Sanctuary

him.”
    “I do. I like him very much, but that doesn’t mean I don’t think he deserves a good swift kick in the rear end for making you unhappy. And I’d be mighty disappointed in you if you gave him the opportunity to crow over it. So get up,” she ordered, rising herself. “Go on about your business. Take your camera and go along. And when he comes back, all he’ll see is that your life went on without him.”
    “You’re right. You’re absolutely right. I’m going to call my publisher and give them the final go-ahead on the last prints. Then I’m going to go out, take some new shots. I’ve got an idea for another book.”
    Kate smiled as Jo scrambled up and began to pull her shoes on. “That’s wonderful. You’ll have pictures of the island in it, then.”
    “All of them. People this time, too. Faces. No one’s going to accuse me of being lonely, of hiding behind the lens. I’ve got more than one facet to me.”
    “Of course you do, sweetie pie. I’ll get out of your way so you can get to work.” All but vibrating with the pleasure of success, Kate strolled out. Maybe now, she thought, they’d have some peace.
     
     
    THE adrenaline carried Jo through that day and into the next. It fueled her, this new ambition. For the first time in her career, she hunted up faces with enthusiasm, began to study and dissect them. She thrilled at the way Giff’s eyes twinkled under the brim of his cap, the way his hand gripped a hammer.
    She hounded Brian in the kitchen, using charm when she could, threats when she couldn’t, to draw the right expression, to produce the right body language.
    Lexy was easy. She would pose endlessly. But Jo’s favorite shot was one of Lexy and Giff, the foolishly happy expressions on their faces as Giff swept Lexy up to spin her in circles just on the edge of the garden.
    She even trooped after her father, using silence to lull him into relaxing, then capturing the quiet thoughtfulness in his face as he looked out over the salt marsh.
    “It’s time you put that thing away.” Sam’s brows drew together in irritated embarrassment as she aimed the camera at him again. “Run along and play with that somewhere else.”
    “It stopped being play when they started paying me. Turn just a little to the right and look out toward the water.”
    He didn’t move a muscle. “I don’t recollect you ever being such a pest before.”
    “I’ll have you know I’m a very famous photographer. Thousands cheer when I aim my lens.” She clicked quickly when a faint smile tugged at his mouth. “You’re so handsome, Daddy. And you look so masterful out here.”
    “You’re so damned famous, you shouldn’t have to flatter people to get their picture.”
    She laughed and lowered the camera. “True enough. But you are handsome. I was taking some shots over at Elsie Pendleton’s. The Widow Pendleton,” Jo added, wiggling her eyebrows. “She made a point to ask after you. Several times.”
    “Elsie Pendleton’s been looking for a man to replace the one she buried since she tossed the first handful of dirt on his coffin. It ain’t by any means going to be me.”
    “For which good sense your family thanks you.”
    He found his lips trembling again, shook his head as much over the reaction as the cause. “You’re awfully chipper today.”
    “A nice change, don’t you think? I got tired of myself.” She crouched down to change lenses. “And it occurred to me that a corner needed to be turned. Maybe coming here was the start of it.” She paused for a moment, just to look out over the shimmering marsh. “Facing some things, myself included. And realizing that maybe if I didn’t feel loved, it was because I hadn’t let anyone love me.”
    She glanced up, saw that he was watching her, searching her face. “Don’t look for her in me, Daddy.” Jo closed her eyes as the pain stabbed through her. “Don’t look for her in me anymore. It hurts me when you do.”
    “Jo Ellen—”
    “All my life I’ve tried to stop looking like her. In college when the other girls were fussing and primping, I held back. If I fussed I’d have to look in the mirror. And I’d see her, just the way you do when you look at me.” Her eyes swam as she straightened. “What do I have to do, Daddy, to make you see who I am?”
    “I do see. I can’t help but see her too, but I do see you, Jo Ellen. Don’t go spilling over on me here. I’m useless with that female stuff.” He stuffed his hands