CHAPTER 40
Aiden
“You can see this one is better suited,” some man tells me. Bob? Bill. “You want this section here, next to this plot.”
Pot.
It’s pot of land now.
I sigh and Bill frowns at me, “You disagree?”
“No, sounds brilliant. Go on,” I say.
I feign interest for another thirty minutes. Then I give Mildred the save me signal so I can leave. Hopefully Philip, next to me, has learned something from this meeting.
This is the plan.
Go to therapy.
Train Philip.
Cut back my responsibilities.
See my parents, though my therapist says that may not be necessary.
Wait for Harper.
But it’s been a bloody month now and I simply cannot take it anymore.
Everyone bothers me, everything bores me.
I can’t stand the cities, wishing Harper was with me to see and taste it all, go to little bakeries and five-star restaurants.
I hate the plane because I can hear her worrying about Stuart, though he’s happy as can be taking up a whole leather sofa as his own personal plane seat.
He does need more space though. My penthouse apartment is suddenly lacking. No yard. No neighbor waking up looking adorable in a tropical bandanna at 3AM.
“Right, I’m done,” I say.
“Sir?” Mildred asks. We’ve just made it down the elevator and out to the cars. I’m supposed to climb in with the team and go back to the office. Do a few more debriefs with Phil.
But I do not want to.
Full stop.
I want to go…damn it…I want to go home.
Even if she’s not there.
“Please tell me you’re going to the airport,” Mildred says.
I can’t hide my shock. Renaldo piles on, “You’ve been even more unbearable than usual.”
“We’ve got this squared away, boss,” Phil says.
“Go back to her, we’re begging you,” Mildred adds, surprising me again.
I frown and cock my head, “Well, first I’ve got to go and fetch my dog.”
_____
We pull into town and drive past all my sites first. The resort is coming along nicely.
Main Street is progressing. They’ve torn down the mansion.
I decided to push back demolition of the old shops until the new shops are built.
We are also building some new condos to replace the old homes, since Ben couldn’t stop going on and on about the state of his grandmother-in-law’s previous home.
I’ve had to add a massive extra construction contract to move so quickly, but it’ll be worth it for the town.
We drive through the main square and over to her house. I know she’s not here. Last I saw she was in the Carolinas. But that was a couple days ago. She’s not nearly as active on social media as I’d like.
Because I am a creepy stalker.
We turn onto my old street and Stu goes positively ballistic in the back seat.
I decide to stop and let him out. Which is when I see it.
This…this will not do.
But I can get it sorted…probably?
Yes, definitely.
I’m a Vanderwell, after all.
I want to take care of this for her, so I will.