"Oh my God!" Jo exclaimed. "I'll be right over!"

"No, hon," Doug urged her. "You've got enough on your plate as it is. You stay right there and rest. I'll take care of this myself."

"But I can't rest, worrying about you!"

"Listen, Jo," Doug said patiently. "There's nothing you can do to help. I've already called the police, and now I'm callin' everyone I know and everyone Clay knows. We'll eventually get to the bottom of this. You'd only be in the way, so stay there and rest." She could almost hear him smile. "And that's an order."

Jo turned on the television and tried to concentrate on the show she was watching. Doug called her back about forty-five minutes later. "Clay just called me," he told her. "He's at Grace's. Said he's gonna be stayin' there awhile, that he was tired of me ignorin' him and spendin' all my time with you and Jamie. I was so glad to finally hear from him that I didn't get into it with him about that. If he's with Grace, then he's all right."

"Well, I'm so glad you finally heard from him," said Jo.

"Yeah." Doug chuckled. "Now we've got a weddin' to plan, don't we?"

"I really want my Mom to be there, and my Aunt Evelyn and my cousins, if they can come," Jo told him. "She'd have to travel from New York."

"Well, there's no hurry. I'll see about talkin' to the priest on Sunday. You'll be there, won't you? If you're feelin' all right, I mean?"

"Of course. Jamie and I both will."

"I could pick you up again," Doug offered.

"Sounds great!"

Jo felt better for the rest of the week, throwing up only occasionally, and she planned to return to work on Monday. On Sunday, Doug arrived to take her and Jamie to church as he'd promised. When they arrived, Jo saw that Grace and Clay were sitting in one of the pews closer to the front. Jo smiled at Clay, and he looked away from her.

After the service, Doug went to talk to the priest, Father Hanadarko, who happened to be Grace's brother. "Jo and I plan to be married soon," Doug told the priest. "And we want you to perform the ceremony."

"I would be honored," Father Hanadarko replied. "Why don't you come to my office this afternoon at four and we can talk about it."

"Want to go out for lunch?" Doug asked Jo.

"Sure!" she replied.

He took her and Jamie to a country buffet restaurant. She had a salad and then fried chicken and mashed potatoes. About halfway through, she began to feel nauseated and made it to the bathroom just in time. Afterwards, she splashed cold water on her face and felt much better.

Doug was standing right outside the restroom when she opened the door. "Are you all right?" he asked anxiously.

"I'm fine," she told him with a smile. She was able to eat a few bites of peach cobbler before they left.

Doug invited Jo and Jamie back to his house after lunch. Jamie watched TV while Jo took a nap on Doug's bed. He sat beside her and rubbed her back until she fell asleep.

He awakened her at about three so that she could get ready for the appointment with Father Hanadarko. They arrived to find the church nearly deserted.

"It feels strange to come to church when there's no service, doesn't it?" Jo asked.

"Yep." Doug grinned.

He told the priest's secretary that they had an appointment at four o'clock, and she told them to have a seat in the lobby, which was brightly lit and contained several chairs made of red vinyl and a magazine rack made of dark wood.

"Come in," Father Hanadarko said pleasantly a few minutes later. His office was small but snug. A large bookcase occupied one entire corner, the floor had burgundy carpet, and across from the priest's desk were two comfortable leather chairs.

"So you two want to be married, and you feel that this is God's will for your lives," Father Hanadarko began.

"We do," Doug replied.

"I feel like I've known you for just about my whole life, Doug." The priest grinned. "But I've only recently become acquainted with your lovely fiancee. You were raised in the church, right, Jo?"

"Yes, sir."

"And you've been confirmed?"

"Yes, sir, right after my twelfth birthday."

"I'll need to see proof of that before I can marry you."

"My Mom has it. I'll have to get it from her."

"Very well, then. Bring that, and we can schedule the ceremony."

Doug and Jo walked back out to the parking lot hand in hand. "Now I'll have to tell my Mom," Jo remarked.

"You mean she doesn't know about me?" Doug sounded surprised, and more than a little hurt.

"I told her I'd met someone, but she doesn't know it's serious, and I sure haven't told her I'm pregnant."

"Why not?"

Jo sighed. "I guess I've just been too scared."

"Because you're not married?"

"Well...yeah."

Doug stopped walking and took her into his arms. "We'll tell her together, if you want."

"Yeah. I think I'd rather do it that way. I'll just tell her I'm getting married for now. I can wait and tell her about the baby in person when she gets here." Suddenly she grinned. "After the shock wears off, she's gonna be thrilled about being a grandmother again. She's said so many times what a shame it is that Jamie's an only child, and now she won't be anymore."