Chapter 23 Humming 2

Jasmine and I have often giggled, since, about her having been our gardener, remembering Lady Chatterly's Lover. Actually we are far from the classic master-servant model of dime-store romances, for she is only taking a break from the media jobs that have supported her very well during the past five years: now she luxuriates in the physical exertion, the relative simplicity of her job as a gardener. If anyone comes from humble beginnings it would be I, daughter of a widowed mother who supported my sister and me by working as a cashier in movie theaters. Marriage was my way out of the crowded, threadbare apartment where we all slept in the same bed because there was only one; it was my ladder up and out of worry and want. I climbed it gladly. I am feeling the flat, strong muscles of her upper back and shoulders, kneading them, smoothing them as Jeanine murmurs in appreciation, when suddenly she stiffens, sending a little tidal wave of hot water across my belly. Her head snaps back, her eyes widening.