What He Promises by Hannah Ford Read Free Book Online Page A

and pulled me up out of
my chair.   “I want to show you
something.”
    “What is it?”
    “It’s a surprise.”
    That flash again, of Noah down on one knee, asking me to marry him.
    “What about the bill?
    “Already taken care of, baby.”
    He led me to the elevator and back out on the
streets of New York.
    “It’s not far,” he said, putting his hand on my
waist as we walked.
    The air was warm and heavy, and the humidity
was making my hair stick to the back of my neck.   I had the feeling it was going to rain
soon, and I hoped we’d get to wherever it was we were going before my hair
turned into a frizzy mess. The rain held off as we strolled through Manhattan,
dodging tourists and the after work drinks crowd.
    “It’s only one more block,” Noah said, but I’d
stopped.
    Set up on the sidewalk was a cage full of
puppies.   A sign attached to it said
NEW YORK CITY ANIMAL SHELTER ADOPTION EVENT.   A few feet away, a woman wearing a blue
polo shirt was talking to a middle-aged Asian couple, handing them a clipboard
with an application attached.   They
must have been interested in adopting one of the puppies.
    One of the dogs caught me looking at him and
put his paw up against the cage, barking playfully.
    I stroked his fur softly through the bars and
he wagged his tail in delight.
    “How sad,” I said, feeling the emotions of
their situation well up in my chest.
    “What’s sad?” Noah asked, seemingly
disinterested in the plight of the shelter dog.
    “They have no homes.”   The puppy wriggled around, showing off,
laying on his back and demanding I pet his stomach.
    “They’ll get homes.”   He pointed to the stack of applications
set up next to the cage, all of them filled out.
    “Yeah, sure, these dogs will,” I
said.   “Because they’re cute and
they’re puppies.   But what about the
other ones, the adult dogs no one wants?”   I sighed.   “I always wanted a
dog.   But my mom said they made too
much of a mess and that dogs didn’t like her.   Which is ridiculous.   Dogs love everyone.”
    The woman in the blue polo shirt had finished
with the Asian couple and turned to us, giving us a bright smile.   “Are you interested in a puppy?”
    “Oh, no, she’s just looking,” Noah said.   “Don’t give her any ideas.”
    He wrapped his arm around my waist and began
leading me away down the sidewalk.
    “Don’t be sad, Charlotte,” he said, sensing my
sadness.   “Just think about all of
the dogs that will get families, how happy they’ll be.”
    I began to smile in spite of myself
    “See?” he said.   “It’s not sad.   It’s happy.   It’s their second chance.”
    It was such an un-Noah
like thing to say, so out of character for him that my smile couldn’t help but
get bigger.
    “I like your new attitude, Mr. Cutler,” I said.
    We were coming up on a huge building, the kind
of building with mirrored windows, the kind of building that was so tall it
made you feel small and inconsequential.
    Noah stood in front of it and smiled at me
proudly.
    “This is it?” I asked, confused. “You wanted to
show me a building?”
    “No,” Noah said, smiling devilishly. “I wanted
to show you what’s inside of it.”
    He led me through the lobby to the elevator
bank.   Everything inside was shiny
and modern, with soaring beams and marble floors and ornate crown molding. The
faint scent of new paint permeated the air, leading me to believe it was new
construction.
    He pushed the button for the 53 rd floor, and we stepped out into an office.   It kind of resembled the office Noah had already, but it was bigger, the
views more sweeping.   It was like
Noah’s office on steroids.
    I looked around, wondering if perhaps this was
some kind of trick.   Was someone
going to jump out from some hidden nook or cranny after Noah proposed?   My mom, his mom, some
random friends?   It didn’t
seem like Noah’s style.   Although he
liked things a certain way, and didn’t