Page 2 of Second Chance with Seth

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 Iwas 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.

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