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    At the top of the steps, he found one of BJ’s superhero action figures lying on the carpet. He picked up the toy, staring at it with a smile on his lips until his eyes began to water.
    Who knew you’d miss cleaning up after the kids so much?
    He wiped his eyes and thought of the day after he and Vicky split up. His new apartment had only been a mile away from the home they’d shared, but the silence he’d awakened to that morning felt like ice water in his face, cold and merciless, and it washed away all false hopes that his fractured family could somehow be repaired. But that torment lay behind him now. Here he had a second chance to reconstruct his relationship with Mallory and BJ, an opportunity to rebuild some semblance of the life they’d had up until the divorce.
    His prayers had been answered.
    Paul set BJ’s toy on the hall table at the landing and turned left, heading toward Mallory’s bedroom. He’d just reached the end of the hall when the phone rang, followed by the sound of Mallory’s voice from the other side of her door.
    “ Hey, Becky, what’s up?”
    Paul went to knock, knowing that waiting out one of Mallory’s phone conversations with her best friend would require a paperback novel and two bathroom trips.
    “ What do you mean Derrick Nolan dumped his girlfriend?” Mallory asked before he could announce himself. Her voice pitched with a note of astonishment. “He’s been asking about me—asking who? You’re lying, right? Please tell me you’re lying. I can’t believe this is happening now!”
    There was a pause. Paul lowered his hand, listening.
    “ Good news?” Mallory cried. “Don’t you get it? Derrick finally breaks up with his bitchy girlfriend, and I’m stuck way the hell out here in Loretto. I know it’s only a forty-five minute drive out of town, but I don’t have my driver’s license yet. Hell, I don’t even have a car. Shit, Becky, I might as well not even exist. Argh! This is a disaster. What am I going to do? I’m trapped.”
    Another moment passed in silence while Mallory listened to her friend. Paul looked to the far end of the hall, to his open bedroom door, but the disheartening tone of his daughter’s last statement had tethered him to the conversation like a noose.
    “ Yes, talk to his sister, put in a good word for me,” Mallory said. “And call me the second you find out anything new. Crap, I’m not going to be able to sleep tonight … What do you mean you know what I’ll be doing? Hey! Shame on you!”
    Once they’d said their goodbyes Paul tapped on the door.
    “ Hey, pumpkin, can I come in?”
    “ Sure, Dad.”
    He crossed the room and sat down on the bed.
    “ Was that Becky?”
    “ Yeah.”
    She’d already switched off the lights, but he easily discerned the melancholy expression on her face.
    “ Sounded like she had some pretty interesting news,” he said.
    “ Nah. Just the usual girl-talk.”
    He touched her chin and turned her head to face him. Light from outside caught her eyes, and in the softened glow he glimpsed the child within his daughter’s maturing features.
    “ I’m so sorry about all this, Mallory. I wish I could put everything back the way it was.”
    “ Dad, I didn’t mean what I said.”
    Paul shook his head. “You’re not the one who needs to apologize. You’ve had to change schools and leave all your friends. And all at a time when … when relationships start to have new meanings. You have every right to be upset.”
    Mallory formed a thin smile. “Hey, at least I’m still in the state. I would’ve had to start from scratch in Atlanta.”
    “ I know, but you didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. I’m sorry for that, and I’m sure your mom is, too. At the same time, I’m also thankful to have you back. Without you and BJ the last few months have felt like decades. I’ve missed you.”
    Mallory put her arms around him. “Come on, Dad, you’re going to make me cry if you keep talking like