I barked out in laughter, my mood instantly brightening. This was a good idea. Seth was funny and light-hearted. Just what I needed.
“Truth,” I told him, holding out my mug. We clinked glasses.
He started to drive away, and I settled in, watching the snow fall on the windshield before it was whisked away by the wipers.
I sighed in contentment. “Maggie’s baking up a storm?”
“Yeah. She treats Christmas cooking like an Olympic sport.”
I laughed.
“Sad you missed your flight to see your mom?” he asked as he turned down a rural road I hadn’t explored yet.
I nodded. “Christmas in Paris would have been wonderful, but this is pretty nice, too.”
“How’s the pregnancy going? Any more morning sickness?”
“Here and there, but nothing like in the movies. I was expecting a lot worse.” And thank God for that because I wasn’t sure I could take an awful pregnancy.
“Great news,” Seth said.
I didn’t want to pry, but I wanted to get to know Seth better, so I decided to ask a personal question. “If it’s too painful to talk about, I understand, but I was wondering what your late wife’s pregnancy was like.”
He nodded, his fingers gripping the steering wheel a little too tightly then. He’d said he lost his wife and his unborn child, but I didn’t really know what had happened.
“Hard to say what was from the pregnancy and what was the cancer. Scarlett got diagnosed with both in the same week.”
My stomach plummeted. “I’m so sorry.” Scarlett. It was a beautiful name, and I’d had no idea she’d died of cancer while pregnant. How awful.
“That’s okay. I’ve made my peace with it.” His fingers relaxed, and he offered me a small smile.
“How far along was she when she passed?” I prodded a little more.
“Twenty-two weeks. Before the gestational age of viability.” He sounded like he was quoting a doctor, and he probably was.
I shook my head. “And you didn’t lose your faith through all that?”
He turned down another road, and I noticed a bunch of colored lights up ahead.
He peered over at me as if really looking into my soul. “Some people run from God when things get dark, and there’s no shame in that. I rantoHim. It was the only thing I could do to survive it. He kept me from drowning in the grief.”
My throat tightened with emotion, and a stray tear slipped down my cheek as I batted it away. What he’d said was beautiful, and I wished I could be that type of person. The one that had run to God and fallen on my knees when I’d heard of James’s death. I wasn’t. And now, I didn’t know how to find my way back.
I sipped my hot cocoa. “Mmm, this is yummy.” Time for a topic change.
“Swiss Miss. Microwaved it myself.”
I laughed again. “Scarlett spoiled you, didn’t she?” The man didn’t even know how to make proper hot chocolate.
He nodded, grinning. “She did. Never let me in the kitchen unless it was to clean up. Made everything from scratch. She was a chef and owned her own catering business.”
“That’s cool. I guess I haven’t really figured out what I want to do yet, as silly as that sounds.”
“Hey, you work for me,” he reminded me.
I smiled. “Yes, but I don’t see myself being an assistant forever.”
“Well, what else would you like to do?”
