Hudson (Anderson Billionaires #4) - Melody Anne Page 0,62

said, confused. This wasn’t what she’d been expecting.

When she heard music, Daisy stopped and turned. “Where’s that coming from?”

“Over this way,” Hudson told her. He took another path that went through the wooded area, and they came to what appeared to be a small community center. There were several small buildings serving food, merchandise, and love of all loves, coffee. On one corner street performers were putting on a show for about two dozen people. On another a young girl with a guitar was singing. She had a beautiful voice.

“Is this part of the park?” Daisy asked.

“Yes,” Hudson said. “It reminds me a lot of Central Park. It’s on a much smaller scale, but you have the open fields that we passed, a neighborhood over behind this little commerce center, and many different activity areas. There’s a small golf course, a community pool, and even a barbeque pit where many people have family get-togethers. The housing part of it is a lot bigger than what I have planned for now, but the concept is the same. I want a place where people can stay at home all week without having to get into their car once if they don’t want to.”

“Again, you want a place that’s only accessible to the wealthy,” she said. The girl switched songs; Daisy moved closer and pulled out a five, dropping it into her guitar case.

“This place is targeted to the middle class,” Hudson admitted.

“What about low-income?” Daisy asked. “Shouldn’t they have a haven like this?”

Hudson moved them to the line for the coffee bar. There were only four customers in front of them so it wouldn’t take too long to get a drink.

“Daisy, contrary to what you believe, I’m not a snob,” he said. “And yes, low-income families can certainly come in and enjoy the benefits of this place, or at my place for that matter.”

“But they can’t live here,” she pushed. They moved forward in line.

“No, these aren’t priced in the low-income range. Technically, low-income rentals have housing assistance,” he added.

“There are Habitat houses low-income families can buy,” she told him.

“That’s true, and my family, including me, put a lot of time and money into Habitat. Most of these types of neighborhoods aren’t zoned for Habitat houses as they are larger homes, but that’s something we could possibly look into for a future project.” She wasn’t sure if he was simply humoring her or not.

“People working for minimum wage should be able to buy a house,” she said. They moved forward again. The smells coming from the coffee cart were making her mouth water.

“Do you know that starting wage jobs aren’t meant to support a household?” he asked.

“Well, of course not when the wages are so low,” she said with a roll of her eyes. He laughed but kept talking.

“Minimum wage jobs have always been meant as starter jobs. They are for high school and college aged children. They’re for retired people wanting to be out in the community instead of sitting at home, and they’re for those who are going through school, getting an education that can help them get a good job that allows them to move forward in life. People always talk about minimum wage needing to go higher and higher. But the reality is that we have low wage jobs for those just beginning in life, middle wage jobs for those who’ve accumulated more skills, and high wage jobs for those who’ve put in the work.”

“Did the Facebook billionaire put in the work?” Daisy asked pointedly.

Hudson laughed. “I bet he did,” he said as they stepped to the front of the line. He put in their order, then moved over to the pickup window before he continued. “He probably spent his entire youth on a computer. I’m not saying everyone goes through the steps, I’m just saying that there are different levels and we’re all meant to take steps up the ladder.”

“What about the people who can’t climb?” she asked.

They were handed their coffee and they moved away, continuing to walk another trail as he showed her this community he was so impressed by.

“I think the people who don’t have the ability to climb because of disabilities and such are the ones we help the most. But those capable of climbing but simply choosing not to shouldn’t get a free pass,” he told her. “Also, home ownership isn’t always an asset, especially for someone just starting out. Rentals are often more affordable than mortgages, taxes and insurance. And owning