Free Heart of the Raven by Susan Crosby Page B

“He is, but I’ll call him tomorrow morning instead. You seem to resent my contacts, Cassie.”
    â€œI envy them. Anyway, he’ll probably draw up a new document for Eva to sign, if you hear from her again.” She walked away.
    â€œI expect I’ll hear from her.”
    At the doorway Cassie faced him. He sounded so sure. “Why?”
    â€œJust a gut instinct. Maybe the way she looked at Danny before she ran off.”
    â€œHow was that?”
    â€œTorn. Sad.”
    Cassie’s suspicions sprang up again. She doubted things were going to work out the way Heath wanted. Either the baby wasn’t his, after all, or Eva would take him back. Cassie needed to decide how to lay the groundwork for those possibilities with Heath.
    She leaned against the jamb. “What was she like during the pregnancy?”
    â€œHow do you mean?”
    â€œWas she content? Excited? Afraid? Had she wanted to end the pregnancy? Did she seem to be looking forward to being a mother?”
    â€œThe pregnancy wasn’t planned and we weren’t married. It didn’t exactly make for an ideal situation.”
    â€œI understand that.”
    He stood, too, and came close to Cassie. “She didn’t tell me she was pregnant until after she could have terminated it, and we didn’t talk about if she’d even considered it. If she had asked for my input I would’ve asked her to keep the baby and give him to me.”
    â€œAnd her attitude?”
    â€œI would say she wasn’t excited but not afraid, either. I don’t know how to describe it. She was different after she was pregnant, but I expected her to be different. The way she took off at the end stunned me. It was way out of character.”
    â€œShe seemed to want so little of you, other than money.”
    He stood a little straighter. His expression hardened. “That’s not entirely true. She wanted to share the pregnancy with me.”
    â€œMaybe because you needed to share it, and she was reacting to your need.”
    â€œMaybe.”
    â€œThen she disappeared.”
    â€œYeah. And now there’s pushy Cassie Miranda.”
    â€œI’m looking out for Danny.”
    â€œI figured that out for myself. You don’t have the world’s best poker face when it comes to my son.”
    But was Danny his son? Cassie wondered. “Kids deserve—”
    He put a finger to her lips for a moment. “Yes, they do. I’m trying, Cassie. I know you haven’t told me…half? A tenth? Of what you went through in foster care, but I know a lot of it wasn’t good. I hope you’ll share it with me sometime.”
    She’d blocked much of it and never wanted to relive it. But plenty of kids had been in worse situations than she. “I wasn’t sexually abused,” she said, giving him that much. But trust? That was a different issue. As hard as she tried, putting her faith in anyone other than herself was next to impossible, at least complete faith.
    â€œI’m glad to hear that.”
    â€œI—” she jerked a thumb over her shoulder “—need to start dinner.”
    Still she didn’t move. Neither did he. They looked into each other’s eyes, searching for…what?
    â€œWhat happened to you in those homes?” Heath asked, his hand brushing hers.
    â€œGive me a half hour to get things going, then you can start the grill,” she said. She spun away from him.
    â€œWe’re quite a pair, aren’t we, Cassie?”
    â€œYeah.” She got the word out but that was all. She hurried down the stairs, her boot heels pounding. Danny let out a wail. She detoured into his room, swept him into her arms and held him close, resting her cheek against his head.
    She was already in too deep with this child—and this man. She shouldn’t stay.
    But she couldn’t go.
    Would she ever be able to?
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