AN: I don't own any characters or rights to show, no profit being made from this. Have been watching MSW on Peacock and decided to try my hand at a fic to look between the lines of the show. I like to think CBS kept the relationship between Jessica and Seth ambiguous, much the way the relationship between Perry and Della was left open to viewer interpretation. In my world there was more than friendship going on in both cases. No Beta's, all mistakes are solely mine.
"Are you ready for my famous Coq Au Vin?" Seth exclaimed as Jessica opened the door and he carried the heavy bags of groceries into her kitchen. Happy to be out of the dark night air and into the cozy kitchen.
"My goodness Seth, how much food did you bring?" Jessica quickly cleared more space on the counter, and helped take the bags from him. Both were looking forward to a pleasant evening meal followed by a round of chess.
"I almost didn't make it, I thought Carline Foster would never have those twins." Seth started pulling the pots out of the cabinets, knowing Jessica's kitchen as well as he did his own.
"I know what you mean, I was running behind finishing the last chapter of my book." Jessica said as she helped him unpack the grocery bags as they fell into easy conversation about their day.
Jessica moved towards the cabinet to get the dishes for the table and stopped when she reached the counter. Not intending to but letting her mind drift and watching the doctor for a minute as he busily worked.
"I wonder if he knows how much I need this? How empty the house gets with Frank gone?" Jessica mused as she watched Seth already browning the meat. He was so different than Frank, yet so endearing in his own way. "I wonder what would happen if I told him how much I depend on him? How much I care about him? That I think of him sometimes as I'm going to sleep when I wish I had someone to hold me." Jessica considered as she watched him now busily stirring ingredients into a pot, still talking about the workday when he suddenly looked up at her. She felt a flutter in her stomach as their eyes met and held for a beat. She fought the urge to look away before he would see what she felt like must be clearly on her face.
"Woman, are you just going to stand there and watch me work?" Seth exclaimed. His tone would have sounded insulting to anyone else, but Jessica knew better and simply smiled as she turned for the plates on the counter. "What's on your mind Jess? Am I boring you?" He wouldn't let it go, trying to figure out what the expression was that he had seen before she had turned away. He wished he could know what she had been thinking as he could almost swear that had been a wistful look in her eye, but he shook his head, he wasn't an expert at reading emotions, was probably his own wishful thinking at work.
"Not at all, I was listening, I was thinking also, you know I am capable of doing both." Jessica said lightly as she worked to set the table. "I'm wondering if I ended my book the right way," she began choosing to focus on the topic of her latest book rather than the thoughts she had been entertaining. While he was a salty New England doctor and usually able to be circumspect, Jessica could easily envision how a shift of topic to affairs of the heart would ruin their evening. "I was just thinking, at the end of my book I had the butler end up being the killer but now I'm rethinking whether that is too cliché, but if I were to change that I would have to change the whole book, it would take days…." She began talking about her book as she kept her hands busy.
It was Seth's turn to watch her out of the corner of his eye as he busied himself moving the dirty dishes from the stove to the sink as the food was now in the oven. "Does she know how beautiful she is?" Seth thought as he admired his friends poise and casual elegance. "So different than my Ruth, I never thought there would be room for another woman in my heart." He sighed wistfully as he felt a clench in his chest that had nothing to do with his health. "She could never see someone like me as more than a friend, it would mess things up if I asked. She would be kind about it, but she'll never love anyone like Frank, especially not an overweight curmudgeon like me. She would go for someone more elegant like herself," he tried not to think of the picture he had seen of Preston Giles before he sighed and tried to banish the thought from his mind, unwilling to risk their friendship by pursuing the topic further.
"Is there something wrong?" Jessica asked, bringing his attention back to her as he started scrubbing one of the pans.
"No, why do you ask?" Seth said quickly, his voice almost a snap as he worried for a moment if she had somehow been able to read his mind.
"I just heard you sigh," she said, tilting her head and studying him. Something was off, she could tell, he seemed uncharacteristically defensive and tense.
"Just thinking of washing all these dishes." Seth said as he purposefully focused on the pot in front of him, scrubbing it as if his life depended on it, even though he had already scrubbed off everything but the enamel.
"The timer says there's 30 more minutes with the oven, I'll help you, we'll have them done just in time to eat." Jessica volunteered as she walked over to join him at the sink.
"I sure wouldn't mind Amos Tupper walking in right now." Seth couldn't help but think of how he would welcome the distraction as Jessica moved beside him and rolled up her sleeves. Her arm casually brushing his as she reached for one of the pots. Seth congratulated himself for not dropping the heavy pot into the soapy water at the feel of her warm skin sliding against his own, so focused on his victory he missed the slight hitch in Jessica's breath. "It's dish soap, and she's just helping with dishes, get ahold of yourself man." He ordered himself to focus.
The friends worked in silence, the weight in the air seeming to grow heavier before Jessica's mind settled on a topic that felt safe. "You said the Foster's now have 7 children, my goodness, where are they going to put them all in a house with only 4 bedrooms?"
Seth's sigh of relief was almost palpable at the reintroduction of a safe topic. "I don't know, if you ask me, someone needs to have a surgery before they end up with more. I would say it would be easier for the mister, but I still say their middle son Howard sure favors Ben over at the hardware store." They laughed together, dishes now completed as they moved back to the stove, ready to enjoy their evening of camaraderie, feelings once again safely tucked away.