A little while later, Thorne Henderson picked up the phone. “School’s out?”

“Yeah…”

Thorne chuckled, “Missing your mom?”

“Yeah…”

“Haven’t called her?”

“Yeah.”

Thorne let out a small laugh, “Go ahead, today your mom should have time to pick up.”

Jasmine Henderson’s eyes lit up at his words, “Really?”

“Really, give her a call.”

“Okay!”

As soon as she hung up with Thorne, Jasmine quickly dialed Charlene Ross.

Charlene paused when she saw Jasmine’s call. Although they had seen each other recently when

Jasmine had an accident and ended up in the hospital, those meetings weren’t part of the planned monthly visits.

Putting those aside, it had actually been over a month since they last met according to their arrangement. With that in mind, Charlene answered, “Hey, Minnie, just got out of school-”

Before Charlene could finish, Jasmine, thrilled that Charlene had picked up, exclaimed, “Mom!”

Jasmine’s voice was full of delight.

Charlene paused, her hand still over the computer mouse. It took her a moment to respond, softly saying, “Yes, I’m here. You finished school?”

“Yeah!” Jasmine replied excitedly.

“Mom, where are you? I wanted to call you before, but I was afraid you’d be too busy. But Dad said you’d definitely have time today, so are you coming home?”

“Not quite ” Charlene began, then paused before continuing, “I’m still at the office, but later I’ll head over

to your great-grandma’s. Do you want to meet there, or ”

“Wherever you go, Mom, I want to go!” Jasmine interrupted.

Charlene smiled to herself, “Alright. Then you head to your great-grandma’s, and I’ll join you after work.” “Okay!”

After wrapping up her tasks at the office, Charlene left and headed to the Ross family home. She barely made it to the door when Jasmine, hearing the sound of the car, dashed out and leaped into her arms “Mom!”

नृपड

“Yes,” Charlene said, lifting her up. Inside, Helena Ross greeted them with a warm smile, “Charlene, you’re back just in time! Dinner’s ready. Come on in.”

Charlene nodded, “Alright.”

Jasmine sat next to Charlene at the table. It had been ages since she’d had a meal cooked by her mom.

Unable to contain her longing, Jasmine turned to Charlene and said, “Mom, it’s been so long since you cooked for me. Could you make dinner tomorrow? I miss the food you cook.”

Ever since she decided to divorce Thorne, Charlene hadn’t cooked much for Jasmine. And even when Jasmine visited the Ross family, Charlene had been too busy to whip up anything special.

Thinking about it, she agreed, “Sure.”

The ongoing situation with Vesta wasn’t much of a concern to outsiders. So, the close bond between Charlene and Jasmine hadn’t reached the ears of Irma or Vernon.

They had suspected, even before Jasmine returned, that she might grow attached to Vesta.

Naturally, this made them uneasy. But they also understood that

Jasmine was young and unaware of the complicated history between the Ross and Hawkins families. She couldn’t be blamed for what she didn’t know.

Charlene hadn’t been able to secure custody of Jasmine, and Irma and Vernon had worried that long separations might drive a wedge between mother and daughter.

Seeing Jasmine so attached to Charlene now, they were pleasantly surprised and quietly relieved.