“I said a lot of things.”
“You said that this warehouse could be a centrally located music studio. A music studio for whom?”
Brinley didn’t want to say.
“Don’t get your hopes too high up, sister. Sometimes people move on and they never come back.”
“I’m going to rent out this warehouse and Yun’s house—if I get it—one way or another. If things don’t work out, I’ll flip the properties,” Brinley decided. “You know me, Toby. You know I’m not attached to a building, only the history of it.”
“For what it’s worth, I’ve said my piece.” Tobias rolled his eyes. “I think you should raze this warehouse and rebuild.”
“Then it won’t be old, Toby.”
“We can keep a few of these old bricks. Whatever we can salvage.”
“No. I want the warehouse the way they had it a hundred or more years ago. If you have to reinforce it to keep the exterior bricks, do it. For that matter, I want this entire block preserved, if at all possible.”
“Anything you want, Brinley. It’s your money. As long as I don’t have to work with Meg. Find another designer, Brinley.”
“You like Meg. You guys work so well together.” Brinley walked around the building.
Tobias was right beside her. “Haha. Did you know she tore up my favorite flannel shirt in your new house when we hung the chandelier?”
“I don’t want to know. I’m glad my house is done now.” Brinley headed for the other building next door, the one that Dad had agreed to invest in. She took a few photos on her iPhone.
“Have you thought of a name yet for this development?”
“Pelican Road after that street out front.”
“You’re going to name this multimillion-dollar investment after a bird?”
“Better Pelican than Crow.”
“Good point. Pelican.” Tobias seemed to be mulling it over. “I’m liking it more and more. You sure you don’t want to go inside?”
“Not until they reinforce everything with steel.”
“You’re afraid the building will collapse on you.”
“The inspectors said everything is fine.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t have bought this place, Brinley. Tell me you didn’t buy this building on a whim and then work everything around it.”
“The house I’m living in now, I knew I wanted it the day I saw it. You remember?”
“Yeah. That morning you binged on doughnuts.”
“Uh-huh. Insult me, why don’t you?” Brinley snapped a few more photos before she looked back at the warehouse again.
Tobias might be right. It would probably be cheaper to tear down this building—and the entire block—and start over.
Start over.
Was that what she had to do now without Ivan?
“You still don’t take long to make decisions, do you?” Tobias asked.
“If I know what I want.”