Page 4 of The Beach House With You

“Jason Flaherty?!” she asked, surprised. “He’s still around?” Jeanette shook her head in amazement. “By now, I thought he’d be a millionaire contractor in some big city.”

“He was,” Amanda replied, “but he came back when his daddy died and never left. I’m not really sure if that’s what he had planned, but he’s made it work. Our place wasn’t the only one that got hit hard. Most had to sell. Jason bought them up and owns a company called Provincetown Properties now.”

“How original,” Jeanette replied dryly.

“We think he wants our place too.” Whitney perked up. “I mean, why else would he be so willing to help?”

“Do you want to sell?” Jeanette asked, looking back and forth between the two of them.

“No!” they replied in unison. Just like they used to when they were young.

Jeanette pulled her lips between her teeth, hiding her smile. Some things never changed.

“Besides, even if we did, Joe would swoop in in a second. He’s been a bear with a sore behind ever since he discovered Mamma didn’t leave him anything. Thinks he deserves a cut of The Sea Glass Cottage,” Amanda said, rolling her eyes.

“Shows up once or twice a week to pester us about ‘buying in,’” Whitney added, “as if he had anything to offer.”

Joe. Jeanette remembered Joe. He was an awful boy who had loved to make all of the girls cry. He’d put wasps down their dresses, would hide behind trees to scare them and then chase them with sticks. One time he’d locked Amanda in a closet and not even the grown-ups could convince him to give up the key. Aunt Miriam eventually had to call the sheriff’s office, and Jason’s daddy had to come and jimmy the door open. Everyone had been furious, but Joe’s father, Aunt Miriam’s second husband, had refused to let anyone punish him.

“I’m assuming he hasn’t changed much?” Jeanette asked.

“Not one bit,” Whitney replied dryly. “But let’s talk of better things. Look! We’re here!”

Once off the ferry, they walked to the parking garage where they loaded Jeanette’s luggage into The Sea Glass Cottage shuttle van. The drive home was very short, and now, as Jeanette looked out the window and toward the old bed and breakfast, she felt a whoosh of happiness go through her, stomping out the negative emotions she’d been feeling over hearing about Joe.

Despite the renovations, it looked exactly the way it did when she was little. Like straight out of a fairy tale book, it still looked more like a castle than it did a house, with rounded turrets and quaint little quirks. Amanda had put her own artistic touches on it, like setting colorful marbles and stones into the walkways, making them sparkle in the sunlight.

“What do you think?” Amanda asked, smiling as she opened the back doors of the shuttle van.

“Like stepping back in time,” Jeanette replied with a smile, her eyes still taking in the view. Just beyond the bed and breakfast was the beach, which even from here she could see was speckled with guests from the surrounding tourist properties.

From behind her, she felt Whitney wrap her arms around her and give her another squeeze.

“Welcome home, honey,” she said warmly. “Come on, let’s get you settled.”

* * *

Jeanette looked around the room,wide-eyed. “Babes, this is sweet, but you don’t have to give me this room,” she assured them. “It’s a suite! I mean, it could be rented out as is!”

“It could,” Whitney agreed with a shrug, “but we’re not going to. Like we said, we’re not going to take on guests again until the whole place is finished. There’s no reason for not letting you enjoy it.”

Jeanette remembered this room. She’d loved to sneak into it between guests and play princess. It was one of the turret rooms, beautifully rounded instead of squared, with a wraparound balcony and circular windows that popped outwards instead of drawing up. The walls had been painted a bright white, which captured the sunlight perfectly and brightened up the room. The bed was outdated but greatly appreciated by Jeanette. It was an antique, dark oak, four-poster bed complete with baby blue curtains that wrapped around it. The furniture matched the bed perfectly with each piece adorned with the same baby blue fabric.

“I love it.” She sighed, turning around to face her cousins with a big smile. “Thank you both so much. For the room, for being you, for everything.”

“Oh, honey, that’s what family’s for!” Amanda exclaimed, bouncing on her feet excitedly.

“Besides, we’ve missed you,” Whitney added with the same enthusiasm. She paused, as if rethinking her statement, and added, “Although we are saddened by the circumstances.”

Ah, yes. The circumstances. To her surprise, Jeanette had been so wrapped up in hearing about The Sea Glass Cottage and walking down memory lane, she’d almost forgotten the whole reason why she was there. Suddenly feeling drained, she sat down hard on the edge of the bed and sighed.

“I almost forgot,” she murmured, her eyebrows lifting up. Across from her, she caught Amanda shooting Whitney a dirty look and elbowing her gently in the ribs.

“Sorry, babes,” Whitney said regretfully, “can we do anything?”

Amanda placed a hand on her younger sister’s shoulder and squeezed gently, stopping her from making more futile attempts to repair the conversation.

“Why don’t you take some time to unpack?” Amanda asked gently, looking at Jeanette. “It’s almost lunchtime. We’ll go downstairs and organize some food. You just come join us whenever you’re ready. How does that sound?”

---