Everything was dead silent for the space of about one minute. Doug and Jo exchanged glances. Doug cleared his throat rather loudly.

"So, how are things back in New York?" asked Jo.

"Everyone's fine. About the same. Butt freezing cold, of course."

Conversation limped along until dinner, which was cheddar cheese bacon soup which Jo had made in the crock pot and Doug proclaimed to be delicious. After dinner, Jo drove Blair and her children to the motel. "He's pretty religious, isn't he?" Blair asked Jo as soon as the four of them were alone.

"His whole family is," Jo replied.

"I could tell he was really floored when I told him I didn't believe in God."

"I guess I should have warned him beforehand," said Jo. "It's just such a non issue for me that I didn't even think about it."

"You should have warned me beforehand," Blair corrected her. "How did you end up with that guy, Jo? He isn't your type at all."

"Maybe my 'type' isn't what it used to be," Jo said stiffly, feeling as if she were sixteen again.

"How old is he, anyway? He looks like he's old enough to be your father."

"No he doesn't! He's only fifty-nine!"

"He seems so...country." Blair wrinkled her nose. "I always thought you were more the motorcycle gang type."

"There aren't very many of those here in Oklahoma City," Jo said shortly. "Look, let's not start out on the wrong foot, OK?"

Blair sighed. "I think it's a little too late for that. I saw the expression on his face when I told him I didn't believe in God."

By the time Jo got back to the house, Clay had emerged from hibernation. "Sorry I missed everyone," he told his stepmother. Jo knew that the apology had come at Doug's prompting, but she appreciated it, anyway.

Bethany was crying, and Jo went into the nursery and fed her and got her settled for the night. Then she went back to the living room, where she watched a couple of hours of television with Doug before turning in.

"You didn't tell me she was one of those atheists," Doug said to his wife as they were getting ready for bed.

"She stopped believing in God when her parents got divorced when she was little," Jo told her husband. "She isn't a bad person, Doug. She just couldn't believe in a God who would let that happen."

"My faith never wavered after I lost Mary Frances," Doug retorted. "It was about the only thing that kept me going, besides my friends and family and Clay, of course. How could anyone look into Bethany's little face and not believe in God?"

"Blair was brought up different from the way we were," Jo replied. "Her family isn't nearly as traditional as yours and mine."

"That doesn't matter," said Doug. "How could there be any other explanation for the wonders of nature, the complexity of the human brain, things like that?"

"I know," said Jo. "It's just a subject we don't really discuss. We've always just agreed to disagree."

Doug finished undressing and climbed into bed beside Jo. She turned to snuggle into his arms, and he held her tight. Both of them were soon asleep.

Jo helped Blair at the motel for a few days, getting things set up. She took Bethany along so that she could nurse her when necessary.

"I never did that," Blair commented. "I never had time to."

"I didn't think I would, either," Jo replied. "Luckily I was able to work at home so that I could."

"I couldn't stay home all day," Blair said. "I'd go crazy!"

Jo was reminded of the rocky road to friendship she and Blair had traveled as teens. It had always amazed her that two people who'd seemingly had such little in common had become such good friends.

On Saturday, Jo and Jamie took Blair, Adam, and Alyssa to the mall. In the earring store Jamie bought lip gloss and blue nail polish. Alyssa begged her mother for some as well, and Blair told her she was too young for lip gloss and that she wasn't going to have her daughter with blue fingernails.

They were coming out of that store when they met up with Grace and her best friend, Rhetta Rodriguez. "This is my friend Blair from New York and her children, Adam and Alyssa," Jo told the two women. "Blair, this is Doug' sister-in-law Grace and her friend Rhetta."

"How do you do." Blair shook both women's hands.

"Good to meet you," Grace replied. "So for how long are you visiting?"

"I'm staying," Blair told her. "I'm going through a divorce and moved here to make a fresh start with my best friend from high school."

"You'll find it's quite a change from New York," Grace told her.

Blair laughed. "I'm already finding that."