“I have a son.”

A son? “Oh. Is that a good thing?”

She clasped her hands against her chest, nodded. “Mason’s my life.” She leaned toward him, said in a quiet voice, “Do you have children?”

His chest squeezed so tight it ached. “Not yet.”

She swiped a hand across her face, blinked. “Children are miracles.” A sniff, and another hand swipe. “You’ll see one day.”

He wasn’t going to discuss babies with her, especially the ones he and Tess didn’t have. “Where’s the father?” When she didn’t answer, he went on, “Steph? Where’s the boy’s father?”

She lifted a shoulder. “He doesn’t know.”

“Why?” A kid might not be on a guy’s agenda, but wouldn’t he want to know?

“He’s married.”

Damn. Not good. “I see.”

“It’s not what you think. He wasn’t married when we were together, but we had issues. There was a lot of passion and you know how that can be…”

Had she knifed that guy’s mattress, too? Maybe slashed a few tires? Even so, the guy had a right to know he had a kid. “You have to tell him.”

“I know.” She swiped at her cheeks. “I absolutely know that.”

Cash blew out a breath, worked up a smile. Had she come to ask for his help telling the boy’s father? Or maybe she needed help finding the boy’s father? With Stephanie, you just never knew. “How can I help?”

She sat up straight, cleared her throat, and said, “You’re Mason’s father.”

Chapter 7

Who’s in the Cabin?

A Family Affair: The Cabin

Bonus scene

When I first wrote about Elissa Cerdi’s relationship predicament, the man didn’t have another fiancée and a baby she didn’t know about. Instead, he was a potentially abusive boyfriend who might be stalking her. As this excerpt begins, Nate and Christine Desantro have arrived at the cabin and discovered someone’s living there!

They’d just reached a straight stretch of road when Christine spotted the log cabin on the right—and the navy compact car in the driveway.

“What the hell?”

“Nate? Do you think someone’s in the cabin?”

He didn’t answer as he pulled into the drive and parked behind the car. “Stay here.” He dug the house key out of his coat pocket and opened the door.

“Be careful.”

Her husband nodded. “Keep the doors locked.”

She watched him move toward the cabin, random possibilities surging through her brain. Had a vagrant moved in and taken over? He could have been here for years and they’d never know. Maybe it was a man on the run from the law, armed and dangerous. Or a bunch of kids camping out and partying. Maybe they were doing drugs and were high…

Fear claimed her as her husband jiggled the lock in the old door and stepped inside. If he didn’t call out to her in thirty seconds, she’d dial 9-1-1, though she had no idea how long it would take them to respond. She began counting, hands clasped together to keep from throwing open the door and running into the house. Twenty-eight, twenty-nine… The door swung open and her husband stood in the entrance, raised a big hand, and motioned her to join him. The expression on his face said not happy, though with a man like Nate, a person never knew the cause. Christine jumped out of the car and scrambled up the drive. When she reached him, she whispered, “What’s going on?”