Page 47 of Minor Trouble
“I brought margaritas; you look like you could do with one.” She held up a jug. “There were a lot of comings and goings from your place last night and this morning.”
Her open nosiness made me smile. In the absence of my own mother, Marlena truly made a good substitute. She might be able to shed some light on what I should do about Seth.
I opened the door and waved her inside.
“Oh, looks like you’ve already made a start.” Marlena noted the half-empty wine glass sitting on the coffee table.
“You have no idea.” I went to the kitchen and grabbed a couple of glasses more suited to the margaritas Marlena had brought.
She poured us both a large glass. “Cheers!”
Clinking my glass with hers, I took a sip and inhaled practically neat tequila. “Geez, Marlena, what have you put in here? Rocket fuel?”
“Like I said, I thought you needed it.” She put her glass down. “What happened, honey? I thought things were going good between you two.”
Briefly, I filled her in on the happenings of the past few hours. I glossed over the fantastic sex, although I’m sure Marlena wouldn’t have minded hearing about it, and chose to focus on the stupid row we’d had that morning.
Marlena let out a breath when I’d finished. “Surely you can understand Seth’s concern at Noah’s disappearance given what he went through last week. He’ll be scared of losing his son, again.”
I hadn’t even considered that. The limited history I knew about Seth and Hannah’s relationship and how Noah hadn’t seen his dad in years came from the teenager himself.
“From what I remember, Hannah’s parents took her away quite soon after they found out she was pregnant. Everything she and Seth had been through to that point was taken away from him. There’s every possibility he would have stepped in, but he was just a kid himself, sixteen and facing up to being a teenage father.” Marlena took a gulp of her drink. “Now he’s got Noah back, I bet he doesn’t want to lose him again. His overreaction seems totally understandable.”
I got it, I really did, but his angry words still stung. If he’d just explained it in the same way as Marlena had then I wouldn’t be sitting here now, not knowing what to feel for him. “I don’t know whether to be mad at him or upset with him,” I admitted.
“It’s totally okay to be both,” Marlena reassured me. “What do you want to happen next?”
“Maybe I’m rushing things. We haven’t known each other all that long, a couple of months, and his world has completely changed, taking sole custody of his child. If things were different…”
“Honey, if he didn’t have a kid, you wouldn’t even have met him.”
I thought back to our first meeting when my car had broken down. Would I have pursued him if I hadn’t been at the school? I gulped down some of the margarita. The answer wasn’t obvious.
A knock on the door caught my attention. Honestly, I’d never been so popular on a Saturday night. I wondered if Lyla had popped by to check up on me, whether she’d got an update from Maddox or even Seth himself. I hauled myself off the sofa and went to answer it.
When I opened the door, I was met with the sight of two huge pizza boxes from Gino’s and a bunch of flowers that looked like they’d seen better days, being brandished in my direction by Noah. Standing behind him was Seth.
My hand went to my mouth as I went to speak, but no words came out.
“I think I need to apologize,” said Seth. “How is this as a start?”
“Do I smell Gino’s pizza?” Marlena’s voice floated into the hallway. “Don’t let it get cold, get in here.”
I bit my lip against a giggle and shrugged. “What do you say? Have we got enough for four?”
“We can probably make it stretch.” The corner of Seth’s mouth curved up.
They came inside and went into the living room where Marlena was waiting, eyes fixed expectantly on us.
It didn’t seem right to start the conversation off with what had happened that morning. Instead, I got plates and napkins and offered Noah some soda.
“Seth, do you want a margarita?” Marlena offered, holding up the half empty jug. I was surprised how much we’d already drank, and I’d have to rein it in if I wanted to have a sensible conversation with Seth, not one fueled by alcohol.
“I think I ought to keep a clear head tonight.” He glanced over at me. “Can I get a soda too?”
I grabbed a second can and handed them over.
The four of us ate, chatting about anything which wasn’t personal: the line at the grocery store, the new café opening up in town, the school’s football team and their chances of winning anything this season. It seemed Noah was going to try out for the team, something his dad seemed pleased about.
