Free Heart of the Raven by Susan Crosby Page A

until businesses are open tomorrow. I’ll work the next time Danny naps, which should be soon.”
    â€œYou should nap. We both should.”
    â€œYou’re probably right. Are you ready for some lunch first?”
    â€œYou don’t have to wait on me.”
    â€œI know.” She smiled. “We’ll barbecue tonight. Let man build fire.” She grunted.
    He smiled back as she walked away, her braid swinging back and forth, brushing the small of her back. He wanted to rest his hand there, in that gently curved hollow.
    Too much fantasizing, he thought, not following her.Time for a cold shower of sorts. He and Danny would watch the Forty-niners play on television. It was never too soon for a boy’s first football game.

Eight
    A fter a short nap Cassie walked down the hallway and stood in the doorway of Heath’s office. His back was to her, his attention focused on his computer monitor. The blinds were still shut. What will it take? she wondered. Why won’t he open them? This was the one room she wouldn’t push him about. Plus he probably wouldn’t let her, anyway.
    She didn’t expect him to take leaps and bounds out of the emotional trench he’d been stuck in for years, but opening blinds seemed like a baby step.
    She wondered whether she should say hello or go off and do some work herself. What she really wanted was to bring her computer into his office and work where she could see him, talk to him. Touch him. Especially that. It was getting harder and harder not to.
    â€œYou can come in,” he said, turning around, surprising her. “Did you sleep?”
    â€œI did. How about you?” She hoped her need didn’t show in her eyes as she took a seat at his worktable.
    â€œI got enough to keep going.” He typed a few keystrokes, then gave her his full attention. “What’s next, Cassie?”
    â€œUm, pork tenderloin. Fresh asparagus that we can grill, too. Red potatoes, which I’ll oven roast with some rosemary and olive oil.”
    â€œI meant with Danny, but that sounds good.”
    She smiled. “Sorry. I’m hungry.” She grabbed a pen from the tabletop and tapped it against her palm. “I’ve got the name of a reputable agency about getting a nanny. I’ll contact them tomorrow. You need an attorney to spell out the legal details, but I’m sure you’ll need DNA testing to prove paternity. There are some firms where you can mail samples in and get results in a week, but you’ll want the chain of custody of the samples for your proof. It takes a little longer. Do you have a family attorney?”
    â€œYes. How do I get a copy of the birth certificate?”
    â€œIt’ll be sent to the Office of Vital Records from wherever it was Eva gave birth.”
    â€œWill I be able to access it?”
    â€œShe can’t have put you down as the father, but don’t worry about it. I’ve got a great relationship with that office. I’ll work it out.”
    Heath frowned. “Why couldn’t she put me down as the father?”
    â€œState law says the father’s name can be reported on the birth certificate only if the parents are legally married or if the father agrees to give up his right to challenge paternity.”
    â€œBut I’m not challenging that right.”
    â€œDid you sign a Declaration of Paternity form?”
    â€œI didn’t know such a thing existed.”
    Eva should have known, though, Cassie thought. “As I said, we’ll get it worked out. It would be helpful to at least talk with Eva.”
    She decided to start dinner, because what she really wanted was to bombard him with questions. To understand him. To get a sense that he would return to the land of the living. She tossed the pen on the table as she stood. “You’ll call the lawyer in the morning? Unless he’s also such a good friend he would come here on a Sunday.”
    He smiled.