“Wes? What’s going on?”
He turned and looked at the three of them.
Noah shook his head. “If you wanted it that bad, fine. Why go behind our backs?”
“That’s not what this was, Noah. We decided it wasn’t right for SCI. But I felt strongly about it.”
“Should I go?” Hailey reached for her bag. His brothers looked at him, brows lifted.
Wes gave a deep sigh. “You should stay but know, you’ll likely be mad at me by the time they’re done.”
Her fingers gripped her bag and she pulled it onto her lap like it was security. “Okay. You’re worrying me.”
“I know the owner of your building. My brothers decided not to invest.”
Her shoulders sagged with what seemed like relief. “Oh. Okay. I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you guys. It would have been nice to have your meeting space just upstairs.”
Chris’s mouth tightened. Noah smiled at her. “We’ll probably still do that.”
Hailey looked at him. “What am I missing? I don’t like games. What’s going on?”
One more reason to like her: she didn’t like games. She didn’t play them and looking at this from behind, he could see he’d made a pretty big mistake.
“The new owner is our mother.”
If she hadn’t been firmly planted on her butt, she looked like she would fall over. “I don’t understand.”
Wes shoved both hands in his hair then tugged at his tie, pulled it off, and tossed it on the kitchen table. “It wasn’t the right investment for our company but I still felt strongly about the space. So, I spoke to my mother, asked her to weigh in. She’s been thinking about moving to California or at least having a place here. I mentioned the area above the shops. Sent her some pictures. She loved it.”
“You let Mom invest her money in something we agreed wasn’t a good investment,” Chris said. His brother’s tone was disappointed. It felt like a kick in the gut.
“Not a good investment for us. But for Mom, it is. She’ll have more space at a better price than if she’d bought a condo. She’ll be finishing the two small apartments that have been empty for months because of the cost. We can have the meeting area; she even said she’d charge us for it. Plus she’ll have rent from the shops. It works for everyone.”
Hailey sucked in a breath. “Wait.” She took a deep breath. Like sucked in for a full five seconds, then released it. She met Wes’s gaze. “Did you suggest your mother buy the shops to help me with the rent?”
He continued to stare at her, unwilling to regret making her life easier. It was a good move for everyone. “That was a factor in my decision, yes. But that doesn’t mean she would have purchased them regardless. She’s thrilled. It’s a good investment. I wouldn’t put my mother in a bad situation.”
Hailey stood almost as if in slow motion. “That’s good to hear. But, if I’m understanding correctly, what you would do is go behind everyone’s backs, including mine, to make sure my rent was reasonable.”
He shoved a hand in his hair. Everyone always told him he was too black and white, too literal. Now he understood. What he’d done was in the gray area. Technically, what she said was true but it was more complicated than she said. “We would have lowered it if we’d bought it.”
She nodded, pursed her lips. “But you didn’t buy it. Why would an owner move in and lower the rent?”
“Because she’s a real businessperson who understands what the previous owner charged was ridiculous. He was operating on fear, trying to undo bad investments. She’ll profit on these shops even with lowering the rate. With what that guy was charging, everyone would have had to move. You would have had to look for a different space.”
“Was it a favor?” She stepped closer to him. He felt like prey.
“Yes. No. No. Not a favor. A smart move for everyone.”
She turned to his brothers. “In your honest opinion, was this a smart move for everyone?”
Noah’s gaze widened before he looked down to study his feet. “Not for Wes,” he muttered.
Chris elbowed him. “Hailey, Wes is smarter than anyone I know. He never would have suggested the investment if my mother wouldn’t do well. He only ever has people’s best interests at heart.”
Wes swallowed. “Thanks, man.”
Chris shot him a glance. “But it’s always in everyone’s best interests to be up front. Especially when you have a partnership.”