Chapter 25

"Only if she says yes, brother dear," teased Adele.

"She will, you'll be getting a new sister-in-law before long."

"I love Grace already. Are you two planning on starting a family anytime soon?"

"We haven't talked about it, but if she is willing, than I would like more children."

"I think Grace would probably be a good mother. Have you thought of how her father is going to react to you two being engaged? From the one meeting I had with him, he doesn't seem to be a very reasonable man."

"I am sure he'll not be pleased. He's had Grace under his control her entire life and I'm positive he won't want to lose his meal ticket."

"Well, until the two of you have children, is there any reason she couldn't continue her work, as she is doing? When you're at sea it would give her something to do."

"And maybe her father would be more cooperative, if he knew that I had no objection to her continue traveling with him when I'm not at home. So…the two of you are going shopping tomorrow afternoon?"

"Yes, I get off at one and thought Grace might enjoy trying new clothes."

AJ handed her Adele a twenty dollar bill and told her, "Buy her something she likes.'

"I had already intended to, brother."

"Since she doesn't drive, I thought I'd bring her into town a little early and we could have a picnic in the park and then the two of you could shop," replied AJ.

"That sounds like a romantic idea, as long as you end it at the park, and don't try to go shopping with the two of us."

"No, I'll let you two shop on your own." Noticing the time AJ reminded Adele that she had to get back to work and he still needed to stop and the grocery and jewelry stores before going home.

Making his last two stops, AJ was about to head home, when he saw three people exit the pet shop across the street. The mother and father were smiling indulgently at the little girl walking in front of them clutching a puppy in her arms. Seeing the look of joy on the child's face, AJ knew that Grace would act the same way. Making a beeline across the street, he went into the pet store and back to the dog section.

"May I help you sir?" a female clerk asked him.

Smiling at her, he told her he was looking for a small dog for his fiancée. The clerk tried to hide a look of disappointment as she learned that the handsome young man was engaged. "We have three breeds of puppies right now that won't get very big when they are full grown. We have a Maltese, which will be six to nine pounds when full grown. We have a litter of beagles and Chihuahuas; the beagles will be about twenty-two to twenty-five pounds with fully-grown, and the Chihuahua puppies will be two to six pounds, however they won't be able to leave their mother for a another week."

AJ followed the girl as she pointed to the different dogs available and when he saw the pure white Maltese he knew immediately that this was the puppy for Grace. She was dainty and beautiful, just as the adorable puppy was. They would be a perfect pair and company for each other when he had to be away from home. Purchasing the $l50.00 purebred puppy, took just about all of his on-hand cash. He had just enough left over to buy a collar, leash, bowl, and some puppy food for her.

They put a sweet little pink bow on top the puppy's head when AJ told them the she was going to be a gift. He smiled indulgently down at the tiny ball of fluff and wondered what Grace would name her. As he clipped her collar and leash on, an idea came to him. He took her engagement ring from his pocket, out of the box, and put it on the doggie's collar, figuring he would tell her they were a package deal. She couldn't have one without the other.

To be continued…..