Free Texas Homecoming by MAGGIE SHAYNE Page A

Then all of the sudden she up and moved away."
    "But she didn't sell the place," Luke said. "I wonder why?"
    "She might have considered it the last part of her husband she had to cling to," Chelsea said. "Or maybe she intended to keep it for her daughter."
    "Well, that's what she did," Jasmine said softly.
    Garrett took a breath and sighed. "Luke, you've looked over this packet of paperwork Jasmine brought along?"
    Luke nodded.
    "And does it look to you like her claim is legit?"
    Luke faced her squarely. She imagined he would try to bluff his way through, make her out to be a fraud and then have his cousin the sheriff boot her out of here. Instead he said, "Yeah. It looks perfectly legit." He sighed then. "But that isn't gonna stop this place from being auctioned for back taxes next week—unless she can come up with fifty grand by then."
    "Fifty..." She blinked her eyes in shock at the sheer size of the debt. Then she shook herself and sat up straighter. "Next week is next week. Right now, today, I am the rightful owner of this place, and I have every right to stay here."
    Luke nodded slowly. "That's all well and good. But I've paid my rent to the lawyer your mother left in charge of things for the full month, in advance, and I have every right to stay here, too."
    "Maybe you should go see the lawyer and let him decide," Chelsea suggested, her tone gentling, as if she were negotiating a truce between two squabbling children.
    "That's a good start but it won't happen until Monday. Buzz Montana's out of town for the weekend. Some case up north. And no judge is going to be willing to hear this on short notice without all the information in front of him. So even if you two decide to fight this out in court you'd have to wait at least that long," Garrett said.
    "I'm not leaving," Jasmine said.
    "I'm not budging, either," Luke replied, crossing his arms over his chest. "Possession is nine-tenths of the law, isn't that right, Garrett? I mean, if I move out now, I might lose whatever meager claim I do have to this place." Garrett nodded, and Luke went on. "Look, I'm not trying to be a hard case here, Jasmine. And the last thing I want is to see you and Baxter without a place to stay. But this place—it means more to me than you can know. I gave up my life's work for this—I can't just hand it over without a word."
    Jasmine frowned at him. God, he was good. He almost had her feeling sorry for him.
    Chelsea got to her feet. "Look, forgive me for being dense here, but I really fail to see the problem."
    All three of them looked at her as if she were insane.
    She just waved a hand toward the house. "Will you look at the size of this place? You telling me there's not room here for one man, one woman and a tiny little fella like Baxter over there? For one lousy weekend? Come on, people, this one's a no-brainer."
    Pursing his lips, rubbing his chin, Garrett nodded slowly. "She does have a point."
    "Aw, come on, Garrett," Luke all but moaned.
    Garrett lifted his eyebrows. Then, slowly, he got to his feet. "Take a walk with me, cousin?"
    Luke frowned but didn't argue. Garrett headed down the steps. Luke went with him.
    Chelsea smiled at Jasmine. "Don't you worry. Garrett will set him straight."
    "Will he?"
    "Sure. Now let's talk about the clothing situation here. I'm assuming what you're wearing is not a fashion choice."
    Jasmine glanced down at the way-too-big sweats and T-shirt. "They're not even mine."
    "No, I didn't really think you'd have chosen that particular T-shirt."
    She glanced down at her own chest, saw the bulldog logo, groaned. "I pulled it on so fast I didn't even look to see what was on it."
    "The back's worse," Chelsea said. "Built Like A Mack Truck, it says."
    Jasmine met Chelsea's eyes, saw the humor in them and heard herself laugh. She couldn't believe the sound was coming from her, not with all that had happened in the past few days. But somehow the woman had put her at ease and managed to make her laugh. Her smile