Your Love Is Mine

by Bella Andre

  She smiled at him, then closed her eyes and fell asleep with Ellie the elephant cradled in the crook of one arm.

  He watched her for a while before heading back out to the living room. With the long, quiet evening stretching ahead of him, he should use the time to get to work on a new script.

  Flynn had never been the kind of writer who procrastinated or suffered from writer’s block. On the contrary, his stories had always been the perfect place to escape from the real world.

  These past three weeks, it had been a shock to try to chase down the words, only to have them be just out of reach. He’d told himself that his lack of progress was down to being so shell-shocked by the changes in his life, from adjusting to a baby’s sleep schedule, and his grief over losing his sister.

  But tonight he could no longer tell himself those lies. In Cassie’s cabin in the woods, he finally faced that for the past nearly twenty years he hadn’t been lying to just everyone else—he’d been lying to himself too.

  Lying about feeling happy.

  Lying about having everything he wanted.

  Even lying about the kind of stories he wanted to tell.

  As a child, he’d been so full of darkness, so full of fear. All he’d had to do was bring his nightmares to life. It was as much as he’d ever been willing to share of himself on the page, and no one in the film industry had ever asked him for anything more.

  Suddenly, he couldn’t stop wondering what kind of story he would tell if he were actually honest. If he stepped out of the dark corners for once—taking a page from Cassie’s book by switching from dread and doubt to laughter.

  Did he even have it in him to write a movie where his characters laughed?

  There was only one way to find out.

  He was about to sit in front of his laptop on the kitchen table when he remembered how joyful Cassie had been dancing to cheesy pop songs in her workshop. No surprise, the retro fifties-style radio on the kitchen island was already tuned to a station playing eighties music. “Take on Me” came on—the same song that Cassie had been dancing to in her workshop. It felt like a sign that maybe, just maybe, having fun while writing might not be completely out of his reach.

  Still, his heart was pounding as he opened his laptop. For the past three weeks, the blinking cursor had been taunting him, daring him to write something, anything. Tonight, however, Flynn was surprised to find the words spilling from his fingertips on the keyboard before the cursor could begin its taunts.

  Ellie the elephant is born in a factory in upstate New York. She has many brothers and sisters who look like her, with pink stitching along the undersides of their snouts, green on their feet, yellow on their big floppy ears, and bright pink and purple polka dots covering the rest.

  After each elephant comes to life, they are given a destination. One of Ellie’s sisters asks her, “Where are they sending you?”

  “To a little boy in Centertown.” Ellie is full of eager anticipation. “I’m going to show him how to laugh.”

  One of Ellie’s brothers asks, “How are you going to do that?”

  “I’m going to remind him that he already knows how to laugh,” Ellie replies. “He’s just forgotten for a little while.”

  Flynn stared in surprise at the words on his screen.

  It was tempting to delete the deeply personal words, to pretend he’d never written them, to return to the tried-and-true thriller format.

  But he couldn’t do it.

  Not when it suddenly felt as though far more was at stake than just a finished screenplay.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Cassie had never felt like this before. Happy and nervous. Excited and scared. Full of anticipation, but also worried.

  She’d never fallen for anyone before either.

  It wasn’t just one person she had fallen for—it was two. She wanted both Flynn and Ruby in her life. If things didn’t work out for them in Maine and they left, she would not only lose one person she cared deeply for, she’d lose both of them.

  Just thinking about it made her chest feel tight.

  No. She wouldn’t let that happen. She had always fought for the people she cared about. She was never going to stop fighting for Flynn and Ruby.

  Even at six months old, Ruby already seemed to have a great sense of self, which in large part was due to Flynn’s deep love for her. Whereas from what Cassie could glean from the little Flynn had said about his upbringing, no one had ever shown him the love he deserved.

  Well, she sure as heck was going to show him now.

  When she drove up to her cabin, she found Flynn and Ruby standing on the front steps, the little girl waving. Just that quickly, Cassie’s fears, worries, and nerves started to fade. They didn’t completely go away—she’d need to stay on her toes with Flynn. But she wouldn’t have him any other way than as exactly who he was.

  After parking, she walked up to the pair and immediately took Ruby into her arms to cuddle her tight and kiss her cheek. Not intending to leave Flynn out, she shifted Ruby to one hip, put one hand on his face, then went on her tippy-toes and pressed a kiss to his cheek too.

  His skin was warm beneath her touch, and he smelled delicious, like clean male and forest. One innocent kiss, and she was already heating up from head to toe.

  It took her far longer than it should have to realize something was different about her cabin. “Those are new flower boxes!” She turned back to Flynn. “Did you do this for me?”

  “Rory helped.”

  Though she was surprised to hear that the two men had worked together on the project, she was certain without being told that it had been Flynn’s idea. She’d never wanted to kiss him on the lips more than she did right now, but she’d promised him that she’d leave that kind of kissing on the back burner for the time being.

  “I love them.” She moved close again to press her lips against his cheek. “Thank you.”

  She could have sworn the slow brush of his cheek over hers, and the way he seemed to want to keep her close for as long as possible before she drew back, was no accident.

  “Ruby helped me load up her backpack with diapers, a bottle, a snack, and an extra change of clothes, just in case she needs it.” Though he was talking about the baby, his voice was slightly hoarse. As though he was having to fight just as hard not to kiss her. “I hope we didn’t forget anything.”

  Ruby responded by shoving the stuffed elephant at Cassie. She laughed, saying, “Don’t worry, of course we’re taking your bestie with us.”

  Cassie pretended that the elephant was whispering into Ruby’s ear. “I can’t wait to go on a hike with you today, Ruby! We are going to see the most amazing things while we’re together. And there’s no one that I’d rather be with than you.”

  With that, Cassie had the elephant kiss Ruby’s cheek. When the baby giggled, she made it kiss her other cheek. Then her belly, and both her hands and feet too. Each kiss made her laugh harder. Even Flynn was laughing by the time Cassie was through.

  Since Ruby’s car seat was already installed in Flynn’s rental, they piled into his car.

  “How have things been going since I saw you yesterday?” she asked. It had been barely twenty-four hours, and yet it felt like she’d been away from Flynn and Ruby for much longer.

  “I took Ruby down to the water, and she loved splashing in the shallows. After that, we came back home, ate some dinner, and read Wheels on the Bus until she fell asleep.”

  “Sounds like the perfect afternoon and evening.”

  He took his eyes off the road for a split second to look at her. “Almost perfect. She kept wanting me to make Ellie the elephant talk, but I can’t quite figure out how to get the voice right. I nearly called you to ask.”

  She grinned, beyond pleased that they’d missed her last night, the same way she’d been missing them. “You could have called me. Now that I’m here, we can practice doing the voice together, if you’d like.”

  “Actually, speaking of Ellie the elephant—�
� His expression turned serious. “—I’ve started a new screenplay.”

  “That’s fantastic news.” Picking up on the enthusiasm in Cassie’s voice, Ruby started clapping from the backseat. “But what does Ruby’s stuffed elephant have to do with it?”

  “The elephant is in the story.”

  “Wow.” Cassie couldn’t contain her surprise. “I didn’t see that coming.”

  “Neither did I. If this new project ever sees the light of day, I’m going to give you co-writing credit.”

  “I don’t need credit for anything. Although I am curious—how have you managed to fit a stuffed elephant with polka dots into a thriller?”

  “It’s not a thriller. I’m not sure what it is just yet, only that Ellie the elephant has a fairly major role.”

  “Double wow.”

  “I know Smith and Valentina are expecting a thriller. The thing is…” It seemed as though he couldn’t find the words to express what he was feeling.

  “You want to keep going with what you’ve started, don’t you? If for no other reason than to see where you end up.”

  “That’s exactly it.” He sounded more than a little surprised by her insight.

  She indicated he should turn right at the four-way stop, then said, “Sometimes, if I’m not working on commission, I’ll just start building with random pieces of candy. Only to find out partway through that they weren’t so random after all, that I needed to express something I was feeling or trying to figure out. Remind me once we stop the car, I have pictures on my phone of some of the wild and weird things I’ve made. Things that I always think won’t move anyone but me, but that end up touching other people in ways I hadn’t imagined they would.”

  The driving directions got a little more complicated after that, so for the rest of the ride, she focused on getting them to the trailhead. Once they parked, she was about to get out of the car when he stopped her with a hand on her arm.

  “The pictures of your wild and weird confections,” he reminded her. “I’d like to see them.”

  She pulled her phone out of her pocket and scrolled through her photo album. “Here’s one. I had just seen something in the news that really upset me. I wanted to make something that would help me find my way back to beauty. To hope. To love. A woman in Colorado now has it hanging on her living room wall.”

  The candy structure in the picture was two feet tall and two feet wide and utilized candies in every color. Some parts were straight, some were curvy, some were dark, but most were light.

  “Amazing.” He looked up from the photo. “You’ve created modern art out of candy. And just like the heart you entered in the contest, you’ve created emotion.”

  “If you keep saying such nice things, you’re going to give me a big head.”

  “You could never have a big head. Though if anyone deserves one, it’s you.”

  “I just make things out of candy. It’s not a big d—”

  His mouth was on hers before she could get the rest of her sentence out.

  Their second kiss was as breathtaking as the first. This time, however, she didn’t make herself pull away. Instead, she happily kissed him right back.

  “You’re right,” he said when they finally drew apart. “That’s the perfect way to get you to stop putting yourself down.”

  The kiss had scattered her brain so much that she couldn’t quite follow. “What was I saying that you objected to?”

  “That your confections aren’t a big deal.” He brushed the pad of his thumb over her lower lip, making her shiver with desire. “They are, Cassie.”

  For a moment, she thought he might kiss her again. But then he said, “I swore to myself that I would leave our kiss on the back burner, like we agreed.”

  “I’m glad we didn’t.” Right then, Ruby let out a little shriek from the backseat. “Uh oh, I don’t think someone likes being left out of the conversation for this long.”

  They got out of the car, then unstrapped Ruby—and Ellie the elephant, whom she was clutching to her chest—from her car seat and transferred them both to the backpack on Flynn’s back.

  Cassie was beyond glad that Flynn had kissed her. She was less thrilled, however, by how conflicted he was over it. What would it take for him not only to trust her, but to understand that she trusted him, regardless of his secret past?

  As they took the short walk from the parking area to the edge of the pond, she hoped the magic of exquisite nature all around them would help. The sky was a perfect blue sprinkled with fluffy white clouds, the trees were so green it almost seemed unreal, the water was like a mirror reflecting all the beauty back to itself, and the smell from the trees and shrubs and wild-blooming flowers was absolutely divine.

  “Jordan Pond is one of my favorite places.” She was proud to be able to share this spot with Flynn and Ruby, to show them one of the many reasons she loved Maine and Mount Desert Island.

  “I can see why.” Even Ruby seemed awed by the view of the pond and the mountains and trees that surrounded it. “I had no idea Maine was like this. Every day, I feel luckier that Smith suggested Ruby and I come here.”

  “I feel lucky too.” She reached for his hand, feeling even luckier when he threaded his fingers through hers and held on tight. It was amazing how much comfort—and sensuality—there was in being palm-to-palm with him.

  “Why don’t we walk a bit,” she suggested, “and then when we get to a little cove up ahead, Ruby can have her snack and play by the shore.”

  “I doubt we’re going to be able to keep her out of the water.”

  “Then we can become wet, muddy messes together.” Cassie blew a kiss to Ruby, who was making nonsense sounds from the backpack and swinging her elephant around in the air to make it dance. Turning back to Flynn as they walked along the waterline, she asked, “Do you have more research questions for me?”

  “I’ve never spent time with a big family like yours. I’d love to know more about what it’s like. Particularly about how it seems to work so well when there are so many people with different personalities and goals.”

  “My guess is that it’s down to my parents for always being there for us. Which isn’t to say that they let any of us walk all over them—or each other, for that matter. They didn’t put up with much when we were kids. Still don’t.”

  “I can see your father being strict. But your mother is always so friendly and full of smiles.”

  “My father’s actually the softie, whereas my mother rules with an iron whisk.”

  Flynn raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think your father has any intention of being soft with me.”

  “No.” There was no point in acting like that wasn’t the case. “He clearly wants to put you through the wringer. I have faith you’ll win him over, the same way you’ve clearly won Rory over. Hudson and Brandon too, once you finally meet them.”

  “Great.” He shook his head. “Two more brothers who will be angling to tear me limb from limb when they find out I’m kissing their beloved sister.”

  She wasn’t sure he realized that he was talking about the two of them in future tense, rather than as though they’d exhausted their limit of only two kisses. His brain might be telling him he couldn’t be with her…but his heart was clearly already on board.

  She grinned. “You’ll like Brandon and Hudson. In fact, you’ve probably already stayed in at least one of Brandon’s hotels, somewhere in the world. He’s the owner of the SLVN hotel brand.”

  Flynn looked impressed. “Is there anything your family can’t do?”

  “Random Sullivan fact: We’re terrible at playing soccer. Anyway, Brandon is pretty much always on a plane getting ready to open a hotel in another far-flung, exotic destination. And Hudson lives in Boston with his wife.”

  “I’m surprised only one of you is married, considering that your parents are such great role models for wedded bliss.”

  “Don’t be fooled—they yell plenty. Especially Mom. She calls it letting off steam. But actually,
the fact that they have such a great relationship is probably part of the reason why most of us haven’t rushed to jump into anything serious. Their love story is a lot to live up to.”

  “Funny,” he said, “I always thought only people who had parents with bad marriages were prone to holding off on their own. I hadn’t realized it could be just as hard to live up to a great relationship. Although your brother’s marriage must be good if he was willing to take the plunge.”

  She frowned. “I hope Hudson and his wife are in a good place. I’m not sure they are, though. My sister-in-law doesn’t come to many family events anymore. We’ve always been so open with each other, but these past few years, Hudson is more and more closed off. It’s hard feeling like I’m not really a part of his life anymore. I just hope that if he’s ever ready to talk, he knows I’ll always be there for him.”

  “He knows it, Cassie. I can promise you that.”

  “Same goes for you. If you ever want to talk.” She held out her arms. “I’m here.” Not wanting to push too hard, she gestured to the cove. “And here we are, at the beach I mentioned earlier.” She reached up to take Ruby out of the backpack. “Are you ready for your snack, little miss?”

  Cassie loved holding Ruby on her lap while she fed her Flynn’s homemade pea puree. Ruby happily wolfed it down—splattering only a little bit onto the three of them this time—then pointed toward the water.

  “Time to swim!” Cassie took off Ruby’s shoes and socks, then rolled up her leggings, before doing the same for herself. She looked at Flynn, who was still fully dressed. “You’re coming in too, aren’t you? It won’t be nearly as much fun without you.”

  But he was staring at her toes and didn’t answer.

  Though Cassie wasn’t particularly wild in her clothing choices, she liked to splash out in secret sometimes. Case in point—her toenails were painted a particularly seductive shade of red, which she had matched to her bra and panty set.

  “I’ve never thought feet were sexy before.” Flynn’s voice sounded a little hoarse.

  She was surprised by how shy she felt when he’d already seen her nearly naked in her workshop. But that was before their kisses. Before she’d ever imagined that he could desire her.