“I looked and looked.”

She all but dragged Hope down the stairs and out the front door.

According to the sticker in the window, Nathan had rented a town car in Eugene.

What the hell was he up to? It had been close to six years since she’d seen him. Last she’d heard he was off to some fancy law school and struggling to stay in.

“Maybe they’re around back?” Melanie pulled Hope to where she’d last seen Miss Gina.

“I don’t think so.”

“C’mon.”

Miss Gina sat on the back porch, a glass of lemonade in her hand, a cigarette in the other. “Did you find our guest?”

Hope shook her head.

Melanie stopped short and knelt to Miss Gina’s level. “I need you to keep Hope out here with you,” she whispered in her ear.

Miss Gina offered a slow smile. “Wyatt, eh?”

Melanie squeezed her eyes shut. “No . . . just please. I’ll explain later.”

Miss Gina narrowed her eyes. “You okay?”

She said yes, and shook her head no.

The older woman took the hint and patted the swinging chair beside her. “Hope, hon . . . what do you say we try and sweet-talk Wyatt into building a tree fort?”

“Like a tree house? Really?”

“Yeah, like a tree house.”

“Do you think I can have a puppy? I’ve always wanted a puppy.”

“One thing at a time,” Miss Gina said.

Melanie disappeared through the back door and ran up the back stairs that led from the kitchen.

Wyatt and Nathan were standing exactly where she’d left them. Nathan with a shitty grin, Wyatt wore an angry frown.

She pointed at Nathan. “You. Out.”

“I’m here to see Hope.”

“You’re not going to see her. Not today.” Not ever if Melanie could manage that.

“Melanie . . .”

His tone set her off even more than his presence. “Don’t Melanie me.” She shook a hand in his face. “You have no right to interrupt my life.”

His smile fell and he moved forward.

She stiffened and Wyatt stepped between them.

“I have every right.”

If it wasn’t for Wyatt’s hand holding her back, she might have slapped the smug look off Nathan’s face. “Don’t make me call the sheriff and have you arrested for trespassing.”

Nathan had the balls to smile. “This is an inn, a public place. I’m looking for a room.”

It was time for Melanie to smile. “I’m the innkeeper, and I have the right to refuse service to anyone.”

He rocked back on his heels and sighed. “I just want to see my daughter.”

She didn’t want to remind him the last time they spoke he accused her of sleeping around and questioned Hope’s DNA. One thing was for sure, Nathan wasn’t here for Hope. He had another agenda. He hadn’t wanted to be a dad before, and she didn’t think for a second he wanted to be a dad now.

“I can get a court order, Melanie.”

For the first time since Nathan walked in the room, Wyatt attempted to intervene with words. “It’s safe to say your presence isn’t expected,” he told Nathan. “Maybe you two should talk outside of the inn, away from Hope, and come to some kind of agreement.”

Melanie wanted to scream, argue, throw really heavy objects that hit her target with a thud! “Fine.”

“I saw a diner in town. How about noon tomorrow?” Nathan asked.

“I can’t. I’m working.”

Nathan narrowed his eyes. “Then the evening.”

“Still working.”

“Melanie?” His placating look of disbelief took over his face.

The urge to slap him was huge.

“Tuesday, eleven o’clock, at Sam’s.”

“That’s two days away.”

“Next time call before you pop into my life.” It felt good to take control.

His smirk unnerved her as his eyes traveled down her frame. “Always did like your feistiness.”

Wyatt took a step in front of her, cutting off Nathan’s view. “I think you need to leave.”

“I’ll show myself out.”

“I wouldn’t want you to get lost,” Wyatt said with a sweep of his hand toward the door.

As much as she wanted to stay behind and crumble on the half-made bed, she followed them down the stairs and split away when Wyatt walked Nathan out the front door. Melanie detoured toward the back until she heard her daughter’s conversation with Miss Gina. The sound of a car starting, and the kicking up of the gravel in the drive, gave her pause.

He was gone.

She leaned against the wall between the kitchen and the sitting room and held her head with one hand. She didn’t look up until Wyatt’s boots stood beside her.

“I’m sorry for the drama,” she said without looking up.

“You didn’t invite it.”

“What is he doing here? Why now?” Why when she was finally making positive decisions in her life instead of just letting life lead her in whatever direction it wanted to?

“Maybe he just wants to see his daughter.”

No, she didn’t believe it. Why would he use the old line about her being his wife? He used it when they first met to lay claim . . . to offer legitimacy to their illegitimate daughter. To placate his parents. “It’s more than that.”

“I’m not sure I can help since I don’t have all the details. My guess is your girlfriends do.”

Melanie actually groaned. Jo would just shoot him, and Zoe would sauté what was left in butter and garlic. But Wyatt had a point. Between Nathan’s bullying and her embarrassment, Mel hadn’t called on her friends the first time around, and look where it had gotten her.