Read Online A Camden's Baby Secret by Victoria Pade - Free Book Online Page B

no question that Mandy and J.J. should be in on it with me. I wanted them to be partners, but they wouldn’t do that—not when I was funding it with the money I made from selling off the last acre of land that belonged to my family. But they let me make them my vice presidents and put them on the business side of things so we could work together every day. Which was great!” He said that with so much satisfaction.
    â€œBut when Greta came along, they wanted to raise her in Northbridge, where her grandparents were,” he said then. “So we put a marketing and distribution center here for them to run.”
    â€œIt must have been hard for you to lose them back to Northbridge.”
    â€œYeah. But after they moved, a day never went by that we didn’t talk or video chat or text.”
    â€œThe Tellers said you’re Greta’s godfather,” Livi murmured, beginning to understand the reasons behind J.J and Mandy’s choice of guardian. It was more about their close-knit friendship than about Callan’s relationship with their daughter.
    â€œI am her godfather,” he confirmed. “But because Mandy and J.J. were in Northbridge, I didn’t spend a lot of time with Greta until now. Still, Mandy and J.J. had faith that I could and would step up to the plate for her, for them, if I needed to. And I will.”
    Livi could tell that he meant it, and she had to admire his determination and dedication to his friends.
    She just had the impression that he wasn’t quite sure how to “step up to the plate” when it came to Greta. But there wasn’t anything more for Livi to say about that except, “So you’ll work on it?”
    He laughed—something she’d heard a lot that night in Hawaii. The sound made a wave of warmth wash through her.
    â€œThat’s your way of saying I’m not doing well?” he asked.
    â€œThere’s room for improvement.”
    He laughed again. “Okay. You want to be my mentor, too?”
    A sweet sort of cockiness and a hint of challenge—there had been some of that in Hawaii, too, and Livi found herself smiling. “It’s not like I’m an expert, but you—”
    â€œYeah, I know,” he conceded. “I’m a computer nerd, not a kindergarten teacher.”
    There was absolutely nothing nerdy about him, but Livi didn’t point that out. And she wished she wasn’t so aware of just how not nerdy he was. In fact, maybe if he was more of a geek it would have kept her from falling under his spell. Which she felt a little like she was doing again, and was trying to fight.
    What she did say was a goading, “You do know that Greta isn’t in kindergarten, right?”
    He laughed once more. “Yeah, I know that much. But it doesn’t mean I know how to talk to her.”
    â€œHow about just like you’d talk to anyone else? Like you’re talking to me right now.”
    His expression revealed he wasn’t sure he could do that.
    â€œJust give it a try. Greta is a chatterbox. If you give her half a chance she’ll do most of the work.”
    â€œShe does kind of like to talk, doesn’t she?”
    It was Livi’s turn to laugh. “She’s a nine-year-old girl and has a lot to say. But I think you can keep up,” she teased.
    They’d been out here talking for a long time, so she knew she should say good-night. But Livi was still curious about the tension between Callan and John Sr.—who, according to Maeve, Callan wanted to “look after.”
    And now that she had him talking about these things, Livi hated to stop before she had the whole scoop.
    So—not because she was enjoying standing here in the moonlight talking to him, but for legitimate other reasons, she assured herself—she said, “And the Tellers? Are you taking them with you to Denver to keep them close to Greta?”
    â€œLet me guess—you saw that there