A/N: Thank you for the awesome reviews. And thanks to my beta: Leeese!

Disclaimer: Only own Maddie Scott

Chapter Three

Daddy's Little Girl

Brooke opened the door and walked into the café. She wasn't surprised to see that there weren't many customers around. She had returned the same time that she had arrived the day before. She looked around for Mr. Scott as she walked up to the counter. She was disappointed to see that he wasn't there. A man behind the counter noticed her and walked over to her. "Can I help you?" the man asked in a friendly tone.

Brooke nodded. "Yes, I would like to speak with Mr. Scott," she replied. "Is he here?" she asked him.

"No, he's not. But he should be back soon. Why don't you have a seat and I'll tell you when he comes back in?" the man suggested as he smiled politely. Brooke smiled gratefully in return and took a seat at the counter. "Can I get you anything to eat?" he offered.

Before Brooke could answer, a small voice spoke out. "I think you should get a hamburger and a cup of coffee." She turned to see a little girl sitting next to her. She was surprised that she didn't notice her before. Now that she had, she noticed that the child had long blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. The same blue eyes like Mr. Scott had.

Brooke smiled warmly at the little girl. "That actually does sound good," she said as she turned back to the waiter. "I'll take that recommendation. But instead of a coffee, I'll just have a glass of water."

"I'll have the same only, make mine a chocolate milkshake, Jake," the little girl told Jake.

Jake laughed as he gave her a smile. "You got it, Maddie." He then disappeared into the kitchen.

Brooke turned back to Maddie. "So your name is Maddie?" she asked her.

Maddie nodded proudly. "My full name is Madelyn Elizabeth Scott," she replied. "What's yours?"

Brooke gave her a smile. "I'm Brooke Penelope Davis. Pleased to meet you." She then pretended to think for a moment. "So your last name is Scott? I guess that means that this is your grandma's café?"

Maddie smiled widely in response. "Yeah, she's out of town. So Daddy's taking care of it for her until she gets back."

"That's nice of him," Brooke replied. She then knew that Maddie was Mr. Scott's daughter. "I bet your grandma appreciates that."

Maddie nodded. She had a sad tone to her voice as she said, "Yeah, but I miss him. That's why he's getting some help with the café," she told her.

Before Brooke could answer, Jake arrived with their meals. "Here you go. Let me know if you want anything else."

"Thank you, Jake," Maddie replied as she took a bite of her hamburger.

Jake gave her a smile. "You're welcome, Maddie."

"So what do you want to talk to my daddy for?" Maddie asked her as she took a sip of her chocolate milkshake.

"Well, I'm the help that your daddy has been asking for," Brooke replied with another smile.

Maddie gave her an incredibly wide smile as she heard the front entrance open. She turned to see who it was. She jumped off the stool and ran over to Lucas. She hugged him tightly as she spoke. "Daddy, Brooke's going to help you with grandma's café," she told him excitedly.

Lucas was about to reply when he realized what she said. He looked up and saw Brooke getting up from her seat. "I see. Why don't you go finish your lunch while I talk to Ms. Davis?" he asked his daughter as Brooke headed over to them. Maddie nodded and walked back to the counter. Lucas looked at Brooke as he said, "I see you've met my daughter Maddie."

Brooke nodded. "Yeah and I can see why you want to hire some help. She's adorable. And I would be happy to help you with the café so that you can spend more time with your daughter." There was a short pause as she suddenly became serious. "But I want to ask you something first and I want you to be honest with me. You aren't hiring me just because you feel sorry for me, right? Because I don't need your pity, Mr. Scott. I have plenty of that already from everyone else. I don't need it from you too."

Lucas stopped her right there. "Ok, I admit that I did feel sorry for you at first. But that's not the real reason that I'm hiring you. I want to hire you because you are the right person for the job. Your resume is perfect and all of your former employers told me great things about you. You're kind and courteous. You're punctual." There was a short pause. "And you like kids. That's definitely a plus for me."

Brooke couldn't help but smile. "Well, Maddie is easy to like."

Lucas smiled in return as he looked at his daughter proudly. "Yeah, she has that effect on people." He then changed the subject. "So do you still want the job?" he asked her. Brooke didn't have a chance to answer as he continued. "If you are still unsure about the job, remember that it is only temporary. My mom comes back next Thursday. So you'll have to stay until then."

Brooke nodded understandingly. She was then quiet as she thought for a moment. "Well, I guess I will help out until Mrs. Scott comes back. Do you want me to start now?"

Lucas laughed. "You should wait until after we're done with our lunch hour. Are you really that anxious to get started?"

Brooke shook her head. "Are you kidding? I'm starving. I don't think the hamburger is going to fill me up." She then turned to Jake, who was still behind the counter. He had been quietly listening to the conversation between the three of them. "Do you have anything chocolate?" she asked him as she sat back down again. "I feel a pregnancy craving coming on."

"Does that mean you're going to have a baby?" Maddie asked excitedly as she looked at Brooke with wide eyes.

Brooke gave her a smile in response as she answered, "Yes it does."

"Congratulations," Jake told her.

"Thanks," Brooke said softly.

Lucas knew that this was the best time to change the subject before Maddie started asking too many questions. "I'll see if I can find something sweet for you to eat," Lucas told Brooke before he disappeared in the kitchen.

After their lunch hour was over with, Brooke immediately went to work. Maddie eagerly volunteered to help her and Brooke graciously accepted. Lucas and Jake then watched as the two worked together attending to the customers.

"I'm sorry for letting Maddie talk to Ms. Davis. I know she's not supposed to talk to strangers. But I figured it would be ok since I was nearby," Jake told Lucas as they cooked the meals for the orders.

Lucas nodded understandingly. "It's fine." He then looked at Jake. "So what did they talk about?" he asked curious.

Jake gave him a smile. "Well, I know what her middle name is. And I don't think it's any better than yours."

Lucas wasn't convinced. He frowned as he said, "Come on. Any name is better than Eugene."

Jake just laughed as he looked at his friend. "Why are you so interested anyway?"

"Well, Maddie really likes her. I want to make sure that Ms. Davis is someone I can trust with my kid," Lucas told him.

Jake nodded understandingly. "I know what you mean. Believe me I know. After all, I'm going through it too with Jenny."

"At least those two have each other. I don't know what Maddie would do if she didn't have Jenny especially since Jamie hangs out with Chuck and Andre at school," Lucas replied with a slight smile. "Speaking of Jamie, I have to pick him up from preschool today."

"Really? Is everything ok with Haley?" Jake asked him.

"I think so. She probably wants me to do it because she picked Maddie up for me yesterday," Lucas replied. Jake had to agree. He then looked at his friend. "Do you think I have depended on Haley too much lately?"

"I really don't want to get in the middle," Jake replied before he hesitated. Lucas waited for more. Jake let out a sigh. "But I did agree with Haley. I thought you were taking on too much and needed help with the café."

Lucas made a face. "That's what I thought. Well, it won't matter much anymore since I'm hiring Ms. Davis," he replied as he turned back to Brooke and Maddie. "And it looks like I made the right choice."

Time passed quickly and it was soon time to go and pick up Jamie at the school. Maddie didn't want to go for once. Lucas was surprised until he realized that she wanted to stay with her new friend. He thought it was sweet, but he knew that he couldn't leave her with Ms. Davis. He had just met her and didn't know her well enough. And even though she and Maddie had bonded quickly, it didn't mean anything. Maddie always could make friends easily.

"And here I thought you wanted to spend the day with your dad," Lucas reminded his daughter.

Brooke knew that Lucas needed help. "Thank you so much for helping me today Maddie. You did such a great job with showing me how to do things around here." Maddie smiled proudly at Brooke's words. "And I know you want to stay, but I think I'm ready to do it on my own. After all, I was taught by the best, right?"

Maddie nodded in agreement. "Yeah."

Lucas didn't say anything as Brooke and Maddie exchanged good-byes. He then waited until Maddie was at the door before speaking. He looked at Brooke in amazement. "Wow, that was impressive. You must come from a big family if you know exactly what to say."

Brooke shook her head in response. "Actually, I'm an only child."

Lucas wanted to ask her more questions, but he knew that he had to get going. He turned to Jake and said, "You're in charge for the rest of the day." Jake nodded in acknowledgement as Lucas turned back to Brooke. "I'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning, Ms. Davis."

"Please call me Brooke," Brooke told him.

Lucas gave her a smile in response. "Bye Brooke," he replied as he walked over and took Maddie's hand. He waited as she waved good-bye to Brooke before they left the café.

Brooke then went back to work under Jake's supervision. However, he let her do most of the work. As Brooke took orders from another customer, she saw that a table had to be cleared off. She walked over and started cleaning up the dirty dishes. She then heard another customer coming in. "I'll be right with you," she called, not looking up from her work.

"I never thought I would see Brooke Davis working here," said a familiar voice. One she didn't particularly want to hear. "Isn't this place a little beneath you?"

Brooke looked up and saw Peyton standing there with a smug look on her face. She glared at her for a moment before she continued to clean up. "From what I hear, you're not supposed to be here either. I don't know what you did to the Scott family, but I want to respect their wishes. So I suggest you leave."

"Sorry, but I have to talk to them. Do you know where I can find Lucas or Haley?" Peyton asked her.

"You got one of us," said another familiar voice. Brooke and Peyton turned to see Haley coming in from the backroom. "Brooke, why don't you take a break? I'll take over for awhile," she told Brooke. Brooke nodded as she took the hint and headed in the direction that Haley had just come from. Haley waited until she left the room before speaking again. She glared angrily at Peyton. "I can't believe you, Peyton! First, you decided to screw Lucas and now you're picking on Brooke! You know, I've spent all day trying to decide whether I should tell Lucas or not. And I finally realized that I don't want to see him get hurt again! And that's exactly what's going to happen if you stay in Tree Hill! So do yourself a favor and get the hell out!"

Peyton glared back at her. "First of all, my business with Brooke Davis is none of your business." Haley scoffed at her in response. "And second, he screwed me over first."

Haley gave her an angry look. "What the hell are you talking about? Lucas never cheated on you." She then stopped herself from continuing. "I don't know why I'm even talking to you. I can see that you haven't changed a bit! You still blame everyone, but yourself! And you won't ever admit it, will you?" she exclaimed.

"You're overreacting," Peyton replied. Haley didn't have a chance to reply as Peyton continued. "You know what? I'll go. The service sucks here anyway."

Haley just watched her as she walked out of the café. She then heard footsteps behind her. She turned around and was relieved to see that it was Jake, not Brooke. She really didn't want Brooke to find out how she knew Peyton. "I never thought I would see Peyton around here again," Jake said as he frowned. "I wonder why she came back."

Haley bit her lip as she thought for a moment. She finally spoke. "I don't know. All I know that whatever the reason is, it's not good," she replied. Jake sadly had to agree.