The Proposal (5 page)

“So you’ll
investing in land now.”

He laughed. “I’m
going to build a house on it.”

Brad couldn’t be
serious. How could he buy it without even mentioning it to her? She’d
been his girlfriend for almost a year, so the fact he didn’t even
talk it over with her was hurtful. “When are you going to start
building?”

“Not right away
because I want to pay the loan off first for the land.”

Good.
Maybe he’d
want to live here after they got married to save money until he was
ready to build. “Did you change your mind about the homeowner’s
rules?” Brad had complained he couldn’t live there with all the
restrictions of the subdivision. She was pretty sure a barn for Gypsy
wouldn’t be approved by the subdivision people. She’d definitely
have to find a place to board Gypsy.

“Another reason I
have to wait to build is because I made another big purchase.” He
gave her a pleased look. “It’s the surprise I told you about on
the phone.”

She sighed. It looked
like her proposal would follow the land news. She should be happy
Brad wanted to build a house, but if he planned on her being his
wife, why hadn’t he asked her opinion about anything? “It sounds
like you’ve been busy.”

He stood and pulled her
up from the sofa. “I can’t wait until you see it. It’s outside.
Get your coat and we’ll just leave early for the restaurant.”

She wasn’t getting
an engagement ring.
Seeing it outside definitely couldn’t be a
ring, but had to be a new car. How could she have been so stupid and
thought that was what Brad hinted at during their phone
conversations? Instead of seeing his purchase, she felt like crying.
“Okay, I’ll get my coat,” she mumbled. She grabbed the first
jacket she saw in the closet.
Maybe Brad will give me a ring for
Christmas. It could still happen,
she thought.

As they stepped
outside, she saw the big surprise─a huge red truck was in her
driveway. “Your surprise is a
truck
.”

He gave an enthusiastic
nod. “Isn’t it great? I’ve always wanted a truck. I paid cash
for it so that wiped out my savings.”

She stared in shock.
“It’s nice, Brad. But we need to talk. Let’s go back inside.”

He put his arm around
her shoulders. “What’s wrong, baby doll? You love the outdoors. I
thought you, Alex, and I can go camping this summer. And the truck
will be great when we go on a honeymoon and go camping. It’ll be
easy to take our bicycles with us too.”

Her jaw dropped at the
word honeymoon. Was he assuming they were engaged? “Brad, you’ve
never proposed to me.”

“Well, not officially
but I planned on proposing in a few years. I’ve said I loved you
several times.” He gave her an uneasy glance before exhaling a deep
breath. “Yeah, I think we should go back inside.”

Lazy snowflakes floated
all around them. It was the first snowfall of the season. She loved
the beauty of falling snow. Before the snowplows went through and
disturbed the snow, she liked gazing at the countryside with its pure
white covering. But it wouldn’t be necessary for the road crew to
be out tonight. The weatherman said only a dusting of snow was
expected. She threw her head back to feel the flakes on her face. It
gave her a minute to process Brad’s disappointing surprise... He
apparently had money to blow on land and a truck. And the audacity of
him to say the truck would be perfect for their honeymoon.

“I didn’t think it
was supposed to snow.”

“Just an inch,” she
said in a controlled voice.

He frowned. “I need
to tell you something.”

Once back in the living
room, she sat in her dad’s recliner, staring at Brad. What Brad
wanted to tell her could wait. She needed to unload her feelings
first. “I might as well be honest with you. I thought the surprise
was going to be an engagement ring.”

His gray eyes widened
at her. “Why would you think that?”

“Well, you showed me
your house plan in September and have told me over and over how much
you love me and miss me. You also mentioned how much Alex and I both
would like the surprise. I thought it was your way of saying that
we’d be a family.” She paused for a moment. “And you said it
cost enough. Engagement rings are expensive. Not that you have to pay
a lot for mine.”

“I haven’t realized
you were the one for me until recently. I’ve narrowed the playing
field to you now. I guess I should tell you that I went out with
someone I work with a few times. It made me realize that you’re the
one I want to marry.”

“You went out with
someone else. I can’t believe you did that. We had an understanding
that we wouldn’t see anyone else.”

He shrugged. “It just
happened. She kept hitting on me, and I was feeling a little bit
uncertain about us.” He patted a spot next to him on the couch.
“Please, Jacqueline, sit by me. I hate you sitting across the room
from me.”

Instead of moving by
Brad, she paced in front of the fireplace and glared at him. “Did
you kiss your fellow worker?”

Looking flustered, he
said, “Not much. Maybe once or twice.”

“I guess I must be
the better kisser.”

“Jacqueline, don’t
look at me like that. I do love you. My plan’s always been to get
married around age thirty-four. I’ve never wanted to get married in
my twenties.”

“That’s eight years
away. You can’t be serious.” She gave him a small smile. “I
don’t want to be too old when I have children.”

A startled expression
crossed his face. “Children. I thought we’d travel a lot. Just
the two of us.”

“We can take our kids
with us on our camping trips.”

“I don’t plan on
always going camping. I want us to enjoy other countries. I want to
travel a lot. I thought you did too. It’ll be a hassle to travel to
Europe and exotic places with little ones in tow.”

“But you’re close
to your brother and sister.”

“Probably because I
took care of them. I was their babysitter while Mom and Dad both
worked all the time to put clothes on our backs and food on the
table.” He threw his hands up in the air. “We can decide the kid
issue later.”

She never dreamed Brad
thought they’d be childless. “I guess another reason you want to
wait is because you don’t want to share a house with Alex.”

“Alex’s a great kid
but he’s another reason we need to put off marriage. Think about
it. You said that your parents saved enough money for Alex’s first
year of college. You make little as a social worker. Alex will
definitely get financial assistance with your low income, but if we
get married then my income will hurt him. He’ll have trouble
getting college loans.”

“Alex’s super
smart. I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets a college scholarship.
And he can work in the summers to help pay for his education. Would
you like to hear what my marriage plan has always been?” she said
sarcastically. She hoped it’d sink in that he expected her to go
along with all
his
plans, and hadn’t bothered to ask her
opinion about anything. “I’ve always thought that twenty-six is a
good age to get married.”

“That’s too soon.
We can’t rush into marriage. I want us to have a nice house and to
be financially secure when we get married.”

She stopped pacing. “We
don’t need a new house. We could live here.”

“I don’t want to
live in Huntington. I love Chicago.”

So much for thinking
Brad might transfer to Huntington.
Did she love Brad enough to
move to Chicago and to wait eight years to get married? That was a
lifetime.

“Where’s Alex,”
Brad asked.

“He went to a movie
with friends.”

“I can’t wait for
him to see my truck. He’ll like it.” His face because serious.
“You know, Jacqueline, trucks are a guy thing. I’m sorry I
thought you’d be excited about it.”

“I have my dad’s
truck. Remember? I use it to pull Gypsy’s horse trailer.”

He glanced at his
watch. “We better leave. We can talk more in the truck.”

She probably should
keep her mouth shut, so the evening could be salvaged. But she
couldn’t. Some things needed to be pointed out to Brad. “Oh yes,
let’s go in the truck…the big birthday surprise. I’ve learned
so many new things about you this evening. You bought land in a
subdivision without mentioning it to me, you kissed another woman,
you don’t want any kids, and you decided what we’ll do on our
honeymoon. I just realized you have a controlling personality.”

“Not controlling. I’m
just sensible.” He walked to her, kissed her on the cheek and gave
her a hug. “I love you. We’ll work everything out.”

She locked the front
door before pulling it shut after them.
I could tell Brad how he
wasn’t the only one experimenting with kissing someone else.
Just thinking about Tyler’s hot kisses made her heart race. But if
she did tell Brad, she’d have to mention how much she enjoyed
Tyler’s lips on hers.

After Thanksgiving
dinner and taking Grandma back to her own house, Jacqueline stood in
the dining room and fingered the lovely bracelet with blue glass
beads. Brad’s mother made all kinds of jewelry…rings, earrings,
and necklaces. She sold them in her beauty shop. Although she
appreciated Mrs. Day’s thoughtfulness in giving her a birthday
gift, she was still disappointed that Brad’s surprise was a truck.
It was his money and he was entitled to spend it on whatever his
heart desired, but apparently he never thought of getting her
anything special for her birthday. That bothered her a lot. Sure, he
took her to dinner and flowers were delivered on her birthday, but
she had expected a personal gift. Troubling, too, was how Brad only
seemed interested in talking about his land and truck purchases
during dinner. Not once during the evening had Brad asked her about
her job.

He assumed many things
about their relationship and made decisions on what he wanted for
their lives. After their dinner last night, Brad said if he got a
Christmas bonus, he’d buy her an engagement ring. He also said they
could get married after Alex graduated from high school. He didn’t
want to go into debt for a ring which she completely understood, but
she saw red when he still wanted to be apart for the next three
years. Alex was only a sophomore so it’d be three years before he
graduated.

Tyler squeezed her
shoulder. “Hey, what’s taking you so long? Alex said you were
back from taking your Grandma home. I need my best football player on
the field.”

“I just finished
wiping off the table. I wish Grandma would’ve wanted to stay for
dessert, but your mom fixed her a nice plate of goodies.” Could
Tyler possibly look any hotter today? Even in faded jeans and an old
Notre Dame sweatshirt, he managed to be good-looking.

“You were quiet
during dinner. Are you feeling okay?”

“I had trouble
sleeping last night.”

“Yeah, Brad
complained a little that you were unhappy with him.”

Brad went to Tyler’s
to spend the night after watching a movie at her house. She smiled
slightly. “I bet he complained more than a little.”

“He was upset about
you not being excited about eventually moving to Chicago. I told him
you’re a small town girl at heart.”

“Did he mention that
I don’t want to wait years to get married? And that he doesn’t
want children?”

“Both subjects did
come up.”

“Oh Tyler, I couldn’t
sleep last night because I realized that Brad and I aren’t in
agreement about lots of stuff. I can’t believe I didn’t see it
before. I guess love is blind.”

“So what are you
going to do? Tell Brad it’s over or adapt to what he wants.”

She shook her head.
“I’m not sure. The bad thing is he’s still leaving for Chicago
on Saturday. He promised his parents he’d be home over the weekend
before flying back to work on Monday.”

He stepped behind her,
and rubbed her shoulders. “Relax. I trust you to make the right
decision. And you know what I want that to be.”

“Your massage feels
good. Did you happen to spill the beans about how much you love me?”

“You kidding. He was
already upset with me. He said I should’ve told him that you wanted
an engagement ring for your birthday.”

Alex entered the room.
“I told the others that I bet you two were together, but don’t
worry, I didn’t say anything about you being kissing buddies.”

She rolled her eyes at
Alex. “You’re not a bit funny.”

“Come on,” Alex
ordered. “We’re getting cold outside waiting on you two.”

“Well, the game was
also delayed because Annette was a no show.” Tyler shoved his hands
in his pockets. “I guess she wasn’t into me as much as you
hoped.”

She put her new
bracelet on top of the hutch. She didn’t want to wear it while
playing football. “Annette didn’t realize her mother planned on a
late dinner this year.”

* * *

The huge front yard was
perfect for football, and the previous night’s snowfall wasn’t a
problem. It barely covered the grass. Jacqueline loved breathing in
the cold, crisp air. It felt good to be outside and feel the sun on
her face. She played on the team with Tyler, Alex, and Tyler’s
cousin, Danny. Brad, Tyler’s brother, Eric and his wife Stephanie,
plus cousin, Rob, made up the opposing team.

“They’re beating
us. We can’t let them happen,” Tyler said in the huddle with his
three players. “We need to score a touchdown this time.”

Jacqueline said to
Tyler, “Fake a pass to Alex, then toss it to me. I’m a fast
runner. Brad won’t dare tackle me.”

Tyler didn’t look
happy at her suggestion. “I’m not worried about Brad, but Eric
plays nasty. He’ll definitely want to tackle you. We need to make
sure we hustle. After I throw you the ball, I’ll block anyone who
tries to bring you down.”

They broke the huddle
and got in their positions. Tyler raised his arm and looked at Alex.
She watched her brother run and put his hands up in the air.
Suddenly, Tyler left go of the football and she caught it. She ran
hard and picked up even more speed when she saw Brad charging at her.
I’m not going to let my boyfriend tackle me.