There was silence before her sister’s breath released. “What? Are we talking a sexual affair?”
Jolene laughed. “That would be the kind.”
“Oh. My. God. Who is he?”
“I can’t tell you. I don’t want you letting it slip accidentally. He’s a very private person and doesn’t want anyone to know.”
“He’s not married, is he?”
“No. He’s divorced.” There was another long stretch of silence, and Jolene worried that their connection had been lost. “Are you there, Lottie?”
“I’m here. I’m just a little speechless. I can’t believe my big sister, who I thought was againstall men after what Kyle did, is having a secret affair. And why secret if you’re both single?”
“Neither one of us want to be the brunt of gossip. You know how the townsfolk of Simple are. We don’t want what we do in private hurting either one of our businesses.”
“This sounds nothing like you, Jojo. You don’t do things like this . . . I do.”
Jolene laughed. “Well, maybe I’m taking a page out of your book.”
“But why this man? What made you choose him?”
Jolene picked up a pen and started doodling on her desk calendar as she thought about the question. There was the sexual attraction. But even before Cal had touched her, she’d admired him. “He’s hardworking and dependable and honest. If he tells you he’ll do something, he’s going to do it. He’s really good-looking, but he’s completely unconcerned with his looks. I thought he wasn’t much of a talker, but he’s just a man who thinks before he talks. The same goes for his smiles. He doesn’t smile just for the sake of smiling. So when he does smile, it’s like a special gift.” Just the thought of Cal’s smile made Jolene feel all gooey inside. That feeling left when Charlotte spoke.
“Oh my God, Jolene. You love him.”
Jolene stopped doodling and sat up straight. “What?”
“You’re in love with him, Jojo.”
“No.” She shook her head. “I like him. I wouldn’t have sex with him if I didn’t like him. But I don’t love him.” She glanced down at thedoodles she’d been making. Right there in Thursday’s square was a big black ink heart. Inside the heart were three letters.
CAL.
Jolene’s eyes widened, and she quickly scribbled out the name in the heart. “I can’t be in love with him. Our arrangement is just sexual. No attachment and no strings. I just moved out of Dad’s house and I’m not ready to exchange one stubborn man for another one.”
“What?” Charlotte’s voice rang through the speaker. “You moved out of Dad’s house?”
“Actually, he kicked me out.”
“Daddy kicked you out?”
“Don’t get mad, Lottie. I’m glad he did. I probably never would’ve left on my—”
Charlotte released a loud squeal and cut her off. “Mad? I’m not mad. I’m ecstatic that you finally moved out from under Daddy’s rule. I’ve been waiting for this day forever and I thought it would never come. What happened?”
After Jolene finished telling her sister the entire story, Charlotte laughed. “I should’ve known that the only reason you would ever go up against Dad would be to protect someone else. You stood up to him for me more than once. Now it sounds like you’ve championed Cal Daily.”
“It was wrong of Dad to turn down Cal’s loan.”
“Of course it was. Poor Cal has been through a lot. If anyone needs a helping hand, he does. If it had been up to me, I’d have just given him the money for the gas station.”
“I wanted to, but Cal isn’t the kind of man wholikes charity. He’s too proud and stubborn. He doesn’t know that he didn’t qualify for the loan. He thinks—”
She heard a sound and her gaze moved to the door. She hadn’t realized she’d left it open a crack. She got up to close it so no one would overhear her conversation. But as she went to push the door closed, she peeked out. . . right into a pair of familiar hazel eyes.
The anger she saw there made her realize that Cal had been eavesdropping. Hopefully not the part about her being in love with him. Although the other part of the conversation was just as bad.
She pulled open the door. “Cal, it’s not what you think.”
