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Ivy glanced at him, her eyes growing wide with surprise.
“You had to get him to drive you?” she breathed. “I’m so sorry.”
“Car trouble always hits at the worst possible moment.” Royce tried to reassured her.
It didn’t work too well. Jasmine spied a slight sheen of tears in her sister’s eyes before she dropped her gaze and placed a kiss on Rosie’s head. It still amazed her that her littlest sister handled difficult clients with such ease at work. Jasmine still saw her as the child in need of her protection and care. But in this situation, they were going to support each other through whatever challenges they faced.
“Is everybody okay?” Willow rushed up behind them.
Ivy stood as they all talked over each other, trying to share what they knew and offer comfort. Though Jasmine still felt a touch of panic over Auntie’s condition, it was better with both of her sisters here. Out of the corner of her eye, she spied Royce standing to the side, watching them. His expression was carefully neutral. With a quick squeeze of her sisters’ arms, she walked over to where he stood.
“Thank you so much for bringing me here. I didn’t intend to disrupt your day.”
A slight frown snuck across his face, but wasn’t there long enough for Jasmine to figure out what it meant. Ivy appeared at her elbow with a blinking Rosie. Jasmine smiled at the little girl and got a crooked grin in return. Taking her into her arms, Jasmine hugged her close for a moment. Then she turned her focus back to Royce. She definitely noticed how his gaze had settled directly on her, avoiding Rosie completely.
Without thought, she softly asked, “Why would your mother leave you alone?”
For a brief second, she saw a flash of pain in his expression that was so intense it took Jasmine back to the days and weeks right after her parents had been killed in the car accident. But within the space of a blink, the emotion disappeared. Had she imagined it? When he dropped his gaze to Rosie, it made her wonder.
Then a nurse called from behind him, “King family?”
Recognizing Auntie’s last name, she handed Rosie over to Willow and rushed to the edge of the waiting area. But the nurse wasn’t very helpful, and Jasmine found herself returning with a clipboard in her hand.
“What did she say?” Willow demanded.
Jasmine shook her head, blinking so tears wouldn’t well up in her eyes. “Just that they were waiting to take her to X-ray, and in the meantime they needed this paperwork filled out.”
Royce shifted uncomfortably as he watched Jasmine blink before looking at her sisters. He remembered the many brave faces he’d put on with no one there to take notice except his mother. Turning away from the reminder, he took a seat across from Jasmine’s sisters in the waiting room.
Jasmine settled into a chair and started on the paperwork. Her sisters studied him with varying degrees of interest.
“Is there a problem, ladies?” he finally asked.
“Why didn’t Jasmine take a cab?” Willow asked.
“It would have taken too long.”
“One of us could have picked her up,” Willow said.
This felt a little like a what-are-your-intentions interrogation, not that he had any experience with those. Or with anything in this situation, really. Long-fallow instincts had kicked in when he’d seen Jasmine in need, overriding his usual laser focus on business.
“That would have taken even longer,” he said, attempting to soften his clipped tone since they were just trying to look out for their sister. “Besides, my mother wouldn’t have appreciated me leaving a lady high and dry.”
The two women shared a look, one that should have made him very suspicious. But, like all good businessmen, Royce held his tongue. He knew better than to give them extra ammunition, especially when he wasn’t sure what the bullet was actually made of in this instance.
Suddenly both women glanced down. Following their gaze, he took in how Rosie was snuggled up against Ivy. Her eyelids drooped. He could see the softening effect the little cutie had on Ivy and Willow, and even felt an echo deep inside himself. He hadn’t dealt with so many emotions since his mother died.
Was it being in this place? The same hospital where they’d spent her last days? Or was it these women? Seeing their interactions, how they cared for each other, he found it fascinating. A little scary, too. Being the focus of their attention wasn’t comfortable at all.
Like his mother, they seemed to be able to see past the front he presented to the world to the actual man beneath. He could almost feel the crack in his protective wall. He wasn’t very comfortable with that.
Yet he couldn’t bring himself to leave.
He reached out one hand to rub it gently against Rosie’s chubby, flushed cheek. “She feels a little feverish.”
“She’s been teething,” Ivy explained. “Which means she’s often fussy and not sleeping well, poor thing.”
“Poor Mama,” Willow added, giving the little girl a loving look. “I don’t think Jasmine’s had a full night’s sleep in days.”
Which explained why Rosie was so tired today. But Royce knew absolutely nothing about babies and teething, so he switched subjects. Anything to distract himself from the memories whirling through his mind. “So, what do you ladies do for a living?” he asked, even though Jasmine had already told him the answer.
Willow jumped in easily. “I teach history at the community college.”
Royce nodded. “Any specialties?”
“American and local history. When you’re descended from a pirate family, you can’t help but immerse yourself in Savannah’s colorful past.”
“I’d imagine.” Somehow he wasn’t surprised to find Jasmine had some pirate blood in her. She certainly drove a hard bargain to get exactly what she wanted.
Ivy filled the pause. “I’m the executive assistant to Paxton McLemore.”
That was interesting. “Intense guy to work for, isn’t he?”
“At times, but I love it. Challenging but enjoyable.”
Obviously they were a family of very smart women who were very good at standing on their own two feet, making their way in the world after losing their parents. He could relate. Impressive.
But, unlike him, they weren’t focused only on making money. He thought over all the charitable causes for which Jasmine had coordinated events. The dossier his assistant had put together had been more than impressive.
As she rose and crossed the room to return the clipboard to a woman behind the desk, he couldn’t help but think of all she’d dealt with at home while she’d been pulling off those events. Unlike Royce, she didn’t go home, put up her feet and catch up on her rest after a hard day’s work.
No, she worked just as hard at home. If not harder. She kept her family together and fed. Took on the role of mother. And apparently offered hands-on help to the charity she’d chosen to support with his event.
Her life had turned out very differently from his.
The women across from him went suddenly silent. Royce followed their gaze to see Jasmine slowly approach from across the room. Before he knew it, her sisters were on their feet.
Royce watched the baby pass from sister to sister with a kind of bewilderment and an incredible calm. Until inevitably the baby was passed to him, and he found himself standing alone in the waiting room with the child snuggled carefully in the crook of his arm. He watched as the girls