The man Delaney Kovach never forgave is finally out of prison. And he has no idea the little boy sleeping in her diner is his son.

Seven years ago, Judah Rourke was the boy Delaney loved-and the man convicted in the robbery that shattered her family. While Judah served his sentence, Delaney learned to survive without him, raising her son alone and building a life around one secret she swore Judah would never discover.

Now he's back.

Fresh out of prison and desperate for the steady job his parole requires, Judah walks straight into the diner Delaney runs. She wants him gone. Instead, they're forced to work only feet apart, surrounded by old memories, buried anger, and an attraction neither of them managed to kill.

But Judah isn't the same man who went away.

The more Delaney sees the quiet, careful man beneath the town's hatred, the harder it becomes to hold on to hers. And when Judah realizes that her little boy is the son he never knew existed, staying away from them becomes the hardest sentence he's ever served.

Because Judah's freedom comes with conditions. His past still has teeth. And the man who escaped the consequences of the crime that destroyed them all has started circling again.

One wrong move could send Judah back behind bars. One buried truth could tear Delaney's family apart. And this time, loving each other may cost them far more than walking away ever did.

An emotional, high-angst second-chance romance about a single mother, an ex-convict fighting for redemption, the child they never got to raise together, and a love that survived seven years of anger, guilt, and secrets.

That is the version I would use. It sells the romance first, introduces the secret baby immediately, gives Judah a compelling redemption hook, and preserves the major revelations instead of spoiling the entire story.