Page 37 of The Widower's Nanny

We step off the porch and she calls after us. “You know what happens when people say that?”

I wave over my head as we go around the corner of the house. When we come back, she has a cup of coffee for me.

“Thank you.”

Lilly goes to the door. “Can I go play in my fort?”

“Yes, honey. We’ll be out here on the porch.”

I sit in the chair next to Rachel and take a sip of my coffee. “How’d you sleep?”

“A little bit restless.”

“Me too. Actually, a lot restless.” I get to my feet and go to the railing. I lean forward and rest my hands on the wooden rail as I look out at the trees, still wet from the rain, glistening in the sun.

Rachel comes up and puts her hand over mine. “Once we get back to the house and resume our normal lives, it might make things clearer for you.”

I look down at her hand. “I suppose.” I turn toward her and take both her hands in mine. “But right here, right now, things are pretty clear.”

Her eyes twinkle. “Really?”

I smile at her. “Yeah.” I look at her for a moment, my eyes drift to her lips before I lean toward her.

“Daddy?”

I let go of Rachel’s hands and take a step back. “Yes, Lillybug?”

“I’m hungry.”

I smile at Rachel. “The kid is hungry.”

She nods. “We should probably take care of that.”

We go inside with Lilly and Rachel searches the cupboards for something resembling breakfast. She finds a plastic container with cereal in it and holds it up. “Cereal?”

Lilly wrinkles her nose. “I don’t like cereal without milk.”

Rachel studies the container for a moment. “How about I mix up some hot chocolate, but with cold water, and pour it over the cereal?”

Lilly claps. “Yay!”

I frown. “I think I’ll pass on that.”

Rachel smiles. “Me too.” She continues looking through the cupboards. “We have dehydrated eggs.”

I shake my head.

“Okay, let’s see. How about a can of brown bread and some jelly?” She shows me the can of bread and some tiny packets of jelly.

“Um…okay. That’s not too bad.”

She looks through the jelly. “Grape, apple, or strawberry?”

“Apple.”

She smiles. “That’s my favorite, too.” She fixes Lilly’s powdered chocolate milk and cereal then opens the can of bread and slices it into half-inch slices. She brings it along with a handful of jelly packets and two knives to the table then sits down.

I watch Lilly try her cereal. “What do you think?”

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