Heart of the Raven by Susan Crosby

then dropping to the sleeping baby. “You’re a natural,” she said.
    â€œCuddling is easy.”
    â€œWhat’s hard?”
    He hesitated, then settled on the truth. “Remembering.”
    She made a sound of sympathy but didn’t make eye contact, for which he was grateful.
    â€œMaryAnn took care of Kyle,” he said into the silence. “I thought the most important thing in my life should be providing for my family, so I gave more time to my work than my family. I wasn’t part of Kyle’s everyday life, especially as a baby. It’ll be different this time.”
    â€œGood. Although apparently you’re a very busy man, much in demand. From what I saw on the Internet, you’re at the top of your field.”
    â€œNot the top, but I do okay. It’s amazing how an odd-ball thing like being a recluse can have such impact. People are curious, which gets my foot in the door, so to speak. Then they like my designs.”
    â€œHow do you meet with clients?”
    â€œThey come here. I think they’re disappointed because I don’t have a wild, overgrown beard and a crazy gleam in my eyes. My partner handles the engineering aspect—someone has to be on-site during construction. And a business manager handles the staff. I design.”
    Daniel wriggled. Almost instantly he started to cry—loudly. Demandingly.
    â€œI’ll fix a bottle,” Heath said, starting to pass the baby to Cassie.
    â€œOr I could fix a bottle and you could change his diaper,” she said, challenge in her eyes.
    â€œSimple engineering.”
    â€œGo for it. I’ll warm the formula.” She pressed a kiss to the baby’s head. “Daddy needs to learn sometime, doesn’t he, Danny Boy?”
    Danny Boy. At the endearment Heath almost pressed a kiss to her head. He didn’t know what fates were at work when he called her boss and got her instead, but he was grateful.
    Somehow he didn’t think Quinn Gerard would’ve said yes to being a temporary nanny.

Six
    â€œI think you should put the baby monitor in my room,” Cassie argued at eleven o’clock that night. They’d just settled Danny into his bassinet for what they hoped would be a couple hours of uninterrupted sleep.
    â€œI’m his father.”
    â€œI’m the help.”
    â€œReluctant help,” he said placidly.
    She tapped her toe. It would drive her crazy staying in bed knowing Heath was up taking care of the baby. Call it maternal instinct, call it selfishness, call it a little crazy—she wanted to get up with Danny during the night. Frankly she wanted the bassinet put in her room.
    On the other hand, she would need her light on, which might shorten his sleep cycle, or at least not allow him to get used to sleeping when it was dark. He neededto learn to take his bottle then go back to sleep at night, not have playtime.
    â€œWe can take turns,” Heath said.
    â€œHow?”
    â€œI’ll put the monitor near my bedroom door. We can both keep our doors open. I’ll get up with him the first time. You can take the second.”
    If she left her door open he would know what a coward she could be, but since it was probably as much of a concession as he was going to make, she agreed to it. “We’ll give it a shot.”
    â€œMagnanimous of you.”
    She laughed. He hadn’t laughed yet, had barely smiled, yet he’d warmed up considerably with her. Maybe she didn’t have to worry about there not being enough joy in Danny’s life, after all. She only needed to make sure he would get out into the world—with his father, not a nanny.
    â€œWell, good night, then,” she said.
    â€œGood night.”
    She closed her door. By the time she’d gotten ready for bed and opened her door again, he was already in bed. His door was partly open, his room dark. She hadn’t noticed the silence of the house all day, even when Danny