Jonah frowned. ‘You never tried to stop me.’
‘Because your father wouldn’t let me. He said it was just the way you were born, a child who craved the outdoors, and I had to let you find your own way.’
‘I’m amazed, frankly, that you listened to him.’
‘I shouldn’t have,’ she retorted. ‘Maybe if I’d stepped in earlier and stopped you from taking all those crazy risks, encouraged you in other directions, you’d never have ended up on the boats.’ She spun and pointed at the memorial on thepier. Decorated with colorful buoys, it listed the names of every fisherman and lobsterman lost at sea since Pine Harbor was founded. ‘Every time you leave this dock I imagine your name on that thing and I… just… can’t…bear it.Somewhere in this town, the mothers of the crew of theGolden Pearlmust be going out of their minds right now, waiting for word.’
‘Shit.’ Jonah rubbed his good hand over his face wearily. ‘They haven’t come in yet?’
I shook my head. ‘Dion said last night that they haven’t been able to contact them.’
‘It could be something as simple as a damaged antenna,’ Jonah suggested.
‘Coast guard will head out this morning.’
They stared at each other. In that moment, I saw Eleanor for what she was: a vulnerable mother. Beside me, Jonah shifted his weight and made a noise, activating the nurse in me.
‘I’m sorry but this conversation is going to have to wait,’ I said. ‘Jonah needs medical attention for his shoulder. The longer it’s out of place, the harder it’ll be to get back in.’
‘Can’t you just do it for me here?’ he asked.
‘Without painkillers?’
‘It popped out without painkillers. Can’t be any worse than that.’
‘How exactly did it happen?’
Jim jumped down from his boat to the dock and joined us, just in time to hear my last question. ‘You don’t want to know, believe me.’
‘No,’ Eleanor said curtly, glaring at him. ‘I don’t. Interesting that it’s Jonah who is injured and not you. I’m guessing you were safe in the wheelhouse when he was injured?’
Jim stiffened. ‘I don’t like what you’re insinuating, Eleanor.’
‘Neither do I, Mom,’ Jonah growled. ‘For your information, he offered to go out and cut the rope that was tangled around the prop, but I insisted on doing it. It’s my fault, not his.’
‘You could have been washed overboard.’
‘I was.’ He shrugged, then winced when it hurt his shoulder. ‘But then I managed to pull myself back up. This is what I’ve been trying to tell you – I can look after myself.’
She pointed at the memorial again. ‘Every single one of those men no doubt thought the same thing.’
‘That’s low,’ Jim interjected. ‘Those men?—’
I held up my hands. ‘Guys, enough,’ I said loudly. They all fell silent. ‘Seriously. We’re going around in circles here, and all I care about right now is getting Jonah fixed up, cleaned up and rested up. And if anyone has a problem with that, they can get lost. OK?’
The three of them stared at me.
‘Bossy little thing, isn’t she?’ Jim said.
Eleanor looked at me with something that I could have sworn was respect. ‘Yes, she is.’
I lifted my chin. ‘Deal with it,’ I told her. ‘Because I’m not going anywhere.’
42
JONAH
‘Jonah?’
