“Ah. You’re a romantic.” He didn’t need confirmation. He had figured that out about her already. He supposed any woman who designed wedding dresses would have to be something of a romantic.
“In some ways, I guess.”
“If you love it so much, why don’t you design dresses full-time, then?”
She appeared to give his question serious thought, her cheeks slightly pink from the exertion as they walked uphill.
The children didn’t seem to be bothered by the climb. They appeared to be having a wonderful time, scampering ahead like mountain goats. Mountain goats with walking sticks, anyway.
“It’s not that simple, I’m afraid,” Samantha finally said. “If I wanted to focus solely on making dresses, I would have to close the boutique and I have no idea if I could make a living designing wedding dresses alone. If you do the math, there can’t be that many brides in the Lake Haven area to keep a business going indefinitely.”
Pursuing her passion seemed an easy enough decision to him, especially in his own circumstances. He didn’t have a choice about how he would be spending the rest of his life.
“If designing wedding gowns is what you love, why not take the chance?”
“I can’t throw away a thriving business with a long history in Haven Point to pursue a fly-by-night dream. It’s just not practical. I have employees. Payroll. People who depend on me.”
He wanted to argue that dreams were important, too, but knew that would be hypocritical, given his current situation, so he said nothing.
They walked without speaking for a few more moments, accompanied by the murmur of the creek next to the trail and the twittering of birds in the trees. It was a singularly peaceful endeavor, walking in nature, surrounded by wild beauty. He had always loved it but there was something about this place that called to his soul.
She stopped at the top of a rise to take a drink from the water bottle in her daypack and he called ahead for the children to do the same.
Amelia trotted back and grabbed her and Thomas’s water bottles that Ian was carrying in his pack, then returned to her brother, carrying them.
“May I ask you a question, if it’s not too presumptuous?” Ian asked after his daughter was out of earshot.
“Until you ask it, how can I know if your question is too presumptuous?” Her eyebrows raised with both curiosity and humor. That was one of the things he was discovering he liked best about Samantha. She never seemed to take herself too seriously.
“How about this? I’ll ask the question, then you can decide whether it’s too presumptuous to answer.”
“Fair enough.”
He didn’t quite know how to ask the question now that he’d started this.
Finally, he just blurted it out. “Speaking of wedding gowns, why haven’t you had your own, er, perfect day? Why aren’t you married with a bunch of little ones of your own?”
He winced. “And now that I hear that out loud, never mind. It is too presumptuous and none of my business. Not everyone wants that traditional life. More and more these days, it seems to be the exception and not the rule. I’m also perfectly aware a woman does not need a man to be happy.”
He was rambling, mostly because he couldn’t believe he’d brought up such a stupid question. To his relief, Samantha didn’t seem offended.
“Did you want to leave space in there for me to answer?” she asked with that same amused look.
“Yes. Sorry. Go ahead.”
Her brow furrowed as she appeared to consider his question. “I’m not married, I suppose, because I haven’t found someone I wanted to marry. Or, if I’m honest, anyone who wanted to marry me.”
“That can’t possibly be true,” he said.
She laughed, though he thought there was a hollow sound to it.
“You might be surprised. Don’t you remember I told you about my reputation as a man-hungry flirt? My mother used to call me Starry-eyed Sam because I have a terrible tendency to fall in love with regularity.”
His heart ached at the thread of loneliness he thought he heard in her voice and Ian decided he was beginning to heartily dislike her mother.
“There’s nothing wrong with falling in love.”
“I agree. When it’s real, love can be a beautiful thing. You said it yourself, I’m a romantic. I have enough friends who have found their perfect person for me to know the real deal when I see it. Josh and Gemma, for example, or my best friend, Katrina, and