Chapter 25: Handed Down

Sunday dinner was roast chicken, because July had decided the occasion called for something she could carry out herself.

The table was set for five.

Freddy sat across from Ken, in a pressed shirt, passing the potatoes with his usual smile.

Jude had eaten nothing.

He had moved a drumstick from one side of his plate to the other three times.

"Darling, are you ill?" July asked.

"No." Jude put his napkin down and stood up so fast his chair scraped.

"I have something to say, and I want to say it before I lose my nerve."

William set down his fork.

July put her hand flat on the tablecloth, very calm, and Ken noticed that her knuckles were white.

Jude turned to him.

"Ken, I called your grandmother on Thursday."

"You did what?"

"I asked if I could ask you. She said I should ask you, and not her."

"She said I was an idiot to call first."

Ken heard himself laugh.

Jude took the velvet box out of his pocket and held it with both hands.

"This ring was my grandfather's. It was never bought for anyone. It was handed down, and it cost nobody a dollar."

"I know you don't take presents. So I'm not giving you one."

"I'm asking you to take the whole family, with the ring on top, and I'm asking you to let me take yours."

His voice cracked, and he pushed on through it.

"I can't promise I'll be smart about money. I can promise I'll ask you first, every time."

"Will you marry me?"

The chicken went cold on the table.

Ken had been told by his grandmother that he would say yes before he'd counted the cost.

She had been wrong about one thing.

He hadn't needed to count anything.

"Yes," he said.

Jude's face crumpled, and he crossed the table without going around it.

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