An Engagement: A New Pioneers Short Story by Deborah Nam-Krane Page B

would look past the name and the origins
from...Louisiana.
    "Be nice. Her father didn’t let her
go to Sarah Lawrence. Honestly, I think he wanted to make sure she
could keep an eye on Tom. And didn’t a certain someone graduate
from there too?"
    Annabelle’s stomach turned at the
mention of Tom Bartolome. Stephen had ended his friendship with Tom
within two years at the university. Annabelle knew Stephen hadn’t
been a saint in college, but Tom was in a class by himself. He was
a guarantee of a bad date, among other things. Of course, Alex had
no such qualms, and as far as she could gather he still saw Tom
frequently.
    "Remind me what you see in
her?"
    "She has very intelligent things to
say."
    "I see. You love her for her
mind?"
    "Why do I put up with you
again?"
    ~~~
    Jim invited Stephen to dinner two
nights later. Stephen was the perfect dinner guest and Gerald was
the perfect host. Stephen requested Annabelle’s hand in marriage
before dessert came out, and by coffee Gerald had agreed. Jim shook
Stephen’s hand. "Welcome to the family."
    "Indeed," Gerald murmured as he
raised his coffee in toast. But Gerald wasn’t looking at his
daughter, he was looking at his son.
    Annabelle looked over at her
brother, who smiled and sipped his own coffee. He didn’t see
anything wrong, and wasn’t he the smart one? Stop worrying ,
she told herself.
    ~~~
    Annabelle met Stephen for lunch
that weekend. When she arrived at the restaurant, Alex was standing
over him and they were sharing a laugh. There was a drink in
Stephen’s hand. Wasn’t there always when he was with
Alex?
    What charm did everyone else see?
He was handsome, sure. He had a full head of perfectly combed dark
hair and dark eyes. He had a coloring that always looked healthy.
He should since he "worked out" so much. But there were other
handsome men in the world and not all of them were as
arrogant.
    "Congratulations!" Alex said when
she came to the table before he kissed her on the cheek.
    Annabelle felt the color rise to
her face. "Thank you, Alex."
     
    "Alex was just confirming that
he’ll stand up for me at the wedding."
    She thought she saw Alex’s eyes
twinkle. "Don’t worry, Annabelle. I promise to do a good job. I’m
sure Gerald will be grading my performance too."
    That he would call her father by
his first name, as if he were that close to him..."I have full
faith in your ability to stand with Stephen and hand him a
ring."
    Stephen stood up and took her hand.
"I knew you’d warm up eventually." He squeezed her hand to let her
know he was joking, then looked at Alex. "Okay, you, get out of
here. My bride-to-be and I have an appointment to whisper sweet
nothings in each other’s ears."
    Alex nodded. "Please, don’t let me
interrupt. See you tomorrow," he said as he turned away. Then he
turned back. "Congratulations again, Annabelle."
    She and Stephen sat down. "You just
told him?"
    "No, actually, I told him a few
days ago." Before he’d had dinner with her family.
    "And I suppose you made an
appointment to break the news to him gently?"
    Stephen raised his eyebrows. "Not
exactly. Alex stopped by the house."
    "What did he want?"
    "If I tell you, do you promise not
to get upset?"
    "I promise not to make a
scene."
    Stephen waited a moment. "A loan."
Silence. "Anna, you’re turning white."
    "A loan?" she finally managed.
"Daddy isn’t paying him enough to live in the lifestyle he’d like
to be accustomed to?"
    "It wasn’t that kind of loan. It
was for an investment." Stephen said a number.
    Annabelle blinked. "Was he
joking?"
    "Anna, he’s never asked for
anything before — "
    "Was he adding up everything he
could have asked for since you’ve known him? And then multiplying
by one hundred?"
    "He wasn’t asking me."
    "Your father?"
    Stephen nodded. "There was a time
when my father could have made that investment, but those days are
gone. He wasn’t the best investor as it was, so I’m sure he
wouldn’t have seen the potential