Fifteen minutes had never seemed so long. Until she could see for herself that the baby was okay, she wouldn’t be able to relax. Hopefully, Ruby was just tired and cranky from her long trip. If it seemed more serious than that, Cassie would call her mother for help. After raising seven children, Beth Sullivan was a bona fide baby whisperer.
Gravel spat from beneath Cassie’s tires as she turned off the two-lane forest road to her cabin and raced up the long driveway. After throwing the car into Park, she ran up the brick path, able to hear Ruby’s wails even from outside.
When Flynn opened the door, he looked nearly as red in the face as Ruby, whose cheeks were flushed dark pink and covered with tears.
“Oh, you poor baby.” She nearly reached for the little girl again, but this time she knew to ask first. “Could I hold her for a moment?”
She thought he might say no. Until, with great reluctance, he let her take Ruby from him, the baby’s body rigid as she kicked and screamed.
Cassie worked to stay calm as she assessed the situation. Ruby’s diaper was new and dry, and her skin was surprisingly cool despite her crying. “Did you feed her anything new tonight?”
“She wouldn’t eat. Wouldn’t even drink her bottle.”
“Has this happened before?”
“I’ve only been taking care of her for three weeks, but when she cries, there’s always a reason. I thought maybe it was because of the flights and staying in a new place, but she’s never cried for eight hours straight.”
Ruby opened her mouth wide to let out another yell, and that was when Cassie saw it. A little flash of white in otherwise swollen gums.
“I think I might know what’s wrong. She has a tooth poking through.”
“Let me see.” Flynn craned his neck to look into Ruby’s mouth, which was right when Ruby decided to clamp it firmly shut.
“Has she been gnawing on things lately?” Cassie asked.
“Now that you mention it, I’ve had to replace the nib on her bottle twice today.” He ran a hand over his face, looking ragged…but totally gorgeous nonetheless. “I’ve read every baby book out there, but my brain is so fried right now I’m blanking on what they said would help with teething.”
“When my sister’s son went through this, Ashley refrigerated twisted-up washcloths for him to chew on. She said it was a lifesaver.” Cassie opened the fridge. “It would be nice if we could find something right now to give her immediate relief, though, so that we don’t have to wait for some cloths to chill.”
She was scanning the contents of the refrigerator when she noticed a pink and purple polka-dotted stuffed elephant sitting on the middle shelf.
When she lifted it out, Flynn groaned. “It’s a good thing I’m not operating heavy machinery tonight. I had no idea I put that in there. It’s one of the many things I’ve been trying to distract Ruby with tonight.”
“Actually…” She held the toy to her cheek to test its temperature. “This might be exactly what the doctor ordered.” She brushed the stuffed toy lightly against the baby’s cheek to get her attention, then mimed putting it between her own lips, before holding it up to Ruby’s mouth. “This will make you feel a whole lot better, sweetie.”
In a surprisingly fast motion, the baby grabbed the toy and shoved it into her mouth. Her big brown eyes widened for a moment at the unexpectedly cool temperature, but instead of spitting it out, she bit down.
It wasn’t long before the rigid lines of Ruby’s body began to loosen. Cassie felt her own limbs relax as she cuddled the little girl closer.
“Maybe, just maybe, we’re out of the woods,” Cassie whispered to Flynn, not wanting to startle the baby. “For now, at least.”
He staggered into the living room and collapsed on the couch. “Thank God.” His head was in his hands. “If something happened to Ruby… If she was sick and I didn’t know how to help her… I would never forgive myself.”
“Flynn.” Cassie sat in the armchair near the couch, the baby cradled in her lap. “You’ve just come off a cross-country trip. You’ve done everything right, everything you could think of to soothe her. And then you called for backup. If I hadn’t known what to do, I would have called my mom. If a mother of seven couldn’t figure out what was wrong based on her experience, then we would have taken Ruby to a doctor, who would have found a way to make everything better.” Without thinking, she put her hand over his. “Ruby is very lucky to have you.”
His gaze slid from her face to her hand. She quickly pulled away.
Still chewing on the cool toy, Ruby rubbed her eyes. “You can go to sleep now, Ruby.” Cassie smoothed her soft, dark hair, which was sticking up in damp tufts. “We’ll make sure there are lots of cold things for you to chew on when you wake up.”
When the baby lowered her head to Cassie’s shoulder and closed her eyes on a deep, sleepy sigh of relief, Cassie’s heart turned over inside her chest.
Love at first sight had already turned into something more. Something bigger.
That was when Cassie realized Ruby wasn’t the only one falling asleep. Flynn’s head rested against the back of the couch. His eyes were closed, the stress lines on his face smoothing out as he got the rest he so badly needed.
Her heart flipped again inside her chest. Only this time, it was for the totally out-of-reach man asleep on the couch in her cottage.
She didn’t need the whole story of how he’d come to be Ruby’s guardian to know that he loved the little girl with all his heart—and that he would do anything for her.
Cassie was immeasurably glad that Smith had thought of her when they needed a place to stay. Hopefully, their time in the Maine woods would be something they would forever cherish.
Still holding Ruby, Cassie got up to stock the fridge with several other tiny stuffed toys and clean washcloths so that Flynn wouldn’t be caught out again on the teething front. Ruby’s tooth looked to be coming in quickly, so hopefully she wouldn’t be in pain for too much longer. At least until the next tooth came in.
By the time Cassie finished setting everything up, Ruby was fast asleep on her shoulder, her grip on the polka dot elephant loosening enough that it dropped into Cassie’s hand. She put the small stuffed animal back in the fridge, then sat carefully in the armchair so that she wouldn’t wake the baby.
Putting large throw pillows on either side of them, she settled back to relax with Ruby in her lap until Flynn woke up. And though Cassie had a large to-do list to work through today—including making a start on a candy replica of Bar Harbor’s Town Hall—her list paled against how glad she was to have been only a phone call away when Flynn and Ruby needed her.
* * *
Flynn woke up disoriented. Where the hell was he?
Then he saw Ruby sprawled across Cassie’s chest, asleep, and it all came back to him.
His sister’s death.
Finding out about Ruby.
The nanny’s betrayal.
Flying to Maine.
Hours of Ruby crying.
And the miracle of finding Cassie—who was an out-and-out saint.
In Hollywood, people were rarely selfless. As far as he could tell, the Sullivans ranked among the few good ones.
Especially Cassie.