Page 14 of Second Chance with Seth
“Okay, so can we maybe go for a picnic tomorrow?”
“That sounds perfect.”
He smiled down at me, his eyes sparkling as he pulled me to a stop in the middle of the hotel parking lot, and that was where he kissed me for the very first time. It was magical to feel his lips caressing mine, his arms holding me close against his firm body, and although I’d fallen for him the moment I first saw him, when he pulled back from that kiss, both of us breathing hard, the look in his eyes told me he felt the same way.
We’d found each other. It was right, and perfect. It was just how it was meant to be.
From then on, he came back to Hart’s Creek every weekend, staying at the hotel from Friday evening until late on Sunday, and spending as much of the time in between with me as my work would allow.
It was a couple of months before we finally went to bed together, both of us feeling quite desperate by then, I think. I know I was. He was my first, and as he took my virginity, oh so gently, I knew he’d be my last.
I told him I loved him. Not that first time, but later that weekend. I’d loved him for a long time by then, and telling him felt natural. I was a little scared about how he might react, but I had nothing to fear, because he loved me too.
I never actually told Aunt Clare what had happened, but she worked it out. It wasn’t hard. I spent every spare second of my weekends with Seth, including sleeping with him at the hotel, so she was bound to notice. I wondered if I should talk to her, and maybe explain the situation, but I didn’t need to. She took matters into her own hands.
“I don’t understand you two,” she said as Seth sat at the counter one Friday evening about six weeks after we’d first slept together. He was waiting for me to finish my shift and I was stacking up the cups behind her.
“What does that mean?” I asked, turning to face her, and smiling at Seth, who looked just as perplexed as I felt.
“Why do you bother staying at the hotel?” she asked, addressing her question to Seth.
“Where else am I going to stay?”
“Here?” she said, like the answer should be obvious.
“Do you mean here, at the apartment, with us?” I said, just to be sure I’d understood.
“I was thinking with you, more than with me.” She chuckled, shaking her head.
“You wouldn’t mind?”
“Would I have suggested it, if I minded?”
I threw my arms around her neck and hugged her, only then turning to Seth, who was smiling his approval.
“I might have only just checked in, but I’ll go and check out again, shall I?”
I nodded my head, and he got down from his seat, taking my hand over the top of the counter and pulling me to the end, where he kissed me.
“I’ll be back,” he whispered.
“I can’t wait.”
Having Seth stay at the apartment was so much better. My room had always been on the top floor, reasonably separate from Aunt Clare’s, and we made the most of that. We also enjoyed being able to be by ourselves… without having to worry about finding somewhere to go.
It was lovely, and we were grateful to Aunt Clare… not just for making the suggestion, but for making Seth so welcome.
She extended that welcome a few weeks later, while we were all having breakfast together. Breakfasts had always been rushed in our house, but Seth had slotted right in, helping to get things ready, and clearing up afterwards, so Aunt Clare and I could get on with our day. On that particular morning, he wasjust finishing his toast when Aunt Clare said, “Everly’s never been to visit you in Concord, has she?”
Seth looked up, frowning. “No,” he said.
“Is there a reason for that?”
I wondered where she was going with her line of questioning, and sat forward.
“Only that I know she feels more comfortable in Hart’s Creek,” Seth said, reaching out and taking my hand. “It’s where she grew up, where her friends are… where you are. I’m not hiding anything.”
“And do you feel the same about Concord?” she asked. “I mean, are you as attached to it as Everly is to this place?”
