No ordinary Billionaire

CHAPTER 2

"Did you read my column today?"

Dr. Sarah Baxter bit her lip to keep from smug as

she looked at her elderly female patient, still sitting on

a exam table after a routine visit. Elsie Renfrew was ec-

centric, but she was also a member of the Amesport City

Council, and the biggest gossip in town, so she was far

from demented. Sarah had grown very fond of the older

woman, but she knew just how wily she actually was, and

that Elsie knew the personal business of almost every resi-

dent in Amesport. Most people in town called her Elsie the

Informer, but Mrs. Renfrew had enough power and clout

locally that nobody would dare mention that moniker to

the venerable woman face-to-face. Sarah rather admired

the older woman's spunk, but she found herself constantly

and carefully monitoring anything she said to the chirpy,

inquisitive woman. Even a casual comment about another

Amesport resident was likely to end up in Elsie's What's

Happening in Amesport column of the Amesport Herald if

there was even a hint of juicy information. Sarah might ad-

mire the fact that her patient was over the age of eighty and

still so active in the community, but she'd also readily admit

that Mrs. Renfrew terrified the hell out of her sometimes.

Just the slightest slip and the seemingly sweet woman

would twist the information around and make it the sub-

ject of town gossip. Not that Elsie was mean-spirited. She

just felt it was her duty to report any news in Amesport

nice her roots in the area went back to the time the town

was founded.

"No, Mrs. Renfrew, I haven't had a chance to read the

paper today." Sarah knew she was blatantly lying, but she

quickly justified that ebbing was better than the possi-

ble alternative. She'd read the newspaper this morning at

breakfast, including Elsie's article titled "Another Sinclair

Hottie Returns to Amesport Wounded." If there was one

thing Sara definitely didn't want Mrs. Renfrew to know,

it was that she knew way more about that situation than

anyone else in town—except for the so-called rich hottie's

family.

"Now, honey, I told you to call me Elsie ages ago."

The tiny gray-hared woman patted Sarah on the arm and