Snowbound with My Dad’s Best Friend (Sins of the Season #3)

Chapter 1 Rebecca

REBECCA

“Mommy, I want Froot Loops,” Damian, my four-year-old son, yells from the small round dining room table, pointing to the colorful box of cereal on the counter.

“I know,” I giggle, grabbing the box. I just had to get you a bowl and spoon first.” I bring the ingredients over to the table, helping him as he pours his own milk, because I’m not ready to clean up the mess that would happen.

As he digs into his breakfast, I stare at him, still in disbelief that I made such a beautiful child.

From the moment he was born, he’s had my heart. Since then, I’ve dedicated my entire life to protecting him at any cost.

If it were possible, I’d stay here with him all day long.

Unfortunately, I have to be at my new job in just one short hour.

It’s my first day, and my father got me the job, so I have no idea what I’m in for.

Dad assured me that he was close with the owner.

And since the pay is enough, I have high hopes that I’ll be able to move back out of my parents’ house soon. I want to start a new life, something that Damian can be proud of me for.

After Damian was born, I moved away from home, two hours away to be exact, to Ann Arbor, Michigan.

While I love my family, I wanted to do things on my own.

Not to mention, get as far away from my child’s father as possible at the time.

I couldn’t even begin to tell my family that the father of this beautiful creature is none other than my father’s best friend, Steven Ricci.

A fueled, but short fling five years ago, resulting in a child that I had every intention of telling him about, but his family had other plans.

It all started with one drunken night, but I soon fell for Steven, hard.

I was scared, but ready to start a life with him, no matter the repercussions.

But when his parents saw me walking out of our local ob-gyn’s office, they went into panic mode.

It was then that they threatened me.

His mother and father, Savanna and William, confronted me, telling me that my family name is tarnished.

That my grandfather was a liar and stole from them.

I still remember the anger spewing from Savanna.

I was in a fragile state of mind, and she told me that she knew we were sneaking around because she saw me a few times coming and going from their home when Steven was staying with them.

She went on to tell me that Steven had a bright future, and I was only dragging him down.

The moment of realization came when she told me that if I didn’t keep this from Steven, she would make sure I could never show my face in Grand Rapids again.

My heart was broken, and I had every intention of telling Steven the awful things his parents said to me, but after some thinking, I knew they were right about one thing.

If I stayed with Steven, I would only drag him down.

He was so bright and had a great future ahead of him.

How could I, just a twenty-one-year-old who had no plans moving forward, be beneficial to Steven Ricci?

So, I packed up and moved a few hours away, planning on staying as far away from Grand Rapids as I could.

However, life has a funny way of playing out.

After losing my job and not having a source of income to raise my son, I had no choice but to move back home.

But even though I’m back, I have no intentions of seeing Steven again.

I wouldn’t even know where to find him after all this time. Now that I have Damian, I could never face him …

I’m afraid that I will have to see him eventually. He is my father’s best friend, after all. I will face it when the time comes.

The part that hurts me the most is seeing Damian suffer from all my mistakes.

He asks about his father often, and at first, I would avoid the question, being able to divert his attention due to his age.

But now, it’s nearly impossible.

He catches on to everything, and I can’t even hide a snack from him, let alone important information.

Now, when he asks, I just tell him that his father is a great man, but life has dealt him some difficult cards.

Damian loves this explanation because he loves magic.

I also tell him that his father, while he loves him very much, just can’t be here right now, but maybe one day.

It works for now, but I know that one day, he will want the real story.

“You’d better get going, Becca,” my mother says, pulling my eyes away from Damian. “You don’t want to be late for your first day.”

“Okay, okay,” I reply, leaning down to kiss Damian on the head. “Did Dad tell you what this job is? He didn’t give me anything other than a time and address.”

Mom shrugs, handing me a travel mug full of fresh coffee. “No, he didn’t, but I hope you have a great first day.” I want to roll my eyes at how chipper she always is, but I admire her attitude to see the bright side of everything.

I hadn’t told them about my pregnancy until I moved away.

They only know the story as a fling that didn’t work out when I first moved.

While my father wasn’t happy at first—me having a child with a man who wasn’t going to stick around to raise it—my mom was ecstatic that I was making her a grandmother.

The lie worked on them, so I use it on everyone who questions the situation.

Honestly, it’s no one’s damn business.

Now that I’ve landed this well-paying job, hopefully I won’t have to hang around here for too long.

My family comes from money, but I don’t want a handout.

I want to make it on my own and be able to tell my son that I made things happen and didn’t have things handed to me.

I want him to see that working hard gets you places in life.

Thanking my mom for watching Damian and for the coffee, I exit the house and climb into my car, immediately blasting the heat to take the chill out of my bones from the harsh winter breeze.

Before long, I type the address into the GPS on my cell phone, and it says that I’m only seven minutes away.

It’s nice to know that if anything happens, I can get home in no time at all.

I head toward my new job, and I’m slightly nervous, but I shove it down, knowing that this job is my key to getting out of here sooner.

I know that I’ll be an assistant, but other than that information, I know nothing except that the pay is more annually than I’ve ever made before.

I can’t mess this up.

Upon arrival, I read the large, bright blue moniker on the front of the tall building.

“Impact Media,” I whisper to myself as I turn the car off and step out with my coffee and purse in my hands.

Something about that name seems all too familiar, but I can’t put my finger on it.

Maybe my father talked about it before.

That would make sense because it looks newly built and properly structured.

Not to mention, the building that was here before was a run-down, closed business that used to be a movie spot back in the nineties.

Shrugging, I take a deep breath and walk inside, instantly relieved at how toasty they keep the building.

“Hello, welcome to Impact Media,” a chipper receptionist greets me as I walk to her desk. “My name is Alice. How may I help you?”

Instantly, I’m taken aback by her beauty.

Alice has long, blonde hair that flows down her back and blue eyes that could stop traffic.

She wears bright red lipstick that makes her white teeth almost glow as she smiles at me.

She is everything I am not.

The only thing similar between us is our outfits, both wearing white, button-down shirts tucked into a black pencil skirt, hugging our hips. She has great taste as well, I suppose.

Although her black high heels with red soles aren’t even close to my black laced flats.

If I put those heels on, both of my ankles would break after just a few steps. I wasn’t made to wear stuff like that.

If I had it my way, I would’ve worn my running shoes today.

While I know I’m not unfortunate-looking, the only makeup I wear is a little mascara to accentuate my gray-blue eyes.

My hair is shorter than hers and dirty blonde, usually thrown in a ponytail or messy bun.

My dimples are my favorite feature on my face, which Damian inherited from me.

Although she looks great, I’m happy to show off my natural beauty.

“Hi,” I greet her with a smile. “I’m not sure where to go, but it’s my first day. I’m going to be an assistant?” I say it as a question, as I have no idea what this job entails.

“Yes, I believe your new boss is waiting for you.” Alice points her polished finger toward the elevators. “Take that up to the fourth floor, the top, and you can take a seat in the lobby until he comes to get you.”

Thanking her, I follow her directions, and once the elevator door opens, I find the cushioned chairs and take the middle one, interlacing my fingers and shaking my leg.

The nerves truly set in now as I wait for my new boss.

If he has people like Alice only sitting at the reception desk, I wonder what he will have me doing.

While waiting, I notice a water cooler and reach over to get a cup.

I feel a bit parched, and my coffee isn’t doing the trick.

As I take a full mouthful of the chilled water, a man walks around the corner, looking right at me with a knowing smile, and I nearly choke on my water as it threatens to run into my lungs.

As I get it down, I begin to cough uncontrollably.

Is that … There’s no fucking way.

“Steven?” I ask, not sure whether I’m hallucinating or if this is all a nightmare I desperately need to wake up from. “Steven Ricci?”