9. Rachel
9
Rachel
I ’m not sure why I decided to admit to Preston how I feel, but it seemed like he wasn’t too shocked by my confession. I guess I’ll see how the rest of the night goes now that it’s out there. I am a little scared and nervous to see how it all plays out.
We go back inside and Preston looks through the wardrobe for the games. Then he brings the game of Sorry to the table.
“I challenge you, ladies, to a game of Sorry.”
Lilly and I join him at the table. I made more coffee and hot chocolate and I made my drink a mix of both. I also brought cookies and some cheese crackers.
Preston looks at my cup when I set it down. “What’s that?”
“Chocolate coffee.”
“Hmm.”
“Do you want me to add chocolate to your coffee?”
“No. Straight black is fine.”
I shake my head. “This is supposed to be a night of adventure.”
He sighs. “Fine.” He hands me the cup. “Ruin my coffee.”
I take it from him. “I promise you’ll like it…Or maybe you won’t like it. We’ll see. ”
I take his cup to the kitchen and add some hot chocolate mix, then stir it in. I bring it back to him and watch him until he takes a drink.
He nods. “Alright. Not bad.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.” He opens the game box. “Let’s get this game started.”
I watch him set up the board. “Are you one of those guys who is ruthless when playing board games?”
“Me? Nah.”
Lilly laughs. “Daddy likes to win.”
I smile. “I bet he does.”
He looks at me. “Seems to me you beat my daughter at checkers.”
“It was a very close game. And I don’t believe in letting a child win just for the sake of winning. It builds character.”
“Exactly. I agree.”
“Hmm.” I look at Lilly. “You and I have to make sure your dad doesn’t win.”
She gives me a thumbs up. “We’re going to beat you, Daddy.”
“Yeah. We’ll see about that.”
We start the game, and I begin to see the competitive side of Preston. The cards aren’t going his way, and he keeps getting sent back to start. When Lilly lands on his square and sends him back, he squints at her.
“Wow.”
She shrugs. “You have to start all over.”
“Again.” He glances at me and I smile at him.
“I can see why you’re a successful businessman. You don’t like to lose.”
He laughs. “Who does?” He pats Lilly’s hand. “Good job, honey.”
“You’re not mad? ”
“Of course not.” He reaches for the package of cookies. “But I’m taking control of the cookies until you two start being nicer to me.”
I move the crackers over between Lilly and me. “Fine. We’ll control the crackers, then.”
We play for another hour and Lilly ends up winning. Preston leans over and kisses her on the cheek. “Good game, bug.”
“Can I have a cookie now?”
Preston grins. “You may have two cookies now. Then it’s time to settle down in your fort.”
She yawns then says, “I’m not tired.”
“Even so. It’s late. And we have to hike home tomorrow. Assuming the rain decides to stop.”
“Can we stay again if it doesn’t?”
“I’m pretty sure the rain will stop soon. So probably not.”
“But if it doesn’t?”
“We’ll talk about it tomorrow.”
I get up and take Lilly’s hand. “I bet you have to go to the bathroom.”
She nods.
I look at Preston. “I assume there’s a bathroom somewhere?”
He points at the front door. “Outside. About a hundred feet behind the house.”
“An outhouse?”
“Yes. Or, you know. There are a lot of trees out there.” He gets to his feet. “Do you need me to come with you? I can hold a flashlight.”
“I think we can manage. I’d just like to not get soaked.”
“Wear the poncho and carry Lilly.” He goes to the door and opens it. “It’s not currently pouring, so it might be a good time to go.”
I smile at Lilly. “Okay, are you ready for an adventure?”
“Going to the bathroom isn’t an adventure. ”
“It is here.”
I put on the poncho and Preston puts a smaller raincoat on Lilly. Then he hands me the flashlight and goes onto the porch with us.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to come?”
“We’ll be fine.” I look out at the dark. “There aren’t any wild animals around here, are there?”
He glances at Lilly. “No. Perfectly safe.”
I pick up Lilly, turn on the light, and step off the porch. He calls after us. “I’ll be right here. And if you’re not back in five, I’m coming to find you.”
I wave over my head. “We’ll be right back.”
“You know what happens every time someone says that?”
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.”
“What about me?”
“You’ve got me very confused. I seem to be drawn to you. And I don’t know if it’s because you’re so good with Lilly. Or the fact Lilly likes you so much. Or if it has nothing to do with Lilly and I…”
“You don’t have to figure it out tonight, Preston.”
He looks at me. “I never thought I’d want to spend time with another woman. Have fun. Enjoy myself. Get that stupid weird feeling in my stomach when you’re close to me.”
“Well, if it helps at all, I feel it too.”
His lips curve up into a smile. “Well, that’s good, I guess. It’d be just my luck to fall for someone finally, just to have her tell me she’s not interested.”
I turn toward him. “I’m interested, Preston. And I can wait until you figure out how you feel. And if you’re ready to feel that way and what that might mean moving forward.”
“And if it turns out, I’m not ready to go down that road, have I just ruined everything? Are you still going to be able to work for me and take care of Lilly? I really don’t want her to lose you.”
“I’m not going anywhere. ”
We watch the lightning for a few minutes. He is still holding my hand, and it feels nice. He needs time to figure things out, and I’m going to give it to him.
He glances at me. “So, what about you? What’s your relationship history?”
I smile. “Pretty boring. A few boyfriends here and there. I never really found anyone I wanted to spend time with.”
He grins at me. “Until now?”
“Yes. Until now. But no pressure.”
“Right. No pressure.”
He stands and goes to the railing. “Why me? If I may ask. What’s the attraction?”
I lean back in my chair. “Wow. Um…let me think. I guess when you didn’t fire me on the first day when I threatened to clobber you with a piece of firewood, that was a good sign.”
He chuckles. “It never crossed my mind to fire you.”
“But I guess it’s because you love your daughter so much. Any man who isn’t afraid to show his undying devotion to his child is an automatic winner in my book.”
He grins again. “So it’s not because I’m so good looking?”
“Well, that’s just a bonus.” I get to my feet. “Actually, that’s the only reason. I just made all that other stuff up to impress you.”
“I figured.”
I go to the railing to stand next to him and take his hand again. “I’d love for this to be the beginning of something. But if you’re not ready or if I’m not the one, I can live with that. I’m here for you and Lilly, no matter how all this turns out.”
He looks at me for a moment. “How about another game of Sorry?”
“Are you going to be a sore loser when I win? ”
“What makes you think you’re going to win?”
“Can we eat some more cookies?”
“Yes. And more chocolate coffee,” he says.
“You want more coffee this late?”
He squeezes my hand. “I don’t think I’ll be doing much sleeping tonight. I’ve got a lot to think about.”
“I’ll go make some more coffee.”
“I’ll set up the game.”
We go inside and I go to make coffee while Preston checks on Lilly. He comes up next to me. “She’s sound asleep.”
“It was a pretty adventurous day.”
“Yeah. It’s going to be hard to top it next Saturday.”
“If the rain doesn’t stop, we may still be here.” I laugh.
“Don’t say that. I do have a business to run.”
“And you said no one would miss you.”
“I’ve been thinking about what you said about Lilly only being young for such a short time.”
“It wasn’t my place to say anything. The time you spend with Lilly, you are with her one hundred percent.”
“I know. But still, you’re right. I need to think about cutting back a little. Even if I could just get one extra day.”
I nudge him. “Does that mean I’d lose a day’s pay?”
“No. It just means that you’ll need to be ready for two days of adventure a week.”
“I think I can handle that. But next time we hike to the cabin, we’re bringing an overnight bag just in case.”