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It was yet another thing that tugged at Cass’s heart. He pushed away the feeling and channeled all of his energy into giving Ash a huge, reassuring smile.

“I’m glad to help, really. I’ll be right back, okay?”

Ash nodded and then bit his lower lip as he reached up to swipe at a stray tear on his cheek. Then he went back to talking quietly to his niece, his words mostly nonsense but filled with what Cass could clearly hear as love and adoration.

The ache in his heart grew even more.

He pushed open the door, climbed out of the SUV, and closed the door behind himself as softly as he could. For whatever reason, the cold air of the late morning hit differently this time, and he pulled his coat around him as he walked briskly but carefully across the mostly empty parking lot. The lot, like the roads, was covered in a thick layer of slippery ice, despite the obvious effort they’d put into plowing, and Cass frowned as he imagined Ash trying to drive in this, especially on the freeway and especially with a crying baby in the back seat—precious, precious cargo. The car had actually handled pretty well from where Cass had taken over at the off-ramp to the hotel, but if he hadn’t been a confident driver or he’d had any major stresses or distractions . . .

Another wave of something—an ache, a yearning, maybe, he wasn’t even really sure—rippled through him, and he took a deep breath and blinked it all away again. Then he stepped through the doors to the hotel, the outside cold giving way to a pleasant warmth, and smiled as he offered a small wave to the older man at the front desk.

“Mr. Parsons, hi there, sir!”

The man looked up and grinned back. “Caspian, good to see you, kiddo!” He glanced past Cass out toward the parking lot curiously. “That’s not your car, though. And hauling a trailer in this weather? You’re not leaving, are you? Last I heard, your dad said you were staying here in Redding to help out with your mom?”

“Ah, yessir, that’s still my plan,” Cass replied with a short nod. “I’ve just been driving around helping out people who’ve gotten stuck in the snow, and this man and his niece were stuck back at the freeway off-ramp. He could really use a room, at least for the night. Maybe another night or two, even, depending on what the roads look like.”

Mr. Parsons nodded with a smile. “A little too confident about driving, huh? The roads are awful this morning.”

“I think it might have been more wishful thinking on his part,” Cass said, shaking his head slightly. In truth, he had no idea why Ash would have been trying to get through the mountains with the roads covered in ice. And it really wasn’t any of his business. But he smiled and arched both eyebrows in question. “So, uh, do you have a room, then?”

“Sure do. We were nearly full last night, but when they reopened the freeway . . . ah, well, I hope people have their chains handy. There aren’t a lot of safe places to stop after they get a few more exits north.”

“It’s dangerous out there,” Cass agreed. With another shake of his head, he hooked a thumb back toward the front entrance. “I’ll go let him know you’ve got a room. Be right back.”

Mr. Parsons nodded and then turned to his computer as Cass spun around and jogged back out the doors, pausing briefly as they opened automatically in front of him.

The cold air blasted him again, but this time, he was thankful for it. Because as soon as he saw Ash watching him through the back window of the car, his cheeks heated up and some flush of warmth spread through him. He swallowed hard. What was wrong with him? He’d seen good-looking men before, of course. But he’d never had a reaction like this, where his heart was having so much trouble keeping its rhythm.

Then again, he’d never seen such intense and expressive blue eyes before, either.

Not that it mattered. Ash was only driving through, and Cass wasn’t looking for a hookup. That wasn’t him.

Besides, the man had an infant with him. And he was probably already in a relationship. Or he was straight. Or whatever.

Cass made sure that the smile on his face was as soft as possible, and he gave a nod as he approached the vehicle. He saw Ash blink and force a small smile.

That certainly didn’t help his predicament.

The small smile from Ash only stoked whatever fire had started burning in his belly about twenty minutes ago, when he’d first seen the man. At the same time, there was another ache, a longing now. Because he just knew that wasn’t Ash’s real smile.

No, there was a sadness—or maybe grief, even?—in Ash’s eyes.

Cass was almost overcome with a sudden desperation to see that sadness gone, to see the real smile hiding behind the dullness.

Holding back what he was sure would be a much-too-eager-looking smile of his own, Cass reached ahead of him to open up the driver’s side rear door. Ash was sitting about in the middle of the back seat, and when their eyes met, Ash almost immediately blinked and looked away, turning toward his niece, who made some quiet gurgle and kicked her feet.

“They have rooms?” Ash asked softly, and then, with a gentle hum, he leaned in closer to the baby and settled his hand about over the middle of her chest. “Shh, shh, sweet girl. I know, I know.”

It was such a precious thing to watch—Ash comforting his niece—and Cass suddenly felt like an intruder, as though he were witnessing some private moment that he had no business being a part of. Another rush of fluttering warmth hit him as he watched Ash brush his fingers across the baby’s forehead.

And the baby seemed to let out a long breath. She closed her eyes, and Ash glanced back over at him, his eyebrows knitted together with concern.

Cass swallowed again and nodded stiffly. “Yeah, um”—he cleared his throat—“they have rooms, it’s no problem.”

Ash held Cass’s gaze this time, and his eyes seemed to glisten as he pursed his lips together. Then he looked away. “I’m an idiot for even trying to drive this morning,” he said quietly, and he let out some sort of dry laugh and began to scoot over toward Cass to get out of the car. “God, Shaina’s going to kill me when she finds out.”

“Shaina is your sister?” Cass asked, shifting back a step to give Ash room. But then Ash seemed to freeze, and the tears Cass had seen Ash so bravely holding back tumbled right out and down his cheeks as Ash screwed his eyes shut and shook his head.