“So, Cash,” Reg said, swirling his wine. “What exactly do you do?”
Jasmine groaned. “Daddy…”
“It’s fine, baby,” I reassured her. I wiped my mouth with my napkin and met Reg’s gaze.
“Well, sir, I run a commercial real estate business with my younger brother. We acquire, manage, and lease everything from retail spaces to office buildings. I also oversee a few residential rental properties.”
Reg nodded. “That’s not an easy market to break into. And you’re how old again?”
“Thirty-eight.”
“Hm. Still young. How’d you get into it?”
“Family business. My father started it when I was in college, but he was killed,” I paused. “I dropped out of Duke to help settle his affairs and fell into it.” It wasn’t a total lie.
Vera’s hand flew to her mouth, her face softening with sympathy. “Oh, honey. That’s awful about your father. I’m so sorry.”
“Thank you,” I nodded solemnly. “He was a good man. Taught me a lot of what I know. When it happened, I felt like I had to step in and make sure my mom and brother were taken care of. I didn’t finish my degree, but I made sure my brother did.”
Reg’s expression shifted—a look of respect flickered across his face. He leaned forward. “Stepping up for your family like that is admirable.”
“It wasn’t easy, but it was worth it for them. My brother’s now my business partner, and my mom’s comfortable. That’s all I can ask for.”
“Well, I’d say you’ve done a great job, Cash. How about dessert?” Vera smiled, patting my hand as the doorbell rang.
“You guys expecting anyone?” Jasmine asked.
Reg pushed back from the table. “No, probably a delivery package for your mother.”
He disappeared down the hall, and Vera excused herself to get dessert from the kitchen.
“Jasmine!” Reg called from the front room. “It’s for you.”
Jasmine frowned as she headed into the living room. I followed, catching the familiar voices drifting from the doorway.
“What the—?” Jasmine stopped in her tracks. Her mouth fell open as she saw Amber, Monica, Jelani, and Slim step inside. “What are y’all doing here?”
I coughed to catch her attention. When she turned, I dropped to one knee and pulled a small velvet box from my pocket. Her hand flew to her mouth, eyes wide.
The room stilled, the weight of the moment settling over everyone.
“Jasmine,” I began. My voice was steady despite my heart beating wildly. “My first thought when I saw you at Palladium was —‘That’s my wife’,” I chuckled at the memory. “Sounds crazy, but I swear I just knew. There was this light about you, something that pulled me in. And I was gonna do whatever it took to get in your orbit.”
Her hand trembled slightly, her brown eyes glistening.
I took a deep breath. “It was like the universe was working overtime to make sure our paths crossed. And since then, we’ve turned each other’s lives completely upside down in the best way. You’ve shown me what love looks like—the kind of love my parents had, your parents have.” I stole a glance at them.
I opened the box to reveal the 3.5-carat solitaire, pear-shaped diamond in a platinum setting.
“Baby, you’re my everything. My peace. My love. And I want to spend the rest of my life making you happy. Will you marry me?”
Jasmine’s lip trembled. She looked at the ring, then at our friends and her parents.
I’d been planning this since the day we got back from New York. The ring was the first thing I bought. A week after she moved in, I flew back to New York to meet her father and asked for his blessing. Reginald Miller wasn’t the kind of man who played when it came to his daughter. And I wasn’t the kind of man who played about Jasmine.
The conversation had to be man-to-man. Over lunch, I told him my intentions—my plans to build a life with her, to make sure she never had a want for anything. There was no pressure for her to quit nursing, but if she wanted to, it was always an option. I wasn’t asking for permission, but I wanted him to know exactly the type of nigga I was.
“Everything I have is already hers,” I told him. I’d made Jasmine a beneficiary on my life insurance. Jelani and my mom were more than financially secure. If something happened to me, there wouldn’t be any drama.
