The One and Only: A Single Mom Second Chance Romance (Heart of Hope) Ajme Williams (books for new readers TXT) 📖

private investigator to look into Laura and see what they could dig up. It had been only a day since I’d given them the assignment, but they already had information that was…devastating— that was the only word that I could think of.

Laura had a child.

All of it was laid out, right there in the report. The school that the kid attended, photos of him with Laura in front of a small house. His name was Andrew Loomis.

So that was what she was hiding. Not a boyfriend, but a child. In a way, it was almost worse than a boyfriend, and not at all what I had been expecting.

I couldn’t understand why she hadn’t told me this information. Why would she want to hide the fact that she had a child? Did she think that I’d judge her or be ashamed of her? I couldn’t possibly. Things happened, surprises happened, and if she’d found herself with a child because the father had abandoned her or died—I wouldn’t ever—

Wait….

I put down the picture of Laura outside her house, holding her son’s hand, and picked up the piece of paper that detailed the information on Andrew. The child was about to turn nine years old.

And I had left town a little over nine and a half years ago.

The paper slipped out of my hands and fell to the floor. My fingers felt numb. I couldn’t even describe the wave of emotions that washed over me. There was anger, there was sadness—but there was also confusion and disappointment. How could she have kept something like this from me? Especially in light of my—well, my father’s—political aspirations. Having a child out of wedlock when I had been a teenager wasn’t going to play well among the more conservative factions in the state.

The emotions churning inside me coalesced into one single feeling: betrayal.

I had to confront her. I needed to know her reasons. I needed to know how she could keep something so vital and important from me, something that could completely change my life. She’d had ten years, and now I was right in front of her, and she had never told me about this.

The reasons she wanted to keep things casual and didn’t want us to get into a relationship were clear now. It wasn’t just distance or transplanting herself to a new city. It was her son. It was our son. She hadn’t wanted me to find out about my own child.

It was just around dinnertime now, so Laura would be heading back home from her office. I could go to her house and see her.

I could go see my son.

I wanted to meet him. This child looked adorable, and I wanted to know everything about him. What did he like? What were his favorite foods? Was he loud and talkative or quiet and thoughtful? Did he have a sense of humor? What was his favorite color? Did he prefer fantasy books that had knights and dragons, or science fiction that had space battles and aliens?

As I got into my car, I doubted for a moment whether this was a good idea. Should I really barge into Laura’s home unannounced and demand answers? I shook off those thoughts. No, it was a good idea. She’d kept this secret from me, and she had some explaining to do now. I wasn’t the one who should be worried. She should.

24

Laura

I had just cleaned the dishes off the table after dinner when the doorbell rang. Caitlyn hollered that she’d get it, so I went back to my cleaning.

A moment later I heard Caitlyn call, “Laura, you have company.”

Her tone was light, probably to not alert Drew or wake him up, but I’d known Caitlyn for nearly a decade now and I knew when she was concerned. My heartbeat picked up as I walked to the front door—and nearly choked when I saw who it was.

Cade.

Caitlyn had her arm out, blocking the doorway, blocking his way in. “This man says that he knows you,” she said. “He wanted to come in. I said over my dead body.”

Caitlyn’s distrust of men and her instinctively protective nature were suddenly two things that I was insanely grateful for. Thanks to her, Cade hadn’t gotten into the house. He hadn’t seen Drew, and Drew hadn’t seen him.

“We need to talk,” Cade said, looking at me with a stern expression.

Caitlyn looked at him suspiciously. “Yeah, well you can talk when you’re calm, jackass.”

Cade really did look angry. Luckily, I could handle an angry Cade. I knew he wouldn’t ever hurt me. “It’s okay, Caitlyn, we’re just going to talk outside.”

She still looked dubious about him, but moved aside when I put my hand on her arm. “Okay. I’ll be right inside.” She pointed a finger at Cade, “You try anything, and I’ll break your kneecaps.”

Quickly, I stepped outside onto the porch and closed the front door. “That’s Caitlyn. Like I said, she had a bad experience with a man. She’s not very trusting.”

Cade nodded, his face impassive.

I folded my arms, determined to get some answers. “How did you get my address?”

Cade didn’t answer my question. “Is there anything you’d like to tell me, Laura?”

“That I don’t like your tone,” I replied in a flat tone. “You’re not my boss, you don’t get to be condescending to me.”

“So, there’s nothing that you want to tell me? Maybe something that happened about, oh, nearly ten years ago? Something you’ve kept to yourself all these years?”

I wanted to throw up, shock crashing over me. “How did you find out?”

Cade gave me an oh, please look. “I knew you were hiding something because of how you kept running away after sex. So, I decided to hire a private investigator to look into it. I figured that you were hiding a boyfriend. But it was something much worse, wasn’t it?”

My jaw dropped. Anger—no, fury—rose in me.

“Wow,” I grunted through gritted teeth. “Wow, that is—that is rich. I should have known. Are you anything like that