Between Us Girls (43 page)

Jasmyn looked at Sam.

“You know I can keep my mouth shut. And honestly, I'm fine. We weren't exactly seeing each other. If he's hung up on someone else, I don't want us seeing each other.”

“Yeah,” Quinn said. “What good is a crush if you can't dream about taking it to the next level?”

Sam frowned. “I was nowhere near dreaming that. I never asked him how he got from Kentucky to Seaside Village because he annoys me to pieces.”

Jasmyn wasn't sure she bought into Sam's words. There was still a hint of emotional shutdown in her face.

Quinn said, “So? Who is she?”

“Tallie Shay.”

“Oh. My. Gosh.” Quinn almost squealed.

Sam said, “Who's Tallie Shay?”

Quinn said, “One of the hot new ones. There's talk of her being nominated for best supporting actress in her latest movie. Even before that, her face was plastered everywhere. Some of it was tabloid stuff.”

“Hmm.” Sam's shoulders relaxed. “That's Beau's style?”

Jasmyn smiled gently. “I can't really see it.”

“Well, he had me fooled.”

Quinn huffed. “Men.”

“Speaking of which. Of whom? Anyway.” Jasmyn hesitated. “While we're on the subject…” Her voice faded out. Her thoughts tumbled like clothes in a dryer. What was there to say?

The other two stared at her, waiting.

At last Quinn said, “The subject is men.” She gestured for Jasmyn to get on with it. “Come on. You can do it. Does he have a name?”

Sam's eyes widened. “Mr. Kung Fu Dude.”

Quinn grinned. “The guy with the last name for a first name. The angel, knight, kung fu dude who doesn't talk much. The one who gave you that jacket lying there next to you.”

Jasmyn glanced down at the purple folds on the bench seat and vowed to stop wearing the jacket. “He's weird. He lives far away. I'll stop thinking about him eventually. A week or two. Three, tops.”

“It was the kiss at the airport,” Sam said. “That wasn't fair.”

Quinn said, “Whoa! A kiss at the airport?”

Jasmyn shook her head. “A peck on the forehead. Like between friends. Like it's been fun getting to know you, have a good life.”

“It sure didn't look that way to me. Quinn, in the three years I've known him, I have never seen the guy show even a hint of emotion.”

Jasmyn squirmed. “This is a pointless conversation. I only brought him up because I ate the barbecue sauce too.”

The other two laughed.

Jasmyn realized the talk wasn't totally pointless. Her confession released some tension inside. She really did like Keagan in that way.

Quinn finally caught her breath. “Seriously, Jasmyn, love knows no distance. But if he shows up here, I will ask him the tough questions. Like, is he standoffish because he has a broken heart or because he's a serial killer?”

“Well.” Sam cleared her throat. “It's the first.”

“What did I tell you, Jazz? That's exactly what I said. He's hiding behind a broken heart.”

“Sam!”

“I can't say for sure. This came from Chad, who was drunk when he heard it and not quite sober when he told me.”

Quinn said, “Chad's the hottie who could pose for cologne ads?”

“Yeah, that's the one. He's been known to go off the deep end now and then. Keagan has helped him through some bad times. He dumped his alcohol more than once and intervened for him with Liv.”

Jasmyn said, “I didn't know that.”

“Keagan and Liv don't talk about it. And Chad's been doing well the past six months or so. One time Keagan brought him home from a bar. You know how crazy Chad is about Piper.”

“Piper,” Quinn interrupted. “The drop-dead gorgeous shopping expert.”

“You have been paying attention.” Sam grinned. “Anyway, Chad was whining about her complete lack of interest in him and what a snob she could be. Keagan pushed him up against a wall and said that until he saw his fiancée gunned down, he had no right to talk like that.”

Jasmyn turned to Quinn. “Piper's fiancé was killed in Afghanistan.”

“How awful.”

Sam nodded. “The thing is, Piper didn't see it happen, and it was an IED, not a gun that killed him. Chad might have the words all confused,
but Keagan's extreme reaction was real enough. It struck him that Keagan was referring to himself.”

Quinn said, “Which would explain why he's brokenhearted and standoffish.”

“Totally unapproachable.”

Jasmyn disagreed, but kept her thoughts to herself.

Quinn said, “That's a sad story too.”

“Mm-hmm. Even if Chad imagined three-fourths of it. Do you have a sad guy story?”

“I do.”

Jasmyn said, “Quinn, you and Andrew are crazy about each other and he's a keeper.”

“Except he's in Chicago most of the time now, for work. Even on weekends.”

“You didn't say anything.”

Quinn shrugged. “It's too sad to talk about.”

They sat in silence for a long moment.

Quinn said, “What's really sad is that those three men are going through life without us.”

Jasmyn snickered first. Sam snorted. Quinn giggled. Soon each of them were doubled over in laughter.

It felt like a balm seeping into wounds long scarred over, softening them, pouring new life into them. It felt like a promise that no matter what, Quinn and Sam would always be there for her.

Seventy-Four

Liv's office door opened and Keagan walked in. “Liv, are you okay?”

Seated behind the desk with Tobi on her lap, she wondered how he knew. They hadn't seen each other since Sunday. He didn't have firsthand knowledge of her phone calls with the girls, her witness of Beau's odd behavior, or of her own rattled demeanor. How did Keagan do it?

He sat across from her. “The gate. You left it unlocked and it's eleven p.m.”

“Well.” She glanced at the computer screen with her favorite gardening website in view, at her hands stroking Tobi's fur, at the monitor again as it winked off, and finally at him. “I'm okay.”

He grunted.

“I talked to the girls. They're fine. Except Sam voiced concern yesterday about Jasmyn, who seems a little too over-the-top idealistic about her plans to buy the restaurant. Jasmyn called today and confided that her boss's wife has cancer, which means the sale needs to happen immediately. Beau took off for Hollywood. I have no idea for how long. Louis's gone into the hospital for tests, Tasha has strep throat, and the new van driver, who brought Coco back from her senior activities center, couldn't find the Casa, so it took forever to get her home. She was frazzled.”

“You've had a day.”

“Yes, I have.” She waited, giving Keagan time to ponder. “What do you think? Besides the life-is-difficult stuff.”

A muscle in his jaw twitched. “It's too soon for Jasmyn to make a major
commitment like that.” His voice was brusque. “She needs to give herself a whole year to recover.”

Liv had not expected such a harsh response from him. “Maybe I could offer that bit of wise advice to her.”

“I already did.”

“She's a stubborn little fighter. She could make it work.” Liv's shoulders sagged. How she hoped Jasmyn would not make a mistake. No. How she hoped Jasmyn would just change her mind and leave Valley Oaks altogether.

Keagan stood, muttering something about stubbornness, and went to the door.

“Keagan, why is Beau in Hollywood?”

He stopped and turned. “It's complicated.”

“You brought him into my world and now I'm hooked. I like him in it. Is he coming back?”

“I don't know.” He sat down again. “When I met him a few years ago, he'd work out every day at the gym like a man possessed. Eventually he calmed down. He told me that he and Tallie Shay had been engaged.”

“The actress?”

“Yep. I don't know why he lives here and she lives there, but he goes up every so often.”

Liv sighed. “And here Jasmyn and I thought he had a crush on Sam. I guess I can cross that romantic scenario off my list.”

He gave her a funny look.

She smiled and refrained, as she had so often refrained, from asking why he did not have a significant other, other than herself, in his life.

He soon left and she burst out laughing. “Oh, Tobi. Evidently, I am his only significant other. Dear Lord, I do appreciate how he watches over me, but let's get real. He needs someone else, and I am willing to share.”

The next morning, Liv's unease still festered.

“Lord, I don't want to meddle. You know I don't want to meddle, but…”

She found the phone number for the Flying Pig in Valley Oaks and hoped Jasmyn was not there.

Danno Johnson answered the phone. His voice sounded exactly how Jasmyn had described him, gruff and yet gentle, distant and yet approachable.

Expressing her motherly love for the young woman he had watched over for years was like having a chat with an old friend.

They were on the same page.

Seventy-Five

Two characteristics were fairly easy for Jasmyn to admit about herself to herself without thinking she was obnoxiously tooting her own horn.

One, her memory was good.

Two, her heart was good. She felt compassion for most of the people she knew, including the townspeople who were not so nice to her after she sold the land.

Her memory and heart combined made her a good waitress. She hoped they would make her at least an average business owner who gave to the community and paid her own bills.

The only drawback now sat across the wide conference table from her and Quinn in a downtown Rockville office building. His name was Nick Bloome. He did not have a room in her good heart, not even a corner in a closet. And in his presence, her good memory was turning to oatmeal.

He smiled his phony smile. The straight, white teeth she used to admire seemed yellow. The uniquely shaped nose—broken twice when he was a wrestler—that had intrigued her now, almost, nauseated her. The thatch of unruly black hair looked plain messy on a guy in a black suit and gold tie.

He said, “Jazzie, you with us?”

She blinked, long and slow. Why had she agreed to this? True, he was the best local business consultant. True, Danno was his client and highly recommended him. True, she and Quinn needed his input and expertise. But still…

“Sure.”

Quinn stood abruptly. “Will you excuse me, please? I'm going to the ladies' room.” She sent a glare in Jasmyn's direction and scooted out the door, closing it firmly behind herself.

A clock ticked. A distant train whistle blared.

At last Jasmyn looked at him. “I don't think this is going to work. I'm sorry.”

“Don't be sorry. I'm sorry.” His brown eyes—the ones that used to seem so romantic—reminded her of a doe's. Not a buck's. A doe's.

He was soft. Nothing at all like Keagan.

“I'm sorry for everything.”

By that, she supposed he meant for dumping her when he got Becka Piehl pregnant. Surely he wasn't sorry for his marriage and his one and one-on-the-way children or for his successful business.

She sighed. “Nick, I'm not angry or hurt anymore. It was for the best for both of us. But there's this…” She waved her hand between them.

“Baggage. I understand.”

“I think I'll leave now.” She stood.

“Wait. Please.” He gathered papers and folders together. “I need to tell you something. You'll hear it soon, but maybe not soon enough. You did not hear this from me, okay?”

“Okay.”