10. Preston
10
Preston
I win our game of Sorry, though Rachel makes it tough. And afterwards, we say goodnight without any further discussion about our conversation on the porch. She takes the bed, and I sleep on the couch. Although sleeping really isn’t what I’m doing. I toss and turn all night, thinking about Rachel and what our conversation had meant.
At some point during the night, Lilly climbed onto the couch with me. Because when I wake up, she is curled up beside me. The sun is shining through the windows, which is a good sign. We’ll be able to go home today. I’m not all that happy about it, though.
I don’t want to wake Lilly, but I have a crick in my back and have to sit up. She mumbles in her sleep when I move next to her, then she wakes up with a smile.
“Daddy.”
“Hi, baby. Did you get scared in the middle of the night?”
She shakes her head. “No. I got cold.”
“I guess I’m good for something.” I sit up and glance at the bed. Rachel isn’t in it. In fact, she isn’t in the cabin at all. I can smell coffee, though, so she’s been up long enough to do that. Lilly is sitting next to me. “Do you have to go to the bathroom? ”
She nods.
I stretch, then get to my feet. “Okay. I’ll take you.”
We put on shoes and jackets then go onto the porch. Rachel is sitting in one of the chairs with a cup of coffee. The rain has stopped, and the sun is shining.
She smiles. “Good morning.”
“Morning. How long have you been up?”
“About a half hour. I didn’t want to wake you guys up. You looked so cute snuggled up on the couch.”
I smile. “I’m going to take Lilly to the outhouse. We’ll be right back.”
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?”
She nods. “Yummy.” I look at Rachel and mouth, “Gross. ”
She laughs. “It’s the breakfast of adventurers.”
“Hmm. I guess.”
The brown bread is pretty good with the jelly and I eat several slices. Lilly wants to try it and, between the three of us, we eat all of it along with eight packets of jelly.
I lean back in my chair, fairly full. “I’m going to have to help Benjy restock this place. I think we cleaned him out a bit.”
Rachel looks at me across the table. “So, when do we need to head back?”
I don’t want to go back. I am afraid once we’re home, Rachel might change her mind about how she feels. But I guess if she does, then it would mean it wasn’t real in the first place.
“There’s no rush I guess. We can stay for a few more hours.”
Lilly cheers. “Can we go to the pond and look for frogs?”
“I don’t see why not. It might be a little muddy, but I think since we’re now seasoned adventurers, we can handle that.” I look at Rachel. “Does that sound good to you?”
“Yes. Let’s do it.”
We spend some time cleaning up the cabin. I don’t want to leave a mess for Benjy to deal with. We dismantle the fort and stash the extra blankets and pillows. Rachel makes up the bed and cleans up the kitchen. When it all looks pretty much how we found it, we go outside and head for the pond.
The mud isn’t too bad, and we stay pretty clean on the path to the pond. The water is high after all of the rain, and the usually clear water is muddy.
Rachel looks into the water. “Are there fish in there?”
“There are some sunfish, that’s about it. I don’t even know how they got in there.”
Lilly spots a frog in the grass near the edge of the pond and goes to try to catch it. I watch her for a moment, then look at Rachel.
“So on the porch a while ago…”
“Yes.”
“I almost…” I can feel my face grow hot and she gives me a wide smile. “If we hadn’t gotten interrupted. Would you have been okay with that?”
“Yes. I would’ve been very okay with it.”
“Hmm. Good to know.” I grin. “Really good to know.”
“Does this mean you’ve come to a decision?”
I take a breath. “I believe I have.”
“Daddy?”
I laugh, then turn to Lilly. “Yes, bug?”
“Can you help me catch this frog?”
“Are you sure you want to catch it?”
“Yes. I want to hold it.”
I scratch my head. “Well, okay.”
Rachel puts a hand on my arm. “Let me.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you. Frogs are…you know they jump and stuff.”
She laughs. “I’ve got this.” She goes to Lilly and kneels next to her. “So, where is this frog?”
Lilly points under a bush. “In there.”
Rachel moves the lower branches aside then cups her hand on the ground. “Got him.” She picks up the frog and shows it to Lilly.
Lilly laughs and looks at me. “She got it.”
“I see that.”
Rachel stands and brings the frog to me. “Do you want to pet the little guy?”
I take a step back. “No. Not really.”
She laughs then lets Lilly hold it for a minute before they let it go. It jumps off and disappears under another bush.
Rachel looks at me. “Frogs? Really?”
“They’re just kind of creepy.”
“Okay.”
I glance at Lilly, who is busy by the water, then take Rachel’s hand. “So, I’m a little out of practice with all of this stuff.”
“That’s okay. We’ll figure it out together.”
I glance at Lilly again to make sure she is busy then lean toward Rachel.
“Mr. Michaelson?” A voice calls from behind us.
Once more, I step back. “Seriously?”
Rachel laughs and pats my chest. “It’s okay.”
“Is it really?”
Benjy comes down the path and walks over to us. “I was worried when you didn’t come home. Thought I’d hike out here and make sure you were okay.”
“Thank you, Benjy. We got caught in the rain.”
“Yeah, that was a doozy. Lightning, thunder. I see the pond’s high.”
I nod. “Yeah. It rained all night.”
“Were you comfortable in the cabin?”
“It was great. Warm and dry. We dug into your food supply a bit, though.”
“No worries. That’s why it’s there.”
Lilly runs over to him. “Benjy, did you come to join us on our adventure?”
“I just came to make sure you were okay, little miss.”
“We’re fine. We made a fort. And played Sorry. And had hot chocolate. ”
“Sounds like a lot of fun.”
“It was.”
I sigh. “I guess we should head back.” I look at Rachel and she sticks out her lower lip for a second, then smiles at me. I’m not quite ready to go home yet, and it seems, she isn’t either.
We all go back to the cabin and make sure it is secure against the weather and any nosy critters. I hesitate on the porch.
“Benjy. Would you mind taking Lilly back? Rachel and I will be along in a minute.”
He looks confused for a moment, then seems to realize why I am asking him to leave without us.
He gives me a nod and a smile. “Sure thing, Mr. Michaelson.”
I give Lilly a hug and kiss and tell her to make sure Benjy has a great adventure on the way back. She seems excited to go. Rachel and I both wave to them and watch them until they disappear down the trail.
I turn to her. “So. I guess I should’ve asked you first if you wanted to stay.”
She shrugs. “Well, you are the boss.”
“Yeah. Well, I don’t want to be your boss.”
“Are you firing me?”
I shake my head and step closer to her. “No, I’m promoting you.”
“Gee Mr. Michaelson. I don’t know what to say.”
I put my hands on her waist and pull her in close. “You don’t need to say anything.”
She puts her arms around my neck. “I think I’m going to like this promotion.”
I lean in and pause a moment, our lips just an inch apart. “No one here to interrupt again.”
“Just the two of us. ”
I gently press my lips to hers. My heart is pounding a million beats a minute then I feel her body melt into mine. All the unspoken words and feelings I have for her are sealed at this moment.
I lean back and gaze into her sparkling hazel eyes. “So, are we really doing this?”
“I believe we are, Preston.”
I put my hand on her cheek and gently pull her in, kissing her again. “The adventure is just beginning.”