Echoes of a Promise - Contemporary

He swore the bloodline ended with him. She broke her own heart to ensure it didn't.
Lucas Bennett had three rules for survival: Keep your head down, trust no one, and never, ever start a family. Raised in a broken system that chewed up children and spit them out, Lucas believed his blood was poisoned by his past. He loved Maya enough to leave her behind when he deployed, convinced he was saving her from a life of misery.
Maya Sullivan didn't just lose the love of her life the day Lucas left for the Rangers; she lost the chance to tell him the truth. Terrified that Lucas would resent an innocent child—or worse, stay out of grim obligation rather than love—she made an impossible choice. She let him go to raise their son alone.
Five years later, Lucas is back in Oakhaven, medically discharged and carrying scars that run deeper than shrapnel. He wants to sell his grandmother's house and vanish. But a chance encounter at the local park stops him cold. The boy on the swing set has his chin, his temper, and his eyes.
Now, the secrets are out, and the truce is fragile. Lucas demands a place in his son's life, determined to prove he isn't his father, even as he's terrified he's exactly that. Maya must fight for Lucas's forgiveness while guarding her heart against the man she never stopped loving.
Can a family forged in lies ever find a truth strong enough to hold them together?