AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Oliver has been traveling for most of the past year. This is evidenced by the deep tan he’s sporting as he walks toward us.
I step away from Glen and give Oliver a hug. “Look at you. You look amazing.”
“Thanks.” He beams at me.
“You know, if you’re going to be this late, you might as well not even show up,” Glen says.
Oliver maintains his smile. “You should consider yourself lucky that I deigned to grace your little barbecue with my presence. I just got off a plane. I could have claimed jet lag and gone straight home. Instead, I came here. The least you could do is give me a welcome that is commensurate to my level of importance in your life.”
Glen rolls his eyes and then his face splits into a wide grin. “How is it that you are such a loser?”
They hug, and Oliver says, “I am your best friend. Whatever level of loser I am speaks more to your character than it does mine.”
“Is that right?” Glen asks. Oliver nods and Glen shakes his head. “Anyway, how have your travels been? Where is it exactly you’re coming from this time?”
“South America. I toured Brazil and Bolivia.”
“Oh, wow,” I say. “Sounds like such an adventure. Did you enjoy yourself?”
“Oh yes, I did. I ate so much great food. Met so many great people. Tried so many new things. Basically I made a lot of memories.”
“That sounds like so much fun.” I place a hand on Glen’s chest. “Maybe we should go on an exotic vacation ourselves.”
Glen looks at Oliver. “You see what you’ve done. Now you’ve gone and put ideas into her head.”
We all laugh, then Oliver asks, “So how are things going at the company?”
You would think that this would be a point of conflict for all three of us, but it isn’t.
At the time I suggested we fire Oliver a year ago, Glen wasn’t aware that Oliver had decided to retire. He had let it slip to me one evening when all three of us were out and he’d had a little too much to drink. That’s one of the reasons why his name was part of the axe list. He wanted to tell Glen himself. So he made me swear to keep his secret.
Once this was made known to Glen, he felt better about Oliver’s departure and we all moved on.
“The company is doing well. In fact, it’s doing very well. Our annual numbers came in about a week ago and in one year we’ve managed to turn things around so much so thatMed-Fieldsis dominating our competition once again.”
Oliver’s eyes go wide. “Really?”
“Really…” Glen says. He wraps an arm around my waist. “And it’s all because of this genius woman right here.”
I blush and wave him off.
“That’s great! Congratulations!”
It’s at this moment that I look across the yard and see that the punch bowl is almost empty.
I step out of Glen’s grasp and excuse myself.
I refill the punch bowl and make my way back outside. I have only just placed it in its spot when I hear the sound of a fork tapping on glass.
I turn around and it’s Glen. The whole backyard goes quiet and then he starts talking.
“First of all I want to thank all of you for making the time to be here today. We are so happy to have all of you and I want you to know that each and every one of you is so loved by Emma and me… Speaking of whom…” He extends his arm to me and I walk over to him. Once I am there, he drops to one knee. I gasp and my free hand goes to cover my mouth.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
Glen chuckles then continues. “Emma, if anyone had told me when I met you that you would come to mean this much to me, I would’ve said they were crazy. You’ve entirely changed my life. You’ve opened my eyes to things I never thought possible. I feel like a kid again when I’m around you.” He turns to the crowd and gives everyone a stern look. “No old jokes.” Everyone erupts in laughter. He then returns his attention to me and continues. “Emma. There’s no one else for me. There can be no one else for me. So I don’t want to waste any more time. I want to limit the number of days moving forward that you are not my wife. So, Emma Stanley, will you do me the immense honor of being my wife?”
He puts his hand in his breast pocket and takes out a ring that stops my heart. It is gorgeous. The diamond winking at me is huge, but that’s not what’s impressive. It’s a princess cut engagement ring. It’s very much my style. In fact, it’s exactly the kind of ring I would choose if I were to choose one myself. He knows me so well and has done a great job.
