Between Us Girls (10 page)

“It's September seventeenth.”

“The seventeenth. Okay. I'll take your word for it. I just got up and haven't looked at a calendar, not that I have a calendar to look—”

“September s
eventeenth
, Jasmyn.”

September seventeenth.

She leaned against the kitchen counter and looked around the room. The walls were bare. If she lived there, truly lived there, she would hang up a calendar, a pretty one with garden scenes. No, ocean scenes. Or wild animals from the zoo that Liv said she wished they had time to visit—

“Jasmyn Albright, I called to commiserate with you,” Quinn scolded.
“Or celebrate. Or something a friend would do like she's done once a month for the past six months. I guess you didn't need it.”

On second thought, maybe she'd skip the calendar part and hang up paintings of flowers or ocean. That way she wouldn't have to look at months and dates.

Quinn said, “Six months is a milestone. A whole half a year.”

Six months. When had she stopped counting?

In the beginning she had counted, first in hours, then in days and weeks, finally in months. She counted the passing of time since the tornado ripped a dividing line into her life. Before the tornado. After the tornado. Everything fell on one side or the other. The two did not meet.

How long was long enough before the After enveloped the Before and she could get on with life? Was it happening now? Did that explain the warm fuzzy attack? The fact that she had stopped counting? Or simply could stop counting.

“Honestly, I didn't realize today's date.”

“Sorry for bringing it up.” Quinn's tone didn't match the apology. She was seriously grumpy. “At least you heard it from me instead of being smacked by some reminder while you're standing in line at the grocery store or something. Remember how you got blindsided that day in Farm 'n Fleet by a pair of rain boots? I practically had to carry you out to the car.”

It was true. Odd things triggered memories. She would be reminded of a possession that was gone, completely gone. Then she would totally lose it.

“But for me
not
to get all anxious about the date is a good thing, right?”

“Sure, if it's for real. I mean, you're still on vacation in La-La Land where apparently the wonders never cease. Even months and days go bye-bye.”

“Why are you being so snarky?”

Quinn didn't reply for a moment. “I guess I just miss you. You've been gone a long time.”

“Four weeks on Saturday. You knew that was my plan from the start. And you know that's when I'm coming home.”

“Yeah. Okay. I'll talk to you later.”

“I needed a break, Quinn. I just needed a break.”

“Yeah.”

Their goodbye felt awkward.

Jasmyn set her mug on the counter, walked into the adjoining living room, and sat in the rocker.

Six months of loss. It might have felt a breath less devastating as five months. Except…

Except it now seemed that Quinn's friendship might be added to the loss.

They had had their moments since kindergarten. Annoyances, disagreements, awkwardness, moodiness. But never the outright and senseless jealousy she'd just heard in Quinn's voice.

Maybe it was understandable. Jasmyn had been able to stop counting the months of loss because a group of strangers in a strange land loved on her.

And her best friend was not part of that equation.

A deep exhaustion hit her. It was familiar, all too familiar. It came out of nowhere, like those memories. It sapped her of all strength, all energy, all emotion.

She made her way to the bedroom, laid down on the little rollaway, and went back to sleep.

Fourteen

Liv's teapot was empty. A choir of morning birds sang at the top of their tiny lungs, and the first shaft of sunlight lit the upper fronds of the tallest palm. Tobi sprang from Liv's lap and wandered back indoors, her little love tank all filled up for the day.

And still Jasmyn was nowhere in sight.

“Hmm.”

Jasmyn had lived at the Casa for only two weeks, but they had a morning ritual going. Usually by now the two of them would have chatted and planned some event, if only an afternoon walk to Jitters coffee shop for a latte. Liv would have prodded a bit and been given another peek or two inside the young woman's heart.

It seemed somewhat of a lonely place despite Jasmyn's cheery description of life in her small hometown. Her family was gone. She loved her job at the restaurant and had a good friend, but since the tornado, things in Valley Oaks seemed to have lost their glow.

“Good morning, Liv.”

She turned toward the voice and saw Samantha approach, a highly unusual Monday morning sight. She wore blue jeans and a long-sleeved white shirt, also an odd thing.

“Well, good morning to you, Samantha, dear.”

She stopped near Liv's chair. “I just wanted to let you know I'll be out of town for a few days. Probably until Friday.”

“Work related?” The woman never went away for fun.

“Yes.” She didn't offer details. “Do you think Beau could put in a new
showerhead for me? It's on the kitchen counter. I couldn't get the old one off.”

“You know you don't have to do things like that. That's why we have Beau.”

“I'll pay for it. The old head works fine, but I would prefer a different one.”

Liv smiled. “I've been meaning to put in those low-water-usage ones ever since you explained droughts to me.” She did not begin to comprehend Samantha's work. All she knew was that the genius in Seven built things and tried to protect the environment at the same time.

“Whose land are you saving this week?”

Samantha shifted her weight and rolled her shoulders, a familiar mannerism of hers when she seemed uncomfortable. “I'm working at the Lotanzai Reservation. We don't know yet if there's anything to save.”

“I read about that. The newspaper interviewed people who say there's plenty to save. You go, girl.”

Samantha turned her head as if to deflect the comment. A ray of sunlight glimmered on her coal-black hair. Against the backdrop of shadowy foliage, it looked like a halo.

Liv kept that observation to herself.

“Controversy sells newspapers. Anyway, I didn't want you to worry about my absence.”

“Thank you. Have a good week and remember to just be yourself.”

Samantha squinted as if she did not understand. “Thanks?”

Liv smiled. “I imagine you're going to get pressured.”

“That's a given.”

“Exactly. People are going to fuss at you. They're going to think they know more than you do. But you are wise beyond your years, Samantha Whitley.” It wasn't the first time Liv had declared such a thing to her. Affirmation, though, bore repeating, especially when there was no evidence that it had sunk in. “Don't let them walk all over you, okay?”

“O-okay.”

“That didn't sound very convincing.”

“I gotta go.” Samantha turned and waved over her shoulder as she walked away.

Liv raised her voice. “Say it like you mean it, hon.
Okay!
”

There was no response, but Liv glimpsed in her profile a rare smile.

“Oh, child,” she whispered. “What are we going to do with you?”

Samantha disappeared behind a patch of six-foot-tall bird-of-paradise near her cottage. A moment later she pulled a suitcase around the corner of her place and down the walkway toward the alley gate, its wheels thumping rhythmically.

“Lord, have mercy,” Liv mumbled. “A sheep off to a den of wolves. You're sending an angel with her, right?”

Pondering whether or not to knock on Jasmyn's door, Liv went inside and refilled her teapot.

Whether or not to knock was probably not the question. It was more like
when
should she go knock on the girl's door.

Stepping back outside, she found Keagan in the chair next to hers. She almost told him he couldn't sit there because it was Jasmyn's seat. “Good morning.”

“Morning. I saw Sam leaving with a suitcase.”

“Yes, she's off to the Lotanzai Reservation for work. It was thoughtful of her to tell me so I wouldn't worry. You know, I can't figure out why she doesn't move. She's well established in her job and familiar with the city. You'd think she'd want a more hip place with a manager who doesn't give two hoots about her comings and goings.”

“You're slipping, Mama Liv.” His mouth didn't move, but tiny crow's-feet appeared around his eyes as if he were indeed smiling.

He had amazing eyes, a luminous blue-green color. There was seldom a hint of a smile around them.

He and Sam were very much alike. Aloof. Smart as whips. Private. Extremely private. Inscrutable, even.

Liv knew little about either one of them. Keagan had been born and raised in New York City. She had no clue what he had done for a living before he moved to the Casa and became part-owner in a gym. He simply said he had been in software. Right. Her suspicions revolved around careers that involved secrecy and physical prowess, such as a special military outfit or the CIA.

Samantha had gone to UCLA and then taken a job in San Diego. She had grown up in Arizona. She only referred to it as
in the northern part
of the state, Flagstaff was the nearest big city.
That left a lot of wiggle room. Sometimes Liv saw Native American features. Other times Samantha's cheekbones seemed not in the least bit high and her eyes lost their slightly almond shape.

“What do you mean I'm slipping?”

“Typically you would have this figured out by now.”

She opened her mouth to protest and then closed it. She was in her mid-sixties. Okay, maybe the later side of the mid area, but goodness, that was nothing like being in her
eighties
. She was not slipping. Deep down she knew why Samantha stayed at the Casa. It was because she was supposed to stay. God wanted her there at the Casa for His own reasons.

She pursed her lips.
Whew!
That sounded a bit high and mighty even to herself, and she was all about lofty, mystical explanations.

She sighed. “It's clear Samantha simply puts up with the rest of us. It's not like she has a close friend here. So why does she stay?”

“Because there's no one else in her life like you who gives two hoots about her comings and goings.”

“Ah.” She thought about that for a moment. “But at her age, in her position, why would she want that?”

“Liv, who doesn't want that?”

“Well, for one, an independent, successful career woman who should be hanging out with friends and meeting a significant other.”

“Don't let her veneer fool you.”

Liv met his gaze. Samantha wasn't the only one who kept a veneer in place. “Is that why you stay? Because I'm a mother figure?”

He winked.

An unusual gesture.

“Nah. I stay because you'd be lost without me.”

She grinned. “You're almost as cheeky as Chadwick.”

“Now that's a contest I don't care to win.” He stood. “Where's your little helper?”

“You mean Jasmyn?”

“She's late for your morning routine.”

Liv didn't bother to ask how he knew that. Keagan seemed to know most things.

“Anything I can do?” His question wasn't all that odd, but something was. The timing? His tone? His eyes? That wink for sure.

“Do you mean anything you can do in general or about Jasmyn?”

“Either.” He slipped on his sunglasses, hiding the laser beams.

“Nothing I can think of at the moment.”

“Okay. Have a good day, Liv.”