Blue thought about those points. “She values honest hard work, and so do I. She’s loyal to people she cares about and looks after her brother, all while running a business.”
“And you admire those things.”
“They’re some of the reasons I fell in love with her.”
“Then perhaps the question isn’t whether you’re ready for marriage,” Whitley said. “Perhaps the question is whether you’re both willing to build a life together the way you’ve each built your lives on your own. Separately, you’re both accomplished. The challenge is whether two people who are very good at doing things alone can learn to do them as a pair.”
“You’re pretty wise for a man who’s never been married,” Blue said.
“I’ve learned a lot about human beings at this hotel,” Whitley said dryly. “You don’t have to be married to have a relationship.”
They came around the front of the building again, back to the porte-cochère where they’d started. A town car was pulling up, and a bellhop hurried to open the door.
As they stood watching the arrival, Ella Raines waited by the front entry. She wore white linen pants and a coral blouse, and her silver hair was pulled back. She looked nice. Blue had been accustomed to seeing her in hospital scrubs. That’s how they’d met.
He respected her because she was always straight with him in conversation. She might be retired, but she could still take the measure of a person in mere seconds.
Ella smiled when she saw them. “My two favorite men on Crown Island. What are you conspiring about?”
“We were discussing the philosophy of partnership,” Whitley said, greeting her by taking her hand in his.
Ella turned to Blue, reading him the way she’d once read vital signs. She drew her eyebrows together. She asked about his mother, adding, “And how are you holding up?”
“We were just talking about that,” Blue said, filling her in on his trip and what happened with Jo. “I’m afraid I might have messed up the situation beyond repair.”
She patted his arm. “Just because you’re miscommunicating doesn’t mean it’s over. Consider your responsibility to the relationship. You get out of it what you put in, young man.”
“That sure tracks.” Blue lifted the corner of his mouth in a wry grin. “Jo is barely speaking to me now. She even served me the old dregs from the coffee pot the other day when I returned.”
“I don’t blame her,” Ella said. “Sounds like you deserved her wrath. First, you shouldn’t have tried to reconcile in a public place, especially at Cuppa Jo’s. You must face her with a real apology. And you should have communicated with her when you were out of town, although you’ve learned that.”
“Sure did,” Blue said, feeling the edges of his ears burning with embarrassment.
“And furthermore,” Ella said, “people need to know where the other one stands in a relationship. When you cut off communication, of course she would react. Would you want a simpering doormat of a woman who excused your every transgression? I certainly think not. Now you know, dear. Don’t do that again, but now you should make it up to her. Do that first.”
“Most men would rather avoid confrontation with their mate,” Whitley said with a knowing expression. “But when you listen, you can work out the issues.”
“Thank you, both,” Blue said, understanding his mistakes. He’d been ashamed of his behavior, and avoiding the inevitable was only making it worse.
Blue walked back to his cruiser, thinking about what they’d said. Behind him, Ella said something to Whitley that made him chuckle. He glanced back and saw them walking into the hotel together, Ella’s hand resting lightly in the crook of Whitley’s arm.
Some people made relationships look easy. He realized you had to trust your partner and have their back, just like he did on the job.
But could he, after what had happened to his brother?
His shift was over, so he left the Majestic and drove toward the beach road, past houses splashed with every color of the rainbow in the Crown Island tradition. He mulled over the possibilities, wondering if he was up to Jo’s standards after all.
The ring was still buried in a drawer under his board shorts.
6
“Rocky, it’s Jo. I’ve been going over your notes.” She cradled the phone between her chin and shoulder as she rolled her bike out of the diner’s rear door. “I have questions. Are you free tonight?”
“Sure, tonight works,” he replied.
“I was thinking of sushi at the Rockin’ Roll. Do you know where that is?”
“I’ll find it.”
