“You didn’t tell me!”
“I didn’t tell anyone,” she sighed, shaking her head.
“How did you meet?”
“We met at school. He was a TA.”
“A teaching assistant?”
“Yeah.”
“As in, your teacher?”
“Sort of...he’s not now, though. He’s got a new job. I don’t know what it is. He doesn’t talk about work very much...”
“Yvette, what aren’t you saying?” There had to be more to the story. There just had to be. If Yvette wasn’t being totally forthcoming, then there must be a dark twist to the story. Had he gotten fired because of their relationship? Was he married? What had happened?
“What I’m not saying,” she whispered, lowering her voice, “is that I was going to propose to him.”
“You were going to propose?”
“I know it’s unconventional,” she said.
“Not really,” Allison shrugged. A lot of girls proposed to guys these days. There was nothing in the rulebook that said only a man could propose. That wasn’t the way the world worked anymore.
“He’s a shifter,” Yvette added.
Now, that did pique Allison’s interest.
“You’re completely full of surprises today,” she chuckled. In high school and during their early 20s, Yvette had sworn up and down that she would never marry a shifter. More than that, she swore she would never date a shifter.
“Well, I do what I can,” Yvette said. “What can I say? I like to mix it up.”
“What kind of shifter is he?”
“A monkey,” Yvette said carefully.
“A monkey?”
“Yes.”
“That’s kind of...”
“Crazy?”
“I was going to say unique, but sure.”
“I liked him a lot,” Yvette sighed.
“I can tell. It’s not every day you find someone you want to propose to.”
Although, if Allison was being honest, that was how she felt about Christopher. She liked him far too much for her own good. It was going to be a problem for her if she wasn’t careful.
“What about you? Anyone special in your life?”
Allison was saved from having to answer because her mother came back into the room.
“Sorry about that, girls. Where were we? Ah, yes, the dishes.” Lyla stepped back to the sink and continued washing the dishes, as though she’d never left. She started telling the girls all about work, and all about their little brothers, and all about her big plans for Christmas.