“She was right. I needed to figure it out by myself. If I hadn’t, she might have questioned my sincerity. Now I know how determined she was not to trap me in a marriage I didn’t want,” he said, looking down at her, and shaking his head. “How she could ever think for a second I didn’t want to marry her, I don’t know.”
“Jamie was truly, and I’m not joking when I say this, praying you’d do exactly what you did. She was convinced, like the rest of us, you were over thinking it, and that was the only way you were going to get it.” Carl laughed and add, “A few months ago, I found myself thankful you react the way you do to stress, and that this was a stressful situation. Then I laughed at myself for thinking that. When we heard you start to lose it out there, Jamie started thanking God before you were even done with your rant.”
“Oh, he’s been over thinking it for years. If he’d have listened to me in the tenth grade, they’d have been married a long time ago.”
“After my extremely loud outburst, on my way through the kitchen, I noticed you all looked like you were fighting grins. And now, I understand why. But I was having some really violent thoughts at the time. Mostly aimed at Luke. He’s been telling me not to give up. He kept telling me he knew I would eventually figure it out.” James looked over at Luke, and spoke to him directly. “I’m truly glad you didn’t let me quit. If it hadn’t been for you, I would have curled up in a corner somewhere and died a long time ago.”
“I wouldn’t have let you do that. If you had stopped coming to see me, I would have ended up showing back up at your apartment again.”
“Well, at any rate, you’re forgiven for your violent thoughts. We understand, you were stressed,” Carl said, laughing and shaking his head.
“Oh! We almost forgot.” Lisa took her necklace off, and slid the engagement ring off the chain. After she replaced the necklace around her neck, she turned to face James. “I still want my official proposal.” She took his hand, kissed his palm, then laid the engagement ring there.
He looked down at the ring in his hand, and couldn’t help but grin as he watched the light bounce off it, and throw rainbows across his palm. He stood up and pulled her to her feet.
When he stepped away from the table, pulling her with him, she gave him a strange look.
He looked over at the table where Carl was sitting. “To do this properly, Carl, I need to ask if I have your and Jamie’s blessing to ask her first.”
There were several grins, and at least one, ‘She’s pregnant, for crying out loud,’ that he was sure had to have been Zane. But Carl was willing to go along with James’ formal proposal, knowing this was what James would have truly wanted it to be like. “Yes, James, you have our blessing. We would be delighted for you to marry our daughter.”
When he knelt down on one knee, he heard several gasps before the room fell silent. When he took her hand, and looked up into her eyes, he could see she had started to cry. He knew her answer would be yes, but he was still nervous. He had to swallow a couple of times before he was finally able to speak.
“Lisa Marie Townsend, I love you more than anything in this world. More than I can truly express with mere words. You are my best friend, and my one true love. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?”
“Yes! Yes! Yes!” If it hadn’t been for the fact that she was seven months pregnant, she would have been jumping up and down. But since that was out of the question, the second he stood up and put the ring on her finger, she threw her arms around him instead.
Everybody started clapping and cheering behind them, but for a moment her aversion to serious public displays of affection was forgotten. She had pulled his head down to hers and started kissing him without a second thought. When he groaned and deepened the kiss, she noticed all the whooping and hollering behind them.
She grabbed the front of his shirt and pushed him away. But only far enough to bury her face in his chest. She could feel him chuckling, but remained where she was. She had definitely lost herself there for a moment.
When they finally managed to make it back to their chairs, Luke looked up at James, but spoke to Lisa. “Lisa, you need to ask him how long he’s had that ring.”
“Luke, watch it man.” All the sudden James sounded really nervous.
“Hey, I didn’t tell her. I just said she needed to ask you. Besides, at this point, don’t you think you could tell her?”
“Tell me what?” Lisa looked up at James. “How long have you had this ring?”
He looked over at her, and took a deep breath. He wasn’t sure how to start.
“Start from the beginning, James,” Luke said, seeming to know what was going through his head.
When he finally looked in her eyes, all he saw was love. And her curiosity. When he realized she had always looked at him with love, the words just started spilling out. Almost like another rant. But this time he wasn’t stressed, and he wanted more than anything to tell her.
“Since before you graduated from high school. Like Luke said, if I would have listened to him, things could have been a lot different. I wanted to listen to him. I tried to listen to him.” He shrugged his shoulders, and picked her hand up off the table. “I was originally going to ask you the night you graduated, but I panicked and didn’t do it. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t convince myself that your parents would approve.”
“You know,” Lisa said, sounding a little shaky. “That’s why I wouldn’t leave town to go to college. I didn’t want to be that far away from you.”
“Yeah, I’m idiot. I know that now.”
“Wait a minute. That was what was in your pocket. Now I wish I had just stuck my hand in your pocket instead of asking you what it was. Maybe if I had, I could have got it dug out.”
He had picked her hand up and was now making circles in her palm with his thumb and she was feeling a little dazed. All she could do was sit there with her mouth hanging open, unable to speak.
“Yeah, that was what I had in my pocket. I tried several other times to get up the courage to ask you. I was just so afraid if you didn’t feel the same way, it would ruin our friendship. Between that, and not feeling like your parents were going to like it, I couldn’t do it. My last attempt before you got pregnant, was Valentine’s Day, last year.”
Still unable to speak, she got up and dropped herself in his lap and started kissing him, much the same way she did the first time she had kissed him.
“Gee, for someone who doesn’t feel comfortable with public displays, you are really racking up the points,” Jenny said, trying not to laugh. Lisa ignored her for a few more seconds.
Just then Mark walked into the kitchen with Jeff right behind him. Zane had sent out a text to the rest of the guys while Lisa and James were still outside. “Okay, who won? I know it wasn’t me.” Mark said, taking one of the extra chairs out of the closet and sitting it between Zane and Jenny, causing Jenny to gasp and almost choke on a bite of lasagna.
“Won what?” Lisa didn’t look happy.
“Oh, sorry.” Mark looked at Lisa, unsure what to say. “I guess you haven’t said anything to them about it yet,” Mark said, not realizing he was digging the hole deeper.
“Said anything about what?” Lisa asked, her frown deepening.
When he started to speak again, Jenny laid her hand on his, causing him to shut up immediately, and came to his rescue. “It was my idea. So, if you want to be mad at someone, I’m to blame.”
Lisa turned to look at Jenny, not wanting to call attention to the fact that she still had her hand resting on Mark’s. He just sat there, staring down at her hand like he wasn’t sure he wasn’t imagining it. She hadn’t touched him since the night of the Jones’ house fire unless he touched her.
“You’re to blame for what?” Lisa asked, trying to sound angry. She had lost her steam the second she saw Jenny reach out and touch Mark. Even the smallest touch was a big deal for Jenny. Lisa didn’t think Jenny realized how revealing it was for the rest
of the people at the table.
“We had a bet going.”
“A bet about what?” This time James had asked the question. He had noticed the change in Lisa’s tone and was just trying to keep Jenny talking. He didn’t have a clue what Lisa was trying to do, but he decided to try and help.
“Sorry, James.” This time when she spoke, her voice sounded a little shaky. “It was about how long it would take you to go off on a rant and tell her you loved her. We all knew it was bound to happen. It was something Mindi had said that gave me the idea.” James couldn’t help but laugh.
Jenny still hadn’t taken her hand off Mark’s, and he had started running his thumb across her fingers. He still hadn’t managed to look up from the table.
This time when Lisa spoke, she had to work really hard to sound angry. She could tell by Jenny’s flushed cheeks she was aware of where her hand was. Lisa was sure Mark running his thumb across her fingers wasn’t helping her concentration. But she was determined to protect him, and she didn’t appear to be backing down. “You were betting on James going off on a rant?”
“Tiger, it’s okay.” Now he was just getting confused. He didn’t understand why she was working so hard to pretend to be angry.
“It’s okay, James.” Lisa would almost bet Jenny knew she was pretending to be angry at this point. Her sister knew her well, but she was really wanting to see how far Jenny would go with this. “When we decided to make the bet, we had the idea you wouldn’t like it, but I’m the only one you need to be mad at.” Jenny finally pulled her hand away from Mark’s, but she looked like she was in slow motion. She didn’t really want to stop touching him.
“You know what? I’m fine with it. I’m in too good a mood to stay mad.” She pushed her chair back from the table and stood up. “I’m going to go get the ice cream and cake.” She looked at Jenny. “Do you want to help me?”
Jenny jumped at the chance to leave the table for a few minutes. When they got to the kitchen area, Jenny leaned over to Lisa and asked, whispering, “What were you doing?”
“Waiting for you to take your hand off his,” she whispered back. “What were you doing?”
“I don’t know. It just kind of happened,” Jenny said, keeping to a whisper.
Just then Mark walked up behind Jenny. “Hey, Lisa, why don’t you take the ice cream? I can help Jenny with the rest of it.” He was already reaching up in the cabinet to get the desert plates. Jenny’s eyes had grown huge, but Lisa could tell she was trying not to run.
“Sure thing.” Lisa walked back over to the table to discover that everybody else was watching the other two, waiting to see what was going to happen. She could tell Mark and Jenny were talking, but they were keeping their voices down enough, nobody could tell what they were saying.
By the time Mark and Jenny had reached the table with the cake and plates, Jake had made it in and everybody went back to talking.
“Sorry. Apparently, I’m the last one to get here. Well, since Hannah won’t be here.”
Zane waited for Jake to take a seat by Teresa, then pulled an envelope out of his back pocket. Rather than open it, he handed it to James across the table. “Here, since it was about you, would you like the honor of telling us who won?”
James reached out and took the envelope with a big cheesy grin. “Sure. Why not?”
He tore the end off and dumped the contents out on the table. There was a bunch of five-dollar bills, and a piece of paper. The buy in must have been five dollars, James thought to himself.
He took the paper off the table and unfolded it. “Whoever wrote this, needs to work on their penmanship. It looks like chicken scratches. I don’t know if I can read it.”
Lisa leaned over and looked at the paper. “Oh, good grief.” She took the paper from James’ hand and stood up and handed it to Jenny. “I hope you work harder at writing neat at work. You could sink Mark’s store, just because his employees don’t know what they’re supposed to do.”
Jenny took the paper, giving her sister a sour look. “I don’t usually have to write stuff down at work except for my own notes. Well, there is the stuff Mark and the secretaries have to read, but they’ve gotten used to my ‘chicken scratches’, and can read it.” When she heard Mark laugh she turned and gave him a dirty look. She seriously thought about smacking him in the gut, but decided she had touched him enough for one night. She didn’t think her nerves could take much more. Besides, she really didn’t want to hurt her hand. She knew for a fact his stomach muscles were just as hard as the rest of him. He worked out on a regular basis. He said it would be too easy to pack on extra weight as big as he already was.
“Do you want to know everybody’s guesses, or just who the winner is? There’s no trouble telling who the winner is. Someone was dead on. They said Valentine’s Day.” They all missed Jeff’s smirk. He was still standing over against the wall, quietly waiting.
“Read them all. I want to know how bad everybody thought I was going to be,” James said with a laugh.
“Well, I can tell you really easy who’s the worst was.”
“It’s probably Zane’s,” Lisa added with her own smirk. “He was convinced you would never get it. He thought I would have to tell you.”
“She’s right. That’s what Zane said,” Jenny added with a laugh.
“This is one bet I am happy to lose. I’m truly glad I was wrong.” When Zane spoke, they could tell he was sincere. That was saying something, considering how competitive he was.
“Okay. There was four of us who thought you’d get it before now. Mindi, Teresa, Mark and myself.” She looked back down at the paper. “Phillip, for some reason thought it would be his birthday, February seventeenth. But he took second place. Luke’s was next. I’m guessing he just picked a random date. His was February twenty-second. Hannah’s was Michael’s birthday, April twenty-ninth. I remember Michael was sitting beside her at the time, and they ended up coming up with that together. If you ask me, she just let him pick. Jake’s was Lisa’s birthday, May seventh.”
“Well, I thought he might get to feeling all sweet and loving on her birthday. I just didn’t think of Valentine’s Day.”
“Hey, I’m always sweet and loving,” James said, throwing a piece of bread across the table, and hitting Jake in the chest with it.
“Hey, I don’t have any ammunition. That’s not fair,” Jake said, starting to laugh.
“Yes, you do. Here,” Teresa said, handing him her bread. Jake just tore a piece off and threw it across the table. His aim wasn’t as good, and it ended up sailing right past James. James just laughed.
“Okay, that’s enough. It’s too early in the year for a food fight. You all get started now, will end up with four or five this year,” Jamie said, trying hard to hide her own laughter.
“Who does that leave?” Lisa asked, turning the focus back to the bet.
“Dad and Jeff,” Jenny said with an amused look on her face.
“What? Mom didn’t bet?” Lisa asked, looking over at their mother.
“No. I didn’t want to be the one to upset you, but if I’d had any idea Jenny was going to act the way she did, I would have been happy to join in,” Jamie said, grinning at her oldest daughter. “I’m guessing it won’t be too long after your wedding, we’ll be planning another one. And on that note, I’ve got to take Emily and get her cleaned up. She looks like she’s about to fall asleep,” Jamie added, getting up from the table and picking up her youngest daughter.
Mark had to work hard to stifle the laugh trying to escape his lips. He had noticed when Jenny gave him the dirty look over her sister’s comment on her penmanship. He didn’t think he needed to risk it this time.
Zane didn’t have any such reservations, and ended up laughing so hard he was holding his side, because when he started laughing, she gave him a dirty look, which caused him to laugh harder.
In the end, she chose not to comment on what her mom had said. “Well, do you want to know the rest, or not?”
“Well, Dad said when the baby was born?” Jenny said with a grin.
“Well, I was thinking like Jake. I thought he would be feeling sappy then too. I figured he would get emotional. I did with every one of you guys. Well, after I got done being sick anyway,” Carl said, almost looking embarrassed. “I hope he does better in the delivery room than I did.”
“Okay, Jeff, how did you manage to get it?” Zane asked, giving his partner a strange look.
“It’s Valentine’s Day. Why not? Isn’t it supposed to be the most romantic day of the year?” That brought on a lot of groaning, but he just grinned.
When Jenny tried to hand him the money. He just shook his head. “I’ve got more than enough money. Give it to James and Lisa. They can buy something for their little future football player. Like his first football and jersey.”
“Talk about sappy. Who knew? Mr. Tough Guy over there could possibly be worse than all the rest of us put together,” Zane said, scrunching up his nose in fake disgust, causing everyone at the table to laugh. That just made Jeff grin bigger. He knew he tended to be a bit sappy, but he could live with it.
“I know. I’m a big sap. And I’m not even in love.”
Every single adult at the table, from Alex up just snorted at him. “Whatever. You can deny it all you want, but you’re not fooling any of us,” Zane said, just looking at him like he had lost his mind.
“Okay, fine. It still doesn’t change anything, Zane. I’m still not going to ask her out.”
“Why? Please, tell us. Do you have some sort of incurable disease you don’t want to tell us about?”
“No. I’m as healthy as they come.”
“Are you married and just haven’t told us?”
“No, and I don’t have any kids either.”
“Do you not like children?”
“I love children.”
“Then why won’t you ask Hannah out. You are obviously crazy about her. When you met her over Christmas break, all you could do was stare at her. Even after she bruised your shin.”
Oh, Baby! (The Townsends Book 2) Page 21