The One and Only: A Single Mom Second Chance Romance (Heart of Hope) by Ajme Williams (read any book txt) 📕

and so the whole thing went from look at this crazy couple to holy shit that’s Cade Kirkpatrick.”

I heaved a sigh as Caitlyn looked outraged at the news instead of Cade, for once. “This is bull—”

She stopped herself from swearing in front of Drew and gestured her arms wildly in the air instead. “You know what I mean.”

I nodded.

“Mama?” Drew tugged on my sleeve. He looked both excited and scared. “How are we gonna get to the zoo today?”

“You were going to the zoo?” Cade asked, looking up from his phone.

“Yeah,” Caitlyn replied, giving him a full stare down. “For his birthday celebrations.”

“My birthday’s in a couple days but we can’t celebrate that day ‘cause I have school,” Drew explained in all seriousness, which was incredibly adorable. My heart beamed looking at him. “So we’re going to the zoo today! ‘Cause it’s Saturday!”

“Well, happy birthday,” Cade said with a smile.

Drew smiled back, and I winced, realizing that I was going to have to introduce them.

“Drew, baby, this is Cade. He’s an old friend of mine. Cade, this is my son, Drew.”

Cade crouched down and held out his hand for Drew to shake. “I’m sorry about the inconvenience. We’ll find a way to celebrate your birthday indoors today.”

Drew seemed delighted to have his hand shaken, treated like a real adult. That was a relief for me. I had no idea how Cade would be with children or how he’d handle meeting Drew, but so far it seemed to be going well. Though that was because I was comparing it with the absolute mess outside.

“There’s no way you could go to the zoo,” Caitlyn whispered. “The reporters would hound you the entire time. Zoos are public property, there’d be nothing to do.”

I held in a sigh. I wasn’t surprised that Caitlyn had voiced out my opinion exactly. But what was I going to do instead? Drew had been looking forward to the zoo so much, and I’d been grateful for that as I couldn’t really afford a huge party for him, or buy him a ton of toys. I’d been glad that this special activity would be able to make up for it.

But now I was stuck. I couldn’t leave the house. How was I supposed to give my child the happy day that he deserved?

Cade glanced at me. “I’m sure we’ll find another way to celebrate your birthday, Drew. Your birthday’s supposed to be about you, right? Not about all these annoying people outside.”

He winked at Drew like they were sharing some kind of secret, and Drew smiled. Cade’s charm was out in full swing and a part of me relaxed while another part of me tensed up. I was well aware of how charming Cade would be, and it didn’t surprise me that Drew was caught in his spell instantly.

But would Cade stick around? Or was that charm going to be superficial?

“I’m sorry about last night,” I whispered to Caitlyn. “Thank you for looking after him.”

“Hey, it happens. And clearly, you two have a lot to work through,” Caitlyn replied.

“How’d the rest of the night go?” I asked.

To my surprise, a guarded expression flitted across Caitlyn’s face before she said, “It went well. I’ve actually been hired to do some shoots with a local activist group, and all my photographs sold, so I’m flush with cash.”

Her tone was warm and happy, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d have said that I’d been imagining that strange expression on her face a moment ago. But Caitlyn and I had spent nearly every moment together since Drew had been born. I knew her. She was my best friend. Something had to be up.

I didn’t ask her about it, though. I couldn’t in front of Cade and Drew anyway, but especially right now, because I had to figure out what to do about Cade and about Drew’s birthday. I had to trust that whatever it was, Caitlyn would tell me about it in her own time.

“Congratulations!” I told her instead. “I’m so happy for you!”

I looked at Drew. “Have you had breakfast yet, champ? I know it’s early.”

“No,” Drew shook his head.

“Then why don’t we have the pancakes that were left over from last time, while I figure out what else we can do for your birthday.”

Drew nodded. To my surprise, Cade said, “Hey, buddy, why don’t you give me a tour of the house real quick? I bet you have a super cool room.”

Drew lit up and took Cade’s hand, dragging him down the hall. I sagged down on the couch in relief.

Caitlyn gave me a look. “Everything okay?”

I nodded, then shook my head. “Yes and no. Cade apologized for how he had abandoned me and that I wasn’t just a fling to him—he explained that back then, he hadn’t known how to stand up to his parents. He had lied to me so that I wouldn’t fight him about the break-up.”

Caitlyn sighed. “I get that, and from what you’d told me, you both were young, but…what he’d said was still hurtful.”

“Yes, and he said that he’s sorry. He promised he wouldn’t abandon me or Drew.”

“Do you believe him?”

“I want to. He’s angry that I kept Drew from him—or he was angry, but last night he finally seemed to understand my reasons and see my side of things. He seems to want to be there for us. I just don’t know what he’ll do now that he’s met Drew, now that we have all these reporters. And he’s still never stood up to his parents his whole life. It was Della who did that, who’d called off the wedding, not Cade. So, I…I don’t know. I want to believe him. I want to trust him.”

Caitlyn hugged me. “This is one of those things that has no easy answer and only time will tell you how it’ll go. So, for now, let’s warm up these pancakes.”

We did just that and then I went into Drew’s room to fetch the two boys.

“…and this