Anna DeStefano - All-American Father

“Derrick Cavenaugh.”

“Mr. Cavenaugh, this is Detective Oaks with the Atherton PD. I’m at the Stop Right on the corner of Elm and Matteson. There’s been an incident with your daughter, Leslie, and I’m afraid the owner intends to press charges….”

Derrick pasted on a calm expression, while his insides churned up the take-out sushi he’d gulped down for lunch. But as the cop summed up Leslie’s latest contribution to Derrick’s plunge into single-parent insanity, Derrick kept his panic to himself. He was getting good at it.

His oldest had apparently skipped classes again. And now she had her sights firmly set on adding a petty larceny conviction to her middle school résumé.

Dear Reader,

Success can be a fickle goal to chase. For some of us, the reality of life never quite lives up to the promise of our youth. And yet there’s a wonderful sort of starting over that can happen when we break free of expectation. When we start saying what’s next, instead of looking back.

High school valedictorian Bailey Greenwood never made it to college, and All-American quarterback Derrick Cavenaugh washed out long before realizing his dream of playing pro ball. But these two fighters are everything champions should be—whether they’re ready to believe it or not. And their journeys have brought them to the same place. They can continue to define themselves by past failures, or they can start fighting for the new dreams just beyond their reach.

Participating in the SINGLES…WITH KIDS series has been a blast. This isn’t my first single-parent story, but it’s turned out to be my favorite. Each of the books in SINGLES…WITH KIDS is uplifting, heartwarming and at times laugh-out-loud funny. And the same message rings throughout: single parents are hardworking, determined survivors, and they are champions, one and all.

So to all the single moms and dads fighting and dreaming out there, let me just say—well done!

I love to hear from readers. Please let me know what you think of my stories at www.annawrites.com. And join the fun and fabulous giveaways at annadestefano.blogspot.com.

Sincerely,

Anna

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Romantic Times BOOKreviews award-winning author Anna DeStefano fell in love at first sight with her hero husband. Watching him become the world’s greatest father from the first moment he held their son in his hands, she fell in love with him all over again. It’s difficult for her to choose her favorite part of writing family dramas—at least until she dreams up another hardworking hero doing his very best for his family. Then it’s show over. The fathers get to her every time.

For

Andrew

my champion,

and

Jimmy

my dream catcher.

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

EPILOGUE

“NICE JOB, CAVENAUGH.” Derrick’s senior partner slapped him on the shoulder as they left the high-rise conference room behind.

“Thanks, Spencer,” Derrick replied with the expected hint of nonchalance. “We’ll have the merger portfolio ready for Reynolds-Allied to sign by the end of the month.”

It felt good to be in control of something.

Anything.

Contract law wasn’t as sexy as the professional football career he and his old man had envisioned for Derrick’s life. But being on top of his game during high-stakes negotiations was its own kind of rush.

The boardroom was the only place he wasn’t failing on a daily basis, since returning to San Francisco a year ago. Where his—God, he hated the word—potential wasn’t being wasted.

“You’re coming to the alumni mixer at the Western–Langston game in a couple of weeks, right?” Spencer Hastings’s questions were rarely just questions. Derrick was being summoned. And Hastings had a stranglehold on the junior partner promotion Derrick was banking his family’s future on. “You’ll make everyone’s night by showing up.”

“I…” Derrick’s legacy as the alumni football star from San Francisco’s Western High had secured him a spot at the firm of Hastings Chase Whitney. But he was a chronic no-show at as many local social events as he could avoid. Especially the sports-related ones, where there was little business to be done, and too much of what he was supposed to have become slapping him in the face. Like the Western alumni gathering, scheduled for Western’s annual grudge match against Langston High School, this year to be played at Langston’s stadium across the bay—the suburb where Derrick now lived with his girls. “I’ll have to find a sitter for Leslie and Savannah.”

“Nonsense.” Hastings gave his shoulder a firmer slap as the elevator rushed them to the ground floor. “Bring the kids along.”

Derrick tried to picture his twelve-year-old and nine-year-old, resentful already of the time his job stole from them, listening to Daddy relive glory days with a bunch of people they didn’t know. In under half an hour, he’d have a Powerpuff-Girl-sized mutiny on his hands.

Zam.

Pow!

Dad, we wanna go. Now!

“I’ll see what I can do.” He flashed his golden-boy grin to smooth things along. “My oldest is working on a science project, and—”

His BlackBerry chirped.

He sifted through his overflowing briefcase as they emerged through revolving doors onto the bustling sidewalk.

“Derrick Cavenaugh.”

“Mr. Cavenaugh, this is Detective Oaks with the Langston PD. I’m at the Stop Right on the corner of Elm and Matteson. There’s been an incident with your daughter, Leslie, and I’m afraid the owner intends to press charges….”

Derrick pasted on a calm expression, while his insides churned up the take-out sushi he’d gulped down for lunch. Hastings kept his gaze politely focused on the shuffle of business people streaming by. But as the cop summed up Leslie’s latest contribution to Derrick’s plunge into single-parent insanity, Derrick kept his panic to himself. He was getting good at it.

His oldest had apparently skipped classes again. And now she had her sights firmly set on adding a petty larceny conviction to her middle school resume.

TWO PART-TIME JOBS…

One aging bed-and-breakfast by the bay…

A cop and a preteen thief standing between Bailey Greenwood and the end of her Stop Right shift…

Cost to Bailey’s insomnia-challenged grip on reality?

Priceless.

“Mr. Drayton, I need to get going,” she said. “I’ve already given the officer my statement, and—”

“Not until the girl’s father arrives,” grumped the convenience store owner who’d insisted that she cover the afternoon shift, because he’d been unavailable when Sally Traver called in sick. But wave the petty theft of a seven-dollar box of condoms before the cheapskate, and Drayton had beaten the police to the store. “I want the officer to have all the information he needs to put that little hoodlum behind bars.”

The hoodlum in question was currently slumped in the cracked plastic chair in Drayton’s office, cowering in a jailbait ensemble Bailey suspected had been purchased somewhere like Bloomingdale’s, rather than the latest mall-rat hangout. The kid had attitude to spare, but she seemed more desperate for attention than becoming a hoodlum-in-training.