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Laura had a feeling the woman could do anything she put her mind to. “You know Seth so well,” She tried to explain what had sounded so good in the middle of one of her many sleepless nights. “I thought maybe you could give me some direction.”
With another quick glance at Michael, Susan included Laura in her smile this time and said, “I’ll certainly try.”
“I have a son.” Laura decided to get it all out there. Licking her dry lips, she yearned for the tea she’d yet to touch.
“I know. Jeremy. I’ve seen him.”
“You have?” Laura was incredulous—and confused.
“Mmm-hmm.” Susan nodded encouragingly. “The same day I found out about you.”
“Where? When?”
“Seth drove me by a ballpark where Jeremy was practicing soccer. And then around the corner to point out your house.”
“That was you?” Laura wanted to laugh, her relief was so great. And to cry.
“What do you mean?”
“Was that maybe six weeks ago?”
“Seems about right.”
Hope sprang even in hopeless hearts, it seemed. And then Laura recalled what else Susan had said. “You’ve seen my house?” She hadn’t meant to say the words aloud. Trying to make herself as small as she could, she hoped Susan wasn’t worried that Laura was getting her couch dirty.
“Yeah,” Susan said. “Seth was staring at your door—and I’ve never seen such longing in his eyes.”
“You must have been mistaken,” Laura whispered. Seth had walked out that door of his own accord. Mostly.
“Uh-uh.” Susan shook her head so vigorously, the layers of her beautiful hair slapped her face. “I’ve known Seth his whole life. I could feel his misery as clearly as if it were my own.”
Afraid to hope, for fear of her inability to survive another letdown, Laura looked for other possible explanations. And finding none, she changed the subject. Reminded herself what mattered.
“Jeremy saw the two of you,” she said.
“Oh.”
“He told you this?” Michael asked, speaking for the first time since he’d brought in the tea. His glass was empty.
Laura nodded. “And he hasn’t been back to soccer since.”
Susan gasped. “Nooo.” The one word was so sincere, so full of honest empathy, Laura almost wept. She should’ve known Susan would be a wonderful person. She’d practically raised Seth, and he was the most honorable man she’d ever met.
“It seems Seth has been watching practices and games from a distance since we, uh, broke up.” The explanations came a little easier. “And because of that, Jeremy kept playing. He figured Seth’s being there meant Seth still loved us.”
“He does.”
“Susan...” Michael said in a warning voice.
“He does, Michael,” Susan said, meeting her ex-husband’s gaze head-on. Laura wished she had half of Susan’s gumption. “He does,” she said again to Laura. “I don’t know what happened between the two of you, but there’s no doubt how much my brother loves you.”
“Just not enough to marry me.” Laura forced herself to acknowledge the truth.
Susan frowned. “How do you know that?”
Sighing, Laura remembered back to that last awful night. She’d handled things so badly, coming at Seth without a hint of finesse. She tried to tell his sister what she’d done—and couldn’t. She started to cry instead.
“What happened?” Susan asked, sliding closer to take Laura’s hand in her own.
