“Yes we do.” He saw Matt and Sean walk onto the beach. “Look who just showed up. The two guys we need to ask permission for Carrie’s hand. You want to ask them now?”
“No time like the present,” Jacob said. “Hey, guys. Over here.”
“Did you hear about Carrie placing in the last round?” Sean asked.
He smiled. “Fourth place. The girl is a natural.”
“We’re here to take over,” Matt said. “You two deserve some sleep.”
“Thanks,” he said. “But before we go we’d like to talk to you and Sean about something.”
“Sure. What is it?”
Carrie has only been in town a few days. “How are Matt and Sean going to react?”
“React to what?” Sean and Matt asked in unison.
“Did I say that out loud? I didn’t mean to. How do I begin? Jacob and I want to ask for your permission for your daughter’s…I mean your sister’s…Damn it, Jacob, help me.”
“You guys know Carrie,” Jacob blurted out.
Matt and Sean laughed.
“Yes, we know her,” Matt said.
Sean grinned. “What about her?”
“You’re not going to make this easy on us, are you?” he asked.
“Not a chance,” Matt stated with a smile.
“Okay. Here it is. I love Carrie and so does Jacob.”
“I do love her,” Jacob confessed. “I’ve never loved anyone as much as Carrie. She’s the woman of mine and Josh’s dreams.”
“So you love her. Anyone can see that,” Sean said, not giving them an inch.
Matt teased, “You don’t need mine or Sean’s permission for that. You can love her all you want. All we ask is that you are good to her. Anything else you wanted to ask us, guys?”
He turned to Jacob. “On three? Together?”
Jacob nodded.
In unison they said, “One. Two. Three. We want to marry Carrie.”
In a serious tone Matt said, “Sean and I need to talk about this.”
The two men stepped away, speaking in tones too low for him to make out their words.
“They’re killing me,” Jacob said.
“Me, too.”
Matt and Sean came back.
“On three, like we agreed,” Matt said to Sean.
“One. Two. Three. Our answer is ‘yes.’ Welcome to the family, guys.” Matt and Sean slapped them on the back.