Page 42 of Second Chance with Seth

“And don’t tell me… you told her you wouldn’t need to act like a father if she’d told you that you were gonna be one in the first place?”

“Well… something like that.”

“Are you gonna throw that at her every time you have a fight?” he asks, tipping his head to one side and raising his eyebrows.

“No. I didn’t mean to throw it at her this time. I was going to apologize, and I would have done if you’d let me.”

“And if I had, what would you have said?”

“I don’t know… maybe that I wanna help her?”

“What with?”

“River, of course.”

He waves his hands above his head. “And that’s my point. You’re going about this all wrong. You can’t make it about River.”

“Why the fuck not? She’s my daughter.”

“I know, but unless you wanna be a part-time dad to her, and have no relationship at all with her mom, this is not the way to do things.”

“Then what is?”

“You need to make it about Everly. She needs to see it’s her you want. My understanding of the situation is that she didn’t tell you about being pregnant, or about River, because she wanted to be sure you’d come back for her, and not the baby.”

“Yeah…”

“In which case, you need to prove to her she was wrong… and that you’re here for her, and no-one else.”

“Of course I’m here for her. I didn’t even know River existed when I got here, did I?”

He lets out a long sigh, shaking his head. “No, but what I mean is, now that you know about River, you need to show Everly that it’s still about her… and only her. You need to show her she’s your priority, while letting her know you’re gonna be there for both of them.”

I shake my head, his words spinning round and round. “I know you’re making sense, but I haven’t had any sleep, so you’ll need to give me a moment.”

He smiles, nodding his head, and then he goes and clears one of the tables, going out to the kitchen before he returns to me again. I’m still wading through quicksand and I look up at him.

“Is Everly okay?” I ask.

“She’ll be fine.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

“She’s not crying anymore.”

I nod my head. “Can you give her a message for me?”

“Sure.”

“Can you tell her I’m sorry?”

“Okay.”

“And can you say I’m gonna go to my hotel room for a while, so I can think things through?”

“That sounds kinda ominous,” he says, frowning.

“It’s not. Honestly. Tell her I’ll be back later, and… and tell her I love her.”

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