The Change Up Read Online Free PDF Page A

deep beneath her breast? “Thank you for the compliment,” she said softly.
    She didn’t expect her younger sister to understand what it took to thrive in the business world—under the watchful eye of their father. Helen Anne had the luxury of being the wanted daughter, while Rachel had been the daughter her father had never expected. Wasn’t the firstborn of a powerful man supposed to be a son? Silly. Archaic even. But he’d told her exactly that over a few glasses of whiskey and a rare failed deal. She probably should’ve forgotten it by now. Surely, after forty years, she’d proven herself capable of achieving anything a son could have achieved. But it lingered, powering everything she did … just in case he still wished she’d been someone else.
    With Helen Anne retracing her steps down the hall, Rachel swung open the door to her father’s office with renewed vengeance. To her surprise, the light was on in the wood-paneled room, and her father was sitting behind his regal desk wearing the same Pirates robe she’d seen him in yesterday. A cell phone was pressed to his ear. The flick of his wrist drew her attention to his leather folio and legal pad. He glanced up and nodded once. It was his usual acknowledgment and silent permission that she could stay as long as she didn’t interrupt him—like she had as a child.
    Rachel slipped into one of the leather club chairs to watch him work, struck by how much older he appeared since she’d seen him two months ago. Probably because he wasn’t showered or dressed. A weak smile tipped her lips as she took in his frantic scribbling and noted the deep creases on his forehead. Complete concentration. She leaned forward, hoping to learn something about the call, but his handwriting had always been sloppy, and reading it upside down was an even greater struggle. Something about … trees.
    “Can you repeat that?” More writing followed a frustrated sigh.
    “Dad,” she whispered, tapping her hand silently on the desk. “Put the call on speaker.”
    He looked at her and nodded, despite the tension on his face.
    “I figured you would want to know Sutter came in here,” said the voice on the phone.
    Usually that last name conjured images of Luke Sutter in tears when Rachel had announced she had no plans of settling for a life in Arlington. With him. She hadn’t said that last part, but it was clearly implied, and she had no regrets. Luke had been a good high-school boyfriend, but she’d been a confident eighteen-year-old with plans to take over the business world. Knowing he was back here waiting for her would’ve been nothing but a distraction to her grand plan. Just like his little brother was now.
    But there was nothing little about Sam Sutter anymore.
    Distant memories of Luke yielded to a stark image of Sam. Surely she’d seen him a time or two over the last twenty years, but if she had, he hadn’t made an impression like this. Rough and rugged. Denim and flannel. A raw masculinity that was untempered by tailored suits and MBA-honed manners. She would have to be dead not to appreciate that. She would also have to be a teenager again to let it take up more than a passing thought.
    Rachel spun the legal pad around and read the chicken scratch, putting the pieces together. Sam was complaining about the parking lot because he didn’t want the trees cut down.
    “He has no grounds for a protest,” she said with certainty. “It isn’t his property. I have the surveys committed to memory. I walked the grounds with Wes, and I’ve done the math. We’ll be well within the fifteen-foot setback.”
    The voice on the other end of the phone stuttered with surprise.
    “That’s my daughter, Rachel. You’re on speaker.”
    “Okay. Uh, the property line isn’t the issue,” the man said. ”Sutter mentioned something about endangered balsam poplar trees and migratory bird patterns. We have to get an expert to look into those things.”
    Rachel swore under her breath.