“What needs to be done, exactly?” Leo sat back with his own cup of coffee and wished he had something in the house for breakfast. Normally he didn’t eat in the morning, but he’d spent a lot of energy the night before.
“Well, the windows and sign have to be replaced, the walls have to be cleaned and repainted, and a few holes have to be repaired. I have to fix or replace the water feature, redo most of the decorating, and I don’t know how they will get the paint off of the brick. Sandblasting, maybe?”
Leo paused, considering. “Probably. Or paint over it, if you want to. Is there anything there that you could work on yourself—or with some help from willing friends—to get the place fixed up enough for classes? Just in the short term?”
She looked at him like he was talking about bunnies and aliens.
“What?” he asked. “Some things could be done easily ourselves. Why not? I can help, and if you know a few people who might pitch in—”
Jasmine seemed to consider.
“I’ve done a ton of renovation on my house, but I was so rattled by this, I didn’t even think about fixing up some of the damage on my own.”
He walked over to her and framed her face with his hands. “Not on your own. With friends. With me.” He said the words softly, looking into her pretty green eyes.
She smiled, but pulled away.
“I appreciate that, but you don’t have to put yourself out that way.”
Her tone had taken on the polite note most used with strangers or acquaintances—not with men you slept with. Twice.
It kind of pissed him off, though he took a breath—hanging out with Jasmine was teaching him all the things a deep breath could do. She’d been through a lot, and he had to be patient.
“I don’t see it that way. I’m not being put out. I’m helping out a friend.” He smiled, hoping to dispel the tension that had suffused the kitchen. “You know, if you can get a water feature, I might be able to install it, if the plumbing is already there in the building. I’ve been getting handier lately. I like fixing things. It makes me feel useful.”
She frowned in a way that he thought was cute—bad sign. He was halfway to being in over his head with this woman, and he wasn’t sure she was so much as dipping her toe in the water.
“I can look into it. I don’t think we can do anything right now, though, because of the insurance. I don’t dare touch anything and give them grounds to refuse to pay for the damage, especially with the premiums I’ve paid. It’s nice of you to offer, but it should all be covered. The question is when and getting someone to do the work. But I’ll keep at it.”
“Okay, that makes sense.” He decided to change the subject. “How about some breakfast? I’m starving after last night.”
He enjoyed watching her cheeks warm at his reference to their sexy night.
“I could use something to balance out the caffeine. I’m not used to so much of it. My blood feels like it’s buzzing through my veins.”
“Been there. There were times I worked all night at the firm, and I’d suck coffee from this little automatic machine I kept near my desk. I was so buzzed the next day I couldn’t stop—”
Leo paused, stunned. He nearly dropped the coffee cup he was holding.
“Holy shit,” he said, falling back into his chair. “Holy shit,” he repeated under his breath.
“Leo, are you okay?”
He shook his head. “I remember that. How I worked late, drank too much coffee to keep going. I can almost see the office, my desk. Like it’s at the edge of my mind somewhere. It popped out, without even thinking about it. Like yesterday—”
“What? You remembered something yesterday too?”
He grimaced. “When I was at your studio, and I thought you were hurt, I saw the police tape, the cops… I guess it shook something loose. I could hear the screams, the gunshot. I couldn’t see it, not clearly, but I remembered the sounds. Jeannie screaming, being shot. And I remember what the bullet felt like.”
Self-conscious, he gripped his hands together when he realized they were shaking. Embarrassing, but he couldn’t stop.
“Oh, Leo.”
She was there, and not only her arms but her body wrapped around him as she pressed her cheek to his. After a few seconds, his heart stopped slamming.
She pulled back and studied him closely. “This is good news, right? It’s coming back? You’re healing.”
“I guess. It doesn’t feel good. I can’t explain it,” he said, shaking his head again. “But I guess it’s a good thing.”
“Maybe you should see a doctor to get checked out. I have someone you could trust here.”
Leo didn’t want any part of hospitals unless he absolutely had to be in one.
“No, I’m okay. It’s startling when it sneaks up like that. I believed it was really gone, forever.”
“Maybe you should rest—”
“No. I’m good. Let’s get some food and maybe find something to do for the day.”
He was suddenly antsy and he needed to move, but he didn’t miss the apprehensive look on her face.
“What?”
“This isn’t a day off for me. I need to meet with the insurance, and I have to stay on these contractors and start chasing some of them down if need be. I’m sorry.”
She looked genuinely distressed as she explained. Leo swallowed his disappointment.
“No, of course. I know you have to deal with all of that. No problem. Let me get dressed and we can get some breakfast and then you can go do what you need to do.”
He wanted to offer to go with her, but he knew from the look on her face that that wouldn’t work.
Locked out, again.
Left to deal with his own shit the way she was dealing with hers.
Buck up, Leo.
Maybe he’d hoped they’d spend the day together so that he didn’t have to think about his own problems. Not that he didn’t want to be with Jasmine, but she also provided a hell of a distraction.
Why wasn’t he happier about remembering?
Like Jasmine said, this breakthrough was a good thing. He could get his life back. Maybe his job. But as they left for breakfast, he had to admit he wasn’t sure that was what he wanted anymore. What he wanted had become a huge question.
Except for Jasmine. He caught her scent as the breeze carried it by him and knew for certain he wanted her, even if he couldn’t be sure of how long she’d want him, as well.
Jasmine was more hopeful as the day progressed. She’d had a huge breakfast, and then discovered the police had taken the police tape and barricades down at the shop. That helped her feel like less of a spectacle. Several of her neighbors and clients had come by with various offers of help, sympathy and general support.
Two guys from the hardware store down the street helped her board up the windows that morning, and for that she was so grateful. Still, she’d had to leave the studio and go to lunch, to get out into the sun and away from the carnage. It looked even worse inside today. The police still had no idea who had done it.
Amanda walked beside her, similarly stricken and exhausted. She’d been there when Jasmine came in, sweeping up glass and trying to resurrect their plants and get them out into the light.
“It will be okay,” she reassured Jasmine.
“The insurance will send a check soon, they said, but it’s lining up contractors that’s the challenge. And I have to get several estimates for the insurance.”
“One step at a time,” Amanda reminded her. “But I have to ask you something, and I hope you won’t be mad.”
Jasmine stopped on the walk, facing her friend. “What’s the matter?”
“We had to cancel so many classes, I was worried about rent, so I picked up some freelance classes at Kathy’s studio. I know she’s kind of your competitor in the area, but I had to do something for some quick cash. It’s not permanent, and she was offering a pretty good paycheck, so—”
Jasmine put a hand on Amanda’s shoulder. “It�
��s fine. I’m glad—this is one less thing for me to worry about. I wondered how you were going to make ends meet. This is good news.” Jasmine hoped Amanda knew she meant it.
“But don’t plan to stay on there,” she added playfully. “When we’re back in business, I want you on the schedule as a regular instructor.”
Amanda’s jaw dropped. “You do?”
Jasmine smiled. “I do. I saw the other day how good you are, and I think you would be a great addition. I can do it if I’m frugal in a few other areas of the budget. And frankly, I could use the help. Full time. Are you up for it?”
Amanda jumped into a hug, nearly knocking Jasmine over.
“Hell yes!”
Then, over Jasmine’s shoulder, Amanda sucked in a breath. “Oh, Jasmine, look.” Her voice changed, suddenly quiet.
Jasmine turned to look where Amanda was, back toward her studio. Two young women—Meryl and Kayla—from the art gallery down the street, who sometimes came in for walk-in classes, were painting on the boards that covered the front of the store.
“Look at that. They’re painting a garden!” Amanda took her by the hand and pulled her over to the studio.
Jasmine felt like her feet wouldn’t move. Her heart was in her throat, and she was sure if she blinked she would dissolve into tears on the spot. Such kindness.
After the glaring spotlight of her father’s financial sins and suicide, the press painting a portrait of her as a spoiled rich kid who had received everything she’d had in life illegally and at the expense of others, she’d not only developed a phobia about being in the spotlight, but also had forgotten how kind people could be.
Very, very few people had been kind back then. With her father gone, dead, she and her mother had borne the brunt of much more cruelty than had been their due. She’d even changed her name for a while; it was the only way she could get a job.
“Isn’t it wonderful, Jazz?” Amanda prompted, elbowing her as Jasmine realized she was standing there, staring.
“It’s…amazing.” She snapped back to the moment and accepted hugs from Meryl and Kayla.
“We wanted to help in some way until you have it all fixed up. We’re doing the other two shops too. Manny is giving out free ice cream since his freezers were broken, so we’re going to go help him with that as soon as we’re done here.”
“Oh no! They broke the ice cream freezers?” Jasmine said on a sucked-in breath. She cursed in a very un-yogi-like fashion. No one was shocked. They all felt the same way.
“Yeah, whoever did this, there must have been a bunch of them,” Kayla said.
“I’d be happy to help with the ice cream, or anything else,” Jasmine said, and Amanda agreed.
Jasmine was ashamed of herself. She’d been so wrapped up in her own worries that she’d forgotten her neighbors were suffering similar troubles, or worse.
“That would be awesome. I think a lot of local people are kicking in to help,” Meryl said. “And anything we can do for you, let us know.”
Jasmine couldn’t fight the tears again and found herself wrapped in hugs as the girls all offered comfort.
It made her feel more connected to everything around her than she had felt in a long time.
“Well, we should go. We’ll see you at Manny’s.”
Suddenly, she realized she’d solved the problem of her scarred brick walls, as an idea formed out of the blue.
“Meryl, Kayla, this mural is so pretty. I think when the windows are up, these panels are going to be used inside the studio. They’re too beautiful to tear down. I’m going to have them put up over the brick,” Jasmine said, the inspiration feeling right. “So don’t forget to sign them. And charge me for them.”
Kayla and Meryl tackled her with more hugs, and then she and Amanda headed toward Manny’s to offer help there.
“Wow, I didn’t think I could ever feel good about this situation, but seeing how everyone is coming together and how everyone is so kind…it’s really amazing. And it never would have happened if this terrible thing hadn’t happened.” Jasmine thought a lot about balance, but this was karma in action.
“Definitely. By the way, I went by your house last night to check in on you, and you weren’t there. And you didn’t answer your phone. I was worried. Where were you?” Amanda frowned in concern.
Jasmine walked a little faster, hoping to get to the ice cream store before she had to have this conversation, but Amanda was far too intuitive.
“No! You were with him. The amnesiac stockbroker!”
Jasmine wished she could lie, but she couldn’t fib to her best friend.
“It was a weak moment. He offered a distraction.”
Jasmine experienced a pinch of guilt describing Leo that way. He’d been kind too. Supportive.
She’d pushed him away that morning. He’d been disappointed and less chatty over breakfast. She’d didn’t know how to handle it. She’d enjoyed being with him, but didn’t want to let it go further than it had.
“I’ll bet. So how was it?”
“It was great. Hot, amazing, and now it’s over. It was only a night, Mandy, that’s all.”
Which was exactly what she wanted from Leo. It was all they could have. Considering that his memory was returning, she couldn’t risk more. A sharp, dark dart of sadness landed in her heart, but she plucked it out. None of that.
She’d had hot sex with a guy who could be a friend, at best. Probably not even that. Once he remembered what mattered to him more than life—his work—he’d be out of here without a second glance. Back to wheeling and dealing on Wall Street and all of this would be gone.
Jasmine knew that. So when he looked at her like he could see through to her soul, when he stared into her eyes like she was the only thing in his universe, or kissed her like he wanted to eat her alive, she had to remember it.
Right now he was adrift and she was something to hang on to. A life raft. Once he had his memory back, she would be forgotten.
“Well, from the look on your face, I don’t think you believe that.”
Jasmine was shaken again from her thoughts. “I do. You know what I grew up with. What happened. This shouldn’t have happened, but it did. It was good with him. Really good.” She breathed a frustrated sigh. “He can be super sweet, but he’ll go back to that life, and he’ll change. It’s something I want no part of.”
Amanda stopped outside the ice cream store and faced Jasmine. “Don’t you think you’re being unfair? Letting your past color your opinion of him a little too much?”
“No, I don’t.”
Maybe, her conscience whispered.
Amanda wasn’t about to give up, either, apparently.
“You know, my cousin married a financial guy in Boston. I was in the wedding. He’s great. Rock solid. Changes diapers, home every night, and he has to work a lot, but they make it work. I look at what they have, and it’s what I want. It’s what I thought I could have with Tim, but obviously that was a mistake. It doesn’t mean I won’t try again. But maybe Leo truly is good, kind and caring, a good guy, even when he’s at the office. My cousin’s husband would drop anything at any moment for her or the kids.”
Jasmine shook her head, finding it hard to imagine, but not wanting to doubt Amanda or cast aspersions on her cousin.
“Sounds like she found the exception to the rule.”
“You seriously think that?”
“I think it’s not worth the risk finding out.”
Amanda nodded. “That’s a whole different cookie, cookie. But I think if you find a good guy who rocks your world, maybe it’s worth the risk.”
“Not when they risk your world.”
“Okay. We’ll talk more, but for now, there is ice cream to be rescued.” Amanda was perceptive enough to know when it was time to move on.
As they proceeded into Manny’s shop, talk of Leo was left behind. They donned aprons and settled into serving ice cream and eating a bit of it themselves. Others cleaned up the mess left behind by the
thugs and painted over the slurs written on the back wall. Jasmine was bolstered by Manny’s boisterous attitude—the older man refused to let the situation get him down.
“Don’t worry, Manny. You’ll be back open in no time,” Jasmine told him with a hug as she dished out Caramel Surprise ice cream to kids lined up at the door. This was going to be particularly hard for Manny. Ice cream, more than the other two businesses, was a summer, seasonal business. His losses were bound to be worse.
“Open? I don’t plan on closing. I just needed to save some of this product that had started to melt overnight. We’ll be back to normal tomorrow.”
Jasmine didn’t hide her surprise. “I didn’t know that. I thought you had to wait for new freezers, the insurance, and the remodel.” She looked up at the busted sign over the store.
Manny shook his head. “No, no. That sign, that is a heartbreak—my father bought that sign, but it’s only a sign. I can get another one. Meryl and Kayla have painted me this new sign, here.” He gestured to the ice-cream-cone mural on the boards where his windows had been. “And my cousin, he’s a HVAC tech, so he’s looking at freezers for me right now. Nothing puts Manny out of business for long. We’ve been here for fifty years, and we’re not letting some punks close us down, even for a minute,” he said, winking at her. “Don’t let them have that power over you, either.”
Manny insisted everyone take home quarts of their favorite, and had showed her two he’d set aside of her favorite Watermelon Chocolate Chip. Jasmine had smiled and thanked him. She would never say no to that ice cream, or to Manny.
Looking around her, she watched everyone being happy, working together, and cast an eye over at her own shop, the pretty painting now complete on the front. They were all working between the two shops, Manny’s and the antique store, helping the businesses clean up and keep open.
They’d offered to help her too, but she had politely declined. Like she had declined Leo’s offer of help as well.
Why?
Several of the people in her classes had said they didn’t care if the studio was a mess; they just wanted their yoga time and were willing to help clean up to get it going again.
Bending Over Backwards Page 8