Sam had stayed late at work in order to avoid the emptiness waiting for her back at the Casa de Vida. Even before Jasmyn’s goodbye that morning, her absence wormed its way inside of Sam, chewing at the joy she felt in her presence.
Evidently Sam had been given a reprieve.
She stood now in the shadows outside Jasmyn’s purple door, her hand poised to knock. She hesitated.
Lights glowed behind the drawn bay window curtains, but that didn’t necessarily indicate Jasmyn wanted a visitor. Sam wouldn’t want a visitor at eleven o’clock at night. Her lights would be on because she was watching the news, not because she was ready to welcome an unannounced guest.
But Jasmyn wasn’t like Sam. She was probably the exact opposite in most areas, especially the way she put others first. She was kind. Genuinely kind. Thoughtful.
And she might be in need of a hug. Sam knocked.
Jasmyn opened the door, her eyes wide, her hair half in and half out of a ponytail, her face ashen. “Sam! Did you hear?”
“Yeah. Freaky.”
“That’s for sure. Um, thanks for stopping by.” Her smile didn’t hold. “I’m sorry. I just can’t talk about it anymore tonight.”
“That’s okay. I’ll catch you tomorrow.”
“Okay. Thanks.” Jasmyn shut the door.
Sam blinked at the purple door. She blinked a few more times. Her eyes stung.
That hurt. That really hurt. Her stomach felt like a solid knot. Which was the number one reason not to get involved. Not to be friends with anyone. Except it was too late. As far as she could tell, she and Jasmyn were friends. BFFs, actually. Right? And her BFF was not in a good way.
She took several deep breaths, exhaling with each a layer of pride.
Sam knocked again and Jasmyn opened the door. “Jasmyn, you don’t have to talk about it. Keagan and Liv told me everything. How about I make some tea? And I’ll just sit with you.”
Jasmyn started crying, a quiet weeping. Another reason not to get involved. Tears were incredibly messy.
Sam walked inside, shut the door, and hugged Jasmyn. “Oh, good! The couch is still here. Sit. I’ll get tea.”
Hoping that there was tea, she went into the kitchen and searched the cupboard. Of course she found a box of mixed flavors, no doubt placed there by Liv. She chose chamomile and heated water in the microwave, eyeing Jasmyn as she bundled herself inside an afghan and sat on the couch.
While the tea steeped, she rummaged some more and almost gave up until she opened the freezer. There was the telltale round plastic container. Liv must not have had time to bake a fresh batch of cookies and resorted to her storehouse of frozen goodies. Next she found a small serving tray because the hostess with the mostest figured every kitchen needed one.
A few minutes later she set things on the end table, handed a mug to Jasmyn, and sat beside her.
“Thanks, Sam.”
“Shh. We’re not talking.”
Jasmyn nodded and sipped.
Sam sipped.
Jasmyn smiled. “We could talk about something else.”
“Yeah, right, after hearing you have a whole biological family close by. Well, almost whole. A sister and brother-in-law, a niece and a nephew anyway. How can you think about anything else?”
“What? A niece and a nephew?”
Ohhh. Sam groaned softly.
“Sam, what are you talking about?”
“Uh. Um. Oh, nuts. I’m so sorry, Jasmyn. You didn’t know.”
“Know what?”
“That Manda Smith has a husband and kids.”
Jasmyn stared at her. “She didn’t mention kids to Quinn. Just that she and her husband owned the business.”
Sam wanted to kick herself. “Keagan and Liv got online. They found information about the trucking company. The family trucking company and how—”
“Stop!” Jasmyn held up a hand. “I don’t want to hear anything else. I want to meet her first.”
“I’m sorry.”
“The thing is, what if we’re not even related? I don’t want to get my hopes all up and then…” She paused. “A niece and a nephew?”
Sam hesitated and then she nodded.
“How old?”
Sam took a breath. “The photo was taken a few years ago. They were little then. One and three maybe?”
Her lips were a straight line.
Sam exhaled. She was not good at the BFF stuff. Not good at all. “Jasmyn, I’m sorry. I am so sorry.”
“Sam, you can stop apologizing.” She gave her a tiny smile. “Really. It’s okay. I think I asked you why you didn’t go searching online for your family history. It seems the natural thing to do nowadays.”
“If you care to know anything.”
Jasmyn’s eyes focused elsewhere. She seemed lost in thought for a long moment, and then she whispered, “I’m an aunt?”
“Technically half a one.”
Now she groaned. “I couldn’t figure out where to put Manda, and now there’s a niece and a nephew to fit in.”
“What do you mean, ‘put’?”
“Put inside of me. In my heart.” She touched her chest. “I’ve been at a total loss about where to put all this new information, these people without names or faces. They’re not real, but they are. They need a space in here. I’ve kept a spare room waiting, but for some reason they don’t fit in it now.”
“Your heart has rooms?”
“Doesn’t yours?”
“I never thought about it. So do you have a whole house in there?”
“Sure. Bedrooms, dens, living rooms, basement, porches. I used to shut the mudroom door on my grandfather when he was being all loud and gruff.”
“Mudroom. You’re a fruitcake, Jasmyn.”
“I am.” She nodded. “What do you do with people?”
“Ignore them as much as possible.”
“Sammi, you don’t mean that.”
She actually did, but typical Jasmyn urged her on to higher things. “I probably compartmentalize them in my mind.”
“Same thing.”
Not quite. Little lockboxes in cubbyholes were not the same thing. She let it go. “Do I have a room in there that you shut the door on?”
“No, silly. Everyone at the Casa is in a big kitchen and family room, an open area, where I spend most of my time. When I go back home, I suppose I’ll have to close it all up. Winterize it, like Danno does the patio— Attic! That’s where I’ll put them for now. They can move into the spare room after I meet Manda in person. I hope, anyway.”
“On Friday.”
“Yeah.” She raised the mug to her mouth, her knuckles white from gripping so tightly. “What do I do until then?”
“Build an attic?”
Once again, her smile went up and slipped right back down.
Sam hoped her own stayed in place and dazzled her BFF with confidence. “Rest assured, Jasmyn, those people in that kitchen and family room of yours will make sure you get through the week in good shape.”
Instead of smiling, Jasmyn started crying.
Messy. Messy. Messy.