41

“I’m playing princess,” Maddie said.

Definitely. The million-dollar Persian rug in the middle of the elaborately furnished living room was smothered with dolls and horses and castles. Some small toy stores had a lesser inventory, he was sure.

“The drawbridge is stuck,” Maddie prattled on.” If Prince William can’t get to Princess Lillian, they can’t fall in love.”

A tragedy.

“Bertha can’t fix it.” The little girl looked at him expectantly.

Kids were trouble. He wasn’t good at relating to kids. But it was clear that this one expected something from him.

He cleared his throat. “I could look at it.”

The smile that lit up her face was nothing short of angelic. She had eyes the exact shade of green as Ashley’s, and hair the same color too, except with some waves to it.

He strode over and went down to one knee, and wiggled the drawbridge that had gone off track. He pulled out his pocket knife and popped the piece of brown plastic back in, sliding it up and down a couple of times while Maddie