“There’s nothing going on between Candy and me, you know that, right?”

Kara blinked. “Well, I guess I do, if that’s what you’re telling me. But you may want to make sure Candy knows that,” she said slowly. “And be careful how you do it. I like her now that I’ve gotten to know her better. I’d hate to see her hurt.”

They stared at each other for a long moment.

“But I’m glad to hear the interview went well,” Kara said. “And it’s nice to hear that you’re happy to be back in Larkin Bay too. I miss you when you’re not here,” she confessed before turning back to the plant display beside her to hide her now-burning cheeks among the pots as she dug through the display. After a moment, she pulled out a small, dark pink cyclamen and held it out.

“Here,” she exclaimed. “This one should be perfect for you. Just let it dry out before you water it, and it should grow and flower for you just fine. It’ll look nice next to the cactus I gave you too.”

As Kara handed the plant over to Scott, their hands touched momentarily, and Scott felt the now-familiar electrical charge jump between them once again.

He looked at Kara searchingly as she pulled back her hand. He saw she now had a polite, professional smile firmly in place and he couldn’t sense any of the easy friendship or attraction from her that he had felt before. He frowned. He hadn’t expected Kara to come running over and jump into his arms, but he did, he realized keenly, want more from her than just friendship.

“Thank you,” he replied. “But how is Maeve? And how are things with Jamie?” he asked, trying to prolong their time together. “Your text said she was back in the hospital. Is everything okay? That’s the first thing I wanted to ask you about.”

“She’s good. Maeve is fine. We just had a scare with her insulin levels going too high for a short time. But she’s much better now and back at home. She was back to her bouncy, energetic little self when I left her an hour ago,” Kara replied. “And Jamie’s good too,” she added. She held up a hand so Scott could see she wasn’t wearing an engagement ring. “I’m still a single mom, though, and I think I’ll probably stay that way for a while yet,” she added. Leaning over, she began rearranging the plant display, carefully filling the empty spot the cyclamen she had given him had left behind.

Scott furrowed his brow and cocked his head to one side. What was Kara trying to tell him? Was she saying that she wasn’t dating Jamie any longer, or that she wasn’t interested in dating at all—him included? “Staying single” could mean either.

Scott opened his mouth to ask her, but before he could, Kara had spun away to answer a question from Mary.

Shrugging his shoulders in temporary defeat, he stared at Kara’s back for a long moment before turning away and going to the front of the store to pay for his plant. It was harder to talk to Kara here than he’d imagined it would be, so he would just have to call her later tonight, right after he had cleared up things with Candy.

Peeking up to watch Scott leave, Kara’s heart sank. It was possible he had come to the garden center to simply buy a plant, but he had also seemed interested in how Maeve was doing. It was sweet of him, especially since he had also obviously still thought that she and Jamie were together.

She shrugged. That was probably for the best, especially now that she knew his audition had gone well. Scott would soon leave town for a big, bright, celebrity-filled future with Candy. And if Kara was about to be left behind nursing a not-so-little crush on him, it would probably be a lot less humiliating if he knew nothing about it.

“What is this?” asked Scott, grabbing the hand that Candy was waving around in front of him as they sat down to have dinner together at Sullivan’s Place that evening.

“It’s my ring,” answered Candy, frowning in confusion. She held her hand out between them so he could see the big, princess-cut diamond more clearly. “The engagement ring you gave me—don’t you recognize it?”

Scott shook his head. “I recognize it. That’s not the problem. What I want to know is why you’re wearing it again on your ring finger?”

Candy blinked at him and dropped her hand into her lap. “What do you mean?”

Scott sighed. “Candy, we’re not engaged anymore and haven’t been for a long time, so you shouldn’t be wearing my engagement ring. That’s what I mean.”

Candy looked back at Scott steadily and slowly batted her eyelashes at him. Leaning forward, she placed both elbows on the table and put her chin in her hands. “Well, we’re not engaged yet, you mean,” she said slowly before continuing in a rush. “After all, we could be again, couldn’t we? I adore you, and you seem to like me still, and you’re going back to the baseball world, and we were terrific together there. So it seems it could work out well…us being engaged again, don’t you think?”

“Candy,” Scott said, leaning toward her. “How long have you been wearing this ring around Larkin Bay, and who have you told that we’re engaged again?”

Candy blinked. “Just a few people.”

“Who?”

Candy squirmed in her seat. “Well, several, I suppose. I guess I might have jumped the gun a little bit on announcing it. But I was just so happy spending time with you here so, maybe I’ve been a little too talkative about us around town.”

Scott groaned. “Candy, give me back that ring,” he said sternly, holding out his hand.

“My ring? What? You can’t have my ring,” said Candy, clutching her hand against her chest. “You gave me this ring. I’m never giving it back. I love this ring! It’s mine!”

Scott sighed and dropped his hand to the table. “Okay, keep the ring. I don’t really care about the ring. I don’t even care if you wear it, but you cannot wear it on your ring finger and tell people we are engaged. Actually, if you’re going to keep it, I would prefer that you take it to some reputable jeweler and have it made into something that doesn’t even look like an engagement ring.”

“But, Scottie!”

“No, and please don’t call me Scottie anymore. We are not engaged, Candy, and we haven’t been together for a very long time.” His eyes grew steely as he glared over at her. “I’m a lawyer, Candy, and I’m trying to grow a business here in Larkin Bay. People have to trust their lawyers, and they won’t trust me if you’re telling lies about us around town.”

Candy continued to pout at him but, after considering his words for a minute, slowly removed the ring from her left hand and placed it on the ring finger of her right hand.

“Thank you,” said Scott.

Candy held up her beautifully manicured hands side by side and sighed as she studied them. “My ring doesn’t look as nice on the other hand,” she said with a pout.

Scott laughed. “It looks just fine,” he replied. “Doesn’t Candy’s old engagement ring look just as nice on her right hand as it did on her left?” he asked Mark, who’d appeared at their table to take their drink order.

“Candy’s hands would look fantastic with no rings on them at all,” Mark replied and smiled at both of them, then studied Scott’s relieved expression and Candy’s pout for a moment.

“But I have to tell you, Candy, now that you’re announcing to the world that you’re not with this big lout any longer,” he said, waving a hand at Scott, “you’ll have to get a big calendar to keep track of all the men in town who’ll be lining up to try and spend time with you.”

“Even you?” Candy asked him as the moue dropped from her face.

“Top of the list,” he replied. Then he winked at her before turning away and heading back to the bar to grab them some menus.

Chapter Thirty-One

From her desk in the back office of the garden center, Kara heard Mary clear her throat and raise her voice in greeting. A moment later, Maeve flew through the office doorway and ran over to press herself against her mother’s side. Kara sighed and looked up from the inventory spreadsheets she had been studying to kiss her daughter on the head and pull her up onto her lap. Jamie must be here, she decided. He was the only one she knew who could unsettle both Mary and Maeve so quickly.

“I’m back here, Jamie,” Kara called out, deciding it was best to hear whatever it was he had come to tell her immediately. Maybe if she talked to him right away, he wouldn’t stay long. His very presence set her entire staff on edge, and so it was in everyone’s best interest to keep his visit as short as possible.

A moment later, he appeared in her office doorway. “Hi,” he said, entering the small space. Seeing Maeve, Jamie approached her, frowning as she cuddled closer to Kara as if to stay out of his reach.

“Maeve, you're being silly,” Kara scolded the girl mildly and stood up to drop her daughter to her feet. “Go over and say hello to your father, please.”

Maeve stared up at her mother and popped her thumb in her mouth, but didn’t move.

Jamie frowned at her. “Isn’t she too old for that?” he asked, gesturing toward the thumb she was sucking.

“Probably,” Kara replied. “But she’s been through a lot lately, so if that’s what she’s chosen to do to comfort herself, then I’m going to let it go. I doubt she’ll still be doing it when she’s old enough to attend high school.”

Jamie scowled and glared at them both but didn’t reply.

Kara shrugged and sat down at her desk again. Reaching over, she quickly closed the spreadsheets she had been looking at before Jamie arrived, then she frowned over at him. His right eye was puffy, and the welt he had received from the car accident still looked red and painful. She winced and straightened in her chair.

I’ll be damned if I’m going to feel any sympathy for the man who wants to steal my child.

“What do you want, Jamie? Why are you here?” Kara asked him briskly, pulling Maeve back up onto her lap.