Chapter 33 Ryder
RYDER
If I was happy about being back in the office, I might refer to it as a homecoming.
The receptionist smiles and waves when she sees me, quickly taking care of her call and darting out from behind the desk to greet me.
One of the guys who scouts and deals with most new projects—at least, not the weird ones like Sunflower Hill—comes out of his office to shake my hand and give me way too many updates for the early hour.
And Sana, the only person who knew I would be in today, waits patiently in my office, one leg crossed over the other and bouncing lightly.
I get the distinct feeling that it’s meant to give off the same vibes as a tapping foot.
“You’re late,” she says, one eyebrow raised as she takes a sip of her coffee. A matching one sits on my desk.
She’s dressed in her usual outfit—a colored pencil skirt with a nondescript white blouse. Her lips are painted a bright red, her black hair pulled into a tight bun.
“I’m sorry,” I say, shedding my jacket and hanging it on the coat rack by the door as I take my seat in front of the wide window that looks out over Manhattan.
It’s all so familiar, yet it feels wrong.
Probably because while my body is here, wearing the same clothes I normally do and sitting in the same seat I have for years, my mind is at home in bed with the sunflower girl I plucked from Sunflower Hill.
It took everything in me to leave my bed this morning.
It was the first morning Eve Harper woke up in my apartment, and I had to begrudgingly extract my limbs from hers and put myself in the shower.
Kiss her cheek and promise I’d see her later, knowing that I didn’t know enough about what my day—or more accurately, Sana—would throw at me to give her a time when I’d be home.
I had to promise her I’d see her later, and I hated that she only huffed and turned over, planning to spend another hour or two in bed while I had to get up and go to stupid work.
“Eve, I take it?” Sana asks me.
I narrow my eyes. “Yes.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t bring her here. Set her up in the spare conference room with the toys and coloring books.”
I give Sana a flat look. “Thank you for reminding me I wanted to discuss your job today.”
She sits up straight, swallowing quickly. Sana is quick to rib me, but equally quick to back off when she senses she’s gone too far.
But it seems like our time apart has us both struggling to find normal again.
“I just meant, since you asked me to set up those tours for her and get her a car for the day and everything. I didn’t mean to imply—”
I wave her off, rolling my eyes. “I know, Sana. I’ve tasked you with an impossible workload ranging from assistant tasks to CEO tasks, and you’re probably still recovering from the whiplash.”
She shrugs, seemingly unsure how to answer this.
“I was thinking we should get an executive assistant. Someone who can take on your old duties for both of us.”
She eyes me. “So what am I, then? Fired?”
I snort. “Nah, I’d be stupid. You have too much on me.”
“That is very true, and I urge you to remember that.”
I lean back in my chair. “I was thinking COO?”
She raises her eyebrows. “What? I’m part-time.”
“Since when?”
She shrugs noncommittally, her gaze falling to her bouncing heel. “I guess I haven’t really been part-time for about four years.”
“Yeah. So, does that work for you? I want to spend more time in Sunflower Hill so I need someone I can trust to funnel any big decisions to. Contracts, HR, any new development plans. I mean, I’ll still be heavily involved. I just don’t want to have to physically be here if I don’t want to be.”
She leans forward, resting her elbows on her knees.
“You know we can sign electronically now. We have lawyers that can tell either one of us whether to sign or not sign a document, and half our meetings are remote anyway unless we’re visiting a site.
You don’t have to give away your power for the sake of not being here. ”
“And this is why I trust you,” I tell her. “Look, this is what I want to do. Are you in or not?”
She blinks, then shrugs. “I’m in.”
“Great. So, next thing on my list—”
“Do I get a turn?”
“A turn?”
She nods. “You haven’t been here in weeks, so I have a laundry list of things to go over with you.”
I sigh. “Okay. You go.”
“The bankers are spooked because I asked for a lower rate and strongly implied we would be switching banks. They’ve been begging for a meeting with you because they don’t want to deal with me anymore.
I set that up for you tonight so be prepared to smile and play nice, but don’t ruin the progress I made. Budge a little, not a lot.”
I nod. “Okay. How much of a rate decrease did you ask for?”
“Fifty percent.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Man, I should let you off leash more often.” And then I realize that’ll delay seeing Evie again. “Wait, what time is the meeting?”
“Eight.”
My heart drops. “We can’t make it any earlier?”
“You’re getting a drink with the owner of the construction company who’s flipping the plumbing at the Lavender Springs property.
He wants to finalize the details I went over with him last week—I sent the details to your email.
Honestly, I think he just wants to be buddy-buddy with you so you funnel him business for your other properties. ”
I roll my eyes. “Alright, sure.”
“We had three new hires start while you were gone. They know you usually like to introduce yourself when someone new starts, and at least one of them is antsy that you hate her without ever having met her.”
My brow crinkles. “Seriously?”
Sana taps her pen against her notebook. “She’s young. She’s good but she’s nervous.”
“Okay. I’ll do a lap and say hi to anyone I don’t recognize.” I drum my fingers along the desk. “What else?”
“Library gala tomorrow night. Half the company was invited and it would look good if you showed, but I think the rest of us have it covered if you’re not up for it.”
I shake my head. “Bare minimum for the next few days.”
She nods. “Got it.” She sighs, apparently relieved at having gotten her list out of the way. “Okay, now you go.”
I stand, rounding my desk and nudging my door so it slowly closes.
Sana raises her eyebrows as I lean against my desk. “I need you to do a little digging for me. In your capacity as some weird hybrid assistant slash business manager slash COO.”
She crosses her arms. “Okay?”
“Garrett Reed from Sunflower Hill. The mayor who also happens to be the head of the historical society there. A company named Sunflower Hill Restoration. There’s something fishy going on there and I’m not sure what it is.
Reed has been almost impossible to work with despite insisting on this property being developed.
And this company quoted us an exorbitant amount for pretty minor repairs to a water wheel.
I’m not sure what is going on, but Reed has a reputation for manipulation so I just… have a feeling.”
Sana’s eyes narrow. “‘Us’?”
I blink. “What?”
“You said ‘us.’”
“Oh. I guess I did.”
Sana smiles. “You should bring her into the office. I’d love to meet her.”
“I’m trying to get away from the office for a few minutes so I can actually take her around New York a bit. Probably not this visit.”
Sana huffs. “Fine.” She scribbles down a few words into her notepad. “So Mayor Reed? Who’s doing something shady?”
I nod. “Can you just look into him? Do some digging and figure out what it is he wants or at least get something on him? This company apparently always gets approved by him but based on the quote they gave us, there must be something odd going on behind the scenes. If we can figure out what that is, we can get Evie’s water wheel fixed for a reasonable amount of money, and I’m thinking that any further approvals for the Sunflower Hill development will likely be much easier.
I want to believe a twenty-thousand-dollar rooster would grease our way more than extortion, but something tells me Reed is going to be harder to crack than that. ”
Sana nods, pursing her lips. “Ryder, what are your intentions with Eve?”
I throw my hands out in front of me. “Why does everyone keep asking me that question?”
She leans forward. “If you wanted to, you could buy half the town and make it exactly what you want it to be.
But instead, you're playing within bounds that you're making up as you go. You bought a twenty-thousand-dollar rooster for the chance of greasing Mayor Reed in Evie's favor. I’m worried you’re going too far for this.”
I shake my head. “Sana, I promise you. The rooster was a one-off thing because it kept crowing and making Reed cranky so he wasn’t approving anyone for anything.”
Sana nods slowly.
“And Evie…” I swallow, the words feeling odd and unfamiliar on my tongue even though I want to scream them from a rooftop. “I love her. She was never a part of the plan to begin with, but she is now. The most important part.”
Sana runs a hand over her face. “Okay.” She closes her notepad. “I don’t know what’s in the water in Sunflower Hill, but you should probably stop drinking it.”
She stands, straightening out her skirt and heading for the door.
Before she leaves, she turns to give me a small smile. “I’m glad you’re back, but I’m more glad you’re leaving again. You deserve someone who makes you happy.”
I can’t help but grin back at her. “Thanks, Sana.”