"she's beautiful," Nathan said simply. "she'd prefer to be ordinary, but it's impossible. Jo doesn't trust beauty. she trusts competency. And honesty," Nathan finished, staring down into the brandy he'd barely touched, "I don't know what to do."
"Truth is admirable, but it isn't always the answer. I can't tell you what choice to make, but I've always believed that love, when genuine, holds. Perhaps you should ask yourself which would be more loving, giving her the truth or remaining silent."
if I remain silent, the foundation we build on will already have a crack. Still I'm the only one alive who can tell her, Doctor Kauffman." Nathan lifted his gaze, and his eyes stormed with emotion. "I'm the only one left."
Nathan didn't return to the island the next day, or the day after. By the third day Jo had convinced herself it didn't matter. she was hardly sitting around waiting for him to sail across the sound and scoop her up like a pirate claiming his booty.
On the fourth day she was weepy, despising herself for wandering down to the ferry twice a day, hoping to catch sight of him.
By the end of a week she was furious, and spent a great deal of her time snapping at anyone who risked speaking to her. In the interest of restoring peace, Kate bearded the lion in Jo's room, where she had gone to sulk after a hissing match with Lexy.
"What in the world are you doing holed up indoors on such a pretty morning?" Moving briskly, Kate whisked back the curtains Jo had pulled over the windows. Sunlight beamed in.
"Enjoying my privacy. If you've come in here to try to convince me to apologize to Lexy, you're wasting your time."
"You and Lexy can fight your own battles, just like always, as I'm concerned." Kate put her hands on her hips. "But you'll your tone when you speak to me, young lady."
"I beg your pardon," Jo said coolly, "but this is my room."
"I don't care if you're sitting on top of your own mountain,) won't bare your claws on me. Now I've been as patient as I know hid to be these last few days, but you've mooned around and snarled around here long enough."
"Then maybe it's time I should think about going home."
"That's your decision to make. Oh, shake yourself loose, Jo Ellen," Kate ordered with a snap in her own voice. "The man's only been gone a week, and he'll certainly be back."
Jo firmed her jaw. "I don't know what, or whom, you're referring to Before she could stop herself, Kate snorted. "Don't think you can out la-de-da me. I've been at it more years." Kate sat down on the bed where Jo was sprawled under the pretense of selecting the final prints for her book. "A blind man on a galloping horse could see that Nathan Delaney's got you in a dither. And it's likely the best thing to happen to you in years."
"I am not, in any way, any shape, any form, in a dither."
"You're more than halfivay in love with him, and it wouldn't surprise me in the least if he'd gone off like this to nudge you over the rest of the way."
Since that hadn't occurred to her, Jo felt her blood heat to a boil. "Then he's made a very large miscalculation. Going off without a word is hardly the way to win my affections."
"Then do you want him to know you've been moping around here the whole time he's been gone?" Kate lifted a brow as she saw the flush of anger heat Jo's cheeks. "There are plenty who'd be happy to tell him so if you keep this up. I'd hate for you to give him that satisfaction.
"I don't intend to give him so much as the time of day, should he decide to come back."
Kate patted Jo's knee. "I couldn't agree more."
Wary of a trap, Jo narrowed her eyes. "I thought you liked him."
"I do. I like him very much, but that doesn't mean I don't think he deserves a good swift kick in the rear end for making you unhappy. And I'd be mighty disappointed in you if you gave him the opportunity to crow over it. So get up," she ordered, rising herself "Go on about your business. Take your camera and go along. And when he comes back, all he'll see is that your life went on without him."
"You're right. You're absolutely right. I'm going to call my publisher and give them the final go-ahead on the last prints. Then I'm going to go out, take some new shots. I've got an idea for another book."
Kate smiled as Jo scrambled up and began to pull her shoes on. "That's wonderful. You'll have pictures of the island in it, then."
"All of them. People this time, too. Faces. No one's going to accuse me of being lonely, of hiding behind the lens. I've got more than one facet to me."
"Of course you do, sweetie pie. I'll get out of your way so you can get to work." All but vibrating with the pleasure of success, Kate strolled out. Maybe now, she thought, they'd have some peace.