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“You’re down to ten minutes,” Cody reminded her.
Summer wrapped things up the best she could before she and Cody stepped onto the elevator. As the doors closed, her grandfather’s office door opened. Her mom walked out, eyes bloodshot and puffy, her mouth set in a pout. Roger had his arm around her and whispered in her ear, probably trying to cheer her up.
Her grandfather spotted Summer and gave her a sad smile and a wave good-bye.
She returned the smile just before the doors closed.
“It’s going to be all right. You’ll love Carmel.” Cody held the door for her to step out into the lobby. “I Ubered here from the airport. Should I get us a car?”
“Mine is in the lot.” She led the way out of the building to her car. While she drove home, Cody took a business call. She didn’t pay attention to anything he said and got lost in her own thoughts. Before she knew it, they were sitting outside her condo.
Large windows dominated the three-story structure. Luxury living. Sutherland Terrace boasted more high-powered executives,doctors, lawyers, and high-tech engineers than first-time homebuyers looking to build some equity to take them to the suburbs and white picket fences. It had all the amenities money could buy. A pool, spa, workout facility, conference/banquet facilities, and the finest security money could buy.
Her place was the largest on the property, a corner unit with a spectacular view from the third-floor rooftop terrace.
“Is this one of the properties you inherited from your uncle?”
“Yes.” Along with a few others and several homes around the world. All of which she rarely used.
And she should, because what good was having all the properties if she never used them?
She glanced at Cody’s expectant gaze. “Lucy, one of my past stepsisters, who became my best friend, is also my business manager. She oversees all of the properties.”
Cody sat back and relaxed. “You’re more interested in Sutherland Industries than the real estate?”
“I don’t know. I never really thought about it. I’ve always worked for my grandfather. I can remember coloring at my grandfather’s desk when I was little. He’d hold meetings. I’d listen. Even when I was little, he’d ask my opinion about whatever they were talking about. People thought it was cute.”
“But your grandfather was teaching you the business even back then.”
“Always. He made me feel important, like my opinion mattered.”
“I bet that made you feel good when your mom did as she pleased and didn’t ask you whether it was okay with you.”
She didn’t answer. She didn’t have to. Cody knew the score on that one.
“I grew up with wealth and privilege,” she said plainly. “Everything was the best money could buy. When I decided to move outof my grandfather’s mansion, I moved into my very own complex because my grandfather said I needed someplace safe and befitting the manner in which I should be living. It’s expensive to live here, but it’s not very... homey.”
She looked up the hard angles and deep gray color of the building and wanted to shudder. There was nothing warm and inviting about this place. It didn’t say welcome home to her. She’d made the inside home, but she always felt a little twinge of something when she drove up and realized she owned this place, and she didn’t even like it.
“It certainly does have a certain fortress quality about it,” he admitted.
The landscaping in front of the property was bright and cheerful and welcomed you to come inside—if you could get past the gates. But here, it was more understated and sterile.
“You should have the landscapers add some more flowers, or something,” he suggested.
She frowned. That would help. So would a new paint color. She should take care of it. If she felt this way, she could only imagine how her tenants felt. She should contact Lucy and order the changes.
“My life was handed to me on a platinum platter with twenty-four-karat gold engraving. My mother wants to see me married to a suitable man. My grandfather wants me to take over Sutherland Industries sometime in the next ten years. My uncle left me his real estate holdings.”
She sighed. “The things I want are so intangible that the harder I try to grasp them, the easier it is for them to slip through my fingers like smoke.”
“Perhaps you need to find something solid to hold on to for a change.”
She looked into his compassionate eyes. “I know you’re doingthis for my father, but thank you for listening and putting up with me and my family drama.”
She opened her door, but didn’t exit when Cody put his hand on her shoulder, sending a blast of warmth through her system.
“Summer, I get that this isn’t easy for you. You can lean on me. And I hope you do, because I’d like to get to know you better.”
