The other lady smiled at the enthusiasm in Kara’s voice. “I’m glad,” she replied. “But we’ve also come up with a few other ideas that might help.”

“Wait a minute!” Jamie exclaimed, pushing back his chair, and getting to his feet. This has all been decided. Kara can’t change her mind now.”

“Just sit down and be quiet, Jamie,” Evelyn said tightly.

Scott raised a hand to hide his smile.

Kara reached over and hugged the mayor, who took a seat at the end of the table and motioned to Ashley, the head of Larkin Bay’s school board, to speak next. “Kara, I just wanted to acknowledge personally how I think you’ve done a fantastic job of looking after the trees and planters in town for the past ten years. Few residents know that you’ve done this without ever charging a dime for all of your staff’s hard work and the supplies you’ve donated. As a resident of Larkin Bay, I want to thank you for your generosity.”

Kara beamed at the other woman. “Why, thank you. I’ve been happy to do it. I love this town, and I take great pride in keeping its green spaces looking beautiful,” she replied.

Ashley smiled. “Well, the Larkin Bay School Board has also met, and we are wondering if you and your staff could take on a project for us. We need help with the landscaping and the upkeep of the green spaces at all three Larkin Bay schools. They’ve been neglected for far too long and are honestly too big for the parents’ association to continue dealing with. We need someone to update the plantings and look after them for years to come. The contract I’ve put together would be for the garden center to look after it all for the next five years.”

“Wow,” Kara said, her eyes sparkling at the idea that she could be paid to make the schools Maeve would soon attend lush and beautiful places. “I’d love to do that.”

Marcella, who owned Pepos, spoke next and asked Kara if she could hire her to help landscape the waterfront restaurant.

And, when she was finished, one by one, other townspeople also spoke up to pledge new business and contracts to the garden center if it was not sold to the developers. When they were finished, Kara looked at all the new agreements that everyone had spread on the table before her, and happy tears sprung to her eyes. “This is overwhelming,” she said. “I can’t thank you all enough. This is more than enough business to keep the garden center afloat so it can continue to serve Larkin Bay for years to come.”

Finally, Jamie, who had been listening in silence to everything that was being suggested, slammed his chair back against the wall and got to his feet. Kara looked over at him and recoiled slightly when she saw his face contorted with rage.

“Jamie,” his mother cautioned him, “watch what you’re going to say.”

He shot Evelyn a look of reproach and placed both his hands on the table as he leaned toward Kara. “Kara, you can’t listen to these people. These are not guarantees for Maeve’s future. They’re empty promises. What the developers and I are offering you is money in the bank. We want to give you all you need today to not only open a new garden center but set you up to provide generously for Maeve, no matter what the future throws at her.”

“I know, Jamie,” said Kara, getting to her feet. She lifted her chin proudly and smiled at all her friends standing around the boardroom table. “But I also have to trust the people who have been there for Maeve and me since the day I found out I was expecting her. And that hasn’t been you or your developer friends.” She waved a hand in front of her and shrugged. “It’s always been these wonderful people. So I’m going to put my faith and trust in them once again.”

Kara then reached down to pick up the offer to sell the garden center and ripped the contract cleanly in two.

A spontaneous cheer erupted in the boardroom, and as Jamie looked at the torn papers, his face paled. He reached out a hand toward Kara.

Scott frowned and stepped over to stand beside her.

“Jamie.” There was a warning note in his mother’s voice.

Dropping his hand, Jamie looked around the table slowly before his shoulders slumped in defeat and, turning on his heel, he left the office without saying a word.

There were many hugs, multiple handshakes, and lots of promises of getting everyone together to iron out the details of the contracts. Finally, everyone left the boardroom, and Kara found herself alone with Courtney and Scott.

Courtney reached over to Kara and gave her a long hug. “I’m so happy for you and I'm thrilled that Scott could get the town residents to work this out in time. Now,” she added, giving them both a hopeful smile, “I think the two of you have a few things to work out too.”

Courtney turned and quickly left the boardroom, pulling the door firmly shut behind her. Kara watched her leave with a puzzled smile before turning to look at Scott.

“So,” he said, smiling back at her, “congratulations.” He took a tentative step toward her.

“Thank you,” Kara replied, shaking her head. “But I still can’t believe it. I think I’m in shock. Look, my hands are shaking,” she said, holding them out.

Scott reached over, took her hands in his, and drew her closer to him. “You deserve it. You wanted to do the right thing, and it’s only fair that the town helped you do it.”

“I suppose,” Kara replied, looking up at him. “And thank you for all you did to help everyone see that the garden center is an important part of Larkin Bay and is needed by all these businesses.”

“You’re welcome,” Scott replied.

They were both silent for a long moment, then Kara took a deep breath. “So,” she said. “Courtney seems to think we have a few things to sort out too. Any idea what she’s talking about?”

“I might,” Scott said and gently tugged her even closer.

“What would that be?” asked Kara, gazing up at him, fully aware that she was finally letting her feelings for him show in her eyes.

“Well, I think Courtney heard correctly that Candy is no longer a part of my life,” he said.

“Yes, I think you mentioned something to me about that.”

“And since Jamie no longer seems to be a part of yours—or I don’t think he is—am I right?” Scott continued.

Kara laughed. “Oh, you’re definitely right.”

“Then, I guess, since the garden center’s future is now secure and I’ve decided that I’m staying in Larkin Bay, there’s finally nothing left standing in the way of you and I being friends.”

“Friends?” asked Kara with a raised eyebrow.

“Good friends. The best of friends,” Scott replied, pulling her up against him and leaning down to touch his lips gently to hers.

“I like the sound of that,” Kara murmured before leaning in to deepen the kiss.

“Me too,” mumbled Scott, breaking their embrace just long enough so he could smile down at her and see the joy on his face reflected on hers.

“Oh, and there’s other good news too.”

“What’s that?” asked Kara, gazing up at him. Surely there was nothing left to be added to this perfect day?

“When Jamie first came into the office today, he was feeling so good about you selling the garden center that he signed the paperwork I put in front of him agreeing to pay regular child support for Maeve.”

Kara laughed with delight as Scott tightened his embrace, and she smiled up at him, certain as his warmth surrounded her that here in his arms was precisely where she wanted to be—forever.

Two Years Later

“I don’t remember my pregnancy with Maeve being this hard,” Kara complained to Mary, placing a hand on the small of her back and arching it slightly to ease the pressure.

“That’s because you were younger, and she wasn’t twin boys,” replied Mary with a grin.

“True enough,” replied Kara cheerfully, turning to greet Maeve as the little girl ran through the front door of the garden center.

“How was the first day of senior kindergarten?” she asked, tucking a stray curl behind her daughter’s ear and smiling at how happy and healthy she looked.

“Good! My new teacher is also the school art teacher, and she promised to help me make my pictures more beautiful.”