The Baby Bond (17 page)

R
ain pounded the window next to Cassidy’s bed. Lightning flickered, followed by a rolling boom of thunder.

Over the baby monitor she heard Alex begin to cry. With a sigh, Cassidy rolled over for a look at her alarm clock. The number four glowed red. She groaned aloud. Alex had been doing much better, usually sleeping until six, but the storm must have wakened him.

The crying grew louder. She cocked her head to listen. Though he was probably hungry, this cry sounded different. He must be scared. Poor lamb.

Cassidy shoved back the sheet and padded through the dark apartment into the nursery. The angel night-light glowed, guiding her inside.

“Shh, darling boy, I’m here. Shh.” She switched on the small, dim lamp next to the changing table, blinking for a few seconds. In the shadowy room, the baby-scented air hung cool and damp. Thunder rattled the windows. Lightning flickered like flames of fire across the floor.

Cassidy’s nerves jittered. Nic was on duty tonight.

As she lifted the baby from the crib he quieted, but a new worry eclipsed all others.

“You’re hot.” She frowned and pressed a cool hand against his forehead. Too hot.

After carrying him to the changing table, Cassidy took his temperature and replaced his wet diaper. He fussed, whimpering, almost a moan. The sound frightened her.

Holding the thermometer toward the lamp, she squinted at the digital readout. “One hundred and one point four.”

Her mind worked, trying to remember the books she’d read. Was that high for a baby? Was it in the danger zone? She knew normal but how high was high?

For a moment, she considered phoning Rosalie. Then, with a heavy heart, she remembered. Even she had come to count on the wisdom and strength of the Carano matriarch. Little wonder the hospitalization and diagnosis were so difficult for Nic and his siblings. She had to believe Rosalie with her valiant spirit and powerful faith would beat the disease.

Alex started to cry harder. Though he was hot, his skin prickled in the cool night air. Cassidy quickly slid his feet and arms into a pair of cotton pajamas and then hurried to the telephone. With the receiver in hand, she paused. Who could she call? It was far too late to contact anyone except Nic and he was on duty. Even if he knew what to do, he couldn’t rush to her rescue this time.

Finally, she phoned the hospital emergency room and spoke to a nurse who advised her to give the baby some acetaminophen and take him into the pediatrician’s office in the morning if he didn’t improve. Not especially comforted, but somewhat relieved, Cassidy did as the woman suggested, fixed Alex a fresh bottle and sat down to rock him. At times like this, she realized why God intended for children to have two parents. Moral support took on an entirely new meaning at four o’clock in the morning.

The minutes crawled on while outside the storm raged. Thunder rumbled like a distant airplane. Lightning flickered through the blinds, illuminating the baby’s fretful expression. Cassidy rocked and prayed. At seven, Alex’s temperature had not improved but he’d fallen into a fitful slumber.

After placing him in the crib, she reached for the telephone once more, this time dialing her boss. He wasn’t going to be happy but she had no choice.

“Shane, this is Cassidy Willis.”

“Yes?” The art director’s voice was cool.

“I won’t be in to work this morning. Maybe not this afternoon, either. Alex is sick.”

A long silence hummed through the receiver. Cassidy’s fingers tightened. Her boss had been less than cordial of late. “Shane, are you still there?”

“I heard you, Cassidy.” A loud sigh expressed his annoyance. “Look, we’ve got a problem here.”

She
had a problem. A sick baby. “I wouldn’t take off if it wasn’t necessary. You’ve worked with me long enough to know that.”

“Six months ago, I would have agreed, but you’ve changed. Your production has decreased, you’re missing work when we need you most and, frankly, I need someone I can depend on.”

The words were clipped and sharp as though he’d been storing them up, prepared to unleash the volley at the right time. Apparently, this morning was the last straw.

“A child can’t help getting sick.” She kept her tone even but her insides shook. “Other mothers have to deal with this.”

“That’s the point. They deal with it. Someone else looks after their sick kids while they work.”

She didn’t have anyone else. Even the day care wouldn’t take Alex with a fever.

“I’m still making the adjustment to motherhood, Shane. Cut me some slack. In time conditions should improve.”

“We don’t have time. We’re on deadline.”

He was being especially difficult this morning. She was tempted to ask if he’d had his coffee yet. “I’ll work late tomorrow.”

“I need you here today.” The frosty tone was unrelenting.

“I understand that. I wish things were different but I can’t come in.” She disliked missing work, but what else could she do? Alex had to come first. “I’m sorry.”

“So am I, Cassidy. This is a business. We have deadlines and clients who expect top-of-the-line, on-time work. If you can’t do your job, perhaps I should look for someone who can.”

Cassidy stiffened, incredulous. “Are you threatening to fire me?”

His huff of frustration grated on her nerves. “I’m stating facts. You have choices to make. Come to work or don’t. Keep your job or don’t. Your choice.”

The threat scraped through her like nails on a chalkboard. Decide between a sick, orphaned baby and her job? What kind of choice was that?

Three months ago, the decision would have been swift and easy. She would have done anything to feather her career cap. This morning with her arms still achy and damp from holding Alex’s hot, fussy body, she had to do what was right and best for him, regardless of the consequences.

Suddenly, the job wasn’t so important, the drive to the top less enchanting.

“You know what, Shane? You’re right. I have a choice to make.” Drawing in a deep, quivering breath and praying like mad, she jumped into the abyss. “I choose Alex.”

“Don’t be stupid, Cassidy. I’m not asking you to give up the child.”

“No, but you’re asking me to choose work over a sick baby. I won’t do that. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a pediatrician to visit. And you have a position to fill.”

With a trembling hand, she hung up the phone and blew out a long, shaky breath. Now she’d done it. She was jobless. She not only would never climb to the top of her game, she had jumped off the middle rung and removed the ladder.

Her grandmother would have a fit.

Tears pushed at the back of her eyelids. She blinked them away. The decision was made and she’d worry about the results later. Right now, her nephew was burning with fever, his eyes glassy and bright, and she was the only one around to help him.

That was far more important than designing a logo for a chain of restaurants.

By the time she’d changed and fed Alex, who ate little, the worst of the thunderstorm had passed and a steady shower of rain washed the morning. Cassidy debated on carrying an umbrella but between Alex, his diaper bag and her purse, she had no hands left. Making sure Alex was covered, Cassidy backed out of her apartment for the mad dash to the parking lot.

The smell of rain on warm concrete mixed with the exhaust fumes of passing cars. Cold rain pelted her from above, prickling the skin on her arms. Her hurried steps splattered droplets onto her pants legs.

As she bent forward to place Alex in his car seat, water dripped from the car roof down the back of her shirt. Gasping at the sudden cold, she shivered.

Footsteps sounded to her left. Then something popped at her back. Though she could only see his navy pant legs and gleaming black shoes speckled with water, Cassidy knew her visitor was Nic, still dressed in work uniform.

And he was holding an umbrella.

“Taking your shower outside this morning?” The baritone voice was amused.

“Don’t be funny. I’m having a lousy day.” She snapped Alex into his carrier, covered him with a light blanket and touched his forehead once more. The fever still burned.

As she straightened, her side bumped Nic’s solid torso. The morning air was chilled, but he exuded a welcome warmth. Cassidy relented. Regardless of her reaction, she was relieved to see him.

“Sorry. Thanks for coming out with the umbrella. I thought you’d be asleep already.”

His shift ended at seven and it was now eight-thirty.

“I was about to come up to your place. I saw your car in the lot and figured something must be wrong if you didn’t go to work.”

The words brought back the too-recent confrontation with her boss. Or rather, her former boss.

Oh dear, she really had quit her job. She closed her eyes for a second. When she opened them again, Nic had moved closer, eyebrows drawn together as he studied her face.

They were standing next to her car crowded beneath a black umbrella, so close she could see the night’s scruffy growth of beard along his upper lip and feel the rise and fall of his breathing. Rain patted the concrete outside their intimate circle. The memory of their shared kiss trembled in the morning. Cars on the street swished passed. Water pooled along the street’s edges sprayed in an arc behind their tires.

She was tired of handling everything alone and Nic was so wonderfully available. Cassidy resisted the urge to lean into him.

Almost tenderly, Nic rubbed his free hand down her chilled arm and then held on to her wrist. Just that small gesture, that single touch of his warm skin, comforted her.

“I see that look,” he said, his brown eyes deepening to velvet espresso. “What’s wrong?”

“Everything,” Cassidy admitted, biting her lip to hold back the tears. “Most importantly, Alex is sick.”

Nic’s pose changed. He tensed and leaned around her to gaze through the car window at the dozing baby. “With what?”

“Fever. I can’t get his temperature down, and he’s fussy and won’t take his bottle.”

“Are you headed for the hospital?”

“Pediatrician’s office.”

He reached around her and opened the passenger door. “Get in. I’ll drive.”

“Nic, you don’t have to do that.” But she really could use the moral support. “You worked all night. You need to sleep.”

With a cocky grin he said, “You know what I say about sleep.”

Yes, she knew. He could sleep when he was dead. A shiver went through her that had nothing to do with the chilly dampness.

“You’re cold. Get in.” Still protecting her from the rain with the umbrella, Nic gave her a gentle shove. She went down without a fight. He leaned in and kissed her forehead. “Buckle up.”

Bemused and too tired and concerned to argue with a man who would win anyway, Cassidy snapped her safety belt while Nic jogged around the car and climbed into the driver’s seat. Holding the umbrella outside, he gave the handle a shake, popped it closed and tossed it into the backseat with a flourish.

As he cranked the car engine, Cassidy made one more feeble attempt. “You really don’t have to go with me.”

He didn’t have to kiss her on the forehead, either. She was still contemplating that.

“Humor me. Alex is my little buddy. I need to.”

She needed him, too, a fact that was becoming uncomfortably clear. In that moment with rain sluicing off the wind
shield and her life in a mess, Cassidy looked across at the man easing her Camry out of the parking lot and forgot all about Nic’s occupation, forgot about his reputation and saw him for who he was.

And knew she loved him.

Notorious Nic, who owned more hearts than Alex had diapers, had stolen yet another—hers.

Nic sat beside Cassidy on pale-purple upholstered chairs in the surprisingly quiet and tidy waiting room of Dr. Margaret Fisher, waiting for Alex’s name to be called. His stomach hollow and eyes gritty from lack of sleep, he wondered what he was doing here. Even the guys at the station had noticed his preoccupation with his neighbor and her new son. But one look at Cassidy and Alex through his front window this morning and he’d had no choice. They drew him with more power than an electromagnet.

Half a dozen other parents, mostly women, alternately wrestled small children and murmured reassurances. At a child-size table, two toddlers played with brightly colored toys and made car noises. Occasionally, a nurse appeared through a door to the left and all eyes turned in her direction as she called the next patient.

Alex was awake again, whimpering, his chubby face flushed. Nic’s gut twisted at the sight of the little dude in discomfort.

“Want me to hold him awhile?”

Cassidy shook her head to decline, as he knew she would, but Nic took Alex anyway and laid the unresisting child lengthwise along his thighs. Alex’s usual happy smile and vibrant energy were nowhere to be seen today.

“What do you suppose is wrong?” Cassidy murmured, her cornflower-blue eyes worried.

He lifted a shoulder. “We’ll find out. Stop worrying. Babies get sick. They get well.”

“Oh, great and wise baby expert.” At least he’d roused a smile. “I visited your mother yesterday.”

“Yeah?” That made him happy. He reached for her hand, happier still when she didn’t resist. “How was she?”

“Strong as usual and ready to get the surgery over with.”

The idea of his mother going under the knife shook him. “I scheduled Friday off duty to be there.”

For some reason, he’d feel better if Cassidy was there, too, but he wouldn’t ask. She had missed enough work already. He knew how much that bothered her, how important her career was.

“Do you mind if I come with you?” she asked, surprising him.

“Don’t you have work that day?”

“No.” Her chest rose and fell in a deep sigh. “I don’t. This morning I joined the ranks of the unemployed.”

He blinked at her, stunned. “Whoa, what happened?”

“My boss pressured me to come in to the office today and threatened to fire me if I didn’t, so I quit.”

“I thought your career was everything.”

“Was.” She stroked her index finger down Alex’s cheek, the look in her eyes so full of love Nic’s chest tightened with emotion. “Not anymore.”