She jumped.
Next to her, Maxi laughed. She hadn’t even noticed her come up. “I knew I caught you staring.”
“I was not staring. I was watching Jane with her mom.”
“Sure you were.” Maxi started toweling off her hair.“So who is he?”
“You don’t know? It’s the Bradford Breads guy.”
Maxi’s left brow hiked. “Ohhh, well at least he has appropriately nice buns.”
“Maxi!” Claire exclaimed, but it emerged half as a choked laugh, no doubt her friend’s intention.
“So you two aren’t enemies anymore?” Maxi asked.
“I wouldn’t say that. We had to pair up to find Addie at Jane’s request. He’s still under suspicion as far as I’m concerned.”
Maxi’s lips pressed together. “Really? He seems so nice to Addie, and didn’t I hear that he found her and ran back through the storm carrying her? That’s kind of a nice thing to do, especially as a newcomer.”
“Maybe he has an ulterior motive.” Claire’s voice was missing some of the conviction she’d felt earlier.
“What would that possibly be? To befriend Jane so he can ruin your bakery?” Maxi curled her towel around her shoulders and poured a cup of coffee. “Don’t you think you’re reaching a bit?”
Claire chewed her bottom lip and studied her friend. Why did no one see things the way she saw them? There was only kindness and concern in Maxi’s eyes. She wasn’t being mean or malicious, but it wasn’therbakery that was in jeopardy. “I don’t think I’m reaching. I tell you the guy is acting nice but there’s something odd about it. Why does he dote on Addie so much? That doesn’t seem normal to me.”
Maxi shrugged. “Well, he has a soft spot for people with memory issues because of his wife.”
“Wife?” Claire hadn’t even thought about him having a wife, but of course he probably did. She hadn’t seen any wife hanging around the store across the street. Where was she, and what did that have to do with Addie? “That makes it even stranger. Where is his wife?”
Maxi looked at her funny. “She died. I heard him mention it earlier. Didn’t realize he was the bread guy. You didn’t hear him talking about that to Jane when he brought Addie in?”
Claire shook her head. It must have been when she was still making her way back from where they’d found Addie.
“Oh, well apparently his wife had early-onset Alzheimer’s.” Maxi’s face turned sad. “He took care of her while she was sick.”
Something inside Claire softened. She glanced back at Rob, who had moved Addie to the couch and was still doting on her.
Loudly, Addie’s voice cut through the murmur of people. “Stop fussing around me. I’m fine.”
“Take it easy, Mom. You can’t walk on that foot for a while.”
“Stop coddling me. All of you go on now. I have an inn to run! I can’t sit around all day.”
If nothing else, she sounded back in her usual spirits. After the scare they’d had, it was a relief.
Claire sipped the last of her coffee. The rain had stopped. She’d better say goodbye to her friends and head back to the bakery. She had a cupcake sale to prepare for.
By the time Maxi checked her phone, she found not one but three text messages from James.
The first had come not long after she had sent her initial text about Addie going missing. Jane’s family was a pillar of the community, and she thought he would want to know that she was missing and that Jane was organizing half the town to look for her. The second text must have come in while Maxi was out knocking on neighbors’ doors in search of Addie. And when she hadn’t answered that…
Maxi, please text me back to let me know you are okay.
He cared. Maxi had started to wonder about that. Especially after what Claire and Hailey had said about their exes. Clearly she had too much time on her hands now, and it was making her overthink things. She leaned against the wall and tapped out a response immediately.
I’m fine. A bit wet. Claire found Addie and we’re all inside now, warming up.
When she hit send, she tucked the phone against her and smiled, releasing a long breath and all of the tension that had gripped her those past few hours since she’d gotten Jane’s call.
