Was marrying Bella the best idea? He’d been unable to answer the question in the ten days since they’d visited Sam and Julie, despite the increased intimacy he and Bella now shared. Talking about how she helped out her family and discussing his mother’s abandonment had given him a deeper sense of connection with her.
But she’d kept from him that she—not Vicky—was Drew’s biological mother. Could he trust that Bella wouldn’t feel burdened by responsibility at any point in the future and change her mind about parenting her son? It was obvious that she loved Drew and he adored her, but was she ready to commit to being a family?
Should he let her remain as a part-time mom who saw Drew a few times a week? He’d rather she be fully in their lives, the full-time mother who got Drew up in the morning, took care of him all day and put him to bed at night. A mother who then became a wife. His wife. A wife he could worship with his body and cherish with his heart. But could that happen while he held on to his doubts?
Blake picked up the ring he’d chosen and gazed at it while the jeweler took care of the paperwork.
An enormous lie still lay between them.
After much deliberation, he’d decided not to confront her with his son’s true biology. She must never believe he was marrying her because Drew was her biological child.
His first priority was his son’s happiness. Drew deserved a mother who was willing to give him everything. He wanted Drew to have the sort of childhood Blake had been denied. To feel secure and loved. He should never need to question if there was something he’d done to cause his mother to leave.
Whatever it took to make his son happy, Blake would do. Any benefit he derived was a fortuitous byproduct. That he and Bella were good together was secondary to his son having a mother who loved him.
And while Bella was keeping Drew happy, Blake would make certain he took care of her. In every way possible.
*
A breeze off the Atlantic and the shade of a large umbrella kept Bella and Drew from feeling the worst of the afternoon sun. She’d still applied a liberal amount of sunscreen to his skin. Despite her sunglasses, she squinted against the glare coming off the pool’s reflective surface. Humming along with the children’s songs playing from speakers attached to the outside of the pool house, Bella carried Drew into the cool water.
The pool had been designed with a shallow shelf large enough to hold two lounge chairs. It was ideal for Drew because he could stand in the water. In the past two weeks, he’d become increasingly impatient with being held and when set down liked to pull himself up on the closest piece of furniture to him.
Bella had taken to walking with him on the lawn to strengthen his legs and improve his balance. Before long he would be walking on his own and she was determined to be around to witness his first steps.
Her phone began to ring as she was drying off Drew. It was Sean. She sighed, hoping he wasn’t calling to borrow more money for repairs. She never should have lent him the money to buy the truck if she’d known he hadn’t had their dad check it out first.
“You are the best sister ever,” he exclaimed, barely giving her a chance to say hello.
“Thanks?” She wasn’t sure what had brought on such enthusiastic accolades.
“It’s absolutely the best.”
“It’s the best what?”
“Truck.”
“I’m glad,” she said, relieved that her savings account wasn’t going to suffer any further withdrawals. “So nothing else has gone wrong with it?”
“How could anything go wrong with it?” He crowed. “It’s brand-new.”
Bella felt as if she and Sean were having two completely different conversations. “What’s brand-new?”
“The truck.”
“You mean it’s like brand-new.” Bella was developing a sinking feeling in her gut.
“No. I mean it is brand-new. The guy from the dealership delivered it an hour ago. He said I should thank my sister.”
“Sean, I didn’t buy you a new truck.” But she had an idea who might have. “Let me call you back.”
She hung up on her brother and scooped up Drew. As she marched up to the house, uneasy thoughts tumbled through her mind. There was only one way a brand-new truck could have been delivered to her brother.
Bella rushed into Blake’s office. “Did you buy my brother a truck and say it came from me?”
“Yes.”
Drew squirmed in her arms and she set him on the ground at her feet.
“Why would you do that?”
“Because you were giving him all your hard-earned money to repair the truck he had.”