Page 34 of The Widower's Nanny

I turn and smile at him. “Chill out, Dad.”

We make our way around the cabin and can see the outhouse once we get to the back of it. When we finish, we head back to the cabin and Preston is on the porch waiting for us.

We go up onto the porch and I hand him the flashlight. “Okay, that wasn’t very much fun.”

Lilly laughs. “Yes, it was. It was an adventure!”

Preston helps me out of the poncho. “When you’re six, everything is an adventure.”

Like Preston had been after getting the clothespins, I am wet from the knees down. I take off my shoes by the door and head for the woodstove. Preston takes Lilly to the plastic tub and helps her wash her face and hands with water from the container.

When she’s done, she comes to give me a hug. “Goodnight, Rachel.”

“Goodnight, sweetheart. Sleep well in your fort.”

“I will.”

Preston tucks her into the blankets in the fort and gives her a flashlight to keep with her. “I’ll be right there on the couch if you get lonely.”

“Okay, Daddy. But I won’t. I’m brave.”

He kisses her. “I know you are. You’re the bravest girl I know.” He closes the tent up then moves to the fireplace. “How wet did you get?”

“Not too bad.”

“I saw some lightning when I was waiting for you. Do you want to go out on the porch and watch it?”

“Sure.”

He goes to the door and hands me a coat, then puts one on. We go outside and sit in the two old, wooden chairs. After a few moments, we see lightning in the distance over the trees.

I put my hands in the pockets of the old coat. “Wow. Beautiful.”

“Are you warm enough?”

“Yes. I’m fine.”

“Um… If it’s okay, I’d like to tell you about my wife.”

I look at him in surprise. “Of course. I’d like that.”

He is quiet for a few moments before he speaks. “Steph was smart, and she loved to read. She’d read two or three books a week. She had a degree in history and read historical novels and biographies. She was a fountain of information. If it happened in the past, she knew about it or would research it if she didn’t. We met in college, were nothing alike, and somehow fell in love. We got married not long after we graduated and Lilly came along two years later. Two years after that, I lost her.”

“I’m so sorry, Preston.”

He is quiet again. “She was twenty-six. You expect to have your whole life together and then…if it wasn’t for Lilly, I don’t know that I ever would’ve recovered.”

I reach for his hand. “You probably never want to put yourself in that situation again and it’s perfectly understandable.”

“For the last few years, that’s exactly where my head has been. Even though I know Steph would want me to move on. And even though Lilly deserves to have a mother.”

“I can’t even imagine what that feels like. It’s devastating.”

He nods. “My mother has been telling me that I’d change my mind someday. That I’d meet someone and things would change.”

“It could happen.” I try to retrieve my hand, but he holds on to it.

“You.”

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