A smile twitched Will's mouth. "God knows she's mine."
Ella was a bundle of bright smiles and lightning-quick energy, kind and fearless and clever. Like her mother, in that sense. But mostly, she was like herself, and there was nobody in the world quite like Ella. Whoever she grew into, she was going to be brilliant, and Will knew already he'd do anything to protect that future for her. Because she was worth it. And because being a Merry Man meant not settling for just safe.
And all that had the feel of truth, and also, somehow, the feel of an excuse. How did he know he wasn't overreaching?
"I worry," he said. The words still came slow, because it was important to him that he got them right. "That I'm being greedy, I guess. Is that daft?"