JO WAS KNOCKED OFF her feet. Stunned, she sat on the pavement for a moment trying to clear her head and catch her breath, then lifted dazed eyes to look around.
Harold’s car was stopped a few feet away. A huge chunk of roof had crashed onto the hood and he had careened into a light pole. The impact had crumpled the fender and burst the radiator, which was leaking a stream of water. Behind the wheel, he sat rubbing his head while feebly trying to push the air bag off his lap and find the door handle.
Jo blinked and focused on the chunk of roof, then everything came rushing back and she staggered to her feet. “Case!” she yelled. “Oh, no! Oh, no!”
She started for the workshop, saw Cedric, Freida, and Charlotte stumbling from Harold’s house and yelled, “Find a phone. Call 911!”
Cedric nodded, shepherded the two ladies ahead of him and the three of them started off down the street at a trot.
Sick with dread, Jo dashed to the corner of the building, but was met by Case, who lurched out to meet her. Under one arm he had a fire extinguisher and under the other, he carried Starina, who was struggling and shouting in protest. “Put me down, you young turk. I’m not hurt!”
When he saw Jo, Case set Starina on her feet and dropped the fire extinguisher. Starina immediately hurried out to the street to look at the damage from a distance, then strolled over to check on Harold.
“Oh, God,” Jo sobbed, throwing herself into Case’s arms. “You’re all right. I was so afraid.” Tears of relief poured down her face as she ran her hands over his arms and shoulders. She would have checked out his legs, too, if he hadn’t grabbed her and kissed her hard.
“What happened?” he asked in an agitated voice.
Didn’t he remember? She reached up and touched his face. “Why, Starina’s machine blew up again and blew the roof off—”
“No,” he said. “I know about that part.” His eyes searching her face, then standing back to make sure she was all right. Relieved, he kissed her again. “I mean what happened with Purdy? Did he try anything? Because if he did…”
Shakily, Jo lifted a hand and pointed. “He stole Freida’s money and tried to escape.” Hurriedly, she explained what had happened. “What about you, though? You’re really all right.”
“Yeah.” Case shook his head in disgust. “I wasn’t watching what she was doing because I was looking for you. The machine caught fire, so we both grabbed fire extinguishers, but when I saw it was going to blow, I grabbed Starina and dragging her out of there.”
All the starch was draining out of Jo’s knees. She leaned on Case for support. “Thank God you did.”
Case was no better off than she was. Propping each other up, they walked over to where Starina was pulling Harold from the car and checking him over.
“Wait a minute,” he was saying, groggily. “Don’t you know you’re not supposed to move an injured man. I could sue you…”
“Try it, buster,” Case growled.
“I’m a doctor,” Starina said bluntly, though she didn’t tell him what kind of doctor. “And all you’ve got is a little bump on the head.”
Sirens were wailing in the distance and within minutes the fire trucks had arrived. While the firemen rushed to put out the blaze, the fire chief climbed out of his car with his assistant and the two of them stood before Starina in their heavy gear, hands on hips, disgruntled scowls on their faces.
“You did it again,” he said. “You promised you wouldn’t do this anymore,” his assistant scowled.
“Oh, hello, Julius, Lainey,” Starina answered brightly. She dragged Harold over and sat him on the low stone wall that edged the street in front of her house. “Yes, I’m afraid I did. Too bad, too, because I almost had it this time. I know exactly what went wrong, though, and I know how to fix it.”
Shaking his head, Julius took Starina’s arm and pulled her away. Lainey spotted Jo and, forgetting her role as assistant fire chief, rushed over to hug her and make sure she wasn’t hurt.
“I’m okay, Lainey,” Jo said, trying to duck Lainey’s firefighter’s hat.
“You said you wanted to change your life,” Lainey said tearfully. “You didn’t say anything about blowing it to pieces.”
“Lainey, I wasn’t in the blast.” Jo explained what had happened. She looked over at Case. “We’re both okay.”
He grinned back, put his arm around her waist and drew her over to lean against him. Finally reassured, Lainey looked from one to the other of them and said, “There’s more you need to tell me,” then went to help the volunteer firefighters.
The police arrived as Cedric, Freida, and Charlotte reappeared at the scene. With Jo and Case’s help, they explained what had happened and Harold was taken away, but not before Freida had snatched her purse back from him and clobbered him with it. Walking bent over, Harold held his head with one hand and his crotch with the other. Groaning as he fell into the back of the police car, he seemed glad to be in the safe custody of the police.
Freida found her watch in his car, snapped it onto her wrist, then marched along behind with another officer, eager to swear out a complaint against him. Cedric took Charlotte’s hand and followed. Jo smiled, glad to see that her friends were completely disillusioned with the charlatan.
Case put his arm around Jo and said, “Can we go home now?”
She looked up at him and grimaced sympathetically. “I think we’d better. Case, you’re not going to have to worry about that facial-hair obsession of yours for a while.”
“Why’s that?”
“Your eyebrows are gone.”
His hand shot up to swipe across his face. “Well, I know where to get some more,” he said, and gave her a lopsided grin.
Shaky with gratitude that he’d survived, Jo wrapped her arm around his waist and pushed through the crowd that was gathering. Paramedics insisted on checking them out, and they had to go to the police station to make their official statements, but they were finally released to go home. They accepted the offer of a ride from a police officer and were back at Jo’s house by the time dark was falling.
They walked inside, took turns in the bathroom to clean up and then they collapsed together on her couch. For several minutes, they sat that way, their heads together, both of them emotionally drained, staring up at the ceiling.
Jo reached over and took his hand, still amazed and grateful that he was all in one piece. “I still don’t understand exactly what Purdy was doing. Why did he have that Unbroken Man rally and speak at the women’s club and all the rest of it? Those things had nothing to do with his cosmogony idea.”
Case turned his head and looked at her. “It’s always about money, Jo. For these guys it’s always about money. In this case, Freida’s money, which was something we actually knew all along. She fancied herself in love with him, and offered him money, but he held out for the biggest possible payoff. Somewhere along the line she told him about the odd and interesting religious and scientific ideas that interested her…”
“Which was why she was attracted to Calamity Falls. We have an abundance of that kind of thing here,” Jo added.
“When she told Harold that, he came up with the Unbroken Man idea, and if you’ll remember, the women’s club speech was a last-minute thing. He was pretending to cast as wide a net as possible for his ‘true believers,’ but really, I think all that cosmogony nonsense was desperation. The focus was always on Freida. Still, she wouldn’t let go of her money, but when he started being interested in you, she got jealous and decided to buy back his attention.”
“I thought it was something like that. How much money did she have in that purse, anyway?”
“Almost a hundred thousand dollars.”
“Good grief!” Jo sat up. “You’re kidding.
” Case lifted his hand. “It’s the truth. She made several withdrawals, always intending to give it to him, but even though she was in love with him, it wasn’t until she got jealous of you that he was finally able to shake it loose from her.” Case looped an arm around he and drew her close. “And then you messed it all up for him so he did a snatch-and-grab. Might have been able to get away, too, if the roof of Starina’s workshop hadn’t gotten in his way.”
“I wonder why he was in Calamity Falls in the first place?”
“Probably hiding out from his last scam. No doubt he was looking for a nice, quiet place.”
“He just didn’t know this wasn’t it, and that Calamity Falls would live up to its name and land on his head,” Jo said. “He’ll have time to think about it while he’s serving time in jail for theft and assault and destroying private property. Rick Morales isn’t going to be pleased that he ripped out the back of that closet.”
“So, that’s enough about Harold Purdy. In my opinion, you’ve spent way too much time thinking about him this week,” Case said. His hand was softly stroking her arm.
“He was my first big story,” Jo said impishly, then she started laughing.
“What’s so funny?”
“Think about it,” she hiccuped. “I was following you…”
“Stalking me,” Case corrected, a grin tickling at his lips.
“Okay, stalking you. You were following Purdy, who was following Freida to get her money, then I pretended to be a bimbo to get his attention, while he was using me to make Freida jealous.”
“It boggles the mind,” Case agreed, then he scowled at her. “I didn’t like the amount of time and attention you gave him.”
That little hint of jealousy delighted Jo. She gave him a demure look. “I had to give him all my concentration.”
“So I noticed, but since the investigation is over, it’s time you changed your focus.” He picked her up and turned her so that she lay across his lap.
“To what?” she asked, looping her arms around his neck. The love she felt for him was flowing in a warm, sweet wave.
“To a guy who’s facial-hair challenged,” Case said. He lowered his head and kissed her.
“Only in the eyebrow department,” she answered, kissing each singed place. “I like it, though. It gives you a really streamlined look.”
His laughter puffed against her lips. “I’ll think of them as battle scars won in the battle to get Jo Quillan the story of her career.”
That statement bothered Jo, but she didn’t have time to think about it because he was kissing her again—a long, warm, sweet meeting of lips that had desire rushing through her.
“The first time I saw you, I thought you were a dangerous man,” she said softly.
“I am.”
“Your kisses are certainly dangerous,” she said, looking up at him with warmth and sincerity in her eyes. She wasn’t going to tell him she loved him. His job was done. He was going to be leaving Calamity Falls very soon, probably tomorrow, maybe tonight, and she could see no reason to cloud things with an admission like that. She slipped her arms around his shoulders and played with his thick, sable-dark hair. “They make me forget things I should remember.”
“Like what?” He brought his mouth to hers once again, touching and tasting, trying to tease the answer out of her.
“Like the fact that you’re going to leave now. Your job is done, and you’re…going to leave.” She had to stop and swallow a sob.
“I’m flattered that bothers you.” Case didn’t know why he felt as if a giant hand was squeezing his chest, grabbing his heart and wringing the life out of it. Something about the look in her eyes was scaring him, making him think that a secret lurked there. He didn’t have the words to ask her, though, and maybe he didn’t want to hear the answer.
She touched him inside, in a place that no one had ever touched. He couldn’t tell her that because he already knew he was going to lose her. The future she planned for herself loomed and he wasn’t part of it.
So he didn’t ask about her secret. Instead, he placed his mouth on hers, letting her warmth seep through him. “You taste so wonderful,” he murmured, eyes closed, kisses filling his mouth, his senses. “In all those years on assignment, I was all over the country, sometimes the world. I looked for something, someone like you, and you were here in Calamity Falls all along.”
Jo didn’t know exactly what he meant, but his word made her happy. His mouth fit hers perfectly, it was like rejoining herself to a lifeline—safe, secure, but an invitation to pleasure.
“Jo,” he whispered. “This little house of yours has a bedroom, doesn’t it?”
She paused, looked up as happiness flooded through her. “Yes, it does. And a bed. Would you like to use it?”
“Uh-huh,” he answered, kissing her as he stood with her in his arms.
The bedroom wasn’t hard to find and he had her there in about twelve strides. Outside, the streetlights had just clicked on in the gathering dark. In its faint yellow glow, he could see an old-fashioned iron bedstead standing against a wall with blue striped wallpaper. The spread was blue and the bed was puffed with a feather comforter and mounds of pillows.
Smiling at the sensual delights with which she surrounded herself, he said, “Jo, do you want to turn down the bed?”
He was giving her a choice, she knew, and she was glad for it. They were partners in this and if this was going to be the only night they had together, she wanted it to be perfect.
“I want to turn down the bed,” she answered, speaking softly into his ear as she nuzzled it. “I want to light candles and put on soft music and open a bottle of wine.”
“All right,” he whispered back. “But later. I want you, Jo. I think I’ve wanted you from the minute you accosted me on the street and demanded an interview.”
“Then for right now, I’ll only turn down the bed.” He set her on her feet and watched while she folded the comforter and set it aside, slipping her hands smoothly over the roundness of it in a way that had his pulse pounding. She stacked up the throw pillows and set them on a chair, then pulled back the coverlet and the sheets.
The way she moved—with smooth, clean, feminine motions—made his mouth go dry. She was sexy and innocent all at once. As she finished turning down the bed, the scent of vanilla drifted upwards to entice him.
“There,” she said, and came to stand before him. Her heart was pounding madly, and for some reason, her throat was full of tears. She loved him so much, wanted him so much, but her hands hung at her sides, afraid to reach out and grab what she wanted.
“Case,” she said hesitantly. “There is one thing…protection.”
“I have something with me,” he reassured her, then grinned. “Even in quaint little Calamity Falls, you’d be amazed at the full line of condoms available at the drugstore.”
She smiled, glad that he had planned for this while she had only hoped.
They paused, looking at each other, and then Case reached for her, and she came to him in a rush. The banked-down heat of her desire flared and she welcomed him with a groan of desire.
Kissing her, Case began to unbutton her blouse and push it off her shoulders, following the sliding fabric with his lips. “You’re so beautiful, Jo. That’s why I wanted you.”
She laughed at him as she unbuttoned his shirt, too. “Not for my curious mind?”
“Uh-uh,” he said. “And not for your sassy mouth, either.” He kissed her sassy mouth, slipped off the rest of her clothes, then his own, then picked her up and laid her on the bed.
“I’ll never smell vanilla again without thinking of this,” he murmured against the velvety softness of her skin. “Without thinking of you. I’ll probably get turned on every time I pass a bakery.”
She laughed, then gasped when his lips teased her breast, then eased the heat he was creating by taking it in his mouth.
“Oh, please, Case,” she moaned, then she reached for him and surrendered her sanity.
They touched each other and gave each other pleasure, rolling across the bed in a hot, devastating flood of desire. Within her, everything tightened so that when he slipped inside her and wrapped himself around her, her body bucked, welcoming him.
Within moments, they reached a peak, shuddered together, then slipped down quietly, still joined.
Case’s lips roamed her face, caressing her cheeks, her eyelids, dropping kisses in the hollow of her throat. She arched to him and was amazed to feel him stirring inside her.
“Case?” she murmured.
He chuckled, which made the feel of him even more exciting. “You may have to forget about lighting those candles for a while, Jo. I don’t think we’re going to get off this bed for a while.”
“That’s okay,” she murmured back, smiling at him. “I didn’t want to go anywhere, anyway.”
And they didn’t. The night was a long, slow loving that didn’t stop until they fell into an exhausted sleep in the smallest hours of the morning.
JO WOKE to his kisses and reached for him. “You’re insatiable,” she mumbled. “Thank God.”
He chuckled. “Insatiable or not, Jo, I’ve got to go.”
“Go?” Her eyes popped wide open and she struggled to sit up. She shoved her hair out of her eyes and saw that he was fully dressed. Darn it. “Go? Go where?”
“Home.” He sat on the side of the bed and took her hand, linking his fingers with hers. “I’ve got to make a report to Freida’s daughter in order to get paid, and there are other things pending.”
He was leaving. Fear turned ashen in her mouth. “What’s the rush? I…I thought you were the guy who took life easy.”
“That was before I met you,” he teased, but she saw sadness lurking in his eyes. “Jo, I’ve got to get back to my life in Phoenix, and you’ve got to get back to changing yours.”
She was fully awake now, sitting up and facing him. “And we have to do all this today?”
Case leaned in and kissed her. “If I don’t go today, I’ll be in your way.”
“No, that’s not…how?” She was babbling but fear did that to her.
“You want to write the article about Purdy, to get it published, work for a major newspaper. You’ve got a whole set of goals and dreams that don’t include me.”
He was so kind, so understanding, so reasonable, she wanted to kick him, except that she was barefoot. She snatched her hand away from his and climbed to her knees in the center of the bed. “How do you know about my hopes and dreams? You haven’t even asked much about them, because you’ve been so sure you know exactly what it is I want. You’re such a stubborn know-it-all. Did you ever think that maybe my idea of a fast track wasn’t the same as yours?”
His calm, composed manner disappeared in a scowl. “There’s only one track, Jo and it only goes at one pace. Sure, maybe you’ll start out slow, but the more you get involved in your career, the more other things get left behind. It’s like a treadmill that gets cranked faster and faster. I know that, Jo. I did it, remember?”
“You don’t know beans,” she fumed.
He shook his head, stood, and reached into his jacket pocket. “I have something for you.”
Though she’d had no hope that he was going to pull a diamond engagement ring from his jacket, she was startled when he drew out his small blue notepad and handed it to her.
“What’s this for?” she asked, taking it from him.
“Research for your article. I don’t need it now.”
He didn’t fully agree with what she planned to do, but he was making it possible for her to do it. Jo stared at the book until tears began to swim in her eyes, then she looked up at him. Tears spilled over her cheeks.
“Case,” she whispered. “No, don’t do this. We can…”
His face was grim, sick with distress. He leaned in and pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her so that the breath was pushed from her lungs in a rush. His mouth ravaged hers, kissing her again and again. Finally, with a wrenching groan, he pulled away. “I’ve got to go, Jo.” He placed one last kiss on her cheek. “Have a good life.”
Turning, he left her crumpled in the middle of her bed. It took her a moment to untangle herself from the sheet, grab her robe, and dash after him, landing on the front porch in a rush.
It was too late. He was already in front of Mrs. Rios’s house, striding away as fast as he could. Mrs. Rios was sweeping her front lawn, her bright old eyes going from Case’s disappearing figure to Jo’s devastated face.
“You wanna borrow some of my rocks, honey?” she asked sympathetically.
With a shake of her head, Jo went back inside and shut the door. He’d left. She couldn’t believe it. He wouldn’t even listen to her. She’d never had a chance to tell him she loved him—not that he deserved to hear such words, anyway. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got.
She stomped to the phone, snatched it up, and punched out a number.
“Perk Avenue,” Lainey sang out.
“Lainey,” Jo said on a sob. “It happened again. I’ve been dumped twice in one week! And I re-really loved him.”
“Steve?”
“No,” Jo wailed. “Case Houston.” A long pause followed, punctuated only by Jo’s sobs. “You don’t have any more wine around, do you?” Lainey asked.
HIS HOUSE WAS LOVELY, set back from a shaded street in a section of Phoenix where the houses dated from the twenties; bungalows that had seen hard times and then harder times, and were now working their way back. The entire neighborhood seemed to be under reconstruction, with scaffolding around many of the structures. Paint and construction crews swarmed over them. The whole street had an air of busyness.
Except Case’s. It had a party atmosphere.
Jo stood on the front walk and surveyed the place with apprehension. A fistful of helium balloons were attached to the porch posts and the front door. Was it his birthday? she wondered.
It stunned her to realize she was in love with him and didn’t even know his birthday. She didn’t want to intrude, and yet, she’d come so far, she couldn’t turn back now.
It had taken her a month to work up her courage to make this trip. She wasn’t going to back out.
Tucking her purse under her arm, she made her way up the walk and onto the porch. When she neared the front door, she heard screaming. It took her a few seconds to realize it was children, and that they were also laughing.
Now she knew she was really intruding. She decided to come back later. She was turning away when the door was thrown open and a woman came barreling out.
She had thick black hair that curled around her face in gypsy waves and olive-dark eyes. She gave Jo a startled look and then broke into a huge smile that looked very familiar. “Hello! Oh, please tell me you’re here with the jumping castle.”
Jo blinked. “The jumping…?”
The woman slapped her hand to her forehead. “Oh, why today of all days would those people be late? Don’t they have any pity for a woman with a houseful of small children?” She shrugged. “Well, there’s nothing else to do but call them again and make threats.” She focused on Jo. “Sorry. Can I help you?”
“I was looking for Case, but if this is a bad time…” Leaning in to gaze at her, the woman broke into a wide grin. “Are you the one who burned his eyebrows off?”
Jo laughed. “No, that was Starina Simms. I’m Jo Ella Quillan.”
“All I can say is that Calamity Falls must be a hell of a place. Case hasn’t been the same since.” She stuck out her hand. “I’m his sister Jessica. He’s inside with my kids and about six others. It’s my son Ryan’s birthday, and we’re having it here because Case has a backyard big enough for a jumping castle. You know, one of those huge, air-filled things where kids get in, jump around, get sick as dogs and throw up cake and ice cream all over each other.”
Drowning in this torrent of words, Jo could only shake her head. “No, I…”
“Wait’ll you have kids,” Jessica said, reaching out to pat her arm. “You learn all these things very quickly.” She looked up to see a truck pulling a small trailer down the street. “Oh, thank goodness. There they are. I’m going to go flag them down.” She waved toward the open doorway. “Go on in.” Before Jo could do so, she leaned in and yelled. “Case! There’s someone here to see you. She’s gorgeous and if you let her get away, you’re a sap.” She turned, gave Jo a sweet smile, and said, “Go on in.”
With an introduction like that, Jo didn’t think she could do anything except follow the sound of the shrieking children. She took a good look at his house as she went, noticing natural woods, warm earth tones, an open, airy feeling that welcomed her.
Butterflies churned away in her stomach. She hoped Case welcomed her.
She found him in the dining room, down on his hands and knees, with a small boy on his back. He was making wild-bull noises while the boy clung to the neck of his shirt and shrieked with joy.
“My turn, Uncle Case,” a tiny girl insisted. She tried to shove the boy off, but Case reached behind and rescued him.
“It’s not your turn yet, Samantha,” he said. “Just a…”
His gaze landed on Jo’s shoes, then traveled up her legs, over her pale yellow sheath dress, and stopped at her face.
Joy and fear circuited through her when she saw the stunned amazement on his face. He slipped the little boy to the floor, but before the girl could climb on his back, he said, “Let’s take a break, kids. Uncle Case needs to talk to this lady.”
Jo looked at him, and then down at the children, who were regarding her with curiosity. “The jumping castle’s here,” she said.
That cleared the room instantly. Ten small children raced from the room leaving Case and Jo standing, facing each other.
“You came,” he said, his voice full of wonder. Then he strode forward and grabbed her around the waist, crushing her mouth beneath his. “You came to me.”
“We didn’t finish our last argument,” she said, holding his face in that way she loved to do and kissing him fervently. “You didn’t listen to me.”
“I was an idiot.”
“Yes, you were.”
They stood in the middle of his dining room, which was scattered with confetti, balloons, and a couple of stray child-size shoes, and feasted on each other. Her breath was clogged in her throat and her knees were shaking.
“You’ve got to listen to me, Case,” she said.
“I read the article,” he responded, drawing her away so he could look into her eyes. “It was great. You caught the right tone for all the people involved without making it sound like a silly Calamity Falls adventure.” He paused. “I guess this puts you on the road to where you want to be.”
“Only if it gets me here with you,” she answered. Everything rested on this. She’d rehearsed this speech for days now and it was slipping from her mind.
“Did you get a job offer from the newspaper here in town?”
“Yes. And I turned it down.”
He jerked. “Turned it down. Why? I thought that was what you wanted.”
“I thought so, too, but I realized I like being on my own.” She gulped. “I’m going to be a freelance writer. I know I can do this, and I’ll be good at it. It’ll be hard. It’ll take commitment, but I know I can do it, and…”
“I’ve got an office here that you can use.”
Her words stumbled over each other and died. “What?”
“I love you, Jo.” He kissed her fervently. “I love you and I want you to marry me. Live here, work here, do whatever you want, but don’t leave me.”
“You’re the one who left,” she pointed out, laughing. “I tried to tell you that my idea of a fast-track life didn’t mean I was going to be gone all the time, chasing stories around the world. I only wanted to use my education and experience.”
“I was an idiot to leave,” Case said. “But I was coming back.” He dragged her to a small closet off the living room. He threw the door open. “See?”
On the floor rested a black duffel bag. “It’s packed,” he said. “I was coming back to you right after Ryan’s party.” He wrapped his arms around her. “Have your life on whatever track you want,” he said. “Just make sure it’s with me.”
Jo stood on tiptoe and kissed him, putting all of her love into it, filling it with promises.
“I’ll marry you, Case, as soon as I can, but it’ll have to be in Calamity Falls.”
He gave her a wary look. “Why is that?”
“Stavros Pappas says he’ll make the cake just as soon as the stars tell him what kind, Cedric and Charlotte will do the flowers—they’re getting married, too, by the way—Lainey’s dying to wear a hot pink bridesmaid’s dress, and…”
“I get the picture. We’ve got to get married there or have the whole town mad at us.”
She leaned back and laughed into his eyes. “And if there’s one thing we don’t want, it’s to have that town mad at us. It could be a disaster.”
“A calamity,” he added, and winced at his own corny joke. He swept her into his arms and kissed her again. “Nah. Our calamities are over with. Aren’t they, Jo?”
She answered him with a sly smile.
“Jo?”
Reaching out, she took his hand and rested it low on her stomach. “Case, I don’t think Calamity Falls is where we ought to be buying condoms from now on.”
Confused, he stared into her eyes until the impact of her words hit him. “You mean?”
Her lips trembled. “I guess we’d better start learning about things like jumping castles, Daddy.”
“Jo?” he gulped, then he swept her into his arms and danced her around the room.
“You’re going to make me a father.” He stopped, swiped his hand over his face, and said, “Well, why not? You’ve already made me into a babbling fool.”
She laughed with him, and then hugged him, secure in his love.
“That’s the last surprise you have for me, isn’t it?” he asked.
Her lips curved in a secretive smile.
“Jo?”