Page 9 of Maid in Heaven

“Here.” Starla handed over the remote and sighed like she’d just worked a double shift. “I don’t know what to choose. Too many options.”

Will laughed. For a six-year-old, sometimes Starla sounded like a full-blown adult. It never failed to make him laugh.

“I got just the thing.”

“What?”

“I’ll show you a classic tonight. It’s black-and-white but bear with me. I think you’ll like it.”

“Nooooooo! Papa, those movies are soboring!”

“They’re not boring,they’reart.”

“They kiss and stuff.” She stuffed her mouth full of popcorn and spoke again as she crunched. “It’s gross!”

“Love isn’t gross. You wouldn’t even be here without love,” he added, pulling her in for a side hug. Gremlin jumped up on the couch beside them. “Plus, I loveyou,andthat’scool, right? That’s not gross. I loveGremlinhere and—”

Before Will had time to finish, Gremlin buried her short face in the bowl of popcorn.

“No, no, no!”

By the time Will pulled her back, Gremlin looked like an overgrown hamster, cheeks puffy and stuffed to the brim.

“Bad Gremlin!”

Starla laughed as her father plucked up the voracious pug and plopped her back on the floor. Gremlin raised her front paw and batted his calf as if to plead for more.

“Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape,” Will growled playfully. He grimaced at the slobbered bowl in his daughter’s hands. Will took it, strode through the livingroom, pressed the lever on the trash can with a barefoot, and dumped the bowl’s contents. “Probably got Gremlin goober on it now.”

He started another bag popping in the microwave and then stuck his head out into the living room. “Soon as this is done, you ready to give this movie a shot?”

Starla dramatically deflated against the back of the couch. “What’s it about?”

Will suddenly wondered if he’s shown herGone With the Windtoo many times already. The kid was already picking up some of Scarlet O’Hara’s over-the-top mannerisms. “It’s about a cafe owner who has to decide whether or not to help his ex-girlfriend and her husband escape the nazis.”

“What’s a nazi?” Her small face stared up at him.

Shit.“Um, nazis are bad guys from the Second World War. They killed about six million Jewish people.”

“Woah.” Her eyes bulged. “Are they still around?”

“No.” His head bobbled a little. “I mean, I guess it depends on who you ask, but the war has been over for a while, and everything is fine…ish…now.”

“Oh. Okay.” She flicked a stray piece of popcorn off her lap and delighted in Gremlin’sintense hunt for it. Finally, the dog found it, scarfed the piece up, and eagerly licked the ghostly remnants of butter from the floorboard where she’d found it.

“Sounds a bit… boring.”

“Aww, come on. Give it a shot. It’s one of my all-timefavorites.”

“Ugh….fine.”

Relieved the barrage of questions had fizzled, Will returned with the fresh popcorn, popped the DVD in the player, and settled back in.

“Cas-a-blay-an-ka?”

“Casablanca.” He smiled. “You’re gonna love it.”

Twenty minutes in, Starla was asleep, snuggled in her father’s warm embrace. He stroked her hair as the plot of the romance unfolded before his eyes. It was as if he were seeing it for the first time. The movie had stirred emotions he’d not felt in the better half of a decade.

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