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

is my space command,” Drew was explaining as I walked in, showing Cade the toys he’d arranged in a corner of his room to resemble a space station, “where all my astronauts and Jedis work.”

Cade was crouched down next to Drew, listening attentively as Drew showed him all the different toys, explained their personalities and jobs.

I smiled, watching them. Neither of them had noticed me yet, and my heart ached at this sight. This is what my life could be like. That is, if I could trust Cade and if we could figure out what to do about the reporters, his family and the fact that I was still rooted in Detroit.

But maybe, just maybe, I could have this. Maybe it would work out all right in the end.

I cleared my throat and Drew paused in his passionate lecture about one of his astronauts to turn and look at me. I smiled, “Breakfast is ready. Why don’t you give Cade a break?”

Drew scampered out of his room while Cade got to his feet. “I don’t mind it. He’s imaginative. I love how much passion he has.”

He sounded sincere, and I smiled at him with relief. “I’m glad. He’s my whole world.”

Cade nodded. “I can see that,” he said seriously.

We went into the kitchen to eat, and Cade, to my surprise, pulled out his phone. “What would you have for your birthday, Drew?” he asked. “If you could have anything? A dream birthday party?”

Drew shrugged, still focused on his food. “I like to go to the zoo and see the animals.”

Cade nodded and began to type on his phone. I was about to tell him that we didn’t allow phones at the table, when Cade asked, “What’s your favorite kind of dessert? Do you like cake?”

“I love chocolate cake!” Drew said. “With strawberries! And strawberry ice cream. We don’t get dessert a lot though.”

“Well, it’s different when it’s your birthday, isn’t it?” Cade replied with a smile. He was still typing on his phone. “You love space, is that right?”

“Yeah. Space is so cool. Astronauts and aliens and stuff.”

“Would you want a space-themed birthday party, then?”

“Yeah! With lots of balloons! Balloons are fun, and then you get to pop them.”

I laughed. It was such a kid thing, to love balloons for their existence and for the opportunity to pop them and cause destruction when you did.

Cade probably had some business thing he had to take care of—maybe he was even finding a way to get rid of the reporters. But through it all, he was paying full attention to Drew, and that was what mattered. He seemed to truly like Drew, and Drew had definitely taken an instant shine to him.

Maybe I could believe in a happy ending for this, after all.

29

Cade

I already loved my son as much as I loved his mother. Drew was bursting with energy and imagination, and when I looked at him, I could easily see his mother, with his dark, curly hair, bright smile and an eager face full of freckles. But he had my eyes, which caused a deep ache in my heart.

I hated that I hadn’t been around for his birth, his first steps, his first words, his first birthday. After Laura’s tearful confession the night before, I understood why she hadn’t told me about him. What she’d said was true, I had no idea what my parents would have done if they’d found out that Laura had become pregnant with my child. I knew that they would not have been really understanding about it. After all, I had also been cruel to her when I’d broken up with her. I’d done it on purpose because I’d known that if I’d told her the truth and that I loved her, she would have fought for our relationship and my parents would have destroyed her. I’d had to be mean to her so that she would leave and never look back.

But this lie had resulted in Laura thinking that she had no chance with me when she had become pregnant. Therefore, it was my own fault that I’d lost out on my son’s first years—all because I had been a coward who couldn’t stand up to his parents.

I was going to fix that now, though. Starting with giving Drew the best damn birthday that I could possibly manage.

With the reporters nosing around the house, there was no way that we could go outside. Or have people over. The damn reporters were circling us like vultures. No matter though, I was going to figure out some solution because I felt like a total jerk for ruining Drew’s birthday. He was just a kid and didn’t understand what was going on. It was my anger and behavior last night that had led to our relationship being discovered and splashed all over the news.

To make up for my mistakes, I asked Drew questions about what he liked and quickly put in an order for whatever I could find that would match what he wanted. The cake was being delivered first, and the doorbell sounded soon to indicate that.

“I’ll get the door,” Caitlyn said, ready to viciously guard her best friend and Drew in case it was reporters, only to return beaming with the cake in hand. “Hey, birthday boy, look at this!”

It was a big chocolate cake that had his name spelled out in strawberries, with strawberry ice cream filling, and chocolate icing. The cake decorator had replicated the moon landing on the cake, with a tiny plastic astronaut planting a flag. Drew was completely delighted seeing it, and Laura looked across the table at me, warmth and surprise in her face. I winked at her.

Yeah, being wealthy could come in handy sometimes. I was happy to pay for the rush order and to make sure that it was up to Drew’s specifications and likes.

While we waited for the other stuff to arrive, Laura got out a board game, which was a good way to pass