Jo went to the refrigerator and pulled out the baking dish she’d put in a little earlier. She set it on the counter, peeled back the foil, and plated two enchiladas. She didn’t bother heating them. She added a scoop of guacamole on the side and set the plate in front of him at the kitchen counter.
Blue sat down on a stool and looked at the food. He picked up a fork but didn’t eat right away.
“Do you have any beans and rice?”
“That’s only at the diner,” she replied sharply.
He looked at her and raised his brow.
“This isn’t the after-hours diner, Blue. If you wanted the full plate, you should have come in for the dinner special.”
His expression shifted. Hurt flickered in those deep blue eyes. She hadn’t expected that. She’d seen Blue absorb a lot of things, but he’d always been sensitive about food. Not the food itself, but what it meant when someone cooked for you.
Food had always been their love language.
He picked up his fork and took a bite. “These are really good, Jo.”
“Junie seemed to think so.” They’d be better if they were hot, she thought. He was trying.
“You had dinner with Junie?”
“I made plans with her when I couldn’t reach you.”
Looking down at his plate, he said, “I’m sorry I didn’t pick up messages. A lot was going on.”
He ate another bite, then another.
Despite herself, she brought a container of salsa from the fridge and set it beside his plate, along with a glass of water, without a word. She knew what he liked.
“Thanks,” he said.
They were silent while he ate. Jo washed the dishes from dinner and watched him from the corner of her eye, waiting for him to talk. Something was off about him tonight, beyond the usual awkwardness of a man who’d made a mistake and didn’t want to talk about it.
Even though he said they needed to.
Blue kept rotating his neck between bites like he was working up to something.
Finally, he said, “Sadie and Elyse say hello.”
She’d never gone with him on his trips back home because he never invited her. He didn’t visit often, though.
Still, she liked his sisters. They were Chicago through and through. Straightforward, down-to-earth, the kind of women who said exactly what they thought. She’d met them when they’d visited the island, and she’d gotten along with them, although they had never fully warmed to her.
Not in any way she could point to or complain about. No harsh words, no cold shoulders. Just a vague sense that she was temporary. A placeholder in a seat they were saving for someone else. Another woman, maybe from Chicago, who understood the family and what they’d been through.
Their mother was kind to her, but that was all. Jo was just the girlfriend.
Jo knew the Blumenthal family had been grieving for years, especially the eldest sister, Sadie. Charles was still sorely missed.
She watched him finish the enchiladas and pushed his plate forward.
“That was awfully good, thanks for making those for me.”
“You’re welcome.” She’d started to correct him but decided that would be petty.
Whatever was going on between them, she wasn’t going to be cruel. Blue was a decent man, just complicated.
And he was clearly building up to something.
