Any good news yet?”
Jasmine grabbed on to his arm with both hands. “I’m okay, but the nurses won’t tell me anything about Cade, and they wont let me go to him, either. Is it bad?”
“We’re still waiting for the results of his CT scans and X-rays. But so far, so good. He doesn’t seem to have any fractures, anyway.” He searched her face, and gently tucked a long strand of her hair behind her ear. “He cares a great deal about you, but you already know that.”
“Thank you, Jack. Please tell him that I’m fine. I just wish I could get out of this room and go to him.”
“I’m heading back to him right now. I’ll let him know.” Jack glanced over his shoulder at Mei and winked. “Keeping Jasmine here all this time must’ve been a challenge.”
A light, witty response would’ve been perfect.
Or a thoughtful expression of concern.
But now, feeling as awkward as she’d been back in high school, Mei could only summon a small shrug in return, and memories assailed her as she watched Jack leave the room.
“You two have known each other a long time, haven’t you?” Jasmine asked, giving Mei a curious look. “Like, did you two ever date?”
Surprised, Mei laughed. “Whatever gave you that idea?”
“He’s handsome. You’re pretty. You’re both nice and about the same age.”
Oh, the simple logic of youth—imagining that anything in the world was possible if only one wished for it. “No, we never did.”
Jasmine fidgeted on the gurney. “So tell me all about things back then. When Cade’s mother came to town and all.”
“Haven’t you and Cade talked about all of that already?”
Jasmine made a face. “His version. But guys skip all the good stuff.” “Good stuff?”
“The details.” She shot yet another impatient glance at the clock. “And the way things are going, we could be here forever.”
“So you’re bored and need a distraction. Okay … very well.” Mei pulled a chair closer to Jasmine and sat down. “This is a small town, and it was even more quiet ten years ago. Jack was a grade ahead of me, but I still remember the day he showed up at elementary school.”
“Love at first sight?” Jasmine teased.
Mei folded her arms over her chest. “Not then or now, young lady.”
“Please—go on.”
“His mother had just married my uncle Charley, and newcomers in school weren’t that common in this dusty ranching town back then. But although most new kids were withdrawn at first, Jack had a chip on his shoulder from the first day I saw him walk into Ms. Berkow-ski’s fourth-grade classroom. He made no effort to talk to anyone on the playground or anywhere else.” She released a breath. “Now that I’m a teacher, I realize he was probably trying to hide the fact that he was scared. He was facing a lot of changes in his life, with a new stepfather and a new school.”
Yawning, Jasmine swung her legs up onto the gurney and rested her head on the pillow. “Cade says Jack was mad about his mom’s marriage. He says Jack and Charley never got along.”
“I wouldn’t know about that. I just know that Lorelei’s marriage to Charley lasted only a few years—not much beyond Cade’s birth—but she and the kids stayed on in town nonetheless.”
“So did you and Jack ever get to be friends?”
Mei smiled. “Have you forgotten elementary school? Boys are a lower life-form at that age. Wrestling and yelling and being rowdy.”
“What about high school?”
“Different social circles, I guess.”
Jasmine levered herself up on one elbow to look at Mei. “Did you know Cade?”
“I saw him around town. He was the cutest little boy ever, with those big brown eyes.”
“Then why didn’t Charley try to be a good, attentive dad? He had shared custody, but Cade says he failed to show up most of the time and yelled a lot when he did have Cade with him. It’s so unfair.” Her expression clouded. “And it’s even unfair now.”
“Why is that?”
“You should hear the things he says about Cade and me getting married.”
“About how young you both are?”
Jasmine rolled her eyes. “Everyone has brought that up. He’s worse, saying crazy stuff about how I’m in cahoots with your grandpa George’s ‘clan’ since I’ve been living with Arabella. And how Cade has no business getting mixed up with the likes of them. Granted, Charley’s always been volatile, but these accusations are ridiculous!”
“There’s some bad history between the two sides of the family,” Mei said carefully.
Jasmine snorted. “Old history.”
“Painful, to some.”
“But it’s all in the past. I know about how your grandpa cheated his brother in some sort of land deal that left George rich and Samuel poor, and how Samuel has been mad ever since.”
It was hard coming up with a defense of anyone’s actions—but Samuel’s side of the family tree had found endless ways to cause trouble over the years in retaliation. “Maybe … Charley is only following his father’s lead, then.”
“But it shouldn’t drive Cade and me apart. It just isn’t fair.” She sighed. “That’s why I’m thinking about putting on a big Thanksgiving dinner all by myself for both sides of the family. If I can get everyone face to face, maybe they’ll finally grow up.”
Ah, the innocence of youth. “It might not work out quite that way.”
“But someone needs to try,” Jasmine said with a stubborn lift of her chin. “And because I have the most at stake right now, I guess it needs to be me.”
“What does Cade think of all this?”
Jasmine’s mouth twitched. “He doesn’t think anyone will show up, but I think they will. And he knows how much this means to me.”
“Just be careful to not pressure people too much, honey. I’m not saying you don’t have the right idea, but there’s a long, long history between some of these people, and what some of them have done to seek revenge against each other has left a lot of open wounds.” She shrugged. “Maybe some battles aren’t worth the cost.”
“Well, this one is.”
Mei arched a brow.
Jasmine yawned again and closed her eyes, and in a few minutes her breathing became deep and even. Poor thing—she had to be exhausted from all she’d been through.
Mei
