Heaven would help him if that was the case. He had just quit smoking three months ago, he didn’t want to go back to that bad habit again.
How could a woman like her have feelings for him? He said no more to her that night. Instead, shortly after, he took bonnie home, leaving Rick to his own means and spent the next few hours of the night pondering that thought.
He could remember the first meeting. Jasmin's red hair had been dressed in quirky purple and green bows, and she wore cowgirl boots in the sand. She had a bunch of dolls around her as she talked to them about castles and finding a prince to marry.
Back then, he hadn’t noticed much about her only that she was a lot of fun to play with and even more fun to get in trouble with.
He could recall the one night she talked him into taking his dad’s boat out into the water for some late night fishing. When his father's best friend Noah had gotten ahold of them, they were both grounded for a month straight.
He remembered how the night he had asked Miranda out, and she refused. Her sister seemed to come out of nowhere, asking him to take her out for a soda and fries, which he had gladly done.
Jasmin had always been a bundle of laughs. When times were tough, she turned to for smiles and helped get out of a depressed mood.
As he sat in the darkness of night reliving memories, he could also remember other moments.
The sorrow in her eyes, he missed at first glance when she caught them having a picnic on the sand. The anger flashed in her eyes when she stumbled upon him with his arm around her sister, even though it was only a friendly gesture.
The way she watched him across the table silently every time he ate over. When he would make eye contact, she would smile that dazzling smile of hers and look away.
So many memories came flooding back that night. He was overloaded. How many moments he had missed, and would still be missing if it weren’t for her revelation last night. What he couldn’t understand was, why him?
A woman like Jasmin could practically have any man she wanted anytime. She had charm, wit, intelligence, and was a whole lot of fun. Why had she never said anything to him, even hinted at it to him in any way.
She was a significant flirt, but in the years they spent growing up together in the summer, she had never flirted once with him. Her sister Miranda never even hinted at this information in any way.
This reality forced him to look at his own feelings about this and her. She was beautiful, but did he want to get tangled with a woman who spent most of her time flitting about the countryside like a gypsy?
This lingered in his mind long through the night. Everything time he woke, which was often he thought about it and her. By the time morning came, he had realized there was only one way for him to proceed. He would dip his toes into the waters with her by offering to take her out for lunch or something with Bonnie.
His text message was welcomed as she happily replied yes with a smile emoji. They were all set to meet for lunch at a local deli at 2pm. The deli boasted a pretty little reading area with some toys for little kids to play while waiting for their food.
This could work to his advantage to offer him time to talk to her alone.
By the time he got to the deli, he was as nervous as a sixteen-year-old boy. When he arrived, she waited for him at one of the tables beside the kiddie zone, her sparkly pink dress drawing Bonnie to her.
“You look so pretty.” Bonnie bounced up to stand inches from her, her fingers gently touching the dress.
He felt like he could hardly swallow when she smiled at him. His chest felt tight, and his heartbeat fast.
“Thank you, Bonnie, you look lovely too. Here I have something for you.”
Wayne watched as Jasmin pulled out a rainbow-colored scarf and draped it over his daughter's neck.
“Oh.”
His daughter smiled gleefully, turning in a circle to show it off.
“You look stunning.” Jasmin hugged his little girl. He watched silently as the two girls bonded.
They came here often. Bonnie took off to find her favorite book and stuffed animal to play with.
"Thank you for that, Jasmin."
Her eyes met his and held, a small smile appeared on her face before she looked down at the table. “I adore children.”
This surprised him as he pulled out the chair and made himself comfortable. “How come you never had any?”
Her eyes softened just a bit, and he swore he saw the mist in them but held his tongue. "I did, a long time ago, I was pregnant, but I lost the baby."
“I’m sorry.” Instinctively he reached out and held her hand in his own. Her blush surprised him, as did her smile.
“Thank you for the comfort Wayne, I am okay. It still hurts sometimes especially considering I never found a man I really loved to settle down with.”
“What are you talking about, you practically have men falling at your feet?” His thumb caressed the top of her hand gently back and forth.
“Maybe so, but not the right ones.”
“What would the right one be like?”
"I don't know. Someone that saw beyond my craziness could put up with my wise mouth, unusual nature, and flightiness. I don't mean anything by it, it's just who I am."
“I’m not sure I understand.”
“Me either, but I am hungry. What’s good here?”
“Everything.”
They spent the next hour or so talking about old times and catching up on where they were now in life. She spoke of her sister and nieces, he spoke of his children and failed marriage. Bonnie ate little, spent more time playing with the toys, and her new scarf. At one point, she surprised him by sitting on Jasmin's lap and sharing an ice cream sundae with her. The two seemed to bond well together.
“So, what did you mean last night?"
"Don't pay any attention to me, just nonsense, really."
"Jasmin, I really want to know what you meant? If you don't tell me, I am liable to make up stories in my head of what you meant, which might be far from the truth."
She cracked up when she pinned him with that no-nonsense stare of hers. “Be my guest, probably better than the truth anyway.”
He would try a different tact with her. “Fine. I think what you meant is you have been madly in love with me for a very long time, and I have been too stupid or too blind to notice." She looked away, staring at the goings-on outside the window. "And I hurt you deeply every time I mooned over your sister, who clearly had no interest in me."
When her eyes returned to him, he could feel the weight of her emotions against his chest. "You hit the nail on the head."
‘Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
“What good would that have done, you only had eyes for my sister, so it was useless to think anything otherwise."
“Perhaps it would have snapped me out of my stupidity.”
“Did I do that now?”
“Definitely.”
Her laughter and the napkin she tossed at him, lightened the mood a bit. 'Then, all hope isn't lost, I suppose."
5
Jasmin
By the time she had departed from her lunch with Wayne and Bonnie, she had a spring in her step. She had a wonderful time with him and his daughter and was looking forward to the time they would spend on Saturday.
She returned home to find Bradley and Darby sitting in the sun together and Alyssa cooking dinner. Miranda was sitting in the sauna when she joined her.