Page 28 of The Widower's Nanny

She points at me. “We’re on an adventure. We can’t worry about that kind of stuff.”

Lilly crawls out of the tent. “Daddy, are you coming?”

“As soon as I get dried off a little.”

She goes back inside and Rachel crawls in after her. I listen to them giggling and whispering.Rachel is so great with Lilly. I couldn’t have asked for someone better to be her nanny.

I feel my pant legs. They are still damp, but not too bad. “Hey, you two. Make room for me. I want some more cookies before you eat them all.” I pull back a corner of the blanket. “Is it dark in there?”

Rachel smiles. “Yes, pretty dark.”

I go to the desk by the door and get a flashlight from one of the drawers. Then I crawl into the tent. It is a small space, and we are really close together, but I don’t mind. I hand the flashlight to Lilly then put her in my lap.

I smile at Rachel. “This is pretty cozy.”

Lilly looks up at him. “Daddy, can I sleep in here tonight?”

“I don’t see why not.”

“Yay! Rachel, do you want to sleep in here with me?”

“I think I’ll sleep on the couch.”

I look at her. “I’ll sleep on the couch. You take the bed.”

“It’s your cabin.”

“So? Please, take the bed.”

“Okay. I’m not going to argue about it.” She takes Lilly’s hand. “I have a great idea.”

“What?”

“Let’s play never have I ever,” Rachel suggests.

“How do you play that?”

“Somebody says, ‘never have I ever rode a horse’ or something like that. And the other two people have to eat a bite of their cookie if they have done that thing.”

“Okay. Can I start?” Lilly asks.

“It has to be something you haven’t done.”

“Okay.” She taps a finger on her lips for a moment. “Never have I ever spent the night in this cabin before.”

Preston takes a bite from his cookie. “Many times.”

“Okay. Your turn, Daddy.”

I look at Rachel. “Never have I ever played never have I ever in a tent before.”

Rachel takes a bite of her cookie. “Girl Scout camp.” She thinks for a moment. “Never have I ever had my very own puppy before.”

Lilly giggles and takes a bite of her cookie, as do I. “Rosco. A golden lab I got when I was ten.”

“Where’s he now, Daddy?”

“Well…” He glances at me. “He’s in heaven.”

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