The Baby Bond (14 page)

The ease with which Rosalie and Leo related to their children and grandchildren fascinated Cassidy. She’d never been this easy with her grandmother. No one seemed overly concerned about soiled clothes or too much noise. In fact, noise seemed to be the common denominator among the Caranos. Everyone talked at once, gesturing with expressive hands. Laughter punctuated the conversations like exclamation points. Somewhere a radio belted out contemporary music.

Nic played yard darts with a half dozen other people but occasionally wandered over to where Cassidy stood talking with Rosalie and Mia as they prepared a table full of food “for the masses,” as Rosalie put it.

Once, Nic draped an arm over his mother’s shoulder and kissed her cheek. In return, she patted his, the mother–son love a visible, lovely thing. Emotion surged inside Cassidy. Though she’d been young when her mother died, at times like these Cassidy remembered the feeling of being loved unconditionally. The longing for a warm, loving family of her own almost choked her.

“You taking good care of my neighbor?” Nic asked, eyeing both his mom and sister. This afternoon his bright red T-shirt proclaimed, “I’d give my right arm to be ambidextrous.”

Mia, whose full, wide mouth seemed to either be smiling
or talking all the time, said, “We’re telling her about your naughty childhood.”

Nic drew back in pretend horror. “She’ll have me evicted.”

The full mouth laughed. “Remember what the Bible says. ‘Be sure your sins will find you out.’”

“I,” he declared dramatically, slapping one hand against his chest “am a dead man.”

With a teasing wink at Cassidy, he snitched a strawberry from the fruit plate Mia was arranging. She slapped his fingers. He drew back with a laugh. “Mom, Mia hit me.”

Rosalie handed him another strawberry and shooed him back to his game.

“See what I have to put up with,” she said, fondly gazing after her baby boy. “He likes you a lot, I’m thinking, Cassidy.”

Her stomach dipped. “Nic likes all the girls.”

“Mmm. Or maybe
they
like
him.
You may be surprised to know he’s never been serious with anyone.”

Actually, she was surprised, but she said, “Nic is rarely serious.”

As soon as she said the words, she realized they were neither fair nor entirely true. They were the stereotypical Nic, not the real one. Sure, Nic knew how to have a good time and he could be wild and crazy, but she’d met the real man beneath the flash and dash.

The notion that Notorious Nic had never had a serious relationship was…interesting, to say the least.

“He went to church with you today,” Mia said. “Do you know how long it’s been since he’s done that?”

Cassidy shook her head, remembering how distracted she’d been by the handsome man seated next to her. “He doesn’t go with you?”

“Not in a while. He claims his job interferes, and I’m sure it does. But Nic has drifted.” Rosalie’s dark doe eyes sad
dened. “It breaks my heart to see one of my children ambivalent about the Lord.”

It bothered Cassidy, too, but she got the idea Nic was searching to find his own way instead of leaning on his parents’ faith. She couldn’t fault him for that.

“Did you know,” Rosalie went on, “that you are the first girl he’s ever brought to a family gathering?”

Cassidy nearly dropped the tomato she was slicing. “You can’t mean that.”

“On my family’s honor.” Rosalie touched her heart.

Mia grinned at Cassidy. “The look on your face is priceless.”

“I—” Cassidy blinked rapidly, trying to make some sense of the revelation. “I’m not sure what that means.”

Rosalie patted her shoulder. “It means, dear child, that my wayward boy has feelings for you. I’ve been praying for a beautiful Christian woman to come along and give him a reason to settle down.”

Cassidy managed a shaky laugh. Rosalie had no idea how impossible a relationship between her and Nic was. “Nic is attached to Alex. Not me.”

Rosalie slid a spoon into a bowl of sliced melon, dark eyebrows drawing together in question. “You don’t like my Nic?”

“Well, yes, of course I do. He’s great.”
He’s funny and warm and generous. He’s even changing diapers now.

Oh dear.

The man in question jogged toward her. Cassidy’s pulse danced a jitterbug, an effect she blamed on Rosalie’s insinuations.

He reached out and snagged her hand. “Come on, Cass. I’m getting cremated in this game. I need a partner.”

As his strong, firefighter’s fingers wrapped around hers, the word
partner
took on an entirely new meaning.

“What do you think of this one?”

A few days later, Cassidy still had Nic Carano on the brain, but tonight she was trying to concentrate on the teen group gathered at her place.

Cassidy spun sideways in her rolling desk chair to look at the freckled teenager. Angie leaned over the computer to peruse the design Cassidy had created for her MySpace page.

“I love it. You’re good at this, Cassidy.”

With a laugh Cassidy said, “Considering this is my bread and butter, I’d better be.”

She didn’t add the bitter truth that her career had taken a turn for the worse lately. No use worrying her Bible study girls. Regardless of her boss’s expectations, Cassidy had come to the conclusion that she wanted a life outside her career. If that meant cutting back, she’d have to do it. Alex was her life now. Her career was not. Unfortunately, Shane Tomlinson was not at all happy to hear of her newfound dedication.

Angie, purple highlights in her hair shining under the light, twisted toward the six other girls lounging around the kitchen table. “Come look at the cool page Cassidy created for me.”

Cassidy listened to the oohs and ahhs of the teens. Tonight was the first time in the more than a month since her sister’s death that she’d resumed the weekly Bible study with the girls from her church. In truth, the meeting was more of a Christian mentoring group than anything, though she always presented a short, relevant lesson from scripture. By spending quality time listening to the girls, she’d been delighted to watch them grow as Christians.

In the process, she’d grown herself. Though she still questioned the losses, she’d felt the love and compassion and peace of God surrounding her with such sweetness. And He’d
sent people into her life—people like the Caranos—when she’d needed them the most.

The Caranos. Once more, her mind drifted to last Sunday and the pleasant afternoon she’d spent with Nic and his big Italian-American family. They were the kind of family she and Janna had longed for all their lives. The kind of family she wanted to give to Alex but couldn’t.

Her gaze went to the baby happily being passed from one girl to the next. Alex babbled something in her direction. Love bubbled up inside Cassidy. She’d been busy and active before he came along, but Alex had added a new, unexpected element of joy. As difficult as the adjustment was, she couldn’t imagine her life without him now.

“It’s so cool of you to do this for us,” one of the other girls said, breaking her train of thought. “Will you change mine next week?”

“Sure, if we have time.”

Cassidy had never told them, but she designed their online pages not only for their enjoyment, but as a means to monitor what was going on in their lives. Over the past year, she’d been able to head off some trouble areas for a couple of the girls and to talk to them about inappropriate visitors to their pages.

“Someone’s coming up the stairs.” Angie started toward the door. “Maybe it’s Melissa.”

Cassidy, too, was concerned about the absent Melissa. According to evidence on her MySpace page, Melissa was hanging around with a questionable crowd.

“How can you hear footsteps with all this chatter going on?” she asked.

Almost before Cassidy finished the question, Angie opened the door and Nic breezed inside.

“Whoa,” he said, skidding to a stop. “Is this a party?” He
smiled, accenting the dimple in his chin. “And why wasn’t I invited?”

Seven teenagers giggled, turning wide-eyed, speculative gazes on Cassidy. The heat of a blush climbed up the back of her neck.

That day at the cookout, Rosalie and Mia had put the craziest thoughts in her head. Thoughts that hammered away at her, threatening to undermine her resolve to remain emotionally distant from a guy with two strikes against him.

Nic didn’t help matters in the least. The fact that he was a firefighter was offset by his application to med school. If he got accepted, he would no longer be a fireman and, therefore, no longer be in imminent danger. She could actually date him without fear.

As soon as the thought arrived, she cast it down, aghast. Fireman or not, he would still be Notorious Nic.

Or would he?

To make matters more unsettling, their relationship had changed dramatically since she’d discovered his fear of failure and the secret longing to please his family. Who would have thought Nic Carano, the man who faced raging fires, zip-lined in Mexico and had once ridden a Brahma bull, would be afraid of anything? The notion tugged at her heart.

So much so that she’d even spent several hours this week sitting at his kitchen table, drilling him on terms she could barely pronounce. Behind the smoke and mirrors, Nic was a very bright man.

Add to that the innuendos from his family and Cassidy was one confused
chica.

“Nic,” she said, a little too breathlessly, a little too happy to see him considering they’d jogged together yesterday. “I thought you were on duty tonight.”

“Excuses, excuses. I traded shifts with a buddy who needs
off tomorrow. His wife is scheduled to have a baby.” Without missing a beat, he dazzled the girls with a wink and another smile as he whisked Alex into his arms. Holding the baby at arm’s length, he wiggled the chubby body back and forth saying, “Hey partner, what’s shakin’?”

Mouth wide with pleasure, Alex drooled. Cassidy rose, grabbed a tissue and swiped.

“You’re getting good at this.” Nic beamed at her.

Foolishly, she beamed back. “You know what they say about practice.”

“Too late. You were already perfect.”

The hum of speculation around them grew louder.

In self-defense, Cassidy introduced Nic to each of the girls. They simpered and cast sideways glances at each other.

Fighting not to roll her eyes, Cassidy said to her neighborly intruder, “Did you need something, Nic? Or are you only passing by?”

They both laughed at the inside joke. Nic had started it when he wanted an excuse to come up for a visit, though the only reason to climb those particular stairs was to arrive at her apartment.

“Passing by, hoping to take you and Alex out for ice cream.” Alex grabbed hold of his ear. Nic paid him no mind. “I need to talk to you about something.”

Cassidy studied Nic’s face, trying to gauge what he was not saying. This was his serious side. She was beginning to recognize the difference. “Can I take a rain check on the ice cream and come down later to talk?”

“Works for me. I’m not going anywhere.”

“No company?”

He grinned. “Only you.”

A skitter of awareness danced through her, both happy and anxious. She grinned back, glad that Rachel and Mandy and
Nic’s usual gaggle of female company had been nowhere around for the last week.

She cocked a hip. “Got popcorn?”

“Theater butter, guaranteed to clog your arteries.”

“EMT to the rescue?” What in the world was she doing? Flirting?

“CPR could be called for at any time.” He pumped his eyebrows. His gaze dropped to her mouth. “I’m good with that.”

She imagined he was. The thought of kissing Nic tingled every nerve ending in her body.

The ripple of giggles from the teenagers brought Cassidy back to reality. Goodness. Nic was causing her to lose her sense of decorum.

“Go away, Nic.”

He chuckled knowingly, but handed Alex to the nearest teenager and backed toward the door. “See ya.”

After the door closed behind him, Cassidy almost wilted into the carpet.

The teens attacked like a friendly school of sharks. A volley of mingled comments shot at her.

“Are you dating him? He’s a hottie. Like a movie star or something. That dimple in his chin made my knees weak. Why didn’t you tell us about him? Are you in love?”

“Girls, stop!” She held her hands against her hot cheeks, laughing but embarrassed, too. “Nic is my neighbor. My friend.”

“Oh, right. That’s why you went all dreamy-eyed when he walked in.”

“Yeah, and did you see the way he looked at her?” Angie wiggled her fingers as though she’d touched something hot. “Ooh-la-la!”

“We know flirting when we see it.”

Cassidy gave up and let them speculate.

How could she be expected to explain her feelings for Nic when she didn’t understand them herself?

When the last of the teenagers left, Cassidy glanced at the sunburst clock above the couch. The hour was later than she’d expected and it was almost time to put Alex down for the night. A consistent routine, she’d discovered, made a world of difference. But she’d promised Nic.

“Want to go see Notorious Nic?” she said to Alex. The little dude, as Nic called him, bicycled his arms and legs with enthusiasm as if he understood.

With Alex against her shoulder she trotted down the steps to apartment seventeen. The door opened before she knocked.

“I saw the girls leave,” he said by way of explanation.

“Thank goodness,” she joked. “I was starting to think you could see through walls.”

“Does this mean I’ve reached superhero status?” He leaned forward to nuzzle Alex under the chin. Having Nic this close brought back her wayward thoughts.

She ignored his question as a buzz of energy danced between them. Nic must have noticed, too. He lifted his face from Alex but didn’t move away. Dark, dark eyes studied her. Serious eyes.

The jitters in her belly got worse.

“Where’s my popcorn?” she managed, dismayed by the breathless sound of her voice.

Nic backed off, a funny quirk to his lips. “Coming right up. Grab a seat while I stick the bag in the nuker. You want a Coke?”