Jasmine Read online

  Gloria watched in horror. "Boys? You need to use knives to get the butter out."

  Jacob looked at her with a sweet smile. "But we're not allowed to have knives anymore. Not after what happened last time."

  Joey nodded. "The blood was too much, and Ma said we had to use our fingers from now on. She said getting the dirt from our grimy hands in the butter was so much better than having to try and stitch someone else up."

  Lee sat blinking at the boys words. What on earth were they talking about? He decided not to ask. With those two you never knew what was going to be said. They were turning back into the boys they'd been before Jasmine had come along.

  Gloria looked at Jasmine. "What did they do?"

  Jasmine shook her head, smiling with affection at the boys. "I promised them we'd never speak of the incident again. They've apologized to the boy's mother, and both of them talked to the preacher about it. I think God has forgiven them." She nodded regally as if she was in touch with God himself on decisions of forgiveness.

  Gloria looked back and forth between the boys and Jasmine, obviously wondering what they were hiding. It was all Lee could do not to laugh out loud. Jasmine said he had a plan, and he was just beginning to understand it. "Will you be staying with us while you're here?" Jasmine asked.

  "Staying here? But...you're going to keep living here even though you know Lee isn't legally married to you?"

  Jasmine shrugged. "I'll stay in one of the upstairs rooms. I could possibly tear the boys away from their father, and if I'm not here during the day...well, let's just say that wouldn't be an ideal situation. The boys need to be supervised constantly."

  Gloria was quiet for a moment. "You know? I don't think you two should be here without a chaperone. Yes, I'll stay here." She smiled sweetly. "I'll take one of the spare rooms upstairs as well. Until I'm certain I'm staying, I don't think I should sleep in the same bed as you."

  Lee sighed. First everyone left him, and now they were all back, including his dead wife? Was he ready for the invasion? He took a deep breath. He could handle anything they dished out, couldn't he?

  *****

  Lee followed Jasmine and the boys back to the King Ranch and waited while she let everyone know she was going to stay at his place in a spare room. Mary simply shook her head. "I'm washing my hands of this situation, Jasmine. You come home if it doesn't work out. Lee's a good man. I'm sure he'll do what's right."

  As Lee listened to her, he realized that he really was still a good man. It wasn't his fault all this had happened. Well, he should have been more choosy about his first wife, but other than that, he'd done nothing wrong. He'd felt guilty all day for marrying Jasmine when he was already married, but the circumstances really had been out of his control.

  As he drove them back to the ranch, Jasmine sat with her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry I got so angry with you. I hate the situation we're in, but you've really done nothing wrong." She didn't want to admit it to him, but she had to. She loved him, and she needed their marriage to work. As soon as she got rid of his other wife that was.

  Lee kissed the top of her head. "Thank you for admitting that." He'd never thought that he would hear Jasmine admit fault for much. He didn't blame her for getting as angry as she had, because he would have gotten angry as well.

  "My mother is blaming me the situation." Jasmine shook her head sadly. "I've messed up so many times in my life that the one time something isn't my fault, she assumes it is." She couldn't believe her mother was blaming her for Gloria's mess ups. Of course, everyone had always blamed Jasmine for everything, because most of the time she was at fault.

  They made it back to the ranch before Gloria did, and she was glad. She hurriedly carried her things up the stairs and chose the bedroom she wanted. She chose the one right beside the boys because they had some real work to do. Gloria wasn't going to know what hit her.

  She went down the stairs as soon as the boys were tucked in and asked the question that she needed an answer to before she could fully finish her plans. "Is Gloria a light sleeper?" The answer would determine what pranks they could play on her.

  "Not at all. She would sleep through the boys' crying in the middle of the night. I would have to get up and take them to her most of the time." Lee studied Jasmine, obviously worried. "What are you planning? I don't think you should do anything crazy." He could just imagine what Jasmine and the boys could do if they joined forces. Just thinking about it scared him a great deal.

  Jasmine smiled sweetly, patting Lee's cheek. "Don't worry. No one will blame you." She hurried back up the stairs, hoping to get a good night's sleep. She'd need it if she was going to do everything she'd planned the next day. With a little bit of luck, Gloria would be on her way again by Tuesday morning.

  Chapter Eight

  Jasmine was up early the next morning, acting as if everything was normal. She cooked bacon, eggs and toast for breakfast, putting the breakfast on the table at sun up as she usually did. The boys made as much noise as they could upstairs, whooping like Indians to make certain Gloria woke.

  She came down the stairs looking angry and plopped down in the chair at the foot of the table, looking at Jasmine with a gloating smile as if she'd stolen her prize spot. Jasmine guessed she'd never cared about sitting close to Lee when they were married and living together.

  The boys made certain their table manners were as bad as Gloria had ever seen. Joey leaned over and used Jacob's shirt to wipe the egg yolk from his face. Both boys ate with their mouths open, and talked non-stop about Hamm while they ate. "Would you like to help us wash our pet?" Jacob asked Gloria, his eyes full of innocence.

  Gloria smiled, giving Jasmine a triumphant look. "I'd like that a lot."

  Jasmine cleaned the kitchen while the boys had Gloria outside. She listened carefully until she heard the scream she'd been waiting for. Gloria marched into the house covered from head to toe with mud. "Why didn't you tell me the boys' pet was a pig?"

  Jasmine shrugged. "You didn't ask. I thought you knew when they said his name." She kept washing the dishes, refusing to look in the other woman's face. She was worried her face would give away everything.

  "I never heard his name."

  "They talked about him all through breakfast. Didn't you hear them talking about how much they love Hamm?"

  Gloria closed her eyes, the mud dripping from her hair. "They named their pet pig Hamm?"

  "They certainly did!" Jasmine put the last of the dishes away. "Why don't you take a quick bath. I'm sure you don't want to be covered in mud for the rest of the day." She smiled sweetly as the other woman left the room, happy their day was going as planned.

  Both boys were covered in mud as well. "Go out to the well and dump buckets of water on each other until you're clean," Jasmine insisted.

  "But, Ma! We thought if you let us stay like this all day, it might bother her." Joey was the one to protest. They'd obviously put a great deal of thought into what they'd do to her.

  Finally Jasmine nodded. "Just make sure you don't track mud on my clean floors." She was glad they were thinking of what to do to help with the plan. They wanted to get rid of her so things could return to normal just as much as she did.

  "We won't!" Jacob yelled as the two boys ran off. It was obvious they weren't going to give her any time to change her mind.

  When Gloria finished with her bath, she found Jasmine in the parlor sewing. "What are you making?" she asked.

  Jasmine held up the pile of socks she was working on. "I can't ever get around to sewing, because I never have time to do anything but mend. The boys are really hard on their clothes." It was a lie, of course. There was a lot to be done, but she was working through it quickly and efficiently with the help of Mrs. Banks.

  Gloria wrinkled her nose. "Just make them new ones. Why mend the old ones?"

  "Because it's faster and less expensive to mend the old ones. Surely you remember what it's like to have to pinch every penny." Jasmine kept darning the socks and watch
ed as the other woman pushed the socks out of the way so she could sit on the couch as well. She didn't pick up a needle to help with the work, which didn't surprise Jasmine one bit. She had a feeling Gloria would not be willing to stay if she thought Lee was anything less than wealthy.

  "How did you meet my Lee?" Gloria asked, watching the other woman.

  Jasmine smiled. "Well, I saw him at church one day. He had the boys each by an ear, and he was dragging them out of the church." She sighed. "I think that was the day they put a snake in the preacher's Bible." How could any woman not fall in love with a couple of boys who could prank someone so easily?

  Gloria shook her head. "They're beasts aren't they?"

  "Joey and Jacob? They're sweet as can be. I wouldn't trade those boys for anything." Jasmine couldn't believe anyone thought of them as beasts, but she'd seen all the women in the congregation had felt that way about the boys. They were really good boys, but they needed a firm hand.

  "You really seem to believe that!"

  "I really do believe that. I couldn't love those boys any more if I'd given birth to them myself. Of course, I'm much too young to have boys that age. You must be at least thirty!" Jasmine finished the sock she was working on and dropped it into the mended pile. "Why don't you fix lunch for us while I work on these?" She wasn't about to let the other woman get away with being treated like a guest. She kept saying she was staying, and it was time for her to pull her own weight around the house.

  "Lunch?"

  "You do cook, don't you?" Jasmine eyed the other woman. She looked pretty useless, but hopefully she could do something.

  "A little. My grandmother has a cook."

  "Oh, yes, so does my mother. I miss being spoiled like that." Jasmine stretched. "Since you're going to stay with Lee and the boys, I guess I'll need to head back to Seattle and my easy life there." She looked down at her hands, trying to give the impression that thinking about leaving the area was her only answer. Of course, she would never give in to the other woman, but she couldn't let her know that...yet.

  "You're not going to stay?"

  "There's nothing for me here. My husband isn't really my husband, and I can see the boys like you better than me. I'd better just move on back to my family." Jasmine sighed. "I sure will miss the boys, though." She shook her head and forced a tear from her eye. She'd learned to cry on command years before.

  Gloria looked at her. "You don't have to let me cook today. You can do it if you want to."

  "No, I think you should get used to cooking for your family again. I wouldn't deprive you of the pleasure." Jasmine smiled. "In fact, since you're here to see to things, I think I'll nap until lunch. There's really no need for me to work on darning the socks when I'm leaving soon anyway." As she reached the doorway, she called back over her shoulder. "Don't forget to keep an eye on the boys. We don't need to lose any more animals." Jasmine bit her lip to stifle her laugh at the other woman's gasp.

  "Any more animals? What do they do to animals?" Gloria sounded frightened.

  Jasmine stifled a giggle as she walked from the room. She went upstairs where she lay in bed with a pencil and a piece of paper with a book to use as a writing surface. She carefully made notes of what they needed to do during the night to make sure the plan was accomplished. She and the boys had a long night ahead of them.

  *****

  A few hours later, Jasmine crept upstairs while Gloria did the supper dishes. She wouldn't have left any other woman in the world to do the dishes alone, but Gloria needed to learn what it was like to have a husband and two seven year old children to deal with and take care of on her own. Of course, the opportunity to short sheet Gloria's bed was too good to pass up.

  The boys were right behind her as she went into the other woman's room. "We have to work fast, boys." They quickly short-sheeted the bed and remade it with Jasmine explaining the right way to do it. While the boys gathered up some of her clothes so they could 'help them,' Jasmine stuck a snake in Gloria's bed. It was just a little garter snake, so she refused to feel guilty about it. The snake wouldn't hurt Gloria, but it might just scare her a bit and make her realize that messing with people's lives deserved punishment.

  She went into the parlor with her family to listen to Lee read from Alice in Wonderland again. The boys once again played with blocks while Jasmine sat beside Lee on the sofa. That's how Gloria found them when she finished with the dishes. She took the seat perpendicular to the sofa and listened while Lee read. Normally Jasmine would have some mending in her hands, but that evening she refused, even though she knew she'd regret it later. She had to make it look like she was leaving.

  When Lee told the boys to brush their teeth and get ready for bed, they both started screaming and kicking their feet. Lee stared at them in astonishment, and then caught the look on Jasmine's face. He shook his head. What else had she put the boys up to? They would never act like that at bedtime without a reason. They were basically well-behaved boys, except when they were playing practical jokes and running amok.

  Gloria stood up and yelled, "Get to bed, you rotten boys!" She drew her foot back to kick Jacob in the ribs, but Jasmine was across the room in a flash with the blonde's hair in her hand.

  "You will not kick my sons." Jasmine's voice was low, but there was no mistaking the anger in her voice. She knew she wasn't playing her part by stepping in, but she would not let anyone hurt the boys.

  Joey stared up at his mother. "I hate you. You were going to kick my brother! You're a mean old witch, and I hope you go back to wherever you came from."

  Jasmine didn't chastise him, even though she knew he was no longer playacting. She agreed with every word he said, and she wasn't going to get onto him for saying them. Of course, she'd have a talk with him later about how he couldn't be rude to most adults.

  Jacob stood up and looked at his mother, his breathing harsh and labored. "You really would have kicked me, wouldn't you?" He spit at her feet, careful to hit her shoes and not the floor. He didn't want to upset his new ma.

  Gloria wiped her face with disgust. "Look at what you've done to these boys, Lee Fields! You've ruined them both!" She turned and ran up the stairs to her room and slammed the door.

  Jasmine opened her arms wide and both boys ran into them. "She won't stay long. I promise you that." She kissed each boy atop his head. "We'll make sure of it." Her eyes met Lee's over the boys, and he just shook his head. His face was white.

  Joey looked up at her and kissed her cheek. "You're our ma now. She needs to go away."

  Jasmine nodded. "Yes, she does." She took a deep breath, trying to calm the anger that was still coursing through her body. "You two go on and get ready for bed. We'll be up to tuck you in." She pushed them toward the door. She had to talk to Lee before she lost the opportunity.

  As soon as they were gone, Jasmine looked at Lee. "Was she always like that?" She'd never seen that type of angry display from a woman to her own child. What kind of mother would kick her son in the ribs?

  Lee sighed and nodded. "I didn't see it until after married her. She was nothing like you. You...well you see the positive side of things, and we enjoy being around you. She hated everyone and everything. One night, when we were first married, I kissed her, and she started screaming at me that all I ever wanted to do was go to bed with her." He rubbed the back of his neck. "She was right, but we were newly married. How was I supposed to feel?" He realized that Jasmine would understand because she had the same desires he did.

  Jasmine looked at him with new understanding. "You're not worried I'm going to feel that way someday, are you?" She knew she'd never lose her desire for her husband. Everything about him made her feel more every time she looked at him.

  He laughed. "There are no worries there at all. At first there were, but now? We need to find a friend to watch the boys from Saturday evening until Monday morning soon and have some time alone together." He leaned down and kissed her cheek, not willing to kiss her the way he wanted to when he was married t
o another woman.

  She grinned. "As soon as we're legally married." She bit her lip. "Did she ever try to hurt the boys?" She needed to know, because she had to know if they needed to be protected from their mother. Obviously they did with the kick, but did the woman need to be watched every minute as Jasmine had claimed the boys did?

  "They were only three months old when she left, but yes, she did. She got mad at Jacob for crying too much one evening, and she shook him really hard, screaming in his face to stop crying." He sighed. "It really scared me. That's when I hired Mrs. Banks to be here most of the time I couldn't be. Mrs. Banks thinks the boys are hellions, but she's loyal to them and would never hurt them." He weight his next words carefully. "As sad as I was when I thought she died? I was also relieved." He'd been relieved for himself and the boys. He hadn't started wife shopping immediately, not with two babies, and by the time he had, his boys were already well known in the area as hellions.

  Jasmine shook her head, all of her reservations about what she and the boys were planning to do to Gloria disappeared. She was doing the best thing for all of them. Even herself.

  *****

  Jasmine woke to Gloria's screams the following morning, and she sat up in bed and smiled. Gloria must have gotten the surprise she and the boys had worked so hard on. The snake in her bed the previous night had the woman screaming and begging for Lee to let her sleep in his bed. When he'd flat out refused, Jasmine knew she'd won.

  Jasmine got up and walked down the hall to where the boys were already standing outside Gloria's room looking at her. Hamm was tucked nicely in bed with her, under the covers and everything, but he was taking up a lot of space. Gloria was sputtering. "Did you really put a pig in bed with me while I was sleeping? What is wrong with you two monsters?"