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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