Free The Proposal by Diane Craver

Chapter One
    “I can't wait to see
Brad. He's going to propose and give me a ring for my birthday
present. I just know it.” Jacqueline Andrews whirled around in
front of her friend, Tyler Jordan.
    Tyler raised his
eyebrows. “Why do you think that?”
    She gave him a
concerned look. “Oh no, you know something. Is he going to wait
until Christmas to propose?”
    “I haven't talked to
Brad recently so I don't know what his plans are for your birthday.”
He wasn't happy at her assumption that she'd get a ring for her
birthday. No way, did he want her to marry Brad. “Has he said
something that makes you think he's going to pop the question soon?”
    Her auburn hair swung
forward as she sat beside him on her parents' loveseat. He got a
fragrant whiff of her hair. He was glad Jacqueline never wore heavy
perfume which he couldn't stand. His old girlfriend wore this
overwhelming junk that made him feel like gagging. Sometimes he even
got a headache from her perfume; not a situation conducive to a
romantic time. The fragrance wasn't the only reason he broke it off
with her. He realized that he loved Jacqueline.
    “He texted me that he
has a big surprise for me. And he knows I'll love it.”
    Tyler noticed the
dreamy look in her eyes. Jacqueline would be crushed if Brad wasn't
going to propose.
    “I wonder what my
ring looks like. Don't call him and say anything. Promise?”
    “I promise." I'm
not going to mention you wanting a ring to Brad. Last thing I want to
do is to give him the idea if his surprise should be something else.
    She patted his arm.
“Okay, I can tell you aren't convinced that my surprise is a ring.
There's more.”
    When Jacqueline
hesitated, he said, “Don't keep me in suspense. What other clue did
he give you?”
    She shrugged. “Nothing
he said exactly but when we were together in September, he drew a
layout of a house he wants to build someday. He seemed interested in
my opinion of his floor plan. I’m glad Mom and Dad knew Brad. It
makes it easier to know that they liked him and thought he was good
enough for their daughter. It’s not like Brad can ask my dad’s
permission to marry me.”
    He yearned to touch her
hair and kiss Jacqueline senseless, but obviously he wasn't the one
she was in love with—Brad was the lucky guy. Why had he waited to
tell Jacqueline that she wasn't just his best friend? He should've
told her how his feelings had changed for her. When he returned home
to take the job at the doctor’s office, he’d fallen in love with
her. Before he had a chance to tell her, she was serious about Brad.
He thought all he had to do was wait for the long-distance
relationship to fail. Brad never dated the same girl for more than a
few weeks.
    When that didn’t
happen, he decided to go ahead and tell Jacqueline his feelings for
her. But fate hadn’t been on his side—her parents were killed in
an automobile accident. It hadn’t been the time to tell Jacqueline
that he loved her…and not just as a friend, but the one he wanted
to marry. With the unexpected death of both parents, Jacqueline and
Alex were so grief-stricken, he became their anchor and helped them
make the funeral arrangements. He wanted to be there for Jacqueline
and didn’t want to jeopardize anything by expressing his love for
her.
    Jacqueline could be
right about Brad. Maybe he was going to commit to her. “It sounds
like he might propose. Do you want a long engagement?”
    She grinned at him with
a twinkle in her big brown eyes. “Hey, I'm going to be twenty-six
soon. Remember my plan. I want to get married when I'm twenty-six so
I'm hoping for a short engagement.”
    He tapped his forehead
with his hand. “How could I forget your big plan? It's my turn to
remind you of something else you said. Remember when we were little
you told everyone that we were going to get married and have kids in
every room of the house.”
    She laughed. “I was
like four or five when I said that. I was influenced by the