Page 90 of Perfectly Matched: Harbor Falls Romance Collection

Jasmine stepped down out of the passenger side of Jack’s four-wheel drive pickup truck. They hadn’t traveled far down Court Street, perhaps six or seven blocks from where Jasmine’s house sat, when he pulled off the road and into a construction site. As Jasmine glanced about her, taking in the buildings in front of her and across the street, she tried to remember what business sat on that spot years earlier.

“This was the old Laundrymat building,”

Jack said, rounding the front of the truck.

Jasmine snapped her fingers.

“That’s right! I spent many a Saturday evening here with Mommy while she did the wash. She liked to go on Saturday night because not as many people were there, and she could use more than one washer.”

She turned about.

“Then that means that the…”

She spotted the small square building with the crooked and slanted roof.

“There. The doughnut shop was over there.”

She pointed across the street.

“Yes, it was.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and smiled at the memory.

“Mr. Jimmy used to leave the back door open.”

She giggled.

“Mommy would let me walk over before dark, because Mr. Jimmy had day-old doughnuts he would give us for our Sunday morning breakfast. Mama would warm those in the oven and serve with ice cold milk. I never tasted anything so good in my life.”

She glanced to Jack, who was smiling at her.

“Mr. Jimmy was busy getting things ready for the morning. He opened real early, before the chickens got up, he used to say.”

The memory felt good and her heart opened.

“He’d bag up a dozen glazed for Mommy, and he’d give me a small bag of donut holes I could have for a snack that night. Then he’d walk me back across the street.”

She stood there, staring at the old shop. A strong sense of the past, of home, neighborhood and community, overcame her. She looked at Jack.

“I guess growing up on the wrong side of the tracks could still be a good thing, at times.”

Jack reached up to smooth a stray hair out of her face.

“It’s good to see you smile again, Jasmine.”

Nodding, she said.

“Thanks, Jack. It feels good. I swear I’ve run the gamut of emotions today.”

Then she broke the connection between them and stepped toward the building under construction.

“So, is this Ms. Leinie’s project?”

“It is.”

She kept walking, up a couple of steps and through a doorway. The building was framed up, two-by-fours showing like a skeleton, with no roof yet. Turning back, she asked.

“What is it?”

Jack shrugged. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he joined her inside.

“Right now, it’s just a building, although I am pretty sure Ms. Leinie had something in mind. She just didn’t share it.”

“I don’t understand.”

He laughed.

“Me either. She came to me a few months ago and said, “Jack Ackerman, I want you to build me a building. I have the plans and the money. I just need a man to do the job, and I believe you are the right man.”

Amazed, Jasmine looked back and perused the structure, wandering further into the room.

“I’m sure she had a plan.”

“Oh, I’m positive she did. She did say something once like, ‘it’s for the kids.’”

For the kids.

“What happens now that she’s gone?”

“That’s why I was at the bank this morning. To go over how to continue the work according to the plans left in Ms. Leinie’s will.”

Swinging about, she stared at Jack.

“That’s why I was at the bank this morning.”

She thought of the money in the safety deposit box and the letter. For the kids.

“Ms. Leinie left some of her estate to me.”

Jack held her gaze. “She did?”

Jasmine nodded. Suddenly, it was all coming together.

“Yeah. Oh goodness, Jack. Ms. Leinie had a plan, all right, but not only for the kids. I mean, I believe it is for the kids, because of her big heart—but it’s also about something else.”

Stepping forward, Jack said, “Such as?”

“It’s about us, Jack. You and me.”

“Us?”

“Getting us back together. Or, at least, giving us a second chance to consider it.”

Jack said nothing. A long moment passed, and Jasmine’s heart froze. Why did she say that out loud? Why couldn’t she have just kept that thought to herself? She turned away and started out the building for the truck.

“Jasmine, wait.”

Jack touched her elbow.

“You may be right. I was just thinking.”

Jasmine looked at him and chuckled.

“But that’s all ridiculous, right? We’re older and wiser now. Grown up. What we had was puppy love. That’s gone now. Besides, we have different lives and meshing them would be, well—”

She paused.

Jack waited.

“Well, what?”

“Well, ridiculous.”

But her eyes told a different story than her words. Jack always could read Jasmine like a book, and the confusion in her eyes spoke volumes.

“You don’t mean that.”

She blinked and took a few more steps away, then turned.

“I think I’d like to walk back to my car. It’s only a few blocks and I need to clear my head.”

Jack nodded.

“Okay, and then…?”

Her chest heaved with a deep inhale, and then her words escaped on a breath.

“I don’t know.”

“It’s too late to go back to Atlanta.”

“I’m not. I have that meeting in the morning.”

“Then come back to the house. Stay the night. I’ll give you all the space you need.”

Her shoulders dropped.

“Okay. I won’t be a bother. I’ll pick up a few things somewhere, and then I’ll be on up. But don’t worry if I’m not there right away. Take your time going home. This has been quite a day, and I need some time to just…”

“Think?”

“Yes.”

He knew what she meant. Some down time would be good for him, too.

“I’ll see you when I see you.”

She nodded and headed down the street.

****

The winding drive up to Ms. Leinie’s house was not as steep as she remembered. This was the typical case of having grown up in a place that seemed so huge when you were a child, but when you revisited as an adult, not so much.

Of course, the home was still large and lovely. Jasmine remembered the first day she arrived—sitting in the front seat of the social worker’s car, the woman’s cold hand patting hers on the seat—looking up at the big white house like she’d just landed on Mars. In awe.

Today, as Jasmine parked and stepped away from her car, staring up at the window of her old bedroom, she knew the day she had first arrived here was the same day her innocence had been resurrected. The same day her sad past was put to rest.

She turned and looked back down the drive. In hindsight, she realized the day she left this house for good, was the day she’d picked that sadness right back up again.

She’d been happy at Ms. Leinie’s. Those were probably the best years of her life.

It was clear now. For fifteen years she’d been sad, and she hadn’t even realized it.

Turning, she stepped up to the porch. There were the potted plants. The rocker. Some wicker chairs that were obviously newer than the ones there when she was a child. Things were clean, well taken care of. Someone must be looking after the place the past couple of weeks.

She spotted the porch swing.

She moved to it and sat, letting her weight drift the swing backward, and her legs dangle a bit until she moved forward again. Sighing, she let the breeze tickle through the fringe of her hair, mussing it up, while the gentle swaying of the swing unraveled her thoughts.

Ms. Leinie was making amends, even from the grave. Why she hadn’t tried to do that when she was alive, Jasmine wasn’t certain.

But of course, Jasmine had not been available. Or ready. And Ms. Leinie likely knew that.

Jasmine knew she couldn’t afford to get caught up in all the drama of this. Whatever plan Ms. Leinie had for Jack’s building and the money, no matter how well intentioned, she had to steer clear. Because as much as she enjoyed seeing Jack today, and as much as her heart and body had reacted to him in ways she didn’t even want to ponder, she knew it was an impossible scenario.

And it had nothing to do with Jack’s parents or Ms. Leinie’s hurtful words. Or that she left Jack, or that she had been pregnant.

It had everything to do with the truth. She and Jack lived in two different worlds. They wanted different things in life. And no matter how tempting or even fun it might be to try at a relationship again, it was not a good idea. In fact, it was doomed to failure from the start.

So, she had to keep all of that in mind.

She had to pull her rational, stoic self together and deal with the matters at hand in an intelligent and practical matter.

Matters of the heart were not in anyone’s best interest.

Tomorrow, she would make the proper arrangements for the money. Perhaps she’d set up a fund for scholarships for high school graduates who came from her end of town. Maybe another fund for emergency food supplies for families in need. She’d find some way to invest so the money would grow and be there for a long time. That’s how Ms. Leinie’s money could help the kids. And she didn’t have to live here to oversee that.

That’s it. That’s what she’d do. She’d make the arrangements with Art Manchester and be back in Atlanta before dinner tomorrow evening.

But before she left, she’d have to let Jack down easy. Of course, he was a grown man, he’d get over it. But she could see the signs—he already wanted more from her. And what he wanted, she knew she couldn’t give him.

They had once been star-crossed lovers but now they’d grown up.

She’d not start this because she couldn’t finish it. She’d be damned if she’d break Jack’s heart again.

****

Jack knew today was a gift. He was not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Whether this gift was a brief flicker in the span of his life, or something to last a lifetime, he couldn’t leave to chance. It was up to him. He’d decided that fact over the past few hours while sitting on his deck, his feet propped on the railing, and drinking a couple of beers while waiting for Jasmine.

The minutes rolled by in his head, from the moment he saw her standing in the bank, to the minute he watched her walk away from him down Court Street. Since then, his brain worked over every corner and angle of their conversations, and the other peripheral elements that seemed to have brought them back together again.

At least for today.

Time. He needed more time. For all he knew, she planned to go back to Atlanta tomorrow after her meeting. He had to get her to stay longer.

On the other hand, there had to be reason for her to come back.

He wanted that reason to be him. Nothing else.

Not for the kids. The project. Her inheritance. Ms. Leinie.

For him.

God, he still loved her. After all these years, nothing was different. Her mind, her face, her eyes, her heart… Her soul captured him years ago, and today, he was caught up in the mere essence of her even more.

He couldn’t screw things up, and he wouldn’t. As much emotion as he’d been through today, she’d been through more. There were too many years between them that needed to be crossed. A lot of hurt and pain to ford. Today they’d shared only a few hours’ time, a mere dent in an attempt to get back what they once had. It was a start.

But it almost seemed too much to tackle.

“Hi. I let myself in. I hope that was okay.”

Slowly, Jack pulled his heels off the railing and tugged his brain back to reality. He placed his boots on the deck and stood to face Jasmine.

It was more than okay. She was home.