Page 90 of One Tough Love

Annie said there wasn’t room in her shelter for her, but if Jo brought a tarp, she’d get her boyfriend Trip to put it up nearby their box, and Jo could camp out there. Jo was delighted because it was right next to the foreman's table and she could watch the site from under the tarp without arousing any suspicion.

Jo was fuming that Wes had gone all Neanderthal on her. She knew that if he had even an inkling of what she was going to do Sunday night his reaction would have been ten times worse. By the time she got home she had calmed down considerably and now the hurt began to sink in. She collapsed onto her bed, tired from her stake out and her singing gig and let her tears fall unchecked.

Jo refused to turn on her phone Saturday and spent the entire day away from her house running errands, in case Wes tried to stop by. On Saturday night she turned her phone back on and saw all the missed texts and calls form Wes. Jo deleted them all with out looking at them.

Jo was almost asleep on her couch when someone started banging on her door. She looked through the peephole and saw Wes looking ruffled and weary. Jo didn’t open the door.

“Go away Wes. I don’t want to talk to you right now.”

“Jo open the door, we need to talk.”

“No. There’s nothing to talk about.”

“Jo open the door, please.”

Jo heard the desperation in Wes voice and it broke her resolve.

“If I open it Wes it better be to an apology.”

“Just open the door Jo.”

Jo opened the door and Wes stood there looking at her with a pained expression on his face. She motioned for him to come in and he did. Wes sat on the couch she could tell he’d had a couple drinks so she got him a glass of ice water, which he drank down after thanking her. The atmosphere was awkward. Jo did not want to fight with Wes, but if he couldn’t accept what she did for a living, what she loved to do, then she worried for them as a couple.

“Jo we have to talk about this.”

“You don’t want to talk about it Wes, you want to stop me.”

“I’ll admit that. I can’t handle you putting yourself in danger.”

“You know what I do for a living. How did you think I got information? You’re being unreasonable.”

“I’m not. You are not thinking clearly. There are other ways to get information Jo.”

“Yeah, and they all involve going through you!”

“Would that be so bad?” He said wearily.

“Wes it’s just not how I do things. “ Jo wasn’t going to give in to him.

“Jo please look at it from my perspective.”

Jo was starting to get riled up again. “What is your perspective Wes? What makes you think you have a say in what I do? What kind of work I do or even where I work? ”

Jo knew that was a pretty snarky comment but she was drawing the proverbial line in the sand and he needed to know she was serious. Wes was totally out of sorts. He was a skilled negotiator, yet he couldn’t get Jo to empathize, even a little, as to how he was feeling. He hadn’t slept at all last night and it drove him nuts when she wouldn’t answer his texts or pick up his calls. He started to think maybe he had deeper feelings for her than she did for him.

Jo’s phone rang and when she looked at the screen she saw it was Auggie calling and she knew she had to answer it. She had left him a message earlier and she knew he was worried.

“Wes I have to take this.” She told him and she left him in her living room while she went into her bedroom shutting the door. Wes was floored that she’d left to take a call. She’d never done that before. Jo’s laptop that lay open on her coffee table in front of him pinged with a message that appeared on the main screen.

Jo congrats on your new job in Chicago. Mom and I are very proud of you. Let us know how we can help. Xoxo

Wes read it again not believing what he was reading. Jo was leaving? WTF. He had been a fool to think that she cared for him. She hadn’t even told him she’d applied in Chicago. Wes stood up and let himself out the door. He was done.

When Jo came back out from her phone call she was feeling better. Auggie had told her to go easy on Wes. So when Jo returned to find him gone she was taken back. She called him but it went to voice mail. She then tried to text him.

Where did you go?

He never responded.

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