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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