Chapter Twenty-Two
Twenty-Two
AS EMMA ATTEMPTED TO PARK HER SUV IN A SPOT CLEARLY labeled Compact, she found herself returning to Will’s comment from earlier in the week. Especially when it comes to you had pretty much been running on a loop inside her head since their conversation. The rest of their recording session had been relatively tame once Will steered them to less personal topics, but there remained a charged undercurrent under everything they said to each other. She could almost still feel the vibrations—
Stop it , Emma admonished herself. It was not appropriate to waste any more mental energy on a man who she wasn’t dating. Especially when she was dating someone else.
As she got out of the car, Emma noticed her front right tire jutting over the painted line, but she didn’t want to correct it and be late. She was meeting Matt at the two-story Crate he was a good and loyal husband.
“Helping Matt shop for his condo,” Emma replied. “Like I told you on the phone earlier today.”
“I thought you said you were meeting him tomorrow ,” Jackie lied as she made her way toward her real target, Matt, who was already hugging and slapping backs with Chris.
“So great to see you, man,” Chris said, turning to introduce Jackie. “This is my wife, Jackie.”
“Hi!” Jackie nearly shrieked as she threw her arms around Matt. “It’s so nice to finally meet you.”
“Same here,” Matt replied genuinely as he looked between Jackie and Emma. “I can definitely see the resemblance.”
“Really?” Emma asked skeptically. Most people were thrown when they found out Emma and Jackie were sisters. One notable waiter had even said, “You mean stepsisters ?” because her brain could not compute their shared DNA. But maybe Matt saw something most people didn’t. Or maybe he was just being polite.
“What exactly are you looking for?” Jackie asked Matt. “Not to butt in, but I took a few interior design classes before Izzy was born.”
“Oh really? That’s awesome.” Matt turned to Emma. “What was it we needed again?”
Emma was both surprised and flattered that Matt had said “we”; he seemed to be adapting to their partnership much faster than she was. Probably because her brain was too focused on a certain podcast producer with a penchant for matching his shirts with his eye color.
“I think we said some lamps, a bunch of artwork and a new coffee table?”
“I’m not going to let you buy artwork at Crate if anything, it had only made it more shocking and disorienting when he ripped it all away.
So maybe the anxiety she felt right now as she waited for Matt to appear wasn’t a bad thing. Maybe it was a sign that she was growing up. It was unrealistic to feel completely certain about any major life decision. Certainty was naivety in disguise and she wasn’t going to be naive anymore.
“Emma,” Matt said as he finally appeared on the stairs wearing a suit and a nervous smile. “I know we haven’t known each other very long. And I haven’t even met your parents before tonight.” He turned to look at Alan and Debbie and gave them a wave. They immediately waved back. “But I can already tell that we want the same things. We both want a long and happy partnership filled with children and family and complete trust in one another.”
Having gracefully made his way downstairs during his speech, Matt was now standing right in front of Emma. He looked even more handsome than he had in Chris’s PowerPoint presentation. Emma watched as he pulled a ring box from his jacket pocket and went down on one knee.
“I know we’ve each been hurt, and I know this isn’t either one of our first proposals. But, if you agree, I can promise it will be our last.”
Assuming neither one of us dies early and the other one wants to get remarried , Emma thought before admonishing herself for thinking about that sort of thing at a time like this. What was wrong with her?
“Emma Moskowitz,” Matt said with a tremble in his voice as he opened the ring box and revealed an engagement ring that was so big it looked fake, “will you marry me?”
“Yes!” Jackie screamed, before catching herself. “Sorry. Sorry. Forget I’m here.” She hid herself under Chris’s arm as everyone laughed.
“Should we try again?” Emma whispered to Matt, who grinned and nodded.
“Emma Moskowitz—and just Emma Moskowitz,” he said with a playful look at Jackie, “will you marry me?”
“Yes,” Emma declared as Matt whooped and wrapped her in a hug. Her whole family cheered and the anxiety Emma had been feeling dissipated. She was taking a risk, but she was taking it with a great guy.
“This is for you,” Matt said, putting the huge round solitaire with a platinum setting on her ring finger. It immediately slid off. “I didn’t know your size.”
“That’s okay. I have unusually small fingers.”
Matt took her left hand and kissed where the ring would go. “I think they’re perfect.”
“Let me get a video of you putting the ring on,” Jackie declared as she came over with her iPhone. “I totally blanked and forgot to film the proposal. Maybe we can do it again? Emma, show me your shocked face.”
“That won’t be necessary.” Matt gestured to a dark corner of the apartment. “I hired someone to record everything.”
An artsy-looking man and a video camera suddenly appeared as Debbie yelped in surprise.
“He was here the whole time?” Debbie asked with a hand on her chest.
“Yes. Sorry. This is Nicolas,” Matt explained. “A buddy recommended him.”
The videographer waved. “Great proposal. Got a lot of good stuff.” He pointed at Jackie. “You really pop on camera.”
“I always thought that I would,” Jackie replied, beaming as she turned to Chris. “Don’t I always say that?” Chris nodded.
“I’m sorry for scaring you,” Matt apologized. “I just figured it’d be nice to have the proposal on video for the future and to show my parents. And maybe you can use it for the YouTube channel?”
“That is freaking brilliant, Matt,” Jackie exclaimed. “The fans are going to lose their minds.”
Matt grinned at Emma. “I hope they like me.”
“They’re going to love you,” Emma said, realizing with a bit of alarm that even though they were now officially engaged, they had yet to say that word to each other.