Page 15 of The Widower's Nanny

“Private school, yes. A well-vetted private school. But I’ll never send her away to school. Until college, of course. If she wants to go to college, but I won’t force her.”

“I take it you didn’t have a choice in where or if you went to college.”

“The last four generations of men in my family went to Princeton. There was never any other option. But that didn’t bother me as much as boarding school did.”

“I’m sorry.”

I shrug. “I survived. I gota good education.”

“I’m sure your parents thought they were doing what was best for you.”

“I know. But that didn’t make it any easier at the time.”

I’m not sure why I am opening up to Rachel. There are probably only three other people I currently know who are aware of my days at boarding school. I never talk about it. Now, here I am telling a virtual stranger, but she doesn’t feel like a stranger. She feels like someone I’ve always known.

When Sugar sits down in the middle of the trail and refuses to go any further, I pick her up and carry her the rest of the way. The poor puppy is exhausted from a full day of running around with Lilly, and she instantly falls asleep in my arms. When we get to the yard, I hand her to Lilly.

“Go put Sugar in her bed. She needs a nice, long nap.”

“Okay, Daddy.”

“And thank Rachel for coming with us.”

Lilly goes to Rachel and hugs her with her free arm. “Thank you, Rachel. It was the best day ever. And I’m sorry you fell in the creek. And I’m sorry about the…” She lowers her voice to a whisper. “The snake.”

“Thank you. I had a great time, aside from those two things.”

Lilly runs off, and I look at Rachel. “I ah…well, I have to admit I wasn’t too happy Lilly wanted you to come but I’m glad you did. Thank you.”

“Thank you for asking. It was good Lilly and I were able to spend time together before Monday when it’ll just be the two of us for the week.”

“That’s true. Well, okay, then. Have a good rest of your day.”

She turns and walks away from me and I watch her longer than I should have.Right.Don’t go there. It would be highlyinappropriate. And you’re not ready to go there with her or anyone else.I head for the house to take a shower and get dressed for dinner.

On Sundays, I like to spend some time on the tennis courts. I’ll give the backboard a good workout and practice my serves while Lilly plays ball girl. She loves fetching the balls for me and it keeps her entertained. After an hour of slamming the ball into the wooden wall, we head for the pool. She loves swimming even more than chasing tennis balls.

While she sits on the steps to get used to the water, I dive into the deep end. I swim down the length of the pool underwater and come up right in front of her.

She squeals. “Pool monster!”

I laugh as I stand and pick her up. “Time for you to get wet, Lillybug.” She kicks her feet in protest, giggling as I carry her to where the water is at my waist. I bend my knees and bring her down with me into the water. She puts her arms around my neck and we go under briefly.

When I come up, I hear, “Oh, sorry.”

I turn to see Rachel standing on the side of the pool. “Did you need something?” I stand with Lilly in my arms, and Rachel looks everywhere but at me.

“I was looking for Benjy. He said he’d tell me about the flowers planted in front of the guesthouse.”

“I think he’s over by the pond pulling weeds.”

She ventures a look at me. I’m pretty sure she blushes before saying, “Thank you. Sorry to interrupt.”

“You’re not interrupting.”

“Okay, then. I’ll go find Benjy.” She turns and walks away from the pool. I smile at Lilly. “Do you want to do some jumping?”

She nods. I carry her to the side of the pool and set her on the cool decking. I back up about three feet and hold my arms out.

---