Page 1 of Return to Lovett Cove
PROLOGUE
Ms. Grove,
I hopethis email finds you well. Thank you for your spirited response to my last message. I consulted with the attorney assigned to your mother’s estate, and he reiterated what I outlined in my three previous emails: to complete the residential transfer request, you’ll need to sign and notarize the documents here in Lovett Cove.
I appreciate how inconvenient this will be; unfortunately, we must have an in-person signature per your mother’s final instructions. I’m confident that once you’ve seen our charming town, you’ll understand why your mother wanted you to visit. Looking forward to meeting you soon.
Sincerely,
R.Scott
Lovett Cove Realty
CHAPTERONE
“Ihope this email finds you well,” Jasmine Grove grumbled. The nerve of this R. Scott. He knew full well his email would find herunwell.
Jasmine followed the directions on her rental car’s GPS. She exited the highway and onto a two-lane road that led away from civilization and into the mountainous region where her mother had settled in retirement.
Some place called Lovett Cove.
Jasmine asked her phone to connect her to Kennedy, her personal assistant. Jasmine had asked Kennedy to keep her phone on while she was here in the mountainous coves of the Northeast in case Kennedy had to file a missing persons report. Why had her mother retired here? It was a long way from Philadelphia, where she had raised her six daughters.
Kennedy answered on the first ring. “Jasmine! Are you there yet?”
It was good to hear her assistant’s voice. As vibrant green trees lined either side of the road, Jasmine felt isolated—and claustrophobic. “I’m almost there.”
“Is it…rural?” Kennedy choked.
“Compared to Philadelphia, it’s undeveloped. How are we doing on our projects?” She needed something to distract her on the drive.
As a senior marketing agent for a prestigious firm, Jasmine couldn’t afford to take time off to handle her mother’s business affairs almost halfway across the country. She was up for VP. She had to deliver on each project or she could lose her chance to be one step closer to becoming a partner. Jasmine had sworn to her mother that she would make partner in under ten years, much to the older woman’s skepticism.
And now Lily Grove was gone. But if Jasmine knew her mother, she was still looking down from heaven and judging her daughter’s every professional choice.
“Everything is right on schedule,” Kennedy said confidently. “I emailed the final draft plan for the Miller Proposal to the partners, and the last deliverables for the Babcock Project have been completed.”
Jasmine would’ve closed her eyes and sighed in relief, but she didn’t want to take her eyes off the sketchy road for a second. “Okay, sounds like everything is under control,” Jasmine’s voice wavered.
“Of course it is! I’m watching your inbox for notes on the Miller proposal from the partners. Why don’t you enjoy yourself?” Kennedy suggested.
“What? Out here in the middle of the woods? Kennedy, do you know me?”
Her assistant chuckled. “I know you called me for an update an hour ago.”
“And you’ve done great work in that hour.” Just like Jasmine had taught her. “If I didn’t believe you could handle the workload, I never would’ve left.”
“And miss out on what your mother left you?”
“A bed-and-breakfast in the middle of the forest? Kennedy, theonlyreason I’m not in the office right now is because this hick real estate agent?—”
“R. Scott?”
“Yes, R. Scott,” Jasmine ground out. The man (she assumed it was a man given the tone of his emails) was unyielding in providing areasonablesolution to her problem and unrelenting in what he described was the only way forward.
Lily Grove had left her an inn that required a signature—in ink—on the paperwork for Jasmine to take ownership. Why her mother couldn’t just accept an electronic signature, Jasmine would never know. Lily passed away from a heart attack despite being a fit and active woman in her late fifties. Her sudden death left the Grove sisters in shock. No one more than Jasmine, who was so close in realizing her professional dreams and proving her mother wrong.
And Jasmine right—finally.
