Page 28 of Rockstar Daddy's Second Chance

Linda and George walk out onto the back deck. Cass and I both watch as they approach Emily and Cassidy. We see Cassidy nod a yes and hug her grandparents. She is obviously delighted at the idea of spending more time with them.

Later, Cass and I stand on the porch, watching their car drive away into the night. Cassidy had just given me a hug before she eagerly left with Cass’s parents, with hardly a backward glance.

“She’s going to have a wonderful time,” Cass says, his arm brushing mine.

“I know,” I reply softly, my gaze on the horizon. “She deserves this.”

As Cass walks me back to the house, his arm around my shoulders, I feel the weight of my past lifting. My daughter is now surrounded by loving family members, and a feeling of rightness settles over me after seeing her so happy and carefree. But Linda’s parting words linger in my mind.

As she hugged me goodbye, she said in a low voice, “It’s good to see Cass healing. He was devastated when you left all those years ago.” As she stepped back, I felt Cass’s eyes on me and wondered if he had heard his mother’s parting words.

The house feels quieter and emptier without Cassidy’s energy, and suddenly, I realize that Cass and I are alone—Alone, together. My heart does a funny little flip-flop at the thought as I remember his hot gaze from earlier this morning and how my body instinctively responded.

Cass walks onto the back deck and leans against the railing. I follow him, letting the sea breeze caress my face as I stand there silently beside him. Each of us is lost in thoughts of the past.

Cass breaks the silence first, his voice low. “You know,” he begins, his gaze fixed somewhere beyond the waves, “when you left… it wasn’t just you that I lost. I lost this whole version of myself that only existed when I was with you.”

His words hit something deep, and I realize I’m holding my breath—afraid to exhale, afraid to disturb the fragile truce between us. I knew I had hurt him, but hearing him say it makes the pain raw and vivid.

“I tried to move on,” he continues, his voice low and bitter. “Everyone said I’d be fine and I’d get over it. But you were—you were everywhere. In every song, in every quiet moment. And all I could think of was–why? Why did she leave without a word?”

I swallow, searching for the right thing to say, feeling the weight of his pain. “Cass, I—“ I start, my voice cracking slightly. I close my eyes, gathering myself before looking at him. “I left because I thought it was what you needed. I thought you deserved to have your dreams come true.”

Confusion and a hint of anger clouding his eyes, he turns to face me. “What I needed?” he echoes, his voice barely above a whisper. “Kendrick, you were everything to me. How could you think leaving me was something I needed?”

I take a deep breath, willing myself to stay steady. “Because… I was young, Cass. And scared. You were on the edge of something incredible, this whole world opening up to you. Fame, music, fans—everything you’d ever dreamed of. I didn’t want me and the baby to hold you back.”

He shakes his head, his mouth set in a hard line. “Hold me back? Do you realize that losing you felt like losing the one thing that kept me grounded?”

The honesty in his words leaves me breathless, and I feel tears prickling at the corners of my eyes. I’ve held this pain for so long, wrapped it up in guilt and regret, and hearing him say these things now—it’s like ripping open old wounds I thought had healed.

Wrapping my arms around me to hold in the pain, I wonder if we’ll ever be able to let go of the past, of the old hurts and what he feels was a betrayal.

Fourteen

Cass

Kendrick stands with her arms wrapped around her as if to shield herself from my words. She stares out at the shoreline, watching the waves roll in.

“It wasn’t just you, Cass,” Kendrick finally responds, turning toward me. I hear the heavy weight of her confession in her voice. “Leaving tore me apart, too. There wasn’t a single day that I didn’t wonder if I had made the right decision–or the biggest mistake of my life.”

I let out a bitter laugh, shaking my head. “Did it ever occur to you that I might have chosen us over fame? That I needed you—and our child?”

My words seem to pierce through her, and she has to look away. The guilt and regret are etched on her face. “I’m sorry, Cass,” she whispers, her voice thick with emotion. “I thought I was doing the right thing. I didn’t want you to have to choose between your chance at fame and us.”

We stand there in silence for a while, the weight of our shared pain pressing down on us yet somehow bringing us closer. Finally, I reach out, taking her hand in mine. The warmth of my touch sends a shiver through her.

“I won’t lie to you, Kendrick,” I tell her, my voice steady and low. “It still hurts. But, having Cassidy in my life, with you, with this—us—hopefully, we can find a way forward from here.”

I meet her gaze, the honesty and vulnerability in her eyes unraveling the last of my defenses. “I want that, Cass,” she says softly, and I tighten my hand around hers. “More than anything.”

For the first time, the pain we share feels less like a wound and more like a bridge we can start crossing together.

We stand there; the only sounds are the waves breaking on the sand. When she turns to me, I notice her kissable lips… and I remember how she looked standing nude and damp in the downstairs bathroom–and I’m tempted. So very tempted. In the dim light, I see Kendrick shiver from the cool breeze, and I realize I still have hold of her hand.

“Come on, let’s go in,” I say softly, pulling her behind me as I open the sliding glass doors. “Before you get chilled.”

We enter the house and continue to the kitchen. I grab a beer while Kendrick pours herself a glass of wine. I turn on some slow music and then join her. I sit close, not wanting to lose our current personal connection.

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