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Jade opens her mouth to speak, but Orrin beats her to it. “Yes, she is.” He sets his plate on the coffee table and moves to stand behind her chair. Jade tilts her head back to smile at him, and something tells me that this is it. This is his moment.
“Stand for me.” His voice is soft. The same voice he uses with Blakely or our mom.
Jade pushes back from the table and stands as he asks her to. “Orrin?” There’s a quiver in her voice. She knows just like we do what’s about to happen. He didn’t tell any of us, yet we all knew it was inevitable. We all remain not only silent but still, even Blakely. We don’t want to miss this.
“I wanted to do this when we were all together—” he starts, just as the sound of the front door opens.
“We’re home,” Maverick calls out.
“Damn, that smells good,” Merrick mutters. “We should have just stayed home.”
They walk into the room and still. “What’s going on?” Maverick asks.
Orrin laughs. “As I was saying, I wanted to do this when we were all together, and it looks like my little brothers had some kind of ESP today.” He smiles at Jade and drops to one knee. “I love you.” His voice is strong. Clear. “I know that I don’t want to live this life without you by my side.” His voice cracks.
“Yes,” Jade says. She leans over and kisses him.
“Babe, I haven’t asked you yet.”
“Sorry.” She laughs, as do the rest of us.
“Jade Sanders, will you do me the incredible honor of being my wife? Will you marry me?” He opens up the ring box, and I’m not close enough to get a good look at it, but I can see the sparkle and shine from here. I’m guessing from the gasp that leaves the ladies, my big bro made a good choice on the ring.
Jade nods, tears racing down her cheeks. “Now’s the time to say yes,” Ramsey reminds her.
She wipes at her cheeks as Orrin stands. “Yes. Yes. Yes.” She throws her arms around his neck, and he twirls her around.
“Uncle O, I’m next,” Blakely calls out.
I just shake my head at my daughter and my brother, who obliges her by lifting her in the air and spinning her around. “She said yes.”
When he puts Blakely on her feet, she giggles and stumbles over to where I’m sitting on the couch. She crawls up into my lap, and I hug her tight. I relish these moments. She’s growing up so fast that I know that it won’t be long before hugging me will be the last thing she wants to do.
“Daddy?”
“Yeah, baby?”
“We’ll find ours.” She pats my shoulder.
“Our what?”
“Our wife. Mamaw says that love takes time, so we just have to be potent.”
“Patient,” I correct her.
“Yeah, that.”
“I love you, Blakely. You are the only woman I need.” It’s not a lie, but flashes of Kennedy float through my mind. I’ve done nothing but think about her, and I don’t know how I feel about that.
We all take turns congratulating the happy couple when Mom announces that she’s taking dinner next door to Maureen and Kennedy. “I’ll take it,” I offer quietly.
“Thank you.” Mom smiles at me. It’s not just a smile. It’s one of those mom smiles that tells you they know more than what you want them to know, but they’re staying quiet and giving you time to come clean. Yeah, it’s one of those.
She packs up everything, and I slip into my coat and boots. I call out for my daughter, telling her to be good, and make sure they all know I’m stepping out for Mom, of course, and pull the door closed behind me.
I opt to walk to clear my head instead of driving. The distance between the two places isn’t more than about five hundred feet or so. I had hoped that Kennedy and I could get together yesterday, but Maureen wasn’t feeling well, so she opted to stay in. I get it. That’s why she’s here, but I was also disappointed. Thankfully I didn’t mention the possibility of seeing her to Blakely. She would have been disappointed.
Stepping onto the porch, I rap my knuckles on the door and take a step back. I rock back on my heels as I wait for her to answer the door. When it finally opens, I smile and wave.
“Declan?” Kennedy pushes open the storm door. “What are you doing here?”
I lift the bag of food my mom packed up. “I brought dinner. Mom made baked steak, and she asked me to deliver this.” I hold the bag up again. It’s one little white lie.
“That’s so sweet of her.” She pushes the door open wider and steps back. “Come in out of the cold.”
“Kennedy? Who’s there?” Maureen calls out.
