“Is everything okay?”

“I’m not sure.” He shrugged. “Maeve is in the hospital again. I need to go see what’s going on.”

Candy frowned as she watched him leave the bar, but she waved Arnie away as he came to take the broom from her.

“No need,” she told him.

Arnie blinked in surprise, then stepped back to admire Candy’s trim backside and sweeping technique as she quickly and expertly swept up under every table in the restaurant.

“Try not to worry—Jamie can’t just storm back into town and demand that you sell your business or he’ll take Maeve away from you,” Courtney said, shaking her head. “Thankfully, the courts don’t work that way. A judge will always do what is best for Maeve.” Courtney soothed Kara after they had comforted the little girl.

“I hope so,” she replied. She then nodded at Evelyn, who shot her a tear-filled look and, after checking again to assure herself that Maeve was okay, hurried out of the room in search of her son.

Courtney sighed. “I should warn you, though, Jamie can make life difficult for you until we get the courts to see that it’s in Maeve’s best interest for him to continue to leave you both alone.”

Kara wrapped her arms tightly around Maeve and took a deep breath to try and slow her rapid heartbeat. “I have no idea what he is up to with all this. It would be just like him to use our child to get money from the sale of the garden center land, though.” She sighed. “I suppose that’s why he’s back in Larkin Bay, and what he’s wanted all along. But do I have to give up the garden center just to keep Maeve with me?” she asked.

Courtney bit her bottom lip and reached over to hug Kara. “Don’t worry, we’ll sort it out,” she comforted her. “There’s no way we’ll let Jamie do this. Maeve is staying with you.” She smiled and watched the little girl snuggle closer to her mother as Kara gave a deep sigh of relief.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

“I can’t thank you enough for this opportunity,” Scott said to the three gentlemen seated in the dark leather club chairs across from him. “I really enjoyed working with you today. It’s been great to reconnect with people who are as passionate about baseball as I am, and I appreciate everything you’ve shown and taught me.”

The white-haired commentator that Scott had worked alongside to record his audition tape nodded and smiled back at him. “It was great working with you today too,” he replied, “and even though it was only a taped game, you show a natural aptitude for commentary work. I’ve done at least ten audition reels over the past few months, and not one of those old jocks were nearly as articulate as you were today.”

“That’s very nice of you to say. Thank you.”

“Well, I just hope you’re serious about leaving that law career of yours and coming to work for one of our broadcasting stations because, from what I saw today, it looks like you’d be a great addition to our team. And,” he added with a laugh, “I’d be thrilled to finally find someone good who can take over so I can ride off into a retirement sunset soon.”

The other commentators and the cameraman who had shot the demo reel nodded and laughed. They had also seen how the camera loved Scott, and his passion for baseball and the players had been clear throughout the entire afternoon session—he could be a star.

“Well, that sounds really great,” said Scott, chuckling along with them. “I’ve really enjoyed myself this afternoon and I appreciate all the help each of you gave me too. This has been a great experience.”

After they had all gotten to their feet and spent a few more minutes shaking hands and making promises to keep in touch, Scott left the broadcasting station and soon found himself settled in the back of a limo on his way to the airport to catch his flight back home.

Home.

Scott smiled as he realized how quickly Larkin Bay had become synonymous with home to him. The limo had barely pulled away from the curb when Scott’s cell phone vibrated. He picked it up, saw it was Max calling, and pushed the accept button.

“Scott! I just talked to some people who saw your audition today, and they were all abuzz about how fantastic you were!”

“Thanks, Max. Was the chatter good? I had a great time doing the audition. It was a lot of fun,” replied Scott.

“They loved you, and they all said the camera did too. You impressed everyone there so much that I don’t think it’ll take them long to get back to us about the next steps. They won’t want to take the chance of losing you to another station.”

Scott laughed softly. He could almost hear Max rubbing his hands together in glee. “You told them I was talking to another station?” he asked. He knew Max hadn’t entered into discussions with anyone else, but he also knew his agent wouldn’t blink an eye at implying that he had if he figured it would get Scott a better deal and himself a higher commission.

“But of course!” Max replied with a chuckle.

Scott listened to the rest of what Max was saying, but also found himself wondering why he wasn’t more excited about how things had gone today. It had truly been a fun and interesting experience, but he didn’t feel any excitement over the possibility of getting an offer to return and do it again or even about receiving a contract to make this his career. Honestly, all he felt was impatience to get to the airport and head back home. It took all the self-control he had not to disconnect the call.

After a few more minutes, he interrupted his agent. “It all sounds great, Max. Let me know what you hear next.” He then hit the disconnect button on his phone and quickly pushed the keys to block all incoming calls for the next hour. He knew the next call he’d get would probably be from an overexcited Candy, and he wasn’t in the mood to talk to her. How she would find out that the audition went well, Scott didn’t know. But he knew she would, and she’d be just as ecstatic about his future and her part in it as Max had been.

Looking at his phone texts, Scott reread the one from Kara, wishing him the best of luck for today. Rubbing his finger over the words, he smiled and settled back in the cab, impatient to get to the airport and onto the plane that would take him home.

A few hours later, Scott was settled back in his plane seat, tapping his fingers impatiently on the armrest. His flight had been sitting on the runway now for over an hour, and as he looked out the window, he tried to block out the sounds of the other restless passengers around him. The rain and fog surrounding the city had left the plane feeling humid and slightly sour smelling. He couldn’t wait to get off it and back to the clear, sunny day his weather app assured him was happening back in Larkin Bay.

Scott’s phone vibrated, and he grimaced. The same number had flashed regularly on his call display over the last hour. He picked it up. “Hello, Candy, how are you?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” Candy’s breathless and sexy, low voice responded. “But I see your plane has been delayed because of the weather, so I was just going to leave you a message letting you know that I’m already waiting at the airport for you. You can meet me at the arrival-level Starbucks when you get in.”

Scott shook his head and decided that it wasn’t worth telling her again that he would just take a taxi and that she didn’t need to wait or pick him up. Candy hadn’t listened to him the last three times he had insisted he would make his own arrangements to get home from the airport, and so another rehashing of it probably still wouldn’t make a difference. “Thank you, Candy. It’s a short flight, but I’ll meet you there as soon as I can,” he replied and hung up the phone, wondering when, if ever, she would pick up on the lack of enthusiasm in his tone.

A second later, his phone vibrated again, and Scott gave an exasperated groan, causing his seatmate to look up from his book in surprise. After shooting him an apologetic look, Scott looked down at his messages again, wondering if there was some way he could set up his incoming messages from Candy so he only received every third or fourth one. Swiping open his message app, his eyebrows lifted when he saw that this time, the text wasn’t from Candy but from an old friend who still played professional baseball. His finger hovered over it for a minute.

Should I hit Delete or Reply?

Greg Nagy had once been one of Scott’s closest friends. They had played in the minor leagues together growing up, and no one had been happier for him than Greg when Scott had been drafted to the major leagues. He and Greg had never played on the same professional team together, but the few times a year when they found themselves in the same city, they had always gotten together to go out for drinks and dinner. Greg had always been what Scott had considered one of the good guys and he’d tried to keep in touch with Scott both during his surgery and afterward while he had attended law school.

Scott read through the message quickly and saw that Greg had also heard about his interview today and sent his congratulations. He knew Greg was doing well enough in his own career that he was sincere and wasn’t looking for any handouts. Scott debated replying for a moment but finally hit the delete button. He’d been on his own for so long now he wasn’t sure he knew how to be a friend to anyone anymore. It was probably best to just leave his friendship with Greg in the past.

“Jamie can’t do anything,” Mark reassured Kara again the next day. “Legally, I don’t think he can touch Maeve, and besides, even if he tries, we won’t let him.”

Courtney nodded her agreement to Mark’s words and patted Kara’s hand reassuringly. “You’re a great mother,” she added, “and you’ve been with Maeve since day one. Jamie is all bluster, and once he calms down, he’s going to realize it too,” she insisted, repeating what she had said the night before.

Kara nodded slowly. Since she’d now had some time to think about Jamie’s outburst, she’d reached the same conclusion. She knew his threats couldn’t readily be acted upon, but she still worried that Jamie could make her and Maeve’s life difficult and uncomfortable. The thought left Kara feeling shaken and vulnerable.

Sighing, she sat on the edge of Maeve’s hospital bed and rubbed her eyes. They felt gritty, and as Kara ran her hand through her hair, she realized it was sticky.

I must look awful.

Mark watched as Kara frowned and studied her reflection in the window across from her. Smiling, he went over and engulfed her in a hug. “It’s all going to be okay,” he said to her quietly. “Maeve’s going to be just fine now that her glucose levels are stabilized. You don’t have to sell your business if you don’t want to, and you don’t need to worry about Jamie, either. You just stay here and keep an eye on Maeve. Mary has everything at the garden center under control, and I will do whatever is necessary to deal with Jamie,” he added menacingly.

Kara looked at him questioningly as Courtney laughed and covered her ears in mock dismay. “I heard nothing,” she said and shot a smile at Mark, knowing that his gentle nature would keep him from physically hurting the other man.

“But, hon, Mark’s right. You do have nothing to worry about. When Scott gets back, I will get him to do some digging and find out who exactly is behind the offer to buy the garden center. I have a funny feeling Jamie’s probably got his fingers in the pie of this sale and it’s your refusing to sell it that’s really behind his threats today.”

Mark looked over at Courtney and nodded his agreement. “The other night Jamie’s sister was in the pub and she implied that he’s behind this whole scheme.”

Courtney raised an eyebrow at him, and Kara gave a half smile before walking back to the bed and cuddling Maeve again. “Thank you, both of you. I appreciate all your help,” she said, looking over at them. “As soon as Maeve is healthy and things are back to normal, I’ll make it up to you somehow.”

“There’s nothing for you to make up to us,” Courtney reassured her.

They all then turned to the door to greet Evelyn. She had come back to the hospital to check on Maeve and report that Jamie had seen a doctor and, except for a few bumps and bruises, would be fine.

As the other visitors talked about Jamie’s accident and outburst, Kara looked quietly down at her phone again and saw there was no reply yet to the text she had sent to Scott. She frowned.