Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
Ella
Seth’s tick scare was horrible. The doctor confirmed he had symptoms of a tick-borne disease and promptly put him on four weeks of antibiotics.
After three days, he perked up like nothing had happened, and a week after I’d sent the tick off to the lab, we got the results.
It was positive for Borrelia burgdorferi, also known as Lyme disease.
It had been quite a scare. I’d never seen big, strong Seth so sick.
Anytime he moved for three whole days, he winced or was bedridden napping.
The man never napped. He was usually up at five a.m. and stayed out working until the sun went down.
I knew that it killed him to be so helpless, but Russel handled the ranch while I tended to Seth and brought him food while Maggie was gone.
Tonight was my last night of bringing over dinner until Maggie got here.
It was Seth’s first full day back at work, and though he seemed better when I walked inside his house after knocking twice, I found him on the couch.
“Hey.” He sat up, looking a bit tired.
“Were you napping?” I asked, setting the lasagna soup I’d made down on the coffee table.
He chuckled. “Yes. I haven’t napped since I was three years old. This is crazy.”
I nodded. “Well, the doctor said it would take a while to feel fully yourself again. You been taking your pills?”
His alarm went off on his phone, and he smiled, ending it. “Twice a day!” he said and pulled the pill out from his pocket, chugging it back with a bottle of water. “What is that delicious smell?” he asked, eying the soup bowl.
“Lasagna soup,” I said. “I’ll let you get to it.” I turned to leave.
He cleared his throat. “I was going to watch a movie. If you want to stay, we could watch it together.” He pointed to the chair on his right, far away from the couch, indicating we would not be sitting together, and I relaxed a little.
“As friends,” he added, and I laughed.
“You know a spooked widow when you see one, don’t you?” I asked him, walking over to plop into the chair beside him as he tucked into the soup.
He nodded. “I was one once.”
I squirmed a little in my seat, but I was curious about this topic. “Have you…dated since Scarlett?”
“A couple of first dates. It was weird.”
I nodded. It would be weird. So weird.
I changed the subject. “What movie are we watching?”
Seth handed me the remote and leaned back on the couch.
Wow. Was he letting me pick?
“Super sappy Hallmark love story it is, then.” I teased.
“Oh, good, my favorite.”
I rolled my eyes, but he was looking at me seriously.
“For real?” I asked.
He nodded. “Better if it’s a holiday love story.”
“Seth Knight. I’ve found your kryptonite. Hallmark movies.”
He grinned and then looked over his shoulder at the front door. “Don’t tell the boys. As far as they are concerned, I watch The Godfather in here.”
I tipped my head back, laughed, and then selected a cute holiday love story.
As the movie played, I kept flicking glances over at Seth to see any indication he was bored or had fallen asleep, but he watched with rapt attention, and I thought it was adorable.
The six-foot-five-inch-tall cattle rancher was a gooey cinnamon roll inside.
I decided then that the more I got to know about him, the more I liked him.
James would have loved him. They would have been fast friends.
When the movie ended, Seth got up and walked me out.
He looked down at my belly and shook his head in wonder.
“What?” I asked.
“The movie got me thinking. Next Christmas, you’ll have a six-month-old baby.”
I gasped. He was right.
“Whoa. I’m not ready.” I felt dizzy just thinking about it. “I don’t even have a crib.”
Something flicked across Seth’s face, a sadness so profound it was like a punch to the gut to watch.
“What? What’s wrong?”
He peered down the hallway and chewed his lip. “I’d like to show you something.”
An ominous feeling came over me then. I knew I was about to step into Seth’s past. I just knew it. And I was ready. I’d been waiting to know more about what had made this man the man he was now. But I hadn’t expected what I saw next.