That finally shuts him up.
“What do you want?” he asks, crossing his arms over his chest. “If you wanted to file a report, you would have done that already. So, what do you want from me?”
The question I’ve been dying to answer.
“I want the water wheel fixed by the guy we found with materials he deems appropriate for the job.”
Reed rolls his eyes, turning to the door as if to let me out. “Fine.”
“I’m not done,” I say.
He knows what I'm going to ask before I have theopportunity to. “The road work can’t just beclearedovernight. That’ll take time.”
I stare him down. “I don’t think it’ll take longer than a week.”
His words are sharp when he speaks. “Fine. But don’t come crying to me when you blow out a tire in that fancy car of yours driving down that road. That won’t be my fault.”
“It will, because you never actually intended to do work there, did you? It was all an effort to pressure Evie into buying one of those cabins off of you.”
A look of surprise flashes across his face only for a moment before he fixes his expression. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Sure you do. You were hoping to piss Eve off long enough that she bought one or both of them off you to put a driveway in there. And then I stumbled along, and your pupils turned into dollar signs.”
He raises an eyebrow. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You don’t need to admit it. You just need to approve the next proposal I give you.”
“Look, Ryder. You can only ask for so much. This town has certain housing requirements. I’m not going to approve justanythingyou put in front of me. I mean, think of Eve.”
“Eve, who you tried to screw over? Multiple times?I’mthinking of Eve. I’m the only one who has been, this whole time, and I can promise you she’s going to be right there with me when I submit my next proposal.”
His brow furrows—he must not know that Eve and I aresomethingnow.
When he doesn’t say anything else, I continue, “And you’re going to sell me the cabins.”
His eyebrows rise.
“For cheap.”
His brow falls, his jaw ticking. “Anything else?”
I think through it for a moment, recognizing that this is likely my one and only opportunity to make demands. “No. That’s all.”
“Can I get back to my dinner now, then?”
I nod. “Sorry to have interrupted.”
The door hits my ass on the way out, but I start my car with a grin on my face.
When I get backto the sunflower farm, I head straight for the barn.
Sana appears in the doorway a moment later, one eyebrow raised when she sees me. “Why do you look like you’re in trouble?”
“Because I did something and now I need your help even though my girlfriend strong-armed you into going on vacation.”
“Ryder,” she groans.
“It’s a good thing! We’ll finally be able to put this mess behind us,” I say.
