She nodded. The garden center was not a person, and now that Kara had decided to part with it, she was determined not to mourn its loss.
After working all morning, Kara stopped long enough for a quick lunch with Mary, then dropped Maeve off with her grandmother before driving over to Courtney and Scott’s law office. She was surprised when she walked into their boardroom to see Jamie sitting in one of the dark leather chairs at the table.
“Hello, Jamie,” Kara said. She bit her bottom lip and looked over at Courtney, who had followed her into the room. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”
“He was just leaving,” Courtney replied, her mouth drawn tight. “He came by to drop off some paperwork that I requested from the developers. I suppose, at this point, no one is surprised to know that Jamie is working for them.”
“No,” said Kara, shaking her head and frowning.
She moved to one side of the doorway, waiting for Jamie to rise from his seat and leave, but to her surprise, he didn’t seem to be in any great hurry to be on his way. Courtney raised both eyebrows and frowned but motioned for her to sit down.
Kara took a chair as far away from where Jamie was sitting as possible. When she was settled, Courtney placed a file folder on the table in front of her. Kara looked down at the closed folder but didn’t touch it. She assumed it held the contract, but instead of opening it, she looked across the table.
“Why are you here, Jamie?” she asked him, her voice quiet and steady. “Are you here to gloat over getting what you want? How much are they paying you to break my heart again and tear apart our town?”
Jamie looked over at her and had the decency to look slightly uncomfortable. “Not that, neither of those, no,” he protested. “I’ll leave if you want. I just promised a few people that I would make sure you signed the offer and got it returned to them as quickly as possible.” He glared over at her. “You make it sound terrible when all I’m really doing is making sure you benefit from doing what someone else eventually will if you don’t.”
Kara stared at Jamie. “Well, you’re getting your way. And because it is the best thing for Maeve’s future, I will forgive you. But I want your promise before I sign this that you won’t start a custody fight with me when this is done.” Kara bit her bottom lip, trying to stop her hands from trembling as she continued. “Maeve doesn’t know you at all, Jamie, and she’s gone through a lot lately.”
Jamie looked up at her, but his expression was unreadable.
Kara took a deep breath. “You’re already taking the garden center away from your daughter—it’s been a second home to her. I won’t have you changing anything else on her now too. You can see her as much as you like, but primary custody stays with me.”
Jamie lifted both his hands in mock surrender. “Fine,” he said.
Courtney had been quietly watching this exchange from her seat. She quickly pulled a blank piece of paper off her legal pad. On the page, she wrote that Jamie had agreed to leave primary guardianship of Maeve with Kara and quickly slid the document in front of both of them. It might not be a legally binding document, but Jamie wouldn’t know that.
“Sign this in agreement,” said Courtney. “When you’re done, I’ll witness it.”
Jamie looked amused as he pulled an expensive pen from the inside pocket of his jacket and wrote his name with a flourish. “Done,” he exclaimed. “Now, if you can just sign the land sale document, I’ll be on my way. Important people are waiting for me.”
Reluctantly, Kara flipped open the folder in front of her. As she read the contract, the words suddenly blurred as tears filled her eyes.
Should I do this? Can I do this?
Kara turned to Courtney and had just cleared her throat to ask for a pen when the door behind Jamie opened and Scott entered the boardroom.
“Sorry to interrupt,” he said. “But I have a few people out here who are insisting on talking to Kara immediately.”
Jamie turned toward the door and got to his feet; his annoyance caused his features to flush. “What’s going on?” he demanded.
“Just sit down and be quiet, Jamie,” said Evelyn, sounding weary as she walked into the room. “This has nothing to do with you, son, but I’m glad you’re here to hear it, nonetheless.”
Kara couldn’t help but smile at Jamie’s mother’s reprimand. A moment later, she frowned in confusion as a small group of Larkin Bay residents, led by Mayor April, squeezed into the boardroom.
Scott moved back and nodded at her, motioning that the mayor wished to speak.
April cleared her throat. “Kara, we’re here on behalf of the entire town of Larkin Bay, who, like you, don’t want you to have to sell the garden center. Not only would we miss it, but if you were forced to sell, we also don’t think most of us would like the kind of changes the sale would bring to this town.”
She stopped for a minute to glare at Jamie, who was looking around the room with wide eyes. “Now, let’s just wait a minute,” he sputtered.
“Be quiet, Jamie,” his mother said, holding up a warning hand from where she was standing beside the mayor. “You’ve done quite enough already.”
Jamie looked at his mother with an open mouth, then snapped it shut and quietly sat back in his seat.
“Thank you, Evelyn,” the mayor said and gave Jamie a withering look before turning back to Kara. “On behalf of the residents of Larkin Bay, I should first tell you that the entire town would like you to keep the garden center open and continuing to operate at its current location. To help make that possible, I’m here to offer the garden center a contract with the town of Larkin Bay to create and look after the planters and gardens in our parks and downtown area for the next five years. I know you’ve been doing it out of the goodness of your heart for several years now, but it was decided at the last town council meeting that we now have the funds to pay you and your employees for your work. It’s long overdue, and we’re hoping this will help your bottom line enough so you don’t have to sell to the developers.”
Kara eyes widened at the news. “That’s wonderful,” she replied. “I never considered it a burden at all to beautify Larkin Bay. It’s something my mother started doing, and I just carried on. But receiving some pay for it would be fantastic and would absolutely go a long way in helping make the garden center more profitable.”
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.”
