Maybe he doesn’t care about me and Maeve as much as I thought.

Once his flight had departed, Scott read through all the emails stored on his phone. He prided himself on an empty inbox, and the ten unanswered emails sitting on his phone bothered him. Not so much because they were there, but because he wasn’t sure what to do with them.

They were all from acquaintances from Scott’s major league baseball days. Some messages were from men that he had genuinely liked and considered friends at one time. But a few of them were from acquaintances who had obviously heard about his possible return to the major leagues, albeit in a different capacity, and, he suspected, saw his change of fortune as an opportunity for themselves.

Impatiently, Scott deleted seven messages from people he hadn’t heard from in years. That left three messages from guys he had once considered friends, people he remembered had contacted him after his surgery and tried to support him during his very public social media fiasco with Candy. These were men he maybe shouldn’t have shut out and if Scott was more trusting, perhaps he would have been in touch with them long before now.

Scowling, he tapped on his phone and recovered the text message he had deleted from Greg earlier. Now he had four messages waiting for a reply from him. He frowned and considered what he could say. These four men had proven multiple times in the past that they were good people, so maybe he had been hasty in his decision to live his life alone. Perhaps he’d reply later.

Maybe Kara was right about the value of family and friendship.

Tucking his phone back into his pocket, Scott allowed himself a small, hopeful smile while he waited for the plane to finally land.

“Scott! Scottie! I’m over here!” Candy squealed in delight when she saw him exit the arrivals gate. She quickly planted a big lipstick-red kiss on his cheek and grabbed him by the arm. Scott sighed and reached up to rub the mark off his face, grimacing as the motion left him with a palm full of smeared red gel.

Candy laughed at his expression. “You’re a silly goose,” she said and, taking a tissue from her purse, gently reached up and rubbed the remaining stain off Scott’s cheek. Folding the tissue in half, she then used it to rub his hand clean before throwing it away. Smiling up at him, she tucked her arm in his and led the way through the terminal to the airport parking lot where she had left her car.

Remembering his promise to himself to be a better friend, Scott tried to focus on Candy’s cheerful chatter as she tripped along beside him on her red stiletto heels. Her bright cherry red tank top, tight-fitting black pants, and blond curls that cascaded down her back ensured she was attracting plenty of male attention as they walked. Still, Candy ignored it all, seemingly preferring instead to tell Scott about everything that had happened in Larkin Bay since he had left.

“You sound happy,” he said, smiling over at her after she had concluded her cheerful updates.

“I am. I like it in Larkin Bay. Who would have thought that a big-city girl like me would enjoy small-town life and people, but I do,” she replied with a bright laugh.

“Oh, but there is bad news too,” she added, frowning slightly when they arrived at her shiny gold-colored rental convertible in the parking lot.

“What’s that?” Scott asked curiously, stopping beside the car and shaking her arm loose so he could release the latch on the car’s trunk to place his bag inside.

“You know Maeve, Mark’s niece? Kara’s little girl? She’s back in the hospital again. Something about her blood sugar levels and how her grandmother didn’t give her the insulin she needed at the right time. I think she’s okay, but I don’t know for sure what happened…” Her voice trailed off when she saw Scott staring at her in shocked disbelief.

“What?” she asked, raising her hands in the air as her eyes widened in confusion. “Are you okay? What did I say?”

Scott reached for his phone and watched as numerous message notifications appeared. He hadn’t realized that since his phone had been set to sync only when he was accessing Wi-Fi, he wasn’t receiving all his texts.

Scott quickly read the message from Kara and tried to decide what to do. A wave of emotions paralyzed him for a moment. Maeve was in the hospital and he hadn’t been there for her or Kara. Instead, he’d been in the city, parading around like some big shot that he wasn’t and was pretty sure he didn’t even want to be, while the people he cared about needed him.

Now all he could think of was that he needed to get to the hospital as quickly as possible.

Grabbing the car keys out of Candy’s hand, he unlocked the car, opened the back door, and threw his bag onto the back seat.

“Get in,” he growled at Candy, who quickly complied, and a moment later, the tires of her rental car were squealing as Scott turned the car around, racing away from the airport back to Larkin Bay.

Chapter Thirty

As they waited for Dr. Casey to finish reading through Maeve’s chart, Kara cuddled the wiggling child on her knee. The little girl was restless and more than ready to leave her hospital room and go home.

“Everything here looks great,” the doctor finally pronounced, looking up from the metal clipboard she was holding. Dr. Casey smiled as Kara’s shoulders dropped in relief. “Her glucose levels look fine, and after a good night’s sleep, she seems full of energy. I think what your mother-in-law saw were symptoms of Maeve adjusting to her new medication combined with perhaps the insulin not being given exactly when it was needed.”

Guilt flooded over Kara, causing her to sigh heavily.

Frowning, Dr. Casey came over and placed her hand on Kara’s shoulder. “Now, don’t beat yourself up over this. It’s not your fault, and it may still have happened even if you were with her. Once we get Maeve fitted for an insulin pump, this sort of thing shouldn’t reoccur, and if it does, it’s easily corrected using the machine. The most important thing, however, is that Maeve is going to be just fine. This overnight stay for observation should just be a one-time occurrence. And, as scary as the last twenty-four hours might have been, things will get easier, I promise you.”

Kara sighed with relief as the doctor picked up her charts and crouched down in front of Maeve to smooth back her hair and say goodbye. “I’ll just go and sign off on Maeve’s discharge papers, and then she’s free to go,” she said, standing up. “Call my office if you have any questions or concerns,” she added over her shoulder as she left the room.

As soon as the doctor had disappeared out the door, Maeve slipped off Kara’s knee and peered up at her mother hopefully. “Yes, it sounds like we can leave, baby girl,” Kara said, chuckling as Maeve clapped her hands in delight. “Everything is going to be okay. Now, let’s get your things together so we can go home!”

The following day, Scott jingled his car keys in his pants pocket as he walked into the garden center. Sniffing the fragrant air around him, he smiled and thought how different this was from a baseball locker room or even a sports recording studio.

Scott had come to the garden center hoping to find Kara. Candy had scared him last night when she had told him Maeve was ill, but by the time they had arrived at Larkin Bay’s hospital, Maeve had already been released.

Scott had been relieved at the news, but now he wanted to talk to Kara. She had only responded to his concerned text with a polite but impersonal reply. Coming to the garden center to make a purchase, he had decided, would be a good way to find her and hopefully see for himself that both she and Maeve were okay.

Looking around the sales floor, he spotted several plants in colorful pots displayed on a center rack and went over to look at them.

“Can I help you with anything?” asked a familiar voice from behind him, and he turned with a smile to greet Kara.

“Why, yes,” he replied in a teasing voice. “I’m looking for a plant I can’t kill. I tend to overwater everything.”

Kara put her finger on her chin and her eyes twinkled as she considered his request. “Then I think we should show you our pond plants,” she finally replied with a mischievous grin. “They like water.”

“Really?” asked Scott, blinking in mock surprise. “I can get one of those to go on my desk?”

“No, not really,” Kara replied, and playfully swatted at his arm. “But I can sell you a flowering plant. They’re pretty and smell nice too. Also, you’ll like them, as they need to be watered often. Plants like these with large leaves or those with fine surface roots usually require more frequent watering. And if you put it in a sunny spot or a clay pot, it’ll need more water too, so it’ll be harder to overwater.”

She stopped and blushed. “I’m rattling on about plants again, aren’t I? Why do I always do that when you’re around? Well, never mind, I’ll find you a plant, and you can download an app for your phone that’ll remind you when it’s time to water it. As long as you follow the schedule, all will be well.”

Scott laughed. “Sounds perfect.”

Kara looked up at him with a smile. “But enough about that. Tell me, how was the audition? Was it thrilling?”

Scott stood still, silently gazing down at Kara. He enjoyed listening to her talk about her plants. She’s beautiful, he thought, and intelligent and sweet. She seemed to be everything a man could ever want in a woman.

“Scott?” asked Kara, looking worried. He continued to stare down at her but didn’t reply. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” he finally replied slowly. “It’s good to be back, and yes, the audition went great. But it doesn’t matter. I’m just happy to be back in Larkin Bay again.”

Kara frowned up at him. “How is Candy?” she asked.

“Candy?” His brow furrowed for a minute while he tried to focus on something other than the beautiful woman in front of him. “Oh, Candy. I think she’s fine. She picked me up at the airport last night, and then I think she went back to the place she rented here in town.”

Kara shook her head slowly, looking confused. “Oh, I must have misunderstood her. The last time I saw her, she told me she’d be staying at your place while you were away.”

Scott looked incredulous as he opened and closed his mouth but didn’t reply.

“I guess she didn’t, then? And you didn’t invite her?” said Mary, coming up behind them and overhearing the end of the conversation. “Sounds like she was expecting you to. You had better call her, dear boy. It sounds like you might be in trouble.” She then added with a chuckle, “And you should know that she’s been flashing that diamond engagement ring you gave her everywhere too. It’s beautiful. Congratulations!” With a smile, she went off to continue her work, leaving Kara and Scott alone.

Kara laughed softly at Scott’s confused expression.