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

Caitlyn trailed off, her eyes getting going wide.

“What?” I asked, sipping my coffee.

“Melinda James tell-all scheduled for eight o’clock tonight,” Caitlyn said, reading from her phone. She looked up at me. “Apparently your boy’s mother is going to do this huge revealing interview about her career and the scandals she’s been witness to. Holy shit.”

That must have been what got the reporters off the lawn, I realized. Instead of this scoop, we’ll give you another one. As a Hollywood actress, Melinda James must have seen quite a lot of crazy things in her time, and now she was risking the trust of all her coworkers and friends in the industry to get the reporters off my back.

My respect for her increased quite a bit. I had no idea how I’d ever be able to thank her.

As if that was the cue, there came a knock on the front door.

“If it’s a reporter,” Caitlyn whispered, “I’ll hit ‘em with the broom.”

I got up. If it really was a reporter, I could….

“I got it!” Drew yelled, streaking past us in his pajamas.

“Drew, no!” I yelled, rushing after him.

My son got to the door first, opening it wide—Cade was standing in the doorway.

“Hey, buddy!” Cade said.

“Cade!” Drew hugged his legs, “I missed you.” He lowered his voice to what he thought was a whisper, “Mama missed you too, I think. She’s been sad.”

“I’m sorry that she was sad, buddy,” Cade said. “I missed you guys, too. My arms are kind of full, though, so is it okay if I come in first?”

“Yeah!” Drew moved out of the way to let Cade in.

Cade had a bouquet of roses in one hand and a teddy bear in the other.

“This is for you,” he said, handing the bear over to Drew. The bear was dressed as an astronaut and Drew gasped in delight as he took it from Cade.

“Go on and add him to your other toys,” I said, shooing Drew out of the way.

Drew grinned. “Thank you!” he said to Cade, and then he ran back down the hallway to his room, brimming with excitement.

Cade handed me the flowers. “Very romantic,” I said, setting the flowers down. My stomach was in knots. “But why are you here?”

He took a deep breath. “I wasn’t even at the Detroit airport before I regretted my decision, even though I thought that it had been necessary. But my parents surprised me. My mom, especially. She convinced my father that they had been wrong in the way they’d raised me. I think they’re both doing a lot of thinking, about things. And so now, they’re encouraging me…they even gave me their blessing to come back here, to you. They said that they were wrong, and they want me to be with you, if that’s what makes me happy. And it is.”

Cade smiled widely, “Mom even said that she’d take care of the press.”

“Yes, I saw that. I’m grateful to her.”

“Dad’s still in a bit of shock, I think. But he’s coming around. Especially with Mom on my side. They have a lot of faults, but they do love each other.”

I nodded. I wasn’t sure what else to say.

Cade took another deep breath. “I’m sorry for leaving you. Again. Especially after I said that I wouldn’t. But I do want you to know that it wasn’t willingly. I didn’t want to leave you. I love you, and I meant it. I just didn’t see any other way to protect you.”

This last part ended with Cade doing a massive yawn, trying his best to cover his mouth. “Sorry for that. I got the first flight that I could. I’ve spent more time on planes the last two days than on the ground. I haven’t really slept.”

“You can crash in Drew’s room,” I said, leading the way. “Caitlyn, could you take Drew out to the yard while I get Cade settled in?”

“Settled,” Caitlyn mumbled. “Is that what we’re calling it these days?”

I sighed, and Caitlyn rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry, I’ll look after Drew. As long as Cade promises that he’ll never ever break your heart.”

“I promise,” Cade replied.

Caitlyn didn’t look too convinced, so I hustled Cade down the hall. She was my best friend. She was allowed to hold a grudge on my behalf, at least for a little while. I understood why she wasn’t quite ready to believe that Cade wasn’t just jerking me around again, and I appreciated her protectiveness. Hopefully, her reservations—and mine—would be proven wrong.

We got to the bedroom and I closed the door behind us. Cade immediately moved towards me, taking my face in his hands, his thumbs lightly stroking my cheeks.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “Again. I’m sorry for causing you pain, and I’m sorry for leaving you. I won’t ever do it again.”

“This won’t be the only time in our lives that this sort of thing happens,” I pointed out. “Even if you don’t want a career in politics, your father is still in the government and your mother is still a famous actress. Things like this could happen in the future. What if I got pregnant again and the press hounded us? You can’t flee from one city to another to protect me. That’s not how a relationship works. You stay, with us, and we weather it together, whatever ‘it’ might be.”

Cade nodded, his hands still on my face. “I promise. I won’t ever leave, whatever happens. We’ll get through it together, the two of us. Being without you, leaving you—it was the worst choice I ever made. Both times. I can say that my intentions were good all I want, but it doesn’t change how much I’ve missed you and wanted you, and how miserable I made both of us. I never want to experience that again. I want to be by your side, and have you by mine, for the rest of our lives.”

That was all I needed to hear. “Could I get that promise in writing this time?” I teased. “Given the