“I am. On him.”
“Sure. When in doubt, blame the guy.”
“If you don’t know what happened, how do you know it wasn’t him?” She paused, but Tucker didn’t speak. “I have to go and help a friend,” she told him.
“Fine,” he grumbled.
“Fine,” she snapped back.
They glared at each other, then Tucker turned and left. Nevada slammed the door, but the act wasn’t very satisfying, probably because of the ache in her gut. The one that told her Will and Jo’s breaking up had reinforced every stupid idea Tucker had about love.
WITHIN AN HOUR, Jo’s house was overflowing with friends, food and margaritas. Charlie and Montana had each arrived with two bags of ice, and the blender had been going nonstop ever since. Charity and Pia coordinated the arriving trays, plates and bowls of food, sorting them by type. From what Nevada could tell, there was enough ice cream to feed a football team. There were cookies, a pie, two cakes, bags of M&M’s and frosted brownies.
For those who preferred the salty side of things, bowls of potato chips and tortilla chips sat next to nuts and dip. The closest they came to healthy was a token container of baby carrots.
Nevada carried a pitcher of margaritas into the crowded living room. Jo sat on the sofa, Annabelle on one side of her and Liz on the other. Dakota rocked a sleepy Hannah. Finn was away on an overnight flight.
Nevada filled empty glasses, then set the pitcher on a sideboard. Pia and Charity joined them.
“I wanted a girls’ night out,” Pia said with a sigh. “But not like this.”
Charity nodded. “It’s so awful.”
Nevada agreed. Jo had been in Fool’s Gold for several years. No one had ever seen her on a date or even showing interest in a guy. And that wasn’t because no one had asked. She’d finally given her heart to someone only to have it trampled.
Annabelle put her arm around Jo. “It’s okay to let it out.”
Jo blew her nose. “I’ve been crying for hours. I’m not sure how much more ‘cried out’ I can get.” She wrapped her arms around herself as if she were cold.
Liz reached for the blanket on the back of the sofa. Annabelle helped her drape it over Jo.
“This is stupid,” Jo said, looking up. “I’m fine.”
“You’re not at your sparkly best,” Pia pointed out. “That’s okay. We’ve all been there. You’ve helped us, now it’s our turn.” She glanced around the room. “Okay, I’ll be the one to ask. What happened?”
The room went quiet as everyone turned to Jo. Nevada settled on an ottoman by Heidi.
Jo’s face tightened. She looked both scared and defiant. Nevada expected her to say she wouldn’t talk about it, but Jo surprised her by saying, “I think it’s time for me to tell all of you about my past.”
Over the next few minutes, she told the story of falling in love and getting in too deep.
“I know what I did was wrong,” she added when she’d explained everything. “That bank manager could have died because of us. Ronnie did die. I can’t take it back and I can’t make it right. I’m not asking to forget. I’ll never do that. I’m not even looking for forgiveness. I just want to stop beating myself up. But maybe I shouldn’t. Maybe serving my time and living with regret isn’t enough.”
“It’s enough,” Montana said firmly. “You made a mistake. It was a horrible one, but you’ve learned, you’ve served your time and now you’re a great part of our community.”
The other women nodded.
“I don’t understand,” Nevada said slowly. “Will is a sweetie. Why would he have acted like that? Why wouldn’t he understand?” She couldn’t reconcile what Jo had told her with the man she knew.
Jo shrugged. “You’d have to ask him.”
Nevada planned to, first thing in the morning. There had to be something else going on. Something they didn’t know.
“Here,” Dakota said, standing and handing Hannah to Jo. “Pregnancy bladder. I’ll be right back.”
Jo started to take the baby, then pushed her back toward Dakota. “I can’t.”
“Why not? You hold her all the time. She adores you.”
That was true, Nevada thought, watching the way the little girl smiled at Jo and waved with excitement.
“You heard what I said,” Jo told her, more tears filling her eyes. “You can’t leave your kid with me after that.”
“Oh, please.” Dakota handed the baby back and walked away.
Jo held Hannah in her arms. “I don’t deserve this.”
“Why not?” Charlie demanded. “You were a kid and you screwed up. In my mind, it’s how we take responsibility that counts. If you were sitting there telling us all the reasons it wasn’t your fault, I’d be pissed. But you know what you did was wrong, you’ve done your time and you’re being a good person now. Isn’t learning to do better the whole point? Don’t we want the people who commit crimes to feel remorse and rejoin society as good citizens?”