Stuck With The Billionaire Grump: A Small Town Enemies to Lovers Sweet Romance by Andrea Ocean

Author:Andrea Ocean [Ocean, Andrea]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2024-08-22T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven: Lucy

“Did you guys hear old man Beaufort passed away last weekend?” says Tasha, leaning back against the couch cushions as she unfolds a Korean face mask and smooths it onto her face.

“That’s a cheerful topic for a slumber party,” replies Sam—or rather, Mayor Dechaine—with a sarcastic snort. She doesn’t look very Mayor-like at the moment, though, considering she’s in a bright pink pajama set.

In fact, we’re all in matching, brightly-colored pajamas. Even though we technically had the J-and-E B-B-B, I planned for this final low-key bachelorette event to take place the night before the wedding so that we could all enjoy some much-needed girly time after the chaos of this past week. One last final farewell to Josie’s single life, even though we’ll definitely still be having slumber parties until we’re old and wrinkly.

“Isn’t gossiping, like, a key part of slumber parties?” Mabel adds to the conversation.

“Who is old man Beaufort?” asks Brittany, mine and Josie’s cousin from Pennsylvania. She’s a small business owner just like us, but didn’t hesitate to take time off to drive all the way out to the Cape for the wedding festivities.

“Roger Beaufort,” Amy clarifies for her. “He owns Beaufort Manor.”

That clearly means nothing to Brittany, who didn’t grow up in Mermaid Shores, so Amy’s twin, Ruby, jumps in to explain.

“It’s a huge estate out on the cliffs, not far from Blakeley Manor.”

“It’s not nearly as well-maintained as Blakeley, though,” Amy adds.

Ruby gives her sister a disapproving look. “Well, he’s just one old man. I don’t think he has any family. Meanwhile, the Linworths have been taking care of Blakeley as part of a team effort for over a century. There are tons of Linworths.”

“My mom, for example,” Tasha chimes in.

Ruby grins at her. “Exactly. How is your mom, by the way? I’m in New York so much that I can hardly stay up to date with everyone back home.”

Tasha shakes her head and waves off Ruby’s question. “She’s fine. Same old Greta. Still trying to perfect the art of homemade vegan cheese.”

“Hey, at least she doesn’t give up on her goals,” replies Ruby with a shrug.

“Wait, can we circle back to Beaufort?” Mabel pipes up while she arranges an array of sugary snacks—all courtesy of Gigi Lee—on the coffee table. “If the old man has passed away, what will happen to the manor?”

That puzzles all of us. Mr. Beaufort was a notorious hermit. He came to this town as a tourist in the eighties, purchased the historic manor, renamed it after himself, and has been here ever since. Despite that, he’s rarely been seen around town, even during the off season when the tourists empty out and this place gets calm and quiet for a few months.

The last time I saw him was maybe four or five years ago. He was down on the public beach in late October, right after tourist season had officially ended. I remember it because Josie pointed him out and wondered if, in his extremely advanced age, he had gotten a little lost and confused.

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