Your Love Is Mine

by Bella Andre

  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.

  “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.”

  “I agree.” Cassie let a truffle melt slowly on her tongue, too busy savoring the delicious treat to pay much attention to what was beneath the egg-paper wrapping of the small box she found inside the larger cardboard box Doug had just delivered.

  “Cassie.” Lola went from gushing to dead serious in a heartbeat. “That’s definitely a Tiffany box.”

  Pulling off the rest of the wrapping paper to reveal an elegant, oblong velvet case, Cassie realized her sister was right. “There must be a mistake. I can’t think of anyone who would send me something from this store.”

  “Open it already,” Lola urged, “so we can find out what it is and who it’s from.”

  Cassie popped open the case…and they both gasped.

  “Oh my God.” Lola slid off her stool to get a better view. “Look at all those diamonds. And there’s a note. Quick, read it!”

  Cassie slid a tiny card out of a small blue envelope.

  Thank you for everything. You’re a lifesaver.

  Flynn

  Lola’s gaze flew to Cassie’s face. “Flynn?”

  “He’s Smith’s friend who needed a place to stay,” Cassie reminded her sister. No one in her family had assumed Flynn was anyone famous, and it hadn’t occurred to her to tell them he was a famous screenwriter. Especially not when she knew he’d wanted to come to Maine to get away from his fame. “He arrived last night.”

  “Did Smith also happen to mention that his friend is the kind of guy who says thank you with diamonds?” Lola took the bracelet out of the case and held it up to the light. “This is absolutely stunning.”

  It was. But that was irrelevant. “I can’t keep it.”

  Lola looked mildly horrified at the thought of Cassie giving it back. “Why not?”

  “Because it’s way too big a thank-you for helping him out last night.”

  “Wait. I thought you were just letting him stay in your cabin for a little while. What else did you help him out with last night?”

  Cassie rolled her eyes at her sister’s dirty mind as she took the bracelet and laid it carefully in the case. “With his baby, Ruby.” Cassie’s heart softened the way it always did when she thought of the little girl. “You should see her, Lola. She’s beautiful.”

  “Wait… You’re not talking about Flynn Stewart, are you?”

  “That’s him.”

  “Oh my God.”

  “You’re starting to sound like a broken record.”

  “That’s because only you would forget to tell me that Flynn Stewart is the guy we’ve been talking about this whole time. What’s he like?”

  “Honestly, I don’t really know. We’ve barely spent any time together.” All she knew for sure was that he would do anything for Ruby. And that he wasn’t a fan of Cassie sticking around the cabin, unless absolutely necessary.

  “You were obviously together for long enough that he felt compelled to send you diamonds.”

  “I don’t want to gossip about him, especially when I’m guessing that’s part of the reason he needed to get away from Hollywood.” Cassie frowned. “How did you guess so easily it was him?”

  “I heard that an actress was wearing a dress made of one of my fabrics. While I was on the website, I read a rumor that Flynn had become the guardian of a baby a few weeks ago, then left town in a rush. There’s all kinds of speculation about whose baby it really is.” She held up her hands, looking a little guilty. “I know I shouldn’t read that stuff, but I swear I’m not asking you to gossip about him. All I’m asking is if he’s as hot in person as he looks in the press?”

  Cassie couldn’t keep the heat from flooding her face at the memory of exactly how hot Flynn truly was.

  Lola grinned. “That’s a yes. In all capital letters and bold font.”

  Cassie looked down at the diamond bracelet. “I can’t believe he thought he needed to send me a gift like this when all I did was help him settle Ruby down.” She was pretty sure it wasn’t gossiping to tell her sister, “The baby was teething and wouldn’t stop crying, and my number was the only one he had in the area.”

  “What time did all this take place?”

  “Four.”r />
  “In the morning?” Lola was doubly horrified. “Sorry, but not even Flynn Stewart is good-looking enough to warrant getting out of bed that early.”

  “I’m glad he called.” Cassie knew she sounded defensive, but after the night she’d shared with Ruby and Flynn, she felt extremely protective of both of them. “Ruby was miserable, but once we figured out that she was teething and gave her something cold to chew on, she settled down. I already told him I was happy to help, so he should have known that there was no need to send me this.” She popped the jewelry case shut. “Honestly, who gives someone a diamond bracelet for helping with their baby for a few hours?”

  “By this standard,” Lola agreed, “Ashley owes us piles of jewelry.” Their nephew, Kevin, was ten years old and an extremely independent and self-sufficient kid. When he’d been a baby, however, all of them had pitched in to help Ashley out when they could, so that she could finish high school and then get her business management certificate at the nearby junior college.

  “I’ve got to return this bracelet to him immediately.” Cassie gestured to her progress—or lack thereof—on the Town Hall commission. “I’m useless here today anyway.”

  At least now she had an excuse to check on them.

  “I’d ask you to tell him that you have a sister you want to set him up with,” Lola said, “but you’re right—helping him with a baby definitely doesn’t warrant a gift like this. I have a feeling he’s got a crush on you.”

  “A crush?” Cassie felt herself blush so hard, her face might have just gone purple. “That’s impossible.”

  “Why? You’re gorgeous, smart, talented, successful.”

  “That’s nice of you to say, but I’m pretty sure he only dates supermodels.”

  “Guys like him always think they want a supermodel, when really what they’re craving is homemade apple pie. You’re full of so much sweet and wholesome goodness that any guy with half a clue would want to take a bite out of you.”