Page 37 of His Best Friend's Baby

‘Seth, mate, you might have to accept that our wives will be on the lookout for possible life partners for you now. I suspect it’s in their DNA.’

‘Yep,’ agreed Scotty. ‘My Kandy’s quite the expert. Over the past couple of years, she’s stitched up two local single blokes, both younger than you, Seth. One bride was a cousin of Kandy’s from up in Queensland. Distance no problem at all. Only took two visits down to Wirralong, with Kandy making sure the bloke was invited to our barbecues, and then it was game, set and match. And you know that tall skinny fellow who works in the pharmacy? Kandy set him up too. Ended up as matron of honour at their wedding.’

‘Sounds like Kandy has quite a talent,’ Seth said smoothly. ‘But I’d rather do my own hunting, thanks.’

At least Jack Hargreaves was on Seth’s side. ‘Yeah, last thing a guy needs is unsuitable women being foisted onto him.’

‘Who said they would be unsuitable?’ Scotty was possibly a tad pissed by this point. He certainly didn’t pick up on Seth’s lack of enthusiasm and he wouldn’t let the matter drop. ‘All Seth needs is to provide us with a few specifications that we could pass on—’

‘Ah,’ Seth said as if he’d been suddenly enlightened. ‘So finding a wife is like selecting a new car? Just name your preferred make, model and engine power?’

This brought grins and chuckles, but before anyone could comment, Seth held up his hand. He knew the banter was motivated by good intentions, but he’d had enough. ‘Look, you lot. I’ve never had a problem with finding women and I can’t help thinking that you’re sending me up simply because I still have plenty of choices and you’re bloody jealous.’

‘No, mate,’ Scotty protested.

‘Not at all,’ added Nick. ‘Jeez, Seth, you don’t know what you’re missing.’ But Nick was chuckling, as he continued. ‘With marriage, you get a woman to manage your daily routine, your diet, your clothes.’

‘Yeah,’ chimed in another voice. ‘Someone to monitor your haircuts, the friends you keep and how much you drink.’

Now, from the kitchen, the happy babble of women’s voices could be heard. There was a burst of feminine laughter as a door opened and Elsa Hargreaves appeared, carrying a huge glass bowl filled with delicious-looking layers of trifle. Ruth Lange was just behind her bearing dishes and spoons. And the other women followed carrying apple crumble and, reportedly, a caramel rum pie.

Silence fell among the men. A couple of them exchanged sheepish smiles.

‘What’s got into you guys?’ Elsa asked as she drew closer. ‘You’re all looking fifty shades of guilty.’

Her husband, Jack, gave a shrug. ‘We’ve just been offering Seth a little helpful advice.’

‘Which I’ve gratefully accepted and inwardly digested,’ Seth cut in, keen to put an end to that line of discussion.

‘Hmm. I can just imagine.’ Elsa’s tone hinted that she was wise to them. But she didn’t pursue the subject as she set the trifle on the table with a rather grand flourish. ‘Anyway, who’s ready for dessert?’

At last, the conversation was diverted as everyone tucked in. Every dish was delicious and the cooks received well-deserved compliments.

The evening was winding down to a happy and satisfying close when Ruth Lange spoke up. ‘Have you heard from Polly Martin, Seth?’

She might as well have dropped a glass, or even a bomb, the way the conversation was suddenly silenced. It seemed to Seth that everyone was staring at him, waiting for his answer.

Unnerved by their attention, he drew a quick, hopefully steadying, breath. ‘Sure,’ he said. ‘I heard from Polly just last week. Her business is going really well and Summer’s just started crawling.’

‘Wow,’ said Ruth. ‘That’s wonderful. I can’t believe her baby’s crawling already, but I guess she must be six months by now.’

Elsa joined in. ‘It’s so easy to forget how quickly babies grow, even when you’ve seen it happen with your own kids.’

‘I guess.’ Seth decided not to mention that Polly had sent him regular videos of Summer, which meant he was quite up to date with the baby’s progress. Given the tenor of this evening’s conversations, someone was bound to read way too much into this contact from Polly, which he had, after all, demanded.

‘Any chance Polly will be back for another visit in the near future?’ asked Elsa.

‘Doubt it.’ Perhaps Seth said this a little too quickly.

He could have done without the searching looks that seemed to come his way.

*

Seth was beginningto suspect he’d shot himself in the foot by ordering so many updates from Polly. The regular emails and videos meant he was still incredibly connected to the pair of them, when he would probably have been wiser to let go. To move on.

Instead, he’d been deeply touched by the increasing evidence of Polly’s love for her little girl. It was so clear in the way she caught all those precious moments on film. Mind you, Seth would have liked to see videos of Polly as well, but she kept the visuals squarely on her daughter.

Just the same, he could have done with an occasional glimpse of Polly’s blue eyes. He would have liked to read her mood, and it bothered him more than it should have that he couldn’t actually visit Polly and spend time with her and her little girl. Hell, they were only two-and-a-bit hours away.

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