Jo awakened in Doug's arms the following morning. She felt drowsily content as memories of the previous night washed over her.

She soon felt soft lips grazing her forehead and realized that Doug was awake as well. She raised her lips to meet his.

"Are you all right?" he asked her.

"I'm fine," she replied. "You?"

"Couldn't be better." He laughed. "You know, I feel like there was something missing in my life that I didn't even realize until just recently, and now I've found it again."

"That's the same way I feel," said Jo. "It's funny. If it hadn't been for me rear-ending you, we never would have even met."

"I guess that wasn't really an accident, then," said Doug. "I guess it was really fate."

"And we have so much in common," Jo added. "We're both widowed, both Catholic, both have teenagers, although technically Jamie's only twelve..."

"I'd imagine you're a bit younger than me," said Doug. "What year did you graduate high school?"

"Eighty-four," Jo replied. "What about you?"

"Ah, let's see...a few years before that. Sixty-nine."

"Wow, that is a few years earlier!"

Doug chuckled. "Don't tell me you think I'm too old for you now."

"Oh, no, not at all," Jo said quickly. "But that means you would have been over forty when Clay was born."

"That's right, and it was the happiest day of my life."

"I know it's none of my business, but...isn't that kind of old for a first time father?"

"Mary Frances and I weren't in any particular hurry. We'd been married eight years when he was born."

Jo looked puzzled. He kissed the tip of her nose. "Ask me later. Right now it's time for me to start on the pancakes."

They found Jamie sitting in her pajamas in the living room, watching cartoons and eating cereal.

"If you'd waited just a little bit, you could have had pancakes instead," Doug teased her.

"I got hungry," Jamie replied. "But that's all right. You can still make pancakes. I'll eat them, too."

Jo and Doug both laughed.

Later in the day, after Doug had left, Jo decided to call Blair. Although the two women stayed in touch regularly through email and Facebook, Jo missed the sound of her friend's voice.

"Hey, girl!" Blair exclaimed. "How are you?"

"Great!" Jo replied. "Doug spent the night here last night. I'm getting to really like him a lot, and I'm pretty sure he feels the same way about me."

"What about Jamie?"

"She wasn't too sure about him at first, but they get along great now."

"You'd better be careful, girl." Blair suddenly sounded very serious.

"I'm always careful! What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. It's been a while since you've been in the game, Jo. This isn't high school anymore."

"I know that, Blair. But Doug's really nice. I don't think I have anything to worry about."

"Well, just be careful. That's all."

"How are Tad and the kids?"

"They're fine! Adam and Alyssa both made the honor roll again. I'm so proud of them!"

The two women chatted some more about their jobs and families, and then Jo hung up and finished some housework.

Jo planned to go to church again Sunday morning, and even persuaded Jamie to come along, but when she tried to start the car, it wouldn't do a thing. Desperately she looked around for a neighbor to jump her off but didn't see a soul.

Just when she was about to give up and go back inside the house, a familiar car pulled up alongside hers. "Come on!" Doug called with a friendly wave and honk of the horn.

"Wow! How'd you know I needed a ride?" asked Jo as she and Jamie got into the back seat behind Doug and Clay.

"I didn't." Doug was puzzled. "I just thought that you might like to ride with me and Clay this morning. You got car trouble?"

"It wouldn't start, and I couldn't find anybody to jump me off," Jo explained.

"Aw. Well, I'll take a look at it after church," Doug offered.

"I'll fix lunch for all of us," said Jo.

"Aw, I was gonna take you girls somewhere really nice!"

"I told you he was a keeper!" Jamie whispered into her mother's ear.

Jo was using the copy machine at work when a wave of dizziness swept over her. She took a few deep breaths and waited for it to pass, then continued with her day, thinking nothing more of it.

She was walking to her car that evening when another wave of dizziness hit her, this one so strong that she almost fell over.

My God! What is wrong with me? she asked herself.