Chapter 2
Jasmine stomped into her third-floor apartment, still seething as she kicked her boots into the corner and stripped off her raincoat.
The nerve of Basil. The nerve of Nathan, to just show up in her life after eight years.
All three guys had apologized. Like “sorry” meant anything.
Not hardly, especially from her brother.
She reached for the teakettle and froze, her hand in mid-air as Linnea Ranta rose from the sofa across the small space, a worried frown on her face. “Jasmine, are you okay?”
Even worse, her roommate had company. Her brother’s live-in, Dixie, whom Jasmine had met only once. Since when were the two of them actually friends?
Jasmine looked between both sets of startled eyes. She needed to fix her foul mood, and soon. Like, instantly. She forced a chuckle. “Sorry about that. I’m so tired of all this rain. I guess it’s gotten to me.”
Not completely false. Spring in eastern Washington State tended to be soggy, but at least this year was a step up from a couple of years ago when it had snowed well into March.
She was ready for warmer, drier weather, when she could get her Harley-Davidson Sportster out of Dad’s storage shed and park her truck for the summer.
When she could get out to the wild places and forage for fiddleheads and find her peace in nature.
Dixie gathered her largely pregnant body off the sofa and reached for her purse. “I need to get going. Mom can only watch the kids until four, so I’d better pick them up.”
Linnea swung back to Dixie. “Oh, you don’t have to go yet.”
“Yeah, I do. Thanks for tea.” She gave Linnea an awkward grimace and lumbered over to the entry.
The coat she slipped on had no chance in the world of meeting over the faded floral top beneath it, and her rain boots looked like a leak waiting for a place to happen.
She offered an exhausted smile before exiting and, with a click, the door shut behind her.
Jasmine shook her head as she filled the kettle. “I’m sorry I interrupted your visit.” Seemed like apologies were the order of the day.
“No, it’s okay. I’ve been trying to get together with her for a couple of months, but she’s understandably wary of my family. Dad treats her like a tramp.”
Which wasn’t completely uncalled for. Dixie’s two preschoolers had different fathers, and now she was expecting Linnea’s brother’s baby.
“Anyway, this was a good start. I just feel so sorry for her and Dan both.”
Jasmine’s eyebrows shot up. “You feel sorry for them? They’ve made their choices. Now they get to live with the consequences.”
“Well, yes, but I think my brother really loves her. I’m afraid she’ll move on to some other guy in a few months or a year, and Dan won’t have access to his child. ”
Jasmine zipped her mouth. Anyone who shacked up with a woman like Dixie should’ve thought of that before getting her pregnant.
Thankfully Dan Ranta wasn’t her brother, or she’d also be stuck with their pompous oldest sibling, Dave Junior.
Instead, she was stuck with Basil. Comparing him to her roommate’s brothers almost made Basil look good.
Almost, but not quite.
Linnea leaned against the peninsula. “You avoided my question. You were in a great mood when you went up to the guys’ house an hour ago. The rain wasn’t getting you down then. What happened?”
“My brother happened. Nathan Hamelin happened.”
“Which bro — never mind. It had to be Basil. Nathan? Isn’t that the guy who...?” She left the question dangling.
“The very one. Get this. Basil and Peter decided it was a fabulous idea to hire Nathan to do the marketing for Bridgeview Backyards.” Jasmine held up her hand to forestall the question she could see forming in her roommate’s eyes. “Not only that, they’re renting him their basement suite.”
“I didn’t know he lived in Spokane.”
“He didn’t, but I guess he does now.” The kettle whistled, and Jasmine turned to make tea. “Want some?”
“Sure. I’ll grab my cup from the living room, but you’re not done telling me what went down.”
No, she wasn’t. She needed to unload this on someone. Poor Linnea. Jasmine tried to gather her thoughts. “Nathan dumped me and moved to L.A. eight years ago. I wish he’d stayed there.” Or never gone in the first place.
“Why is he back?”
“Basil thought it was a good idea to hire him for some unknown reason. He said he figured our relationship was all water under the bridge. The issue came up when I was at Green Acres for that essential oils retreat.”
“But that was two weeks ago! No one thought to mention it since?”
“Apparently not. I’ve hardly seen the guys since we all went out to Montana for my cousin Rob’s wedding in February.
We were just home for a week before the retreat, and Peter was working out of the Bellingham branch when I got back.
We’ve all been super busy. Not that Basil forgot to mention it exactly. He loves messing with my life.”
“Tell me again why you plan to go into business with your favorite brother.”
Jasmine rolled her eyes. “That’s a question I ask myself ten times daily.
It’s because of Peter. I thought he would keep Basil in line, but I may have been mistaken.
And, well, because I think the business idea is cool.
What’s not to like about making money doing intensive gardening in urban backyards and providing fresh food to Spokanites? ”
“Peter’s a good guy.”
“Yeah, he is. Almost all of my bazillion cousins are. It’s just my stupid brother.” She slid a cup of borage tea across the peninsula.
Linnea wrapped her hands around the teacup and looked at Jasmine. “I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”
The pensive expression on her roommate’s face didn’t bode well. “Hmm?”
“You know Jacob asked Logan to be his best man.”
Jasmine nodded. Eden and Jacob’s wedding was only a few weeks away. All of Bridgeview was buzzing with the preparations.
“And Eden asked Hailey to be maid of honor.”
“I know. That must really stink for you, being as Hailey tried to get her fingernails in Logan for such a long time.”
Linnea shook her head and lifted her left hand, where a diamond ring glinted on the third finger.
“Well, she didn’t get him. I still can’t believe I’m that lucky.
But, anyway. Eden and I weren’t super close at the time, and she and Hailey have been best friends since they were little kids. So... I get it.”
This must be going somewhere. Jasmine leaned against the counter and took a sip of tea.
“But, it’s awkward, especially for Logan.
It’s something we don’t want to reproduce at our own wedding in July.
So, I, um...” Linnea’s gaze flicked to Jasmine’s then back to her hands as they rotated the teacup.
“I’m going to ask Eden to be my maid of honor, because Jacob and Logan have been best friends since forever.
It doesn’t seem right to pair a married man with a different woman in a wedding party. ”
Linnea overthought everything.
“But, would you be my bridesmaid?” Linnea’s blue eyes implored her to understand.
Jasmine had held out hope she’d be the one asked for first place, but she hadn’t pushed.
The two of them had been renting together since July, and she’d been Linnea’s sounding board through all the ups and downs of her relationship with Logan.
But, did she really want to stand up at the wedding with her hand tucked in the crook of Jacob Riehl’s arm, when Jacob had already been married to Eden for a few months?
Her roommate might overthink everything, but she was also right. Too bad Logan was stuck on reciprocating with Jacob. She shook her head, trying to dislodge the unworthy thought.
“Thank you. I’m honored to stand up for you. Who are you planning on pairing me with, then?” She could rest in the assurance that Logan had never met Nathan Hamelin.
“Peter? He and Logan have become really good friends over the past few months.”
Jasmine let out a sardonic chuckle. “At least he and I aren’t likely to have a nasty breakup between now and your wedding.”
“Are you okay with that? It isn’t too weird to be with your cousin?”
Oh, it was weird all right. “It’s not like either Peter or I are dating anyone, and he cleans up well. I’d be honored to stand up for you. You guys have booked the rose garden at Manito Park, right? It will be lovely.”
Linnea visibly relaxed. “Thank you, Jasmine. Your friendship means so much to me. Logan and I are tossing around the idea of asking Dan and Dixie to be in our wedding party, as well.”
Jasmine blinked and shook her head. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Why not? Their baby will be more than two months old by then. Logan has been helping Dan out over the winter with clearing driveways and such, and talking to him about Jesus. It seems like it would be a good gesture.”
“If they’re still together in July.” Jasmine grimaced. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. It’s just... Dixie. She has a reputation.”
“I know. We haven’t decided for sure. I’ve talked to Adriana about sewing my dress already — I want something really simple — but I want to wait until Eden and Jacob get back from their honeymoon before getting too deep into planning bridesmaids’ dresses and details like that.”
“Okay. That sounds fair. And besides, it’s none of my business whom you invite to be in your wedding party. Sometimes my mouth just keeps moving.”
“It’s fine, really.” Linnea shot her a smile. “I know you’ll tell me your thoughts, and it’s one of the things I value most about our friendship. You made me think about stuff I was trying to avoid last fall. So, thank you.”
Jasmine sighed and carried her cup into the living room, where she curled up in her papasan chair. “I might need some of your wisdom over the next while, so don’t be shy about telling me when I’m being an idiot.”
Linnea settled back on her favorite corner of the sofa. “I don’t think you’re ever an idiot. You see things more quickly and clearly than anyone else I know.”
Some thought of that as making snap judgments. “And sometimes my mouth gets me in trouble.”
“I think that’s true for all of us.” Linnea took a sip. “So, tell me more about this thing with Nathan. Why is he back?”
“How should I know? I didn’t ask, and Basil didn’t volunteer the information. Whether he’s here because Basil offered him a job, or they ran into each other at Main Market Co-op and the topic came up then, I don’t have a clue.”
“So, by working for you guys… do you mean full-time?”
“I don’t think so. He apparently has been doing marketing in L.A. for a few years. I think he’s planning to freelance here.”
“So, you won’t need to have a lot to do with him, right?”
Jasmine grimaced. “I don’t know. He’ll probably be underfoot all the time. We’ll be digging up the entire backyard at the guys’ house as soon as the rain stops, and Peter’s been talking to their elderly next-door neighbor about doing the same thing there.”
Linnea eyed her over the rim of her teacup. “Maybe you and Nathan need to have a long talk and clear the air. It’s been quite a few years, right? He might’ve matured.”
“A long talk? Are you crazy?” Jasmine surged out of the papasan. “I doubt he’s changed. I know I haven’t. Once people are past childhood, their personalities are pretty much set in stone. That’s why I think Dixie—”
“We’re not talking about Dixie. We’re talking about you. And I believe you have changed. Don’t forget I’ve known you since high school, even if not all that well until this past year.”
Jasmine stalked over to the living room window and glared down at Bridgeview, which sloped toward the Spokane River while the Maple Street bridge soared overhead to the new development of Kendall Yards on the north shore.
The neighborhood she’d lived in all her twenty-seven years had certainly changed, but had she? Really?
Okay, she had to believe in change. Look at Linnea and how far she’d come since last summer. Could Nathan Hamelin have changed? He’d sure matured in looks. Oh, he’d always been mighty good-looking, but today he’d been... hot.
If they were going to see each other over business at Bridgeview Backyards, she’d have to set some ground rules. Number one: no gray Henleys.