“Grant has never been a violent guy. You know that. And I told Vince that. But he’s not completely convinced he won’t try something. He wants to keep you safe. He also wants to give the image of you having a stable, secure life that would be good for raising a child.”
“Do I not?” I asked, somewhat offended by the comment.
“You do. But he wants you to have a support system and an image that isn’t already tarnished by how Grant sees our relationship. So, he has officially swapped himself for me.”
“He swapped?” I asked.
“Yep. He says you and I shouldn’t be seen in public together so much, and that he will take over. Of course, he couldn’t exactly do that tonight since he is not in town. So, Quentin and I are stand-ins.”
The whole situation was confusing and overwhelming, but I decided to take it for face value and be glad I had them. In all honesty, I didn’t expect to see Grant. Pride was his strongest personality trait, and he hated anything even close to embarrassment. After the way his mother behaved and the humiliation of the police getting involved, I doubted he would show his face around here for a while.
Even feeling that way, there was a tingling of unease on the back of my neck all night. The evening moved slowly, even with the customers constantly coming in. Despite all of Merry’s excitement about getting out for a while, she didn’t last long. After less than two hours, she was tired and missed the baby too much to stay. She hugged me tight and headed home.
Quentin came back after dropping her off, but only stayed for another two hours himself. Then it was Nick and me. I was glad he stayed until closing just to keep me company. Even if nothing else was going to happen that night, I didn’t want to be alone. I already felt so isolated.
When the bar finally closed and the last of the customers left, we lingered while the staff cleaned up. After locking up, I walked with Nick out to his car. I kissed his cheek good night, and he shook his head.
“Wrong brother. You have to kiss Vince now,” he said, then grinned. “Shouldn’t be too hard.”
I shook my head. That wasn’t happening. I wasn’t going to take advantage of the situation to pursue my crush.19Vince“How long is the turnaround time for a fully customized bike?” the man in front of me asked.
He’d been hovering near the booth advertising the customized bike service for almost half an hour. The product of one of Kelly and Dad’s most recent projects sat out in front, allowing people to see the work for themselves. He circled around it like a 4-H judge examining a prize cow. A few times, he looked up at me like he wanted to make sure I was watching him. Each time, I smiled but didn’t say anything.
This wasn’t all that unusual for the service. People were interested and wanted to know more about it. But often when they learned how much of an investment this type of project was, they knew they couldn’t afford it. Then there was that awkward moment of dancing around. They didn’t want to just say they weren’t in the market to pay that much, so they kept acting like they were interested.
“I’m sorry, what?” I asked.
The man looked at me from the other side of the bike, his eyebrow raised. “I asked what the turnaround time is for a bike. I’m getting married and would love to have a bike made for my bride and me to ride away from our reception on. Then another one to give her as a wedding gift to bring on our honeymoon. But I need to make sure they would be ready by the wedding.”
I pushed the thoughts distracting me out of my mind and focused on the man in front of me. “It all depends on the specifics you want for each one. If you want something completely built for you from the ground up or retrofitting existing machines. Also what type of parts are needed and how easily they are sourced. Some of these projects take a few months to complete once everything is settled.”
The man nodded. “My wedding is next summer. That should probably give me the time, right?”
“I would think so.” I pulled out my father’s business card and handed it to him. “Gus Freeman is my father. He heads up most of the customization efforts. Give him a call and the two of you can get started. Here, take some of these brochures and look through them. Kelly’s work is incredible, and I’m sure she’ll be able to give you exactly what you want for your wedding.”
The man took the card and the brochures, shook my hand, and walked away. I watched after him, looking forward to seeing what Dad and Kelly came up with for him, but also feeling a little guilty about my disinterest and immediately negative response to him.