Wyatt

When Friday rolled around, Wyatt found himself unable to concentrate at work. His mind was whirling and anxiety tingled in his chest. He got up from his chair and paced back and forth. He was so restless that he couldn't sit down.

Why is this bothering me so much? He thought. I knew that Lily would have to go home at some point. Why am I so upset by it?

With only a few days left before Lily was to return home, Wyatt was a wreck. He'd spent the previous week watching her interact with his daughter. Lily was such a good nanny. The perfect nanny, really. She'd taught Maggie how to tread water and had made her smile more times in one week than he had seen in the whole year since Caroline had died.

Maybe I ask her to stay for a while longer, he thought. Maybe I can see if Mildred wants another week off of work.

He knew that wasn't the answer, though. Not only because Mildred likely wouldn't want any more time off, but because even if she did, he'd be running up against the same thing when that week was over. Lily would have to go home eventually no matter what.

Is this bothering me because I'm afraid that Maggie will miss her, or is it because I'll miss her? He asked himself.

He knew the answer to the question, though he wasn't willing to admit it to himself. He was the one who was going to miss Lily's presence. Having her around had made that giant mansion of his feel like a real home again. It was an element of his life that had been missing for over a year now. Normally, he spent more time at the office than at home. The office hurt less. There were no reminders of Caroline in his office, besides a few pictures on his desk, though. His house, on the other hand, was filled with things that had Caroline's touch on them. The drapes, the furniture, the color of paint on the walls. All of that reminded him of his loss. Somehow, though, when Lily was there, none of those things hurt as much.

“I've got to get to work,” he whispered, finally taking a seat at his desk.

Without even thinking about it, he pulled his cell phone out and opened it up to the main screen. The same old image of his family at the beach came up. He gazed at Caroline's smiling face, wishing he could just have a quick conversation with her. He just wanted to ask her some simple questions. He wondered if she thought he was doing a good job at raising Maggie and if she was mad about his attraction toward Lily.

With a sigh, he set the phone down onto his desk and pushed it aside.

As if on cue, his phone buzzed as soon as he'd started looking at the work he needed to do. He lifted it up to see a text from Lily. When he opened it, he was greeted by a picture from her. It was a selfie that she'd taken with Maggie. It looked like they were playing in the backyard. He could see the slide from her playground on the right side of the photo. They were both smiling wide, their cheeks pressed against each others.

“How cute is that?” he whispered to himself, admiring the image for a minute.

The strings on his heart tugged in every direction. One part of his heart ached like it always did, as he continued to miss Caroline. The other part, though, felt suddenly alive. Seeing that picture from Lily caused something in him to ignite. Maybe it was excitement, or anticipation, or simply just lust. He couldn't be sure. But a part of his heart that had been dim for twelve months suddenly tingled with life. It was intense.

He set the phone back down onto the desk and exhaled a long breath.

What if Lily is the one for me now? He thought. What if that's the reason she came into our lives in the first place?

Wyatt couldn't shake the idea that Lily was in his life as part of some universal plan. He wasn't exactly a religious man, but did believe that certain things happen for certain reasons. The idea that Lily had been brought into he and Caroline's life didn't feel like a mistake. It felt like it was on purpose.

He closed his eyes and imagined what it would be like to come home every night to Lily. He smiled at the thought. He'd get home and she'd be there, playing with Maggie. They'd kiss and hug and then when Maggie went to bed, they'd both go up to his room. He'd even clear a place out in his closet for her stuff.

What am I doing? He thought, shaking his head. I've got to get to work. This is ridiculous.

Wyatt went to work, but even as he distracted himself the best he could, the feeling of getting to come home to Lily every night still tingled in his belly. It was an odd sensation, but intense enough to temporarily ease the pain that chronically plagued his heart.

* * *

The sunset was beautiful that evening, as Wyatt cruised down the highway in his Lamborgini. He had the windows down and the music up, just enjoyed the fresh air. He pressed on the gas, feeling the twelve cylinder engine roar under the hood. With over five hundred horse power pulling him along, he was at nearly ninety miles an hour in no time.

It was past rush hour, so there were only a few straggling cars on the road. He adrenaline was pumping as he blew past them, pointing his car toward home. This was his favorite stretch of road and he drove like this whenever he was stressed. There was something about it that eased his worries. It was a combination of the excitement of driving at such a high speed and of the constant risk of getting pulled over.

Just two more speeding tickets and Wyatt would lose his license. This, of course, only added to the adrenaline. The mere thought that a highway patrolman could be parked up ahead made him squeeze the steering wheel just a little bit harder.

This is my therapy, he thought, easing the car through a slight turn.

The Lamborgini actually handed better at higher speeds. It turned so easily and gripped the road like it was made out of glue. Once through the turn, he pressed on the accelerator again. This time he brought the car up to ninety five. He considered taking it all the way to a hundred, but doing so would cause him to miss his exit. So he let off the gas, causing the engine to die down while he coasted toward the deceleration ramp.

“That was fun,” he said to himself, with a boyish smile on his face. “I do love this car.”

Caroline hated this thing, because she thought it was going to get me killed, he thought. I think she would have learned to love it, too, though. Maybe eventually.

The adrenaline slowly wore off as Wyatt pulled the car through his neighborhood and parked in front of his garage. The kitchen and living room lights were on. He grabbed his briefcase and headed inside, excited to see the girls.

As soon as he walked into the entry way, he heard Maggie and Lily laughing. The air smelled of good food. He couldn't quite place what it was, but recognized the smell of baking bread. When he stepped around the corner, he saw Maggie and Lily playing a board game on the center island. Both of them were wearing cooking aprons and Maggie's was covered in flour. She glanced over and squealed in excitement as soon as she laid eyes on Wyatt.

“Daddy's home!”

“How's my girl?” Wyatt squatted down to give her a hug. He lifted her from the floor as soon as her arms wrapped his neck.

“Aunt Wiwee and I are making pizza,” she said.

“Making pizza?” he asked.

Lily spun around and nodded. She, too, had flour all over her apron.

“Yes, pepperoni and mushroom pizza, to be exact,” she said. “You're actually right on time. It should be done cooking in about five minutes.”

“That's perfect,” Wyatt said, as he set Maggie back onto the floor. “I'll run up and get changed real quick.”

He ran upstairs and got out of his suit. He put on some jeans and a black t-shirt, then headed back to the kitchen.

“How was your day?” he asked Lily.

She was seated at the island, holding her chin up with her hands. “It was good. Maggie and I played outside for most of the day. She can officially tread water and do the side stroke. Isn't that right, Mags?”

Maggie nodded excitedly. “Yep! I can swim all by myself, Daddy!”

Wyatt shook his head in awe. “That's seriously amazing, sweetheart. I'm so glad that Aunt Lily taught you how to do that. I'm so proud of you.”

“She's a natural,” Lily said. “You might have a little Olympic swimmer on your hands one day. She figured out how to do the side stroke in a matter of minutes. Next time, I'm going to start teaching her the free style.”

“Wow, I'm legitimately impressed.” Wyatt took a seat at the island next to Maggie. “You're something else, you know that, Lily?”

“Awe, I don't know about that,” she said. “Just doing my job.”

“You're doing more than your job,” Wyatt said. “I just hired you to watch Maggie and make sure she was safe while I was at work. You've gone above and beyond. I really appreciate it. I have to admit, that I'm going to be sad to see you leave on Sunday.”

“Me too,” Lily said, with a sigh. “I've been having so much fun over the past week. It's been amazing.”

“There's something I want to talk to you about, but tonight probably isn't the best night,” he said. “Remind me before you leave.”

She cocked her head to the side. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything is great,” he said. “Just wanted to chat with you about maybe taking on a part-time job here. We can talk about it all later, but I've been tossing some ideas around about how you can spend more time here with Maggie.”

Her eyes widened and she smiled. “Yeah, I'd love to talk about something like that. We should definitely have that talk before I head back home this weekend.”

Wyatt had spent some of his work day racking his brain about a way to keep Lily working for him. A thought occurred to him. It was one that he had had before, but didn't pay much attention to it the first time. He realized that there was a good chance Mildred would want the weekends off. If that were the case, then he figured he might be able to talk Lily into taking Mildred's place on Saturday and Sunday.

The timer on the oven beeped and Lily got up from her seat. She pulled the pizza out of the oven and set it onto the center island. To Wyatt's surprise, it didn't look burned or under done or anything like that at all. In fact, the cheese was perfectly browned and the pepperoni looked like it was just the right amount of crisp. It smelled amazing, too.

“Looks great, Lily.” Wyatt got up and grabbed a few plates from the cabinet, then took his seat again. Lily served the pizza. She looked a bit nervous as Wyatt picked up his piece, bringing it close to his lips.

He paused before taking a bite. “No matter what, I'm going to appreciate that you tried.”

She just laughed. “Fair enough.”

He took the bite and was pleasantly surprised. The dough was nice and soft and the cheese was perfectly done. Admittedly, it was a little bit bland, but not too bad at all.

“I like it,” he said, after washing the bite down with a swig of water.

“You're just saying that,” Lily said.

“No, seriously,” he continued. “It's not bad at all. It's your best yet.”

Maggie took a little bite from her piece and they both looked at her, waiting for her reaction. There was a dramatic pause as soon as she swallowed.

“Well, what do you think?” Lily asked her.

Maggie looked down at the pizza and then back up to Lily. “I like Dominoes.”

Wyatt cringed. He knew Maggie hadn't meant to say something offensive, but it had definitely come out that way. Luckily, Lily didn't seem to mind the harsh criticism. She just started laughing.

“Good answer,” Lily said, through her chuckles. “Maybe we should order Domino’s.”

“No, no,” Wyatt said. “Maggie and I are happy to eat this. We're grateful you took the time to make it for us. Isn't that right, Maggie?”

Maggie forced a smile, then took another bite.

“See, we like it,” Wyatt continued.

Lily looked disappointed as she sat back down. “I really am an awful cook, aren't I?”

“No, you've done just fine,” he said. “It's not that big of a deal, Lily.”

She shook her head. “I appreciate you saying all of that, but I also made you a promise yesterday that I would make an incredible dinner before I went home. I have one more night to do just that. One more night to show you guys that I have what it takes to cook something that isn't over-seasoned, or burnt, or bland. I'm going to do it, too. Come hell or high water, you guys are going to enjoy a meal tomorrow that will blow your mind. It will make Gordon Ramsay's food look like it came from a McDonald's happy meal.”

Wyatt couldn't help but to smile at Lily's commitment and determination. He liked the fact that she wasn't ready to throw in the towel on making dinner. It showed a lot about her character and actually made him feel a little more attracted to her. She was a strong woman and he admired that.

“I'm all about whatever you want to do for dinner tomorrow,” Wyatt said. “Is there anything you need specifically? I can run to the store in the morning and grab some things.”

Lily shook her head. “No, I don't think so. The pantry and fridge are still packed from that last shopping trip. I just need to think about it for a while and figure out what I want to make.”

“I'm excited,” Wyatt said. “Seriously. I can't wait.”

“I guess I better make absolutely positive it's going to be good,” Lily said, laughing. “I've made it sound like such a huge deal. I really can't let you guys down now.”

“You won't let us down,” Wyatt said.

“Yeah, you won't let us down, Aunt Wiwee.” Maggie echoed Wyatt's sentiment.

“See, even Maggie thinks so,” Wyatt said.

“You guys are the best,” Lily said. “I don't know what I'd do without you.”

“We feel the same way,” Wyatt said. “I'm starting to worry about what it's going to be like around here once you go home.”

“I don't want Aunt Wiwee to leave,” Maggie said, pouting out her lower lip.

Lily reached across the counter and placed her hand over Maggie's. “Honey, I still have two more days here. Plus, I don't live very far away and I'll keep coming over to visit you, just like before. Nothing will change.”

Maggie's eyes became shrink wrapped in tears, but she did a good job of holding them back.

“Sweetie, you'll still get to see Aunt Lily after this weekend,” Wyatt said. “She's just bringing her stuff back to the bedroom at her house. You know that she only lives five minutes from here. Plus, I'm going to talk with her about coming to take care of you on the weekends.”

Maggie sighed and grabbed her slice of pizza, taking another bite. Wyatt looked over toward Lily. She had a concerned expression on her face.

“She'll be okay,” Wyatt said to Lily. “Maggie is the strongest girl I know.”

I hope she'll be okay anyway, he thought. I really can't handle seeing any more tears fall from her cheeks. It just breaks my heart.