Page 44 of Reckless Single Daddy

“I was on my last assignment when Laura went into labor. I barely made it to the birth, except that the doctors mishandled her care. They missed her blood clotting problem, and…”

I stop short, and Sloane reaches for my hand. I lick my lips as the memory of Laura haunts me, even to this day. Not a day goes by when I don’t think of her and think of all the ways I could have saved her, if I could have. Maybe if I had gone to a different doctor, or if I had just been more present, I would have seen the signs, like if she had cut her finger while using a knife.

“I’m so sorry, Cade,” Sloane says softly.

I shake my head, letting out a shaky breath. “I don’t want you to think that I’m trying to replace my dead wife with you. I know she isn’t coming back, and I’ve had nine years to accept that.” I look away, expecting the worst but hoping for the best.

“I would never think that,” she says. “All I wanted was to understand you, and now I do.”

I meet her gaze, smiling sadly at her. “I ended up suing the hospital for negligence. They ended up paying out a large settlement to me. I quit my job after that and moved back to Rose Valley with Liam. Returning meant being closer to my parents, but also Mike. He was a huge help when I was raising Liam alone,” I explain, not getting into details of how much the payout was or anything of that nature. I’ll leave it to her to ask questions if she wants to know more.

“What were you doing before Laura passed?” Sloane asks.

I sit up straighter as our food comes out. “Would you believe me if I told you CIA?” I say as I cut through my chicken.

Her breath hitches. I meet her gaze, and she leans forward.

“So that’s why you knew how to sweep the house for any cameras,” she says, a smile forming on her face.

I laugh, letting our previous conversation no longer control my emotions in this moment we’re sharing. Instead, we spend the rest of the night making light-hearted conversation and enjoying each other’s company. We finish dinner and dance under the stars, kiss in hidden alcoves, and allow ourselves to get lost in each other’s embrace, forgetting the world for just a little longer.

Chapter twenty

Sloane

The weekend came and went much too quickly, but it was a much-needed time away for Cade and me. With the stalker, the wedding, and painting my new collection, everything felt like it was piling up, suffocating me from the inside out until I was completely smothered. It’s been awful, but thankfully the trip was relaxing enough to make me forget about things for a little while.

When Cade drops me off at my parents’ on Monday afternoon, I find Mia sitting in the kitchen, looking colder than ice. She looks at me and shakes her head in disbelief.

“Nice tan,” she says, though the compliment is anything but complimentary. She’s pissed at me—again—and I’ve barely even stepped through the door.

What the hell did I do now?

“Since you seem confused, does Saturday night ring a bell to you?” Mia asks sourly as I keep staring at her, indeed confused. I went to the glam test run on Saturday with her and the bridal party, didn’t I? What could I have possibly missed on Saturday night?

And that’s when it hits me.

The wedding favors. She asked me to help her with the wedding favors on Saturday night, and I totally forgot.

“Shit, Mia,” I groan, putting a hand to my face.

She holds her hand up, shutting me up, and for good reason. I promised her I’d be there for her again, and I screwed up—again.

“Where’s all the wedding favor stuff? We can do them now,” I say a bit desperately, hoping I can make it up to her.

“They’re already done, no thanks to you,” Mia says, her voice dripping with acid. “Cammie and I spent the entire nightworking on them while you were off jetting to theBahamaswith Cade, who’s apparently your new boyfriend since coming back to town.” She shakes her head and lets out a disgusted sound. “Like, what the hell is wrong with you, Sloane? I ask you to be my maid of honor because you’re my sister… my only sister. I barely see you as it is, and you can’t be bothered to show up for me when I need you most because you’re having a…thingwith Cade?” She scoffs. “You’ve clearly never gotten over your crush on him, but you cannot be serious with this timing.”

Maybe I deserve to be called out for slacking on my responsibilities, but not like this. And whatever happens between me and Cade, I’m a grown woman who can make her own decisions.

It feels like I’m being slapped repeatedly, but no one is cutting me any slack because I got myself into this mess.

I stay quiet as Mia continues railing against me, elaborating on what a shitty maid of honor I’ve been and how she should have given that role to Cammie from the start. There really isn’t anything I can say to make this better. I’ve screwed up nonstop the entire time I’ve been here. Even on the first day, I screwed up by sleeping with Cade—in a bar bathroom, no less. While against all odds, that has turned out to be something quite beautiful, it all started that night, and I had only been in town for less than six hours.

A knock sounds at the front door. I exchange a look with Mia, who stops talking mid-rant. She shrugs and walks past methrough the foyer. She opens the door and walks back with an envelope in hand.

“It’s for you,” she says coldly, placing the letter in front of me. “You sure are popular these days,” she adds cattily.

But I don’t respond to her snark because my blood has turned to ice at seeing that envelope. An envelope that has my name written in that same loopy handwriting as the last letter.

---