“What did he do when you caught him?”
“Nothing. I mean, I didn’t say anything to him until later.”
“You didn’t say anything to him?!”
“No. Not until later.”
“What did you do when you saw him banging that home wrecker?”
Leah owned Barks, Balls & Bellyrubs with her twin sister Bea and the two women could not be more opposite. Both were smart, funny, and had huge hearts. Where they differed was in how those qualities presented themselves. Bea would understand Jasmine’s actions, whereas Leah wanted blood.
“I didn’t do anything in the moment. But I confronted him later that night and broke up with him.”
Jasmine could see that Leah had a lot of things to say, but instead she just pulled her into her arms and held her. When she finally let her go she kept hold of her upper arms. “I just stopped by to give you the news, I have to go to a doctor’s appointment. But I can stay if you want me to. Or call Bea to come in.”
“No!” Jasmine liked being at work. It kept her busy and now more than ever she needed every dime of her paychecks. “I’m fine. Really.”
Leah stared into Jasmine’s eyes, searching for any clue that she wasn’t okay.
She didn’t want her friend to worry, so she put a wide smile on her face and pulled Leah into another hug. “Seriously, I am. Congratulations, again! On the baby! I’m so happy for you.”
Before Leah left, she hugged her one more time and made Jasmine promise to call her or Bea anytime, day or night, if she needed anything.
When Jasmine found herself once again alone in the shop, she pulled up the grooming schedule and started to game plan what she would accomplish in the windows of time she didn’t have a client. Her limbs were heavy and her eyelids were droopy.
She was mid-yawn when she heard the bell ding above the door. She looked up, expecting to see her first appointment of the day, a standard poodle named Elvis. Instead she saw Leo. Aviator glasses covered his stare but she could feel his whiskey gaze from behind his lenses. A tingle raced down her spine and her heart skipped in her chest. Suddenly, she had a second wind.
* * *
Leo entered Barks, Balls & Bellyrubs and stopped up short, sure he was having a hallucination. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Jasmine and now he’d managed to conjure her up. Jasmine was behind the counter; her curls framed her sweetheart face and her large hazel eyes. She looked like an angel.
“What are you doing here?” he asked in disbelief as he removed his sunglasses.
A wrinkle appeared between Jasmine’s brows as she tilted her head to the side as if it were a trick question. “Working.”
“I thought you worked at the clinic today.”
“I do, in the afternoon.”
“How many jobs do you have?”
“A few.”
“How many?”
“Um, well, it depends on what you call a job.”
He wasn’t sure if that was a rhetorical question or not, but he decided to answer it anyway. “A job is something you get paid to do.”
“Well, I guess my ‘real’ jobs are here, the vet, and the community center where I teach a yoga class, and a ballroom dance class for seniors. I also babysit, and make homemade dog treats.” She lifted a bag that had a logo of a paw with the words Jasmine’s Goodies printed over it and the words Homemade and All Natural beside it. “And I’m a consultant for…” Her cheeks reddened. “Feminine products.”
“You sell tampons?”
“No.” She shook her head and a flush rose on her cheeks. “I sell…a line of female body care.”
It still sounded like tampons to Leo, but he could see that Jasmine was uncomfortable so he dropped it.
“And you’re in school, too, right?”
He remembered Meg mentioning that Jasmine continued her education after earning her vet tech certification because she wanted to get her degree in veterinary medicine.
“Yep.”
“You’re busy.”
“I’m blessed with work,” she said, and he could tell that she truly meant it.
He noticed the dark circles under her eyes as he walked closer to her. “How are you feeling?” He almost said that she looked tired but stopped himself. In his experience, any time someone said that, it wasn’t received well.
“A little tired, but I’m okay.” Her phone rang and when she saw who it was, she held up her hand. “I’m sorry, I need to take this.”
He nodded and she answered the call, moving away from the counter. He had an overwhelming impulse to eavesdrop, which was ridiculous.
Never in his life had he ever been so preoccupied with another person. He had a feeling it wasn’t the healthiest thing in the world. But he honestly wasn’t sure how to stop it.
Instead of giving her the space to have a private conversation, he found himself lifting up the package of homemade dog treats that she’d made and pretending to be interested in it so that he could remain in earshot. Out of habit, his eyes shot straight to the list of ingredients. He wasn’t surprised at all to read that everything was all-natural and organic. He would expect no less from Jasmine. Which was strange considering he’d only known her for about forty-eight hours.
After a minute or so of her making noncommittal sounds she said, “Five-thirty should work. Thanks. I really appreciate your help.”
When she hung up the phone, she bit her lower lip, an uncertain expression clouding her face. Her eyes were downcast, and he could sense her anxiety.
“Everything okay?”
With a blink she lifted her head as if she’d forgotten that he was there at all. Apparently, she wasn’t suffering from the same preoccupation that he was.
“Um, yeah. I found a place and I get the keys after work today.”
“Do you need any help moving?”
“Oh no.” She shook her head.
“You have people helping you?”
She continued shaking her head. “It’s furnished and I don’t have that much stuff.”
He didn’t think that she should be lifting heavy boxes in her condition. And as much as he hated to admit it, he wanted to be the one that she was thanking for help, not whoever she’d been talking to on the phone. How middle school was that? “I don’t mind helping.”
“I appreciate that, but honestly, I mostly just have clothes.” Jasmine changed the subject, motioning to the bag he was holding. “Would you like to get those?”
“Um, sure.” He hadn’t planned on purchasing dog treats, but he figured he’d bring them into the vet office and leave them out on the counters. “And my grandma said that she had an order come in.”
“Oh! Okay.” Jasmine shifted her attention to the computer and began typing.
The bell dinged behind Leo and he looked over his shoulder. A woman with clothes so bright Leo almost put his sunglasses back on entered the shop with a standard black poodle in tow. She wore neon green leggings and a bright orange turtleneck with a rainbow scarf tied around her neck. Her eyelashes looked like fans and her lips were bright pink. He’d travelled the world, met thousands of people, and he could honestly say that he’d never met anyone that embodied the word eccentric like the woman that had just come in.
“Hi, Aunt Wendy! Hi, Elvis!” Jasmine’s face lit up and the dog’s tail started going double-time, and he peed a little.
“He always tinkles when he sees our Jasmine!” The woman smiled brightly as she explained to Leo.
Jasmine was already around the counter with paper towels and disinfectant spray. The dog whined and peed a little bit more when she got closer. She quickly cleaned up the mess and gave the poodle lots of kisses. “Hi, buddy! Wendy this is Doc and Kitty’s grandson, Leo. Leo this is Wendy. And this handsome boy is Elvis Pawsley.” Jasmine made the introductions from her crouched position.
The woman stretched out her arm, offering Leo her hand. He stepped forward and shook it. She grinned, as she looked him up and down. He felt a tad self-cons
cious under her assessing stare. “You can call me Aunt Wendy, everyone does. I’ve been hearing a lot about you, and it looks like you live up to the hype.”
“Thank you?” He assumed she meant that as a compliment, but he still wasn’t exactly sure how to take it.
“And you, missy, I hear congratulations are in order! You and Corbin are finally tying the knot,” she said as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a card. “You know I’m a wedding planner. And I’ll give you the friends and family discount, since you are Elvis’s girlfriend.”
“Oh, thank you, but, um, actually…” Jasmine stood up and disposed of the cleaning supplies. Then she took a deep breath and discarded the gloves she’d put on. “Corbin and I broke up.”
“Really?” Wendy’s smile grew wide before she blinked and flattened her lips. “I mean, really?”
The second “really” sounded much more somber.
“Mm hm.” Jasmine brushed her hair behind her ears as she went back around the counter.
Leo wasn’t sure if she’d picked up on Wendy’s initial reaction to the news that she was no longer engaged. He couldn’t tell if she had and was just ignoring it, or if she’d actually been oblivious to it.
He was beginning to wonder more and more what the deal was with this Corbin. Leo’s grandma hadn’t had one kind word to say about him, and from the few things he’d heard around the clinic, neither did anyone who worked there.
“Are you okay, sweetie?” Wendy asked as she and Elvis Pawsley followed Jasmine to the doggy play area.
“Yeah. I’ll be fine.” Jasmine opened the gate and Elvis happily trotted in.
As soon as the gate closed, Wendy pulled Jasmine into a bear hug. “Oh dear, my sweet, sweet girl. I know that this must feel like a tragedy. You probably feel like you’ll never love again. Like your best years are behind you and you’ve wasted them on a man that wasn’t worth the dirt on your shoe.”
Jasmine’s eyes lifted and met Leo’s. Her expression mirrored his own, both of their eyes wide and lips pursed. It was incredible how much they communicated without saying a word. He’d always envied his grandparents for being able to speak to each other without speaking but he’d never experienced it before. He liked it. A lot.
“But have no fear.” She pulled back, holding Jasmine at arm’s length. “There are better things on the horizon. This is a fresh start. Soon he’ll just be a distant memory.”
Leo’s heart sank when Jasmine flinched slightly at the last statement. As good as Wendy’s intentions might be, that was the wrong thing to say. Corbin wasn’t going to be a distant memory. Jasmine would be tied to him for the rest of her life, or at least the next eighteen years.
He stopped and thought about just how significant of a commitment having a child was. He’d never come close to committing to anything that long-term. He’d thought about having kids. Clancy, his ex, had brought it up a lot that final year they’d been together. But he’d never actually envisioned himself as a dad.
“This is just a blip on your journey to happily ever after. Soon you’re going to find a man who is a million times better than what’s his name. I honestly never saw why you two were together.”
“Thanks?” Now it was Jasmine’s turn to look confused at how to take Wendy’s compliment.
“I’ll be back this afternoon to pick you up, Elvis.” Wendy bent down and gave her boy a kiss on the head. “Nice meeting you, handsome!” She blew Leo a kiss before leaving the way she’d entered, her scarf flying behind her.
Leo stared at the entrance for several seconds as he processed what he’d just witnessed.
“She’s…”
“Amazing,” Leo finished. He found that word to be overused, but if anyone deserved that adjective, it was Wendy. He turned back to see how Jasmine seemed after her relationship pep talk. “Are you okay?”
“Me?” She asked as she lifted her hand to her chest and shook her head. “Oh, I’m fine. She’s always like that.”
He watched as she sweet-talked Elvis before retrieving his grandma’s order. She rang him up and he paid. When she handed him his bag, he knew that he should turn around and leave. There was no reason for him to still be there, yet there he was.
“Is there anything else?” she prompted.
“No, sorry.” He shook his head. “Thanks, I’ll see you—”
“Yeah, see you soon,” she said at the same time.
As he left the store, he wondered what the hell was going on with him. He’d never been so socially awkward before. He’d also never thought about a person from the moment he woke up in the morning until the moment he went to sleep. He needed to get whatever this was under control because it was getting out of hand.
That was what he needed to do, but instead, he found himself checking the time to see how long it would be before he’d see her again at the start of her clinic shift. Four hours and fifteen minutes.
Why did that feel like an eternity?
Chapter 9
It was a dark and stormy night…
Jasmine hoped the ominous scene playing out in front of her wasn’t any indication of what this juncture in her life was going to be. In what could only be described as cinematic in scope, large drops of rain fell on the windshield as she sat in her VW, blanketed under the dark night sky, in front of the home she’d shared with Corbin for the past four years.
Her ex had inherited the one-story craftsman after his uncle retired to Florida. It was a two-bedroom cottage that she’d envisioned starting a family in one day. The memory of the day they moved in was the polar opposite of today in every way.
When she closed her eyes, she was transported back in time. It was a bright, sunny Saturday morning that had been so full of promise and hope. At least, it had been on her part. They’d spent the morning and afternoon transporting their belongings from their tiny one-bedroom apartment to their new home. Things, for the most part, had gone smoothly.
They had nicked a wall bringing in the bed frame, but other than that no drywall had been injured. By the evening, they were both exhausted and they’d dined on pizza and wine, seated on the floor and using a box as a table.
She’d never felt more adult and settled. They’d spent the evening discussing their plans for the future in their new house. Corbin was going to use the spare bedroom as an office, but one day they’d convert it into a nursery.
She’d spent more hours than she liked to admit imagining what the space would look like with a crib, rocking chair, and changing table in it. She’d envisioned herself coming home from the hospital with a bundle of joy swaddled in her arms and Corbin helping her up the back steps.
Now, she was single and would be bringing the baby home to her one-bedroom rental, by herself.
All she’d ever wanted growing up was a family and stability, and that was exactly what the house she’d just moved all of her belongings out of had represented to her. Now, when she looked at the porch swing and tapered columns that had represented her future, her love, and her family, all she saw was the betrayal, secrets, and deceit those walls held.
Everything she’d thought was real had turned out to be lies.
A single tear slid down her cheek. Her arms were heavy as a melancholy cloud enveloped her. She wasn’t grieving the relationship itself, but more like the dream of what she’d thought it was. Clearly, the reality wasn’t anything to cry over.
Sniffing back emotion, she started up the engine and backed out of the driveway for the last time. She’d just turned onto the main road when her console lit up with a call. She glanced down and saw Nan’s name. She hadn’t exactly been avoiding the calls from her adopted mom, but she definitely hadn’t been eager to talk to her. Usually, Jasmine checked in with her several times a week.
They’d spoken on Saturday when Jasmine shared the news that she was engaged. That was only a few days ago but it felt like so much had happened…probably because it had.
Nan had called her Monday after her yoga class, but she hadn�
��t answered the call. Then she’d called her again last night after her ballroom class, but she hadn’t had the nerve to pick up then either.
The last thing she ever wanted to do was disappoint the one person in her life that believed in her, supported her, saved her, and loved her unconditionally. And she knew that’s exactly what she was about to do.
Knowing that she couldn’t put off the inevitable, she took a deep breath and pushed the button on her steering wheel with the green phone icon. “Hi.”
“If you didn’t answer I was about to send out a search party.”
“Sorry, Nan. I’ve been busy.”
“You’re already starting the wedding plans?”
This was it. She needed to rip off the Band-Aid. “Actually, no. The opposite. Corbin and I broke up.”
“What did he do?”
Even though she made it a habit never to lie to Nan, she was hesitant to tell her the exact circumstances of the breakup. Jasmine was carrying Corbin’s baby, which meant there was a very good chance she and Corbin would be in each other’s lives for the next eighteen years. She didn’t want Nan to have to deal with that baggage during major life events.
“How do you know it wasn’t something I did?” Jasmine stalled.
“Do you really want me to answer that?” Nan asked in monotone.
“We grew apart.” It wasn’t a lie. They had grown apart.
“Did he hit you?”
“What? No. Absolutely not.”
“So, he cheated on you,” she stated matter-of-factly.
Well, she certainly couldn’t deny that one. “Why would you say that?”
“Saturday, I talk to you and you’re engaged, and now the two of you are broken up. There’re only two reasons that you would have left that man.”
Jasmine wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Nan wasn’t wrong.
“I’m glad he cheated.”
“Nan?!”
“I’m serious. If he had laid his hands on you, I’d be spending my golden years in prison because I would’ve killed him. This is definitely the lesser of two evils.”
Just One Touch - Leo & Jasmine (Crossroads Book 16) Page 8