Chapter 46

My parents were not expecting me for dinner, not that they ever really did.

I made it a point to tell them I was having dinner with Jeff.

It was part of the strategy we had discussed. Put it out there repeatedly. Dinner with Jeff. A trip with Jeff. A concert with Jeff, classical no less, at the Mann.

My Father was usually unable to hide his displeasure with my decision, though he tried.

But he didn't know what to do, how to look or how to act when I told him about the concert. He had tried for years to get me interested in classical music and I always told him I wasn't going to listen unless it was accompanied by a cartoon.

Should he now be pleased, or distressed? It gave me a warm feeling.

Jeff's family was expecting us at five and that's when we got there.

Sandy came over to me and gave me her usual hug, as always accompanied by her "mmmm" of pleasure.

Sunny gave me a hug and said, "Well, Ashley, I guess this is your entry into membership in our family. Oh, my God, the look on your face. I didn't mean that you're forced to marry Jeff, just that you're now entitled to do the dishes when you don't make the meal. Goodness. I must have really scared you."

"No. It's just, I was, I thought you were, I, I, it just took me by surprise."

Surprise leading to panic. I laughed - nerves. Hercule Poirot would have had no trouble figuring it out.

Louis came out of the kitchen in an apron.

"Louis made the rice," said Sunny.

"Hence the apron," said Louis.

Sandy laughed. "Dad's not exactly at home in the kitchen. Sam says -"

"You can lead a horse to water, but you can't teach him to cook," said Louis, in a tone that indicated he had heard it way more times than it took for it to stop being funny.

But he took it in good humor.

"Sam says I have to wear the apron. It gets you into the spirit. It makes you feel 'cookish.' But, I'm forbidden to wear the chef's cap. Only Jeff and Sunny can do that."

"I'm getting close," said Sandy.

Except for the delightful dinner party Friday night with my parents and Jeff, this was more repartee than I heard in an entire year of meals at my house.

We sat down to eat and I noticed they mixed their chili with a bit of rice so I followed their example.

Sunny was the first to comment.

"This is really good. Very nice job guys."

"Nah. It was mostly -"

"She was great," said Jeff. "She taught me how to be more effective in the kitchen."

He left out, "But not at cooking."

"It is good," I said. "I'm used to it hotter, but this has a lot more flavor."

"Sam says spices are great, but if you make something too hot you cover up a lot of the natural flavors," said Sandy.

Jeff was always at the ready with interesting, extraneous information.

"You know, spices were originally used to cover up the fact that a lot of the meats people used to eat were going bad by the time they got them to dinner. They didn't have refrigeration. But enough pepper and you won't notice the steak is going rancid."

Lovely talk for a dinner table. It really encouraged a healthy appetite.

Sunny was looking forward to going back to school. It wasn't that she was bored during the summer; she really liked interacting with students.

Louis said that the only slowdowns he saw were when people went on vacation. Summer was slow for that reason as were holidays.

"I'm ambivalent about school," said Sandy. "I like the kids and I kind of like the work, but it isn't very challenging. I could try to work harder, but it wouldn't get me anywhere. I have a parent who doesn't believe in finishing high school in less than four years. What can I say?"

It was good-natured and made her point. But, all of us who knew Sunny understood there was no amount of ammunition Sandy could fire at Sunny that would make her change her mind on that.

"This is going to be a difficult year," said Jeff. "I'm going to be working very hard and it could be quite stressful. But I'm also looking forward to it being the best year of my life."

"Me, too," I said.

"Because," said Jeff and paused. We both stood.

"Ashley/Jeff has asked me to marry her/him," we said simultaneously. We took each others' hands. "And I said, 'yes, '" we said in unison.

Half a second elapsed before Sandy screamed. She shot up and rushed us.

Louis walked to us, put his arms around us, kissed me and drew Jeff in for an almost hug. I heard "wonderful," "congratulations," and "lucky." I don't know who they were directed at.

Sunny had a warm, yet wistful smile as she walked around the table.

"You know I love you both," she said. "In many ways you're both beyond your years. And in some ways you're as young as you are. It would be easier to start this when you're a little older, but I think you'll do just fine. And you'll be very happy."

You could always count on Sunny. She wouldn't tell you something just because you wanted to hear it.

I put my arms around Jeff. I wanted him to be part of this, too.

I said in his ear, "All in all, I think they took it better than Mom and Dad."

The Goldbergs are a wise family. They left it to us to tell them about my parents' excitement. If we didn't bring it upon our own, they were not going to make us talk about it.

"So, when is the big day?" asked Sunny.

"We haven't picked it yet," said Jeff. "We're thinking right after graduation."

"So, you're still planning to do it all in a year?" asked Sunny.

"I'm going to try," he said.