“Oh.”

“So you see.”

“I sure do. Where can I buy a gun?”

“Jo.”

“If he dumps you again, Wy, I swear I’ll-”

“He didn’t dump me last time; I dumped him.”

“He could have left his wife, and he didn’t.”

“He had a baby son at the time. He couldn’t leave both of them.”

“He could if he’d loved you enough.”

“He could if he was a total slimeball, Jo, and that wasn’t the guy I fell for. Now knock it off. I’m done with that, and you should be, too.”

A brief silence while Jo battled her baser self. “So what’s he going to do?”

“I don’t know.”

Jo raised an eyebrow.

“What?” Wy said. She knew that eyebrow.

“You haven’t asked him.”

“He hasn’t said.”

“You haven’t asked him?” Jo said, making it a question this time.

“I don’t think he knows.”

“You haven’t asked him!”

Wy gave a quick glance around to see who was listening. “Stop yelling. He hasn’t given John an answer, okay? And John asked almost a month ago.”

“Ahuh. Well.” Jo put her hands on her hips and surveyed Wy from head to toe. “Things must be pretty tense around the Chouinard household. You let Liam move in yet?”

Wy hunched a shoulder.

“Right. Why not?”

Wy didn’t answer.

“Yeah,” Jo said. “So, getting so much in the way of solid commitment from you, naturally he would leap at the chance to blow off his boss’ offer of promotion and spend the rest of his life in Newenham.”

Wy was as affronted at this turnabout on the part of her first, best friend as she had been annoyed at Jo’s attack on Liam. “So now you’re on his side?”

“Somebody has to be, poor bastard.”

“Up yours, Dunaway.”

“Backatcha times two,” Jo said promptly. “Okay, enough with this. You go get Tim, I’ll go get Gary, and don’t worry, all will be well.” She waved all-inclusive hands. “Leave it to me; Auntie Jo will fix everything.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Wy said, but she was saying it to Jo’s back going away.