Between Us Girls

by Sally John

“Bless sweet, funny Inez and Louis. Take care of all those kids and grandkids and great-grandkids.”

  In her mind’s eye she arrived at the laundry room and thought of Beau.

  “Bless Beau and his big hands that he uses to fix and maintain things. Give him the right words to say to Sam so she will hear them and realize how much he cares.

  “And Liv. Continue to make her strong and healthy. Comfort her when I leave.”

  When I leave.

  She raised her head.

  Yes. It was time to leave. To end her vacation, to end her time of hanging in between worlds. To return to Valley Oaks and her life there. To create a new home.

  “Thank You and amen.”

  She stood.

  And wiped a sleeve across her eyes.

  “I guess I could use some comfort too.”

  Jasmyn worked at Liv’s computer in the office, trying to rebook her flight home but making little progress. She wasn’t that great with technology, but she didn’t think it was her fault when the airline website kept giving her the message that they had no record of her.

  Liv would say the difficulty was a sign that she should not leave, not just yet. Last night, after the mac-and-cheese dinner, she had said, Would another week or two matter?

  How could she tell Liv, Sam, and Keagan that yes, spending another week or two with them would matter?

  Sam had become the younger sister she’d always wanted, the one who needed looking after and to have life lessons taught to and to eat pizza with. Liv had filled in countless mothering gaps. And Keagan…

  Keagan.

  The honest truth was she wouldn’t mind another hug from him or even riding on the back of that motorcycle if it meant holding on to him. She wouldn’t mind watching his smile come and go, a subtle movement of lips that were just so. She wouldn’t mind listening to his low voice for another whole week and bask in that all-is-well sensation that flowed around him like dirt around Pig Pen. She wouldn’t mind—

  Well, there were a lot of things about everyone she wouldn’t mind experiencing for at least another week. She loved all the Casa residents. They were definitely the family that Manda Smith could not offer.

  But the longer she stayed, the more she’d have to cry saying goodbye.

  “Sorry, Liv, but the website is not giving me a sign.” Jasmyn picked up the telephone.

  The airline put her on hold. She gazed through the windows and the open door. It was a gorgeous late October morning, the air cool with hints of sun-kissed warmth. The sight of blooming bougainvillea and bird-of-paradise and begonias still amazed her. Autumn was as full of flowers as summertime had been. She wondered what changes winter would bring.

  She spotted Sam crossing the courtyard, angling toward Jasmyn’s cottage, and called out, “Sam!”

  Her friend circled the jacaranda tree—full of green leaves—and entered the office. “There you are. What are you doing?”

  “Booking.” She disconnected the call. “Attempting to book anyway.”

  “So you decided for sure to go.”

  Jasmyn laughed. “Like I told you last night, yes.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know exactly what you said. You went surfing and got all the biological family baloney thrashed out of your system. You realized home is not here. But none of us wanted to believe it.”

  She had seen the sad expressions on their faces. Even Keagan had frowned briefly. “I never said ‘baloney.’ ”

  “Sorry for the paraphrase. It wasn’t baloney. It was just such a letdown for you, I felt bad.”

  “I was putting too much weight on it. I can’t believe I didn’t rebook right away and save hundreds of dollars. It was totally stupid to wait until I met Manda, like that would keep me here longer.”

  “But at least the spare room in your heart got filled up, right?”

  Jasmyn wrinkled her nose. “I think I have to keep the Anibal family in the attic. But that’s okay. The attic is in my heart too.”

  “I feel like I have a hole in my heart.” Sam’s eyes went wide and her mouth formed an O.

  Jasmyn stared at her. “That sounds painful.”

  Sam closed her mouth and cleared her throat. “Yeah. It might be like your spare room, though. It just needs some attention. Then it’ll get closed up and I can get on with life.”

  “I think Liv would say it’ll get healed before you get on with life.” She waited for Sam to roll her eyes, but she didn’t. “That’s what happened after I met Manda. I mean, it still hurts about never knowing my dad and now about being a nonperson to the only family I have. But we met and now the whole thing feels finished somehow.”

  Sam nodded, her lips pressed together.

  Jasmyn leaned across the desk. “Sammi, who do you need to meet?”

  “Hannah.” She shrugged. “I found her.”

  “Really?”

  “Mm-hmm. Last night I joined all those online heritage groups. I paid to join them.” Now she rolled her eyes. “I could have gone downtown to the library and done it for free. Hannah Susanne Carlson grew up in Lynn Center, Illinois.”

  “No.”

  “Yes.” Sam smiled. “A hop, skip, and a jump from Valley Oaks.”

  Jasmyn giggled.

  Sam said, “So.” She inhaled deeply and then she exhaled loudly. “Can I come home with you? There’s a courthouse and a cemetery I want to visit.”

  “That’s wonderful!”

  “It’s something. Why is it I want to do this in person?” Sam swiveled the monitor toward herself and pulled over the keyboard. “You’re a bad influence on me, Jasmyn Albright. In a good way. When shall we go?”

  “Tomorrow.”

  Sam stopped typing and looked at her. “Good grief. How much money did you make on the sale of your land?”

  “Enough to splurge, I guess. The thing is, I’m just so tired of saying goodbye.”

  “Oookay.” Sam turned back to the monitor. “I’m still paying off school loans. I’ll check the cheap flight sites. You don’t mind making sixteen stops between here and Chicago, do you? Or taking a red-eye? Sleeping in LAX?” She rambled on, typing and clicking.

  And, knowing Sam’s abilities, she would make it all work out.

  Sixty-Four

  Early Sunday morning, before the sky had rolled every shade of blue into one and taken on its pearly glaze, Jasmyn and Sam stood outside the airport, looked at each other, and laughed.

  The shuttle bus from the long-term parking lot had just deposited them and their luggage at the curb. Despite Beau’s offer to drive them, Sam had insisted on driving her car and parking in the long-term lot. Jasmyn figured the two-way crush was still in effect but not making much progress.

  Sam said, “Whew. We made it.”

  “So far, so good.”

  “Come on. We agreed that the third time’s a charm. You’ll get on board this time.”

  They wheeled their bags toward an entrance.

  Jasmyn said, “I hope so, after all you went through to get us here. Half a day online and how many phone calls?”

  “I lost count, but it was worth it. We ended up with only two layovers and twelve hours travel time.”

  “And we still have money in the bank.”

  “Yes. The biggest hurdle, though, was getting you and Liv through another set of goodbyes.”

  Jasmyn smiled sadly. It had been bittersweet hugging Liv in the predawn shadows, not knowing when or if they would ever see each other again.

  Sam nudged her with an elbow. “But don’t answer your phone, and if you see Keagan, duck.”

  “Good idea.” As they walked, she pulled her phone from a jacket pocket. “I’m going to turn it off— Oh, no.” She stopped, read the screen, and set down her carry-on. “Three missed calls. A text. All from Keagan.”

  Sam groaned.

  “The text says, ‘Where are you?’ ”

  “Tell him we’re on the plane. We got an earlier flight. Hasta la vista, bud.”

  She felt light headed. He
r stomach clenched. “But what if it’s—”

  “It’s nothing, Jasmyn.” She took the phone. “I’m calling him. There is absolutely nothing that can keep you from leaving today.” She put the phone to her ear. “No matter who got sick or who needs—Keagan!” She spoke sternly into the phone. “You know where we are!”

  “Now I do.” His voice was loud.

  Too loud to be coming from the phone.

  He was at Jasmyn’s side.

  Sam lowered the phone. “You have got to be kidding me.”

  “Liv forgot to give this to you.” He held out a small cloth bag. “Cookies for the trip. You know her. She was distraught because she’d baked them especially—What’s wrong?” He looked back and forth between the two of them.

  Sam grabbed the bag from him without a word, her scowl saying more than enough.

  Jasmyn could only shake her head and hope her breakfast toast stayed down. She tried to inconspicuously press her stomach and breathe normally.

  Light seemed to dawn on his face. “Ohhh. You thought something had happened.”

  Sam said, “Given your history at the airport with Jasmyn, uh, yeah.”

  “I’m sorry. I am so sorry.” He smiled and spread his arms. “Everything is fine.” His eye caught Jasmyn’s.

  And there was a shift in him. In the air. In Jasmyn herself.

  She wondered if it was the sunlit peacock blue or the intriguing shape his jaw took on as the smile faded or the expression that contradicted what he said. Everything was not fine.

  She agreed. Everything was not fine.

  She stepped nearer to him, stood on tiptoes, and kissed his jaw where the leather jacket collar touched it. “Thanks, Keagan,” she whispered.

  His arms came around her.

  And then everything was fine.

  Sixty-Five

  “What was that all about?” Sam handed Jasmyn a coffee and sat down next to her with her own cup. They were at the gate, half an hour early, time enough for coffee, a cookie, and an explanation.

  “What was what all about?” Jasmyn eyed her over the cup, a distinct expression of mischief on her face.

  “You’re having short-term memory issues.”

  Jasmyn grinned and lowered the cup. “It was about whooshing and whamming.”

  “I wasn’t asking about getting our things through security.”

  “You’re so funny.”

  “I’m funny? You kissed him and he kissed you, and the two of you hugged for a really long time and I had no idea anything was going on between you.”

  “I didn’t think there was. Really. Actually, nothing’s going on. We’re just friends. He only kissed my forehead.”

  That hardly mattered. To see Mr. Kung Fu Dude kiss in any way was almost disconcerting. For never expressing emotion, he sure could put a lot into one peck on the forehead. It probably had to do with the way his hand cradled the back of her head and how it was not a simple brush of his lips on her forehead.

  Sam said, “Whatever. It’s none of my business. I was just surprised.”

  “That’s okay. I was too. I admit that I have felt an attraction of sorts. He kept showing up and doing things, like delivering my lost luggage and just appearing at the beach when I was sitting there and needing to talk.”

  “Being drawn to that behavior is a hormonal reaction, Jasmyn. That’s all it is. He was there at opportune moments.”

  “He has that knight and angel reputation. Don’t roll your eyes.”

  Sam blinked and refocused. “That’s for the old ladies.”

  “But he is kind and attentive. He was even sort of funny last night.”

  Sam chuckled. “Okay, I’ll give you that. He was. And he ate junk food. Very un-Keagan-ish. It seems, then, that this crush is mutual.”

  “There isn’t one. I mean, it was really nice to hug him, but I’m going home.”

  “ ‘Nice?’ That’s what whooshing and whamming is? Nice?”

  Jasmyn blushed.

  Sam smiled. “I guess it was more than nice.”

  Jasmyn shrugged. Then she shrugged again. She swallowed. “All right, yes. It was more than nice.” She stopped talking.

  Sam stared at her. “You’re in love with him?”

  “No! No. We hardly know each other. Honestly, this is Keagan we’re talking about. Antisocial, odd, no first name. I mean, he has a first name. It’s Sean. But nobody uses it. And I’m going home. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

  “But you did. Jasmyn, you’re morphing into a lovesick teenager, and I signed up to spend the next five days with you. If it’s not a crush and you’re not in love with him, what is it?”

  “I don’t have a word for it.” She paused and bit her lip, looking more uncomfortable than even the day Sam had met her.

  “You have two words for it, whooshing and whamming. What is that?”

  Jasmyn sighed. “It’s sunrise and sunset and the ocean. It’s the desert. Remember where you took me? Where we stood on the overlook and could see absolutely forever?” She stopped again. “That’s the feeling.”

  Sam started to shrug and then, suddenly, she understood. Her shoulders went down.

  In her mind’s eye she saw again the desert floor, its massive display of valleys and mountains and rocks and vegetation. She saw the sky above it all. She felt the enormity of creation, the mystery of life, the promise of terrifying goodness.

  And she saw herself with Beau, being snarky or stammering because in his presence she felt exactly the same way.

  Sixty-Six

  Liv heard Keagan’s motorcycle roar to a halt in the alley all the way from her living room with the door shut.

  Although it was out of character for him to be obnoxious with his bike, she assumed it was him. Typically, no other motorcyclists used the alley. He could be parking in Samantha’s vacant spot for some reason.

  He gunned the engine again.

  “Good heavens.” She put down her book and went outside to the courtyard, half expecting to hear Louis yelling. His patio backed up to the alley fence.

  The motorcycle was turned off. Liv waited, curious. She heard the gate open and shut. A moment later Keagan appeared on the walkway.

  He was in his all-black mode, wearing jacket, pants, boots, and sunglasses with even a stocking cap and gloves. It was a cool morning, no doubt cold while going seventy on the freeway.

  He veered her way, removing his hat and gloves. There was no little bag in his hand.

  “Thank you,” she said, referring to the cookies he had insisted on rushing down to the airport. Earlier that morning, he had happened to pass her the exact moment she realized she’d forgotten to give them to the girls. She had said to herself, apparently aloud and with much feeling, Oh, applesauce.

  His overboard reaction had been to insist on delivering them.

  Now she wondered if his engine revving and totally unnecessary trip were related. “You found them.”

  He nodded and stood before her. “Okay if I park in Sam’s spot for a while?”

  “Of course. I am sorry for making you drive all the way to the airport, park way over in the lot, and track down the girls, and then come all the way back home. My goodness.”

  His chuckle was more a puff of expelled air. “Liv, it wasn’t a problem.”

  “Oh?”

  He stuffed his hat and gloves into his jacket pockets and kept his hands in them as well. “How are you doing?”

  “I’m fine. How are you?”

  “Fine.”

  She pulled her cardigan more closely about herself, crossed her arms, and gazed at his sunglasses. “Sean Michael Keagan, I have never known you to speak an untruth. You are no more fine than the moon is made of ricotta.”

  His mouth twitched. “Or provolone.”

  “Or Muenster.”

  “Or Jarlsberg.”

  “What happened?”

  He turned aside for a moment. He slid the glasses on top of his head and looked at her. “I told her goodbye.”
>
  When Jasmyn and Samantha had left for the airport before dawn, no one was up and about, excluding herself, naturally. But she had expected at least Keagan to appear. “You missed her earlier.”

  “I was at the gym. Issues came up about three a.m.”

  She understood. During the winter and on extra-cold or wet fall nights, he and his co-owner offered the gym as a sleeping shelter to a handful of homeless men. They had been doing it for a few years now. Once in a while there were problems and Keagan was needed.

  No wonder he had insisted on rushing down to the airport. He had wanted to tell Jasmyn goodbye.

  And their parting must have jarred something inside of him. Well, wasn’t that curious?

  She hated to pry, but— “So, you told Jasmyn goodbye.”

  “Mm-hmm.” His eyes were focused behind her, in the direction of Jasmyn’s cottage. “Big mistake.”

  She touched his arm. “Sean, it’s never a mistake to show you care.”

  “No, it’s not. The other part is. When it’s given back to you.”

  Liv’s spirit sank and jumped at the same time. Keagan and Jasmyn? Yesss. He was admitting it. But…

  But Keagan’s heart had been broken. Liv had seen that the very first day he showed up. He was not a cold man, simply a cautious one.

  “Why are you afraid?”

  He looked at her again, his face softening. “It’s too trite and maudlin, Livvie. Let it rest. I am fine.”

  She straightened her shoulders and held up her chin. “I’m fine too because she is coming back. I know this for a fact. Just don’t ask me how I know.”

  “It really doesn’t matter. We’re here. She’s not. Life goes on. See you later.” With that, he walked off.

  She stared at his retreating back, watched him cross the courtyard toward his cottage, and disappear around the large bird-of-paradise.

  Oh, Lord, don’t let him shut down. Please don’t let him shut down.

  Sixty-Seven

  Driving through Illinois at midnight was a trip. The word trip had nothing to do with travel.

  Sam chalked up her catty response to the long day: three plane changes, a late arrival in Chicago, a line at the rental agency, and a drive on an endless stretch of interstate that offered less exits than Arizona highways and was twice as dark.