The Belle and the Beard by Kate Canterbary (carter reed TXT) 📗

I hated small talk—obviously—though I usually muddled through these types of parties by letting my sister do all the talking or pretending to be extremely interested in the random things other people had to say.

That was before Jasper.

I still hated small talk but now I had the kraken queen of bullshitting with the best of them on my arm and there was no overstating how much I loved watching Jasper work a crowd. And the girl did not stop. She plowed right through the cocktail hour, kept my siblings laughing their asses off through dinner, and now she was charming the hell out of everyone we encountered during the dessert and dancing portion of this evening.

Where I would've grunted my way through a painful conversation with our childhood neighbors and then escorted myself to the bar for a long talk with Johnnie Walker Blue, Jasper had these people telling a hilarious story about getting lost and running out of gas on their way to Canada during the oil crisis in the 1970s. There was a bit about wandering onto private property and getting picked up by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police somewhere past the Vermont border.

"And then they took the men into a separate room," Mrs. Freitas said, her gaze bewildered.

"What happened then?" Jasper asked Mr. Freitas, a shorter man with a shiny bald head.

"I won't say," he replied with a deep chuckle. "I've never talked about it and I won't start now."

"Secrets taken to the grave," Jasper said with a grin that was nothing short of contagious.

"I did not know what was going to happen," Mrs. Freitas continued. "I had no clue. I just kept asking to call my embargo—which is the wrong word, I know that now but I was nineteen and not smart and thought I was saying embassy—and they kept telling me I couldn't do anything about the oil embargo."

"I've never driven through Vermont with anything less than a half tank since," Mr. Freitas added.

"I bet you don't," Jasper drawled.

She patted his forearm and he knew the same thing I did—this woman was the best. The very best.

"That was a night to remember, believe me." With a pointed nod toward Jasper, Mr. Freitas said, "That's a spitfire you've got there."

I laughed because it was the damn truth. "I'd have to say you're right about that."

"I love seeing all you young kids paired off," he continued. "Makes me happy, you see?"

I nodded. I had no idea where this was going but I nodded. "Sure."

"We heard the good news," Mrs. Freitas jumped in. "We just wanted to give you both our best."

"The good news," Jasper repeated.

Mrs. Freitas leaned in, dropped her voice to a stage whisper. "It's so sweet of you to announce your engagement after the party. You know, to give your parents a night all to themselves. This is so special for them."

"Our engagement," Jasper said.

I blinked. Glanced at Jasper. Blinked some more. They had to be thinking of Ash and Zelda. Had to be. Because…no. That had to be it.

Mr. Freitas reached into the breast pocket of his tuxedo jacket. "We have a little something for you. Just a date night on us. Vincenzo's. It's our favorite spot. Their tiramisu is enough reason to drive to the city."

He handed me an envelope as Mrs. Freitas said, "It's so important to continue dating each other. You have to keep the romance alive and you can't do that eating pot roast off your everyday-ware plates."

"Mmhmm. You're right about that," Jasper said. "Thank you so much for thinking of us. You're too kind."

"We're just so happy for you." To Jasper, Mrs. Freitas said, "It's like I always say. Even if a man doesn't think he's ready, he gets ready when he meets the one. When he knows, he doesn't play around."

Get out of my head, lady.

"Mmhmm. That's such a generous sentiment," Jasper said.

"If only our Janelle would find a nice boy, we'd have a wedding to throw," Mrs. Freitas added.

"Give her time and you will," Jasper said with a wink. "Soon enough!"

"Oh, are the Barkwoods over there? Near the bar? We should say hello to them before they leave," Mr. Freitas said, tipping his chin in that direction. "They always leave early."

"Congratulations again," Mrs. Freitas said, giving Jasper a quick squeeze.

We watched as they walked away, neither of us speaking for a moment. Then, Jasper said, "I hear we're engaged. Well, that's just so nice."

I was waiting for her to freak out. When it didn't hit, I said, "I don't know where that came from but I'm impressed with the way you rolled with it."

"If you think that's impressive, you should give me harder challenges. That was as simple as getting your aunt to stop complaining about how much this shindig must have cost your parents and start complaining about her congressman."

"She's going to take all of your advice," I said. "I'll bet you anything she shows up at his local office first thing Monday and doesn't leave until she airs all her grievances."

"Good. That's the point of electing officials. They're duty bound to listen to concerns from constituents and then do their best to remedy or at least advocate for those situations. They have state-based and D.C. staff for precisely those purposes. If you're not hollering at your reps every now and then, you're letting them earn a paycheck without sweating for it."

I glanced inside the envelope. "We got a hundred dollar gift card out of it."

"And here I was, thinking I'd be the source of awkward conversations tonight. I should've known it would be safer to create a diversion." She leaned into me, her arm snaking under my jacket and around my waist. "I probably should've mentioned this sooner but I need my next marriage proposal to be excessive. Over the top. So big I can't blink, miss it, and hear about it from the people who used to live next door to you."

"Yeah, me too," I