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her like this—she would be devastated. And, of course, she’d probably want to rip the messenger’s head clean off.
    As she glanced from face to face in front of her, it was clear from Gabe’s furrowed brow that he had too many questions to be a supportive participant in the discussion Madeline might need. One look at Jacquelyn’s pursed lips signaled to Jo that she was, as always, considering her career above all else.
    Her heart raced as she considered what she was about to do. Jo sighed, knowing she shouldn’t get involved but also knowing that there was no way she could walk away. “I’ll tell her.”
    The puzzlement on Jacquelyn’s face was evident, as was her abject relief.
    “Are you sure?” she asked, unable to stifle the sigh of relief that escaped her lips. Jo saw the tension drain from her body and a brightness return to her eyes.
    It was clear that she was happy to see Jo take the fall, should there be one.
    Drawing another long breath, Jo nodded her head, even though her hands trembled in her lap. She wasn’t sure, really, but somehow it felt like the right thing to do.
    “Jo? We can tell her if you’d rather.” Gabe’s shaky voice offered her a way out, but his mousy expression seemed to beg her not to take him up on the offer.
    “No. I’ve got it,” Jo insisted. “I’ll even draft the statement. I can have it to you before five,” she said, offering Jacquelyn a professional explanation for her actions, and got out of the car.
    Before she could close the door, Gabe stuck his head out. “Thank you, Jo,” he said, offering her a smile that didn’t quite hide his frazzled expression. “I know this is a big thing to take on, but we’re happy to have you on the team.”
    Pursing her lips to keep from letting out a half-amused laugh, she shook her head, shut the door and walked away.
    It’s no wonder Gabe was so alone in the world, she thought. He was a good person, but weak. If he couldn’t muster the backbone necessary to step up in a situation like this, there was no way he could be seen as loyal to anyone.

Chapter Five
    Could you pinpoint the moments your world changed forever? Madeline believed you could. For her, there were a number of such moments, happy ones that left her heart soaring as well as devastating ones that had left her feeling as though everything she knew and loved was being picked up by an Oklahoma twister and spun around in the sky until it plummeted back into the earth at breakneck speed.
    Take the moment she was elected mayor. Although that had been a happy life change, something she had worked hard for, it had left her with the feeling that nothing would ever be the same again. She had been correct. It had turned everything upside down, thrusting her headfirst into a world filled with trade-offs, games, cameras and public scrutiny.
    That life-changing moment had led to the others too. The moment John told her he didn’t love her anymore. The moment he announced he would be sleeping in a separate bedroom. The moment she realized for the first time that he wouldn’t be coming home for the night.
    That day had been like any other. They hadn’t spoken until she got home from work. Then they had fought. He threw a bottle of wine across the room and walked out the front door. He had done all these things before. And, as she had each night when he left before, she had left the outside light on for when he drunkenly stumbled home and then had laid in bed as usual, waiting to hear the sound of the front door open and slam before allowing herself to fall asleep. That night, though, the door had never opened. Finally, at 3:15 a.m., she forced herself to admit that he wasn’t coming back. Everything around her felt as if it had turned to quicksand, shifting beneath her and trying to pull her into its depths.
    It was a moment she replayed often, evoking it whenever she needed an extra surge of strength to get through a particularly difficult day. If I got through that,