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Gina gasped. “What did you say?”
“I said yes,” I admitted, almost cringing in anticipation of her response.
“That’s wonderful,” she said.
“Do you think so?”
“Yes,” Gina said, putting her foot down and cutting off all avenues of self-doubt. “I know he cares about you. He made a stupid mistake, but that’s not who he is.”
“How can I possibly trust him ever again?” I wondered, pacing from the sink to the window and back.
“Of course, you can’t trust him right away, but there has to be some middle ground.”
“Like what?”
“If he is afraid of marriage, maybe there is some kind of commitment he can offer. Porter and I aren’t going to get married. That just isn’t something that we want to do. But we’re both comfortable with that.”
“I don’t think Linc would want to share a house, or a car, or even a dog.” Now I was talking myself out of the dinner date.
Gina sighed. “Just try to meet him where he is.”
“But what if that’s not enough?”
“I think he’s ready for more than just casual dating,” Gina responded.
“Did he tell you that?”
“No,” she admitted. “But he’s hanging around. If he wanted to escape, there’s nothing stopping him.”
“So just because he didn’t quit his job and run away, that means he’s ready for a real relationship?” I tried the logic and found that it didn’t sit right. There was a lot of space between fleeing town and getting married.
“I’m making it worse,” Gina complained. “I just think you should hear what he has to say and not judge him by one mistake.”
“It was a hell of a mistake.”
Gina laughed. “Tell me how it goes.”
“I will,” I promised.
The rest of the day was a blur. I had to focus to make it through one customer transaction. It was a contractor who had ordered pressure-treated wood but said we delivered non-pressure-treated boards. I had to assure him that we would make it right. After checking with Porter, I put a pickup and delivery onto the schedule, with a little note of apology.
I wasn’t sure whether it would be Linc, Danny, or Henry who would get stuck with the unhappy customer, but I had faith in all three. When the day finally came to a close, Linc trudged up the hill to meet me. I was just grabbing my things, thinking I would meet him in the barn, when the front door opened, and he came in.
“Hey,” I said. “I was just about to come find you.”
“It’s been a busy day,” he said.
“I know. Were you the one who had to go take the wood back?”
“What?” He seemed to think about that for a moment. “Oh yeah, Danny and I did it.”
“Were they mad?”
He shrugged. “No more than usual.”
“Really? You’ve had to deal with them before?”
“A lot of the contractors get angry if you’re not right on their schedule.”
