“Should I, Mary? Am I a terrible parent if I don’t?” Kara looked over at the other woman and sighed heavily. “I mean, it is a lot of money, and it would be great for Maeve and me, but it means selling the garden center.” She smacked a hand on the table. “The. Garden. Center, Mary!”
The two women studied each other in silence for a few moments before Kara continued. “Is it right to sell away all the work and memories we made here just because someone is offering me a lot of money?”
Mary shook her head and picked up her teacup to blow on it. “Well, of course, that’s up to you. But your mother left you this place so that you and Mark and your children would have some security. Taking the money for it, is exactly why she wanted you to have it.”
“I guess.”
Mary gazed at Kara for a moment. “But there are also a lot of people in town who are worried about developments like this coming to Larkin Bay and changing the whole small-town character of the place.”
Kara looked at her friend and nodded.
“And, while many of the residents are eager to see expansion, they don’t want to see the whole historical and pretty downtown area dwarfed by high-rises, either.”
Kara frowned. “I know. I don’t, either.”
The women looked at each other in silence for a long moment.
“But if I don’t take advantage of an offer like this, wouldn’t someone else in town? Isn’t this type of growth inevitable?” Kara whispered.
Mary pulled back, and her eyes widened. Any reply she might have made, however, was interrupted by a loud tapping on the front door.
“For a place that’s supposedly closed today, we’re awfully busy,” mumbled Kara as she went to the front of the garden center and let April Timberland, the mayor of Larkin Bay, into the shop.
Kara led the well-dressed woman into the back office, where Maeve immediately and enthusiastically showed April her cookies and lemonade.
“Hello, Mary,” April finally said and received a nod in reply.
April then turned to Kara. “I hope you don’t mind me bursting in here to bother you when you’re closed.”
“I’m always happy to see you, Mayor April. Burst in anytime. It’s not a bother at all.”
The other woman smiled at her. “Well, thank you, but I’ll get right to the point. Mark has been telling a few of us about the offer you received to sell the garden center. If you’re considering selling, I would appreciate it if you gave the town council the chance to match any bid you might be considering. We’d be interested in adding the acreage to the conservation area and preserving the property as additional town parkland.”
Mary raised an eyebrow at the mayor. “It’s a great idea, April,” she said. “But before you talk about the town matching any offer that Kara has received, you might want to ask her how high the offer is.”
April’s eyes widened in alarm as she looked at Kara, who reluctantly told her the sum.
The mayor gasped and pressed her fingers to her lips.
“Oh. Well, that is a lot,” she replied. “And it’s probably beyond what the town can match.” Her shoulders slumped slightly for a minute, then straightened hopefully. “But I know you love running the garden center and being a business owner here in Larkin Bay too. Have you decided if you’re going to accept it?”
Kara shrugged. “No, I really haven’t,” she answered, looking away. “Courtney Blackstone was with me when I got the offer on Friday, and I’ve got thirty days to consider it.” She drew back when she saw the mayor’s stricken look.
“But I honestly haven’t made up my mind yet,” she hastened to reassure her.
“I see,” April replied, her face now slightly ashen. The mayor took a deep breath and then gamely turned the conversation to what a beautiful day it was and how she was surprised that the nursery wasn’t open for the spring season yet on Sundays.
“We start our spring hours next weekend,” Kara told her. “This is the last day we’ll be closed until after Christmas again. It’s hard to believe that it’s time to start planting, but with this early spring weather, I doubt we’ll see any more frost this year. So really, most of the summer plants can start going into the ground over the next few weeks.”
The mayor nodded and promised to be back soon to buy her own bedding plants and, after a few more minutes of small talk with Mary and Kara, excused herself to hurry out to a brunch she had to attend.
“I think I shocked her,” Kara said, turning to Mary. They’d both seen April’s worried frown as she’d turned away.
“Change can be hard,” replied Mary, her tone thoughtful, “but unfortunately, sometimes, it’s inevitable too.”
Chapter Twelve
The following week Kara winced as she looked at the scenes Mary was FaceTiming her from the garden center.
“Now, I know you’ve got things to do tonight, and there’s nothing you can do here, but I thought you should know what’s going on. I’ve shut off the water, and the plumber is on his way. I can stay until he gets here and then show him what we need fixed.”
“No, I’ll come over right now. I just have to drop Maeve off at her grandparents first.”
Mary snorted. “And do what? It’s just the greenhouse that’s flooded, thank goodness, and I’ve already opened up the sides so everything can drain out.”
“I can’t just not help!”
“Yes, you can. Besides, we won’t turn on the water again tonight. I’ve already closed up and sent everyone home a little early. Hopefully Will can get things sorted before morning, so we’ll have water back on inside before the sun even rises.”
“But?”
“But nothing. Will and I go way back. I’ll stay here until he tells me what needs doing and then get him on it. You don’t have much of a choice anyway. This has to be fixed. We can’t operate without running water.”
“I know,” Kara sighed.
“This isn’t really a surprise, either,” Mary continued. “They told us when we renovated out there that the pipes were old and would need replacing sooner rather than later.”
