The Change Up Read Free Page B

are you doing now?” Rachel asked, surprising him, not because he expected her to keep tabs on his career, but because she’d never been the kind to care much about other people—at least that had been his experience when she’d labeled him “whiny little Sammy” who was always trying to come between her and Luke.
    “I’m working for my dad,” he said with little genuine interest in keeping this conversation going.
    “Just like me.”
    Except he wasn’t like her, and he couldn’t leave that assumption hanging between them. “We’re nothing alike, Rachel. For starters, I would never even think about cutting down these trees. That would be a really shitty thing to do.”
    She shrugged. “What can I say, Sammy? Progress can be painful, but in the end, it’s the best thing for everyone.”
    “Because the best thing for you is the best thing for everyone?” He scoffed. She hadn’t changed one bit in twenty years. “Try telling that to the birds.” Sam looked at the wide-eyed man taking this all in beside her and nodded curtly. “Nice to meet you.”
    But that was a lie. It would only be nice if the guy drove back to Pittsburgh without touching a single tree. If one trunk fell … Sam hated to even think about it. Thank God his nature-loving mother wasn’t alive to see this.
    He wandered off with Babe beside him and the warbler overhead, craving the usual Sunday peace and quiet, but he kept hearing phantom chainsaws and wood chippers. How much parking did the Reeds need? Surely they wouldn’t cut down all of this. He reached out and let almond-shaped leaves tickle his palm. But what if they did? What if he had to say goodbye to Sunday walks and evening fireside chats with his dad? And what if he had to look out his kitchen window and see a baseball stadium every damn day? He stopped. Babe stopped, too.
    That was
not
going to happen.
    • • •
    “Whoa! That’s one heck of a house,” Liv said as Rachel, for the second time in as many days, guided her BMW down the winding gravel drive toward her childhood home. She’d asked Liv to gather some of her personal items and fly in last night, after it was clear that, with her father’s deteriorating condition, Rachel would need to extend her time in Arlington. Having Liv here would help maximize productivity over the next five days.
    “It’s a little shabby right now,” Rachel said, noticing misshapen box shrubs and empty flower urns. “It looks better at Christmas.”
    It
used
to look wonderful all year long.
    Liv leaned forward, peering out the window at the vast expanse of lawn and the picturesque barn that came into full view as Rachel turned onto the governor’s drive. Liv’s head whipped back around, and her brows rose until her glasses slid down an inch. “Do you have horses?” she asked, excitement in her voice.
    “I think there are a few left.” Actually, Rachel wasn’t sure. Her Christmas visit had been cut short by work, and there’d been an awful lot of changes lately.
    She’d loved to ride as a child, though. When the Reeds had moved here from Manhattan the year Rachel had started first grade, this place had felt boundless and magical. All the rooms, all the green space. Eventually the trade-off proved to be too steep, though, with Rachel’s father spending the weekdays working in Manhattan while Rachel’s mother drowned her loneliness in excessive domesticity. By the time Rachel had reached high school, she’d grown to resent her rural exile and crave the kind of excitement and freedom her father had.
    “Could we stay here while we’re in town?” Liv asked. “Please! Let’s ditch the Uncomfortable Inn.”
    “No.” Rachel appreciated Liv’s enthusiasm, but … “There are already too many people and too much drama under this roof. You and I need to stay focused and get back to Philadelphia as soon as possible. The office won’t run itself.”
    “That’s why you left Richard in charge.”
    Rachel bristled. “And that