Second Chance with Seth (Hart’s Creek Stories #9)

Chapter One

Everly

I turn around as the door opens and see Laurel Hanson walk into the coffee shop. Like mine, her long blonde hair is tied up in a ponytail, and she’s wearing gray pants and a pink sweater, with a pale gray coat over the top, which she pulls off as she glances around. I have to smile to myself, because I know she’s looking for Peony Hart. The two of them meet here at least every couple of weeks, although Peony must be running late, because she’s not here. Laurel clearly realizes that for herself and steps a little further inside, pulling her phone from her purse. She taps out a quick message, and then wanders to the counter, taking a seat, which is unusual for her.

“Hello,” she says, giving me a smile.

“Hi. Are you okay?”

She nods her head. “I’m supposed to be meeting Peony. I thought I’d sit here and wait for her, if that’s okay?”

“Of course it is. Can I get you anything while you’re waiting?”

“I’ll have a hot chocolate, please?”

“Let me get that,” Owen says from behind me, and I smile up at him, welcoming the help, just as Laurel’s phone beeps and she focuses on the screen, shaking her head.

“Is something wrong?” I ask.

“No. It’s just Peony. She’s been held up.”

“By Rory?” I ask, smiling as I think of Peony’s little boy, who must be about seven months old now, and utterly adorable.

“No, by a client,” she says, and I nod my head as Owen brings over Laurel’s drink, the rich hot chocolate topped with frothy cream and chocolate sprinkles. “Oh… thanks,” she says, her eyes sparkling as she hands him a ten dollar bill and he goes away to collect her change, returning within seconds before he disappears into the kitchen. “He’s nice.” Laurel tilts her head, giving me a knowing smile.

“He’s a godsend, that’s what he is,” I reply, and she smiles, taking a sip of her drink.

“So, there’s nothing going on? I mean, he’s been here a while, and…”

“There’s nothing going on,” I say firmly, and she nods her head.

“He makes a fabulous hot chocolate.” I chuckle and so does she. “Where did you find him?”

“I advertised, and he applied.”

“He’s not from Hart’s Creek, though, is he?”

I shake my head. “No. He lives in Willmont Vale. And to be honest, I don’t know how I’d have survived these last few months without him.” I glance over as Owen comes out of the kitchen, smiling as every other female eye in the room is drawn to his handsome face, and his tall, athletic build, although he’s focused on carrying a caesar salad and a hummus wrap to table three.

Laurel gives me an understanding smile, leaning forward slightly. “I don’t know how you managed any of it,” she says. “Working here when you were pregnant must have been a nightmare.”

“It wasn’t easy being on my feet all day,” I say, recalling how tired I used to get… how, each evening, I’d fall onto the couch upstairs, not even removing my black apron that I wear down here, and that I’d just sit there for hours and hours, too exhausted even to eat. It wasn’t good for me or the baby. I knew that, although doing something about it took me a while. I did it eventually, though. “That’s why I employed Owen,” I say, getting back to our conversation. “So I wouldn’t have to do it all myself.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Laurel says, shaking her head. “I was talking about the smell of coffee. Surely it made you feel sick, didn’t it?”

“No.” I lean on the counter. “I guess I got lucky. Either that, or I’m just immune to the smell after all these years.”

“I wish I could say the same thing,” she says, taking a deep breath, and I realize her meaning.

“A—Are you pregnant?” I ask, keeping my voice low, so no-one will overhear.

She nods, a smile spreading over her face and lighting up her eyes. “I am… and please don’t take offense, but I wish Peony and I had arranged to meet somewhere else. The nausea hasn’t been too bad until last weekend, but…”

She looks kinda pale, and I reach out and place my hand on her arm. “I’ve got an answer for that, which might help.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah.”

I turn and quickly drop a peppermint tea bag into a cup, pouring over hot water and bringing it back to her.

“Peppermint tea?” she says, taking a sniff.

“Yeah. You don’t have to drink it if you don’t want to, but if you keep it fairly close, the smell is enough to distract you from feeling sick.”

She frowns, like she doesn’t believe me. “Seriously?”

“Yeah. Once word got around the town that I was pregnant, a few people suggested it to me, assuming I’d have problems working around coffee all day long. I didn’t, and to be honest, by the time most people had worked out that I was pregnant, I think I’d have been well beyond the stage of morning sickness anyway, but I’ve recommended it to other people since, and they’ve said it worked for them.”

She pulls the cup a little closer, inhaling deeply, and sits back again. “You know… I think it’s helping.”

I can’t help smiling, and she chuckles and inhales again.

“How far gone are you?” I ask.

“Seven weeks,” she says. “We’re not telling anyone yet…”

“Don’t worry. I won’t breathe a word.”

She smiles her thanks. “Although I’ve told Peony and Ryan, and Brady’s told Cooper, who will no doubt have told Mallory, so it’s not exactly a state secret. We’re just trying to prevent Addy from hearing about it until we’re a bit further down the line. It’s taken us a while to get here, and we don’t wanna tempt fate.”

“I can understand that, and I promise, I won’t say a thing.”

“I know you won’t,” she says.

It’s easy to see how excited she is, and I can’t help feeling a little envious. My own situation was very different, and excitement wasn’t my primary reaction to discovering I was pregnant. Fear was closer to the top of my list… along with confusion, dejection, and a deep longing for Seth to be with me, even though I knew that was impossible.

“How’s Brady taking to the prospect of fatherhood?” I ask, desperate to forget that awful time in my life, even though it should have been one of the happiest.

“Other than being over-protective?” she says with a smile. “He’s thrilled.”

“I suppose my question was silly, really,” I say and she frowns. “Brady’s already a father to Addy, isn’t he?”

She nods her head, her smile returning. “He is, and he’s so good with her… especially now. I’m even more tired than I was when I was pregnant the first time around, and he’s been great with helping at home and looking after Addy… and me, of course. Although I don’t think he was prepared for how awful morning sickness can be. Not the first time it happened, anyway. All I did was turn over in bed. That was enough to set me off, but the problem was, Brady had his arms around me. I didn’t dare open my mouth, because I knew I’d be sick if I did, so I was slapping at his hands and arms, trying to break free of him. He didn’t understand that I desperately needed to get to the bathroom. I think he thought I’d taken leave of my senses.”

We both chuckle and I shake my head. “I was so lucky with morning sickness. I used to feel nauseous sometimes, and to be honest, that was mostly in the evenings, and most likely because I was tired. That’s probably how I kept my pregnancy a secret for so long… that and wearing baggy clothes. Although I’m sure there were a few people speculating.”

“I wasn’t one of them,” she says, and I smile, knowing Laurel has never been a gossip… unlike a lot of people in Hart’s Creek.

We’ve known each other all our lives, and along with Peony, we went to school together. They were as thick as thieves, even then. Not that they excluded me. It wasn’t like that. I’m sure they would have let me join in with them, if I’d wanted to. The fact that I didn’t was nobody’s fault. It was just that my parents died when I was very young, and I found it hard to make friends.

Seth put that down to a fear of people leaving me.

For as long as I’d known him, he’d always found it easy to get to know people. It was a trait I admired in him – among many others – and I wondered why he could talk to just about anyone, while I preferred to hide myself away. So, I asked him, and he explained. Or at least he gave me his interpretation.

“You’re worried that if you let people get too close, they’ll leave and hurt you,” he said. He was holding me at the time, and I looked up into his eyes and frowned.

“I let you in.”

“I know,” he said, smiling. “And that makes me the luckiest man in the world.”

He kissed me then, and I realized he was probably right. Not about him being lucky, but about my fear. It was natural enough, given my past, and my inbuilt insecurity, which he completely understood… like no-one else ever could. Why? Because he understood me, and I understood him. Or I thought I did.

“Did Seth know?” Laurel asks, surprising me.

A lot of people speculated about that, too, once my pregnancy became public knowledge. I’d already told everyone who worked here, because they’re the closest thing to family I have, and I couldn’t keep it from them. Sandra was the one to ask about Seth’s knowledge of my condition, doing it quietly as she was getting ready to go home, and I shook my head. She could see how upset I was and didn’t question me further. Neither did anyone else. They just accepted the situation and kept my secret for me, even when everyone else was wondering… some more loudly than others. A few people still do, although I never confirm or deny. That’s to say, I never have before. This time, though, I shake my head, feeling oddly relieved to have admitted the truth at last.

“You didn’t tell him?” she says, her voice little more than a whisper.

“I didn’t get the chance. He left before I found out.”

“But you could have contacted him, couldn’t you?”

“I could, but the way he left was… unpleasant.” Is that a strong enough word for what happened? It doesn’t feel like it… even now, nearly a year later. “I wasn’t sure where I stood with him,” I explain. “And I sure as hell didn’t want him to come back just because I was pregnant.”

“I can understand that,” Laurel says. “Although giving birth by yourself must have been horrendous.”

“It wasn’t great, but I’ve got nothing to compare it to. After River was born, I used to wonder what it might have been like if Seth had been there to share it all with me. Not just the birth, but the pregnancy as well. But that was only afterwards. When I was in labor, I was too busy trying to focus on breathing and pushing, and ignoring the pain.”

“Don’t remind me.” Laurel rolls her eyes. “But at least I know Brady will be there for me. He’s there for me now, every step of the way.” She pats her flat stomach and I tilt my head in confusion.

“Surely Mitch was the same, wasn’t he?”

“Not really,” she says, and I struggle to hide my surprise. Her voice is laced with uncharacteristic bitterness and I can’t help frowning.

“Really? He always seemed attentive.” I didn’t see them together that often, but when I did, Mitch usually had his hands all over Laurel, which I guess is one definition of attentiveness.

“Appearances can be deceptive,” she says, letting out a sigh. “He could put on an act, but that’s all it was. The reality was, he was too busy elsewhere to even notice me… or Addy.”

“Elsewhere?”

“Yes. In someone else’s bed.” I gasp, unable to help myself and Laurel shakes her head. “He had affairs. Lots of them. The last one culminated in him getting his girlfriend pregnant, and then crashing his car with both of them inside it, while he was leaving town with her.”

“You mean, when he died, he was…”

“Yeah. It’s not something I talk about very often, but…”

“I don’t blame you.” Shock gets the better of me and I step back just slightly, letting out a long breath. “I thought things were bad with Seth.”

“He didn’t cheat, did he?” she asks, sounding like that would be the most surprising thing in the world. Which I suppose it would.

“No. Seth wasn’t like that… although he flirted. Or, to be more precise, he allowed someone to flirt with him.”

“Who was the someone?” Laurel asks. “Did you know?”

“Yes. It was Helen Rogers.”

It’s Laurel’s turn to gasp and she pulls the peppermint tea a little closer, taking a long sniff. “You mean the teacher at Addy’s school?”

“Yes. She used to take every chance she could to flirt with Seth. I would see them together, her hands all over him, so it wasn’t me being paranoid, or imagining things. It was real… and from what I could tell, he loved it.”

“Is that why you split up?” she asks.

I hesitate for a second. “Yes, and no. Things hadn’t been right between us for a while. For me, that was because of the flirting, but for Seth, there were other problems.”

“Such as?”

“He said he didn’t like the fact that I was working really long hours, and he never got to see me.”

She frowns. “And you couldn’t have worked that out? You guys were so good together. Wasn’t there some way you could have compromised?”

“He didn’t give us the chance. He told me I had to choose between him and coffee shop, and when I said I couldn’t, he packed his bags and left.”

I can feel tears welling in my eyes, the memory of that awful evening flooding through my mind, and I lower my head, desperate that she won’t see me cry. No-one has, although I’ve cried a lot since Seth left, in the privacy of my own room. Because Laurel’s right, Seth and I were good together. We were great together… until we weren’t together anymore.

“I didn’t see you at Cooper and Mallory’s wedding,” she says, and I look up, giving her a smile, grateful for the change of subject.

“No, River had a cold last weekend, and as the weather was so bad, I didn’t want to risk making her even more unwell.”

“Is she better?” Laurel asks.

“Much better, thanks. How did the wedding go? Did the rain cause any problems?”

“Not at all. Peony had allowed for the weather, and everything was set up so no-one would get wet… no-one important, anyway.”

“Where have they gone for their honeymoon?” I ask.

“They haven’t. Not yet. My understanding is they’ve booked to go away next month.”

“And where are they going?”

“No-one knows… not even Mallory. And if Brady knows, he’s not telling.”

“What a lovely surprise.”

“Hmm… I wouldn’t have thought Cooper could be such a romantic, but he is. He’s absolutely besotted.”

“Good for him,” I whisper, and she smiles. It’s a sympathetic smile, one that touches her eyes and shows so much understanding, which is typical of Laurel.

“It was good to see Tanner and Zara looking so happy and relaxed, too,” she says, keeping our conversation going, although what she’s just said comes as a surprise.

“Why wouldn’t they be? They’ve only been married for a few weeks.”

She tilts her head, looking confused. “Didn’t you know?”

“Know what?”

“They’ve just come back from Barbados.”

“Seriously? I didn’t even know they’d gone.” How did I miss that? Lack of sleep, probably. “Was that a last-minute vacation?”

She looks even more puzzled. “No. It was their honeymoon.”

I must be more sleep deprived than I thought. “Honeymoon? I thought they weren’t having one. That was what everyone was saying, anyway. I remember a few people mentioned it at their wedding.”

“And they were right. They weren’t having one. Dawson arranged for them to spend their wedding night at the hotel as a last-minute surprise, but a honeymoon was completely off the cards… until Ryan got to hear about it, and that Tanner’s ex had tried to sabotage their plans.”

“What did he do?”

“He offered them a honeymoon of their choice.”

“Wow… that’s generous.”

“He’s a generous kind of guy.”

“So, they went to Barbados?” I ask, even though I already know the answer.

“Yeah… just for a few days. Tanner didn’t want to be away from Noah over a weekend, and didn’t like asking Katie to mind the bookstore for too long, but just that brief time away clearly did them good. They looked so happy at Cooper’s wedding.”

“I’ll bet they did,” I say, smiling, and we both turn as the door opens and Peony comes through, carrying Rory in her arms, her eyes fixing straight onto Laurel.

“I’m so sorry we’re late,” she says, giving me a smile, which I return before I look back at Laurel.

“If you wanna find a table, I’ll get Owen to take your order. I’d better check on River.”

Laurel nods her head, but then reaches out, placing her hand on my arm. “Thanks for the peppermint tea.”

I smile. “You’re welcome.”

She climbs down from her seat, and she and Peony head over toward table seven. Owen comes back from clearing table six, and I take the cups from him.

“What are you doing?” he asks.

“I’ve gotta go check on River, so I can take these with me. Can you look after Laurel and Peony?”

He turns to table seven and nods his head. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

He frowns, like he doesn’t believe me, but I don’t give him a chance to argue, and head through the swing door, straight into the kitchen.

Once I’ve dumped the cups on the countertop, I double-back on myself, stopping at the small alcove where River’s crib is set up. She’s fast asleep and I crouch down, gazing at her perfect face. She’s the image of her father, her hair a few shades darker than mine, but almost the same dirty blonde as his, and her eyes that same deep blue.

“Hello, my beautiful girl,” I whisper, fighting back tears as I think about what it could have been like… what it should have been like, if only Seth hadn’t left me.