Page 36 of Secret Daddies

“Hey,” I murmured, staring down at a spot on the table in front of me, picking at a coffee mug stain just for something to do with my hands.

“I…I was just in touch with my landlord,” I explained to him, deciding the best course of action was to just get to the point. “And she told me that someone had paid up our rent for the rest of the year. Someone who went by the name Hart.”

“Right.”

“It was you, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, it was.”

I let out a deep breath. I didn’t know how to respond to that. Of course, there was nobody else it could have been, but hearing the confirmation was something totally different.

“I…I don’t know what to say, Devon. Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me. It’s the least I could do.”

“The least you could do?” My ears perked up.

He fell silent for a moment before he replied, and then he pushed on. “Yeah, I mean, I haven’t been part of Matty’s life so far,” he pointed out. “I should have been paying child support, something toward caring for him, but I didn’t. Consider this a down payment on all of that.”

“You really didn’t have to do that?—”

“I know I didn’t. I know you can handle taking care of him yourself. But I wanted to.”

I felt a smile tug at the corners of my lips.

“That’s really sweet of you, Devon. Thanks. It’s going to make a big difference for us, over the coming year—takes the pressure off me.”

“That was the idea,” he replied softly, and I could hear how glad he was in the tone of his voice, how pleased he was that I was actually seeing this for what it was. After our confrontation the other day, I figured he must have thought there was no way to prove to me that he could be there for Matty and me. And whilethis was just money, it was proof, at the very least, that he was willing to try. And God only knew how much I had hoped for that over the years.

“Can I see him?”

His next question caught me off guard, though I knew it shouldn’t have. I parted my lips, some part of me wanting to brush him off and tell him that it wasn’t a good idea. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t shut him down just like that, not when I could hear the hope in his voice, the need. I’d never had to suffer being apart from my son, but I could only imagine how brutal it was. Even though he had only just discovered his existence he was clearly enthused about the chance to get to know him, and I knew I couldn’t keep it from him forever.

“I…I don’t know if that’s a good idea…”

“It doesn’t have to be at your place,” he assured me. “Bring him to set again. He can hang out with all three of us, it won’t have to be a big deal. He doesn’t have to know he’s there to see me.”

I bit down on my lip, hard. Being around all three of them, when I knew there was a whole new secret that I was keeping? It didn’t feel like a good idea.

“Please, Maya.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. I couldn’t deny him this, not after what he had just done for me, no matter how much I might want to.

“I guess…I guess one more visit wouldn’t hurt,” I replied. “Just don’t tell him anything, okay? I haven’t spoken to him about who his real dad is, and I want to have that conversation with him when he’s old enough to make his own decisions about it.”

“Right, right,” he replied, sounding excited. “But you’ll bring him down? I can see him?”

“I guess so…”

“I’ll figure something out with the rest of the guys,” he told me. “Just let me know when works for the two of you, and we can take it from there, right?”

“Right. Devon?—”

But before I could say another word, he’d hung up the phone, clearly too excited to stick around any longer. As I stared down at the empty screen, I wondered if I had just made a huge mistake—and if Devon could really keep his mouth shut when it came to the truth about our son.

Guess I’m going to find out, one way or another…

19

---