The Proposal

by Diane Craver

  Guys. They could drive you crazy if you let them. This thought was right on target as she watched her brother walk toward the car. Last night, Alex expressed again his strong feelings about getting a car when he got his driver’s license. This whole driving thing drove her crazy. For crying out loud, he was only fifteen, but Alex couldn’t wait until he was old enough to drive. She wanted him to wait until he was eighteen, but in Indiana you could get your license at age sixteen and a half. It was in Alex’s best interest for him to wait. Too many teenagers died from lack of driving experience. She couldn’t lose Alex because of a tragic automobile accident. He argued that their parents hadn’t been killed by a teenager but a drunk, middle-aged man driving on the wrong side of the highway.

  Alex opened the back door and threw a gym bag on the floor. “Hi, sis.”

  She glanced over her shoulder at him. Her little brother wasn’t so little any longer. He’d shot up several inches over the last few months. “Hi. You had a longer practice today.”

  After Alex closed the back door, he slid into the front seat. “Just think when I get my driver’s license, I can drive home from practice. You won’t have to get bored while waiting for me.”

  The driving topic already. She needed to get Brad to support her on this controversial issue. She bet he’d agree that Alex needed to wait to drive. “I’m never bored. I enjoy picking you up and spending time with you.”

  “The guys were disappointed that you didn’t come early today to watch us practice. They love showing off in front of my sister, the hot babe.”

  She ignored the hot babe comment. “I was later because Tyler stopped in after work.”

  He pushed a lock of brown hair off his forehead. “I need a haircut so I’d like to get it cut this weekend. If you have time, that is.”

  She nodded. “We can go to Great Clips after I finish some paperwork on Saturday morning.”

  “Hey, is it okay if Sam comes over tonight? I’m going to help him with his Geometry.”

  “Sure.” After she closed her window, an awful smell permeated the tight space. “Geez, Alex. You’ve stinking up the car.” She pinched her nostrils together. Her brother stunk like something rotten.

  “I never smell great after football practice and you never complain. What’s wrong?”

  “When are they going to get the plumbing fixed in the showers?”

  Alex fastened his seatbelt. “Don’t change the subject. What’s up?”

  “You know me too well. I told Tyler how I think Brad’s going to propose to me and give me a ring for my birthday. Before Tyler left the house, he told me how he can marry me so I can stay in Huntington.”

  “So who are you going to marry? Brad or Tyler.”

  She laughed as she maneuvered the car onto the street. “Brad. Tyler wasn’t serious. Maybe he thinks Brad’s not going to pop the question.” She then explained to Alex why she thought Brad would.

  When Alex didn’t say anything to her explanation, she was glad to have a red traffic light. She turned her head to look at her brother. “You’re quiet. I thought you like Brad. Don’t you want me to marry him?”

  He nodded. “If that’s what you want. Sure. Brad’s an okay guy. But…”

  “But what?”

  “I want you to stay in Huntington. I don’t see that happening if you marry Brad and you’ll leave and go to live in Chicago.” He frowned. “Maybe I can live with Mr. and Mrs. Jordan or move in with Grandma until I turn eighteen.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t want you to live with anyone else. If I go to Chicago, I want you to go with me. But don’t worry. I’m hoping Brad will move here. You and I are a package deal. I’m not leaving you. Brad travels all the time anyhow for his job. Every ten months, he’s assigned a new hospital. He might as well let go of his apartment in Chicago.” As a healthcare consultant, Brad traveled to various hospitals to design and implement process improvements and tools at client hospitals for inpatient flow. That’s why he made the big bucks. His company rented apartments near the hospitals for Brad and their other employees to live. The consulting company even paid Brad’s weekend flights when he went home to Chicago or came to see her. But she hadn’t seen him recently with his heavy workload lately.

  “I’m glad you aren’t planning on ditching me.” Alex cleared his throat. “I can’t imagine not having you around.”

  She swallowed hard. “I can’t either. I love you, bro.”

  At the green light, she stepped on the accelerator.

  “Well,” Alex said, “I guess we’ll learn soon what Brad bought you.”

  “By the way, Brad said you’ll appreciate his surprise. That has to mean he expects you to live with us. I know he loves you…except he might reconsider when you stink bad.”

  “Maybe Brad will want me around.” He grinned at her. “I bet I can talk Brad into letting me drive when I turn sixteen.”

  “You two men aren’t going to gang up against me.”

  “It was worth a try.” He popped the spout up on his jug of water and raised it to his lips.

  As Alex made slurping noises, she said, “I’m glad you’re replenishing your body fluid, so you don’t become dehydrated. You had to lose a lot of water from sweating so much.”

  After quenching his thirst, he wiped his mouth with his sleeve. “Sorry, I stink. You should ride the bus with a bunch of smelly football players after an away game. You’d probably throw up.”

  She laughed. “Thanks for that lovely image you just put in my head.”

  “I just thought of something. In football we always have a backup plan. Tyler can be your backup plan.”

  She gave him a puzzled glance. “For what?”

  “Brad’s not the only guy in love with you, sis. Tyler has the hots for you. If things don’t go the way you want with Brad, you can hook up with Tyler.”

  “Tyler’s my best friend. He wasn’t serious when he mentioned me marrying him.” How could he be when he trounced her feelings on prom night, she thought.

  “Geez, are you blind? Tyler can’t take his eyes off you. And the way he looks at you is definitely more than just as a friend.”

  * * *

  “Hey, Gypsy. Did you miss me today?” Jacqueline rubbed her big bay horse between his ears. “I told one of my kids at work today all about you. She loves horses too.”

  She enjoyed working with troubled teenagers in her job, but it wasn’t easy sometimes to get a sullen teenager to respond to her questions. Fortunately, a picture of her and Gypsy in the office had caught Izzie’s attention during their first meeting. Maybe if I hadn’t grown up in a secure and loving family, I’d have had serious problems as a kid too. She sighed. But now her immediate family only consisted of Alex and Grandma. Things changed less than a year ago when her parents decided to go to a basketball game. She got out of her apartment lease in order to move back home to take care of Alex. In spite of the big age difference, they had always been close. From the time of Alex’s birth, she had loved being his big sister. As much as she wanted to get married, her first priority was Alex. Brad just had to be understanding about Alex living with them after they got married.

  “Are you hungry, Gypsy?” She walked to the feed bin and scooped out oats. “Here you go,” she said while pouring the grain into the horse’s feed box.

  While watching Gypsy eat, she felt uneasy. What would she do about her horse if Brad didn’t want to move here? Boarding Gypsy in Chicago would be expensive, and she couldn’t afford the whole expense on a social worker’s salary. Well, Brad might be agreeable to paying part of the boarding bill. But she’d miss this barn. Before she had Gypsy, she used to spend time with her dad in the barn. He’d farmed the few tillable acres with an old, rickety tractor. It broke down a lot so her dad did the repairs on it in the barn. She played sometimes in the hayloft while he’d worked. She loved the smell of freshly cut hay. “Gypsy, would you like to share a barn with other horses?”

  At the sound of a chuckle, she turned and saw
Tyler in the open doorway. He looked handsome and tall in his jeans and a sweater. Of course, everyone looked tall to her. His brown hair had a bit of wave to it and looked shiny. Did he take a shower before leaving his place? After cleaning the barn, she felt grubby, so a shower was next on her agenda. She smiled. “Didn’t I just see you today?”

  “Was that just today?”

  “I know I don’t look glamorous here but did you have to laugh when you saw me?”

  He walked to the stall, grinning. “You always look beautiful but you’re so small next to Gypsy that it made me laugh. He’s such a big horse. It always amazes me when I see you ride Gypsy.”

  “I wish you’d buy a horse so we can go riding together.”

  He nodded. “I’d like to go riding with you. I just haven’t had time to fit shopping for a horse in my schedule. Hey, is that why you asked Gypsy about sharing the barn?”

  “I was just thinking how I’ll need to board Gypsy in Chicago if Brad doesn’t want to move here after we’re married.” She put a strand of hair that had escaped her ponytail behind her ear.

  Tyler caught her hand, holding it tightly while he looked into her eyes. “Brad’s a lucky man.”

  “Why’s that?” She knew he was probably going to say how wonderful she was, but it’d still be nice to hear compliments coming out of Tyler’s mouth.

  “You’re beautiful—”

  “Remember you just said that. You have to do better than that. As my mom always said, ‘a good heart is better than superficial beauty’ so why else is Brad lucky?”

  “You definitely have a caring heart and I love your loyalty to Alex. And you’re sexy.” Swiftly he pulled her palm to his mouth and kissed it.

  She felt the passion in him, but didn’t understand why it was there. They’d been best friends for years. Their mothers had met at the library when both women had taken their three-year-olds to story time. He couldn’t want her. Could he? And why did she want him to kiss her on the lips? She loved Brad.

  Maybe she better say something so Tyler wouldn’t be embarrassed that he kissed her hand. She pulled her hand out of his. “Wow, you’re taking this role of man of honor seriously.”

  “Jacqueline, I wasn’t kidding earlier. I think you should marry me.” He kissed her cheek. “I don’t want to be your man of honor but your groom.”

  She didn’t like that his simple kiss gave her a shiver of delight. A jumble of puzzled thoughts and feelings overwhelmed her. “Oh Tyler, you’re confusing me. When I wanted to be more than friends, you rejected me. I know you said that your feelings have changed, but it’s hard for me to believe. You never mentioned that you wanted to marry me until I talked about marrying Brad.”

  “Geez, you still talking about marrying Brad,” Alex said as he entered the barn. “Is it okay if I order a pizza? Sam and I are hungry.”

  She raised her eyebrows at Alex. “How could you be hungry? You ate three big servings of lasagna.”

  “Is there any left?” Tyler asked eagerly. “I love your lasagna. I forgot to mention that you’re a good cook. Another reason you’ll make a good wife.”

  For a second she wanted to lie and say the lasagna was gone. She wasn’t feeling sociable toward Tyler. Even less when she saw the pleased look in Tyler’s incredible eyes. His eye color reminded her of the blue ocean she loved. Each summer she’d gone with her parents and Alex to Myrtle Beach. Right now, she wished her mother was here, so she could explain Tyler’s change of heart. Her mother had been a wonderful judge of character.

  Then a momentous thought hit her. Tyler never said he loved her but just that he wanted to marry her. She still remembered the day Brad had told her for the first time how much he loved her. She was thrilled because she felt the same way.

  What was Tyler really up to?

  Chapter Three

  Maybe kissing Jacqueline on her hand and cheek had been stupid, Tyler thought as he savored the last bite of lasagna. She’d definitely looked surprised. What should he try next? He had to up his romancing here because Brad could be giving Jacqueline a ring for her birthday. All of Brad’s previous and few romances had been brief, so he could be serious this time. But they were not engaged yet so he had to make another move now.

  Celebrating Thanksgiving at his parents’ house might be miserable. If Brad proposed, Jacqueline would be ecstatic. But he’d have a hard time pretending to be thrilled with their news. I want Jacqueline to be happy…but not with Brad. She’d loved him enough once to pour her heart out to him. That love had to still exist somewhere for him. If buried deep in her heart, he needed to get her past love for him to surface again.

  Jacqueline walked into the kitchen and asked, “How about ice cream for dessert?”

  He patted his stomach. “I guess I have room for a small dish of ice cream. Don’t tell my mom but your lasagna’s even better than hers.”

  “That’s quite a compliment because everything your mother makes is delicious.” She smiled at him. “I just had a thought. Would you like to come here for lasagna on Christmas Eve, and go to Mass with us? We can go to the five o’clock service and eat here afterwards.”

  “I like that. Midnight Mass is too crowded. When’s Brad coming for Christmas?”

  “He’s not sure yet.” She opened the dishwasher and pulled a tray out. She sighed. “The dishes are clean in here. Alex never emptied it. He can remember to ask me fifty times a day if he can drive, but he can’t remember to do his chores.”

  He carried his plate to the counter, then watched Jacqueline lean against the refrigerator. She wore a black sweater with her tight fitting jeans. At the gleam in her brown eyes, he tugged her into his arms. Her breathing became uneven but she only squirmed slightly. He felt relief that she didn’t break his embrace. His pulse quickened with her warm body against him. She looked too adorable not to kiss. His lips pressed against hers, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. She returned his kiss with sweet passion. She wasn’t kissing him like his best friend but a lover.

  Suddenly her body stiffened and she looked up at him. “Tyler, what’s going on?”

  “I had to kiss you. It’s not my fault you look so sexy in that black sweater.” He saw her frown so continued, “Hey, you waited to get the ice cream. Then you gave me a look like you wanted me to kiss you.”

  “I did no such thing. I was just waiting for you to say what kind of ice cream you wanted.”

  He chuckled. What a liar she was. She wanted him to kiss her, but he wasn’t about to mention that fact again to her. “How could I tell you that when I don’t know what you have?”

  She grinned. “Okay, smart guy. I have pumpkin ice cream, Dutch chocolate almond, and butter pecan.”

  “Pumpkin sounds good. I hope you’re still making those pumpkin bars I like for Thanksgiving.”

  “I’ll be sure to make the bars.” She turned to open the freezer door and removed a carton. “I appreciate your mom inviting us for the holiday. And Grandma and Brad too. It’s going to be hard the first holiday without Mom and Dad.”

  That could be another reason Jacqueline talked about getting engaged to Brad. It was a diversion for her to focus on something positive in her life instead of dwelling on what she lost when her parents had died. “I’m sorry. I miss your parents too. The first year they’re gone will be especially difficult. Mom misses her best friend a lot.”

  She sniffled while scooping out ice cream. “Our mothers were so close. And your mom has always been like a second mother to me.”

  “She loves you like a daughter.” He didn’t add that his mom would be tickled if Jacqueline became her daughter-in-law.

  “It seems a bit too warm in the kitchen. Let’s go in the living room.” She handed him his bowl of ice cream.

  He gave her a wicked grin. “Or you could remove your sweater so we can stay in here.”

  She rolled her eyes at him. “I don’t have anything on underneath.”

  His heart jumped at the thought of her being naked under the sweater
. Well, that couldn’t be right. She had to be wearing a bra since she was busty on top. Following Jacqueline to the other room, he made sure that he sat on the couch with her.

  “I want to be able to sleep tonight so I have to know why did you kiss me?” She waved her spoon at him. “And I don’t want to hear the crap about me looking so sexy that you had to.”

  He was definitely getting to her if she was worried about losing sleep over their kiss. “Isn’t it natural I’d kiss the woman I want to marry?”

  She wrinkled her cute nose at him. “See, I don’t get this at all because you never mentioned wanting us to be a couple until I talked about marrying Brad. If you are serious about wanting me, why did it take you so long to realize it?”

  “When I returned to Huntington to work, I fell in love with you. But I saw how happy you were with Brad. I thought your romance with him would run its course and you’d be free again. In the past, Brad’s never been serious about anyone.”

  She looked thoughtful as she ate her ice cream. Was that a good sign she was thinking about what he’d said? Maybe he was getting through to her. He knew she’d enjoyed their kiss. Okay, I’ll stick my neck out farther and mention an important fact to her. “How well do you know Brad? You’ve always had a long-distance relationship with him. During months of being away constantly, he only fits in a few short visits to see you. He’s always traveling.”

  She smiled while placing her empty bowl on the coffee table. “Of course, I don’t know Brad as well as I do you, but maybe that’s a blessing.”

  “What does that mean? I’m a wonderful guy.”

  “You have your moments.” She exhaled a deep breath “You do have a point about not seeing enough of Brad. I think he’s getting tired of living in so many cities and flying here to see me on weekends when he doesn’t go home. But in spite of the long separations, our love has survived. And Brad has said he loves me and I have no reason to doubt his love.”