The Change Up Read Online Free PDF Page B

water.” She glanced into the rearview mirror and saw the line growing behind her. “They keep right on coming.”
    “Lemmings,” Liv said again. “Don’t forget we have a meeting with Arlington Staffing in twenty minutes.”
    Rachel growled a muddle of swear words as she overheard the boisterous driver of the car at the front placing his order for a triple-foam-no-fat-half-cap-latte whatever. “Straight coffee should be the only thing they serve in the drive-thru,” she said, drumming her fingers on the wheel.
    Edging the car closer to the bumper of the pickup in front of her, she debated her options. Wait and possibly be late, which was incredibly unprofessional and completely unlike her. Skip the coffee altogether, which meant the edge she was feeling now would carry through the meeting and bring along a headache that would last all day regardless of how much coffee she managed to drink later. Or … She watched one lonely car roll up to the drive-thru at Buster’s Bagels. The driver received his coffee in record time. Maybe the mud water had gotten better over the years.
    “Fine.” She whipped the steering wheel to the right and pulled out of the line. “You said you wanted the Arlington experience while we were here. We’re getting Buster’s.”
    Liv laughed as Rachel wound erratically through the crowded plaza parking lot. “How bad can it be?”
    “Remember you said— Shit!” Rachel slammed on the brakes, narrowly missing a huge black truck that cut across the empty spaces at the top of her aisle. “Idiot.” An idiot who looked familiar, but she’d only had a split-second peek at his profile. “There are lines in this lot for a reason!”
    “I think that truck said ‘Sutter’ on the door. Isn’t that the name of …”
    Of course it was!
Rachel floored the gas and raced toward the exit.
    Liv let out a terrified laugh. “What are you doing?”
    “Exiting the right way and showing Mr. Sutter you don’t have to cheat to get ahead.”
    “But you’re speeding. Isn’t that cheating?”
    Rachel tuned Liv out and, while fully staying inside the lines, managed to cut off Sam at the exit. She looked into the rearview mirror and made smug eye contact with him. “Ladies first, asshole.”
    She shared a victorious laugh with Liv, but her satisfaction didn’t last long. Sam sped past her at the light and then turned left through the intersection, leaving her staring at the massive Sutter & Sons Landscaping logo on the tailgate.
    “So is
that
how you’re going to neutralize him? By beating him out of the parking lot?” Liv asked.
    “No, but …”
Ding, ding, ding.
Rachel’s eyes widened. “We need a grounds crew, don’t we?”
    Liv looked momentarily confused. “Uh, yes.”
    “Sutter & Sons Landscaping.” Rachel grinned. “That’s an interesting coincidence, don’t you think?”
    “I suppose.”
    “It’s kind of hard to bite the hand that’s feeding you, isn’t it?”
    Liv nodded slowly. “I think I see where you’re going with this.”
    Rachel, flushed with pure adrenaline, pulled into traffic and eyed up Buster’s. “I’m going to get my mud water first, then I’m going to get the stadium staffed with ticket sellers and vendors, and then I’m going to make Sam Sutter’s father an offer he can’t refuse, thereby neutralizing his pain-in-the-ass son.” She high-fived Liv.
    • • •
    Three hours later, Rachel strolled into the office of Sutter & Sons Landscaping with one eye on the lookout for her ex and the other eye watching for Sam. This meeting would go much smoother if their father, Paul, was the only one home.
    “Can I help you?” The elder Sutter walked into the reception area from another room. His hair was thinning, and the skin around his eyes and mouth sagged, but he still managed to look soft and approachable like he had when she was in high school.
    “Mr. Sutter, it’s nice to see you again.”
    He looked at Rachel, looked at Liv, and then back to Rachel