The way she told Walter "I haven't got a choice" when he demanded to know why she wanted to stay with Stan, despite him being an abusive jerkass to both Walter and his mom (the latter never shown but pretty heavily implied), it makes one wonder if she wasn't carrying Stan's baby at the time. Given the values of the time, it's possible she felt obligated to stay with Stan and possibly even marry him for the baby's sake. Which veers right into Fridge Horror territory when you realize Walter's younger sibling is bound to go through the same crap he did... only without a pair of eccentric uncles to rescue him...
- You don't even need to read a pregnancy into it; back when the film was set, it was frowned upon for women to leave relationships they weren't happy with.
She's protective of Walter and immedately warms up to him, because he's like the child that Hub and Jasmine would have had, had she lived. Also Jasmine would have been "too restless for texas" because she was as adventurous as Hub.
