Between Us Girls by Sally John Page A

español — ay! ” She laughed. “But it is enough. The problem, how can a navy man marry an immigrant with no papers? I go home so we can love each other in Mexico too. We marry in church with the padre. Then I am legal. I come back Mrs. Louis Templeton.”
    It was like a fairy tale. “And you lived happily ever after.”
    Inez shook her head and smiled. “We live life. A wonderful life all over the world with United States Navy and mis cuatro ninos . But happy, sad, easy, hard, fun, scary. Like you.”
    Jasmyn nodded. “I seem to be stuck in the sad, hard, scary part. That’s never happened before. I could always see the silver lining.”
    â€œA tornado never happen before. This bump in the road is most worst for you.”
    Inez’s words rang true. Yet why hadn’t her mother’s death been the worst bump for Jasmyn? Or even the years spent nursing her through cancer?
    Or what about the lifelong shame heaped on her because she’d been born out of wedlock to a teenager and never knew her father’s name?
    â€œ Querida .” Inez looped her arm through Jasmyn’s and leaned against her. “Louis and I grow old. The house, the yard, too much work. It is our most worst bump, but we move to la Casa and we are happy. You move into la Casa and you be happy too. Everyone take care of you. Si ?”
    An attack of warm fuzzies burst through her. Jasmyn melted inside. For one brief amazing moment the shadowy corners of sad, hard, and scary were ablaze in light.
    But…
    â€œI’m on vacation.”
    Inez shrugged. “So? Go get your things. Vacation over.”
    Go get your things. Those would be her new car and a jacket. But seriously. Move to California? Away from her hometown, the only place she’d ever known, and her job, and—
    â€œLook at this.” Inez pointed at the crowd and sighed. “My boys come. Chad, I see nowhere. Am I surprised?” She looked at Jasmyn. “This is whyI put van keys in my pocketbook. If he no show, you drive but first you call Keagan because we don’t know the way home.”
    They didn’t? Uh-oh.
    â€œWhen we women need rescue, he always there for us. He is our knight.”
    A knight. That was a new one. Her first impression of Keagan had been all about sheriff vibes. Sam’s nickname for him was Mr. Kung Fu Dude because he had some sort of belt and apparently could break a stack of two-by-fours with his bare hands. Now Inez added shining armor and a white horse to the guy’s intimidating reputation.
    Between a knight, a mama, a grandmother, kind people, and unbelievable peace and beauty, the place had everything.
    Still, though, no matter how attractive it was, no matter how much it had given her, Casa de Vida was not her home. The thought of permanently leaving Valley Oaks was off-the-chart ridiculous and certainly not the solution to getting herself over the worst bump in the road.
    No, she would return home as planned on Saturday, where she belonged, and just live her life, bumps and all.

Nineteen
    If Liv had married what’s-his-name decades ago, before he shipped out to Vietnam, she might have a daughter now around Jasmyn’s age.
    â€œFoolish thoughts, Olivia.” She spoke aloud to herself. “Foolish thoughts that do you no good whatsoever.”
    She and the cute Marine had been wild about each other. If she were the impetuous sort or even a romantic, she would have accepted his proposal. But she was not and she did not. He never contacted her again.
    And she never loved anyone as wildly again until Syd.
    She sighed and petted Tobi on her lap. They sat in the recliner, both just awake from catnaps. Dusk had fallen and the living room lay in shadows. Outside the bay window the jacaranda tree shone with vertical strands of twinkle lights. An automatic timer lit them and brightened a corner of the courtyard where the source of her foolish thoughts stood with