Her fiance claimed the recliner across from her. "Much better, thank you."

Hannah noted that her heart didn't leap with excitement the way it did whenever she saw Joshua. Nor did she experience a twinge of pleasure just because they were together. Carl was Carl. Dedicated, devout, determined. But soon, if everything went as their mothers had planned, he would be more than an unexpected guest. He would be her husband.

"My mother stopped by to talk to your mother," he explained with a wry grin. "They're discussing the details of the wedding."

Hannah's gaze fell back to the pages of the novel. "My mother wants to hire a wedding coordinator," she told him. "I heard her discussing the matter over the phone."

"She must have been talking to my mother, because I heard her say something about it as well."

Hannah smiled and looked away. She noticed with regret that they didn't seem to have a whole lot to say to each other.

"I thought we should set a time to shop for the engagement ring," Carl suggested, almost as if he were grateful for something to discuss.

"That would be nice."

"How about after the first of the year?" he proposed.

"Great." The further into the future, the better.

A disjointed silence followed, as though there were nothing left to say.

"Carl." Her father's face lit up with delight as he walked into the living room. "Ruth didn't mention that you were coming."

Carl stood, and the two men exchanged hearty handshakes. David Morganstern slapped Hannah's fiance across the back. "By heaven, it's good to see you. You've been making yourself scarce around here these last few days."

"I've been busy."

"Ruth said you'd come down with a twenty-four-hour bug the other night."

"I'm fine now."

Hannah watched as the transformation took place in the man who was to be her husband. It seemed his face brightened as soon as her father walked into the room.

Soon the two entered into a lively debate over some political matter that didn't interest Hannah. While they chatted, Hannah went into the kitchen, brewed tea, and served that along with freshly baked sugar cookies.

Helen Rabinsky and Hannah's mother were engrossed in their own conversation and seemed unaware of her. As she expected, the women were debating the pros and cons of hiring a wedding coordinator.

After a time, Hannah escaped to her bedroom and closed the door. She doubted anyone would miss her.

Sitting on top of her bed, her knees bent, Hannah closed her eyes and remembered her time with Joshua at the skating rink. It wasn't right that she should be thinking of another man. Not with Carl on the other side of the door.

Joshua's business card remained inside her coat pocket, but she didn't need to retrieve it to find the number. In the last two days, she'd stared at that card so often, she'd committed the phone number to memory.

When she feared she might be missed, Hannah returned to the living room. Carl glanced her way and smiled affectionately.

"Carl," she said, "would you like to go for a walk, or something?"

"A walk?" he repeated with a decided lack of enthusiasm. "It's below freezing."

"How about if we went ice skating?" she suggested next.

"Tonight?"

"I don't know what's gotten into that daughter of mine," her father commented, and chuckled. "Two nights ago she walks over to Rockefeller Center and goes ice skating."

"I don't skate," Carl said with a touch of sadness.

"I could teach you," she offered expectantly. "It isn't difficult, and we could have a lot of fun."

Carl looked from Hannah to her father and then back again. "Would you mind if we stayed here?"

"Remember your young man's just getting over the flu, Hannah," her father reminded her gently. "Carl will take you ice skating another time."

She tried to hide her disappointment and must have succeeded. An hour later, Helen Rabinsky announced it was time to leave. Carl stood, and for no reason Hannah could fathom the two of them were left alone. It didn't take her long to realize her family was giving her and Carl a private moment together.

"Thanks for stopping by, Carl," she said.

"It was good to see you again, Hannah." He leaned forward and pressed his mouth to hers. It was a gentle kiss, but passionless. It was unfair to compare the kisses she'd shared with Joshua to the quick exchanges between her and Carl. But Hannah couldn't help it.

Joshua's kisses made her feel as though she'd been hit by a freight train. The emotional impact left her reeling long afterward. She knew that her kisses affected him in the same magical, exciting way. Joshua made her feel like a sensual, alluring woman.

"I'll be calling you soon," Carl promised.

Hannah nodded, afraid to speak for fear of what she'd say. Intuitively she realized she couldn't marry Carl. He didn't love her any more than she loved him. He was as miserable about this arrangement as she was, but they were both caught in the trap. One of them had to break it.

As soon as Hannah and her parents were alone, her mother turned and clapped her hands gleefully. "Helen agrees that we should hire a wedding coordinator. I couldn't be more pleased. She suggested we talk to Wanda Thorndike." She hugged Hannah briefly. "I'll make an appointment with Wanda first thing in the morning."

Hannah wanted to object, to explain that she felt they were rushing matters, but she wasn't given the opportunity.

"I overheard Carl suggest that he and Hannah pick out engagement rings right after the first of the year."

"David," her mother said, sighing, "you can't imagine everything we need to consider for a large wedding."

"We haven't picked a date yet," Hannah reminded her family, dread weighing down her words.

"My dear, you're as naive as Helen and I were about all this. The wedding coordinator will be the one to choose that. She'll know what's available and when. Personally I'd prefer a June wedding. You should be a traditional June bride, but that's barely six months away, and I don't know if we could manage it in that time. One thing I'm going to have to insist we do right away, and that's shop for your dress."

"Mom-"

"Helen was telling me it sometimes takes as long as six months to have a dress made and delivered."

"But-"

"I know, darling, we're throwing a lot at you. Just be patient." Humming happily to herself, Ruth Morganstern returned to the kitchen and the wedding brochures she'd pored over only moments earlier.

Hannah's father chuckled. "I don't know when I've last seen your mother so pleased. This wedding has given her a renewed lease on life."

Hannah couldn't find it in her heart to disappoint them. Not then. Later, she promised herself. She'd sit down with them both and explain that she didn't love Carl.