at least not about the entire thing. Also, I was curious about what her reaction would be.
“I saw her at last year’s Christmas party the Colesons were throwing at their place. If I’m not mistaken, you were also there, right George?” I asked.
George paused with his fork in the air and frowned, trying to recall the night. “Wasn’t that when Gary called us to talk about one of the startups he was considering buying? It was after Christmas, though, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, right after.”
“I remember the night. I thought you left before me, right after the meeting.”
I nodded. “I was about to.” I met Fred’s eyes since he was the one who was the most curious about how Rose and I had met, and Rose looked just as interested in hearing it. “I was at their place before you, and I think Rose arrived seconds before me. Gary briefly introduced us before we went up to his office to wait for you. At the end of the meeting, I left George with Gary and went downstairs. It was pretty crowded, actually, so I was trying to get out as quickly as possible. Then my eye caught something in the kitchen and I stopped.”
Rose’s eyebrows crept up, waiting for the rest. Did she remember the night?
I looked away from her. “I couldn’t walk away. Of all the things she could have been doing at a Christmas party, she was playing with a puppy, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. I watched for a minute or two, trying to decide if I should talk to her again or not. Introduce myself again or not. Then a little boy came and took the puppy from her, and she finally came out of the kitchen.” That was where I had to change my story.
“And did you talk to her?” Samantha asked, clearly into it.
“Yes, I did. I told her I wanted us to get married.” Everyone at the table started laughing. My eyes slid to Rose. “She didn’t say yes, of course. I tried everything I could think of, but it didn’t look like she was going to budge.”
Rose’s confusion disappeared and her smile grew. “He really did try, maybe a little too hard, and the entire time he was so serious, so confident, not even a hint of a smile on his face,” she added, joining in telling our made-up story.
I placed my hand on her back and then changed my mind, pulled it back. “She thought I was insane, kept saying it over and over.”
Rose looked around the table. “Who wouldn’t? But I couldn’t walk away, either. As much as I wasn’t taking him seriously, I think anyone would be insane to just walk away from Jack.” She paused. “My husband.”
I took a long sip of the whiskey in front of me. “I wasn’t planning on letting you.” I cleared my throat and avoided her gaze. “I was sure if I came up with the right offer, she’d at least say she’d consider it, but she turned me down each time. Eventually, she agreed to give me her number, but I’m afraid it was just so I would leave her alone. I took out my phone while standing right next to her and called to make sure she wasn’t giving me a fake one. The next day, I called her, and we started talking.”
“He grew on me.” Rose looked at me while she spoke. “He was so different than what I thought he would be. I didn’t know how to act around him.”
“And?” Samantha prompted. “That’s it?”
I turned to Samantha. “If you think I’m going to tell you what happened every day after that—”
“There’s the Jack we know and love.” Samantha shook her head. “God, you got married! I still can’t wrap my mind around it.”
“Be ready to tell this story from the very beginning to Evelyn, too. I’m not going to ruin it for her. You have to finish your sentences as you look into each other’s eyes, too, just like you did now. She lives for this stuff, and she’ll be very pleased to hear that you’re happy, Jack.”
After that, the table slid back into easy conversation as Rose and I mostly stayed silent. Once she had finished her plate, I leaned down to ask if it had been okay just so everyone would think we were having our own private conversation apart from them, like a newly married couple who were very much in love would do,