He sighed heavily at the thought and frowned as he picked up his beer and watched the rest of the baseball game.

Kara stopped abruptly. “What the hell?” she exclaimed. Mary looked up from her phone and followed her friend’s gaze.

As she felt Kara tense at her side, Mary put a steadying hand on her arm. “It’s Jamie,” she said. “I didn’t recognize him at first, either, but it’s him—Maeve’s safe.”

Kara frowned and watched her daughter wave from across the busy road that separated them. Raising a hand, she covered her mouth as Maeve pulled away from Jamie and stepped toward the street, obviously intending to run to where she and Mary were standing, but he quickly reached out and roughly grabbed her arm so she couldn’t run out into traffic.

Struggling to escape from Jamie’s firm grasp, Maeve started to cry but was quickly hushed by her father.

Kara helplessly watched from across two lanes of traffic and felt her stomach knot.

What the heck is Jamie doing with my daughter?

“Well, our daughter, I guess,” she muttered under her breath. Mary tutted sympathetically but also kept a firm grip on Kara’s sleeve as they waited for a break in the flow of cars. A few moments later, Jamie crossed the street, bringing Maeve with him.

“Hi,” he said, finally allowing Maeve to pull her hand out of his. The little girl immediately ran to Kara’s side and pressed herself close to her mother, rubbing her eyes to erase the tears that still lingered there. “Fancy meeting you here,” he added.

“Jamie,” said Kara, nodding. “I didn’t know you were in town.”

“Yep, I came home for a bit. I’m staying with Mom and Dad. I’m surprised they didn’t tell you that when they picked up Maeve,” he replied.

“I didn’t really get a chance to talk to them,” Kara admitted. “I was pretty busy at the garden center when they stopped by.”

Jamie scowled. “I hear you’re always busy over there. It sounds like Mom and Dad look after Maeve a lot.”

Kara felt Mary bristle beside her, but Kara placed a calming hand on her arm. Jamie hadn’t changed. He always seemed to find fault where there was none.

“Your parents enjoy watching Maeve, and I think it’s good that she spends time with them—it’s more about that than me being too busy. But if it’s a problem for them or you, I can always make other arrangements and stop her from going over to stay with them.”

“Oh, no. I’m sure it’s fine,” Jamie hastened to reassure her.

Kara bit her bottom lip to hide her smile. She knew that his parents adored their time with Maeve, and they would be furious if he was behind anything that put a stop to them. Jamie also knew that Kara would have no problem telling his parents that it was him who suggested it.

“Well, um, I guess I can take her from here,” Kara said as Maeve yawned widely. “I think she might need a nap today. She’s obviously been busy. Do you have her stuffed pig with you? That’s the only thing we usually need to make sure gets transferred back and forth. I can pick up the rest of her things from your mom later this week.”

Jamie shifted uncomfortably from one foot to another. “Would you mind if I just took her back across the street to let Mom say goodbye to her?” His eyes darted back to where they had come from. “My mom has the toy and the rest of her stuff in her bag. I just brought Maeve out here with me for a minute when I saw you.”

Kara studied Jamie for a long moment. He looked good. His hair had been cut short and had darkened slightly, making him look older than the last time she’d seen him. The brush of laughter lines he now had around the corners of his eyes also suited him. Still, right now, the way he was acting reminded her of the immature boy who had been afraid of upsetting his parents by telling them he’d gotten his girlfriend pregnant. So, instead, he’d tried to bully her into giving up the baby.

Kara sighed again as Maeve nestled deeper into her hip. “Sure. Let’s go. Maeve, we have to say bye-bye to Grandma.”

The little girl said nothing, but she reached up and clutched her mother’s hand tightly in hers. Kara’s brow furrowed at Maeve’s response. She bent down to comfort her daughter, and Maeve buried her face in Kara’s shoulder.

“She’s upset,” Kara stated, looking up at Jamie and frowning.

“Yeah, she didn’t like me taking her away from Mom. She was just about to pitch a huge fit, but then she saw you and calmed down.”

“She doesn’t know you,” interjected Mary. “She was scared.”

“She was fine, just being a bit of a brat. You shouldn’t let her get away with this stuff,” Jamie replied, scowling at Mary.

“Well, we’ll have to talk about this at some point, but you can’t just take her away from your mom like that. She’s only three. Come on, sweetheart, let’s find Grandma and get Ms. Piggy,” Kara said.

“Did you want to come?” she asked Mary. “It’ll only take a minute.”

“How about you meet me at the bakery when you’re done? We can pick up a few sweet things before I drop you and Maeve off at home for her nap.”

Kara smiled at Mary’s blatant attempt to get away from Jamie as quickly as possible. “That’s fine,” she replied, nodding. “We’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Mary still doesn’t like me,” Jamie commented as they made their way back across the street.

“Well, she’s been like a mother to me since my own passed away. And you did leave me alone when I was pregnant—that probably doesn’t endear you to her much.”

“Ouch,” replied Jamie, raising both hands in mock surrender. “You’re not pulling any punches today.”

Kara shrugged. “Well, that’s what’s making her act the way she is. She’s very protective of Maeve and me.”

He rolled his eyes. “That was a long time ago, and I’m here now. I’m a better and more responsible person. I guess I’ll just have to work on proving myself to her.”

Kara raised one eyebrow. “You could. But it’s unnecessary if you’re not staying long. You two probably won’t see a lot of each other.”

Jamie glanced over at her. “Well, that might change. I’m thinking about staying in Larkin Bay for a while, and I’ll want to see more of Maeve, be more of a father to her if I do. That’ll mean I’ll be seeing more of you as well.”

Kara stared at him, momentarily at a loss for words. What was Jamie telling her? Did he expect them to be friends again? Did he remember nothing about how devastated she’d been when he’d left her alone and pregnant with Maeve?

Kara was about to ask him more, but the conversation was interrupted when his mother appeared. “Jamie? Maeve? Where did you both go? I thought I’d lost you!” she wailed as she hurried toward them.

Kara smiled at the older woman and let Maeve’s grandmother fuss over her for a minute while Maeve yawned at her side. Evelyn finally gave her back her stuffed and well-loved pink pig along with a promise to see Kara and Maeve later in the week. Then she bid them both goodbye.

Kara stepped to one side as Jamie leaned forward to hug her after kissing Maeve on the cheek. Kara wasn’t the least bit interested in having any physical contact with him. He could have limited involvement in Maeve’s life as long as he didn’t upset or scare her, but anything romantic that had once happened between them was long over, and she was more than happy to leave it that way.

Chapter Fifteen

Scott stopped to look out the oversize picture window—this was one thing he liked a lot about his office’s location; he could stand in their boardroom’s second-story office and see everything that was happening on Lake Street.

Looking down, he saw things were quiet, with only a few people out doing some Monday morning shopping. He smiled when he glimpsed Mary and Kara coming up the street. Kara looked happy, and his smile broadened when he saw she was laughing.

“What are you looking at?” asked Courtney curiously, coming up behind him to look out the window as well.

“Just people-watching,” Scott replied. “You can see everything happening on Lake Street just by looking out this window.”

“Is that called people-watching or spying?” asked Courtney, lifting an eyebrow.

“A little of both, I guess,” answered Scott with an affable grin.

“Well, as I live and breathe,” Courtney said, moving closer to the window. “I didn’t know Jamie Hunter was back in town.”