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“Well, it’s a fine afternoon indeed if Freddie’s here.” I kick up my accent a bit as Freddie’s Irish himself, and I know he enjoys it. “How are you today?”
“Ah, there’s a fine lass,” he says with sparkling blue eyes. “Maeve, me love, when are you going to run off and marry me?”
“As soon as I finish me shift,” I assure him with a wink. “Now don’t you dare go pledgin’ your love to anyone else while I’m away.”
Freddie takes a sip of his beer, both of us pleased as punch with our typical exchange, and I see Hunter smiling at me, clearly enjoying the show.
I take my tray of drinks and deliver them to my tables. When I glance to my right, I see a woman walk through the door and survey the room.
I don’t know her, though she looks vaguely familiar.
“Um, Maeve?” Rachel asks. She slips her hand into mine, and her face has gone bone white.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
Rachel licks her lips and nods toward the woman who’s now grinning and hurrying over to us.
“Uh, that’s Carla. That’s my mom.”
“Darling!” Carla wraps her arms around Rachel, hugging her tightly. But Rachel isn’t grinning. And she doesn’t hug the woman back.
She only watches me with worried eyes.
“Oh, my sweet girl, it’s so good to see you. Be a dear and go tell your boss you need the rest of the day off so we can catch up.”
“I didn’t know you were coming, Carla. I can’t just take off of work.”
“Since when do you call me Carla?” the woman demands and then shifts her attention to me, her blue eyes icing over. “Rachel is leaving.”
“No.” It’s Hunter’s voice from behind me. “She isn’t leaving.”
“Well, she certainly is. I’m here.”
“Just go,” Rachel whispers. “You’re embarrassing me. I’ll call you when I’m finished with my shift.”
“Well.” Carla’s face is mutinous. She brushes her hands down the red top that shows way too much cleavage. “Fine, then. I’m in town indefinitely, so I suppose there’s no hurry.”
I blink in surprise, and Hunter sighs as Carla spins on her heel and stalks out of the bar.
“You don’t have to stay,” I whisper to Rachel. “If you want to go.”
“No. I have a job,” Rachel insists. “She can’t just come in here and demand that I leave.”
And with that, Rachel hurries away to buss and wipe down some empty tables.
“Did you know?” I ask Hunter.
“No. But I should have.” He glances down at me. “She’s not here for Rachel. She’s here for you.”
I frown. “Me? She doesn’t even know me.”
“She saw the ESPYs,” he says. “And she’s jealous. She’s come to check you out and make trouble. I’m not going to Vegas. No way.”
He turns away, but I tug on his arm, stopping him.
“You’re going to Vegas. She’s not going to mess up everything here, Hunter. She’s not that important.”
He just shakes his head. “We’ll see how big the shitshow is by tomorrow.”
He watches Rachel with worried eyes.
“Has she pulled this before?”
“No, because I’ve never given her a reason to. We’ll talk more later. I think I’ll hang around, just in case.”
“Want some stew?”
“Yeah. And a beer.”
Chapter 13
~Hunter~
I’ve been sitting at the bar, brooding about the fact that Carla just waltzed in here and made a fool of herself, and decide that’s a bunch of bullshit. I’m not afraid of her. There’s absolutely nothing she can do to harm us. She signed over her rights as a mother the day after Rachel was born.
I’ve just always tried to be civil for my daughter’s sake.
I leave my place at the bar and walk outside, dialing Carla’s number.
“What?” she says as a greeting.
“What are you doing here, Carla?”
“I’m obviously here to see my daughter.”
“Don’t throw that shit at me. We both know that’s not the case. What are you trying to do?”
“I don’t know why you’re being so cruel.” Fake tears fill her voice, and I roll my eyes toward the heavens. “I just want to see Rachel. I’ve missed out on so much.”
“By choice,” I remind her.
“Are you telling me I’m not welcome in Rachel’s life? That you both just want me to leave?”
Yes. Yes, that’s what I’m fucking saying.
But it’s not entirely up to me. Rachel is old enough to make her own choices regarding who she wants to have relationships with, so long as it doesn’t harm her—especially when it comes to her biological mother.
“I don’t like that you decided to show up out of the blue, without any warning, and interrupted our lives. I don’t think you have innocent motives at all. I don’t want you here, and if push comes to shove, I can get a restraining order. But…I’ll let Rachel decide if she wants to spend time with you.”
“She will.” Carla sounds confident when she sniffs into the phone. “We have a lot of catching up to do. Maybe I should come to your place on the water for dinner tonight.”
