Free From Now On by Louise Brooks Page B

had never had to face the naysayers Jo faced every day. It suddenly hit Jo just how much Emily really must love Ryan if she was allowing this to bother her.
                  Jo reached over and took Emily’s hand. “You’re not marrying Ryan’s parents. You’re marrying him. If they love him as much as you do, I’m sure they will come to love you.”
                  “I don’t know what I’d do without you, Jo,” Emily sighed with a grateful smile.
     
                 

Chapter 14
     
                  A week passed and then another. All Jo could think about was Mark. Sometimes she would catch herself staring out the window, thoughts of him pulling her head out of her work in a way nothing before had ever done. Work had always been something of a salvation for Jo, something she could always rely on to be her rock, her escape, in a world grown too hostile to deal with. It was predictable. She knew what it wanted from her and how to provide it. But now even work couldn’t soothe the hurt that Mark’s absence left her with.
                  It only took a few days for Jo to realize she had to be the one to make this right. From the beginning, Mark had always sought her out, had always come to her first. Now it was clear that she was going to have to go to him. For some reason she didn’t understand, he needed her to be the one to make the next move. The only problem was, she didn’t know how.
                  Again, her fear of confrontation had her paralyzed. What if he rejected her as he had done before? What if he laughed at her? What if he really just didn’t want her in his life? What if?
                  It was the what-ifs that made it impossible for her act.
                 
                  “Jo?”
                  Jo looked up from her desk as Sandy let herself in. “What’s up?” she asked.
                  “Becca wants you to deliver that report on last year’s safety record to Kathleen before five.”
                  Jo sat back, flipping through the files on her desk. “I thought I turned that in yesterday.”
                  “You did.”
                  Jo half nodded, aware of what Becca was up to. She thought Jo had turned in everything she had on the report and therefore would be unprepared. Becca had been going out of her way to make Jo look bad in front of Kathleen ever since learning about the email she had sent about the promotion, an email Kathleen had seen two days after making her final decision. But, so far, Jo had been one step ahead of Becca.
                  “I guess it’s a good thing I backed it up on the hard drive, then.”
                  Sandy smiled, clearly relieved. “Good girl,” she said.
                  Jo printed a second copy of the report and slipped on her shoes, smoothed down her skirt, and made her way out of the office. She spotted Mark almost immediately. He was leaning against one of the flimsy walls of a cubical, having what appeared to be an animated conversation with Beth. At least it was highly animated on her part. But, then again, Beth couldn’t talk without waving her arms around with great enthusiasm. Mark looked almost bored even as he tried to keep an interested expression on his face. Jo smiled sympathetically when their eyes met. A huge mistake.
                  Mark straightened and crossed his arms over his chest, his body language shutting Jo out before anything could start. She couldn’t keep the pain out of her eyes even as what was left of her self-respect forced her to continue, unimpeded, in his direction. He continued to watch her and for a minute she thought she saw the same hurt in his eyes, but then he stepped back out of her path and said something she couldn’t hear to Beth. Beth laughed with a quick glance at Jo. Jo kept