The Proposal (6 page)

Excitement pumped
through her when she made it to the end zone. She turned to do a
victory dance when suddenly Brad ran into her, hitting her hard in
the abdomen. She went down with a thud.

A spasm whipped through
her diaphragm. She couldn’t breathe and it hurt like hell. Tyler
kneeled beside her on the ground. “You took a hard blow to your
body. I’m going to see if I feel anything.” He put his hand under
her sweatshirt.

Brad joined them on the
ground. “Get your hand off her. She’s my girlfriend. Let me near
her.”

Tyler glared at Brad.
“You’re a jerk. She was in the end zone when you tackled her.”

“I obviously didn’t
realize she’d already scored when I knocked her down.” Brad
reached to grab Jacqueline’s hand.

“Man, don’t touch
her, “ Tyler said angrily. “I’m the doctor here.”

Brad laughed. “You’re
not a doctor. You’re just a physician’s assistant.”

“Is this where it
hurts,” Tyler asked as he moved his hand gently over her torso. At
her nod, he said, “When you get hit in the abdomen, you have a
spasm for a few seconds. That’s why you’re having trouble
breathing. You’ll be able to breathe when the spasm stops.”

Alex said, “Sis, that
was a beautiful touchdown, but sorry you got hurt.”

“Honey,” Tyler said
tenderly, “you can stay down or I can help you walk around. Your
muscle cramp is like a charley horse of your diaphragm.”

“Why the hell did you
call her honey?” Brad demanded.

“Because I love her,
you idiot.”

Alex grinned at
Jacqueline. “I told you that you’d have two guys fighting over
you.”

“So that’s why you
seemed thrilled things didn’t go well between us last night.”
Brad raised his fist at Tyler. “I should pound you into the ground.
I bet you’ve been trying to turn Jacqueline against me.”

She better get up
before Alex’s prediction came true. “Tyler, help me up, please.
There’s too much testosterone racing around here.”

“Babe, let me take
care of you,” Brad said to her.

“You know something,
Brad. I don’t like being called babe or baby doll. And remind me to
never play football with you again.”

“I didn’t mean to
hit you like that. I feel terrible. I was caught up in the moment.”

“Hey, let’s go eat
dessert,” Eric suggested.

Stephanie chimed in,
“That’s a great idea.”

* * *

Jacqueline sipped her
hot chocolate and noticed Brad’s silence. She shouldn’t have
gotten angry at him about hitting her so hard. She could tell that
he’d been worried about her. One good thing came out of the
football game… It was out in the open about Tyler’s feelings for
her.

“I’m glad you
suggested we come back here to talk.” What she had to tell Brad
would be painful, so it was better they were alone in her house. She
put her cup on the end table and turned to face him.

“After you left to
take Alex to his friend’s house, Tyler and I talked briefly. He
apologized for not telling me right off the bat how he felt about
you. Apparently when you thought I was getting you a ring, he got
worried about where our relationship was going.” Brad exhaled a
deep breath. “I never dated much in high school and college. I was
always shy around girls. You were the first woman I could talk to so
easily. You helped boost my ego. I thought we had something special,
but today I saw how you look at Tyler.”

“Did Tyler also tell
you about our prom night when I told him I loved him?”

He shook his head. “No,
he didn’t mention it.”

She then explained how
hurt she’d felt when Tyler hadn’t returned her love. She’d
buried her feelings for Tyler, but recently she’d liked it when he
kissed her, and she knew in her heart that she’d never really
gotten over Tyler. At this point, there wasn’t a reason to tell
Brad how kissing Tyler ignited strong passion inside her. Kissing
Brad was sweet but definitely didn’t cause the same explosive
currents to run through her body, like Tyler’s kisses did. “I
couldn’t sleep last night. I thought a lot about us and how we
don’t want the same things out of life. I want children. And I’m
a small town girl. I’ve never wanted to live in a big city like
Chicago.”

“I wish I hadn’t
bought any land.”

She held his hand and
looked directly into his eyes. “It’s not your fault. After my
parents died, I was a mess. It was comfortable having you as a
boyfriend. I loved your phone calls when we couldn’t see each other
often. And I always looked forward to seeing you, but when you think
about it, we haven’t actually spent that much time together.”

He nodded. “My job
requires long days and lots of traveling, but I’m hoping that will
change in a few years as I move up the ladder. Maybe we can still
work things out between us.”

“Brad, I wish you
every bit of success in your career, but even if we spend more time
together, I don’t think it’d help. We aren’t meant to be a
couple.” Her eyes became moist. “But I don’t regret anything.
I’m richer for having known you. You’re a great guy and I wish
you the best.”

* * *

Jacqueline put the last
few Christmas decorations on her artificial tree while she waited for
Tyler. Last year she bought an expensive tree after Christmas at a
big discount. Even though she hadn’t originally planned on putting
it up the day after Thanksgiving, she had the day off, so decided to
start Christmas decorating early. When Tyler called to see if he
could come over, she was thrilled.

At the sound of his car
in the driveway, she went to the front door and opened it. After
Tyler stepped inside, he gave her a hug. “You had a rough
Thanksgiving.”

“Brad did too.”

“He left this morning
to go home. He said that he didn’t feel like sticking around any
longer.”

“I put the Christmas
tree up early to keep busy. I feel guilty about everything. When he
told me all his plans for us, I realized we don’t want the same
things in life. I hated hurting him but I had to end it.”

“It’s my fault. I
should have said something sooner, but you were so happy when Brad
asked you out on the first date. I figured you’d only see him a few
times, but I was wrong.” He put a strand of hair behind her ear.
“It was a wakeup call when you started talking about getting
married to Brad. I love you, Jacqueline. Can you give me a second
chance? Do you think you can love me again?”

“I never stopped
loving you. I was born to love you.” She covered his mouth with
hers and felt his arms around her. How had she ever survived without
her best friend’s kisses? His tongue slid inside her mouth and she
clutched him tighter. A soft moan escaped her mouth as the taste and
force of his tongue excited her. At the sound of footsteps, she
stopped kissing Tyler.

Alex laughed. “You
two are still in the foyer. I came in to tell you to come look at the
gazebo.”

“Give me a kiss for
the road,” Tyler said.

“I don’t think so,”
Alex said with a straight face.

Jacqueline giggled.
“Give me a moment with my man.”

Alex looked pleased.
“Geez, when you see the gazebo, you’ll want to kiss again.”

“We better get out
there then.” Tyler grinned. “I’ve never kissed your sister in a
gazebo before.”

Grabbing a jacket, she
followed the guys to the backyard. She ran into Tyler’s back as he
suddenly stopped before the steps of the gazebo.

“Man, you did a great
job out here.” Tyler patted Alex’s back.

“It’s so romantic.
I love the red velvet bows all around. I see you put the lights to
good use that I didn’t need this year.” Her artificial tree was
loaded with tons of pre-lit miniature lights so Alex strung rows of
last year’s lights all over the gazebo.

Tyler walked to the
middle of the porch where Alex had put a small tree with more white
lights. “I was going to just throw a wreath above my fireplace.”

She sat on the inside
bench, admiring the beauty that Alex had created. “Dad just built
this for Mom three years ago. It was their twenty-fifth wedding
anniversary.”

Tyler nodded. “I
remember. My mom hinted she’d like one. Your dad was great at
building things.”

“Hey, you two
lovebirds, I’m going to a basketball game with Sam and his
parents.”

Both said in unison,
“Bye, Alex.”

With Alex’s exit,
Jacqueline kissed Tyler passionately.

Tyler ended the kiss
and laughed.

She gave him an
indignant look. “At least, Brad never laughed at my kisses.”

“I adore your kisses.
I’m laughing at your brother. Don’t you hear him? He’s
whistling the song,
Here Comes The Bride
. He’s not too
subtle.”

“What can I say?
Talent runs in the Andrews family.” Thank you, Alex, she thought.
Her brother always had her back. Although Tyler had mentioned that
she should marry him instead of Brad, that wasn’t an official
proposal.
Well, if Tyler doesn’t propose, I’ll just do the
proposing.

So many gorgeous
rings. Which one should I buy?
Tyler sighed as he looked at
another tray of rings in the store. This was his third trip to the
store and now it was Christmas Eve. At least he knew Jacqueline liked
silver instead of gold. Maybe he shouldn’t surprise her with the
ring, but propose first, then bring her to the jewelry store to
choose it herself. He was sure of one thing. He wanted everything to
be perfect when he proposed to Jacqueline. She was the love of his
life. All those months when he was afraid of losing her to Brad were
over. Having Jacqueline love him was a wonderful gift and he’d
cherish her forever. He finally chose a princess-cut diamond ring and
was happy it was in her size. If she didn’t like her engagement
ring, they could come back together and exchange it. Okay, next stop
was to pick up the flowers that Jacqueline wanted to put on the
tables.

Thirty minutes later,
he was at Jacqueline’s house. He carried the bouquets of mixed
flowers into the house and found her in the kitchen. She looked
terrific in black pants with a red satin blouse. She gave her mega
smile when she saw him. “Hi. The flowers are gorgeous. Thank you
for getting them.”

He put them on the
counter and kissed her cheek. “You look beautiful and all
Christmassy. I’ll let you arrange them in the vases.” He eyed the
lasagna. “I can’t wait until we can eat.”

She snipped the ends of
the stems before placing the roses and the various assortment of
flowers in the vases. “I’m glad your family is coming here after
church. And it’s sweet of your mom to bring chicken alfredo and
salad.”

“Mom loves to cook
for holidays. And Stephanie’s fixing the salad.” His family knew
he planned on proposing after Mass, so they loved being included in
the engagement celebration.

Alex entered the
kitchen, wearing dress pants and a gray sweater.

Jacqueline stopped
filling a vase with water to look at her brother. “You clean up
nice.”

“I figured you wanted
me to dress up when I saw these clothes on my bed.” Alex grinned.
“And I decided to impress my new girl.”

Jacqueline looked from
Alex to him. “You’ll get to meet her. Katie’s going to church
with us and coming here afterwards.”

“How far away does
she live?” Tyler asked. They needed to allow enough time to pick up
Alex’s girlfriend and their grandma.

“Katie’s on the way
to church.” Alex grinned. “I picked a girl living close by so
it’s convenient to see her. Especially since neither of us drive
yet.”

“I better warn her
about you.” He couldn’t resist teasing Alex.

Jacqueline pointed a
flower at Alex. “All I can say is that at age fifteen, you better
not get serious.”

“I can’t wait for
Katie to see the gazebo I decorated.” Alex winked at him.

“Not before dinner, I
hope.” He’d wring Alex’s neck if he took his girlfriend out
when he was proposing to Jacqueline.

Alex shook his head. “I
have a job to do when we get home. I’m the official candle lighter.
I don’t know if we need candles, though. That Christmas tree has so
many lights that the dining room looks bright.”

Jacqueline nodded. “It
has over seven hundred lights. I think another reason it’s so
bright is because of the glitter on the branches.”

Glancing at his watch,
he saw it was four-fifteen. “We better leave soon or we won’t get
a seat. You don’t know more might decide to go to the early Mass.
It’s going to snow tonight.”

* * *

After church, he took
Jacqueline to the gazebo while everyone else went into the house.

“Tyler, it’s a
beautiful winter night, but I need to go inside soon. I have a
houseful of people waiting to eat.”

“I just need a few
minutes alone with my beautiful girl.” He looked directly into her
brown eyes and said, “I love you, Jacqueline, with my whole heart.
I want to make babies with you and to grow old with you. Will you
marry me?”

She gave a delighted
laugh. “I was hoping you brought me out here for that very
question. Yes, I’ll marry you. I love you so much.”

He pulled the small box
out of his coat pocket and flipped it open. “If you don’t like
the ring, we can exchange it. I want you to have the ring you want.”

Her eyes widened as she
stared at the ring. “I don’t want another one. It’s gorgeous. I
love it.”

He slid the ring on
her finger.

She wrapped her arms
around his neck. “I’m so touched that you proposed to me out
here. My dad built this gazebo because he loved my mom so much. I
want a love like my parents had for each other. And your parents
too.”

White-hot heat shot
through him as he kissed her with all the fervor he felt. She
returned his kisses with hot urgency. Despite the heat they created,
he noticed that she shivered in his arms. “We better go inside.
You’re cold.”