Free A Camden's Baby Secret by Victoria Pade Page A

out of school, but John Sr. had always been pretty down on me, and that had soured things more.”
    â€œWith him, but not with Maeve?”
    â€œShe had a soft spot for me—something I was grateful for but never really understood. She teamed up with J.J. to lean on John Sr. and he finally gave in. Under the condition that I toe the line, keep my after-school job and still earn my keep working on the farm before school the way J.J. did.”
    â€œAnd you did.”
    â€œIt wasn’t something I could pass up. It was just for a year, and then I’d be headed to college—if I could get the scholarships lined up.” He again nodded toward Northbridge, adding a heartfelt and desperate sounding, “And I wanted out of this town! So yeah, I did.”
    â€œWhich let you finish high school and win the scholarship you needed.”
    â€œSo I owe the Tellers.”
    â€œEven if you still haven’t quite redeemed yourself in John Sr.’s eyes for some reason...” Livi said, hoping for an explanation of that.
    But all she got was stoicism from Callan. “That’s just how he is. And that’s how I got here.”
    â€œSo between the two things—your friend asking you to take care of his parents and you owing Maeve and John Sr.—you don’t fight the way he treats you,” Livi said.
    â€œI won’t let down J.J. and Mandy on anything. Not with Greta and not with John Sr.,” Callan concluded with resignation.
    Then he smiled, warmly enough to remind Livi of some of what had appealed to her in Hawaii, and said, “So, Hawaii is history—we’re all the way into real life now, like it or not.”
    If only you knew...
    The moon had gone high into the sky as they’d talked. The way its light caught the sharp lines of Callan’s face made her think about their walk on the beach, when he’d first kissed her.
    He was looking into her eyes just like he had been that night. Uninvited and unwanted came a memory of that first kiss they’d shared—how instinctively she’d been drawn to it, how warm and gentle his lips had been.
    She remembered thinking as she’d melted into the kiss that there was something indescribably good about the feel of that big body curving almost protectively down toward her in order to reach her mouth with his. About the pure size and power of the man himself—strong but reserved, silently inviting her in—that had added to the potency and made it impossible for her to resist drifting closer to him, to that kiss...
    Then she realized what she was thinking about and how inappropriate it was.
    And how she most surely shouldn’t be having the absolutely insane urge to reexperience it!
    She took a deep breath to clear her head and said, “I should go. Pack. Get ready to leave in the morning.”
    He didn’t stop looking at her even as he nodded. “Yeah, tomorrow will be a full day. I’ll have Kinsey text you when she gets in, and give you the address. Will I see you... I mean, will you be there when we get to my place, or will you just drop off whatever you buy for Greta? Which I’ll reimburse you for, by the way.”
    â€œWhatever I get her can just be my welcome-to-Denver gift. And...I guess I did say I’d see her in Denver, but I don’t know if it will be tomorrow.”
    Tomorrow, when he would get to see her—that was the way he’d put it at first, as if it wasn’t about Greta at all.
    Tomorrow, when Livi would get to see him —something she was thinking and trying not to.
    â€œI guess it depends on how things go,” she said. “When you get in. What I’m up to.”
    Whether or not the doctor rid her of her anxiety or confirmed it...
    â€œBut I’ll try,” she said. “For Greta’s sake.”
    â€œSure—for Greta’s sake,” he repeated.
    Then he straightened and stepped back, opening the door wider for