All the answers led here—at least they had until Mackenzie Avery had died. Right. He was dead. He couldn’t answer any of her questions. But his father—her grandfather—was here. Noelle was here. Of course, she hadn’t known about Noelle.
And Drake Whitcomb was here, also. She couldn’t forget that. Not for one second.
Steven had brought him home from college one year during spring break. Drake was so attractive. Steven and Drake had spent little time at home, since they were always out doing things, but when Drake and Jasmine’s paths had crossed he’d always been kind to her. During a family picnic he’d even joked with her while her stepsister and brothers had carried on a conversation among themselves, excluding her, as usual. He was the only friend Steven brought home who treated her decently. And like a starstruck fool she’d fallen for him. But before he’d left, Steven had given her a parting warning. Don’t wrap your little teenage fantasies around Drake, sugar. He eats girls like you for breakfast.
Since her senior year in high school she’d had a crush on him. What was left over was a lingering case of…what? Love? Like? Whatever it was, it made her blood pressure increase, made her act foolish. She wouldn’t name the emotion. And with his six-foot-two stature—a well-built six-two at that, she reminded herself—she could never trust him. Although he could be kind, and was exactly the sort of man she’d be interested in, he was Steven’s friend. She didn’t trust Steven.
Weary, Jasmine raked her fingers through her already tousled hair and groaned. Why was she doing this? If Mackenzie Avery were alive, he’d probably pat her on the head and tell her You did very well, honey. Nice to meet you. He’d signed the papers to release all rights and responsibilities for her even before she was conceived. His obligations were over.
She was a fool. A big fool for longing for something she would never have. She just wanted…her throat clogged…wanted one man, just one man in this godforsaken world to love her and want her. Was that too much to ask for? You’re getting maudlin, Jasmine. Just listen to yourself. Why couldn’t she just let the past go and get on with her life?
That would be too easy. She was cursed to remember everything. Like Drake’s midnight eyes, for instance. Penetrating eyes, she thought as she put the gear in Reverse and backed out of the parking space. As if they could ferret out secrets. He was gorgeous, tall and lean.
When he waved with easy grace, as if to say, “I’m patient. You’ll come around,” Jasmine couldn’t help noticing again he was every bit as enticing as he’d been the moment she met him. Subsequent visits hadn’t gotten any better. Strong face, short hair and long, thick black eyelashes. In some ways he reminded her of Mr. Avery—at least the gentleness in him if not the features. Who else would take an injured dog home when the vet tech was perfectly capable of caring for her through the night? And that barn out back, a makeshift homeless shelter for animals, was another indication of his generous heart. Floyd had told her he’d modified the building within a month of his arrival.
She couldn’t sit there ogling him all day. She accelerated and looking both ways, pulled onto the country road.
She lowered the window to breathe in fresh air. The sun would be setting soon. Some initiation to the job. Her first day was something to write home about.
Nearly ten minutes later, she was bumping down a long dirt path when her cell phone rang. Thinking it was the tech calling her about a client, Jasmine answered without looking at the display.
“I’ve left a thousand messages for you, young lady,” her mother said. “Why haven’t you answered any of them?”
Jasmine stifled a sigh. “I’ve been on the go since daybreak. Anything wrong?” Of course there wasn’t. Amanda Brown Pearson was calling her to bug her, as usual.
“Just my weekly call to see how you are.”
“Just dandy,” Jasmine said.
“I wish you had spent some time here before going to Virginia. They couldn’t give you one week off, for heaven’s sake? Everyone misses you. We haven’t seen you in ages.”
Yeah, right. They missed tormenting her. “I’m doing great, Mom. I needed to get settled in. Had to buy furniture and stuff. This place wasn’t furnished like the last one.”
“Norman and I are coming to D.C. soon. At least we’ll see you then.”
“What?” Just what she wanted, the dynamic duo invading her space, especially since at least one of Norman’s children usually tagged along. She’d moved across the country to get away from them.
“The traffic will drive you crazy,” Jasmine offered hopefully.
“I live in L.A., honey. I’m used to traffic.”
Jasmine ran her hand through her short hair. “If you want to spoil your vacation, who am I to stop you?”
“Exactly. If I want to see you, it looks as if I have to visit you. You’ve neglected your family. It’s time you acted like you were one of us.”
“I was never one of you.”
“That was your choice.”
“Whatever.”
There was a long unyielding sigh from her mother. “I absolutely hate that word, Jasmine. You know that.”
What else was new?
“I’ll call later on in the month to let you know when we’ll arrive. And your little brother is graduating from college the end of the summer. We expect you to attend.”
Jasmine rolled her eyes. “Just let me know when. I’ll fly in for it.” He wasn’t Jasmine’s brother, either, but her stepbrother. They didn’t let her forget the difference, and honestly, she never did.
“And we’re having a party at the house afterward. You’re also expected to attend that. Just because you wouldn’t let us give you a graduation party doesn’t absolve you from attending the others,” her mother declared.
“Mom. I’m not sitting around the house twiddling my thumbs. I have a brand-new job. I can’t leave on a whim just to party. I’ll get him a gift. I’m sure he’ll appreciate that much more than my presence.”
“You’re part of a family and you’re expected to act like any other family member, Jasmine. You’ve treated everyone shabbily and I’m not putting up with it any longer.”
“Your family, Mom, not mine. And they don’t run my life or dictate what I do. I’m at the farm. I have a sick animal to tend to. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Do not hang up on me, Jasmine Brown. I’m not finished talking to you.”
She’d worked her butt off to get away from home. What made her mother think she wanted to go back there? Jasmine thought as she waved to the guard at the booth outside Three Finger Farms and drove up the path to the stable. Her mother saw only what she wanted to see.
Finally Jasmine heard a sigh. “Jasmine, I know why you’re there. You have no right to disturb that man’s family.”
“I had no right to disturb yours, either.”
Her mother sighed again. “I know you hated it from the moment I married Norman. You’ve pointed it out in a million different ways, but he’s tried to be a good father to you, even though you made it impossible.”
As usual, it was her fault. She didn’t ask her mom to marry a man with a million kids and force them on to her. But that was water under the bridge.
“Mom, I really have to go. I don’t live there any longer. The past doesn’t matter.” Jasmine finally disconnected and got out of the truck feeling all the energy drain out of her. Conversations with her mother always depleted her.
She might have told her mother the past didn’t matter, but she knew better. She’d come to Virginia to come to grips with her past and move on. But who was she fooling? She could have done that in Kentucky.
Except Mr. Avery was here. Her half sister was here. She didn’t understand herself. Her donor father was dead. What was it that made meeting his family so important to her? And now that she had, what was she going to do about it?
It was dusk when Jasmine parked in her driveway. As she climbed the stairs to her house three women came out of the house next door, laughing and cheeri
ng.
“Hey, Jasmine,” Casey Reid called out. She was one of River Oaks’s employees and had a relaxed, cheerful personality.
Jasmine waved.
“We’re going for a girls’ night out. Hit a couple of clubs on U Street in D.C. Want to join us?”
“Long day,” she said. “Maybe next time.”
“You sure?” They already looked as if they were halfway into a good time.
“I wish I could, but I have to be up before five tomorrow morning. Have fun,” Jasmine said knowing very well they’d be out most of the night. She couldn’t afford to show up for work half asleep.
“We’re going to do plenty of that,” one of the women said as they piled into the car. “Take care.”
The car started and they drove away. Jasmine watched the women laughing and having a grand old time, and suddenly, the loss hit her. Her stepbrothers and sister would take off on fun ventures like that. She was always on the outside looking in. She’d never belonged with her stepfamily, she thought, as she unlocked her door and entered the foyer.
To the right was the living room, still without furniture. To the left was a family room she’d furnished with two club chairs and matching ottomans. She’d thought to watch TV in there, but so far hadn’t had time. Straight ahead were the stairs leading to the two bedrooms and the full bath on the second floor. She’d taken the time to purchase a king bedroom set for the master bedroom, but the guest room remained bare, except for boxes she’d yet to unpack.
Floyd had gotten Colin to pick up her furniture for her on one of the farm’s trucks. He and a couple of workers from River Oaks had carted her pieces in. She’d also purchased a table and chairs for the kitchen, but with her mother coming, she had more shopping to do.
Jasmine left her purse in the hall closet and headed upstairs for a shower to rid herself of the horse smell.
She liked her own company, not that she had much time to clear her mind. The vet practice suited her. There was so much to do.
Funny, she didn’t often feel lonely. But when she watched the camaraderie between her neighbors, she felt more alone. Suddenly she wanted to share dinner with a friend, chatter nonsense about men the way her silly stepsister often did with her limp-brained friends rather than sit alone in an empty house creaking with age. Maybe she’d invite her neighbors over once she was more settled in.
“Damn it.” Drake pounded a fist against the wall. Hugs jumped as Drake slumped in the chair.
“Sorry, Hugs.”
The dog settled.
He could not have children. Feeling like someone had blasted him with a stun gun, Drake replayed the phrase in his mind like a scratched record. He couldn’t have children.
He was still in shock. He’d had mumps a couple of months ago. His doctor had warned him of the effects of the adult-onset childhood disease. Of course, he’d already known. But he’d wanted to be sure. To see if maybe he’d been spared.
Children weren’t something he spent time thinking about. All those plans. Get a good education, build a career, pay off school loans, get married, have children, live happily ever after. The dream. What did it all mean when in an instant such a significant part of it was ripped from you?
So many emotions were jetting around in him. He couldn’t focus on just one. Disappointment, inadequacy, such a keen sense of loss, he tried to quiet the anger and fear that was tearing him apart. Although he’d seen the results, he just couldn’t wrap his mind around it.
He glanced down at the dog. Hugs had settled on a makeshift bed beside Drake’s favorite chair while Drake wallowed in anger and considered what to prepare for dinner. Weary to the bone, he couldn’t seem to gather enough energy to move. He’d already coaxed food into Hugs. And now the animal was peacefully snoozing.
He wanted to think about anything—anything other than the fact that he was incapable of having children.
His cell phone rang, startling both Hugs and him. Drake patted the dog’s fur.
Not a call. He moaned. He didn’t want to go back out. He picked up the phone from the cocktail table.
“Hey, man. How’s Jasmine working out?” It was Steven Pearson, Jasmine’s stepbrother. The guy was making a pest out of himself.
“Pretty much the same as yesterday. You’ve called about her every day. Hell, you didn’t care that much when you lived under the same roof. What’s with that?”
“Long story, man.”
“Huge shift from the man who complained she deliberately ostracized herself from your family.”
“Okay. So it wasn’t just her. I see things more clearly now that I’m older.”
“Didn’t look that way when I visited.”
Steven sighed. “We weren’t the best steps. At least we could have done more to help her fit in.”
This was totally different from the story he told in college. “Why didn’t you?”
“We were kids, and we were tight. Used to teasing each other. At first we thought we could do the same with her. We didn’t understand that she was an only child and wasn’t used to that kind of teasing. She took it the wrong way and we kind of thought she was stuck up, so we left her alone—except to torture her. Now I’m seeing we probably tortured her a lot. We were really awful—worse than awful to her.”
Drake had a sister and a brother. He could see how forcing three new rambunctious kids like Steven on an only child might be overwhelming. On the other hand, most kids welcomed playmates—someone to chill with and confide in.
“What changed your mind?” Drake asked.
“First, tell me what’s going on with her?”
“I really don’t like being the mediator.” Drake sighed. Hugs lifted her head and Drake patted her. “She met Mr. Avery today and her half sister.”
“How did that go?” Steven asked.
“She said it went fine. Noelle invited her to a party next Saturday.”
“You’re going with her, right?”
Drake grimaced. “Who said I was invited?”
“Well?”
“I got her here. I’m not going to babysit her. She’s a grown woman. So don’t keep calling me for updates. I have my own problems.”
“I don’t mean to impose…”
“Yes, you do.”
Steven sighed, then said, “I didn’t want to get into this, but maybe it would help if you knew the full story. I told you she was the product of a sperm donor, but not about how she found out. When she was about fourteen, I found the sperm-donor papers in a file drawer where Mom and Dad hid their sex books.”
“Jeez, spare me.”
“Hey. We heard the mattress creak when they thought we were asleep. Anyway, at that time Jasmine didn’t know her parents used a sperm donor. I teased her about being a test-tube baby. She didn’t take it well, understandably. Look, after her parents divorced, her old man never looked back. He wasn’t like our dad. And she never fit in with Dad. You know how he is—unless you invade his turf, his head’s in outer space.”
“Yeah, I get the picture.” Steven hadn’t given him the complete details before.
“So, he spent time with us because we were in his face. Jasmine never bothered him, and he wasn’t the kind to reel her in. Wouldn’t know how,” he said. “Anyway, her dad eventually remarried and had another kid, although her mom claims it’s not his. He stayed out of Jasmine’s life completely.”
What a selfish SOB, Drake thought in anger. He’d welcome a child. And this man just tosses his away like forgotten garbage.
“I just know that she needs help and she’ll never get it on her own. Truthfully, she has endured serious emotional abuse. I want to make up for the past, but she won’t accept it from me. From any of us. So maybe it would help her to form a relationship with her natural grandfather.”
“You’re an idiot,” Drake muttered. “A little psych 101 and you think you can fix the past?”
“No fair.”
“The truth hurts.” He should know. “I told her about Noelle, but
she isn’t ready to tell them.”
“Convince her to tell them. Look, you’re just the one to make a difference. God. Look at the way you treat stray animals.”
“She’s not a dog or rabbit, Steve.” Drake stopped stroking Hugs. The dog shuddered. The very fact that Hugs was in his house, in his family room, resting by his favorite chair, proved Steven’s point. He hated that.
“I’ll do what I can,” Drake said finally. “But why didn’t your parents intervene?”
“They did when they were around, but the worst happened when they were away. Both of them worked long hours.”
Drake couldn’t help feeling anger at Steven and sympathy for Jasmine.
“You were a real piece of work.”
“Don’t remind me.”
After they hung up, Drake stared at the TV without actually watching, thinking about his few visits to the Pearsons’ home. He was older than Jasmine when they met. She in her senior year in high school and he a junior in college. She spent as little time as possible at home, and when her mother forced her to eat dinner with the family or participate in family activities, her anger was such that they all felt the strain. Back then, he’d thought she was just naturally disagreeable. Now, he understood there was a reason for her unfriendly behavior.
He picked up the phone and dialed a restaurant for take-out.
Drake drove up to Jasmine’s house a half-hour later. She wouldn’t thank him for invading her space. He should have just chilled out in front of the tube and watched a basketball game with Hugs. But she was new to the area. She’d arrived five days ago and had been going at warp speed since.
He left his car carrying two containers of food. He exhaled and knocked on her door. “Here goes nothing.”
She answered in a robe and her short hair was wet and stringy around her face. Even with wet hair she was gorgeous.
“Had dinner?” he asked.
Frowning, she said, “Not yet.”
“I have extra,” he said, holding up the bag. “Thought you’d like to share.”
She moved back so he could enter.
“You can put it in the kitchen. Just give me a minute,” she said, closing the door, then rushing up the stairs.
Then Comes Love Page 3