Page 105 of The Billionaire's Teacher

“You don’t agree?” Clara arched an eyebrow.

“Oh, I do.” I paused, frowning as a thought occurred to me. “Does Bennie still do property management?”

“Sure. I don’t need him here all the time. He only comes in on his light days. Why?” Clara tsked and raised a finger. “Your cottage. Yes, absolutely. I’ll send him out and you can talk. I know how to fix his tacos. Go sit.”

Clara shooed me toward the tables and hurried back to the kitchen.

I hadn’t firmly decided a vacation rental was the right way to go, but with Bennie looking out for it, my cottage would do fine. Couples, maybe even small families, looking for a quiet beach retreat would love it.

I sat and watched the other patrons while I waited. It didn’t take long for Bennie to appear, laptop under his arm.

“Clara says you want to rent your cottage. So smart. You’ll leave the furnishings?”

I nodded. I wouldn’t need them. Wes had a fully furnished townhouse in Old Town. Thankfully, I loved it. I probably would change a few things—there were some elements that screamed “I’m a bachelor!” but I could wait on that until he was ready.

“Do you want to do long term or just vacation?”

“Uh. I don’t know. You’re the expert. Advise me.” I leaned back as Clara approached the table with a plate. She set it in front of me and the spicy scent made my mouth water.

“I’ll be back with your coffee.” Clara nodded once.

“She seems happier than ever.” I watched Clara. She stopped to chat with the other customers, not something she normally did.

“We make each other happy. Even when we make each other angry.” Bennie grinned. “I think you know what I mean.”

I did. I’d had that with Luca. Now I was getting a second chance with Wes.

I ate while Bennie explained the pros and cons of including the possibility of long-term rentals instead of just focusing on the vacation market. Ultimately, we decided to try for the best of both worlds. Long-term rental from May to September. Maybe October if the renter needed it. Then vacation rental only during the high season. If someone wanted to rent for a whole year, the rent would be higher than the long-term summer rate, but not as high as if they booked multiple weeks of vacation time.

It sounded like a good plan, but I made sure Bennie knew he had the authority to tweak it if it didn’t work. When I finished my meal, I headed back out, climbed on my bike, and rode out to my cottage as the sun started to set.

I spent some time dusting and swapped out the bed sheets, leaving the old ones on the line to air out overnight. Then, I sat on the front step and buried my toes in the sand and called Wes.

“There you are.” Wes’s voice held a smile.

“Is it weird that I miss you?” I looked out over the water. The moon was rising on the horizon.

“I hope not, because I miss you, too. Maybe if it is, we can just be weird together.”

I chuckled. “Deal. When do you close on the island again?”

“Thursday. I wish you could have stayed longer. I would’ve been able to come down with you.”

“I know. But I have things to settle here. And with your parents gone, we lost our chaperone.” We really needed that chaperone. I wasn’t sure how to convince Wes that we should get married now. We’d done all but two of the premarital counseling sessions the pastor had outlined. He’d been convinced we probably didn’t need the final ones, but he was open to doing them virtually if we wanted. “Did you set up the video conference with the pastor?”

“Yeah. Tomorrow still works, right?”

“Yep.” I didn’t have anything on my plan. Saturday was as good as any day. “Why aren’t you at poker?”

“The couples wanted date night. I have a strong suspicion they’re talking about us.”

“Don’t be paranoid.” I shook my head. “Megan must have found an employee to take the Friday night shift. That’s probably why.”

“Probably. I still think they’re talking about us.”

I shrugged even though he couldn’t see it. “So what? Let them.”

He sighed. “I guess. I don’t remember being like this with any of their girlfriends.”

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