Paper Wedding, Best-Friend Bride. Sheri WhiteFeather

best I’ve ever seen.” She didn’t know much about kids’ art, but his work seemed highly developed to her, with how carefully thought out it was.

      He flashed a proud smile and crawled onto her lap. She went warm and gooey inside. This child was doing things to her that she’d never felt before.

      He said, “You can color inside my book if you want to.”

      Heavens, no, she thought. As flattered as she was by his generous offer, she couldn’t handle the pressure that would cause. “That’s very nice of you, but I don’t think I should.”

      He persisted. “It’s okay if you don’t color very good. I’ll still let you.”

      Her skills weren’t the problem. “I just don’t—”

      Max bumped her shoulder, encouraging her to do it. Damn. Now how was she supposed to refuse?

      “All right,” she relented, her stomach erupting into butterflies. “But I’m going to sit at one of the tables.” Where she could concentrate. “And I’ll need some crayons.” She didn’t mention that she’d brought new art supplies for Tokoni and his peers, because it was up to Losa to distribute those.

      After Tokoni got the crayons, he scooted next to her at the table, directly at her elbow and making it difficult for her to work. But she didn’t tell him to move over. He was so darned excited to have her do this, almost as if she really was a goddess.

      Max joined them, only he didn’t have to draw. He got to kick back and watch. Lizzie wished she hadn’t gotten roped into this. What if she ruined the boy’s book? What if he didn’t like what she did to it?

      She opened the first page: the depiction of Tokoni and his family on a sunny day. She used an orange crayon and added more rays to the giant sun, giving it an extra pop of color. That seemed safe enough.

      Tokoni grinned. What Max had told her about the boy was true. He smiled all the time.

      “Do something else,” he told her.

      She put grass beneath the people’s feet and glanced across the table at Max. He shot her a playful wink, and her pulse beat a bit faster.

      Returning to the picture, Lizzie drew multicolored flowers sprouting up from the grass. “How’s this?” she asked Tokoni.

      “That’s nice.” He turned the page for her. “Do this one.”

      It was the ocean scene. She embellished it with bigger waves and a school of fish. She added sand and seashells, too.

      Tokoni wiggled in his seat and went to the next page, where the family was going out to dinner. He said, “Make the mommy look more like a girl.”