“She’s gone,” Camry said, her voice lacking any emotion.

Luke sat back down. “She took all the dogs to the grocery store?”

“The dogs don’t come on Saturdays.”

He glanced at Camry with growing alarm. “Will she be back soon?”

“She’s not coming back.”

The hair on his neck stood up, his gut tightened painfully, and every muscle in his body tensed. “She ran off?” he whispered. He stood up again. “Come on then, we have to go find her. I don’t care how mature she seems, we can’t let her wander around alone!”

Camry still didn’t move. “She’s okay. She’s gone . . . home.”

Luke took a deep breath in an attempt to control his pounding heart and sat back down beside her with a disheartened sigh. “All she left us was a card? She couldn’t even say good-bye in person?”

Camry reached down between her knees, her hand returning with an envelope, and Luke finally noticed the small box sitting on the step below her, between her feet.

“Fiona left you this,” she said, handing him the envelope.

His heart started pounding again when he saw his name—Lucian Pascal Renoir—in flourished handwriting that was definitely familiar. He glanced over at Camry, but she continued to stare out at the ocean. He slid his finger under the sealed flap and pulled out a card exactly like the one Grace and Greylen MacKeage had received over a week ago.

He opened it. Please don’t give up on her, Luke silently read, because everyone needs a miracle once in a while, and you are hers. She’d drawn a little smiley face, then continued. And though you might find it hard to believe right now, she is your miracle. Have a great adventure together, you two. I’ll see you again . . . sooner than you think. She’d drawn another smiley face, before signing, All my love, Fiona Gregor.

Luke lifted his gaze to the ocean. Gregor. Why did that name sound familiar?

Fiona Gregor.

“Don’t you have a brother-in-law named Gregor?” he asked.

“Matt. He’s married to my sister Winter,” Camry said, still looking out to sea. “Fiona’s their daughter. And my niece.”

He frowned at her. “You didn’t recognize your own niece?”

She dropped her gaze to the card in her hand. “I didn’t recognize her because right now she’s only five and a half months old.”

Luke’s heart started trying to pound out of his chest again. He didn’t know which alarmed him more: what Camry was saying, or her utter lack of emotion. She had obviously read his name on the envelope she’d handed him, so she knew exactly who he was. Why wasn’t she going for his jugular, or at least screaming her head off?

And what in hell did she mean, Fiona was only five months old?

This had to be some sort of bizarre joke.

And how had Fiona found out his full name, anyway?

He snorted. “Apparently our respecting the little brat enough not to go through her belongings wasn’t reciprocated. She obviously went through my briefcase when she picked it up for me.”

He held the envelope with his name on it in front of Camry, but when she still didn’t respond, he dropped his hand back on his thigh. “I know you probably won’t believe me, but I was going to tell you today.” He shifted uncomfortably, disguising the action by sliding the card back in its envelope. “In fact, I’ve spent all week trying to figure out how to tell you. I . . . you should also know that your mother asked me to come here and talk you into going home for Christmas.”

She finally looked at him, her eyes filled with horror. “Mom knows I’m living in Maine?” she whispered. “D-does Daddy know, too?”

Luke nodded.

She was on her feet and off the steps so fast, it took him a moment to realize she was bolting. The colorfully wrapped box clattered down the steps after her, the card she’d been holding trailing behind it.

Luke jumped to his feet and ran after her. “Camry!” he shouted, tearing onto the beach, amazed she could run so fast on her ankle. “Wait! Let me explain! Dammit, will you stop! You’re going to hurt your ankle again!”

It took him an amazingly long time to catch her, and then he had to tackle her to get her to stop, twisting so he took the brunt of their fall. But then he was forced to protect himself from her pummeling fists, his heart nearly stopping when he realized she was sobbing as she lashed out at him.

He finally just hugged her so tightly that her blows became ineffective, and cupped her head to his cheek. “Shhh,” he crooned, wrapping his legs around hers to stop her struggles. “It’s okay. Everything’s going to be okay.”

She suddenly went limp. “Let me go.”

He chuckled humorlessly. “Not a chance, lady. Just listen to me, will you?” he said in a rush when she started struggling again. “I just spent the last two months searching Springy Mountain for your mother’s satellite, which crashed there last summer.”

She went still again, only this time she remained guardedly tense.

“But I got caught in a blizzard, and your brother-in-law Jack Stone found me and brought me to your parents,” he quickly continued. “I told them who I was. Well, I told them I was Luke Pascal, but I did say I was the man you’d been corresponding with all last winter. Anyway, I wasn’t aware they didn’t know you no longer worked for NASA, so you can blame that one on me. But it was Fiona who sent them a Christmas card, which led them to believe you were living here in Go Back Cove.”

He shrugged, shrugging her with him. “I don’t know why they refused to come get you themselves. But your mother said something about their needing you to want to come home. So she asked me to come get you.”

He sighed, pressing his face into her hair. “I don’t know if any of this is making any sense, Camry, or even getting through to you. I only know that your parents love you immensely, and they’re . . . aw hell, they’re hurt and confused and probably scared sick that you’ve been keeping your secret from them for so long.”

She went completely limp again, and this time Luke knew she wasn’t faking. It might have had something to do with her silent sobs, or the fact that instead of pushing him away, she was now clutching him with wrenching desperation.

He slid his fingers through her hair. “I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I am so damned sorry for not telling you up front who I was, and I’m sorry for letting your parents talk me into coming after you in the first place. This was none of my business, really, but since I’m rather invested now, I have to ask: Why couldn’t you tell your mother what was going on with your work?”

He slackened his hold just enough to lift her chin, and his heart nearly stopped again at the pain he saw in her eyes. He brushed a tear off her cheek and smiled tenderly. “You have my word, MacKeage: I won’t run home to your mama and tattle. That’s completely between you and her. But having met Grace, and seeing how much she loves you, I can’t figure out why you couldn’t go to her with your problem.” He widened his smile. “As for your father, that man scares the hell out of me almost as much as you do.”

She blinked at him, and Luke took a relieved breath, figuring he’d gotten them past the worst part. He slackened his hold even more, and when she didn’t start swinging at him, he released her totally, gently rolled her off him, and sat up. But when she tried to stand, he took hold of her wrist and held her sitting beside him.

“Just a minute. There’s a bit more you need to hear.”

She didn’t try to break his grip, but simply stared out at the ocean.

Luke took a deep breath. “I had been eavesdropping on your mother’s satellite for several months before I started corresponding with you. I was fascinated with what your mother was doing, and have been working on the same problem myself for nearly ten years. I know what I did was unconscionable, but I was getting so frustrated and so damned desperate, I simply didn’t care anymore.”