Lily's eyes widened in surprise. “What?”
“I mean it,” he continued. “Fuck every one of those people who say things like that to you. They don't know a thing about you, or Maggie, or me. They're just the same old nay sayers that say something can't be done, just because they are the ones who can't do it. I've run into thousands of those during my time of owning my own business. Do you have any idea how many people told me I could never make it big in the pharmaceutical industry? Way too many for me to count. But fuck every single one of them. They're all the same. They'll tell you what they think you should do, even though they'd tremble at even the though of walking a mile in your shoes.”
“Wow, I never thought of it like that,” Lily said, swirling the wine in her glass contemplatively. “I shouldn't have brought it up, but it's been on my mind.”
“I mean it,
Lily.” Wyatt sat forward and placed his hands on top of hers. “For every single person in the world who will tell you to go for something, there will be a thousand who tell you that you shouldn't bother. It doesn't surprise me too much that people have told you that it's weird you're still part of our family. That's what people do? Let me ask you this, though. Do they have any clue how happy you make Maggie?”
Lily shook her head. “Not really.”
“Exactly,” he said. “They don't know. So I think the best thing you can do is to just ignore them. Maggie and I love having you here, despite what any strangers may think about it.”
Her face relaxed once again and her smile came back. “That's kind of refreshing to think about it that way. You're right. Forget about them.”
Wyatt nodded in agreement. He meant every single word he said, too. If he'd based all of his life decisions on what people thought, there would be no way he'd be enjoying the success that he was. If he'd listened to his own parents, who said that rich people were nothing but greedy, he wouldn't be a billionaire, capable of giving millions of dollars away in charity every year. Not listening to others had given him more of an advantage in life than listening to them ever could have.
He took another swig from his wine and realized that he'd just finished the glass. The Cabernet was so good that he had a hard time just sipping it slowly.
“Is there any of that wine left?” he asked.
Lily poured the last little bit from the bottle and into his glass. “This is it.”
“Well, I for one am not ready to call it a night.” Wyatt stood up from his seat. “Let me run downstairs and grab another bottle. What do you say?”
“I'd say that sounds perfect,” she said. “I'm not tired anyway. Plus, I'm having fun just hanging out with you right now.”
“Why don't put on some music and we can hang out in the living room for a while?” Wyatt asked.
Lily nodded. “Okay! What kind of music?”
He shrugged. “Put on whatever you like. I'm open to anything.”
Then he headed down to the cellar to grab another bottle. What was originally going to just be finishing the remainder of the bottle was quickly turning into a legitimate celebration.
Wyatt had another bottle of Cabernet in his hand. When he turned the corner into the living room, he saw Lily seated on his overstuffed leather couch. Her bare feet were up on the coffee table. She had her glass of wine in one hand and she was taking a sip from it when he walked in.
There was soft music playing. It had a nice rhythm to it, but no words. Wyatt didn't recognize it.
“Who is this that's playing?” he asked, taking a seat next to Lily.
“It's a band called 'Wild Roots',” she said. “They're brand new. I like them, though. It's great music to dance to.”
“You dance?” Wyatt asked.
Lily nodded. “Yes. I love dancing. I haven't gone out to dance in a long time, though.”
“Why not?”
“Nobody to go with,” she said. “I mean I have a few girlfriends who will go out with me, but they like to go to clubs that play hip hop music. That's not really the kind of dancing I like.”
Wyatt was no stranger to dancing. When Caroline was alive, she had talked him into taking numerous dance classes with her. It started before their wedding, when she wanted to make sure Wyatt would be able to dance for their big day. To Wyatt's surprise, he had actually enjoyed it. It had become a thing for he and Caroline. Every month they took a class. They had tried ballroom, swing and even salsa.
He suddenly felt like dancing with Lily right there in the living room. He wasn't sure if he had a buzz from the wine or if it was the music that lured him to make the decision, but without much thought at all, he set the bottle of wine onto the coffee table and held out his hand.
Lily's eyes widened. “Wait? You want to dance?”
Wyatt nodded. “Yeah, why not? Dance with me.”