With tears smearing the hesitant words that poured out of her soul, Jo considered how to sign the desperate little letter. Her first thought was Your Jo. However, she could hardly claim herself to be Laurie's. Her mind drifted to a bitter spring- an eternity ago. It was a day that, for more than one reason, Jo tried to relive on a daily basis. Laurie's arms draped around Jo's slim figure and with those blasted words, Jo never heard from her dearest friend again.
"Oh, Jo, can't you?"
"Teddy, dear, I wish I could!"
That was all, except a little pause. Then Laurie straightened himself up, said, "It's all right, never mind", and went away without another word.'
Tears started running down her cheeks more furiously, 'Snap out of it, Jo.' Wiping her tear stained face she signed the letter simply, Jo and as an afterthought scribbled Please come home to me. Feeling more alone than she thought bearable, Jo brought her knees to her chin and poured her thoughts, anger, and especially regret into a pool of tears. Bethy would not want Jo to cry, not today. Beth would tell her favorite sister that she was brave; the opposite of what this bold girl was feeling at the present.
Never having felt quite so alone in all of her life, Jo wanted nothing more than to jump the hedge that lay between the March and Laurence homes and pour her sorrows onto her beloved playmate. Having sent countless letters in the two years that Laurie had been gone without an answer, Jo knew that this letter may not be read at all. Feeling hopeless and determined, she felt certain that this letter must reach him, if it did not, how would she go on? With a little prayer, Jo sent her little letter in hope that it may be read by her intended.
…
Draping his leg over the left arm of his chair, Theodore Laurence was bored. The thought of the piano that sat merely 10 feet from his seat nauseated him. Finding that he fit in very well wherever his adventures had taken him, Laurie could not find himself contented with anything, or anyone that crossed his path. Longing for the openness of the March household, where girls were not afraid to show themselves, Laurie found that most women that he had encountered wore masks. The masks were beautiful, and fun for short periods of time, but none of them were real…and none of them were Jo.
Jumping up from his armchair at yet another chasing thought of Josephine March, why can I not forget her? Laurie marched around his sitting area thinking of all of the reasons not to love Jo. She was boyish and awkward, clumsy and unrefined, she always made a mess of her clothing, and her hands were always stained of ink, she smelled of wildflowers and parchment, and most of all, she did not love him in return.
Laurie's thoughts were interrupted with a knock at his door. A maid entered with a single envelope on a silver tray. The penmanship on the envelope was familiar, however, there was something very different about it. Knowing in an instant that the letter was from Jo, Laurie felt an unmistakable pang in his chest. She had written him so often when he first left, and now, two years later Laurie had not seen a letter in over six months. Why was she starting again, could Jo not just leave well-enough alone? Laurie grabbed the offending object from the tray, and studied the envelope for a moment. The envelope read Theodore Laurence, whereas all of her previous little mementos were addressed to Teddy. Curiosity was overridden by anger, and Laurie tossed the upsetting piece of correspondence in the top drawer of his bureau with the rest of Jo's unopened mail. Jo is the one that wanted to be rid of me, thought Laurie.