She looked up into his kind eyes. “Could I?”
“Of course you could.”
They stepped inside, but she’d never been in a sweetshop. She hadn’t the first idea what to choose. After identifying a dizzying number of candies, the man suggested she try a peppermint. He bought it for her, then they waved farewell to the shop owner.
Artemis licked her precious treat as they resumed their walk through Heathbrook.
“Do you have a house to live in?” she asked him.
“I do. I’ve lived in it nearly all my life.”
“I’ve lived in my house all my life,” she said.
He smiled. “We are like twins.”
“Do you have a horse?” she asked.
He nodded. “I have several. I do like horses.”
“We don’t have a horse,” she said. “But I have seen horses. They are very big.”
“Yes, they are, Princess.”
She liked that he called her that. Father never even called her by her name.
“Do you have children?”
“I do,” he said. “But they are not here with me today.”
“Do you miss them?” she asked.
“I always miss them when we are apart.”
Did her father miss her? Likely not.
“I could be your little girl while you’re here,” she said. “Then you wouldn’t be lonely.”
“I would like that very much.”
“May I—?” She stopped herself before she could finish the question. He’d only say no, and her heart would break forever and ever.
He stopped walking and hunched down in front of her. “Please do not be afraid to ask me anything.”
She buried her head against his shoulder, somehow feeling braver without looking up at him. “May I call you Papa?”
“Of course you may.”
That set her to crying again. She folded her arms around his neck. Something inside her had needed to cry all her life. He made her feel safe and loved and that, for reasons her six-year-old heart could not understand, made her cry.
He kept an arm around her while she wept. “Cry as long as you need to. We’ll keep looking when you’re ready.” He held her and spoke kindly, her papa. A papa who loved her. It was all she’d ever wanted.
“I’m usually a happy girl,” she said. “I don’t cry every day.”
“There is nothing wrong with crying when you need to. Or laughing when your heart is happy. Or being very quiet when your mind is thinking about things.”
She leaned her head against him. “I like to skip when I feel silly.”
“Do you want to know a secret, Princess?”
