Wealthy Maeve Stoddard, whose family owned the Springfield Journal, arrived in Springfield at the request of Sally Gleason, the mother of her former lover, Kyle Sampson. Sally disapproved of Kyle's relationship with the wild Reva Shayne and wanted her son to be with someone more respectable like Maeve. Though Maeve refused to chase after Kyle, and starting dating Dr. Louie Darnell, outside forces kept throwing her together with Kyle and the pair made love. Soon, Maeve found herself pregnant and Kyle felt that he had no choice but to marry her. However, it soon became clear that Kyle's heart was with Reva. Meanwhile, Maeve's doctor, Claire Ramsey (who had feelings for Kyle), found out that Kyle owned Reva Bend (Reva's home) and tried to blackmail him into an affair. When he refused, Claire told Maeve that Kyle owned the place -- and that meant he must be having an affair with Reva. Not long after, when Maeve saw Kyle in an embrace with Reva (after he saved her from the murderous Harry Kane), Maeve decided that she wouldn't be second in line for her husband's affections and left. She returned later, claiming that their child was born stillborn. With no reason to stay married, she and Kyle divorced. At the same time, Louie paraded around his orphaned cousin, Ben. Louie claimed that the child's parents had died and Maeve made plans to adopt the baby. Knowing that Kyle was trying to stop the adoption (so that he and Reva could adopt the child for themselves), and not able to locate Louie and Ben, Maeve barged into Kyle and Reva's wedding ceremony demanding to know where Ben was, since she believed that Kyle took him. It was then that Maeve was forced to reveal the truth: her baby wasn't born stillborn; Ben was her son. Soon after, Kyle left town, leaving the boy in Maeve's care.

In 1987, Maeve found herself falling for her close friend, journalist Fletcher Reade. Fletcher proposed to Maeve but she refused since she wasn't ready for a new marriage yet. In the meantime, Fletcher's sister, Meredith, arrived in Springfield and Maeve learned her and Fletcher's secret--that Meredith had killed her cancer-stricken mother. Maeve successfully threatened to tell everyone the truth if Meredith wouldn't drop the charges that she had drawn up against Rick Bauer. Though Fletcher broke up with Maeve over her interference, he later forgave her. In 1988, Fletcher became Maeve's partner at the Springfield Journal and they finally married at the Bauer Barbeque with Fletcher adopting Ben. Tragically, after their honeymoon, Maeve was killed in a helicopter accident. Her mother, Julia Stoddard, fought for custody of Ben, but Fletcher won when he found Maeve's updated will, where she named him as Ben's legal guardian.