“Where did you live?”
“All over,” Zane answered, taking a step closer.
She studied him with wide thoughtful eyes. “How come you never came to see me?”
Lizzy’s question made my stomach tighten. I waited with bated breath for Zane to answer. He didn’t owe me anything, and he didn’t have to protect me. If he told the truth, I only had myself to blame if she got angry with me.
“I wish I could have,” Zane said, “but I was so busy being a soldier that I didn’t have enough time. That’s why I retired—so I could spend time with you.”
“Really?” Lizzy’s eyes brightened excitedly.
“I didn’t know it at the time,” Zane said, “but that’s exactly why I left. It was time for me to meet you.”
Lizzy smiled. “That’s cool.”
Zane glanced back at me, a kind look in his eyes. Tears fell down my cheeks as I mouthed a ‘thank you’ to him. He nodded slightly and turned his attention back to Lizzy.
“So,” he said, “tell me, Lizzy, what’s your favorite game to play?”
“I like to play dolls,” she answered. “But not Barbie dolls or princesses or anything like that. Doctor dolls.”
“Doctor dolls? What’s that?”
“That’s when your dolls work in a hospital saving people.”
“That sounds great! Can I play with you?”
“Sure!” Lizzy ran across the room, picked up four dolls, and hurried to hand two to Zane as he sat down on the floor in front of her.
I stood back and watched them play.
Zane’s attention was focused entirely on Lizzy as she named their dolls and taught him her game.
I smiled and let the tears flow freely.
I hadn’t realize just how much Lizzy was missing by not having Zane in her life. As I watched them together, I knew I could never separate them again.
CHAPTER 26
Zane
Elizabeth. Elizabeth Diane Joppa.
Her name played over and over in my mind while I watched her dress her dolls in hospital scrubs. She smiled and talked so fast that I could barely understand what she said, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her.
I used to think there was no one on Earth as beautiful as Alicia, but I was wrong. Elizabeth had Alicia’s dark brown hair that fell in unkept curls around her face. She vibrated with natural energy and her bright blue eyes were the spitting image of her mother’s. At a quick glance, Elizabeth was Alicia in miniature; they looked exactly alike. But as I watched her mannerisms and the way she smiled, I saw likenesses between her and myself.
Elizabeth didn’t have my hair or my eyes, but she had my features. Her nose was small and round like mine, and her cheek bones were angled the way mine were. She wasn’t just a miniature Alicia, she was a perfect mixture of the two of us. The longer I watched her, the bigger my smile grew.
“What’s her name?” I asked, picking up a blonde doll and smoothing her hair back.
“That’s Marie,” Elizabeth told me. “She’s a nurse, but she’s training to become a doctor!”
“Oh?” I chuckled. “She’s in school?”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “Of course! Everyone should be in school!”
“She just thinks that because she isn’t old enough to go yet,” Alicia explained from behind me.