Husband Next Door. Anne Ha
poise deserted her. She’d waited hours to share the news. She’d planned the perfect speech. Now she couldn’t remember a word of it. “Eric asked me to marry him,” she blurted.
Taking an anxious breath, she waited for a response.
None came. Across the threshold, Aaron Carpenter stared back at her without a flicker of emotion on his face. Several seconds ticked by.
Finally, when Shelly was wondering whether he’d heard her at all, her next-door neighbor raised an eyebrow. “And…?”
“That’s it,” she said. “Today at lunch.”
“At lunch, eh?” Aaron absently stroked his jaw. It was a strong jaw, square cut, and darkened with five o’clock shadow. “Well…I didn’t expect this to happen so soon. But it’s not a total surprise either.”
“Really?” Shelly suppressed a nervous laugh. “I think it’s pretty sudden.” They still stood in the doorway. She stepped back so Aaron could enter her apartment.
He studied her. “So…? Did you accept?”
She bit her lip as she locked the door. “No,” she said at last. “That is, not yet.”
“But you’re going to?”
“I think so…. It’s not something I can rush into, though.”
Aaron strolled to the couch and sat down, relaxing into his usual sprawl. “That’s probably a wise idea,” he said. “After all, it’s quite a major decision. Take your time, think it over carefully.” He indicated a steno pad she’d left on the coffee table. “Maybe you should make a list of pros and cons,” he suggested jokingly.
Shelly felt herself flush.
Aaron, watching her, chuckled softly. “I see,” he said. His blue eyes sparkled with curiosity. “What did you come up with?”
Shelly perched on the couch. The steno pad lay directly in front of her, and she flattened her palm on top of it. “Nothing…nothing conclusive.” She tried to slide the pad out of his reach, but his hand snaked out and took hold of a corner.
“Not so fast,” he said. “Didn’t I show you the letter Marcia wrote me? It can’t be more embarrassing than that, can it?”
She looked at him uncertainly.
He released his grip and held out his hand. “Shelly,” he said, “don’t play hard to get. If you really didn’t want me to see it, you would have hidden it before you answered the door.”
She saw the truth in his statement. She and Aaron were in and out of each other’s apartments so much, it was almost as if there were no wall between them. Anything left out in the open was fair game for the other.
“Okay,” she muttered, relinquishing the notebook, “but you’d better not say anything cruel.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it. I might even be able to help.” Aaron flipped the notebook open and perused the list. “More pros than cons, eh? That makes sense, I guess, if you’re going to marry the guy.”
She sighed. “Just read the list and be done with it, Aaron.”
He ran his eyes down the column, picking out words and phrases. “‘Considerate…respects me…stable.’ Stable? Do you mean emotionally or financially?”
“The first one, of course. That’s what matters most”
“Is he?” asked Aaron, raising an eyebrow.
Shelly crossed her arms. Eric West was a principal lawyer in the legal aid office where she worked. She’d been dating him for several months, and he’d always been calm and dependable—as Aaron well knew.
She gave him a haughty glare. “More stable than you.”
He grinned back at her. “Touchy, touchy. Okay, let’s see what else is on this list. ‘Intelligent…likes helping people…similar interests….’ Not bad, Carpenter.”
His words hung in the air for a moment. It was faint praise, but then, she hadn’t expected Aaron to be impressed by her considered and substantive list. Tucking a lock of blond hair behind her ear, she began, “Thank you—”
“But I take it you haven’t slept with him yet.”
Shelly spluttered. “As if that’s any of your business!”
“Well…” Aaron shrugged. “You have to admit, it’s suspicious to make a list like this and not even mention you’re attracted to him. Is he that unappealing?”
“I wasn’t finished yet.” She sniffed. “Anyway, if all I wanted was physical gratification, I’ve got a whole city of partners to choose from. I need more than that.”
“Well said.” He smiled so warmly she forgave him for his obnoxiousness. “Now let’s see what’s wrong with him. ‘Travels a lot.’ That’s true enough, and a definite drawback.” His eyes met hers. “He’s out of town tonight, isn’t he? It’s the only logical explanation for why he proposed over lunch.”
Shelly nodded.
Aaron looked down at the pad again. “Is that it? Only one thing wrong with him?”
Shelly lifted her chin. “So?”
“So, if you’re going to make a list like this, it’s got to be balanced.” He reached into his breast pocket for a pen. “I can think of a few things right off the top of my head. His parents, for one.” He wrote this down.
“They’re perfectly nice people,” Shelly countered.
“You’ve only met them once,” Aaron returned. “I, on the other hand, have met them twice.”
Eric’s parents, she remembered, were patrons of the non-profit organization Aaron ran, and they’d attended a couple of fundraising events.
Aaron scrawled another word on the pad.
“What’s that?” Shelly asked, craning her head so she could see what he’d written. “Boring? You think he’s boring?”
“Shhh,” he placated. “It’s just something you should consider. Remember, I’m only trying to help.” He reviewed the list again, tapping his pen against the polished wood of her coffee table. “Come to think of it, maybe this bit about him traveling so much belongs on the other side….”
Shelly snatched the pad from him and tore off the top sheet. Crumpling it in her fist, she stared at him through narrowed green eyes. “You don’t think I should marry him, do you?”
He considered her question. “Actually, I wouldn’t go that far. I just believe you shouldn’t marry anyone but your soul mate. If Eric is that person, then by all means rush him to the altar.”
“Soul mate?” Shelly echoed dubiously.
“Sure.” His eyes gleamed. “The person with whom you feel an intense connection and an unmistakable feeling of rightness. Not to mention weak knees and a shiver in your stomach.”
She swallowed. He was making fun of her. “Modern women don’t go weak in the knees,” she said tightly. She tossed the crumpled paper onto the table.
Aaron wagged his finger at her. “You think it’ll never happen to you…. Ah, the confidence of youth.”
“You’re not that old yourself.”
He laced his fingers together. “No. But you have to admit, I’ve got lots of experience.” He said it with a wicked grin.
Shelly made a face. “Yet you haven’t met your soul mate.”
“Not this week,” Aaron agreed. “There was this greatlooking redhead the other day, though….”
She stared at the ceiling and shook