Page 72 of A Cozy Christmas Blizzard
With a turn of the key, Slade started the engine and adjusted the heater. “You’ll be warm in a minute.”
Shelly nodded, burying her hands in her jacket pockets.“You know, if it gets much colder, we might get snow before we reach Seattle.”
“Very funny,” he muttered dryly, snapping his seat belt into place. Hands gripping the wheel, he hesitated. “Do you want to call your husband before we hit the road and I need you to navigate?”
“I’m visiting my dad,” she corrected him. “I’m not married. And no. If I told him what we’re doing, he’d only worry.”
Slade shifted gears, and they pulled onto the road.
“Do you want to contact... your wife?”
“I’m not married, either.”
“Oh.” She prayed that her tone wouldn’t reveal her satisfaction at the information. It wasn’t often that she found herself so fascinated by a man. The crazy part was that she wasn’t entirely sure she liked him, but he certainly attracted her.
“I’m engaged,” he added.
“Oh.” She swallowed convulsively. So much for that. “When’s the wedding?”
The windshield wipers hummed ominously. “In approximately two years.”
Shelly nearly choked in an effort to hide her shock.
“Margaret and I have professional and financial goals we hope to accomplish before we marry.” He drove with his back suddenly stiff, his expression turning chilly. “Margaret feels we should save fifty thousand dollars before we think about marriage, and I agree. We both feel that having a firm financial foundation is the basis for a lasting marriage.”
“I can’t imagine waiting two years to marry the man I loved.”
“But then you’re entirely different from Margaret.”
As far as Shelly was concerned, that was the nicest thing anyone had said to her all day. “We do agree on one thing,though. I feel a marriage should last forever.” But for her, love had to be more spontaneous and far less calculated. “My parents had a marvelous marriage,” she said, filling the silence. “I only hope that when I marry, my own will be as happy.” She went on to explain that her parents had met one Christmas and been married less than two months later on Valentine’s Day. Their marriage, she told him with a sad smile, had been blessed with love and happiness for nearly twenty-seven years before her mother’s unexpected death. It took great restraint for her not to mention that her parents had barely had twenty dollars between them when they’d taken their vows. At the time her father had been studying veterinary medicine, with only two years of vet school behind him. They’d managed without a huge bank balance.
From the tight lines around his mouth, she could tell that Slade found the whole story trite.
“Is your sweet tale of romance supposed to touch my heart?”
Stung, she straightened and looked out the side window at the snow-covered trees that lined the side of Interstate 5. “No. I was just trying to find out if you had one.”
“Karate mouth strikes again,” he mumbled.
“Karate mouth?” She was too stunned by his unexpected display of wit to do anything more than repeat his statement.
“You have the quickest comeback of anyone I know.” But he said it with a small smile, and admiration flashed unchecked in his gaze before he turned his attention back to the freeway.
Shelly was interested in learning more about Margaret, so she steered the conversation away from herself. “I imagine you’re anxious to get back to spend Christmas with Margaret.” She regretted her earlier judgmental attitude toward Slade. He had good reason for wanting his meeting over with.
“Margaret’s visiting an aunt in Arizona over the holidays. She left a couple of days ago.”
“So you won’t be together.” The more she heard about his fiancée, the more curious she was about a woman who actively wanted to wait two years for marriage. “Did she give you your Christmas gift before she left?” The type of gift one gave was always telling, she felt.
He hesitated. “Margaret and I agreed to forgo giving gifts this year.”
“No presents? That’s terrible.”
“I told you. We have financial goals,” he growled irritably. “Wasting money on trivialities simply deters us from our two-year plan. Christmas gifts aren’t going to advance our desires.”
At the moment Shelly sincerely doubted that good ol’ Margaret and Sladehad“desires.”
“I bet she’s just saying she doesn’t want a gift,” Shelly said. “She’s probably secretly hoping you’ll break down and buy her something. It doesn’t have to be something big. Any woman appreciates roses.”
