into the room. “Morning, sunshine.”
Wyatt raised an eyebrow and laughed. “Hey, David. What's up, man?”
David stepped into the office. He was wearing a black suit with a bright red tie. He looked like he was about to run for president.
“Not too much going on.” David closed the door behind him and then plopped down onto the chair on the opposite side of the desk from Wyatt. “Besides the fact that I just talked to Cindy, your secretary. My God, she's looking good. Have you noticed the rack on her lately? I swear those boobs are getting bigger. You think she's pregnant, or is God just making them bigger so that I have something nice to look at when I stop by?”
Wyatt rolled his eyes. “David, don't talk like that about Cindy. She works for me, man. You know I'm not allowed to look at her like that, even if I wanted to.”
David leaned in. “What do you mean? Are you telling me that it's a crime to take an innocent glance at a nice set of tits?”
Wyatt shook his head. “No, I'm not saying that at all. I just don't need a sexual harassment case to deal with. I've got plenty enough on my plate as it is. Plus, I actually have a lot of respect for Cindy. The girl works harder than I do and that's saying something. I guess I see her as more than just a pair of tits.”
“Well, more for me to look at then.” David smirked and leaned forward, bringing his elbows to the top of the desk. “I'm trying to think of the best way to tell you this, but I'm worried about you, Wyatt. Look, I understand why you don't want to be caught checking out your own secretary, but I haven't heard you speak about any girl since Caroline.”
Wyatt brought his gaze up until he locked eyes with David. “So what?”
“I don't want you to get defensive,” he replied. “I'm just looking out for you. I loved Caroline, too. She was the best woman I've ever known and I think she was perfect for you. I also think that she would want you to be happy.”
“What do you mean?” Wyatt leaned back in his chair. “I am happy. Look at me. I'm smiling right now.” He forced the outside of his lips into a smirk.
“You aren't happy, Wyatt. I know that sometimes I still hear you laugh and joke, but underneath all of that there's still an obvious pain. I'm not stupid and I've known you for a long time. I consider us brothers. I know you better than you know yourself sometimes. It's clear to me that you still haven't fully grieved over your wife. It worries me, man. You can't just shove that shit down and think it will go away. It's going to kill you.”
“What are you getting at, David?” Wyatt asked, feeling suddenly a little annoyed.
As much as he respected David and did consider him to be his best friend, there were times when David was a little overbearing. The guy definitely didn't have a filter on what he said. He was no bullshit and didn't beat around the bush. That was one reason why Wyatt trusted him, but it was also the same reason that he didn't always turn to him for sensitive matters.
“I just want you to be happy,” David said, a look of genuine concern in his eyes. “I mean it when I say that I'm worried about you. We used to go out and have fun. Remember all of the good times we had? I'm not saying you need to relive your youth or anything. In fact, you don't need to because we're still young. I can't even talk you into going to see Raccoon's game with me any more, though. I had court side seats on Saturday and even that wasn't enough.”
“I told you, something more important came up that night,” Wyatt said.
“Yeah, you mentioned something about a date with two ladies,” David said. “I know you were bullshitting me, though. You just didn't feel like leaving the house.”
“That's not true,” Wyatt said. “I did have a date with two ladies. Of course, one of them happened to be Maggie.”
David raised an eyebrow. “What about the other one?”
“The other one was Lily,” Wyatt said. “She's a...” He paused for a moment, trying to find the right words. David didn't know the situation with Lily and how she was Maggie's surrogate mother. In fact, David had never even met Lily before, which had been completely intentional. Wyatt knew that David would have tried to seduce her just like he did every other beautiful woman and he didn't want that for Lily. He wanted to protect her and keep her safe from guys who wanted only to sleep with her.
“She's a family friend,” Wyatt continued. “We've known her for a few years. I'm having her take care of Maggie while Mildred is out of town.”
“Oh really?” David smirked and raised his eyebrow a little further.
Wyatt was familiar with that look of his and knew that his best friend's gears were turning.
“What?” Wyatt asked.
“A lady friend?” David replied, the smirk still plastered across his face.
“No, just a family friend,” Wyatt said.
David seemed disappointed by the response. He sat back in his seat, letting out a sigh. “So you missed the game for a family friend? Something doesn't add up here.”
“Look, Lily had made dinner that night and Maggie had helped. Both of them were really excited about it and looking forward to having meet eat with them. I felt bad running out on them just to see a basketball game. Besides, I don't know why I'm telling you all of this. I'm a grown man. If I don't want to go and see a game, I don't have to. I shouldn't need to justify my reasoning.”
“The Wyatt I know wouldn't sacrifice court side seats for a dinner with just anyone,” David said. “Lily must be pretty special.”
“It was more for Maggie.” Wyatt was starting to get a little defensive. He hated when David pried like this. Even if he didn't really have any bad intentions, it was still pretty annoying. “I need to spend as much time with her as I possibly can. She's growing up quick and she doesn't have a mom any more. I'm supposed to be playing the role of not just one parent any more, but two. Do you have any idea how difficult that is? It's going to get harder, too. I can't imagine how it's going to be when she gets into her teens. I don't know a damn thing about what girls go through growing up.”