Free One Day at a Time (Starting Over Series Book 4) by Evan Grace Page A

soft, sweet voice that had him giggling and talking in his baby gibberish, and had Cash wanting to plant his babies inside of her. He watched them as she read parts of stories and pointed at the pictures. She looked beautifully ridiculous in the tiny chair with her long legs.
    “Hunwey!” Parker shouted a few minutes later.
    “Geez, kid, we just had breakfast.” Cash held out a hand to help Tessa up, and she grabbed Parker’s hand.
    “Uncle Cash, he’s hungry!” She even thrust out her lower lip in a mock pout.
    The three of them went over to the café where they watched Parker polish off a muffin and a banana. Drinking coffee while they watched him chatter to himself as he shoveled his food in was entertaining.
    “Your sister had a meltdown? Is she okay?” Her eyes were shining bright with concern.
    “She’s okay. I think she just hasn’t had a lot of alone time with Dylan, and maybe it was making her doubt the love he has for her. I’m sure he’s there now ‘showing’ her that he loves her.” She looked at him with confusion, and then her mouth formed an “O”.
    When Parker was finished eating, Cash watched Tessa grab his hand and take him to the bathroom to clean him up. They came out a few minutes later happily chattering to each other. The ache forming in his chest grew more and more. He knew it was only a matter of time before he fell completely in love with her. Then he’d have to tell her everything, and that scared him.
    “Well, boys, I wish I could visit a little longer, but I should get back to work.” She got down in front of Parker. “Bye, buddy. You be a good boy for your uncle.” Cash smiled when Parker grabbed her face and gave her a slobbery kiss on the corner of her mouth. Instead of acting put out, she wrapped him in a hug. When she stood up, Cash reached out, wiping the drool from the corner of her mouth before kissing her like his life depended on it. Parker started clapping at them, so they broke away.
    “I should get him home. Sorry if we kept you too long.”
    “No worries. I’m glad you came by.”
    On the way out the door he texted his brother-in-law to let him know he’d be dropping their boy off in about forty minutes. He figured that would give them enough time for…whatever.
     
    ***
     
    When he dropped Parker off earlier, his sister answered the door looking like the cat that ate the canary. He put Parker down, and the little rug rat ran right into the house to Dylan, who looked awfully proud of himself. Cash kissed JoJo on the head, flipped Dylan the bird, and took off to start his day.
    He was glad he only had one job today, and it didn’t take him long. He usually tried to work his Mondays that way. Then he could head home and go through receipts and the supplies he kept in his storage shed and garage, which was what he was now doing. Digging through his shed, he realized he needed a bigger space. As he took stock of what he had, he cleared out supplies that were outdated and stuck them outside the shed.
    While he worked he was able to think about how he was going to tell Tessa everything. Well, maybe not everything at first. How do you admit to someone who could be your future that you screwed up royally in the past? Tomorrow he had an appointment with Derek, and also his weekly NA meeting. So maybe he could talk to someone about it. He knew quite a few people from the program who were in healthy relationships with people who never had substance abuse problems. Dario and Betsy were a prime example that relationships could work. He knew Dario drank, but never around Betsy, and never in excess.
    He knew she felt the same way. He didn’t know how he knew, but he did. He finished up a short while later and decided to call it an early night.
     
    ***
     
    “So, Cash, how’s your week been going?” Derek sat in a chair across from Cash, who was sitting on the sofa. For four years he’d been seeing Derek. He was a good guy who had helped him deal with a lot of