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“What exactly were you opening up to her about?” Steph asked.
I took a moment to gather my thoughts before I answered, and in that time, I realized that I didn’t actually feel like telling this story. That time in my life wasn’t one I liked to dwell on, and on the off chance that Will was once again eavesdropping on us, as apparently he had done this morning, I didn’t want him to hear anything about it.
“I—I better go check on him,” I said, standing up. “You should go read or relax or whatever, this is still your night off technically.”
Her smile faltered a little but I tried not to think about the fact that I may have disappointed her. I gathered all the dishes I could take in one trip, dropped them off in the kitchen sink, then went upstairs without even looking her way. I didn’t want to see the sad expression in her eyes.
“Goodnight,” her soft voice said as I reached the second floor.
“See you in the morning,” I said over my shoulder, then I walked down the hall and into Will’s room. He was in his pjs, reading with the covers pulled all the way up to his chin.
“Hey Dad,” he said when he saw me. “Just one second, I only have one more page.” He read the last two paragraphs before the chapter break, then put his bookmark in and closed the book. “Okay, I’m done.”
“Good book?” I sat down next to him.
“Yeah,” he said. “It’s good. I think Stephanie will like it too. I’ll give it to her to read when I’m finished with it.”
“That’s nice of you.”
“I really like her, Dad,” he said. “She talks to me like I’m not just a kid, you know? Like how you talk to me.”
“That’s good,” I said. “I’m really happy to hear how well the two of you are getting along.”
“Do you think she’s going to stay here for a long time?”
“If that’s what you want,” I said.
“You like her too, don’t you?”
“Sure,” I said. “She’s nice.”
And funny. And pretty. And—
“I think you two would be really good together.”
My eyes went wide. “What?”
“I think you would make a good couple,” he said.
“And what would you know about what makes a good couple?”
He shrugged. “I’ve seen movies.”
I laughed and pulled him into a hug. “You’re a goofball, you know that? I amnotgoing to date your nanny. Do you hear me? That’s the last thing that’s going to happen, okay?”
“But you just said you liked her!”
“I like her as in I think she’s a good nanny and a nice lady,” I corrected him. “But there’s nothing else going on between us and there never will be.” After that, I told him he could read one more chapter but then he had to promise me he’d turn the light off and go to bed. Will was good about following the rules so I knew it was safe for me to say goodnight and leave him to his own devices. I went to my room and laid down on the bed, stared up at the ceiling for a while.
I laughed at the thought of what Will had said.
“We’d make a good couple?” I said to myself. “Yeah right. Crazy kid.”
But of course, that night, I had a dream about Stephanie. And in it, we weren’t just a couple.
In that dream, she was my wife.
ChapterSeven
