As I stare out over the sunflowers, eyeing the barn where Eve is no doubt running Sana and Rohan through one of her many quickly delivered and information-packed farm spiels, I get the distinct feeling that I wandered into someone else’s fight.
And I have to wonder whether Reed expects Evie’s next move to be a request for funding from the historical society to fix her water wheel, considering the exorbitant cost.
I wonder how he would structure the ensuing negotiation.Maybe he’d claim her driveway isn’t up to code—it’s probably not—or he’d come up with some other bullshit roadwork that would take up space and cause traffic jams getting into the sunflower farm. She would abandon the water wheel, but that number would be stuck in her mind—a number that isn’t quite enough to cover demolition of a houseanda new driveway, but certainly doesn’t seem as exorbitant whenthat’swhat it’s being spent on.
I shake my head.
I’m just the developer who wandered into the middle of a small town battle and screwed the whole thing up.
The road work was supposed to put pressure on Evie, but instead he managed to draw out somebody with means who’s more than happy to throw money at a problem to make it go away.
He probably took one look at me and thought a payday was coming his way.
But I don’t make stupid moves.
Of course, he probably thinks I do after the rooster. But even as the thought crosses my mind, I brush it off. That wasn’t an expensive rooster—that was the start of a kid’s college fund.
So joke’s on you, Reed.
I let out a long breath, trying to determine the best way to proceed. If I’m reading the situation correctly, Reed wants somebody to buy out these cabins. Whether it’s Evie or me, he doesn’t care, but he’ll likely try to extract more money from me, if he has the chance.
But something tells me that every proposal I submit for this property is going to be denied.
I don’t think he actuallywantsapartments there—I think he just wants me tothinkhe does so that I’ll make him an offer for his cabins.
But the question is… what does Evie want?
I’ve figured out Reed’s game. Now I just have to figure out how to beat him at it.
I spendan hour at the cabin as the sun sets, circling the outside and peering down at the sunflower farm. I watch as Evie leaves the barn and heads back to the bungalow, nothing but a dot in the distance that I’d know was her from miles away with my eyes closed.
When I think I have a good plan, I march back down the driveway and pile into the BMW.
And I head straight for Reed’s.
When I get there, he opens the door with a look of disdain on his face. He raises his eyebrows, waiting for me to speak.
“Considering you work so closely with your ex-brother-in-law, I’m surprised no one has met him yet.”
His face remains impassive except for the tiniest of eye twitches. The smallest hint of confirmation that we’re on the same page.
“I’m in the middle of dinner.”
When I peer behind him, I see nothing but a TV dinner on a tray in front of the couch.
“So should I just go straight to the police then?”
He’s quiet for a moment, mulling this over, and then he steps aside, gesturing for me to come in. “I don’t know what you’re carrying on about. Rich does good work. He’s the only person around here I know who can do historic jobs justice.”
“That’s not true and you know it,” I say, stepping into thefoyer and shutting the door behind me. “Anyone could look at that quote your guy gave Evie and see that it’s price gouging. I see now why you only ever approve one company for restoration. It’s the company run by the laziest asshole I’ve ever met who doesn’t think twice about materials that cost half the price of a house before trying to pass it off to the customer.”
Reed holds his hands up. “That wood needs to be treated in a very specific way to ensure longevity. And it’s a specific kind of wood that’s dying off in this town. It needs to be stained and preserved according to practices at the time the water wheel was crafted. None of these things are cheap.”
“None of those things cost half a house. It’s a couple planks of wood that were likely harvested frommyland. The only treatment they got was nearly a century of water damage.”
Reed shakes his head. “You have no appreciation for history.”
“You have no appreciation for the amount of shit you could be in.”
