Stop Me (46 page)
Authors: Brenda Novak
Tears slipped down Kimberly’s cheeks as she reached out and squeezed Jasmine’s hand. “I’m okay. Now. The man who took me frightened me, but he didn’t…you know, molest me. I think he couldn’t decide whether to turn me over to 274
his boss, which he eventually did. Then there was a nice older boy, and things got easier when I arrived in my new home.”
“I’m glad.” There was so much more Jasmine wanted to know, so much to say. But Kimberly was still too shocked to invite her in.
Deciding to give her a chance to absorb everything, Jasmine handed her a business card with her new cell number written on the back. “In case you decide you can combine your past with your present, after all.” Kimberly glanced down at it. “The Last Stand, Victims’ Support and Assistance Nonprofit Organization,” she read. “You work at this place? In California?”
“I did until I got engaged a couple of weeks ago. I’m moving to New Orleans, where my fiancé lives.” Unable to resist, Jasmine gave her sister another quick hug.
“Be happy,” she said and started back to the car.
“Jasmine?”
At the sound of Kimberly’s voice, Jasmine paused beneath the trellis and turned back. “Yes?” she said hopefully.
“When’s the wedding?”
“March twenty-sixth.”
“I’ll give you a call.” She smiled. “I’d like to be there.”
“It’ll be okay for you to do that?”
“I’d like to get to know you, and to see Mom and Dad again. Maybe my other parents can adjust. Maybe we all can,” she said. “With time.” Jasmine returned to the car to find Romain leaning against it, arms folded.
“So…how’d it go?” he asked, tilting his head to study her expression.
A smile rose up from somewhere deep within. “She’s coming to the wedding.
It’s not a guarantee that we’ll be the kind of sisters we would’ve been. But she’s not opposed to a relationship. And I know she’s healthy and doing well.”
“That’s enough?” He searched her face.
“It’s a beginning—and that’s all I can ask,” she said, and he wiped away her tears.
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ISBN: 978-1-4268-1875-2
STOP ME
Copyright © 2008 by Brenda Novak.
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, MIRA Books, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
MIRA and the Star Colophon are trademarks used under license and registered in Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, United States Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries.
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