the world’s problems. “Palmer, I wasn’t joking. You should marry her.”
I didn’t argue with him, but I certainly wasn’t telling Jack that I intended to propose that very evening.
“You want me to ask her for you?” Jack eagerly offered, his face glowing with the idea. “I’d propose to her myself, but you’re the one she’s been spending her time with most evenings. Don’t get me wrong. If I were you, I’d marry her right quick.”
“Ah…”
“Don’t worry, I’ll ask her for you.”
“What?” I demanded. “Listen here, old man, if anyone does the asking, it’ll be me. I don’t need you or anyone else speaking on my behalf.”
Looking lost and dejected, Jack’s shoulders drooped, and he leaned back against the chair.
“Likely I’d mess it up anyway. Asked a woman to marry me once before, and it didn’t turn out like I’d hoped.”
This caught my attention. “Oh?” Maybe I could get some hints on what not to do from Jack’s failed proposal.
“Yup, I was as nervous as a beaver on the tundra. She didn’t seem all that interested in my offer…think I must have said something to offend her.”
“What happened?”
Jack shook his head, attempting to rid himself of the memory. He raised his hand to his face, rubbing his beard. “You might have trouble believing it, but I used to be a good-looking fella. I was in my thirties at the time and was thinking if I was going to start a family, I had better find myself a woman and get to work.”
I’d been having the same thoughts myself, although I wasn’t going to mention them to Jack, because then the whole town would know.
“Did she give you a reason for turning you down?”
“Actually, she didn’t do a lot of talking after I proposed.” A thoughtful, sad look came over him.
“Oh.”
“I didn’t even mind that she had no experience cooking wild game. Fact is, I was willing to overlook a lot of her faults, and told her so, thinking she’d appreciate my generosity.”
“And how did that go over?”
He stroked his beard once again. “She took offense. Never quite understood why. It wasn’t like she had men pounding down her door. I thought she’d be happy that I was willing to marry her.”
“Was she a good cook?”
“Fair. She didn’t seem to receive that observation of mine very well, either. Women are funny that way. I probably should have exaggerated my appreciation of her skills in the kitchen.”
“Did you tell her you thought she was pretty?”
“Nope. Truth was she wasn’t much to look at. I didn’t mind, though.”
I swallowed a smile. “You didn’t mention that to her, did you?”
“Oh no. Knew better than that. Women need to think they’re the light of a man’s life.”
“What else did you say?” Little did Jack know, I was taking mental notes.
Jack tapped his finger against his lips. “Been twenty years ago now, so I don’t recall the exact words. Never had high expectations, seeing that the ratio of men to women wasn’t in my favor living here in the Alaskan wilderness. I do remember that I told her that she was the best I could do.”
I could only imagine how well that comment had gone over with the poor woman.
Jack shook his head. “Still don’t know why she didn’t accept my proposal.”
“She say anything else?”
Jack snorted. “A big fat NO was all I got. Apparently, I’d read her wrong. I could have sworn she was sweet on me.”
“You propose to anyone else?”
“Nope. Once was enough. A man can only take so much rejection, and I’d had my fill.”
This I could understand. Jack had given up after that single rejection. Frankly, I couldn’t see myself wanting to marry anyone other than Josie. And if Josie ended up turning me down, then I feared I’d be just like Jack years down the road, looking back and wondering where I’d gone wrong.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized how important it was to say whatever it was that Josie needed to hear if I was going to convince her to marry me. As sad as it was to admit, I could see myself making a mess of my proposal the same way Jack had.
Jack sadly shook his head and exhaled slowly. “In the end it was probably for the best that Sally rejected me. Don’t know that I’m the marrying kind. You and me are a lot alike, you know.”
This was not encouraging news.
My eyes drifted down to the list in front of me, and my heart sank. I had the distinct feeling it was going to take a miracle of biblical proportions to get Josie to agree to be my wife.