“What happened to you?” asked Kara in surprise, her eyes widening at his torn shirt, bruised cheek, and the large welt forming on his forehead. “I thought you were working in the city today.”
“He was, but on his way back, he got into a terrible car accident,” said Evelyn, who came up behind her son and pulled at his arm. “The police brought him here to be evaluated. He’s hurt and his new car is a mess, but he won’t sit still in the ER long enough to let anyone look at him.”
“Are you okay?” asked Kara, going over to Jamie and reaching out a hand to him in concern.
Jamie glanced at Maeve and turned to Kara. Anger made the marks on his face stand out grotesquely and distorted his features. “Okay? No, I’m not okay. I’ve ruined my car getting to this godforsaken place, and now that I’m here, I hear you saying you’re not planning on selling the garden center? Does Maeve mean nothing to you?” he asked, gesturing to the little girl.
“Of course she does!” sputtered Kara, stepping back in surprise. “What are you talking about? You know Maeve means the world to me! That’s why I’m not selling the garden center. It’s for her one day.”
“If she meant something to you, you’d be selling that place to make sure she has everything she’s ever going to need. And if you were a really concerned mother, you would have sold the land weeks ago and been at home with Maeve today instead of working. If you had been home, she probably wouldn’t even be in the hospital right now.”
Kara recoiled at Jamie’s accusation. But seeing her distress only seemed to fuel his anger. Stepping closer to her, he waved a finger in her face. “You are not fit to be my daughter’s mother. I would have come back to Larkin Bay long ago and taken her back to the city with me if I’d known how you were neglecting her.”
“Jamie, what are you saying? Stop,” his mother exclaimed and, reaching over, tugged on his arm to pull him away.
“Leave me alone, Mom,” Jamie snarled, yanking out of her grasp. “Maeve shouldn’t be left with a mother who doesn’t care about her well-being but instead puts her business before her child. I’m telling you here and now, Kara, I’m getting a lawyer, and when Maeve leaves this hospital, I’m going to do everything in my power to take over custody of her and make sure she gets the care she needs. And that starts with you selling that damn garden center.”
Courtney stepped between Jamie and Kara and looked at him with an exasperated expression. “Just a minute, Jamie! You can’t come in here and make accusations like that. You have no right to bully Kara into doing anything, and there is not a court in the land that is going to let you take Maeve away from her.”
Jamie snarled at Courtney. “You’re wrong. I may have no control over what she does with her business, but I can still control what happens to Maeve. Kara has a choice. If she sells the garden center, I won’t sue her for custody. But if she puts it first, I’ll do everything I can to take my daughter away from her.”
Kara and the other women all looked at him in stunned silence as Jamie turned and stormed out of the room, slamming his fist into the door as he left, startling Maeve awake and causing her to cry out in fright.
Perched on a barstool at Sullivan’s Place, Candy held up her hand and showed Mark the diamond engagement ring Scott had given her years before.
Mark looked at it long enough to be polite before returning to shining the counter so it was ready for the evening dinner crowd that would begin to gather soon.
“I’ve decided that since he gave me such a big diamond the last time we were engaged, I won’t make him buy me another one this time around,” cooed Candy, admiring the sparkles the ring on her finger produced as the pub’s lights reflected off it.
Mark frowned at her. “You just got to town a few weeks ago,” he said. “Has Scott already proposed to you again?”
Candy looked away from her ring and at Mark in surprise. “Well, not yet,” she admitted. “But as soon as he signs the deal doing commentary for the major leagues, you can be sure he will. We’re just too good together at all the fancy functions and celebrity nights that he’ll be attending again soon for him not to. It just makes sense.”
“If you say so.” Mark shrugged. “It just seems unusual for a girl to be wearing an engagement ring when a guy hasn’t asked her to marry him,” he said. “Recently,” he added with a smile when he saw Candy pout in protest. “But if that’s what you want to do and Scott is okay with it, then I guess it’s fine. It has nothing to do with me.”
As Mark left the table to fetch a broom, he also grabbed his cell phone from the back of the office where he’d left it charging. “Hey, Arnie?” he called to his assistant manager after seeing the message from Kara. He hurried back to the front of the pub. “Can you come over here and finish setting up for the dinner crowd? Maeve is back in the hospital, so I need to go over there and see what I can do to help Kara.”
Cursing quietly under his breath for not checking his messages sooner, Mark grabbed his jacket and turned to hand over the broom he was still carrying to Candy. “Here,” he said to her. “Practice sweeping and help Arnie if you’re going to hang around here all the time. Your diamond ring will look better if you’re flashing it while holding a broom, anyway.”
“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.
