Page 16 of The Widower's Nanny

She waves at me. “More. Go farther.”

I take one more step. “Okay, this is pretty far.”

She takes a big breath and holds it, then jumps. I catch her, and she hugs me. At times like this, I try not to think about her growing up and becoming a sullen teenager. Hopefully, she’ll stay sweet and continue to love her dad but I know the day will come when I am no longer the only man in her life.

5

Rachel

On Monday morning, I walk towards the main house at seven-fifty as Preston comes out the door. He gives me a smile that seems a bit reserved. Is he in business mode again?

I smile brightly, hoping it’ll catch on. “Good morning.”

“Morning.”

“So, you’re off to work?”

He frowns at my obvious question. “Yes.”

“Is everything okay?”

He nods as he steps off the porch and heads for the car that is waiting for him. He stops at the backseat door and looks at me.

“It’s nothing personal. I just don’t like Mondays...”

“Okay. Good.”

“I’m assuming you’re comfortable with the idea of being in charge of Lilly all day.”

“Of course. We’ll be fine.”

He nods. “Right. Okay, then.” He opens the car door but stops when I put a hand on his arm. He looks at my hand, then at me.

I remove my hand. “I don’t want you to worry about Lilly. We’ll get on just fine.”

He takes a moment. “I’m sorry. I’m just having a little trouble leaving her with someone who isn’t…”

“Her grandmother?”

“Yeah. No offense. It’s not you. It’s just the idea of a nanny.”

“I get it. You can call anytime and check up on us. I won’t be offended.”

“I might do that.”

I smile at him. “Please do. I don’t want you worrying about her all day.”

He nods again, then gets into the car. “Don’t let her get away with too much.”

“I won’t.”

“Okay.” He closes the door, and I back up a few feet as the car pulls out. I haven’t been worried at all about taking care of Lilly until now. I don’t know if he can see me, but I wave at the car.No pressure. I got this.

I hear the front door slam and Lilly runs across the porch and down the steps. “What are we going to do today?”

“Well, I thought the first thing we could do is go to the pond and you could introduce me to the koi. Benjy tells me you’ve named them all.”

“I did.”

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