Sea Glass Cottage Read Online Free Page A

reached the pros, Thane had wanted nothing more than to make his parents proud. He had no way of knowing that those first few years he’d end up getting attention for all the wrong reasons. Initially his success had come with plenty of attitude, a willingness to work hard, and a stubborn persistence that even his competitors marveled at. It was only later that he’d had to reevaluate a chunk of it.
    Thane liked to think that when it had counted, he’d done the right thing. No doubt he’d gotten sidetracked along the way. But he’d finally come back to his roots and brought his little boy with him. Too bad his mother and father were no longer alive so they could see the one-eighty he’d pulled.
    Even now he was in the process of rehabbing a storefront to open his own pizza place two blocks from the house his mother had left him on Landings Bay. Home was just down the street from the school where Jonah started first grade.
    So far Jonah’s days there had proved uneventful. No major disasters. Yet. But he knew that would probably change. With a boisterous six-year-old it was only a matter of time before all that energy bubbled to the surface and spelled trouble. If his boy was anything like he’d been at that age, it was inevitable. He’d just have to deal with it when it happened.
    Overnight it seemed as though Thane’s life had changed—gone were the days of living in a self-absorbed fishbowl to becoming a full-time father. Those nights spent carousing every club in Manhattan, doing all kinds of stupid stuff, were behind him. He was a responsible dad now who wanted nothing more than to do the right thing by his kid.
    The days of spending hours boning up on defensive strategies were over, too. Now, he was an ordinary stay-at-home dad, who packed Jonah’s lunch every morning, picked him up after school every afternoon. He dusted the furniture, did laundry, and even changed the bedding on a regular basis.
    So far he’d resisted the advice from his neighbors, Logan and Kinsey, to hire a nanny to look after Jonah when the restaurant opened up.
    He’d have to find a way to do it all himself, he decided. A hands-on dad didn’t hire a nanny. Having someone else in the house would be a distraction and a pain in the ass, especially since Jonah was still grieving the loss of his grandmother. He missed his “Mimi” every single day, still mentioned her when he went to bed every night. Truth be told, Thane was still having a problem dealing with his mother’s death, as well. That’s why lately, it had been just the two of them—father and son—making their way on their own. And for that, Thane would forever be indebted to Alyson Benning. She’d given him his son. Maybe it hadn’t been his initial reaction to the situation at the time, but nonetheless, it was how he felt now. That had to count for something.
    While Jonah’s birth might not have been part of his original master plan, he could be proud of how he’d stepped up when he’d found out. However it happened, however, he’d ended up a father, for Jonah’s sake, or maybe his own, it was now his full-time job. The amount of work it took was unbelievable. Some days he’d had to remind himself that he’d made it through the diaper stage, learned that the terrible twos didn’t come to an end on the third birthday, and weathered a four-year-old testing independence with a full-blown, temper tantrum thrown in a five-star restaurant in the middle of dinner rush.
    No, when the pizza place opened its doors next month, his life would surely get more complicated. But somehow he would find a way to keep up the pace and continue taking care of his son—the same way he’d been doing it for six years. Granted, without his mom around, it would be a tougher challenge. But Thane Delacourt had never run from a difficult task.
    So, for now, he intended to enjoy the ride as much as he could and do it all himself. With that resolve, he shoved the car into gear to go about