Lily

Lily glanced over, watching as Wyatt parked the SUV. She had been having a hard time taking her eyes off of him ever since her fantasy the night before. It had been so intense and realistic, that it had almost changed her perception of him. She wasn't able to look at him the same way. All she could think about was how her wild imagination had painted him. It made her wish she could snap her fingers and make it all come true.

“You guys ready?” Wyatt asked, his voice quickly pulling Lily back into reality.

“Yeah!” Maggie said enthusiastically. “Can I get a cookie from the deli lady?”

“Does Mildred let you do that?” Wyatt asked.

“Yes,” Maggie replied, matter-of-factually.

“Then sure,” Wyatt said, with a chuckle. Then he looked across the center console toward Lily. “Ready to help a grown man go grocery shopping?”

Lily laughed and gave a nod. “I'm more than ready. In fact, I even made a list to make it easier.”

“Wow, look at you,” Wyatt said, with a smirk. “I'm glad that one of us is prepared for this. You know that if I went grocery shopping by myself, I'd end up walking out with a can of ravioli and a case of soda. Seriously. I'm that bad of a shopper.”

“You can't be that bad,” Lily said, wrapping her fingers around the car's door handle.

“Trust me,” he said. “It's bad.”

The two of them laughed as they got out of the car. Lily opened the back door and helped Maggie get unbuckled from her car seat. As soon as she hopped out, she took Lily's hand.

She's got to be the sweetest kid on the entire planet, she thought, walking alongside Maggie. I love how she takes my hand whenever we go anywhere. I know that she'll grow out of it at some point, but I hope that it's not for a very long time. I'm really enjoying her at this age.

Wyatt stepped up beside them and smiled. He looked as handsome as ever. He was wearing a nice pair of gray slacks and a lavender-colored polo shirt. His brown leather dress shoes were polished to perfection and Lily was pretty certain that they were worth more than her car. That was one thing about Wyatt, though. He never went anywhere without looking his absolute best. Lily wasn't sure if that was just something billionaires did, or if it was that billionaires obtained their money because they shared that same kind of attitude.

Isn't there a saying that mentions something about dressing for the job you want? She thought to herself. If that's true, then I think I want to start wearing nothing but yoga pants and tank tops.

She laughed softly at her own thoughts.

“Swing me!” Maggie squealed and Lily glanced over.

Wyatt was walking on the opposite side of Maggie and had already taken her other hand.

“Ready?” he said. “One, two, three!”

On the third count, Lily and Wyatt lifted Maggie off of the ground and swung her forward in the air. Her laughter and happiness from it was so contagious that Lily found herself smiling uncontrollably.

“Again!” Maggie said, the moment her shoes skidded back to the ground.

“Okay, but you count this time,” Wyatt said.

“One, two, fwee!” Maggie said, and once again, was lifted up and swung forward.

Lily was beaming as the three of them continued their march toward the front entrance of the store. They swung Maggie the entire way and it was fun for all of them. Especially for Lily, though, because right then she began to feel like she was actually part of the family. There she was, about to go grocery shopping with Wyatt and Maggie. It was such a simple thing, but meant more to her than she could have ever explained.

“So, where do we start?” Wyatt asked.

His cluelessness at the grocery store made Lily smile. She thought it was the cutest thing in the world. It was interesting, too, because Wyatt was the master at just about every other part of his life. The simple things, though, seemed to go right over his head.

“Grab a cart,” Lily said and Wyatt did as she asked.

She then lifted Maggie up and put her in the plastic seat of the grocery cart, right in front of the handles.

“The first thing we do, is get Maggie her cookie,” Lily said. “That will make her happy, which will make shopping a little easier.”

Maggie's eyes widened as she heard the good news.

“You're good at this,” Wyatt said, seeming genuinely impressed.

Lily shrugged. “A natural, I guess.”

They headed toward the bakery and the lady behind the counter immediately recognized Maggie.

“Look who it is,” she said, grabbing a sprinkle cookie. “My favorite girl.”

Maggie blushed and looked away.

“She's shy sometimes,” Wyatt said.

“Too shy for a cookie?” the lady said, handing the sprinkled treat over the counter.

Maggie's smile returned and she faced the lady, happily taking the cookie from her.

“Thank you,” Maggie said, in the sweetest little voice.

“You're very welcome,” the woman replied, then brought her gaze up toward Wyatt and Lily. “I'm used to seeing Mildred with her. I'm guessing you two are Maggie's parents? It's so nice to meet you.”

Lily parted her lips to correct her, but Wyatt simple replied with, “Very nice to meet you, too. I'm Wyatt and this is Lily. Mildred usually does the shopping for me, but she's out of town right now. You might be seeing us over the next week or so, at least until Mildred gets back.”

“That's lovely,” the lady said. “I'll be here and I'll have a fresh cookie waiting for Maggie when I see you guys next.”

“Thanks a bunch.” Lily gently pushed the cart and the group made their way toward the produce section.

That lady just assumed that Wyatt and I were a couple, Lily thought, almost giddy from it. The best part, though, was that Wyatt didn't even say anything to correct her.

With Maggie nibbling on her cookie, they strolled through the store. In the produce section, they gathered up a mountain of fruits, vegetables, onions and garlic. Lily just pointed at what she wanted and Wyatt would walk up and grab a ridiculous amount of whatever it was.

“You know we're not feeding an army, right?” she said, as Wyatt approached her with a ten-pound bag of potatoes in his arms.

“I figured we might as well stock up, though.” He set the bag down into the cart. “That way when Mildred gets back, she'll have plenty of things to make meals with.”

Lily shrugged. “Fair enough. I'm sure she'll be happy to come back to a full fridge and pantry.”

“That was yummy,” Maggie interrupted. Her hands and face were a total mess from the cookie, but she looked pretty darn happy.

“I'll bet it was,” Wyatt said. “You ate that thing is two seconds.”

Lily glanced over to her left. “Oh, we should get one of these. I could make eggplant Parmesan”

She left the cart and took a couple of steps away to get a look at the eggplants nearby. She picked one up and was feeling if it was ripe, when Wyatt stepped beside her. He walked right up next to her and his hip brushed hers.

“I'm not sure if I like eggplants,” he said. “I think I've only tried them once, though, and I was a kid.”

“My mom makes really good eggplant Parmesan,” Lily said. “I can get the recipe from her and try to make it one night this week.”

“Sounds great to me,” Wyatt said. “I'm up for giving it another try.”

He placed his hand onto Lily's lower back as he spoke. His touch sent a tingle through her belly and she found herself drawing in a quick breath. His fingers only grazed her back for a moment, but it was a powerful moment. He'd never touched her like that before and it caught her off guard. She liked the way it felt, though. As soon as he pulled away, she missed his touch and wanted it back.

Wyatt spun around and walked back to the cart to entertain Maggie. Lily stood there with an eggplant in her hands, unsure of how to take what had just happened.

Did that mean anything? She wondered. Or was he just being nice? Is Wyatt just really, really kind and gentle? Is it possible that I'm misinterpreting some things here?

She set the eggplant next to the giant bag of potatoes. Wyatt pushed the cart and Lily walked alongside, suddenly distracted by her thoughts. She knew it was just a simple touch, but it was where he touched her that made her question things. That little spot on her lower back, the place where men touched the women they loved. It was a chivalrous place to lay a hand, like when leading a woman through a doorway or toward her seat at a restaurant. It certainly wasn't something that one would do to a mere acquaintance or a friend. Or at least that was what Lily thought about it.

“Alright, so where to now, Ms. Lily?” Wyatt said, looking over toward her.

“Um, let me see.” Lily pulled the crumpled up piece of paper from her pocket and smoothed it out. “We still have a lot of things to get. Let's go to the dairy section now, though.”

“Yes, ma'am.” Wyatt smirked and flashed a playful wink in Lily's direction.

She laughed and then the two of them made their way toward the corner of the grocery store. Maggie, content and full of cookie, just looked around the store with the eyes of a curious child.

They bought milk, yogurt, cheese and just about everything else that caught Wyatt's eye. Lily assumed he must have been hungry, because she'd never seen anyone buy so much stuff at the grocery store in one trip. She certainly hadn't ever done so herself anyway. Although, when she went grocery shopping for herself, she had a pretty strict budget. It didn't allow for lavish spending on things that she didn't absolutely need. Obviously, though, Wyatt didn't have that problem.

The trio made their way up and down every aisle. By the time they were finished, there wasn't a single inch to spare in the grocery cart. There was a mountain of food in it that was at least a foot taller than the cart's sides.

This is more like a month's worth of food than a week's, Lily thought, as they got in line to check out. Shoot, it might even be more than that. This much would last me at least six months.

Wyatt paid for everything and pushed the cart out to the car. He opened up the back door and began loading up the groceries, while Lily helped Maggie into her car seat. Once that was done, she went to the back to help Wyatt.

“So it looks like I'm probably not going to starve while Mildred is gone.” Wyatt laughed, as he heaved the giant bag of potatoes into the back.

“I'd say that's probably true,” Lily said. “I think your entire neighborhood could eat for a couple of weeks with this much food.”

* * *

They finished loading everything up and then started their journey back to the mansion. Wyatt started up a movie for Maggie, which she watched on the small television screen that was installed in the back of the passenger's seat headrest. This gave Lily and Wyatt a bit of privacy, which they used to talk about things that they normally couldn't with Maggie around.

“So how was your first day on the job?” he asked, pushing his sunglasses to the top of his head and taking a quick glance toward Lily.

“It was actually really nice,” she said. “It was ten times more relaxing than slinging coffee for the grumpy soccer moms.”

Wyatt laughed. “I figured you'd enjoy this a little more than that. I'm glad you've been able to take a break from your usual gig. It's nice that you're going to get to spent some more one-on-one time with Maggie, at least for the next week.”

“Speaking of Maggie, I seriously can't believe how fast she's growing up,” Lily said. “I mean, I always have known that kids grow up fast, but jeez. She's talking so well and when we play board games, she beats me half the time.”

“Tell me about it,” Wyatt said. “Seems like every time she busts out Candy Land, she already knows that I'm going to lose.”

Lily laughed. “I know I've told you this now a hundred times, but thanks again for this opportunity. It really means a lot that you let me spend so much time with her.”

“Of course.” Wyatt pulled the car out of the parking lot of the grocery store and onto the frontage road. “She really loves you. Caroline did, too. You know that, right?”

She nodded. “Yeah, I know. She was such a great woman.”

He sighed. “I miss her a lot, but sometimes I wonder if she'd think I was completely ridiculous for thinking about her all the time.”

“I don't think so,” Lily said. “It makes sense that she would be on your mind. Why wouldn't she be? Caroline was pretty amazing.”

Wyatt smiled. “Yeah, that she was. Life is strange. It lifts you up and pulls you down and stretches you in every direction. Somehow, though, it seems like you always end up making it through the day. I guess people are pretty resilient, yet at the same time, surprisingly fragile.”

“I think about that a lot.” Lily gazed out the windshield as she spoke. “Sometimes I wonder why life can be so amazing and yet so difficult at the same time. I have a theory about it, though.”

Wyatt raised his eyebrows. “Oh yeah? I'd love to hear it.”

Lily shrugged. “I think that the reason life throws us curve balls is to remind us that we are all here on borrowed time. Tomorrow is guaranteed to anybody, so we have to make the most of what we've got right now. Think about it. If it weren't for the struggles, we'd all just go through our lives like zombies. We wouldn't care about anything, because we'd never be challenged by anything.”

“That's an interesting perspective,” Wyatt said. “So what you're kind of saying is that there's a reason for everything?”

“Yes, exactly.” Lily turned to face him. “I truly believe that. Every single thing happens for a reason. Most of the time, we don't know what that reason is. Either that, or we just can't see it right away. Sometimes it takes a while. Eventually, though, it becomes clear why an event took place. Whether that event was good or bad is just a matter of opinion. In the big picture, though, I think most things happen for the good.”

“I see what you're saying,” Wyatt said. “I just can't think of a good reason why Caroline had to pass away.”

Lily's heart sunk as he spoke. “That's not exactly what I was saying. I guess I don't mean that all things that happen are good. It's more like, I just hope that some good can come from all of the things that happen.”

Wyatt's smile returned and he looked over toward her. “Now that's a philosophy I can get behind. I never realized there was this side to you.”

“What side is that?” Lily asked.

“This one,” he said. “The one you're showing me right now. I always knew you were intelligent. In fact, Caroline and I both admired that in you when we'd first met you. However, I never knew you were so deep and philosophical.”

Lily blushed. “I'm not, really. I just think about life a lot. I was pretty shy growing up, so I spent most of my time with books. I'd go out in the park after school and just read all afternoon. I'd get lost in ideas and worlds that could never exist. It really changed the way I see my own world, though. Everything I would read, even if it was fictional, made me feel like I understood just a tiny bit more about the way things work.”

“Wow,” Wyatt said, shaking his head in surprise. “I wish I could understand where you're coming from. My whole life has been pretty black and white. I graduated high school, went to college and then started up my business. Things were cut and dry. There was profit and there was losses. There was risk and there was gain. It was easy. That all changed, though, when Caroline passed away. Then it was like a wrench was thrown into the gears and my entire perception of life got flipped upside down. Everything that I thought was simple and pure, became complicated and painful. Nothing was black and white after that. It still isn't.”

Lily felt some tears welling up in her eyes but she managed to keep them from falling out. “I'm really sorry.”

“I appreciate that, but there's no need to be sorry,” Wyatt said. “It's just interesting to me how things unfold, you know? I'm not complaining, though. I'm really not. Overall, life has been pretty damn good to me. I've still got Maggie and business is good. Plus, I'm pretty confident that I've got Caroline watching over me, making sure I don't screw anything up too bad.”

He smiled, which took a bit of the tension off of the conversation.

“I'm sure she's up there,” Lily said, looking up toward the clouds. In reality, she didn't know if she actually believed in heaven and hell, but wasn't about to argue something like that with Wyatt. If the thought of her still being around and watching over him made him feel better, then she was more than okay with it.

Wyatt looked up into the rear view mirror and chuckled. “Maggie has officially fallen asleep. I don't even think she made it through the beginning credits of that movie.”

Lily turned around in her seat to see Maggie with her head leaned back and her eyes closed. The music from the kid's movie filled the rear of the SUV and it must have been enough to lull her into dreamland.

“She's too cute for words,” Lily whispered.

She turned back around and let out a sigh, gazing out the side window.

“This was a fun afternoon,” she said.

“Agreed,” Wyatt replied.

They didn't say anything else for the rest of the drive. They just cruised down the highway, with kid's music as their sound track. To most people, it would have been boring. To Lily, though, it was the perfect way to spend the afternoon. She couldn't think of any other place in the world she would have rather been.