“I’m not Charles. I never will be. I can work in his precinct and sit in his chair at Ma’s table, but I’d still be the wrong man for you.”
Athena didn’t say anything. Her eyes were shining.
“I’m going to ask you straight, because I think we’ve both been too polite for too long.” He spoke as kindly as he could. “My family is clearly trying to push us together. Do you think we should be? Is that what you want?”
“I, I don’t know,” she said, looking down at her nails.
“That’s what my mother wants, and Sadie, and Elyse, and if we don’t say something now, this whole thing is going to keep rolling downhill at us until we’re pinned against a wall with no way out.”
Athena’s cheeks turned pink. “I’ve been trying to figure out how to tell you that.” Not that you aren’t—” She stopped and pressed her fingers to her mouth with a small smile.
“I’m listening.” He touched her hand to reassure her.
“I’ve met someone. His name is David, and he teaches fifth grade at another school nearby.”
Blue nodded, taking it all in.
Her voice steadied as she spoke. “His wife passed away three years ago. He has two children, a boy and a girl, six and eight. We met at a district meeting last fall, and we talked, and…” She looked at her hands. “He’s so kind, and he makes me laugh. I haven’t laughed like that in a long time.”
“Athena—”
“Let me finish, or I won’t get through it. You know I can’t have children. I made my peace with that a long time ago. And then here comes this man with two babies who lost their mother, and they need someone, and I—” Her voice broke. “Well, I need them, too. It’s perfect for all of us.”
“It sounds like it is,” Blue said. Relief swept through him, and he was happy for her.
“I’ve been terrified to tell your family. I feel like I’m betraying them—and Charles. Like if I move on, I’m saying he didn’t matter.” Tears filled her eyes. “He mattered more than I can say.”
“I know he did.”
“Your mother has been so good to me. Sadie and Elyse treat me like a sister. I don’t want to lose that, but I can’t hide this secret anymore.”
Blue reached across the table and took her hand.
“Listen to me,” he said. “Charles would want you to be happy. If he were sitting right here, you know what he’d say? ‘What took you so long?’ And then he’d ask if David could throw a football.”
Athena smiled through her tears.
“Hey, you’re not losing this family,” Blue said, patting her hand.
“You’ll always be one of us, whether you want to be or not. That doesn’t change because you found someone. Charles wouldn’t allow it, and neither will I.”
She squeezed his hand hard.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “You have no idea how long I’ve been dreading this conversation.”
“I think I do,” Blue said.
They sat for a while, two people who had loved the same man, holding hands across a table in a coffee shop.
Eventually, Athena dried her eyes and smiled.
“Now it’s my turn to ask you something.” She tilted her head. “Sadie says there’s a woman on Crown Island you like.”
Blue blinked hard. “Her name is Jo, and she owns a diner. We’ve been seeing each other since I arrived there.”
Athena studied him. “Did she break your heart? That’s the only reason I can imagine why you’re moving back here.”
“I think I broke hers. I wish I hadn’t.”
