No salvation for a bad girl

“You educate a man; you educate a man. You educate a woman; you educate a generation.” -- Brigham Young

I've watched Hailey since I was old enough to remember, and my sister is a force of nature all her own. My age is a number, trust me, I feel much older. Jasmine and I believe in what we're doing, we know it's something we have to earn. It's more valuable to us, and that's what drives us and makes us better than the competition. I'm different because I'm a Thompson, Chicago-born, Tulsa-made, and no isn't in my vocabulary. I know how to do this, I believe in this. It's not about me anymore, if I can give one woman leadership, then women have a voice no man will crush ever again. 

Simple, sweetheart. I'm going to be smarter. Women are far better strategists. We raise the children, we plan the dinners, we clean the house, we run the household. Why can't that translate to running the town? I know who has the right connections and who has been planting the seeds of changing tides, and I know where Hunter will strike first...and I know how to make that hard enough to keep him distracted. I can't tell you everything. For the rest, you'll just have to wait and see, my darling.

Her visits came less and less, and every time she sat here at this table with Baby Dodge comfortably in his mother's lap she wondered why she didn't come more often. Hailey was everything a woman should aspire to be, and there was no one in the world Layla loved quite as much. Carmen could say what she wanted of their sisterhood, Layla clung to the truth that she was the real deal. It didn't matter who had the place of honor at the wedding. 

This life was so Hailey, in spite of its simplicity. Maybe it was in the quiet, humble nature of it that her sister had found some healing for her mind. "You look happy," Layla observed as she turned back to the eldest Thompson daughter. "That Cain boy taking good care of you then? --Of course, he is." She slid a rectangular piece of plastic across the table with a slight smile, "but I have a surprise for you."  

First, it began as a battle for power, a way to make a name for herself. Out of big sister's shadow. Yet, the longer she spent with Jasmine and her unwavering belief in this brazen act of feminine strength, the more she believed in it too. If Hunter won, the man won, what did that say for the women's voice? Sure, Brynn was his right (or was it left?) hand, but that was still under the "safe" boot of male superiority. Losing Jasmine's throne was not an option for Layla.