Page 19 of Tempted

“It means that you and I can live together again soon. Would you like that?”

Star nodded her head in the affirmative.

“I’d like that too. I’ll get us a house with a back yard for you to play in, and maybe even a dog. I remember you used to want one so badly, but your fath—well, we’ll see about getting you that dog.”

Jasmine silently cursed herself for that brief slip of the tongue because the smile fell from Star’s face at the mention of her father. It was obvious that it was as much a sore subject for Star as it was for Jasmine.

The little girl slid off her lap and walked over to her desk. Star pulled the top open and took out some papers before presenting them to Jasmine.

“Is this for me?” Jasmine asked.

Star nodded.

Jasmine flipped the pages over to see pictures drawn with crayon. The first picture was of two people, which she assumed was her and Star. They were holding hands and smiling. The next one was of just Star, and she was frowning. The following pictures were just of Star as well. There wasn’t much to them, but in every single one, the background was dark.

It wasn’t hard to figure out what her daughter was trying to tell her. “Sweetheart, you have no idea how much I want to take you with me, but I can’t. Not right now, but I promise, we’ll be together again very soon.”

Star walked over to her closet and pulled out a child-sized suitcase.

Jasmine fought back tears. She moved to where her daughter stood and knelt beside her. “I want you to come with me, more than anything, but you’ll have to stay here when I leave today. Do you understand?”

Star shook her head, clutching the suitcase to her chest.

“Baby, I know you want to come with me, and I want that too, but I just can’t. I still don’t have a house of my own, but when I can find somewhere affordable for us to stay, I’ll come for you. I promise. Now, let’s put this away and maybe we can play a game. We’ll play Candy Land. Why don’t you go get it so I can set it up?”

Star wouldn’t budge as she gripped her little suitcase tighter, her brown knuckles nearly turning white.

Jasmine gently tugged it out of her daughter’s hand. Star reached for the suitcase, but Jasmineheld it out of her reach. The child tried again, and then again, before giving up. She looked to be on the verge of tears, but instead of crying, she walked over to her bed and sat, eyes forward and little hands folded in her lap.

Jasminefelt helpless in the face of Star’s suffering. “Baby, you do understand why I can’t take you with me right now?”

Star nodded, but remained very still otherwise.

Jasmine wasn’t sure how to react after that. She stared at Star for several moments before releasing a resigned sigh. The only thing she could do was make the most of her visit. It wouldn’t be easy. There had to be a way to get her daughter back sooner. There just had to be!

* * *

“Daddy, I don’t feel good,” Chelsea moaned, holding her stomach. Her mouth was smeared with chocolate ice cream.

“Told ya’ not to eat that second chili dog.” Tyler’s voice was full of smug satisfaction.

“No comments from the peanut gallery,” Victor scolded his son lightly, although secretly he agreed. He turned to his daughter. “Okay, honey, we’ll go home.”

“But, dad, you said you’d take us to the movies. It’s not fair that we have to go home because Chelsea was too dumb to stop eating when she was full,” Tyler argued.

“That’s enough, Tyler. We can go to the movies another time. Besides, didn’t we have a full day? We went to the festival and the zoo and we stuffed our faces with junk food. To be honest, sport, I don’t think I have the energy to take in a movie as well.” And that was the truth.

After his talk with Jasmine, Victor came to terms with the fact that he needed to spend more time with his children. After all, they were growing so fast and he didn’t want the distance between them to widen…not like with Adam.

Victor’s relationship with his oldest son was still a source of pain, but he hoped one day that was a hurdle he could eventually conquer. It was Jasmine’s suggestion that he take the kids to the children’s day festival the city was sponsoring. He’d been apprehensive about spending the entire day with Tyler and Chelsea on his own, scared that he’d do or say the wrong thing around them, but now he was glad he had.

He really enjoyed spending time with them. Victor never realized how much fun his children were, or how he’d melt every time Chelsea smiled, or the way he’d laugh until his stomach hurt when Tyler told a corny joke.

By the time he pulled into their driveway, he was thoroughly exhausted. He saw the light was on in the living room when they walked into the house. Victor had given Jasmine the day off and told her he’d put the children to bed, so he didn’t expect her to be here.But there she was sitting on the couch, absently channel surfing. He got the distinct impression the television was watching her instead of the other way around.

His years as an attorney had taught him how to read people. Something was wrong. The children, on the other hand, rushed into the living room to tell her about their day.

“Jasmine, we went to the festival and I got my face painted!” Chelsea exclaimed, showing off the purple butterfly on the side of her face.

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