Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Dean stood in the middle of his kitchen, running his fingers through his hair. He felt sure that he must be forgetting something, but he had no idea what it might be.
“Don’t do that!” Hazel laughed. “You just combed your hair.”
Dean sighed. His hair usually looked a bit messy despite his best efforts, although his twin was right that he’d just combed it down.
He and Hazel were in the middle of preparing a romantic dinner for Noelle.
She was due to arrive to Dean’s house soon, and he was determined that everything about their date would be perfect.
“Okay.” Hazel opened the refrigerator. “What’s her favorite salad dressing? I just grabbed all the basics—olive oil and vinegar, French dressing, Caesar, and blue cheese. I know you already have ranch.”
Dean grinned as Hazel gestured to the three bottles of ranch dressing that were in the door of his refrigerator. Only one had been opened, but he liked to always have backup. “I think her favorite is French dressing. And that will go really well with the strawberry and walnut salad you made.”
“Perfect.” She smiled and took the French dressing out of the refrigerator. “You should check on those sweet potato fries.”
Dean had been determined to make all of Noelle’s favorite foods for the date, and Hazel had volunteered to help him.
She’d gotten Noelle’s favorite strawberry and walnut salad recipe from her grandmother, and she’d helped Dean make homemade breaded cod fillets along with sweet potato fries, which were still baking in the oven.
They already had dishes of fresh tartar sauce and the Owens family’s secret sauce on the table.
“They look perfect,” Dean said, peering into the oven. “Should I take them out?”
Hazel laughed. “I think you can answer that question for yourself. Don’t be so jittery, Dean! Everything is going to go great.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “Hazel, I want to propose tonight. I need better than great. I need perfect.”
She chuckled. “Okay, then everything is going to be perfect. Chin up! Smile at me.”
Dean made a face that was a cross between a grimace and a goofy smile.
“I’ll take it.” Hazel lifted a brow at him. “There’s no reason to be stressed here. Just look at that table we set together. Can you even believe how nice it looks?”
Dean shook his head. “No, I can’t. My table has never looked this nice. You’re a wizard, Hazel.”
Hazel bowed, and Dean laughed and looked at the table appreciatively again.
It was covered in a beautiful lacey white tablecloth and had been set with pink glass dishes that Hazel had inherited from their grandmother.
There were wine glasses as well as crystal water glasses, and beautiful pink floral napkins that Hazel had sewn a few years ago at a local craft day.
Candles were set in beautiful glass candlesticks in the center of the table, waiting to be lit, and a bowl of roses had been placed in the very center of the arrangement.
Dean still felt nervous, despite how incredible their preparations looked.
He worried that Noelle’s favorite foods had changed since they’d last had a conversation about them, or that even though she usually loved breaded cod and sweet potato fries, she wouldn’t consider them appropriate food for a romantic dinner, and he should have gone with pasta or steak or something more traditional.
Will she really think all of this is nice and romantic? he wondered nervously. Or will it just look like I’m trying too hard but not actually succeeding at being romantic?
“Well, then,” Hazel said slowly as she set the salad dressing bottle down onto the table next to the salad.
“I think we’re all set then. Right? We’ve got food, and the table is all set, and the flowers are arranged—oh!
You should play romantic music. Noelle likes jazz, right? All those classic jazz love songs?”
“Good idea.” Dean fumbled for his phone. “I’ll run upstairs to get my speaker.”
“I’ll do it—don’t want you getting all sweaty before she arrives.” She thumped his back. “Where do you keep your speaker?”
“Uh, it should either be on my night table or the bathroom counter—but I can get it, Hazel. It’s not like I actually have to run.”
“Don’t worry about it, I got it. You just stand there and try to be calm. You’re already sweating.”
Dean sighed and felt his temples. Hazel was right.
“I’ll just run upstairs, and—” Hazel paused in the doorway of the kitchen. “You do have the ring box, right?”
Dean chuckled and patted his suit jacket pocket. “Yes.”
“And she knows to dress as nicely as you, right? She’s not going to show up in shorts and a t-shirt?”
“Well, I can’t imagine she would anyway considering how cold it is outside, but yes, I asked her to wear that peachy pink dress she wore for her cousin’s wedding. She said she wanted another chance to wear it but she didn’t think she was going to get one because it’s so nice.”
“Ah, look at you. So smooth. That was a great idea, Dean.” Hazel grinned and scampered out of the kitchen.
Left alone, Dean first checked the clock.
They still had about fifteen minutes before Noelle was due to arrive, but sometimes she arrived early, especially to Dean’s house because they were so informal with each other.
He hurriedly found a playlist online of romantic old jazz songs and saved it.
Hazel seemed to be having a little trouble finding his speaker because she still wasn’t back, but he knew that if she was really having trouble she would holler to him.
This is it, Dean thought, patting his pocket where the velvet ring box rested. Inside it was the perfect ring that Hazel had helped him pick out for Noelle. He began to pace the kitchen, feeling his chest fill with excitement about what he was going to do.
He had no doubts about the decision. He loved Noelle with all of his heart, and he couldn’t wait to marry her.
He felt a slight twinge of nervousness that she might say no, or that she wasn’t ready yet, but he was so eager to ask her that those fears were fading more and more by the minute.
He took a deep breath, filling his chest with air.
This was one of the most important nights of his life, and he was so thankful that Hazel, who was his best friend in the world besides Noelle, had been so instrumental in helping him put it together.
“Are you okay?” he called up to her, wondering what was taking so long. He figured he should go upstairs himself and find it for her, since he may have left it in a totally random location, like the bookshelf in his upstairs hallway?—
“Got it!” Hazel sang out as she sashayed back into the kitchen. “One speaker for Dean.” She plopped it down on the counter with satisfaction and then looked proudly around the room. “Yes. You’re definitely ready. Is there anything else you need help with before I go?”
“No, I don’t think so. You’re going to leave right away?”
She chuckled. “I don’t want to be here when she arrives. That would spoil the romantic mood. Besides, you’ve got this, champ.” She grinned at him.
“Okay.” He smiled at her. “Thanks a million, Hazel. I don’t think I could have done this without you.”
“Oh, sure you could have. Although I’ll agree that there’s no substitute for a woman’s touch,” she added cheerfully.
He gave his sister a bear hug. “Have a good rest of your night. Say hi to Sam and Jacob for me.”
“I will! My night isn’t going to be nearly as exciting as yours—I’m just going to get back to hemming and hawing over those paint samples that I have, trying to decide what color to use. Have an amazing time, Dean. Let me know right away how it goes, okay?”
“I will,” he promised.
She grinned and waved as she slipped out the back door into the dusk. They lived near each other, so she simply walked away through his backyard, making her way toward the sidewalk on the other side of it.
Dean watched her go for a minute, smiling fondly at her retreating figure.
Then he slipped the ring box out of his pocket and took another peek at the ring.
Every time he saw it, he liked it better.
It looked more and more like Noelle to him, and it was easier than ever to imagine it on her beautiful hand.
He started to pace back and forth across the kitchen.
He hit play on the playlist, and soon the soothing, soulful sounds of jazz filled his kitchen, making him feel an ache of sentimentality.
He had to blink back tears a couple of times as he thought about how much he loved Noelle and how much he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.
I can’t wait until she gets here, he thought, and then as if in response to his thoughts, he saw her car pull into his driveway. All at once his heart gave a lurch, and he broke out in a cold sweat. All the nervousness that he thought had faded to the back of his mind returned in full force.
He hurried to the back door, ready to let Noelle inside.
He stepped out into the backyard just as she was emerging from her car.
She was wearing the peachy pink dress, which was long and strapless, and flowed around her feet.
He noticed that she was wearing a pair of sparkling heels, and his heart skipped a beat.
Her wavy red hair was half pulled back in an elegant hairstyle, and diamond earrings glittered on her ears.
She’d done her makeup with special care, and she was wearing a becoming shade of pink lipstick.
She was so beautiful that she took his breath away.
He froze as she walked toward him, grinning and looking like some kind of angel. All at once, he seemed unable to think straight. He felt as if he was all thumbs, and it was all he could do to swallow and hold the door open for her when she reached his side.
“Hi, Dean,” she said, gazing into his eyes. “You look so handsome.”
“Ah—wow—thank you. You look—you’re—it’s incredible.”