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He laughed and reached his hand for Jasmine’s. “It’s fine. I like hearing that. What do you want to know, Ivy? I’m almost an open book.”
“Slam it shut,” she said. “Don’t tell my sister anything personal.”
“You’re no fun,” Ivy said, laughing. “Okay, tell me more about the area, Jasmine. It seems your boyfriend wants to know too.”
He was glad Jasmine shut down the personal talk. He’d answer questions if asked, but he realized it might be best to do that with his girlfriend and not with her sister around.
20
Nice To Be Needed
Jasmine was trying to get over the embarrassment of her sister’s words last night at dinner.
She’d have to be more careful what and how she said things when it came to her boyfriend.
Even saying Wesley was her boyfriend felt odd.
He was thirty-seven. Wasn’t he too old to be considered a boyfriend?
She supposed it didn’t matter.
“This is so nice,” Ivy said when Jasmine was driving down Main Street to get to the flower shop.
“It is,” she said. “It’s a great place to live.”
Ivy sighed. Last night was more of the same with her sister unsure of what she wanted to do. She felt bad on one hand. The truth was, none of them had much guidance.
They all came to America for college and were pretty much on their own trying to find their way. When they had college breaks, they’d go to stay with her grandparents.
What Ivy said was true. Her grandmother liked a clean house. Her grandfather was protective but not horribly.
He was only watching out for them. One too many times they’d sat her down to ask how she was doing. To help any way they could.
They knew it wasn’t an easy transition from the life they’d had to what they were doing in college.
Maybe Dahlia and she were so easy they weren’t prepared for Ivy.
After a third sigh, she asked, “What’s going on, Ivy? Do you want to leave? Seriously leave Dallas? Do you have the means to do that?”
Ivy sniffled a little. “I do want to. I think it was a safety net and I’m glad I went to college there. I don’t think I was ready to be on my own. Not as much as I thought.”
Which was the crux of the problem all along. Ivy was used to being babied. She did have people watching out for her all the time. She was the least likely to make it on her own at a young age.
Her going to college in Dallas and being close to their grandparents was the best solution. In the end since Ivy dropped out of college twice, it was for the best.
“It’s not easy,” Jasmine said. “I know. It was hard. Even moving here was too. I was lucky to get this job and work for great people.”
“You talk about them as if they are family,” Ivy said. “Closer than I am to you.”
“Don’t get jealous,” she said. “It’s not that way.” She parked her car in the back. “But Lily, Poppy and Rose are wonderful. They have a sisterly bond like the three of us had.”
“Only they’ve got it as adults and we lost ours.”
She’d have to talk to Dahlia about this too. Maybe the two of them should fly to Dallas and spend some time with Ivy. If she could convince Dahlia to get on a plane again. Her older sister hated flying because she always got sick. It wasn’t something Jasmine thought she could handle on her own right now though, dealing with Ivy.
“We didn’t,” she said. “It only changed. Come on. You can meet my bosses. They are all here.”
She’d parked next to Lily’s SUV and they got out and went into the back, then detoured to the Blossoms store first to see if Poppy and Rose were in their offices.
