“Yes, we can see all of the animals,” Lily said.
Maggie's face relaxed once again and a smile crossed her lips. “Okay.”
God, I really hope Mildred is okay with me taking her to the zoo, Lily thought. I mean there's no way I can back out on this now.
Lily picked at her food, just taking a little nibble of everything. She was too sad about having to leave. Her appetite just wasn't there. So she sipped her orange juice and watched everyone else finish their plates.
When they were done, there was a few seconds of awkward silence between Wyatt and herself. He looked at her, pausing his gaze for a moment. She immediately felt the same attraction that she had the night before. It tingled inside of her, making her wish they'd been able to finish what they had started. She knew that wasn't going to happen, though. Wyatt was too broken about Caroline to open himself up to her.
“You hardly ate a thing,” he said, looking down toward her plate.
“I know.” Lily took another sip of orange juice. “I guess I'm not hungry quite yet. I'll take some food to go, though. I don't have anything in my house and I don't really feel like going to the grocery store today.”
“I'll box it up for you.” Wyatt took Lily's plate and then got up from his seat. He headed over to the kitchen and pulled some plastic containers from a drawer, filling them up with her uneaten breakfast.
“Thanks, Wyatt,” she said, before turning toward Maggie. “I've got to get going, kiddo. Will you give me a hug and a kiss before I leave?”
“Yeah,” Maggie said, her voice so sweet that it made Lily's heart hurt.
Lily stood up and walked over toward Wyatt. She spoke softly so that Maggie wouldn't be able to hear. “Can we talk for a second before I leave?”
Wyatt nodded. “Yeah, of course.” He then looked past Lily toward where his daughter was seated at the table. “Maggie, can you run downstairs and get that thing you made for Aunt Lily? She's going to be leaving in a few minutes and I don't want you to forget it.”
“Okay!” Maggie hopped out of her chair and scurried across the floor toward the basement door.
“She made something for me?” Lily asked.
“Yeah, she worked hard on it, too,” Wyatt said. “It's pretty cool. I think you'll like it.”
He paused and there was another moment of awkward silence.
“About last night,” he finally said, making Lily feel relieved by the fact that she didn't have to bring it up.
“Yeah, about that,” Lily said. “Look, I'm sorry about what happened. It was a mistake and it was my fault. I'm the one who made you dance with me and that started it all. I guess I was just in the moment. Maybe I had too much wine. Maybe I was just sad about the fact that I had to leave today. I don't know, it's just...”
Wyatt place a hand onto her shoulder and cut her short. “Lily, please, stop. It wasn't a mistake. We wouldn't have done it if either of us thought it was actually wrong. I guess I'm just not ready for it, that's all.”
“I understand,” Lily said.
“For what it's worth, I want you to know that I don't regret what happened last night,” Wyatt said, his eyes locked with Lily's. “Not even in the slightest.”
“Really?” she replied, feeling a bit of weight lift off of her shoulders.
“Really.” Wyatt nodded affirmatively.
Lily knew that he was being honest. If he didn't regret what had happened, then she didn't have to either. That alone made her feel much better about the situation as a whole.
They turned toward the basement door as they heard Maggie's little footsteps ascending the stairs.
“Here you go, Aunt Wiwee! Maggie said, as she appeared at the top of the stairs.
Lily couldn't quite make out what she was holding, but it looked like two necklaces of some sort.
“What did you make, sweetheart?” Lily walked toward her and squatted down so that she was at the same level as Maggie.
“Friendship necklaces,” Maggie said, proudly handing one of the beaded necklaces to Lily.
Lily tried to hold back the emotion. She had told herself over and over that she wasn't going to cry that morning. But as she gazed at the hand-crafted necklace, which was as brightly colored as Maggie's favorite outfits, she couldn't help but to let a few tears out.