“You’re awake.” She spoke to him in a voice low enough that it wouldn’t wake Ruby, a gentle smile on her lips. “I’m glad you were able to get some sleep.” She looked down at Ruby, affection in her eyes. “Both of you.”
He ran a hand through his hair, another over his eyes. “You saved me last night.”
“I didn’t do much. Just opened your fridge and found an elephant in it.”
Her gaze was open and friendly as she smiled at him. In Cassie’s eyes, he saw something rare. Something he hadn’t ever seen before. No shadows, no lingering pain, no hidden sorrow.
If what he saw could be believed, Cassie Sullivan had never known how it felt to be truly hurt and disillusioned. It was exactly what he wanted for Ruby—for her to forget the difficult first six months and remember only joy as she moved through the rest of her life.
If he’d been more with it, he would have made sure Cassie knew precisely how grateful he was. That as far as he was concerned, she held the sun, the moon, and the stars in her hands.
“You should have woken me once Ruby fell asleep. You didn’t need to stay.” Even as the words came out of his mouth, he knew they were a far cry from the gushing praise he’d meant to give her.
“It was no problem.” She lowered her cheek to the top of Ruby’s head. “She’s been lovely to sit with.”
He would never have understood that sentiment before. But after three weeks with Ruby, he knew that having the trusting weight of a child in your arms was one of the best feelings in the world.
But since he’d never said something like that to anyone before, what came out instead was, “I’m sure you’ve got places to be now that the sun is up. I’ll take her now.”
As his words echoed back to him, he realized he’d basically just told her to get out.
Could he be getting this any more wrong?
“I should have thought you’d want to hold her as soon as you woke up.” She stood and carefully transferred the sleeping child to him.
It wasn’t until she was pushing her feet into mud boots she must have kicked off at the door when she’d come in that he finally noticed what she was wearing. A thick pink robe over flannel pajamas that were printed with—
What was that animal on her leggings?
He could hardly believe it, even once he’d figured it out. She was wearing pajamas printed with two-toed sloths.
It was weird.
But also intriguing.
And, despite everything, sexy as hell.
The first time they’d met, she’d talked and talked until she’d let herself out the front door. This time, she merely gave him another small smile and then was gone before he had a chance to say thank you.
CHAPTER FOUR
Cassie had to restart the candy base of the Town Hall building twice before she was happy enough with her work to continue. She was never at her best when she was tired, but though she hadn’t had more than a handful of hours of sleep last night, that wasn’t the reason for her constant stream of mistakes.
No, the issue was far more tightly tied to the gruff yet gorgeous man in her cabin—and his adorable baby. Just like the night before, she couldn’t get them out of her head, or stop wondering how they were doing today.
Had Flynn managed to go back to sleep after Cassie left?
Had the chilled washcloths done the trick once Ruby woke up?
Had Ruby’s tooth poked all the way through by now?
Cassie was on the verge of breaking down and calling Flynn for an update—one that would likely be monosyllabic, if their previous conversations were anything to go by—when Lola burst through the door, bringing with her the most wonderful gift imaginable. A coconut latte.
“I’ll never admit to Ashley that I said this, but you’re the best sister ever.” Cassie grabbed the cup from her sister and gulped the sweet coffee down. Scalding the top layer of skin from her mouth and throat was worth it. Anything for a hit of caffeine when she so badly needed it.
“Long night?” Lola asked as she settled on one of the stools in Cassie’s workroom. As always, she lifted cake stand covers one after the other to see if there was anything that caught her fancy. At last, she settled on a red velvet cupcake.
“Short night, actually. I didn’t get much sleep.”
The doorbell rang before Lola could ask why—a double ring that meant Doug was here with a delivery. As Cassie’s hands tended to be covered in sugar, she’d asked him to let himself in so that she didn’t have to stop work and wash her hands before opening the door.
“Good morning, Cassie.” His eyes lit up when he saw she wasn’t alone. “Lola, you’re looking exceptionally lovely today.”
Lola smiled around a mouthful of cupcake. “Hi, Doug.”
As kids, even before Lola’s figure could have made Marilyn Monroe jealous, Cassie’s sister had had a knock-out effect on boys. By the time she was eighteen, it seemed like every man in Maine was begging to go out with her. Doug was just as smitten as the rest. Amazingly, however, the endless male adoration hadn’t gone to Lola’s head.
Several beats later, Doug remembered the box he was holding. “Sorry to interrupt your work, Cassie, but you’ve got to sign for this one.”
She washed her hands, signed to acknowledge receipt, then gestured toward the cake trays. “If you’re hungry, I’ve got lots for you to choose from.”
She didn’t need to offer twice, and though he seemed sad about leaving Lola behind, he was soon on his way out to continue his deliveries, a cupcake in each hand.
“I wonder what this could be?” Cassie gave the box a light shake. “I wasn’t expecting anything.”
“That is the exact color of Tiffany jewelry boxes.” As a textile designer, Lola knew color inside out. More than once, Cassie had asked for her help with mixing the right hue for one of her candy creations.
“Well, I certainly haven’t ordered anything for myself from Tiffany. And I can’t think of anyone who would want to buy me expensive jewelry. In fact, I can barely remember the last time I was on a date.”
“Men.” Lola scowled.
Cassie didn’t envy Lola’s looks. With va-va-voom curves that made people do a double take and her fifties-style fashion sense that further highlighted her hourglass figure, people often mistakenly thought she was flighty and dumb. Nothing could be further from the truth—Lola was absolutely brilliant, and happiest when she was quietly creating. Unfortunately, the men who asked her out tended to be interested only in her bombshell exterior.
“I can’t believe I almost forgot to tell you that Brooke sent over a new box of chocolate perfection.” Cassie opened the small fridge beneath her worktop and took out the prized dark chocolate truffles her cousin Rafe’s wife made in the Pacific Northwest. Though Cassie worked with chocolate from time to time, candy confections were where her real talent lay. “Who needs men when we’ve got these?”
Lola put the last half of her cupcake down in favor of popping a truffle into her mouth. “Ohmygoshthisisamazing.” She was too gaga over the chocolate to separate her gushing words. “I love Brooke. Rafe’s such a lucky guy.”