Page 110 of Second Time Around
He pretended to struggle as he slowly lifted the box off the floor.
“I said no questions.” He carried the box to the table in front of the couch and carefully set it down like the contents were fragile.
“I can’t imagine what you bought that’s this big. It’s not an appliance, is it?”
He shook his head. “No. What made you think that?”
“One Christmas, my dad bought my mom a really expensive blender, thinking she would love it.”
“Let me guess. She hated it.”
“How’d you know?”
“It’s too impersonal, and for the record, I would never buy you a blender.”
“That’s only because I don’t cook.”
He tipped his head back and laughed. “Even if you did, there’s a thousand other things I would buy you instead of a blender.”
She scratched her chin and studied the box some more. “If it’s not an appliance and it’s heavy…” She reached for the box like she was going to pick it up, but he stopped her.
“No, don’t! Just unwrap it.”
Suddenly her eyes widened as if she’d solved the mystery. Instead of unwrapping it, though, she placed her ear against the top of the box and listened.
“What on earth are you doing?”
Her shoulders slumped. “I thought it might be a puppy, but there’s no movement.”
It was his turn to look surprised. “Would you have wanted a puppy?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. I never really thought about it before you came back. But now I think it might be fun.”
“Yeah?”
“Um-hmm. It might be good practice for when we have a child—someday.”
He blinked rapidly and glanced down at her trim abdomen. “You’re not…are you?”
She laughed and shook her head. “No, but it happened to Kelsey, and it could happen to us too, especially the way we’ve been going at it.” Kelsey and Hudson had broken the news last night that they were expecting. Jenna and Stacy weren’t the least bit surprised, as they’d suspected it at Stacy’s engagement party. Still, it gave them one more thing to celebrate on Christmas Eve.
“Okay. Enough talk about puppies and babies. It’s time to open your present.”
She nodded and then took her sweet time untying the red ribbon.
“You’re dragging this out on purpose, aren’t you?”
She nibbled on her lower lip. “It’s just that once I open it, it’ll be over.”
He placed a hand over hers and shook his head. “It’s only the beginning, Jen. I promise.”
She gazed into his eyes like she was trying to decipher the hidden meaning behind his words, and he hoped he hadn’t given away the surprise.
“Okay. I’ll open it.”
He pulled his hand away and watched her slowly peel off the paper to reveal a plain cardboard box. He’d taped the top flaps together, and she slid her fingernail underneath and lifted the tape. Then she opened the flaps, leaned over, and peered inside.
His heart began to pound as she reached inside and plucked out the contents. Then she turned and gaped at him as she held up the small hinged box with a red bow on top.
