Chapter 6 Ryder
RYDER
Ishould take all of my business advice from Gam.
She was never a huge fan of my dad’s work—especially the person he turned into once he found success—so I always kept that part of my life separate from her. But considering I’m now using my business in an effort to help Gam, I probably should have expected the intersection.
And man, she is good.
I toe a log with my foot, testing how heavy it is and whether it’s worth trying to clear from the overgrown path.
About half of this property is covered in woods that fan out toward the top of the hill, blocking the residential properties on the far side that—as far as I can tell—are nothing more than abandoned cabins.
The side of the property attached to Eve’s is mostly clear, aside from a pile of rubble at the end of her dirt road and a buildup of fallen leaves and debris.
If I had to guess, she sends somebody over to clean up the land every once in a while.
No way this property’s gone untouched for the better part of a decade and still looks this good.
That seems like something she’d do. A neighborly kindness.
When I first stepped on her land, I had a feeling that being pushy with her wouldn’t do me any favors, but I wasn’t sure what would. I need her in my corner, so I figured the best way to do that was to be who I am in any business deal. Respectful, confident, put together.
When I told Gam that, she only looked at me, shook her head, and reminded me that Eve Harper is not a businesswoman. And that as handsome as I look in my suits, I should take a step back and remember what it’s like to be in this town.
I grew up here too—albeit a few years ahead of Eve—so it’s not like it's a foreign concept. And while the suit and a strong handshake work on the many people here who come straight from Manhattan, it won’t work on her.
I never lost sight of what she truly cares about, but I presented myself as someone that—to her, at least—isn’t trustworthy.
I do my best to kick the log away from the path, but it doesn’t move far.
The top of the dead tree is caught in a bush, and I’m not up for fighting nature today.
I’m really just here to get to know the land better.
See what my cleanup is going to look like.
Maybe make Eve Harper aware of my presence.
Gam suggested I channel my high school self. I might not have been an adult looking to run a business or win someone over for the sake of having a good working relationship with them, but a good part of my personality was born and melded from this town. From the people here.
After all, while my dad was commuting back and forth to New York and slowly driving my mother away, I was running around here looking for trouble.
Drinking beer down by the river long before I was legally allowed to.
Waving at the pretty girls who drove by in party buses for bachelorette parties.
Riding my bike through the woods and narrowly avoiding death by branch at least once a week.
After getting so far with Eve last night, I decided not to push things today. No gift baskets or business cards, and definitely no showing up on her land without an invitation.
But I am making it clear that I’m here, if she wants to talk.
I stomp through more underbrush in my attempt to get up the hill. There’s a nice flat part of land that connects to Eve’s, one side sloping steeply down to the road, the other shooting up above hers.
And I really want to see what’s at the top of this hill, because Eve is concerned about my “ugly apartments” ruining her pictures, but if I can stick an apartment complex at the apex of this hill, she won’t have to worry about her pictures, and this building will have the best view of any I’ve built.
It might involve cutting into the woods slightly, but the plan currently percolating in my mind is the least invasive option I’ve come up with so far.
And if Eve would be willing to grant me an easement, this could be a home run for both of us.
It sounds like a perfect compromise to me.
When Gam initially told me to go back to high school, I thought she was insane. How the hell would high school me know how to talk to Eve Harper?
But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense.
The point isn’t to literally become who I was in high school, but to let the carefully constructed facade I’ve worn since crumble.
I was not a natural when it came to taking over my dad’s company. In fact, there were times when I thought I was only capable of running it into the ground.
But I got it, eventually. Created a persona that mirrored my dad’s while keeping my own moral code intact.
It was awkward and uncomfortable for many years until one day… it wasn’t.
But as easy as it is now to don a suit, shake the hand of someone who hates me, and swallow my pride to woo them, it’s even easier to pull on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. An old flannel worn from years of use and work boots that are ugly unless you’ve got some mud on them.
There’s something refreshing about it, really.
It feels a little bit like coming home.
Like I’m clicking back into a side of myself I’ve kept under wraps for too long.
Of course, I’m going to need to figure out how to control this very comfortable side of myself because even as the words came out of my mouth last night, my brain was yelling at me that suggesting your new neighbor is a bitch is not exactly a great start to a healthy working relationship.
I was feeling a little cocky, probably, because the way Eve Harper looked at me last night was a hell of a lot different than the way she looked at me when we first met.
She liked what she saw.
And no, I’m not going to use my body to convince her to sign an easement.
But if my body can warm her to me enough that we can become something along the lines of friends and she signs an easement as a favor because of that friendship, that would probably be okay.
I chuck another small tree away from the path, glancing briefly behind myself to see how far I’ve gotten.
Fifty feet, if I’m being generous.
I let out a small groan as I turn back to the flat area that connects with Eve’s land.
I’m going to need construction equipment to explore the rest of this.
I got a drone video of the land already, which gave me a good idea of what to expect, but I really need to see it in person to know what I’m dealing with.
I’m not sure where the property lines of the old cabins lie, and if they’re too close, I might be making some offers to clear that land.
If I can even find the owners, that is. The only thing I currently know about the small cabins is that they’re owned by an LLC.
A branch scrapes at my flannel as I stomp through the brush, snagging on an already large hole at my elbow.
“Fucker,” I mumble, inspecting the damage as I stomp down back down the hill.
“What’d the tree ever do to you?”
The surprise of her voice ringing out in the silence of the woods nearly causes me to stumble over the uneven terrain, but I catch myself before I lose my footing.
But not before I go face first into a low branch.
“Motherfucker,” I mumble, holding my hand to my head to see if I’m bleeding.
And yup, there’s blood. Wonderful.
If I was sixteen, riding my bike through these woods, I’d shrug and move on. But I’m in my mid-thirties and trying to woo my neighbor, who’s now looking at me like the pussy I feel like.
“Need a band-aid?” she taunts, taking a step toward me. She’s wearing jeans, muddy sneakers, and an oversized cardigan that she pulls tight across her chest. Her hair is down today, long and brown with a few streaks of sun-kissed blonde framing her face.
I can’t help but think back to the pictures on her Instagram. The long, sculpted legs hidden behind those jeans. The joyful grin as she looked to the rainy sky.
I shake my head, plastering my grin to my face. “Nope. Meant to do that. Had too many brain cells up there, anyway.”
She rolls her eyes. “Ah, he’s cocky too.”
Yeah, what the hell was that?
I touch my forehead again to make sure I’m not bleeding too hard, and my fingers come away with a somewhat worrisome amount of red.
She shakes her head and turns on her heel, gesturing for me to follow along behind her. “Come on, I’ll fix you up at the house.”
I raise an eyebrow, wondering if I heard her correctly.
She pauses, turning around to face me with wide eyes. “What is that, your best tree impersonation? Do you want my help or not? Because without it, you’re going to be bleeding all over that fancy BMW you tried to hide at the bottom of the hill.”
I swallow, quickly falling into step behind her. “I wasn’t trying to hide it. It’s the only place to park it on my lot.”
She eyes me, her arms crossed over her chest as she easily navigates a pile of stones along one side of the river. “You can use my parking lot.”
I can’t help the grin that comes to my face as I follow her footsteps along the rocks.
When I’m quiet for a few seconds, she glances at me, a glare immediately falling over her features. “Okay, it’s a parking lot, not my first-born child. There’s no reason to look that happy.”
“Why would your first-born child make me happy?”
“Can only assume that’s what you eat for dinner.”
I snort. “No, I’m partial to second-borns actually. Usually a little tougher meat.”
She pauses, turning to look at me. “That was truly disturbing.” Then she lets out a little disbelieving snort. “Funny, though.”
Is that a point in the Eve Harper playbook?
As we come to a stop along the stream, I touch my forehead again. And yup, still bleeding. I do my best to wipe the grimace off my face when she turns to me.