Page 91 of Second Chance with Seth

“You think I gave up my job because of Davina?” I say.

“Why else? She was making things difficult for you, and you’ve obviously put some space between you, like you should have done with Helen.”

“I see. That’s how it was, was it?”

“It feels that way.”

“And if I had, wouldn’t that make you happy?” She frowns, looking at me like I’m completely insane. “I mean, wouldn’t you be pleased that I’d learned my lesson, and put you first this time around… even to the extent that I’d be willing to give up my job for the sake of our relationship?”

She sucks in a long breath, giving that some thought, and then shrugs her shoulders. “Maybe,” she says. “But I don’t like the idea of someone else having that kind of influence over you.”

“That’s okay, because she didn’t. My decision to leave had nothing to do with Davina.”

“It didn’t?”

“No. But I’d like to know why that was your first thought.”

“I would have thought that was obvious.”

“I guess it is, in a way, but we talked this through. I told you she meant nothing to me, other than as a truly annoying intern. So, why did you immediately assume my decision had something to do with her?”

She sighs deeply, her eyes glistening, and I pull her closer, surprised by her reaction, although I sense she’s got something to say and I wait until she looks up at me and whispers, “I keptseeing Helen around the town while you were gone. It… It reminded me of what it felt like before.”

I shake my head, turning her on my lap so she’s straddling me and I can pull her even closer still, holding her right against me. “Why didn’t you say something? We’ve been talking every day… several times a day. Why didn’t you mention it?”

“Because I didn’t wanna sound insecure, even though I am… even though I’m pretty sure I sounded every bit as terrified as I was when I called you on Thursday morning, right after I saw her.”

“So that’s why you called,” I say, recalling how weird that was. We’d only spoken an hour earlier, and seeing Everly’s name on my phone screen was a tremendous surprise. My first assumption was that something must be wrong, either with her or with River, and the moment I heard her voice, I knew it was her that had the problem. She sounded strained, even though she pretended to be fine. “Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask. “I’d have listened.”

“I know, but I hated myself for not trusting you.”

“Not trusting me? What did you think I’d done?”

“Nothing.”

“Then what did seeing her have to do with trusting me? We’d already spoken about Helen several times. I’d told you about her accosting me on the morning I left. She was history… she still is.”

“Yeah, but…”

“But what?”

“If you must know, she was talking on her phone when I saw her, looking happy and animated, and I—I…”

“You thought she must be talking to me?”

“It crossed my mind, yeah. The look on her face reminded me of how she was when she flirted with you, and I needed to know it wasn’t you on the other end of the line.”

“It wasn’t,” I say firmly. “It was probably some other guy.”

“Yes,” she says, looking embarrassed as she lowers her head. I place my finger beneath her chin, raising it until our eyes meet and she licks her lips, making me want to kiss her. “Are you mad at me?” she asks.

“No. I’m not mad at you, but you can’t keep bringing this up, babe. I thought we’d agreed on forgiveness, and leaving our mistakes in the past.”

“We are.”

“Then you can’t keep suspecting me of something I’m not doing. You can’t keep checking up on me, when you know, deep down, I’ll never hurt you.”

“Don’t keep saying ‘can’t’,” she says, biting on her bottom lip.

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