‘I like the sound of that. Though you might have to do all the heavy lifting – I’m not sure if my arm can hold my weight at the moment.’
‘Youwill mostly be resting,’ I informed him firmly, and he looked crestfallen. ‘But I’m sure we can work something out.’
‘That’s what I love about you,’ he grinned. ‘Your resourcefulness.’
The sound of another vehicle made us turn. He frowned.
‘My mother. How did she?—’
‘I might have called her,’ I confessed.
He stared at me, confused again. ‘Why?’
‘I had to. I’m sorry. Your family have been just as worried as I have.’
‘Jonah,’ his mother called, exiting the vehicle. ‘Oh, thank God.’
I started to pull away from Jonah but he tightened his grip. ‘Oh no you don’t. You stay right there.’
Eleanor stopped short, running her eyes over him. ‘Mae said you’ve been injured.’
‘I’m fine, I’ve just dislocated my shoulder again.’
I blinked up at him. ‘Again?’
‘Long story. I’ll tell you about it another time.’
Eleanor looked over Jonah’s shoulder at Jim’s boat. ‘I hope it was worth it,’ she said tightly. ‘You could have been killed, and for what? A few lobsters?’
I felt Jonah’s body tense. ‘Can we not do this right now?’
She stared at him, as if carefully trying to decide her next words. Then she sighed, her shoulders sagging. ‘I’m sorry. I’ve hardly slept. Neither has your father. We’ve been worried.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Jonah replied. ‘I know it must have been hell.’
I squeezed my arm tighter around his waist. ‘It was nothing compared to what you must have gone through out there.’
‘What he went through out there was reckless,’ Eleanor said. ‘And avoidable.’
‘Unfortunately, the weather is outside of my control,’ Jonah replied.
‘Don’t be glib. If you stayed on shore, none of this would have happened,’ she retorted.
‘Here we go. You don’t miss an opportunity, do you, Mom? I’ve just spent the night being tossed around the Atlantic and you want to use this moment to work your own agenda.’
‘Why do you think Iwantyou to take over the hotel,’ she retorted. ‘At least then I know you’ll always be safe.’
‘That’swhy you want me to work at the hotel?’
‘It’s a good job, Jonah. A safe job. You’ll never have to worry about anything. And I won’t have to spend my life worrying about you.’
‘Why can’t you just trust me to keep myself safe?’
‘I do trust you. But people don’t drive their cars expecting to have accidents, do they? They don’t climb ladders expecting to fall off, or swim in the ocean expecting to drown.’
‘What’s your point?’
‘You’ve always enjoyed pushing the boundaries. You think I didn’t know you used to sneak out as a kid and explore the island? Of course I knew. I spent countless hours worrying about you falling off a cliff, or being swept off rocks out to sea.’
