“It was an old dream, one that lingered like a shadow in his mind.”

The thought tugged at something deep inside him, a mix of longing and quiet guilt. He was just as eager to see Mary as Hailey was—perhaps even more so—but he’d always carried his emotions behind a reserved stillness. For a moment, though, another image crept into his thoughts—a vision from a life that never was. The one he used to imagine before Mary changed everything. The prince, he’d called him once in passing. It was an old dream, one that lingered like a shadow in his mind.