Page 5 of Second Chance with Seth
She climbs down from her seat, and she and Peony head over toward table seven. Owen comes back from clearing table six, and I take the cups from him.
“What are you doing?” he asks.
“I’ve gotta go check on River, so I can take these with me. Can you look after Laurel and Peony?”
He turns to table seven and nods his head. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
He frowns, like he doesn’t believe me, but I don’t give him a chance to argue, and head through the swing door, straight into the kitchen.
Once I’ve dumped the cups on the countertop, I double-back on myself, stopping at the small alcove where River’s crib is set up. She’s fast asleep and I crouch down, gazing at her perfect face. She’s the image of her father, her hair a few shades darker than mine, but almost the same dirty blonde as his, and her eyes that same deep blue.
“Hello, my beautiful girl,” I whisper, fighting back tears as I think about what it could have been like… what it should have been like, if only Seth hadn’t left me.
Chapter Two
Seth
“I’m not sure how much more of her I can take,” I murmur, shaking my head at Aiden.
“What’s the problem?” He tilts his dark head, looking over the top of his reading glasses before he removes them, placing them on his desk, and sits back in his chair, giving me his full attention.
“The problem? She’s crap at her job.”
“She’s an intern,” he says, quite reasonably. “What do you expect?”
“Someone who doesn’t spend at least half of her day in my office, asking me dumb questions. Someone who can act on their own initiative once in a while, without running to me. Why the fuck do you think I’m in here?”
“To moan at me?”
“To seek sanctuary. If she thinks I’m in a meeting with you, she’ll leave me alone.”
“Sounds to me like Davina’s got a crush on you,” he says, smiling, like he’s really enjoying this.
“Don’t say that. It’s the last thing I need… and anyway, I don’t think it’s like that. She’s never made a pass at me.”
“But you wish she would?” he says.
“Fuck, no.”
He chuckles, and I have to smile. Despite my frustrations, at least I can talk to Aiden about them… and not just as my boss – and Davina’s, too – but also as a friend, because that’s what he’s become over the last eleven years, since I started working for him. Despite the ten-year age gap between the two of us, I can speak my mind, confide in him, and tell him how I feel… and that’s a two way street. He proved that when he discovered his first wife Roselyn was cheating on him five years ago, and he turned to me. I’d met Roselyn frequently, and I have to say, she didn’t seem the type to even think of looking elsewhere, let alone put thoughts into actions… but that just goes to show, you never can tell. In any case, he was hurt, confused, angry and humiliated by what she’d done… especially as Aiden knew the guy she’d been sleeping with. He was a neighbor of theirs who I’d never met, and think that helped. It meant he could say whatever he wanted, without fear of me repeating a word of it to any interested parties. Not that I would have done. But my impartiality certainly counted in my favor as I helped him through his divorce, which was nowhere near as messy as it could have been.
Since then, Aiden’s met someone else. Her name is Jordan. She’s got two little girls from her first marriage, and they’ve now got a baby of their own… a little boy who’s about six months old. He’s called George, and he’s a time-consuming, noisy handful, even if he is kinda cute. Aiden always wanted kids. I think that was another bone of contention with Roselyn, who wasn’t so keen on the idea, but I can see how happy he is now. It’s obvious for anyone to see, despite the lack of sleep since George arrived on the scene. He keeps telling me he’s going to propose, but he hasn’t gotten around to it yet. God knows why, though. Like I say, he’s happy… happier than he’s ever been, and he and Jordan are good together. I’ve asked if he’s worried about getting burned again, but he says he’s not. He says it’s just aboutfinding the right time. I guess with three kids under the age of six, that’s understandable, but I know if I were him, I wouldn’t wait. I wouldn’t let anything get in my way. Hell… if I could have Everly back, I wouldn’t hesitate for a second. I’d ask her to be mine forever.
Although there’s not much chance of that happening.
“What’s the problem?” Aiden says, breaking into my thoughts.
“I’ve already explained. Davina’s crap at her job. She won’t leave me alone, and…”
He shakes his head, and I stop talking. “That’s not it,” he says. “This is about something more than Davina. She might annoy you, but she’s not the real problem.” He sits forward. “You’ve been miserable since before Davina even started working here, so my guess is that this is about Everly.”
“You don’t think I can’t tell a good intern from a bad one?”
“Of course I do, but you’re not normally this impatient, even with the worst of them.” He picks up his cup, checking to see whether it’s got anything inside, and then takes it over to the coffee machine in the corner of his office. “Do you want one?” he asks and I nod my head, watching while he fixes us both a black coffee, bringing the cups back to his desk and sitting down again. “It’s been a year, hasn’t it?”
“What has?”
