“Dad, that’s what it’s called.Anyway, I knew I won when you took Emma to Catalina.You wouldn’t take her there unless you really, really like her.”
I lean back in my chair and cross my arms.“Is that how you see it?If Emma and I are together, you win?”
“Uh-huh.”She jumps up and runs across the room to get her backpack.She opens it and takes out a few sheets of paper.Then she runs back and hands them to me.Each is a printout from an online jewelry store.“Auntie Phyllis helped me use the printer.You have to get an engagement ring.Do you know about engagement rings?You have to get a huge diamond in order to get her to say yes.I think Beyonce’s ring is eight carats.That’s how they weigh diamonds.”
I make a show of studying the printouts.“Thank you for your research.Are you saying you want me to marry Emma?”
“Yes, so that she can stay with us forever and keep you from being lonely and take me to school and make pancakes for the mommy-and-me day at school every year.”
Mommy and me.I choke up and clear my throat.
“Jasmine really likes Emma,” Summer says.“I do, too.We all do.”
It’s nice that everyone likes Emma, but it’s Jasmine I’m worried about.I’d planned to have a long, gentle talk with her about how I feel about Emma, about how sometimes our lives take turns we don’t expect, and how when a man loves a woman…
Yada.Yada.Yada.
Instead, Jasmine has given me her own speech.She’s taken all the pain out of parenting.She’s even researched engagement rings.I don’t have the heart to tell her that her ole dad’s beat her to it.
I kiss the top of her head and get up.“I guess I need to show these to the rest of the family.You two want to join me at Grandpa’s house?”
“I’m taking Jasmine on another ride, and then we’re going paddle-boarding on the lake,” Summer says.
“Can I stay over another night?”Jasmine pleads.
“Only if it’s okay with Summer and you say ‘may I’ instead of ‘can I’.”
Jasmine rolls her eyes again.She’s become truly accomplished at it.
“It’s fine with me,” Summer says.“Go on and tell the world.Boy, are they going to razz you something awful, and I really wish I could be there to see it.”
She’s right.I need to prepare myself for razzing.And everything that follows.
CHAPTER 81
Finn
“Don’t be nervous,” I say.
“I’m not nervous.”
I hold her hand as we walk to my father’s house, and I give a supportive squeeze so she’s not nervous.
“Don’t be nervous,” I repeat.
“I’m not nervous.Well, I’m not nervous aboutthis.I’m nervous about the conversation we almost had before you left to talk to Jasmine.”
“Don’t be nervous about the conversation we almost had.Worry aboutthis.Worry about telling my family that we’re together.”
“You told me not to be nervous.”
“I was being a cockeyed optimist.Be prepared for a thousand banging-the-housekeeper jokes from my brothers.”
“They won’t dare, at least not when I’m around.They’ll save them for one of your MacLaine Man Meetings.”
I laugh, but Emma stops walking.
“Hold on a second.Is that why you’re bringing me to Jamie’s?”
