Page 57 of Maid in Heaven

“You’re ignoring my question. I wanna know! Is she nice?”

“She’s very nice.”

“Is she pretty?”

Willswallowed another bite. “She’s stunning.”

“What does that mean? She’s ugly?”

“No. It means she’sbeyondpretty. She’s beautiful.”

“Oh.” Starla stuffed more noodles in her mouth. “Do‘ou fink she’d wike me?”

“Stop talking with your mouth full. We talked about that, hun.”

“Sorry,” she mumbled through the starch and sauce before swallowing. “When do I get to meet her?”

“Sweetheart, I can’t introduce you until I know she’s going to be around a while.”

“Okay.” Her little voice was tinged with sadness.

“Is that alright?”

She shrugged her shoulders and thought for a moment. She grabbed another forkful of food, slurping it and smearing the tomato sauce across the lower half of her face. “It would be nice to have another girl aroundso wecan do stuff like painting our nails and doing our hair, and we can have parties with my stuffed animals.”

“But Star, you and I can do all of that together.”

“You’lllet me paint your fingernails?”

Will tilted his head as if to say, ‘Really?’

Her deep, blueeyes widened, sad like a begging puppy.

Will shook his head and looked down. Gremlin sat beside his chair, staring up at him with the same expression.“Oh, now I am getting ganged up on?The both of you are working together?I see how it is.”

After a long silence, he spoke. “Yes, you can paint my nails.”

Starla gasped with joy.

“But… daddy gets to take it off before work, okay?”

“I’m gonna go get my nail polishes!” Starla scurried from the table.

Will shouted, “Starla Mae Jessup.”

She froze in place and pivoted on the balls of her socked feet. “Yesssss?”

“Spaghetti first. Nails later,” he grumbled.

She trudged back to the table, trying to hide her grin.

“...And nothing withglitter.”

17

DarcyHiggins liked her homein pristine condition. Her walls were gleaming white, from the kitchen cabinets to the glossy stone flooring.

Every time Will walked in, it felt like he was looking at a surgeon’s light or peering straight at Heaven. The starkness of it all often left him with a headache.Plus, she was a flirt, to say the least. The juxtaposition of her dirty mind with her overly sterile environment made his head spin.

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