by Nana Prah
Jasmine wouldn’t put her life savings on it, but she was pretty sure Mrs. Taylor approved of her. Always a good thing.
Chapter 16
On Saturday, they took Jasmine to the Grand Canyon, knowing she’d never been. She stood, stunned, when she witnessed it’s magnitude of beauty.
“It’s incredible.” She snapped pictures on her digital camera at rapid speed in an attempt to capture the awesomeness of the Canyon. “You weren’t kidding when you said it was beautiful, Sean. Let me take a picture of you standing there.” After the shot she gave him the camera. “Now my turn. Take a picture of me here and then with your parents.”
They toured for about an hour. Sean held Jasmine’s hand as they strolled while taking in the breathtaking scenery.
“Thank you so much for bringing me out here,” she said, unable to wipe the smile from her face. “It’s one of the things everyone must do before they die.”
“It’s my pleasure to clear one item off of your bucket list.”
She looked around. “Where are your parents?”
“They went for a walk in the other direction.”
She melted against him when he pulled her into his arms.
Overwhelmed by her love for him, Jasmine stood on her toes and kissed him, sucking his luscious bottom lip gently. Sean groaned, deepening the kiss by sliding his tongue into her mouth.
It took her a moment to regain focus when he ended the kiss too soon for her liking.
“Jasmine, I love you.”
“I love you too, Sean.”
“I never knew how much I was missing before you came into my life and now I can’t actually remember a time when you weren’t in it. Does that make sense?”
He’d summed up her experience with him so well. “Yes.”
“I feel as if I have known you all of my life, but there’s so much more for me to learn about you. If I could put you into myself, I would, and sometimes, when I’m looking into your eyes, I know we are one. You are the love promised to me.”
She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat at his beautiful words.
He removed a small box from his pocket. “I can’t imagine my life without you in it, and I don’t want to even try. Will you marry me?”
“Yes!” she shouted without hesitation. “Yes! Yes! Yes!”
He held her in a hug so tight she couldn’t breathe, but the need for oxygen was secondary to her elation. She hugged him back with a ferocity she only knew while fighting.
Jasmine was deliriously happy and yet something in the back of her mind told her to ask him if he trusted her. How could a marriage work if he didn’t?
She hushed the intrusive voice and reveled in the moment. She would deal with the problem another time--or possibly never. Sean had asked her to marry him, so he must have total and utter faith in her. He must, but something in her gut whispered differently.
She lost track of time and space with his heart-melting kiss. Sean alone existed for her.
They pulled apart when they were interrupted by his mother’s voice. “Enough of the kissing already!”
Sean picked Jasmine and twirled her around. “She said yes.”
“I figured that. Put her down so I can hug my new daughter,” Mrs. Taylor said with a huge smile on her face. “Congratulations, my dear. From what I know of you so far, you’ll make a wonderful wife for my son.”
“Let me get in on the hugs,” Mr. Taylor insisted and engulfed Jasmine in his arms. “Congratulations.”
“What did you think of the ring?” Mrs. Taylor asked.
Sean opened his hand and showed them the closed box. “We kind of got wrapped up in--”
“We saw.” Mrs. Taylor rotated her hand as if to rush Sean. “Show her the ring.”
“I’m sorry, Son,” his dad said. “I tried to keep her away longer, but you know how your mother is. She was ready to pick me up and carry me back here.” His laughter was as rich as his voice.
“The ring,” Mrs. Taylor persisted.
Sean opened the box and Jasmine covered her mouth with her fingers. A stunning marquise diamond, with four pavé sapphires on each side set in yellow gold, sparkled up at her. Jasmine removed it from the box. Sean took it and slid it onto the ring finger of her left hand with a perfect fit.
“It was the first engagement ring Joseph gave to me,” Mrs. Taylor said with her arms around her husband’s waist. “It belonged to his mother, who had long since gotten another more expensive engagement ring when her husband struck it rich. I loved it then and I still do, but we’ve since upgraded.” She held out her hand, showing a two-carat princess cut diamond set in a platinum band sitting on top of her diamond-encrusted wedding band.
“It’s beautiful.” Jasmine admired the ring on Mrs. Taylor’s hand for a moment before looking at hers and grinning.
“Sean talks about you all the time. When he said he was bringing you home, I knew you were beyond special. He’s never brought a woman home to meet us.” She laughed. “I think it’s because he thinks we’re a little eccentric.”
“No,” Sean said, “it’s because Jasmine is the only woman I’ve ever wanted you to meet.”
“When Sean asked me two weeks ago if I still had my first engagement ring, I told him yes. Then he asked for permission to give it to you. I advised that we needed to meet you to discern if you were worthy of him.” Mrs. Taylor paused. “We find you are definitively worthy of our precious baby.” Mr. Taylor rubbed her arm when her voice cracked. “My heart tells me you are. I asked him if he wouldn’t want to buy you an even better ring than his grandmother’s. He can certainly afford it.”
Sean’s gaze remained steady on Jasmine. “I told her I wanted the old ring because both my grandparents and parents relationships have been a shining example to me my whole life. A relationship I desire to emulate. The ring is a reminder of true and lasting love.”
Jasmine beamed a smile up at him. “I love the ring. I love the story, but most of all I love you.”
Mrs. Taylor stepped forward. “Please know that if you want a ring that’s yours and yours alone I won’t mind.”
“This is perfect. Thank you for sharing it with me, Mrs. Taylor.”
“Call me Mama.”
“Mama,” Jasmine repeated, liking how it sounded.
“Dad for me.”
“Dad.”
“You can call me the man who’ll love you for the rest of your life. For now your fiancé and soon your husband.”
Jasmine touched his face. “I’ll just call you my love.”
“That’ll do.”
Mrs. Taylor broke into their solitary haze of love with a clearing of her throat. “Let’s go home and celebrate. Jasmine, I understand you have a sweet tooth for chocolate.”
“I do.”
“I have a triple chocolate layer cake with chocolate frosting in the house.”
“What are we waiting for?” Jasmine went to march away as her new family laughed. “But before we go, can you please take a picture of Sean and me as an engaged couple.” It wouldn’t take her long to get used to her new status.
“Sure.”
“You two go on ahead to the car, we’ll catch up,” Sean told his parents after multiple rounds of pictures.
“Don’t be too long.” Mrs. Taylor said with a wink.
Sean held her so they faced the canyon as he proclaimed, “If I could fill this place with my love, I would still have an abundance left over to fill the oceans.” He kissed her tenderly when she turned. “Citlalmina,” he breathed against her lips.
She pulled back and searched his eyes. “What did you just call me?”
His brows scrunched together. “I called you by your name.”
“But what did you say?”
He thought about it, but the look of confusion continued to be strong on his face. “I don’t remember.”
“Was it Citlalmina?” she pressed.
“It sounds familiar. But that’s not your name. What does Citlalmina mea
n?”
“Shooting star in the Aztec language.”
“I don’t know much about the Aztecs. Weren’t they an Indian tribe in Mexico?” He shook his head as if to clear it. “Why would I call you that.”
She laid her head on his shoulder. “Don’t worry about it.”
At that precise moment she knew all her daydreams had been true past lives. Sean was her destiny. She pressed herself deeper into his arms and sighed.
They stood enjoying both each other and the scenery for an unperceived amount of time.
Once again Mrs. Taylor’s voice drew them apart. “I knew you’d be back at it.” She took one of each of their hands in hers and marched them forward like schoolchildren on a field trip. Sean and Jasmine smiled at each other over her head. “The chocolate cake isn’t going to eat itself you know.”
***
Mr. and Mrs. Taylor drove them to the airport to catch their flight back to Boston on Monday. “I wish we could spend more time with you. Won’t you reconsider and come spend Christmas with us in Italy?” Mrs. Taylor asked Jasmine, not for the first time.
Jasmine had asked Sean why they didn’t celebrate Christmas with him in the US. He’d shrugged and told her about their wanderlust. If he wanted to be with them during the holidays, he’d need to tag along with them.
“My family is expecting us in Vermont. It would be great to visit Italy, though. I’ve never been there.”
“We can honeymoon there if you want,” Sean offered.
Jasmine grabbed his upper arm. “I want! I want!”
“Welcome to the family,” Mr. Taylor said as he hugged Jasmine goodbye.
“Thank you. Have a wonderful time in Italy,” Jasmine said.
“We’ll be in touch,” Mrs. Taylor promised.
“Bye,” Sean and Jasmine said in unison with a wave to his parents as they headed toward their gate.
“Your parents are great.”
“You’re just saying that because they plied you with chocolate cake.”
“Scrumptious chocolate cake. Even my worst enemy could cross the line if they fed me that cake.”
Sean placed an arm around her shoulders. “My parents really like you.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Are you surprised? You sound surprised.”
He stopped walking and turned to her. “I’m not surprised at all. You are extraordinary.” He kissed her on the forehead and then kept walking, leaving her to revive from her stupor and jog to catch up.
Chapter 17
An explosion of Christmas lights brightened the skyline as Jasmine and Sean arrived at Grandma’s house on Christmas Eve.
“Who did the decorating this year?” she inquired upon entering the house. A montage of voices flew her way.
“It’s about time you showed up,” came from Carly.
“Welcome back,” Mom said.
“It was all Carly’s idea,” was Dad’s answer to the question.
Grandma pulled them deeper into the house. “Get in out of the cold.”
“What did you bring me?” Ed asked.
“Welcome,” added Kevin.
They each gave Jasmine a hug and the men did some hand shaking and back patting. Once they’d settled down in the living room, Jasmine teased her sister. “Carly, I could see the house from a mile away.”
“I feel festive.” She placed a hand on her now-showing belly. “I can relate to the anticipation of the season this year.” She stared at Jasmine for a long moment. “Let’s go put your bag in your room.”
“It can wait until later.” Jasmine wanted to enjoy the warmth of her family for a little while longer.
“No, I think we should go put it away now,” she repeated.
“Jasmine, Carlithia is trying to be subtle,” Dad said. “You know she isn’t good with being tactful. Do us a favor and go with her.”
Jasmine sighed, picked up her bag, and followed Carly to the room. Once Carly closed the door, she squinted as if the action would help her see through Jasmine. “You had sex with Sean, didn’t you?”
Jasmine laughed. “No, Carly.”
“I know you got some. You’re glowing more than this house. Spill it.”
“We didn’t have sex. When we were at his parents we slept in separate bedrooms.”
“Please, Jas, you know as well as I do that you don’t need a bed to have sex.”
The stern look she tried to give her sister morphed into a grin. “You can be so crude.”
“No, I’m honest. Now tell me before I get out the torture.” Carly flexed her fingers preparing for a tickling fest.
“I knew you’d figure it out,” Jasmine mumbled and reached for a pillow. “What I’m about to tell you will make you scream. For the sake of everyone else, please do it into the pillow. Okay?”
Carly bounced up and down on the edge of the bed with the pillow in hand. “Okay.”
“Sean proposed when we were at the Grand Canyon and I said yes.”
Carly put the pillow over her mouth and released a shriek. She gave Jasmine a smothering hug, knocking her onto the bed. “I’m so happy for you, Jasmine. Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness.” She kept repeating the words with various tones and speeds. “Tell me how it all went down. How did he propose? Where’s the ring? I want to see the ring. I can’t believe you’ve kept this from me for three whole days. You should’ve called to tell me.” She wiggled the fingers of an open palm. “Where’s the ring?”
Jasmine removed it from her pocketbook, placed it on her finger, and held out her hand.
“It’s gorgeous. Now tell me how he proposed. I want to know everything. Every little detail.”
“The family is waiting for us.”
Carly waved a hand at the door. “They can wait. They’ll probably think I’m talking to you about the baby.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Don’t try to sidetrack me. I want the details and I want them now.” Carly caught Jasmine up in another hug. “I’m so happy for you.”
Jasmine spent the next ten minutes explaining how Sean had proposed.
The story only took a few minutes, but Carly wanted to hear it twice, thinking she’d left something out.
“That’s so romantic,” Carly gushed as she wiped away the tears streaming down her cheeks. “He’s a good one.”
“I know.”
“Just a minute. With all this romance going on, you two still haven’t done the deed?”
“We’ve decided to wait until we’re married,” Jasmine said.
Carly snorted. “I’ve seen you two together. You can barely keep your eyes off of each other and your hands are another story. How are you going to wait until you get married? When will the wedding be?”
“We were thinking about May, right after his last semester. Before he takes the bar exam. He’ll be busy with school so I’ll have to do most of the planning.”
“That’s all right, I’ll help. You remember when Kevin and I got married? He was useless with the wedding plans, but I do give him credit for trying. I don’t think you’ll be able to hold out until May though.”
“We can go five months without having sex. It’s mind over matter.”
Carly’s grunt said it all. “Mind over matter my ass. Sex is natural, sex is fun, sex is best when it’s one on one.”
Jasmine giggled. “Okay, George Michael. We’re both strong-willed and self-controlled. We’ll make it. It won’t be easy, but we can do it.”
“If you say so.”
Jasmine talked a good game, but didn’t know how much longer she could hold out. “Let’s go, sis.” When they joined the others Jasmine sat next to her grandmother. “How are you doing?”
“I’m fine, baby, but not as good as you. Is there a bun in that oven?” she whispered.
Jasmine’s jaw dropped. “What’s up with you and Carly thinking that I’m having sex?”
“Look at that man. Heck, if I was forty years younger, the things I could do to him!”
“Grand
ma!” Jasmine shot up and joined her father on the couch. She looked at Sean and her stomach flipped. He is a fine specimen of a man. It was a struggle to hold in the news that they were getting married. They’d make the announcement tomorrow as a sort of Christmas gift.
From Ed’s goofy grin she suspected he knew. The proposal was probably why he’d pushed her to go to Arizona during the family meeting. She knew he’d been up to something.
Sean’s wink sent her heart into overdrive. She smiled back and then focused her attention on her father.
They stayed up past midnight enjoying each other’s company. Christmas songs were sung and some dance routines were displayed. Jasmine gave Sean a meaningful look when the dancing started.
Although exhausted from the journey, Jasmine was loath to leave Sean and her family for the comfort of her bed. At about one o’clock in the morning, everyone started drifting back to their rooms. Grandma was the last to go.
“How come you didn’t go to bed earlier, Grandma?” Jasmine asked. “You must be tired.”
“And miss out on all the fun? No thank you. I can sleep all I want when I’m dead.”
“That better not be for a long, long time.”
“Sweetheart, when God is ready to take me, I’ll go. What’s the point of being good if you never get to go home?”
Jasmine looked at Sean. “Did she just say she’s been good?”
Grandma’s light slap landed on her arm. “Smart ass. Don’t forget to turn off the lights when you go to sleep. And please, for the love of all things good, do some things I’m just too old to do.” She chuckled. “Good night.”
“Good night, Grandma.”
Sean broke out of his stupor. “Did I hear her right?”
“Yup.”
“Come here. I’ve missed you.”
When Jasmine sat next to him on the couch, she snuggled into the comfort of his body. “I’ve been with you all day long. How could you miss me?”
He kissed her on the lips. “I’ve been around you, but I’ve hardly gotten the chance to talk to you. Your family really knows how to monopolize your time.”
She leaned in, kissed him on his cheek, slid her lips along his neck, and nibbled. He groaned and she smiled against his skin. “Carly said we won’t be able to make it to our wedding before we make love.”