The following morning, Dax carried his bag out to his car and tossed it into the back seat. Jasmine trailed him, her heart like a big lump in her throat. He was going home. He had a job to return to in New York, and she had a job search to continue in Pennsylvania.
He turned and slipped his arms around her, pulling her in easily for an embrace. She tucked her face into his solid chest and squeezed him while she inhaled his scent. She had to remember it. Who knew when she’d see him again?
If ever?
That thought made her pulse trip, making her feel a little panicky. Of course she’d see him again. But when? And why? What reason did she have to entice him for another visit? He’d offered to help her with her photo shoot, and now that was done.
They parted and he said, “Thank you for your hospitality. It was nice.”
“Thank you for your modeling skills. Those photos are great and they’ll give me the start of a good portfolio for these employers.”
They stood quietly, staring into each other’s eyes, hesitant to say good-bye. Say something. If she let him drive off without a plan for a next get-together, she’d never forgive herself.
“So, let me ask,” she started, but she’d interrupted him. He’d spoken at the same time. “Go ahead.”
“No, you.”
She shook her head and laughed. “You.”
“Okay. I’m going to just put this out there. If you say yes, it’ll be a good drive home. If you say no, I can sneak off and lick my wounds.”
She smiled. “Yes.”
He laughed. “Yes what?”
“I don’t know, but of the two choices, yes sounds much better.”
He reached for her hands and squeezed them. “I’d like to see you again. In fact, I’d like to see where this … thing … might go. This relationship. I like you, Jasmine.”
“I like you, too.” She sounded like a little girl, professing her love and commitment to a boy on the playground. But he didn’t seem to mind because his face was beaming with happiness.
“Great.”
“Are you talking about a long-distance relationship? Like, boyfriend and girlfriend?”
“Yes. We see each other whenever we can. And we call, text or IM whenever possible.” He pulled her closer. “I know you deserve better. You deserve someone close by who can take you out every night and spoil you. And believe me, I have no idea if it’s going to work. But I have to wonder if God put us together for a reason. It’ll be hard being apart, but I’d like to give it a try. If you do.”
“I’d like that.” She had a boyfriend. Wow. When was the last time she could say that?
He pulled her closer and leaned his forehead against hers. He said in a whisper, “We are so different, Jasmine.”
She nodded. “I know we are. But just our pasts. I think who we are now, we’re more alike than you think.”
He pulled back and looked into her eyes. “What do you mean?”
She shrugged. “So, our childhoods were very different, obviously. But what are our priorities now? Mine are starting my career, working hard and making it on my own. Same as yours, right?”
He nodded.
“I know a priority of yours is to learn more about God and live a Christian life. Same as me. The fact that I’ve been doing it awhile longer doesn’t mean that I have all the answers. I can learn so much from you. It’s important to me that we have similar faiths.”
He grinned. “When you put it that way, it makes me think maybe our differences aren’t that big.”
The way he said it, gave her a little jolt. “Are you concerned about our differences? I mean, are you worried about them?”
He quieted, then squeezed her hands. “I want to be honest with you. Yes, I am worried. You’re used to getting everything you want in life. If we end up together, there’s no way I could provide that to you.”
She swatted his shoulder. “You make me sound like a spoiled brat.”
He shook his head but stayed somber. “I don’t mean it like that, exactly. It’s just that you look at life differently than I do. You have no boundaries. Anything is possible to you, nothing is off limits.”
She thought about that. “I’m not sure that’s entirely true. But even if it were, that doesn’t mean that I’d expect you to give it to me. Believe me, I’ve learned a lot already about growing up and being an adult. If I want anything in life, I have to work hard for it. It’s not going to be handed to me.”
“Okay,” he said, drawn out like he didn’t quite believe it.
“I know my entire life hasn’t been hard like yours, but the last year hasn’t exactly been a picnic. And now that I’m trying to make my own way in the world, I want to be self-supporting. And the way to do that is to do your best and work hard.”
“And be grateful for the blessings that you have, and know when to stop wanting more.”
She cocked her head. She wasn’t sure what point he was making there, but she had to agree the statement was sound. “Yep.”
He pulled her into a hug and she savored his scent by breathing him deep into her lungs.
“So,” she said playfully, “if we’re going to go the official boyfriend/girlfriend route, then I say we need an official couple selfie.”
He laughed and she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. They both leaned against his car and she held her phone high in the air and snapped it. Then they kissed and she snapped it again.
“It’s a start,” she said with a laugh.
“Now, what was it you were going to say before?” he asked.
She stared at him. Oh yeah, she’d totally forgotten. She was going to see if she could interest him in visiting her again. “Not a thing.”
“You don’t remember?”
She leaned in close to him. “We already covered it.”
That got her another kiss and a soft caress of his hand on her check. Then, he got in the car, started it, rolled down his window.
“Drive safe, boyfriend.” She stood back and watched till he pulled out of sight.
* * *
It took two solid days to pore over the hundreds of shots she’d taken of Dax. It was nearly impossible to pick out the best ones. Probably because it was difficult to eliminate any. They were all good. The man was impossibly photogenic. She’d find herself staring at him, her heart about to burst because of the excitement caused by their relationship status. He was hers. Just the thought of it made her blood rush more forcefully.
She’d have to jolt herself back to work.
She eventually ended up with a sizable but manageable group of photos for the male side of her portfolio. Next she’d have to work on her female selections. And possibly, her children’s fashions.
But first, she’d take a break. She pulled her computer onto her lap and accessed Facebook. She loaded in the two selfies of her and Dax and changed her relationship status to “In a Relationship.” She paused, then checked her Newsfeed. Within seconds, her computer went crazy beeping as non-stop notifications hit her account. She laughed and spent the next hour responding to her friends that yes, she was in a relationship, his name was Dax, he lived in New York, she was currently in Pittsburgh, and yes oh yes, he sure was handsome!
She went back to her room and set her laptop on her desk. The manila folder of Phone Booth Baby clippings was sitting there and it fell to the floor. Jasmine picked it up and stared at it. Both her mother and Dax had advised her against pursuing this family mystery any further. Her mother, because she was happy with how her childhood had turned out, and had no interest in pursuing her true identity. Dax, since he had no relatives at all, couldn’t understand why someone with an abundance of family members would need to track down more.
She should leave well enough alone. She didn’t have time for this, and no one thought it was a good idea anyway. But if that was all true, why couldn’t she put it behind her?
This was a mystery aching to be solved. Nothing interesting or unique had ever happened to her family. This was unique. Her mom was a celebrity of sorts, if only for a few days when she was an infant.
Her mom’s birthday was coming up soon. Which meant that the anniversary of her being placed in the phone booth was coming up, too. She knew it was a long shot, and probably a very romantic notion, but what if her mom’s mother made a special trip back to the phone booth every year on her baby’s birthday, or the date she’d delivered her to the phone booth, to commemorate what must have been a very difficult decision she’d made as a young woman? God forbid, if Jasmine had ever had to make that horrible decision, she’d get sentimental about it every year. She’d never forget her daughter, and she’d never stop wondering what became of her.
Even if this mystery mother never made contact, it would give her comfort to know what her daughter had made of her life. Was she happy? Was she successful? And knowing that, would it make it worth the terrible decision she’d had to make way back when?
She thought for a few seconds more before she opened her laptop again. She opened up her word processing program, pondered her wording, and then typed,
“Do you remember the Pittsburgh Phone Booth Baby? On June 9, 1968 a baby girl was abandoned in this very phone booth. A passerby discovered her and delivered her to the hospital, where it was determined that she was healthy, and approximately 48 hours old. If you know any details that would help this family discover the identity of this baby’s parents, please contact us. We appreciate your help.”
She left her cell phone number but no name. She enlarged the size of the font to as big as she could fit on one page. She printed it out, grabbed a roll of tape from the kitchen drawer and jumped in her car.
* * *
That evening, Jasmine called her mother. She purposely omitted discussing the fact that she’d reopened the Phone Booth Baby case by taping her mini-poster inside the phone booth where her mom had been abandoned. It was a long shot anyway, considering Leslie was now in her late forties. Even if Leslie’s birth mother had come back to the phone booth every year on the anniversary of Leslie’s birth, or the date she’d abandoned her there, it probably would’ve only lasted a few years. A decade, at most. Not over forty-five years. But still, it was worth a try. She was leaving it in God’s hands. If it was God’s will for this mother to find her long-lost daughter, maybe God would use this poster as a way to make it happen.
But there were plenty of other things to talk about with her mom.
“So, I now have over twenty-five photos of Dax wearing my male fashions, three different outfits. We went to the top of Outlook Point on Mt. Washington.”
“Oh, my. I can just picture the backdrop. The whole city.”
“Yes, the setting was fantastic. I literally took hundreds of photos and it took me forever to whittle them down. I’m sure I probably eliminated some good ones but I’m happy with the ones I ended up with for my portfolio.”
“Well, he’s very photogenic.”
“Mmmm.”
“And very handsome.”
Jasmine laughed. “You noticed that, did you?”
Her mom chuckled. “Yes, I did.”
“I’ve got some other news, speaking of Dax.”
Her mom’s voice was smooth with a hint of humor as she said, “Oh really? What could that possibly be?”
“We’re official. We’re together. I mean, dating.”
“I wondered! Congratulations, sweetheart. He seems like a very nice guy.”
“He is. I mean, he amazes me each time I talk to him. He had the most horrible upbringing, but he’s formed himself into a good man, despite all odds. He knows more about the Bible than I do, and he has better instincts about prayer and meditation, even though I’ve grown up as a Christian. I guess he knows what the other side of life is like, the non-Christian life, unlike me. And he likes this better, you know?”
“That’s wonderful. I didn’t know he had such a strong faith. All I could tell when we were in New York was that he cares for you, deeply. He took care of you during your injury and he sacrificed his job to make sure you were safe and taken care of. You can tell from how he looks at you that he cares about you. In my book, he’s a keeper.”
Jasmine sighed. “Yeah, the only thing is, of course, the distance. Why couldn’t I have met him when I’d first gone to college instead of two days before I was leaving? Doesn’t seem fair.”
“God probably has His reasons.”
“Have you ever had a long-distance relationship?”
“Not really.”
“I mean, if we were long-term and committed, we’d be making plans together. But I’m doing my job search. I’ll go anywhere for a good job in the fashion industry. What does that mean to him? I doubt if there’s anything for me in Ithaca. Would I expect him to move for me if I got a job, say in New York City?”
“Whoa, way too early, honey. Take it a day at a time. Figure out if you like each other and get along before making plans to move him to another city.”
Jasmine groaned. “It’s so hard.”
“Maybe one of God’s lessons in this one is the old saying, let go and let God. We’re not always in complete control of our lives. We need to be patient and let things unfold along with God’s will.”
“Hmmm. Patience is not one of my strong suits.”
She laughed. “Yes, I’ve noticed.”
They wandered back to the subject of the photo shoot. “So Mom, I have the men’s fashions part of my portfolio covered now. But I don’t want to be limited. I’m versatile. I want to show my women’s fashions, and I even have some new ideas for children’s designs.”
“Okay, good. That would increase your employment opportunities.”
“I can pull out the women’s garments I designed and sewed for Senior Seminar. I think they’re still good indications of my skill level. But I need someone to model them for me. Someone tall, slim, who moves well.”
“I think I know just the candidate.”
“Who?”
“Emma. Jeremy’s wife.”
Jasmine gasped. “Yes! She’d be perfect. She’s so pretty and she fits the bill. With that mountain of hair, she’ll be stunning in photos.”
“Come on down to Pawleys and do the photo shoot on the beach! It’ll be a great contrast to Dax’s city shots.”
“Wait. I’m having a brainstorm. If I take a few days, a week, to design and sew a couple children’s outfits, I could have Stella model those. I could knock out both in the same trip.”
“Great idea.”
“I’ll call Marianne to get Stella’s measurements, and I’ll call Emma for hers. We’ll set something up in four, five days or so.”
“Wow.”
“Hey, I have to move on this to get those projects back to the employers who requested them. And, another benefit is we could celebrate your birthday while I’m there.”
Leslie laughed. “True, that would be wonderful.”
“Okay, it’s all set, then. I’ll get busy with alterations of Emma’s garments, and designing and creating Stella’s clothes. I’ll keep you posted.”
“Bye, honey.”
* * *
The next four days were jam-packed with preparations for the remaining photo shoots. During a phone conversation, Emma graciously agreed to do the photo shoot and was looking forward to it. Armed with Emma’s measurements, Jasmine altered the clothes she’d made for her Senior Seminar so they would fit her step-sister-in-law perfectly. Then she turned her focus to Stella’s designs. Marianne was thrilled that Jasmine wanted to include her daughter in the project and she knew five-year-old Stella would be excited as well.
Jasmine pulled back from her table. What relation would Stella be to her? She had to do the math. Her mom had married Hank, so he was her stepfather. Hank had a daughter, Marianne and a son, Jeremy. They would be her step-siblings. Jeremy was married to Emma, who was her step-sister-in-law, and Marianne’s daughter, Stella would be her step-niece.
Whew. Extended families got complicated. But all she had to do was drop the “step” on each of these people. She loved them all enough to consider them family, and they loved her too, and never failed to show it. That was all that mattered.
Dax called while she was drawing designs for Stella. “Hi … sweetie.” He said it like he was trying it on for size, this new affection-based nicknaming, seeing how it would roll off the tongue.
She wasn’t going to laugh at him outright, but it was funny, in a sweet sort of way. “Hi … darling.”
He laughed. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be. I like it. Let’s come up with sweet little nicknames we like. Um, baby?”
“Nah. Sweetheart?”
Jasmine shrugged. “It’s okay. Loverboy?”
“Not sure.”
“I don’t know. I’m coming up empty here.”
He made a tsking sound, then changed the subject. “What are you doing?”
“Working on designs for Stella. I’ve got a deadline now.” She told him about her plan to travel to Pawleys Island, armed with the altered garments for Emma, and newly designed garments for Stella, and do their photoshoots on the beach. “So, I can get both of them in the same trip, and then my portfolio will be complete.”
“For the stills. You still have to do the videos, right?”
Jasmine exhaled a bunch of air. “Oh, my gosh. I totally forgot about the videos. Dang it! Why didn’t we do video of you when you were here?”
“I guess we both forgot about it.”
“Well, good excuse to see each other again. Want to hit the road?”
“But you’ll be going south.”
“Oh, yeah.”
“Here’s an idea. Put all three of your models together in one video. We could do the video while we’re at the beach.”
An unbidden smile crept onto her face. “Did you say, we?”
“Sure.”
“You’d come all the way to Pawleys Island to help me with the video?”
“Of course. I mean, I want to see you. I’ve never been to the beach. You need to make a video with me in it. Why not kill three birds with one stone?”
Her heart lightened so much, she felt giddy. “If you were here I’d kiss you so hard, you wouldn’t know what hit you.”
“Hold that thought. I’ll look forward to it.”
They quickly put together plans. Jasmine would kick butt on Stella’s garments, Dax would drive to Pittsburgh, then together they’d drive to Pawleys, arriving in time for Leslie’s birthday. When she hung up, she got to work. Nothing like a deadline to force productivity.