Chapter 723 - JoAnnas birthday (3) (1/2)
Jeff fidgeted for few seconds before speaking again: ”I know that for the wedding, the bride looks for something old , something new , something borrowed and something blue . This is old and blue, so if you wear it, it will cover two things out of four…” He cleared his throat nervously. ”I will be honored if you wear this for our wedding.”
JoAnna thought how he looks adorable and handsome at the same time.
She could not stop smiling. ”Mr. White, it will be my pleasure to wear it, as your bride.”
Jeff smiled widely with a smile which reached his eyes. ”Thank you… It means a lot.”
He held her hand in his, palm up and JoAnna felt that he placed a small box in it.
JoAnna frowned slightly. ”And this is?”
”Open it.”
JoAnna opened the box and found a set of earrings which design matched the necklace: gold earrings with blue gemstones. She had to ask: ”Sapphires?”
”Diamonds.”, he corrected her and confirmed her suspicion.
She was still observing the design of the earrings when she heard Jeff's voice: ”You can't wear the necklace without matching earrings. And with this, you have 'something new' covered as well for our wedding. You need to borrow something, but I will leave that to you.”
JoAnna smiled and gave him a gently reminder: ”I thought you agreed that you will not buy me a birthday present.”
Jeff looked at her like she wronged him. ”This is not a birthday present. It's just something that goes with the necklace. The fact that today is your birthday is totally accidental.”
JoAnna laughed while thinking that his acting improved significantly and moved to sit in his lap. ”Thank you. It's really beautiful. Thank you for making today perfect.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.
After a long kissing session, Jeff fed both of them cake... well, mostly her and he took few bites.
”It's delicious!”, JoAnna gushed as the vanilla and chocolate ice cream cake melted in her mouth. Fresh strawberries complimented the cake perfectly.
They moved onto the roof terrace where JoAnna was amazed again to see flowers and dim lighting set up around one oversized lounging chair.
Jeff and JoAnna sipped wine which was chilled just right while holding each other and enjoying the cloudless night sky speckled with millions of stars.
JoAnna broke the silence: ”I never heard you mention Nori's parents before.”
Jeff understood that JoAnna wants to know about his maternal grandparents and shared how much he knows: ”My grandmother, Deborah, passed away when I was about two years old. I don't remember her. Soon after that, my grandfather, Richard, started traveling and I saw him maybe few times in my life.”
JoAnna now knows why Jeff didn't mention them. He probably does not have memories which include them. ”Do you keep in touch?”
”How much I know, my mom does… occasionally. But he is not part of our lives. He never remarried. My mom told me that grandmother always wanted to travel and see wonders of the world, but due to her poor health she was unable to do so. That is the reason why my grandfather is now always on the move, to keep her memory alive.”
JoAnna sighed and sank deeper into Jeff's embrace.
He felt her shoulders shiver and asked: ”Are you OK?”
JoAnna sniffled few times before speaking. ”You just told me that your grandfather is traveling for a quarter of a century in memory of his wife. That is definitely the most tragic and at the same time the most romantic thing I ever heard of.”