Chapter 39
RYDER
Sana and I wander a few feet away from where everyone oohs and ahhs over the now-working water wheel. Eve rocks up onto the balls of her feet as Luke waxes poetic again about how much he loves the water wheel, and she’s eating it right up.
If she hadn’t wondered aloud which of her friends she could set him up with after their first meeting, I might be worried.
He seems like the kind of guy someone like Evie should end up with.
Down to earth, with a love of everything that she loves.
From a nearby town that’s as obsessed with lavender as this one is about sunflowers.
Not some big shot from the city.
We lose sight of them as we walk, Sana pulling her jacket tighter around her body. I direct us in a small loop back to the barn so we won’t be out for too long.
“So, the lawyers sent over the purchasing agreements. I just need your signature when you have a chance.”
“Beautiful,” I say, eyeing the properties in the distance that are soon to be mine. Not part of the business. Just mine.
And Evie’s, if she’s still holding onto that fantasy.
“I take it you were able to make a convincing argument when you talked to the mayor,” Sana says.
I let out a long breath. “Apparently so. I’ve never felt so much like my father.”
“Oh stop it,” Sana says. “You’re nothing like him and you know it. You’re doing all this for Eve, right? Your father didn’t have a bone in his body that cared for anyone else. Your tactics might be similarly shady, but your motivations couldn’t be more different.”
I laugh. “Well, I guess I should be thankful I know how to think like him when it matters.”
“As long as you use your power for good,” Sana says, patting me on the arm. “So, what’s the plan for those cabins? Driveway off that side of the property?”
“Yes… and.”
“And what?”
I shake my head. “I have to see what the architect comes up with first.”
Her eyes narrow. “But that’s your property. Not the company’s. What are you building?”
I shrug. “I’m not sure yet.”
She grins, a mischievous smile spreading across her face as we head back toward the barn. “Well, whatever it is, I’m sure she’ll love it.”
I look at her from the corner of my eye. “You signed an NDA when you started working for me, right?”
“Is that your way of telling me to shut up? Or are you just worried my loyalty has already slipped right out of your hands and into the pockets of a certain pair of overalls? Because maybe you should be.”
I roll my eyes. “I don’t know whether to be relieved that the two of you have taken a liking to each other, or very, very scared.”
“And that’s right where we want you, isn’t it?”
I expect to hear voices as we round the side of the barn to the water wheel, but as we step from the dirt road to the grassy bank, we find ourselves totally alone.
Until we hear the door to the studio opening on the other side.
“I’d bet you good money she dragged Luke up there to charge his phone on the water wheel outlet.”
Sana laughs. “She’s so cute.”
“Mine,” I bark.
“Ryder, I’m married!”
I lead the way through the first floor of the barn, and Sana grumbles to herself as she follows me, no doubt having trouble seeing in the dim light.
And as we get closer to the other side, I hear footsteps coming down the stairs. Voices talking easily and light laughter.
As we step out onto the grass, I see Eve and Luke coming down from the second floor.
“Oh, I was just going to walk Luke back to his truck,” Eve says, gesturing toward the road.
“Don’t worry about it,” he says, waving her off. “I think I can find my way back.” He nods as he heads in that direction. “Thanks again for letting me work on this project. Truly a one-of-a-kind job.”
“Oh no, thank you,” she says easily, waving as he goes.
But when she turns back to me, her eyes don’t quite meet mine.
She stares out far beyond me, and I can’t be sure, but think I detect a nervous energy flowing through her.
That same energy that took hold of her that first day we kissed in the sunflowers.
And again when my grandmother caught us together on her porch.
“Well, I need to check on some tea I’m sending over to Tabby today. Just want to make sure no moisture got into the packaging,” she says, quickly stepping around us and heading off toward the bungalow. She walks fast, her arms crossed over her chest and her hair flying out behind her as she moves.
Sana purses her lips. “That was odd.”
“Yeah, my thoughts exactly,” I say.
“Should you…?” Sana starts, gesturing to where Evie disappeared.
I let out a long sigh. “Probably. But do you have those documents I need to sign? Might as well get that over with so I’m not holding you up.”
She nods, leading the way up the stairs and into the barn.
Rohan is seated in one of the armchairs by the water wheel outlet, a book spread open between his thumb and forefinger that he closes when he sees us, standing to give Sana a kiss on the cheek and nodding quickly to me.
“Just getting a signature,” Sana explains, gathering the papers off the coffee table and arranging them into a neat pile.
And as she does so, I get a sudden flash of understanding.
Evie’s inability to meet my eye. Her hasty retreat back to her house.
She was standing right here, likely relishing the excitement that pulses through her veins whenever she shows someone the water wheel outlet, when her eyes fell to the papers scattered in front of her.
Sana hands the stack to me, pointing out the Post-it notes where I’ll need to sign.
And I can’t say anything other than, “Fuck.”
She raises her eyebrows. “You okay?”
I turn to Rohan. “Evie was just in here, right? Did she see these papers?”
Sana’s eyes go wide. “She doesn’t know?”
Rohan shrugs. “She was standing right where you are. Couldn’t tell you if she saw.” He opens his mouth like he’s going to say something else but thinks better of it.
“What are you not telling me?” I prompt.
He shrugs, his eyes finding Sana’s. “I might have suggested that you have some very strong feelings for her, and she seemed like she didn’t quite know how to take that.
” He lets out a long breath. “Look, I’m sorry.
I thought you guys had a good thing going.
I thought she would take it like a compliment, you know?
She was so excited to show your guy the outlet and it just seemed like a way to add to that. But she just kind of… froze.”
I wave him off, unsure how to take this information.
On the one hand, Eve is prone to running away when things become too much.
On the other hand, it makes me nervous to think that I’m too much.
“No need to apologize. She does that sometimes.” I turn to Sana, holding the papers between us.
“Can I take these and get them back to you later?”
She nods, gesturing for me to leave. “We’ll be here. Go.” As I pull the door shut behind me, she shouts over her shoulder, “And next time don’t keep things from her like a dumbass!”
I roll my eyes, barreling down the stairs toward the bungalow.
Did I want to tell Evie my plan? Yes. Did I recognize that a million things could interrupt and potentially kill my plan?
Also yes. I know how hard it is to trust someone when everyone in your life has taught you not to—and while I can see why she’s upset, this is exactly why I didn’t want to tell her yet.
I want to give her everything she’s ever wanted, but I can’t give her the hope only to kill it later.
I needed a solid plan. A draft from the architect. Signed paperwork. And while I’ve managed to clear the hurdle that is Mayor Reed, I didn’t want to paint the picture that Evie always wanted only to have it ripped to shreds later on.
But now she’s gotten hold of information she wasn’t supposed to have until I could trust my plan would come to fruition.
And I have no doubt that within a few small seconds, she’s created a narrative in her mind that paints me as the bad guy she always thought I was. I’m no better than the version of myself that showed up months ago, measuring her stream instead of protecting it.
And that’s not me. It never was.
I bluster into the bungalow, calling her name. When she doesn’t answer me, I check every room of the house, sure she could be hiding in some nook or cranny I know nothing about.
But she’s not even in a damn closet.
Or the squished area underneath the sink in the basement that could probably just barely obscure her from view if she’s willing to deal with the dirt floor and any number of spiders that might be hanging out there.
She’s not in the bathtub, hidden by the curtain, or the laundry closet, contorted between shelves.
She’s not under the bed or the coffee table. Not hidden in the crawlspace or waiting me out in the attic.
As I step out onto the front porch, I know without a doubt that Eve is not in this damn house.
But her car is out front, so I can only assume she’s somewhere on the property.
I take a good long look around me, the sky threatening to go dusky at any moment, and I know that I have to find her soon or this narrative she’s spinning in her mind is going to get out of control.
I check the backseat of her car. The chicken coop.
I do another lap around the barn—and another in the minefield underneath—and call Sana to double-check she didn’t wind back and ask to hide up there.
I do a lap around the sunflower fields and then follow the rapidly deteriorating trail that winds through them.
And when I’m done, I realize that on Evie’s farm, no one is going to find her unless she wants to be found. She’s probably hiding out in the sunflowers, in some nook or cranny I’ll never find her in.
And as much as I want to drag her out of there and tell her repeatedly that I’m not buying out her dream for the sake of killing it, I know that she’s only going to come out when she’s ready. That maybe this is one situation that I can’t power my way through.
I just have to wait for her to decide to listen to me.
And in the meantime, I’m going to make all of her dreams come true.