“Hey, I saw what happened on the news, and I got all of your messages. I’m sorry.” Tears start down her face. “I’m so… so sorry. This should’ve never happened.”
“Shhh.” I reach for her hand and pull her as close to me as I can. “You didn’t do this. You’d never do this.”
She cries harder. Her head falls onto my chest.
“What’s wrong, Jo? What happened?” I know this isn’t her fault, but why does she think it is? I’m confused.
“It feels like my fault, even if indirectly. I got another letter at my apartment, and once I figured it out, I was too late. The explosion had already happened.”
“Wait, what? You’re going to need to back up. Another letter? And figured out what?” I have so many questions. What the hell happened since we dropped her off at the clinic?
“You know that you found out that Sherry was dead, the one I thought was sending me all these letters, well, I finally put it together with the last one.”
“Look at me, Jo. You mean you know who sent you all those letters?”
She raises her head. Her cheeks are puffy and wet with tears.
“It’s more complicated. I had no idea, but Andy had been cheating on me. It was a girl named Michelle Jones, but she goes by Shelly. Hence, the initials SJ on all the recent letters.” She takes a deep breath before continuing. “The night he died, he was leaving her place, and she was pissed that he was coming back to me. Something snapped in her that night. She’s been spiraling ever since his death.”
“Fuck, Jo. That’s terrible. No one should have to find this out. Not this way and not after all this time.”
“Right? But it’s like I can’t even be mad at Andy because he’s dead. He’s been dead for eight years. Shelly and I were never friends. She never liked me, and now I know why. She thought Andy would leave me. And I think she had something to do with Sherry’s death.”
“Jesus, Jo. That’s a lot to go through. And you just learned this.”
“All of this hit me, then the explosion. When I saw the explosion on the television, I thought… I thought another person close to me had died. I didn’t know if one or both of you were hurt. I couldn’t handle it. It wasn’t pretty.”
Grant joins her on the floor, wrapping Jo up in his arms. “Shit. I’m sorry I didn’t call you from the hospital. I was too scared that I was losing my husband. I’m so sorry, Jo.”
“It’s okay. I didn’t get it at that moment, but I needed that time to let all my emotions and fears out, finally. I’ve been holding onto a lot of things I should’ve worked through already. But I had been young and scared, plus with Sherry’s verbal attacks, I couldn’t stay. I learned to run and shove my feelings down. I thought that’s how I was supposed to move on. Little did I know how much that was holding me back… until both of you.”
“Oh, Jolee, honey. I’m sorry for everything you’ve gone through, but I’m not sorry it brought you to us.”
“I know you didn’t ask for a… friend with a lot of baggage, but I hope you’ll let me hang around.”
Friend? Oh, no. We are way beyond that, and I need to catch her up.
“Jo, look at me.” I tilt her chin towards me, “Please listen closely, I don’t want you to miss this. We are not acquaintances. We are not friends, but we are two men who are very interested in you; that’s beyond platonic. So far beyond.”
“What Clay is trying to say is that he wants you to be his woman.”
“Oh. And what about you?”
“I’m coming around to the idea. This is new for us. We’ve never wanted a woman in our lives and home the way we want you. Never even discussed it, until you.”
Grants feels more for her than he’s ready to admit, but I hear it in his voice. In his words. In his actions. I love them both so fucking much. My heart breaks for what Jo’s been through, and I don’t want her to feel like she’s alone.
“We don’t know where this could go, but we want to explore it. We can’t let you go. We don’t want to.”
“I don’t know what to say. I mean, this is very new to me, and I mean, you guys are married. I don’t see how I fit in except for sex.”
Jo blushes, and it's fucking adorable.
“We want you more than that, Jo. Like you said, to hang out. We want to get to know you more, go out for dinner, or stay in for a movie. Spoil you and take care of you when you’re sick. We want all of those things.”
Jo starts crying again. “I never thought I’d have a chance at that.”
“You’re in our hearts, Jolee. We care for you and want to be here for you. Please don’t cry.”