An Alaskan Proposal

by Beth Carpenter

  “Fix-ups are the worst.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  “This woman I used to work with had a son my age, and she was determined we were destined for each other. Eventually I went out with him, just to get her off my back. I’ve never had such an awkward evening in my life. The guy was some kind of computer guru, which is fine except he spent the entire evening lecturing me about the pros and cons of Linux. In a monotone. I’d try desperately to change the subject, and he’d just keep on talking. The worst part was going into work the next day, with his mother all starry-eyed over this great romance she thought she’d arranged. How do you tell a person she’s raised the most boring man on the face of the earth?”

  Leith laughed. “What did you say?”

  “I think I said something about him overwhelming me with his genius. Fortunately, he was no more enthralled with me than I was with him. I guess I wasn’t an appreciative enough audience.”

  “You got off easy. I spent one evening with a fix-up my sister arranged. One dinner, a little awkward conversation and I took her home. And yet she called me every day for a month. I think she only stopped because she moved to Pennsylvania. I still get emails from her with cute kitten photos once in a while.”

  “Are you a fan of cute kittens?”

  “Not anymore.”

  “Was she a good listener? Maybe we should put her in touch with the computer guy.”

  “Let’s not.” He pulled into Volta’s driveway. The front door flew open and Emma ran outside. “Uncle Leith!”

  He got out of the car and caught Emma as she threw herself at him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Hey, shortcake.”

  Emma gave him a big hug and then scrambled down to press her hands against the car window. “Hi, Tal.”

  The big dog ran a slobbery tongue over the inside of the glass. Sabrina climbed out on the other side of the car. Emma ran around to greet her. “Hello.”

  “Hi. I’m Sabrina.” Sabrina offered her hand.

  Instead of shaking it, Emma took her hand and studied her fingernails. “Pretty.” She looked up at Sabrina. “Are you Uncle Leith’s new girlfriend?”

  Sabrina looked at him helplessly. Leith jumped in. “Sabrina and I have only been out once. That doesn’t make her my girlfriend.”

  “Oh.” Emma took Sabrina’s hand and led her toward the front door. “How many dates make you a girlfriend?”

  “That’s a good question.” Sabrina looked back at Leith, smirking. “Leith, how many?”

  “Well, I’m not sure.” How did he get into this discussion? “I guess it depends.”

  Emma stopped and looked at him, hands on her hips. “On what?”

  “On different things. What kind of dates, how people feel about each other, stuff like that. Are you all packed to come to my house? I’m taking you to that birthday party tomorrow, right? Did you already buy a gift, or do we need to go shopping later?”

  “We got one, and Mommy already wrapped it. What kind of date did you go on?” She saw right through his lame attempt at distraction. Emma could be a lot like her mother when she had a subject she liked.

  “We went hiking,” Sabrina offered. “And we made chili over the campfire.”

  “Did you kiss?”

  “Emma.” Volta had stepped outside and was trying hard not to bust a gut. “Remember when we talked about how some things are private, and you don’t ask people about them?”

  “I thought that was not asking people how much they weigh.”

  “Yes, and questions about kissing fit into that category as well. Go get your backpack so you can go with Uncle Leith.” Once Emma had run inside and was out of earshot, Volta grinned at Leith. “I admit, I’m a little curious myself, but I won’t ask. Come on in.” They stepped inside her living room and she turned her attention to Sabrina. “Hi, I’m Volta.”

  “Sabrina.”

  Better make this good. Leith reached for Sabrina’s hand and held it in his. “Sabrina is going with me to the wedding next week.”

  “That’s great. It’ll be a chance for Emma and me to get to know you better.”

  “I’ll look forward to that.” Sabrina lifted Leith’s hand and gave it a visible squeeze before stepping closer to a wall filled with pictures. In the center of a big frame, Volta had arranged photos of Emma inside the letters of her name. “This is so cute. I love that name—Emma.”

  “Me, too. Mostly because it’s a nice, easy-to-spell name.” Volta pointed out a newborn picture in the E. “Right after she was born, my mom said I should name her Eileithyia, after the Greek goddess of childbirth. I think she was kidding, but I’m not entirely sure.”

  “Wow. That would be a challenge to spell.”

  “Mom loves weird names. She wanted to name Leith ‘River.’ River Jordan, get it? Dad vetoed, so she found a name that meant ‘river.’ Then when I was born, it was Dad’s turn and he’s an electrician, so he named me Volta. Can you believe anyone would do that to an innocent baby?”

  “I like it. It’s like a superhero name. My mom named me after a movie title she saw on the TV schedule in the hospital. She’d never even seen the movie. The title character could have been a serial killer, for all she knew.”

  Volta shook her head. “Parents. Gotta love ’em.”

  Emma ran back into the room, dragging a purple duffel bag almost as big as her. “I’m ready.”

  “Did you bring everything you own?” Leith grabbed the bag and slung it over his shoulder.

  “I’ve got my clothes, and the present for Jamie’s birthday party tomorrow, and my sleeping bag, and Rufus.”

  “Of course—Rufus.” Emma couldn’t sleep without the almost-life-size stuffed basset hound Leith had made the mistake of giving her for Christmas a couple of years ago. Why couldn’t he have chosen a teddy bear instead? “Tal will enjoy the company.”

  “Me and Rufus and Tal can have a sleepover in my room.”

  “Hugs.” Volta gave Emma a squeeze and a kiss before sending her on her way. “It was nice meeting you, Sabrina. I’ll look forward to talking with you at the wedding.”

  From the glint in Volta’s eye, she was already planning the next wedding—between him and Sabrina. Like that would ever happen. Even if Leith did want a girlfriend, a high-maintenance city girl like Sabrina was the last person he would get involved with, but Volta didn’t need to know that. And he’d be the last person to crush his sister’s dreams.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  AFTER MAKING SURE Emma was buckled in the back seat beside Tal, Leith climbed in behind the wheel and backed out of the driveway. Emma waved goodbye to her mother, but almost the second they were out of sight of the house, the questions started. “Uncle Leith, have you ever been to a wedding before?”

  “Yes, I’ve been to weddings.”

  “Are they fun?”

  “Um...” Leith exchanged glances with Sabrina, who was pressing her lips together to keep from laughing. “For some people, I guess.”

  “I got a new dress. It has flowers on it.”

  “Hmm.” Leith was never sure what he was supposed to say when Emma started talking about things like clothes. He was good at taking her fishing, or playing tag, or helping with homework, but clothes were a mystery.

  “I can’t wait to see you in your new dress,” Sabrina said.

  “I got shoes, too.”

  “What color?”

  “White. And they have little flowers on the top.”

  “To go with the flowers on your dress. That will look great.”

  “Do you have flowers on your dress?”

  “Maybe. I haven’t decided which dress I’m going to wear yet. One of them has flowers.”

  “Wear that one,” Emma declared. “We can be twins.”

  “All right, then. I will.” They pulled into the parking lot of Sabri
na’s apartment building. Leith pulled her leather backpack from the back of the car. She took it from him. “Thanks for today. I learned a lot.”

  “You’re welcome. I’ll see you for the wedding, then?”

  “I’ll be ready. Bye, Emma. See you there.”

  “Bye-bye.” Emma waved until Sabrina disappeared inside the building. “She’s nice.”

  “Yeah.” Leith couldn’t argue with that. He pulled out from the parking lot.

  “And she’s pretty.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Why didn’t you kiss her goodbye?”

  “Emma...”

  “You said you were on a date. At the end of a date, you’re supposed to kiss.”

  “Where did you hear that?”

  “I saw it on TV.”

  “Well, first of all, just because you saw something on TV, that doesn’t make it true. Not every date ends with a kiss, especially not first dates.”

  That stopped Emma for about two seconds. “The wedding will be your second date. Will you kiss her then?”

  “Emma, remember what your mom said?” He glanced into the rearview mirror at her. “Some things are private.”

  Emma grinned. “You are gonna kiss her.”

  He wasn’t, because it wasn’t a date, but if he said so Emma would surely tell her mother, and Volta would start up with the matchmaking again. “That’s between me and Sabrina.”

  Emma started singing to herself. “K-i-s-s-i-n-g...”

  Where did she get this obsession with kissing? He just hoped it was a passing fad, like last year when she’d decided to be a dog. She’d worn her hair in two ponytails and barked instead of talked for almost a week.

  Emma held her hands above her head and spread her fingers. “Maybe for the wedding, Mommy will paint my fingernails a pretty color like Sabrina’s. Do you think so?”

  “I don’t know, Emma.” He hoped not. He liked Emma the way she was, not afraid of bugs or dirt or the occasional bruise or scrape. He didn’t want her to think she needed to impress people with nail polish or fancy dresses. Maybe Sabrina wasn’t the best role model. He decided to change the subject. “I think I’ll grill tonight. You want me to make hot dogs or burgers?”

  She thought for a moment. “Which one does Sabrina like best?”

  “I don’t know, Emma. It doesn’t really matter, since Sabrina isn’t here. What do you want?” His tone was sharper than he intended.

  “Hot dogs, I guess,” Emma mumbled, and he felt like a jerk for raising his voice.

  “Sorry, Emma. I didn’t mean to lose my cool there. Hot dogs it is.” He pulled into his garage and opened the door to let Tal jump down. “Maybe you can take Tal into the yard and play fetch with her while I unload.”

  Emma brightened. “Okay. Come on, Tal.” They ran into the house to grab a ball.

  Leith smiled and stopped at the mailbox before grabbing Emma’s duffel out of the car. A thick envelope on top had an Oregon return address. He dumped Emma’s stuff into his guest room and returned to the kitchen to open the letter. Nicole’s name jumped out at him.

  He sank onto a kitchen chair and skimmed the cover letter, then read it again, slowly. An annulment. His ex-wife was getting married again, and she wanted their marriage annulled. Dismissed. Poof. As though it never happened.

  As though they’d never agreed to love and honor one another. Never lived as husband and wife. As though all the time and effort he’d invested in trying to make her happy, not to mention his savings and a big chunk of his salary to pay her tuition and expenses while she went to graduate school out of state, didn’t count. As though it was all a joke.

  Maybe she had played a joke on him. It could be that, even though she was the one who’d pushed for marriage, she’d never really intended to spend her life with him. Perhaps she’d always planned to move on to some other place and some other guy once she got what she wanted. But he’d meant it when he said “I do.” As far as Leith was concerned, their marriage had been real. And the fact that Nicole had now decided it was inconvenient to have been married before didn’t erase what they had.

  Forget it. He wasn’t signing anything. They’d been married and divorced, and he was still living with the fallout from that. Nicole was just going to have to live with it, too.

  Leith tossed the papers into a drawer and returned to the garage to unload the camping equipment. When he picked up the tent, a small bottle fell to the garage floor and rolled to the wall. He bent to retrieve it: the nail polish Sabrina had used to mark the tent poles.

  Leith frowned. Nicole used to get weekly manicures. He always thought it was a waste of money, but she’d insisted it was important to look professional if she wanted to move up at the bank where she’d worked. Then she’d decided looking professional wasn’t enough, that she needed an MBA to get to the next level. And while she’d earned that MBA, she’d decided that little bank in Alaska wasn’t enough anymore, and neither was Leith.

  He should have seen it coming. He should have realized before he married that they were too different to make a go of it. He tossed the bottle of polish back into the car to return to Sabrina. He certainly had no use for it.

  * * *

  ON MONDAY EVENING, Sabrina straightened the dollar bills so they all faced the same way, then counted them. Despite having made several cash drops throughout her shift, her cash drawer was packed full. It would take longer than usual to balance out tonight.

  “Good work, everyone.” Now that the doors were locked, Walter was walking through the store, congratulating all the employees on a job well done. Sabrina had been involved in some big sales, but she’d never seen anything like the response to the Memorial Day sale at Orson’s. The giant tepees of popular products they’d set up on the sidewalks outside had been reduced to rubble. Every register had been open, and still the lines had snaked past the camping department and almost back to where the shoes and boots were. Walter had been circulating among the waiting customers, chatting and offering samples of protein bars and trail mix.

  He drifted over to her register station. “How goes it, Sabrina?”

  She raised a finger to ask him to wait while she finished counting. “One-seventy-five, one-seventy-six and one-seventy-seven.” She made a note and turned to Walter. “Great. I’m amazed at the turnout this weekend. Is the Memorial Day sale always like this?”

  “We usually get a good response, but this may turn out to be our best yet. It will probably be quiet for a day or two. I think you’re about done here, don’t you?”

  “Done?” Oh, no. Was he letting her go?

  “Time to move to another department. You’ve obviously mastered the register and had a chance to see what merchandise is selling. I was planning to put you in camping or fishing, one of the bigger departments, but Marianne has a family emergency and needs to spend a couple of months in Arkansas caring for her sister. I thought you could take over women’s wear until she gets back, if that’s okay with you. It’s a working supervisor job, split between supervision and working the sales floor. I know you were probably expecting to work in one of the main departments, but it would really help us out.”

  “No, women’s wear is fine. Great, in fact.” Her day with Leith made her feel a lot more confident about camping, but she still couldn’t identify half the products in the camping department. And she hadn’t even delved into fishing. “When do I start?”

  “You’re off tomorrow, right? Come to my office on Wednesday, and I’ll get you started.” He wandered over to Clara’s register and Sabrina could hear him praising her on the efficient way she’d managed the checkout line. Sabrina had worked under a lot of bosses, good and bad, and Walter was one of the best. He genuinely cared about his employees, and they were devoted to him. The more she got to know Walter, the worse she felt about her deception.

  But if she worked hard enough, she could ma
ke it up to him. She’d learned so much from her day with Leith, and she’d been poring over camping websites and catalogs. Now Walter was trusting her with a department, and Sabrina was determined not to let him down.

  The burst of excitement over the new assignment got her through the final half hour of her shift, but by the time Sabrina crossed the parking lot to her car, she was ready to drop from exhaustion. She wanted nothing more than to go home and put her feet up. But as she waited at a traffic light, she remembered she’d used the last of her coffee. She was tempted to delay shopping until tomorrow, but if she did, she’d hate herself in the morning.

  She pulled into the parking lot of a grocery store a few blocks from her apartment. Ten minutes later, she returned to her car, carrying in her shopping bag a pouch of fresh coffee, half a dozen bagels and a tub of cream cheese for a celebratory breakfast tomorrow. On the way to her car, she passed an old truck parked beside a van. In between the two vehicles, a man suddenly yelled, “Stop that, you little—”

  At the man’s feet, a tiny dog looked up from a torn package and snarled. The man aimed a heavy boot at the dog’s head, but the dog jumped aside. It growled at the man, who grabbed a tool from the back of his truck. “I’ll teach you to snarl at me.”

  “Stop it,” Sabrina shouted. “Don’t hit that dog.”

  The man fixed his bleary gaze on her. “Who are you?”

  “It doesn’t matter who I am. Leave the dog alone.”

  “You can’t tell me how to treat my dog.” He took a step toward Sabrina, still carrying a tool like the one she recognized from the spare-tire kit in her trunk.

  Sabrina swallowed and looked around the parking lot. A few people milled around the front of the store, but no one was near enough to see what was happening. Should she scream?

  The man took another step closer, but she held her ground, even though her heart was pounding. Suddenly, he threw the tool in the back of the truck and jerked open the door. “You like that little mutt so much? Take him.” He revved the engine and Sabrina barely had time to jump back as he shot out of the parking space. He roared off, not before giving her a rude hand gesture.