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“Just like Daisy has said her mother was more a friend than a parent,” she said.
“That’s right. It doesn’t mean your father loves you any less. Maybe he just couldn’t figure you out and it’s easier for him with Chase. They share that one common bond of medicine. Was your father close with Mark?”
“I honestly don’t know,” she said. “He’s six years older than me. I want to say no. That Mark was like Dahlia and had to help out with the rest of us. Maybe more because he was a boy and we were three girls. He rarely comes home and I don’t think he talks to my parents as much as the rest of us.”
“That’s right,” Heather said. “Everyone might have their own demons, but they deal with them differently.”
“You’re right. I always thought there was something wrong with me because I just wanted more.”
“There is nothing wrong with you, Ivy,” Jasmine said.
She turned and saw her sister standing there. She hadn’t realized Jasmine was on the grounds, but it was possible she pulled in after her.
“I always feel as if there is,” she said softly.
Jasmine moved over closer to her. “We are sorry if we make you feel that way.”
“Brooks thinks you and Dahlia can’t see me as anything other than your baby sister. And that you don’t give me a fair chance now as an adult.”
Jasmine lifted her eyebrow up. “Brooks said that? Seems like a pretty serious conversation you had with him.”
“Maybe Ivy and Brooks have more going on with their relationship than most see,” Heather said.
“Tell me about it,” Jasmine said.
“Do you want to hear it?”
“Of course I do,” Jasmine said. “You don’t talk much about it and I think we just assumed it was all fun and games with you two.”
“It’s not,” she argued. “You know I met his parents. You know that he said some insulting things to them about me at the Christmas party. His mother told me she’d given him hell over that and was embarrassed that he’d treat a woman that way.”
Her sisters hadn’t been happy to hear Brooks had said those things or done what he had. That had been part of them not wanting Ivy to date Brooks, but she’d told them she couldn’t control how she felt about him.
Jasmine understood more than Dahlia did.
“And what was his reaction to that?” Jasmine asked.
“He apologized a few times to me. You know that. He was embarrassed his mother brought it up again. Then at one point I said families fight and get on each other’s nerves, but they love each other in the end. Brooks said that sometimes someone outside of family is who knows you the best. His family got silent and seemed shocked by that.”
“Interesting,” Heather said. “Do you think they are looking at you as someone to change Brooks?”
“I don’t want to change him,” she said. “I like him the way he is.”
No reason to say she loved him to Jasmine. Not yet at least.
“There is nothing you’d change at all?” Jasmine asked.
“Of course there is. Wouldn’t you change things with Wesley? And you with Luke?” she asked Heather. “Just like the men would change things with us. No one is perfect. I’m just saying that is part of his charm.”
Jasmine laughed. “I’m not sure anyone would think Brooks had charm.”
“I do,” she said. “Isn’t that all that should matter?”
“You know, Ivy,” Jasmine said, “you’ve grown so much that I’ve missed it and I’m sorry. I really am. And if Dahlia or I say things to bring you down, you remind me of this conversation. Stand your ground and we’ll listen to you. I promise.”
“Really?” she asked, her eyes filling a little. “I know I’m a wuss getting emotional like this.”
“You’re not a wuss,” Heather said. “Some people are just more emotional or sensitive, but that doesn’t mean they are immature. Right, Jasmine?”
