Chapter 36
EVE
“So you’ll never guess what I discovered today,” Ryder says as we pull out of the parking garage and merge carefully onto the street.
Our bags are in the backseat, my dress hanging in a garment bag.
Before Ryder got home from work, I threw in some laundry and returned his apartment to the pristine condition it was in when we arrived. Of course, I realized once he asked if Delilah had been in that he has a maid that just wasn’t scheduled while we were there.
But it was nice that he took one look at our packed bags and said nothing more than, “You ready?”
Like he’s as anxious to get back to Sunflower Hill as I am.
I probably could have stayed in Manhattan a few more days, especially if there were more fancy parties to attend, but I think that’s just the price of being a farm girl. I inhale the occasional reprieve just like he inhales Sunflower Hill.
And something about that feels poetic. We’re each other’s break from hectic everyday lives. Like the first breath of spring after a long winter.
It’s a relief that he went back and experienced his life as it was and he didn’t fit into it like an old glove, but an experienced professional. Like he knows all the right things to do and say but maybe his heart isn’t in it.
And I don’t let myself think that maybe it’s because his heart is in Sunflower Hill.
“What did you discover today?” I ask, settling into my seat as Ryder focuses on the road.
“I was right about Reed,” he says, glancing at me only for a moment before returning his gaze to the road.
I eye him. “Right about him?”
“My hunch that something odd was going on with that quote. The restoration guy wasn’t super responsive with Sana, which doesn’t surprise me considering your experience with him”—the memory of our meeting, where I asked all of the questions and he gave Ryder all the answers, comes screaming back to me—“but she figured out that Reed's brother-in-law—or ex-brother-in-law, I guess—owns the construction company that Sunflower Hill Restoration sources from. And she, uh, got Margie talking a little bit by name-dropping you.”
I snort, holding my hand over my chest. “Name-dropping me?”
Ryder nods as he merges onto the highway. “I can work my way through Manhattan okay, but when it comes to Sunflower Hill, the only name I know that gets people talking is Evelyn Harper.”
I flip my hair over my shoulder. “Yes, I have clout.”
He laughs as he reaches across the console and rubs his hand along my knee.
“Well, Sana wanted to make sure you weren’t surprised if Margie came roaring back to you.
It sounded like she pressed a bit—not that Margie is one to budge much—but she did admit that Sunflower Hill Restoration is pretty much the only company that the historical society approves.
Which was nothing more than confirmation, really, that the brother-in-law’s company is getting funneled a bunch of money. ”
I nod, my heart sinking at the thought that our town council isn’t everything we want them to be. “I wonder if Margie knows.”
Ryder shrugs. “He at least tried to hide it. And honestly, I’m not sure Margie would have given us the tip if she did know.
” He sighs. “My guess is that this whole scheme is pretty new. The guy running Sunflower Hill Restoration is young and definitely seems like he’s out for a quick buck rather than a long career. ”
“I bet Reed won the brother-in-law in his divorce.”
“I thought the same thing!” Ryder checks his mirror and glances over his shoulder before moving into the left lane.
“My totally unverified theory is that Reed’s wife was the only thing keeping them on the straight and narrow, and once the two of them got her out of the way, they were free to come up with whatever stupid schemes they wanted. ”
I snort. “How could you possibly know that?”
He shrugs. “I don’t know. Just what my brain pulls together based on the information I have.”
I shake my head, turning my attention to the highway streaming by on either side of us. “So what are we going to do about it?”
He’s quiet for a moment. “I’m not sure yet.”
“You’re not sure or you don’t want to tell me?”
His eyes flick to mine briefly before returning to the road. “I think there might be an opportunity here. If he’s funneling money back to himself, that’s more than enough reason to have him removed from town council.”
I wait to see if he’ll continue. “But…?”
He glances at me, the edges of his lips tipping into the most adorable, devilish smile. “But I think this might be a way for us to get everything we want.”
The barn hasn’t been made up for Sana and Rohan yet, but luckily they’re running about a half hour behind us. So while Ryder unloads our stuff from the car and gets us unpacked, I gather my cleaning supplies and a pile of fresh linens to turn over the barn.
And it gives me a little bit of a thrill that he doesn’t even mention the extended-stay hotel room that I know he’s still paying for.
That he puts my stuff away for me and hides his own suitcase in my walk-in closet, like he’s hoping I won’t tell him to scram but not quite daring enough to make space for himself.
I make a mental note to clear a drawer for him. Maybe make some space in my closet.
I’m not about to give him a key and ask him to move in, but it’s also not like this house is a sanctuary for me and only me. My bedroom, yes, but otherwise people come and go from the rest of the house like it’s a revolving door.
And he’s already been invited beyond that bedroom boundary.
On my way out of the house, hands full and rushing so that I can present a totally put-together barn and Evie by the time they get here, Ryder tugs on my elbow, slowing me.
I raise my eyebrows, wondering what must be so important that he has to stop me now, of all times.
“I’m going to go talk to Reed,” he says.
“Right now?”
He shrugs. “I feel like I have to do something. I feel like I can solve this. It’s at the tip of my fingers, you know?”
I nod. “Well, can you wait until Sana and Rohan are all set up and I can come with you?”
He lets out a long sigh. “Eve, can I take care of this for you?”
“Take care of this for me?”
“From the very beginning, I told you I would protect your water wheel. And while this might not have been what I had in mind, I want to make good on that. You run yourself ragged taking care of this place. Let me take on some of the burden.”
I blink, my gaze stuck on his. “Okay.”
“You’re going to let me help you?”
“Just a little. Just with this.”
He grins. “You like me.”
“You’re alright,” I say with a noncommittal shrug that earns me a kiss on the cheek.
“Can I help with the barn before I head out?”
I shake my head. “No, you’ll probably just slow me down.”
“Well, I’ll at least carry all this over for you. You look like you’re about to topple over,” he says.
I give him a flat look.
“Not that you would because you’re a little mini Hulk, but can you please let me feel like I’m not ditching you to take care of the barn all on your own despite the fact that I’m actually ditching you to take care of your water wheel all on my own?”
I narrow my eyes, debating this. “Fine.”
He gives me a grin and a kiss on the cheek as he takes everything out of my arms. “Thank you.”
I let out a long sigh. “I wish everyone begged me to take on my work.”
He gives me a cocky nod. “I’ll let you beg me later.”
I roll my eyes, trying and failing to suppress my laughter as I gesture for him to lead the way.
We head down the dirt road to the barn, cutting through the first floor, and climb the stairs to the loft.
He leaves the cleaning supplies on the small kitchen counter and the linens on the armchair by the water wheel outlet.
And before I can process what he’s doing, he strips the bed down and gathers the blankets in his arms. “I’ll take these back to the house and start a load?”
I nod, pressing a kiss to his cheek before he leaves. “Thank you.”
I finish cleaning up the barn and make it back down to the road just as Sana and Rohan pull in the driveway. I beckon them forward, abandoning the sheets and cleaning supplies on the ground by the stairs and meeting them at the car.
I lead them upstairs, running through my normal spiel of amenities that guests can use. Remind them that they can always come knock on my door. Insist that they pick a few bouquets of sunflowers to take back with them before they go.
And as I head toward the tub, waxing poetic about sunsets over the fields, I see something out of the corner of my eye. Movement, up on the hill by the cabins.
I can’t tell if it’s a trick of the light or if I really did see someone walking around the side of the cabin, but I find myself taking a step closer, squinting in an attempt to get a better look.
But unless I’m going to clean the glass and press my face to it, I’m not going to see anything more than I already did.
And if it’s a person, like I thought I saw, chances are good that they’re already gone.