Her eyes lit up as well. “Is this yourgirlfriend?” she teased.
“Not yet.” He looked over at Jasmin, his dimples sinking in. “But maybe one day.”
More girly tingles. He did it so easily.
“That’s if she can put up with your moods.” Momma B moved past him and gave her a quick hug. “Good luck, child. Lord knows, he acts like a teenage girl sometimes.”
Jasmin giggled. “Screams like one too.”
“It’s in the box,” Kevin mouthed from behind Momma B.
Momma B sat down beside her, taking the stool Kevin had occupied. “Now where have I seen you before?”
“She does look familiar, doesn’t she, Beatrice?”
Kevin leaned over on the counter on the other side of her and nudged her gently with his shoulder, his small sign of encouragement.
“I was on a talk show a couple months ago,” Jasmin admitted, albeit a little sheepishly.
“Oh, that’s right,” Mommy Jess said with a nod. “You’re going to be researching all that environmental stuff. What you’re going to do is incredible. When we saw you, I remember telling Beatrice that you could be such a positive influence on the youth of today. You’re going to be doing presentations at major universities across the country. You, and everything you stand for, could be an inspiration for so many young women out there.”
Jasmin had always seen her new job as just a job. A job she was going to love, a job she was passionate about, but still a job. They made her realize that it carried a lot more responsibility than she had initially anticipated. Listening to them made herexcited to rise to the challenge. These two women had faith in her and she felt empowered to make a difference.
“We are so proud of you and everything you’ve achieved,” Momma B added.
That got her choked up. It was the words she longed to hear from her mother. “Thank you…I can’t tell you how much that means to me.”
“Kevin, you better get your act together and marry this one,” Momma B said. “A girl like her isn’t going to wait around for you forever.”
Jasmin laughed at her unabashed directness. “I already asked him to marry me in Vegas,” she said, giving him a teasing grin. “He turned me down.”
His mother stopped beating her batter and glowered at him. “You turned her down?”
“I even told him I’m a good cook,” Jasmin said, adding fuel to the fire. “And I’m also aphenomenaldancer.”
“I’m disappointed.” She was still looking at Kevin as she shook her head playfully. “I feel like grounding you.”
He laughed. “Mom, in my defense, I’ve never tasted her cooking and she can’t dance. That part’s a blatant lie.”
“Okay, so maybe I’m not a phenomenal dancer, but I definitely have some moves.” She demonstrated this by showing off her Grease Lightning choreography.
“That’s good enough for me,” his mother said before her eyes flicked back to him. “Kevin, you’re grounded.”
Jasmin stuck out her tongue at him, giving a smug smile, and the small exchange didn’t escape Momma B’s eyes.
“Oh, my Perry would’ve loved you.”
Kevin tensed beside her and she eased her hand into his, squeezing it gently. He lifted her hand to his lips, giving it a quick kiss before he straightened. “I think I’m gonna give you ladies some girl time,” he said and exited the kitchen.
They all knew the real reason why he left, but none of them protested. As soon as they heard his bedroom door close, Mommy Jess focused her eyes on Jasmin again.
“I’m sorry.”
Jasmin’s eyebrows creased in confusion. “For what?”
“I misjudged you. There’s a log out back named Jasmin and it’s got a few nails in it. When I first saw it, I thought you broke his heart because he was so depressed all the time.”
A few things fell into place when she heard that. She now understood why Kevin had said that there were holes left behind when he’d hurt her. She also understood the weird comment his mother made earlier when she’d said:So it was you.
