“Where are they now?”
“Mom still lives in Ohio, where we were born. Dad lives in Alabama.”
She winced as if Jasmine had just jabbed her with something sharp. “They’re not together anymore?”
“No. Losing you…it was hard on them.”
“I—I don’t know how to react.” She ran her hands up and down her thighs, obviously agitated. “I…I never thought I’d see you—or them—again.”
“I know.” She paused. “I just…I wanted to make sure you don’t need us. And to tell you—” the lump in her throat swelled again, nearly choking her “—how sorry I am that I wasn’t a better babysitter.”
Tears slipped down Kimberly’s cheeks as she reached out and squeezed Jasmine’s hand. “I’m okay. Now. The man who took me frightened me, but he didn’t…you know, molest me. I think he couldn’t decide whether to turn me over to his boss, which he eventually did. Then there was a nice older boy, and things got easier when I arrived in my new home.”
“I’m glad.” There was so much more Jasmine wanted to know, so much to say. But Kimberly was still too shocked to invite her in.
Deciding to give her a chance to absorb everything, Jasmine handed her a business card with her new cell number written on the back. “In case you decide you can combine your past with your present, after all.”
Kimberly glanced down at it. “The Last Stand, Victims’ Support and Assistance Nonprofit Organization,” she read. “You work at this place? In California?”
“I did until I got engaged a couple of weeks ago. I’m moving to New Orleans, where my fiancé lives.” Unable to resist, Jasmine gave her sister another quick hug.
“Be happy,” she said and started back to the car.
“Jasmine?”
At the sound of Kimberly’s voice, Jasmine paused beneath the trellis and turned back. “Yes?” she said hopefully.
“When’s the wedding?”
“March twenty-sixth.”
“I’ll give you a call.” She smiled. “I’d like to be there.”
“It’ll be okay for you to do that?”
“I’d like to get to know you, and to see Mom and Dad again. Maybe my other parents can adjust. Maybe we all can,” she said. “With time.”
Jasmine returned to the car to find Romain leaning against it, arms folded.
“So…how’d it go?” he asked, tilting his head to study her expression.
A smile rose up from somewhere deep within. “She’s coming to the wedding.
It’s not a guarantee that we’ll be the kind of sisters we would’ve been. But she’s not opposed to a relationship. And I know she’s healthy and doing well.”
“That’s enough?” He searched her face.
“It’s a beginning—and that’s all I can ask,” she said, and he wiped away her tears.