Heartbreakers Trades #3- interconnected standalone Single Mom Secret Baby Golden Retriever Hero (with wounds!) Excessive Banter Yearning He Falls First "Get it out of our system" Secret Relationship Found Family Small Town Two pink lines on a stick. Not the ideal way to end a work conference. Neither is what happens when I break the news to the guy I spent the night of my life with: our email chain goes silent.The worst part? I should have known better. I’ve been here before, and have a perpetually pissed-off 15-year-old son to prove it.I’m pissed off too. But I’m also not the naive 20-year-old apprentice I once was. I’m a master electrician and seasoned single mom. This will be the do-over I always wanted, no man required—or permitted in my life. Ever again.Then I collide with one on the sidewalk. He’s gracious enough, but when he turns around and those achingly familiar ice-blue eyes meet mine, my stomach hits the pavement.Sam is as handsome as I remember. But the smile that made me reel that night is nowhere to be seen as he takes in the ten-month-old in my stroller—and sees his own eyes staring back at him.But between his shock, a new limp, and that happy-go-lucky demeanour I remember vanished, my anger fizzles. It turns out Sam didn’t fall off the face of the earth. He nearly died right after that conference.At first Sam’s feelings about being a dad are complicated. But it’s not long before he’s knocking on my door, determined to be a part of his son’s life.We start with simple park dates and neighborhood walks. But soon Sam’s everywhere—fixing holes, doing bedtime, and bonding with both my boys. Worse, he looks at me like being a single mom is a super-power, not a curse.And like he remembers the wild sparks from our night together as vividly as I do.But when I realize Sam hasn’t just fallen for my kids, but for me too, the electric fence I rigged around my heart starts to short out. Sam’s all in. And this family we’ve made is better than anything I ever dared dream of. So why do I suddenly feel like running scared?
