I leaned in close, my voice matching hers. “Sure.”
“You can’t tell my daddy.”
“Okay.”
Her eyes were shining now. “I’m gonna marry one of the twins.”
I smiled, instantly delighted she would find me somebody worthy to share her secret with. “Which one?”
She shrugged. “Well, it was going to be Luke. But yesterday we were playing rodeo, and he was the bull, and I was on his back, and he knocked me off and didn’t say sorry, so I told him that I loved Wyatt instead.”
I feigned outrage at his crimes. “Was he upset?”
She nodded emphatically, her blonde curls bouncing on her shoulders.
“I’ll bet he was.” I breathed out a soft laugh. “But I think either one would be a good choice.”
I was under the impression we were still pondering that statement when she said, “Do you like Rapunzel?”
I thought for a second. “Is she the one with the long hair?”
Her face morphed into a gasp. “You don’t know?”
I slid lower onto the couch so our heads were nearly level on the cushion. “I don’t know very much about princesses.”
“She was locked in a tower and used her hair like a ladder.” She said this like it was something I should have known.
“Ohh, I’ll bet she’d be my favorite, then.”
“Can we watch the movie?”
I stifled a yawn and looked at the clock on the stove. I didn’t know anything about babysitting children, but I was pretty sure that by this time of day, she hadn’t gotten enough vitamin D and had definitely not eaten enough vegetables. But her eyes were so excited, and the past two days were taking their toll on me as well.
“My dad won’t care,” she declared adamantly with the slightest gleaming, mischievous edge to it that was very much like someone we both knew.
I bit back a laugh. But if Jake had a problem with it, I would have to ask for forgiveness rather than permission because the spark in her eyes had already won me over.
“He won’t?”
“No, this is hisfavoritemovie,” she declared boldly and with much emphasis.
“Does he watch it with you?” I asked, trying desperately not to let myself get too carried away with the image of Jake Evans watching a princess movie with his daughter.
She nodded solemnly. “Like, every day. There’s a horse in it, and he loves it. Horses are his favorite animals.”
“Well, we’d better watch it, then.”
In a move as sudden as it was sweet, Sophie laid her head on my arm before tucking her legs onto the couch and curling her little body into my side. She smelled like strawberries and cream, no doubt thanks to her shampoo. I found the movie, covered us both with her blanket, and tried so hard to push away at a feeling that had been trying to break through for weeks. A feeling I wasn’t sure would be welcome. A feelingthat could break me if it didn’t go away before the end of this summer.
Wanting.
The wanting of a life just like this one. A life I wondered over the past few years if I’d ever have. Watching princess movies with my daughter and talking about boys. I wouldn’t be able to help her out much in the makeup department, but I could show her a few things on the basketball court. The wanting soon became an ache in my chest, so I pushed the thought aside for another day.
And that was how I found myself giggling with this little charmer of a girl at all the best parts in her favorite movie—the first thirty minutes, to be more precise. Soon after, her head began bobbing back and forth against my arm, the late nights and tumultuous few days for her and me both taking their toll.
I sank down lower, letting my feet rest on the coffee table, and wrapped my arm around her, holding tighter to this precious little thing.
I couldn’t imagine any woman selfish enough to leave this little girl. To leave any child. To trade in moments like this for something else. Jake was so guarded with who he let into Sophie’s life. He was terrified she would experience deep loss again. I had known this early on. And I had always respected that. So, the past couple of months, I had tried to be a friendly neighbor, waving and chatting but not overstepping my role with her.