The crowd at the gate of the Soxes‘ residence gave way by parting into two rows.
Jasmine got a good look at the people at the gate. Most of them were the townspeople and nearby tenants. They looked at her, all smiles.
With everybody moving out of the way, Jasmine found out what everybody was looking at from the gate. It was a humongous display of flowers.
Josh, who had not called or texted her all day, stood next to the flowers with a bouquet of roses in his hands. He was smiling widely at her.
Jasmine stopped her bike.
“Go on, Jas.”
Drake drew close and dragged his sister to walk ahead.
Jasmine was pulled to the floral display. Those were roses. Josh used thousands of roses to spell out something.
[Marry me, Jasmine!]
Josh was proposing.
After giving it a lot of thought, Josh decided to go the cheesy way and form words with flowers. It would be beautiful and romantic. He could then propose to Jasmine before everybody.
Jasmine was either at the bookshop or at home.
Josh was concerned about the disruption to students since the bookshop was in front of the school. That was why he chose to display the flowers at the gate of her house and propose to her here instead. The Soxes could bear witness to his feelings for Jasmine.
He wanted Jasmine to be his wife.
The Buchams and the Soxes had been pining for the pair to get married.
Mrs. Bucham would visit the Soxes every now and then, and the elders of both families had a lot to talk about. They had been waiting for Josh to propose, so they could begin preparations for the wedding.
“Isn’t it nice, Jas? Josh formed the words with flowers himself, and it took him a long time. to do it too. Josh bought all the roses from every florist in Wiltspoon. A lot of florists had to restock.”
Jasmine looked at the letters arranged in flowers. The sea of red bounced a rosy shimmer off her face and melted her heart.
Josh had always been a romantic. Although his proposal was corny, she was able to see the beauty in it.
Bearing a bouquet, Josh approached her.
Drake got out of the way and left the center stage to Josh.
Everybody was watching.
Some even took videos to bear witness to the lovers‘ happy and exciting moment.
Josh got down on one knee before Jasmine and presented the bouquet to her. He tenderly asked Jasmine, “I love you, Jasmine. Will you marry me? I will love, cherish, and honor you for the rest of my days.”
Jasmine looked into his eyes.
She could see the affection reflecting in his eyes as he looked at her. Anticipation with a little bit of nervousness and fear were written all over his face.
He must be scared that she might turn down his proposal.
“Say yes, Jasmine. Mr. Bucham is so good to you. I’m an old lady, and even I’m moved by him,” One of Jasmine’s aunts remarked with a smile.
“Yeah, Jasmine. You and Mr. Bucham made a cute couple. You’re made for each other.”
“Jasmine…”
“Jasmine…”
Many of the onlookers were the townspeople and Jasmine’s relatives. From the bottom of their hearts, they hoped Jasmine would accept Josh’s proposal.
Turning her head, Jasmine glanced at her parents standing at the door. Shawn and Aunt Rachel were there with her parents too.
Aunt Rachel must be here to visit the Sox family and happened to come across Josh’s proposal.
Seeing that Jasmine took her time to respond to Josh, Mrs. Lowe said to Mrs. Sox, “Why isn’t Jasmine saying anything? Josh is such a good man. She won’t find another man like him. I wish I could say yes on her behalf.”
Shawn uttered, “She shouldn’t answer too quickly. She needs time to consider. It will seem like Jas is too eager if she gives an answer too soon.”
Jasmine was happy to give her hand in marriage. No longer playing it coy, she reached out to take the roses from Josh and loudly responded, “Yes, Josh. I’ll marry you.”
Josh was overjoyed.
He pulled out the engagement ring and took Jasmine’s hand to put the ring on her finger.
Jasmine pulled him up.
Josh put his arms around her, lowered his gaze to meet hers, and kissed her lips.
A thundering applause broke out.
Jasmine closed her eyes and indulged in the brief mingle of hot breaths before opening her eyes. She beamed as Josh held her.
“When did you start planning this?” she whispered while resting in his arms.
“I had been at it for a while now. I thought this idea was the best. Do you like it, Jas?”
Jasmine lifted her chin to stare at him and replied with a grin, “I wouldn’t have said yes if I didn’t like it. It doesn’t matter to me how you propose so long as your feelings for me are true, I will never reject you.”
Of course, Jasmine was more thrilled because he went through the trouble to romance her. It showed that he cared.
“No wonder you hadn’t called or texted me. You were preparing a surprise for me.”
Pecking her forehead, Josh dotingly uttered, “I wanted to give you a surprise. I didn’t let Drake tell you on the phone.”
“The punk kept telling me it was something good. He left me guessing, but I didn’t think you were going to propose to me.”
Jasmine was smothered with love and joy.
She exchanged gazes with Josh. They only had eyes for each other.
It took a while before it hit her that her family and neighbors were watching. Red–faced, Jasmine pushed Josh away. She was either happy or embarrassed, probably both.
“I want to take pictures.”
Jasmine wanted to capture the sweet moment.
She snapped the floral display, the ring on her finger, and a photo of her and Josh.
After the photo session, she locked fingers with Josh and walked up to her parents.
“Mom, Dad, I’m engaged. You can finally marry me away.”
The people burst out in laughter.
Mrs. Sox said to Josh with a smile, “Thank you, Josh. Thank you.”
Jasmine remarked, “Mom, you’re talking as if nobody wants me… Josh is not taking a charity case.”
“Your blind dates didn’t go well. Your aunt and I had been fretting over your marriage because nobody wanted you. Well, at least Josh wants you now. You should be nicer to him.”
Mrs. Sox pretended to nag her daughter.
Josh curled his lips and said, “Mom, I want to thank Jasmine for marrying me. Otherwise, I would be single for life.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.