Chapter 19
MAE
‘Your blood pressure is a little on the high side,’ I told Gray, frowning as I removed the cuff from his arm and folded it back up. ‘How are you feeling?’
‘I’m fine,’ he said, shrugging. ‘Never been better.’
‘He’s stressed and not resting,’ Eleanor snapped from her position hovering in the doorway behind me. ‘I caught him working last night.’
She said it in the tone one would expect someone to use when announcing a spouse’s infidelity.
I smiled at Gray, knowing she couldn’t see. ‘Busted.’
He winked. ‘And I’d do it again in a heartbeat.’
‘I give up,’ Eleanor said bitterly. ‘If you want to work yourself into an early grave then go right ahead. I don’t care any more. I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me, Mae. Otherwise, you can see yourself out.’
Gray sighed after she’d left.
‘You might have to do a bit of groveling there,’ I said.
‘You might be right. She means well, but she doesn’t understand.’
‘Walk to talk about it?’
‘Why? Are you a licensed therapist as well as a nurse?’
I smiled. ‘No. But I am a good listener.’
He gave me a sideways look. ‘Has my son benefited from your listening skills?’
‘Excuse me?’
‘I caught a bit of a spark between you two the other day.’
I busied myself packing my things back into my bag. ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m going to have to let the doctor know about your blood pressure.’
‘No offense, lass. But you’re a terrible liar.’
I ignored him. ‘It may be nothing, but they may want to bring you in to run some tests.’
‘I’m happy my son has you to confide in,’ he said, carrying on as if I hadn’t said anything. ‘He needs someone like you in his life. I haven’t seen him look at anyone the way he looked at you in a long time.’ He shook his head thoughtfully. ‘Maybe never.’
‘Your son is a very nice man,’ I told him. ‘But you’re reading something into nothing.’
‘So, you don’t like him?’
‘I… that’s wildly inappropriate for you to ask.’
‘That’s not a denial.’
‘It’s not anything. Have you been taking your pills every morning and night?’
‘You know you’re blushing, right?’
I sighed. ‘Mr. Sawyer.’
‘Gray.’
‘Gray. Can we please focus on the job at hand?’
He leaned back against his pillows and shrugged. ‘You’re the one who offered to lend me a sympathetic ear.’
‘Yes, to listen to any worries you might be having, not wild conjecture about my love life.’
‘My life has shrunk to these four walls,’ he complained. ‘I’m going out of my mind here.’
‘Is that why you were working last night?’
He sighed. ‘That, and the hotel won’t run itself.’
‘You have no one who can look after it while you’re on sick leave?’
‘I have a competent operations manager, sure. Stephen Mancroft. He’s a nice guy, been with me a long time. He’s holding down the fort at the moment, but there’s only so much he can do.’
‘He can’t step up and take on more of your role?’
‘I’m afraid not. We have very different jobs.
As operations manager, he oversees the smooth, daily running of the hotel and liaises with the various departments.
As owner and general manager, I have more of a broader, leadership role, dealing with long-term business strategy, revenue growth and all the financial decisions.
Besides…’ he waved a hand ‘…he has no interest in my role. I asked him, once, to consider it, in case…’
‘In case what?’ I gently prompted.
‘In case something happened to me and Jonah refused to take on the role.’
He noticed my expression.
‘You know something,’ he said. ‘He’s talked to you about it, hasn’t he?’
‘It’s not my place to say anything.’
‘I know he doesn’t want to do it,’ he said sadly.
‘I’ve always known. It’s never been his calling, as much as I hoped that would change over the years.
But sometimes in life we have to do things we don’t want to do.
The hotel was built by my great-grandfather and has been run by a Sawyer ever since.
It’s our legacy. I wish Jonah could understand that. ’
‘I think he does,’ I admitted. ‘That’s why he’s so torn.’
He reached out and picked up my hand from the bed, holding it between the two of his. ‘Will you talk to him for me? Please? He might listen to you.’
I gently extricated my hand. ‘I’m sorry, Gray. But it’s not my place to get involved.’
‘My mistake. I thought you cared for him.’
I recoiled. ‘That’s not fair. I do care for him; that’s why I refuse to do what you’re asking.’
‘I’m sorry. Truly, I am. Forgive an old man for being unkind.’
‘It’s fine.’ I stood up and zipped up my bag. ‘But I think it might be a good idea for me to ask for another nurse to be assigned to your care.’
The thought filled me with dread, though.
The agency would want to know why, and I would have to explain that I had somehow become closer to the family than I should have.
Not in a boundary-crossing kind of way, which I’m sure they would understand if I explained that I’d met Jonah before Gray had even had his stroke.
Sure, it was only hours before, but it still counted.
It just sounded messy, even in my own head.
God knows what my new manager would think.
‘I don’t think that will be necessary.’ Gray tutted.
‘Surely. You’ve made your position clear, and I can respect that.
I just hope that you can understand where I was coming from.
I love my son. I want him to be happy, of course I do.
But I genuinely do believe that he would be, running the hotel.
’ He snorted. ‘After all, half of his stubbornness is purely him rebelling against his mother. Those two have always clashed. She has high expectations, when it comes to all her children. But especially Jonah. He is more like her than he realizes.’
‘OK. I won’t request a transfer. But please don’t ask me to get involved between you and Jonah again. I don’t think it’s fair on me or him.’
‘I won’t. I can’t guarantee Eleanor will feel the same when she finds out there’s something going on between you two, though.’
‘There’s nothing going on,’ I protested, feeling my cheeks flush as the kiss out by the waterfall flashed into my mind.
Almost a week had passed, and I hadn’t seen Jonah since that day.
On the drive back into town after our hike, a friend of his had called him and asked him if he could fill in last minute for a member of his crew who had come down with a stomach bug.
Otherwise he’d have to cancel his trip. Jonah had been hesitant, and told his friend he didn’t really want to leave his father.
I could tell he was also thinking about our kiss, what it meant, what might come next.
‘It’s fine,’ I’d told him. ‘Go and help your friend. I’ll still be here when you get back. And I’ll be checking in on your dad every day. It’s my job, after all. He’s doing OK though. Honestly.’
And so he’d decided to go. After dropping me off at the cottage and sharing an awkward, but in a good way, in a butterflies-in-your-stomach kind of way, goodbye, he’d reluctantly headed home to get an early night so he’d be well rested before his early start the next day.
‘She’s still holding out hope that Jonah will come to his senses and get back together with Jessica,’ Gray continued, oblivious to the fact I’d been reminiscing about kissing his son. His words drew me sharply back to the present moment.
‘Jessica?’ I asked, as nonchalantly as I could.
‘Yes, daughter of family friends of ours. Descendants of another Pine Harbor founding family, and Jonah’s ex-girlfriend. Well, one of many. She was the only one he was ever serious about, though.’
‘Oh? How long were they…’ I cleared my throat, choking on the word a little ‘…a couple?’
‘A couple of years. People thought they’d get married, her especially. And Eleanor, of course. She’d already started planning venues and centerpieces. But Jonah just wasn’t ready, I guess.’
‘Is that why they broke up?’
‘Yeah. I think she was hoping he’d come to his senses and go crawling back to her, but, as you’ll no doubt find out for yourself, he’s a stubborn lad.’ He chuckled. ‘Of course, the fact that his mother approved of the union didn’t help.’
‘I bet,’ I chuckled along with him, though mine was forced.
It was wrong, I knew, to pry about Jonah’s past relationships behind his back.
But, at the same time, I desperately wanted to know more.
I made a mental note to call Holly and ask her to slap some sense into me through the phone.
I’d come here to help move on from my own breakup, and somehow started falling for a man I’d met on my first night in town.
It sounded ridiculous. It was ridiculous, and I knew that.