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to life with World War II.” Jake turned toward her and smiled. “In 1941, the Town Trust hired a feisty nurse-administrator to run the home—a woman by the name of Katherine Wesley. Lusty has never been the same since.”
    Maggie laughed, delighted with this bit of trivia. “That would be Grandma Kate!” The diminutive senior may have been ninety years old, but Maggie figured the term “feisty” still fit her like a deceptively soft leather glove.
    Jake chuckled. “She’s got you calling her that, too.”
    “The lady is kind of hard to resist.” Maggie couldn’t help but have a soft spot for Kate Benedict. “She more or less adopted me as another granddaughter, just like she did Ginny.”
    Jake nodded. “Kate was Ginny’s champion before Adam and I had the privilege to become so.”
    “I know.” Maggie’s own mother, Virginia Morrison, had known she had a granddaughter growing up in foster care in Texas. Yet she’d chosen to ignore the fact. Neither had she ever even told Maggie about Ginny. Maggie hadn’t learned of the young woman’s existence until after her mother’s death.
    Maggie was grateful Kate had filled the role of surrogate grandmother for Ginny, even though she’d no longer been a child.
    One could never be too old for grandmotherly love.
    Maggie brought her attention back to the conversation. “Kate Benedict is, as I said, very hard to resist. And now that you told me about her connection to this house, I think it’s rather fitting that this dignified, old building is going to have a new life.” Maggie recalled the sparkle in the older woman’s eyes when she’d told her she had the ideal place in mind for a B and B. “With eight bedrooms, not counting the master suite, it’s certainly large enough.” Maggie shook her head as she took in the parlor. “It’s perfect!”
    “The Town Trust has the responsibility of ensuring that every building it owns is maintained. So as repairs and maintenance have been warranted, they’ve been done.” Jake leaned against the amazing fireplace that filled one wall.
    This large parlor-like room would make a wonderful lounge area, a place where guests could mix and mingle. Perhaps she’d install some bookshelves, as well as a card table or two. Or better yet, a card table and a chess table!
    Jake coughed, and Maggie snapped her gaze to him. She immediately realized what she’d done.
    “Sorry. I zoned out on you. I was just imagining the possibilities with this room. Even though it’s only been a few days since I have officially been out of the hospitality industry, I’m eager to get started.”
    “Good. You do understand that whatever renovations you want done here will be taken care of by the Town Trust. You’ve just to name what’s to be done.”
    Maggie grinned. “Yes, so Grandma Kate has said, numerous times.” Maggie believed that perhaps the woman thought that, having previously owned her own motel, she might find the terms of doing business in Lusty prohibitive.
    Another innkeeper might resent the sort of financial arrangement the Town Trust required, but Maggie thought it would suit her to a tee.
    For the cost of her lease and a small percentage of the profits—a total sum she believed to be reasonable, really—she’d own the business but not the building or property.
    After what she’d gone through over the last several years with The Leprechaun Motor Hotel in Wildwood Crest, she was glad to give worry a rest for a change and focus on what she loved most, which was simply being an innkeeper.
    Besides, the biggest draw this town had to offer her was the opportunity to get to know her niece and grandnephew better. She didn’t need to make this business a success to earn her living. She had enough money in the bank to live comfortably for the rest of her life.
    She needed to make it a success because, quite simply, it was the way she was wired.
    The front door opened, and three men stepped into the unfurnished house.
    “There