I put the prawn that I had just picked up back down on the tray. ‘That’s disgusting.’
‘Your turn will come.’
‘I doubt it.’
‘Speaking of starting a family,’ Mom said. ‘I hear Jessica is single again. Of course, not terribly surprising. I knew she and that Archer wouldn’t last. He’s far too boring for her, not to mention that, according to her mother, she still has feelings for you, Jonah.’
It took a huge amount of effort to keep my face straight. ‘So?’
‘I’m sure she’d be willing to give you another chance, if you apologized.’
I frowned. ‘Apologized for what? Refusing to be manipulated into a marriage I don’t want?’
‘At your age, your father and I had already been married for eight years and had two children.’
‘I think you forgot to add the wordhappilysomewhere into that sentence,’ I told her.
‘You’re wasting your life,’ she said, ignoring my dig. ‘Playing about at being a lobsterman, having casual flings whenever the urge takes you. Don’t forget, in this town, I hear everything. You need to grow up, Jonah, and accept that you have responsibilities to this family.’
I drained the rest of my bottle of beer and put it down on the table, deliberately missing the coaster by an inch, then smiled at my brother.
‘David, I’m happy for you, I really am. But if you’ll excuse me, I’ve just remembered I have somewhere else I need to be.’
Anna rolled her eyes, a habit she’d developed at thirteen and never grown out of. ‘Here we go.’
‘Don’t be silly,’ our mother said. ‘You’ll stay for dinner, as planned.’
‘I’ve lost my appetite. Night, all.’ I turned and walked away.
‘Aren’t you going to say something?’ I heard her say to my father.
‘He’s a grown man, Eleanor. If he wants to go, he’ll go. I can’t stop him.’
I slammed the front door behind me, heading for my truck. There was a beer waiting at The Cozy Catch with my name on it.
3
MAE
As I drove slowly down the snow-lined streets towards the upcoming turn onto what Google Maps had just informed me was the Main Street of Pine Harbor, I took a few deep breaths in an attempt to quell the nerves that were stirring in my stomach. I’d left the skyline of Chicago behind me in my rearview mirror yesterday with a dizzying sense of optimism, excited about what lay ahead. That optimism had waned slightly with every mile that passed, as the distance between the life I was leaving behind and the new, unknown one I was heading towards became achingly apparent. I’d called Holly from the cozy room in the boutique, historic hotel where I’d stayed last night in Hudson, New York, hoping she’d remind me why I was doing this, and thatthiswas the right thing for me to do. I should have known better.
‘It’s normal to have second thoughts,’ she’d said, starting off reassuringly enough. But then she’d added, ‘It’s your gut telling you that you’re making a mistake. Just turn around and come back. It’s not too late. Terry is still pissed that you’ve left; he’ll give you your job back in a heartbeat.’
‘He’s already replaced me, remember?’
‘Yeah, but we’re always short of nurses – you know that. And you’re one of the best. The others are all incompetent twits.’
‘That’s not fair. Or true.’
‘I don’t care.’
‘Holly.’
She’d sighed. ‘I just miss you, OK? Work sucks without you. Who’s going to make fun of all the fresh little interns and junior docs with me? With their bright eyes and shiny optimism.’
‘I don’t make fun of them.’
‘But you listen whenIdo. Who else is going to do that?’
