Page 79 of Second Chance with Seth

“Yes. I’m in love with her.”

“You are?”

“I always was. I was just too selfish to put her first.”

“And you’ve changed, have you?”

“In every way you can think of… except for loving Everly. That’s never gonna change.”

“So you led me on?”

“If you wanna look at it that way, you can. But you were the one doing most of the leading, Helen. As far as I was concerned, there was never anything in it.”

“Well… thanks for that.”

“You’re welcome.”

She glares at me, and I turn away, heading straight for the hotel. I wish I’d managed to avoid meeting Helen, but now I have, I know I’ll have to tell Everly what’s happened, and just hope she doesn’t overreact.

I shower first, then brush my teeth, before packing my things, leaving out a pair of jeans and a button down shirt, which I get dressed into.

I’m still feeling a little unnerved by that meeting with Helen, and I’m in even more of a hurry to get back to Everly. It occurred to me while I was in the shower that someone might have seen Helen and me talking, and in the time I’ve been here, they could have mentioned it to Everly. She won’t have taken kindly to hearing that and I realized I probably should have gone back to the coffee shop, rather than coming here. At the time, I was more interested in getting away from Helen than anything else… and I wasn’t thinking straight. Now, I just need to tell Everly what happened, and to know we’re okay.

I close up my bag, checking around to make sure I haven’t left anything behind, and then I dash from the room, my jacket slung over my arm, as I carry my bag down the stairs.

It doesn’t take long to check out, and once I’m done, I throw my bag into the trunk of my car, locking it as I make my way out of the parking lot and back onto Main Street. I’ve pulled on my jacket now, rather than carrying it, and I hurry along to the coffee shop, pushing open the door, and sighing out my relief when Everly smiles at me from behind the counter.

She wouldn’t be smiling if someone had been telling tales, would she?

“Hi,” she says, letting out a sigh, like she’s pleased – or maybe even relieved – to see me. That feels even more promising than her smile. “Can I get you a coffee?”

“Sure.”

“Black?” she asks, taking a guess.

“Based on my lack of sleep, yes, please.”

Her smile widens, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks, which makes me wonder if she’s recalling the reason for my lack of sleep. It would be the same as hers, and not entirely related to our daughter’s wakefulness.

“Take a seat at table eleven,” she says. “I’ll bring it over.”

“Which one is table eleven?” I ask.

“The only one along the back wall that’s free.”

“Okay.”

I make my way over, sitting down and watching as she fixes my coffee. She works quickly, bringing it across and putting the cup in front of me.

“I’ve decided I’m gonna go back to using my alarm clock,” she says, rolling her eyes. “That way, we won’t have to rush around like we did this morning.”

“That sounds like a good idea.” I reach for her hand, clasping it in mine. “Can I take it last night wasn’t a one-off?” She frowns, like she doesn’t understand. “You said ‘we’. You said ‘we won’t have to rush around’.”

“Oh… I see what you mean,” she says, smiling again. “No. Last night wasn’t a one-off.”

“Good,” I whisper, turning her hand over and kissing her palm. “Is our daughter asleep?” I ask.

“Just,” she says, shaking her head. “She didn’t wanna know about sleeping when I first got down here, so I had to let everyone else do all the work around me.”

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