Kyle followed Pepper out the back door, across the rear lawn, and down to the water's edge where she had lawn chairs set up for guests to use. He hoped they could sit down, but the moment they reached the chairs, she turned and faced him and crossed her arms across her chest.

"Okay, talk."

He explained about his parents, about wanting to open a new division, although he was beginning to think the whole thing was nothing more than a ruse to get him down here to meet ...