A Merry Little Christmas Read Free Page A

and rose from the table. Walking over to Renee, he embraced her. “Nope, there’s not a thing you can do, unless you can talk Aneesah into changing her mind,” he said morosely. “I still can’t believe she turned me down flat,” he added, letting go of Renee and walking over to the huge refrigerator. He opened the door and stared into it as though something new and more appetizing had materialized since his last inspection fifteen minutes before.
    Renee tasted the contents in her big stockpot and added a bit more basil to the fragrant spaghetti sauce she was making for dinner. She’d heard quite a bit about Donnie’s proposal during the past few days and thought now was the time to offer some sisterly advice.
    “Come and sit down while I make the garlic bread. And stop poking in the refrigerator, we’ll be eating in about thirty minutes,” she reminded him.
    Donnie turned away from the refrigerator with the same hangdog expression and nothing in his hands. He sat down at the tall work island across from Renee and slumped onto the butcher-block top, bracing his head with one hand while he watched her mix pressed garlic, oregano , marjoram and basil into a bowl of softened butter. His mood had been the same since a few days before Christmas, when his college sweetheart, Aneesah Shabazz, turned down his proposal of marriage. He was about to bemoan his fate again when Renee surprised him by making a few points.
    “Honey, let’s talk about this. I know you and Aneesah were quite close for a long time, but your relationship basically ended when she went to graduate school in California. You became friends, not boyfriend and girlfriend, remember? And after she got both those master’s degrees and her Ph.D., she decided to move back to Michigan, but it wasn’t like she was moving back just to be with you. Now, I know you two have been dating again, but frankly, I was surprised when you announced you were going to propose to her. And I think she was just as surprised when you presented her with that ring. Well, actually I know she was, since she turned you down. I know it hurt your feelings, sweetie, but the thing is,” she paused as she gave the now-fragrant garlic butter a final stir, “I don’t think it really broke your heart.” Giving him a loving look, she began to spread the butter on the big loaves of dense Italian bread she’d sliced earlier.
    Donnie made a halfhearted attempt to steal a piece of the bread and was rebuffed. He continued to look glum for a moment and then spoke.   “Now you sound like Aneesah,” he admitted. “It was kind of a shock to her, I guess, because she looked pretty stunned when I whipped out the ring. Maybe I should have waited a while, given her a chance to get used to us being together again. Maybe I should have waited for her to get more settled into her new job, I don’t know. I just didn’t see the point in waiting around forever, Renee. It’s time that I was married, that I started a family.”
    “Everybody’s married except me and Adam,” he continued. “And who knows when or if Adam will ever tie the knot.” He scratched the nape of his neck and brooded about the fact that he and Adam, his older brother, were the only two Cochrans who were still single.
    Renee finished with the loaves of bread and wrapped them neatly in foil to prepare them for the oven. “Getting married because your siblings are married doesn’t sound like a reason to propose, Donnie. There’s got to be more to it than that,” she said gently.
    Donnie nodded in agreement, but defended his position. “Look, Renee, I feel like I’m ready to get married. As far as business is concerned, things couldn’t be going better. The stations are thriving; the merger with the Deveraux Group is paying off beautifully. I’m working on some more creative outlets for Cochran Communications that look really promising. But my life can’t be all about business. I want what you and Andrew have, what