Claimed by the Hero Page 3

  “You sure I’m not intruding? Wouldn’t want to cramp your style in case you have any ladies around.”

  “Only one,” Cameron replied. “My lady, Monae, is working late tonight, so I’m a free man.”

  “Monae …” Caden nodded in remembrance. “How’s that going?” He knew Cameron had been seeing the woman for a few months, which was surprising given Cameron was known to be a player among the Mitchell brothers. But Cam had yet to introduce her to the family.

  “It’s all good,” Cameron replied. “She’s fantastic. I can’t believe she wants to be with a knucklehead like me.”

  “Don’t talk about yourself that way. You’re a good man, and she’s a lucky woman to have you.”

  Cameron grinned. “So what brings you by? I doubt you want to talk about my woman.”

  “I came to vent about Carter. Mama. All of the above.”

  Cameron plopped down on the sofa as he reached for a beer that was already opened on a nearby folding table. “Preach to the choir, man.”

  “They are so overbearing.” Caden paced the living room floor and threw his hands up in the air. “I can’t stand it.”

  “Why do you think I agreed to so many deployments?” Cameron asked. “As much as I love them, they are a bit much, if you get my drift. But what can we do?”

  “I need to talk with them, all of them,” Caden said. As the oldest, he needed to establish the rules of engagement. He couldn’t, wouldn’t go through another campaign like the last one. He’d been new to the political game last time and had taken Carter’s advice.

  “If anyone can attempt to get through to them it’s you,” Cameron said. “You’ve always been the favorite son.”

  Caden stopped pacing and stalked toward his brother. “That’s bull and you know it.”

  “C’mon, Caden. You’ve done everything right in our parents’ eyes. You’ve excelled at everything you set your mind to.”

  “That’s not true,” Caden said, taking another swig of his beer. “If I was Mr. Perfect, I’d have a wife and two point two children by now with a house and a white picket fence.”

  “Okay.” Cameron pointed at him. “There is your abysmal love life. If you have one weakness, it’s that. And why? You don’t strike me as that discerning that you can’t find a woman to meet your needs. There’s plenty of women in our social circle looking for an expedient marriage to a good-looking man such as yourself who’s on his way up the political ladder.”

  “Has it ever occurred to you and everyone else that maybe, just maybe, I’d actually like to love the woman I marry?”

  His harsh tone caused Cameron to shrug. “Sorry if I hit a nerve.”

  Caden shook his head. “It’s not you, Cam. It’s just a touchy subject, and lately everyone keeps bringing up my bachelor status.”

  “If you can’t blow off some steam to me, who can you blow off steam to? C’mon, there’s a great Orioles game on the tube.”

  And that’s how Caden ended his evening, lounging with his little brother watching baseball. But Cameron’s and everyone else’s opinion about his failure to find Mrs. Right wasn’t far from his mind.

  Chapter 3

  “Liam, you have to get a move on it or you’ll be late to school,” Savannah Vasquez yelled up the stairs to her eleven-year-old son one Wednesday morning. With Liam’s autism, it was very important they stick to a routine. He thrived better when life went exactly as planned.

  Savannah tapped her foot against the bottom of the stairs and caught a glimpse of her unglamorous blue scrubs. The outfit was a necessary staple for her job at Mercy Hospital. Working with patients could be hard and sometimes downright messy. It’s why her hair was tied in a simple ponytail and she wore no makeup other than lip gloss. She was a long cry from the sassy Afro-Latina she’d once been.

  It was crazy to think about how far she’d come. She’d started her career as a certified nursing assistant but had known that job wouldn’t be enough to support her and Liam. So Savannah had gone on to gain her bachelor’s degree and become a registered nurse. She and Liam had been happy living in Orlando, Florida, where she’d had a great job working for Advent Hospital as an RN. Being in the medical field helped her diagnose Liam in those early days when she’d seen signs of behavioral differences in him compared to other children.

  Six months ago, the two of them had left Orlando for Baltimore to help with her grandmother Sofia Vasquez, who had just suffered a stroke. The removal of a tumor in Sofia’s right eye had caused the stroke as well as partial vision loss. What Savannah hadn’t imagined was that her ailing grandmother would need around-the-clock care and what a drastic change Liam’s and her life would undergo.

  But Savannah didn’t complain. She was lucky that a position at Mercy opened up. The job allowed her to move to Maryland permanently because her mother, Carmen Vasquez, was MIA and probably off spending time with another loser. Since her parents’ breakup following her father’s infidelity when she was five years old, her mother seemed determined to keep a man. Any man. Savannah just wished she’d find someone worthy of her.

  “Liam!” Savannah glanced again up the stairs of the two-story Craftsman home.

  Finally, her son came bounding down the steps wearing jeans and a pullover sweater. “Sorry, Mama.” He didn’t make eye contact when he reached her. He grabbed his book bag hanging on the hook near the door.

  Savannah handed him his lunch bag. “C’mon,” she said, ushering him out the door and toward her unfashionable Ford Escape. It wasn’t sexy, but the vehicle had allowed her to pack in middle schoolers when she’d carpooled on her days off in Orlando.

  Within minutes, they were speeding down the road to Liam’s school. They made it with minutes to spare before the bell rang. “Have a good day.” Savannah waved Liam off after he exited the car.

  She sighed as she watched him shuffle up the steps of the brick school. The adjustment hadn’t been easy for Liam. He’d attended a great school in Orlando that specialized in working with children with special needs. Changing routines had been a nightmare. Liam missed all his teachers and the couple of friends he’d made in Florida who understood him. Here, he had extra time with his teacher, but Savannah doubted it was enough. She needed to find him a special school, but with what money?

  Liam had been despondent for months, but lately he was starting to come around. Savannah was glad. Things weren’t easy for her either. She’d left a great job and good friends like Leslie Edwards, another single mother and nurse in Orlando. They’d often babysat for each other in an emergency, but here?

  Savannah had to rely on herself just like the old days when she’d become pregnant and alone at the age of twenty-one. Some in her situation—being a single woman with no support—might have terminated the pregnancy. But Savannah had known she would have Liam and been thankful every day since.

  Finally, she pulled her car into a reserved spot in the hospital garage. There was no use dwelling on the past. It wouldn’t change anything. She just had to get through each day as it came.

  Talk about a hectic day. For Savannah, it started the moment she dropped Liam off at school. First, she had encountered traffic getting to work, then a patient puked all over her. Hours later, she finally sat down to lunch with her coworker Charlotte Mason. Savannah pulled out a prepackaged salad she’d brought with her and tucked into it with gusto.

  “What a morning, huh?” Charlotte said over her tray of a cheeseburger and fries.

  “Is there something in the water?” Savannah said. “Because all the crazies have come out today.”

  Charlotte shrugged. “Must be. Any big plans for the weekend?”

  Savannah shook her head. “Nope, same ol’ same ol’. Probably sit in front of the tube with Liam and my grandmother.”

  “That sounds about as exciting as watching paint dry,” Charlotte said. “I know it’s been hard on you ge
tting settled here in Maryland, but you’ve got to get out, Savannah. You’re still young and attractive. You can still find yourself a fella. Unlike me, I’m out to pasture.”

  Savannah glanced at the middle-aged woman. She might be in her early fifties, but with her blond hair and baby blues, she could still turn the right man’s eye. “I disagree. You’re stunning. As for me, when would I have the time to go out? Who would watch my abuela?”

  “I can,” Charlotte offered. “Because you need to go to this.” She pulled out two tickets from the pocket of her scrubs and slid them onto the table.

  “What are these?”

  “Tickets to a fundraising gala for an up and coming politician on Friday night. Heard he’s not bad on the eyes and very single, if you get my drift.” Charlotte winked at her several times.

  “A political party? Not really my thing.”

  “You don’t think so? Bet I can change your mind.” Charlotte swiftly produced her iPhone and began swiping and typing furiously. When she hit the jackpot, she swung the phone around in Savannah’s direction. “That’s him. Caden Mitchell. Our gubernatorial hopeful has all the ladies aflutter.”

  Savannah’s heart stopped. She was so taken aback by the image on the screen that her speech fled. No, it couldn’t be. He couldn’t be here in Maryland. He was supposed to be across the world as some colonel or general in the Army. It’s the life she’d been told he was destined for. Like many people, Savannah was too wrapped up in her own personal life to follow politics. She didn’t read the local paper and had no time for TV news, so she’d had no idea that Caden was running for governor, and still didn’t know that he was the mayor. How did he get involved in politics, in Baltimore of all places?

  “See here.” Charlotte continued reading from the phone. “‘Caden Mitchell, Baltimore’s mayor, is making a run for the governor’s house. His prestigious background as a West Point graduate and lieutenant colonel in the Army has made him a favorite in political circles, but will it be enough to win over the whole state? Mitchell is banking on impressing the upper echelon at Friday’s fundraiser at the Four Seasons.’”

  “A-And you have tickets to this event?”

  Charlotte’s lips thinned into a frown. “Don’t act so surprised.”

  “I’m sorry—,” Savannah began, but Charlotte interrupted.

  “Girl, please. I don’t know anyone in the upper echelon except my sister. She and her husband invited me to attend because I’m a staunch Democrat and volunteered for several campaigns. I much prefer being in the background, but you should go. With a little makeup and the right dress,” Charlotte said, leaning over conspiratorially, “you can wow ‘em.”

  Savannah rose to her feet. “The answer is no.”

  “Why not? What do you have to lose, a good-looking girl like you, still in her prime? Listen to me, Savannah, you have to go.”

  Savannah shook her head adamantly. “I appreciate you trying to play fairy godmother, Charlotte, but fairy tales don’t come true. Trust me, if anyone knows, I do.”

  She rushed from the room as quickly as she could and headed for the ladies’ room. Once she was in a stall alone, she let out the audible sob she’d been holding in for the last twelve years.

  Caden.

  Caden Mitchell.

  The only man she’d ever loved was here. In Maryland. Where she could potentially run into him at any time. And say what? Sorry I ran out on you with no explanation? After everything they’d shared, Caden was sure to hate her for how she’d left. How could he not? She’d disappeared from upstate New York and carved out a new life for herself.

  But fate had stepped in. Was it telling her it was time she stop running and face the truth? Was it time to reveal her long-held secret, that Caden was Liam’s father? But if she did, how would he react? Would he scorn her? Scorn Liam? As much as she wanted to tell him about Liam’s existence, she couldn’t. She couldn’t risk him hurting her son. Their son.

  “Mom, I could use your help,” Savannah said, holding up the cellphone to her ear while she prepared her grandmother’s dinner that evening. Her abuela could be very picky. “I’ve had my hands full over here with my grandmother and Liam.”

  “I told you to put her in a home,” Carmen Vasquez responded on the other end.

  “How can you say that? She’s family.”

  “She was no joy growing up with,” her mother replied. “Your grandmother made sure to tell anyone who would listen what a screwup I was for marrying your father, a black man. In her book it was a sin. And when he left me for another woman, she had no problem reminding me of the mistake I made for believing in him.”

  “So you’re punishing her?” Savannah couldn’t believe how selfish her own mother could be. They were blood.

  “Jesus, Savannah. Did I raise you to be like this? No, I don’t think so. You must get this self-sacrificing gene from Mama, but I don’t have to put up with it. I send you money every month.”

  “It’s not enough. Social Security barely covers the living expenses and her medication. How do you think we could afford to put her in a home? At least here she’s with me and her grandson, people who care about her.”

  “Meaning I don’t?” Carmen replied. “Listen, mija, some of us have a life.”

  “You mean a man, Mama?”

  “Yeah, I do. And at least I have one. When was the last time you got laid, Savannah?”

  Savannah fumed on the other end of the line. “My love life or lack thereof isn’t the issue right now.”

  But like a dog with a bone, her mother wasn’t letting go. “I bet you the last and only time was that West Point grad that knocked you up. Wasn’t it?” Her mother hit the nail on the head. Savannah hadn’t been intimate with anyone since Caden. Hadn’t wanted to. Her life was full taking care of Liam and keeping a roof over their heads. How could her mother know?

  “Aren’t you lonely sitting in that big old rambling house with just your grandmother and your son? Don’t you got needs, Savannah?”

  “My needs are secondary. Abuela and Liam come first.”

  “Ever the martyr.”

  “C’mon, Mama, aren’t you tired of the never-ending revolving door of men going through your bedroom?” The silence on the other end told Savannah she had gone too far.

  “Screw you, Savannah Grace Vasquez. I don’t need another person in this family looking down and judging me.”

  Seconds later, the phone line went dead. Savannah stared at it in disbelief. Surely, her mother hadn’t just hung up on her, but the dial tone told her she had. Savannah put her phone down and laid back in the recliner.

  She wanted to cry, but that would only upset Liam. He had a sixth sense where she was concerned, and if he felt she was unhappy for any reason he would become agitated. For his sake, Savannah had to hold it together.

  It was just that his schooling and her grandmother’s doctor bills, the ones Medicare didn’t cover, and the expenses of running the house were solely on her shoulders; the little bit of money her mother sent barely scratched the surface.

  “Mom,” Liam said as he strolled into the room. “You okay?” He sat beside her but didn’t touch her. Liam didn’t like to be touched. At times, Savannah wished he didn’t have autism and that she could cuddle with him.

  “Mommy’s okay,” Savannah sniffed. “Just a little tired, that’s all.”

  “Are you sure?” He glanced at her. His eyes told her he didn’t believe her.

  She nodded. “Sometimes it’s not easy being an adult.”

  “I can’t wait to be older,” he said. “Then I could help you.”

  Savannah smiled as his words warmed her heart. He might not be the average little boy, but he was hers and she loved him fiercely. “Thanks, honeybunch.” She placed a quick kiss on the top of his head, and he immediately moved to the far side of the couch. She didn’t take that to hea
rt because Liam loved her. He was one of the only people who did. Savannah supposed that was why she felt sorry for herself later, after she’d tucked him into bed and ensured that her abuela was settled for the night.

  She hated to admit it, but her mother was right. She hadn’t had a man since Caden. It wasn’t like there hadn’t been interest. Over the years, men at work would ask her out. Usually, she turned them down, but occasionally she said yes. The evenings had been pleasant enough and at the end of the night, sometimes she’d let them kiss her. The problem was there was no spark, no fizzle, no butterflies swarming in the pit of her belly to remind her she was alive and a woman. So, she’d politely say thank you and never see them again.

  Savannah knew she had impossibly high standards because every man since Caden had been a poor substitute. Caden was the ideal man in her mind and the benchmark she measured every man against. Perhaps she’d hyped him up in her mind to be more than he’d been. Those dark, soulful eyes. That winning smile and charming wit. His amazing taut body and stomach you could bounce a quarter off of.

  Maybe if she saw him just once more.

  Saw for herself that he was just a man and not some supernatural hero she’d built up in her mind. Then perhaps she could let go of the past and move on.

  Yes, she would go to the event and end this hero worship once and for all.

  Chapter 4

  Thud, thud, thud.

  Caden’s sneakers pounded against the pavement as he ran a five-mile stretch in his neighborhood on Friday morning. It was a quiet tree-lined street with one- and two-story brick homes in various styles from ranch to Colonial to Craftsman. He waved at Mr. Davis, a sixty-five-year-old retiree who meticulously maintained his lawn and was outside edging. Mr. Wong was outside washing his wife’s car like he did every Friday morning. Caden passed by another jogger and nodded, not breaking his pace.