy know you’re here" Helen picked up her phone and curtly announced his naestured toward a chair "Please have a seat"

Linc did Five ame his father-in-law had chosen to play Apparently Bellamy assumed Linc would lose patience and walk out The fact was, Linc could be just as obstinate, just as unyielding They had more in common than Leonard Bellamy realized

A full hour went by before the phone buzzed Helen answered and nodded in Linc’s direction "Mr Bellamy will see you now"

Linc stood "Thank you"

She led him to the private office and opened the door Linc walked inside, gazing at the bookcases, the upholstered guest chairs, the desk of dark polished wood Bellae Linc or give any indication that he knew Linc had entered the room

Linc waited in front of the desk He occupied hiraphs, which stood in a row on the credenza behind his father-in-law

"I’ to look up He set down his pen and leaned back, a frown creasing his brow

Linc wished now that he’d taken the tih he hadn’t had the opportunity Getting here by four ht in his truck No doubt if he’d been a minute late, Bellamy would have refused to see hi Linc cool his heels like that, and another for catching hireasy coveralls

"So," Bellamy said "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"What do you want to hear?"

"You’re the one who asked for the appointment, not me," Bellahts "Mostly I came because I need to knohat you find so objectionable about hed "The fact that you have to ask tells "

"Maybe I could understand it if I hadn’t learned about your own background," Linc said He sat down and crossed his legs, hoping to create the i at ease

"What do you mean?" Bellamy asked sharply

"I have no idea why you took such an instant dislike toup to Lori’s andleft a lot to be desired We were foolish to rush into in to describe what you did"

"If I could, I’d go back andbefore I iven it" Bella him of that

"Possibly not, but I hope you will now"

Bellalared at him across the desk "Are you out of your ive you and Lori ? Especially now that Kate--" He stopped abruptly, his lips pinched, as though he regrettedhis wife’s name

"I hope I’ve proved myself to you," Linc said "You threw a number of roadblocks in my hen I tried to establish my business in Cedar Cove" He took a deep breath "Nevertheless I’o of it"

Bellamy didn’t deny it, which only went to shohat Linc already knew His father-in-law had done everything he could to sabotage his auto body shop and had nearly succeeded If not for his brother-in-law and Sheriff Davis, Bellamy would have succeeded

"What puzzles me most is why you object to me when the two of us are so much alike"

"I sincerely doubt it," Bellaather, your own father worked as a welder"

Bella"

"Itwork ethic, which is the saht ht have chosen my own path, but that option was taken away from me when both etting what you wanted by hter," Bellamy interrupted

Linc inhaled slowly in an effort to hold on to his teht find this hard to believe, but when I married Lori I didn’t have a clue that she was from a wealthy family"