Kara blushed. “Hi,” she replied. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t looking where I was going.”
Scott kept his hands on her shoulders a few seconds longer, and she wondered, as her cheeks flushed even darker, if he, like her, was remembering their kisses.
“What are you doing here?” Scott asked, finally releasing his hold on her and stepping back.
Kara shivered as she looked up at him. She blinked, trying to remember the answer to his question. Seeing him again seemed to have made all her thoughts disappear.
“She’s here to see me,” said Courtney, joining them. She shot Kara a questioning look. “She’s only got a few days left on her extension to decide what to do about the potential sale of the garden center, so we, including Mark, are having a meeting to discuss her options.”
Scott nodded at Kara and frowned. “It’s a tough decision,” he said. “I’m sure you’ll make the right choice, though.”
Kara quirked one side of her mouth in a half smile. “I hope so,” she replied before bidding him a short thank-you and turning away. Raising a hand, she hid her still-burning cheeks and hurried to follow Courtney toward the firm’s meeting room. Sitting in a comfortable chair behind the boardroom table, Kara admired the view over Lake Street and willed her heart rate to return to normal.
“I’m here,” Mark announced a few minutes later as he joined them. “Let the celebrations begin.”
Kara rolled her eyes as Courtney laughed and welcomed him. A minute later, he had settled into a seat, and Courtney flipped open a file folder. “The offer is quite straightforward,” she explained. “The firm wants to buy the garden center land from you, including all the historical buildings on it.”
“What do they want to do with the land?” asked Mark.
“Well, it is a property development firm that has made the offer, so I can only speculate that they are going to build some sort of residential high-rise on it.”
“How tall?” Kara asked, her eyes widening at the suggestion.
“I have no idea. But if you sell the land to them, they can do whatever they want with it, pending the approval of the town’s planning office, of course. That’s what Mayor April and the council are concerned about. And they may not need any approval from Larkin Bay because of how the parcel is situated.”
“So selling it could be terrible for the town.”
“Well, that depends on your perspective.”
“But to protect the town, the best thing to do is not sell the land,” Kara said firmly.
Courtney nodded. “Well, yes, you could put it like that. Still, the land is yours to do whatever you want with. Your mother left you both the garden center specifically so you could sell it and use the proceeds to provide for your families. By selling it, you’re, in reality, doing exactly what she wanted.”
“And there are probably other parcels like it in town too,” Mark added. “If we don’t sell to the developers, there are other people in town who most likely will sell their land to them.”
“So you think we should sell?” Kara asked, turning in her seat to look at him in surprise.
Mark sighed. “Yes, I think we probably should. You’re a single woman with a child to raise. You’re going to need that money, especially now that Maeve might need some specialized health care.”
“This is becoming a private family discussion,” Courtney declared. “Remember, we have no proof that the buyers are going to do anything to jeopardize Larkin Bay’s heritage vision.”
Kara felt tears well up in her eyes as she looked from her brother to her friend. Courtney laid a gentle hand on her shoulder and passed her a tissue. “As your lawyer, all I can tell you is that it’s a clean offer. As your friend, I think you should follow your gut feeling and do what you feel is right.”
Kara tried to smile back at Courtney but knew she was failing. Swallowing hard, she fought to control the jumble of emotions that threatened to overwhelm her—the emotions that were only making it more difficult for her to decide exactly what the right thing to do was.
“Thank you for watching Maeve again tonight,” Kara said to Rachel and Mary as they shook off their raincoats and hung them by her front door later that night. “It’s nice that we’ll be able to do something spontaneous and fun together without having to worry about keeping her out past her bedtime.”
Mary kissed Kara on the cheek and pushed her toward the door to meet Jamie at Sullivan’s Place. “Enjoy,” the older woman said, “and hug your brother for me.”
When Kara arrived at the bar, she quickly relayed Mary’s words to Mark. He smiled at the message but frowned and gave his sister a searching look when she told him she was meeting Jamie.
“I didn’t know you were getting together with him here tonight,” he said gruffly, leading her toward an empty booth and placing two draft beers on the table.
“Yeah, it was a last-minute thing.”
“Be careful,” her brother said, squeezing her shoulder quickly before turning away and returning to work.
Kara sipped her drink slowly and looked around the pub. She smiled and waved at a few couples she knew who were having dinner there. A couple of minutes later, Jamie arrived and sat down across from her.
“Nothing ever changes here, does it?” he grumbled, taking a handful of nuts from the bowl on the table between them. “I think these are even the same peanuts that were here when I left Larkin Bay five years ago.”
Kara straightened in her seat. “Um, I don’t think so. I actually filled all the table bowls this morning myself,” she replied, being careful to keep her tone neutral.
Jamie nodded and leaned over the table to clasp one of Kara’s hands in his. “I didn’t mean anything nasty by it,” he said in a conciliatory tone. “It’s just so, oh, I don’t know, quiet and predictable around here sometimes. Everyone goes to bed at ten o’clock. I guess I’m just not used to that after living in the city.”
Kara frowned at him. “Do you miss it? Being in the city, I mean? Do you really think you’ll be able to live here again?”
Jamie shrugged. “I think so. I love many things about Larkin Bay, and I missed a lot of the people. It’s just that the city has a vibrancy. I like all the bustle and busyness of it.”
“I remember you couldn’t wait to leave here not so long ago,” Kara mused.
“That’s true. I wanted to make money and do business deals. I still do. It’s just now there are deals to do here in Larkin Bay too.”
“Deals? Here? Like what?”
“Well, like building high-rises, or changing the bylaws in downtown to allow for buildings to be built on the waterfront. They might even want to consider construction where the parks are now. This place doesn’t have to stay a sleepy little town forever. With the right people and the right investments, it can grow into something bigger—better too,” he replied, his quickly spoken words reflecting his excitement at the idea.
“Expansion? Here? But most of the residents are against that,” Kara said. Jamie looked annoyed for a minute before his expression cleared. Releasing her hand, he leaned back in his seat. “Well, Larkin Bay is going to grow whether the people here want it to or not, so it’s best to be in on what’s being planned so you can control what happens. That’s when you can make the most money too, so that’s where I intend to be. Everyone’s attitude will change when their home and business values increase with the growth—you’ll see.”
