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Jo bit down on her grin. She texted back:He’s in the middle of a very in-depth story involving a distant relative’s cat.

“What are you smiling at?” Kelli asked.

Jo locked her phone. “Nothing.”

Her attendants shared a look.

“Did the girlfriend text?”

Jo rolled her eyes. “I thought we broke up.”

Kelli grinned like she was baring her teeth. “So you’re not denying she texted.”

“I’m keeping her updated on Jaden’s mother’s cousin’s daughter’s cat,” Jo said. “She’s very invested.”

The conversation shifted to teasing Jaden, and Jo relaxed.

She kept her phone in her hand, and Emma kept texting. Nothing important. She was watching an arrivals show with her sister. Jo couldn’t imagine who would be arriving this early before the ceremony. She was going earlier than usual herself, taking time to do an interview or two about the Cassandra Project.

I have a real hankering for pigs in a blanket right about now, Emma texted, and Jo had to swallow her laugh. Emma immediately followed it up with:Actually, I made Avery make us some so I’m literally eating them right now.

You have a pretty good sister, Jo texted back.

She’s not terrible.

Eventually, Jo had to actually go to the theater. She let herself be handled on the red carpet a bit more than usual, went where she was supposed to go, and ended up doingfourseparate interviews. As soon as she was off the red carpet and inside, she checked her phone. She’d missed three messages from Emma.

Wow. You look really nice, boss.

The interview with E! was great!

Seriously if you’re not on a best-dressed list, they’re wrong.

Jo grinned to herself and found her table next to Chantal and the cast.

She didn’t turn off her phone during the ceremony. She kept it in her clutch and checked it on commercial breaks. Emma worked just as well as a buffer through the phone as she did inreal life, though it was less fun texting. Jo much preferred the SAGs, muttering things under her breath with Emma beside her, trying not to laugh. Laughing emojis andlols weren’t the same as the way Emma bit the corner of her mouth to keep a chuckle in.

15

JO

A few weeks after the Emmys, there was a quiet knock on Jo’s door. She looked up to see Emma, and Jo smiled until she registered the look on her assistant’s face.

“What’s wrong?”

“Your father called,” Emma said. “He’s planning to stop by around lunch.”

Jo’s spine straightened of its own accord. She sucked in a breath.

“Excellent,” she said, though her jaw stayed clenched. “Thank you for letting me know.”

“I told him you had a busy day,” Emma said. “But when I suggested he schedule a better time, he said he was sure you could fit him in and hung up the phone.”

That sounded like her father.

“Thank you, Emma,” Jo said again. “I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

It wasn’t, of course. But there was nothing to be done about that now. When her father decided something, it was decided.