8. Preston
8
Preston
I hadn’t intended to get so wet when I went outside. But once I committed to it, I had to see it through. I stand with my back to the woodstove while I watch Rachel and Lilly construct the fort. They attach the blanket to the couch using the clothespins, then tie the two other corners to two of the kitchen chairs.
Rachel then hangs two more blankets over the first one to make the sides. She seems to be having as much fun as Lilly is. When they’ve built the structure, they fill it with pillows and blankets.
Lilly crawls inside. “Come on in, Rachel.”
“Hold on. I need to get the cookies.” She goes to the table and picks up the cookies. She takes one out and hands it to me. “Cookie?”
“Sure, thanks. Don’t you two ruin your dinner, now.”
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.”
“With Mommy?”
“Yeah, honey. With Mommy.” I think maybe that’ll end the game, but Lilly chimes right in with another question. We play a few more rounds, then I lift Lilly off my lap. “I need to go check the weather.”
I crawl out of the tent, then get to my feet and head for the door. I go out onto the porch. The rain has changed direction again and is no longer hitting the porch. But it is still coming down hard. It is also getting too late to walk home, even if it has stopped.
When the door opens, I turn to see Rachel, and she smiles softly at me. “Still coming down, I see.”
“Yeah. I think we’re here for the night.”
“Is everyone going to be worried about us?”
“I told Benjy where we were going. So once it started raining and continued raining, I’m sure he figured we’d be staying out.”
“Okay. I don’t want them sending out a search party or something. I’m sure you missing would be a pretty big deal.”
“I don’t think I’d be missed too badly.”
“I’m sure that’s not true.” She steps closer to me. “I’m sorry if my dog question brought up sad memories.”
I shrug. “It’s fine. Lilly and I talk about it. She actually handles it better than I do. But she was pretty young. She doesn’t have any real memories of her mother. Only stories and pictures.”
“I’m so sorry. That must be very hard for you.”
“It is. But you do what you got to do. Especially when you have a child to raise.”
She nods. “You’re a great father, Preston.” She gives me a sly smile. “And I’m not just saying that because you sign my paychecks.”
“I guess I need to start paying you for Saturdays.”
She shakes her head. “Days of adventure are on me.”
“Okay. Then consider yourself formally invited to all the future ones.”
She shakes her head. “I don’t want it to become a regular thing. It’s your day with Lilly.”
I don’t know why, but I take a step toward her. “I want you to come. You add a whole new level of excitement to our days.”
She studies me for a moment. “Thank you, Preston. That means a lot to me.”
I hold her gaze for a moment, then look away. Something is happening between her and me and I’m not sure if I am ready for it. I turn toward the clearing and take a breath.
She puts a hand on my back. “I’ll go check on Lilly.”
I nod but don’t answer her. Her touch has sent a wave of electricity through me and I need to figure out what that means.
I stay on the porch for about twenty minutes but don’t really come up with any answers. I go back inside to find Lilly still in the tent and Rachel looking through the cupboards.
She glances at me when I come in. “So, we have chili, beef stew, split pea soup, chicken noodle, and ravioli. It’s quite the selection.”
I laugh. “Wow, how do I decide?” I walk over to her. “What sounds good to you?”
“I’m going to have split pea soup. Lilly wants chicken noodle. You can have whatever you want. ”
I clear my throat as I think about it. “Hmm. I think I will go with beef stew.”
“You got it. Are you hungry yet?”
“Sure. Do you need help?”
She holds up a can opener and frowns at it as though she’s never seen one, then she cocks her head and smiles at me. “As long as I can figure out how to use this thing, I think I can handle it.”
“Is there more coffee?”
She fills my cup and hands it to me. “It’s kind of upsetting that this tastes just as good as the coffee coming out of my five hundred dollar coffee machine.”
She holds up the percolator. “Two dollars at the thrift store?”
I laugh. “Probably.”
“We could take this back with us.”
“Let’s save that for here. You never know when we might get stuck in the rain again.”
“You’re right. You never know.”
We share another long gaze, but this time she looks away first. I detect a slight blush, which makes her cheeks a lovely shade of pink. It would seem she’s as unsure as I am. She sets the three cans on the counter and begins opening them. I watch her for a moment then figure she probably doesn’t need an audience.
I go to the tent and kneel in front of the entrance. “How’s it going in there, Lilly?”
“Come inside. I’m making shadow puppets, but I don’t know how to do it. I can only make a rabbit.”
“Hold on.” I put my cup on the table, then crawl into the tent. “Okay. Let me see if I can remember how this works.” I figure out how to do a few different animals. They are rough and don’t really resemble what they are supposed to look like, but Lilly is delighted .
When Rachel says dinner is ready, we both crawl out of the tent. I stretch out my back then go to the table. Since two of the chairs are being used to hold up the tent, there is only two left at the table. Rachel has set up a step stool for Lilly to sit on.
There are three bowls with our chosen meal, along with some crackers.
“It’s not fancy. But hopefully, it’ll fill us up.” She sits down.
I help Lilly onto the stool then sit down in the chair next to her. “Looks great. A perfect adventure meal. As long as we don’t run out of cookies.”
“I think maybe Benjy likes his cookies. There’s a few packages of them.”
Lilly claps. “Yay!”
I look at her. “Eat your soup and there might be another cookie or two in your future.”
She picks up her spoon. “May I have a cracker, please?”
“Of course.” I hand her a few crackers. “Do you want them in your soup?”
She wrinkles her nose. “No. That’s gross.”
“Oh, right. Sorry, what was I thinking?” I wink at Rachel. She looks away from me and blushes, again. There is definitely something going on here. I winked at her. What’s that about?
I turn back to Lilly. “So, what should we do after dinner?”
“Are there any games?”
I think for a moment. “I think there might be a game or two in the wardrobe next to the bed.”
She starts to get down, and I put a hand on her arm. “Eat first.”
She nods and resumes eating her soup. I smile at Rachel. “Are you up for a game or two?”
“Sure. I love board games. Except for Monopoly. ”
“I don’t believe there is anything quite as elaborate as Monopoly. If I remember correctly, there is Life, Sorry, and a couple of card games.”
“Sorry is always fun.”
After dinner, I take my bowl and Lilly’s to the kitchen counter. Rachel is there, frowning at the plastic tub.
“So, how do you do this? I don’t want to use all of our water to wash the dishes.”
I pick up the third bowl. “Let’s let the rain do the dishes for us.” I head for the door and she follows behind and opens it for me. I set the bowls on the steps where the rain would hit them. “This should work.” I look at her. “Of all the things I thought might throw you on this little misadventure, I didn’t think doing the dishes would be one of them.”
“I wasn’t thrown. I was just…considering my options.”
“Oh, okay. My mistake.”
She looks at me for a moment. “Can I say something I shouldn’t?”
“Um…sure.”
“I’m really enjoying our misadventure.”
I smile. “Why is that something you shouldn’t say?”
“Because you’re the reason I’m enjoying it.”
“Because I’m here?”
“No. Because you’re you.”
I lean against the railing. “And who am I exactly?”
She looks out at the rain. “I shouldn’t say.”
“No. Please do.”
She takes a breath, then looks at me again. “You’re someone I’d like to get to know better.”
I cock my head. “In what capacity?”
She laughs. “Preston. You sound like you’re interviewing me.”
I smile and reach for her hand. “Sorry. It’s kind of what I do. But I still want to know.”
“In a way that might compromise our business relationship.”
I rub the back of her hand with my thumb. “Hmm. I’m not sure if I’m willing to risk losing you. Lilly loves you. You’re great with her. I wouldn’t want you to discover that I’m not who you must think I am.”
“I’m not too worried about that. The man I’ve seen today is a man who will go out into the rain to get clothespins for his daughter’s fort. A man who is happy to spend an hour inside the fort making really bad shadow puppets.”
I laugh. “Are you judging my talent as a shadow puppet artist?”
“I’m not sure artist is the right word to use. But you get an A plus for effort.”
I let go of her hand and sigh. “Tell you what. After a game or two of Sorry, we’ll see how you feel.”