Maybe I turned away too soon?

Kara nodded and watched as a slow smile spread across Scott’s face. She smiled back, and when he reached across the table to pull her hand into his, she squeezed it softly and just for a moment let her fluttering heart wonder what could possibly be.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

As Scott got off the plane and entered the airport’s main terminal, he wiped the sweat off his brow and grimaced. The airport was hot, humid, and crowded. Voices were raised all around him and that, combined with the noise from the street, added to his feelings of claustrophobia. Spotting an exit, he quickly left the crowded terminal and headed outside.

“You need a cab?” asked the uniformed officer behind the roped-off taxi loading platform, and at Scott’s nod he quickly whistled one to the curb while unhooking the velvet cord between them.

“I’m surprised he can hear you, over all this,” Scott said, waving one hand in the air to encompass the overwhelming chaos of too many people and cars in a small space. “It smells awful here too,” he added, wrinkling his nose against the smell of gasoline and the nearby overflowing garbage cans.

The man grinned and held open the back door of the taxi now waiting at the curb in front of them. After handing him a bill, Scott grabbed the handle of his small carry-on bag more firmly and climbed into the back seat of the taxi, trying to remember how in the past he would have found this scene invigorating. A minute later, he was being driven to the small boutique hotel Max had booked for him.

The city noise also masks an exhausting efficiency.

“Are you staying long at the hotel?” asked the driver as Scott drummed his fingers on the seat back in front of him.

“Just overnight. I’m here for business,” Scott replied with a clipped tone, looking down at his phone. He was usually more talkative and friendly with cab drivers, but today he was nervous. He’d never attempted to commentate a game before and was certain that he’d still be much more at ease in front of the camera playing baseball than talking about it. But since he’d agreed to this audition, he now felt duty bound to give it his best shot.

After arriving at the hotel, Scott thanked the taxi driver for the ride and hurried up the wide marble steps of the glass high-rise building. The front desk clerk batted her long, thick lashes at him for a moment before handing him his room key along with a thick, letter-sized envelope from Max containing information on how the taping of his audition would proceed the next morning.

The first part of the day had been arranged so Scott could meet a few of the people he would be working with before the actual taping was done in the afternoon. They would be putting together a few reels of him commentating for the television station executives to watch and evaluate.

If those meetings and tapes went well, Scott assumed there would be more meetings and discussions scheduled, after which he might be sent to the minor leagues to try his hand at calling games. If audiences liked him, he could, in time, be moved to bigger markets. He’d be learning as he went, but Max had assured him that with his intimate baseball knowledge and background, Scott would move up through the ranks quickly.

Yawning, he put down the printed instructions and went to look out his hotel room window. He was missing Larkin Bay. Even though he’d only been there for a couple months, he was already thinking of it as home. He smiled.

Being homesick is a new emotion for me.

His phone buzzed. Glancing at it, he saw he’d received a text from Candy. She’d extended her Larkin Bay hotel suite stay for another month and had informed him she was having more of her personal possessions shipped to her room from her large penthouse apartment in the city. Scott had tried to keep his interactions with her to a minimum since the volunteer dinner. He didn’t know what was keeping her in Larkin Bay, but he was certain he wasn’t misleading her into thinking something might happen between them again.

He returned to reading the rest of the information from Max and had just finished when his phone buzzed again. This time when he glanced at his texts, a grin spread across his face as he saw the message was from Kara.

Thinking of you. Good Luck. Always follow your dreams… the text read.

Scott felt his heart rate speed up, along with a renewed longing to be back in Larkin Bay. He would have loved to be able to drive over to the garden center right then and share with Kara how he was feeling. Somehow, he knew being with her would make all his nerves disappear. He also felt an overwhelming desire to check on how things were going between her and Jamie—to make sure Kara and Maeve were safe.

Instead, Scott went over to his bag and pulled out a clean shirt. Going into the bathroom, he freshened up and had just finished dressing when his phone chimed again. This time, it was a phone call with a masked private number showing.

“Hello,” he answered, moving toward the window, where he knew he’d get better reception. “Scott Davidson speaking.”

“Scottie? It’s me,” answered Candy. “I was just wondering how you were. I sent you a text but didn’t hear back.”

“Sorry, Candy. It’s been a busy morning. I’ve just finished checking into my room,” Scott replied. “I have to meet Max at the hotel bar in a few minutes to go over what will happen at the studio tomorrow.”

“Ohhhh. That’s so thrilling. Good luck with everything,” Candy replied, her tone bright and cheerful.

“Thank you. It’s all pretty exciting,” Scott replied, shrugging on a dark fitted blazer.

“You’ll do great—I know you will. This is the perfect life for you. Baseball is what you love, so that’s going to shine through when you commentate.”

“Well, we’ll see. I could be terrible at it.”

“Oh, don’t be so humble! It’s just so amazing that you’re getting the opportunity to share your passion with everyone! I think this is great. And once you’ve signed the contract, we can both move back into the city and be stars again!” she added happily.

Scott stayed quiet. Candy thinks baseball is my passion. Is it really, though?

He cleared his throat.

Perhaps baseball was an old passion? Maybe some passions fade away and are replaced by new things or new people?

Candy continued to share all her plans, but Scott found himself tapping his foot impatiently, not wanting to hear about them.

“I have to go,” he finally interrupted her. “The elevator is here, and I’m going to lose my signal,” he lied, glancing in the mirror to make sure he wasn’t missing anything. “Thanks for checking in, though. I appreciate you thinking about me.”

Not bothering to wait for her reply he disconnected the call, grabbed the papers Max had left, and shoved everything into a leather portfolio, as he headed out the door. He bypassed the elevator for the stairs. He was suddenly eager for some exercise to help clear his chaotic thoughts and hopefully allow him to focus on what exactly he wanted to do next.

“Kara?” Mary had to yell loudly over the hum of people shopping in order to get her friend’s attention. “Evelyn’s on the line holding for you. She sounds pretty upset too. I think you should take this call.” At Mary’s words, Kara looked up with a concerned frown from the inventory list she’d been reading.

“Jamie’s mom is on the phone? What does Evelyn want? And why didn’t she call my cell?” Kara asked, her brows drawing together as she hurried to the front of the store to pick up the landline phone there.

A moment later, Mary reached out a hand to steady Kara, who was turning pale as she listened intently to what Evelyn was saying. “I’ll be there as soon as I can,” she finally whispered hoarsely and hung up the phone.

She turned to Mary. “It’s Maeve,” she said as she untied her apron and dropped it on the floor. Mary followed her as she hurried to the back of the store to pick up her purse and truck keys. “Something must have gone wrong with her blood levels or her insulin. Evelyn says she’s acting out of sorts, shaking, and complaining she can’t see right. Jamie’s dad has diabetes, but Evelyn says she’s never seen anything like this before. She’s called an ambulance. I’m going to meet them at the hospital.”

Mary followed Kara to the back of the store and hung up her apron before calmly taking Kara’s truck keys from her shaking hand.

“Come on,” she said, “I’m driving you. You’re too upset to get behind the wheel of a car, and there’s no way I’m letting you go to the hospital alone.”

Kara nodded mutely, and together the women hurried to the front of the store. Mary paused there for a moment to quickly tell the rest of the staff what had happened, then ran to join Kara in her truck. A few minutes later, Mary sprayed gravel off the tires of the vehicle as she sped quickly out of the parking lot and raced across town to get Kara to Maeve’s side.

Jamie had sat through tough meetings before, but today had been one of the hardest that he could ever remember. “I know you hired me to ensure that this deal went through quickly, and I can understand why you might be getting impatient,” he said in a loud voice, hoping it inspired confidence in him from the group of men seated across the boardroom table.

One of them nodded solemnly. “Yes, and we’ve already agreed to one extension on our offer to buy the garden center after the little girl was taken ill. But now it seems they want to drag this out even longer. I think it might be time to withdraw our offer and move on to other opportunities.”

Jamie forced a smile. Everyone was becoming impatient and more insistent that he get things sorted out with Kara quickly. Jamie hadn’t told them that she had no idea he was part of the group trying to buy the land, and he was still hoping he wouldn’t have to share this information with her.

“I don’t think we need to remind you,” added one of the other expensively attired men, “that you’ve already been given a substantial amount of money upfront to make sure this deal got done swiftly, and we will expect you to either deliver the signed contract soon or return the fee.”

Jamie nodded. Unfortunately, returning the money to them wasn’t an option. Even though he had been living with his parents for the past few weeks, spending time in both the city and Larkin Bay was expensive, and since Jamie had recently purchased himself a new sports car, most of the money was already spent.

He kept smiling.

Later, driving back to Larkin Bay, Jamie slapped his palm on the steering wheel. Looking around at the forested scenery around him, he didn’t see its natural beauty but instead found it claustrophobic. He was already missing the brick-and-concrete city he’d just left behind.

Reaching out, he turned up his drum-heavy rock and roll playlist and pushed the gas pedal of the car down a little harder. Jamie grinned as he felt the vehicle respond to the pressure. He loved this car and driving it back and forth to the city weekly was the one thing making his whole miserable stay in Larkin Bay bearable right now.