A Reunion And A Ring (Proposals & Promises 1)

“Other guys?”

“Yeah. J.T. and— Oh. Hello.” Rob was looking over Gavin’s shoulder and it wasn’t hard to guess what, or rather who, had brought the look of surprised speculation to his face.

Belatedly realizing that donning his shirt as he’d entered Rob’s field of vision might have given him the wrong idea about what he and Jenny had been doing in the bedroom, Gavin cleared his throat. “Rob Lopez, this is Jenny Baer. Jenny and I knew each other back in college. Long story, but Lizzie at the leasing office screwed up and rented the cabin to Jenny for the weekend. Jenny didn’t expect to find me here when she arrived in the middle of the storm last night.”

Rob’s eyebrows lifted. “Well, that’s awkward. Is that your car out front, Jenny?”

“Yes.” If she was at all uncomfortable, it didn’t show in her polite expression when she moved fully into the room. “I arrived just ahead of the worst part of the storm. Gavin allowed me to sleep on his couch last night and I’ve been trying to help him clear the drive today.”

Rob glanced from her to Gavin and back. “He put you on the couch? What’s wrong with the back bedroom?”

“Roof’s leaking,” Gavin grumbled. “Lost a few shingles in the storms last night. I was going to work on that after I got the trees out of the road. Power’s out, too.”

Rob nodded. “We can help with the roof. Looks like you’ve made good progress on the near tree. Won’t take long to haul it out of the way, assuming the next wave of rain holds off long enough.”

Feeling increasingly disoriented, Gavin pushed his left hand through his hair. “You want to tell me what y’all are doing here?”

With a shrug, his friend answered lightly, “Impulsive road trip. We heard about the storm damage in this area. There wasn’t any destruction to deal with in our part of the state, so we figured you could use an extra hand—or six—with cleanup here. You being short a hand of your own and all. W

e didn’t know you already had a very nice pair of hands up here helping out.”

Rob winked at Jenny as he spoke. The way she smiled in response made it clear that the woman who’d been so notably composed during the past few hours was not immune to Rob’s notorious charm. Gavin felt his brows drawing into a scowl, and he deliberately smoothed his expression. It wasn’t his business if Jenny fell for Rob’s overused lines.

He moved abruptly toward the door. “I left my boots and gloves on the porch. Jenny, now that the guys are here to help, there’s no need for you to come back out. You can just rest in here for now.”

Reaching up to tidy her ponytail, she crossed the room behind him. “Actually, I’d just as soon help rather than sit in here in the dark. My tablet and phone are getting low on power, so I can’t really work, anyway.”

He had no good argument. He certainly couldn’t tell her he found her presence too distracting while he tried to work.

“Whatever you want to do.” Without looking back at her again, he all but pushed past Rob to step out onto the porch and reach for his boots.

“Easy, bro,” Rob murmured with a low chuckle. “A guy might think something—or somebody—has got you all hot and bothered.”

Gavin shot his friend a look that made Rob back off quickly with both hands raised and a devilish twinkle in his dark eyes.

Rob watched as Jenny perched on the edge of a porch chair to lace on her bedraggled, once-bright sneakers. “Hate to tell you this, but I think those shoes might be goners,” he said. “Doubt they’ll ever be clean again.”

She wrinkled her nose. “I’ve pretty much figured that out already. I didn’t think to bring work boots with me.”

“I told you it wasn’t necessary for you to slog through the mud with me this morning,” Gavin felt compelled to point out. “But I’ll pay for the shoes, anyway, when I refund your rental money. None of this was your fault.”

Pulling the second lace tight, she stood and reached for the muddy gloves she’d worn earlier. “Of course you won’t pay for my shoes. Don’t be silly.”

Something about her tone made him scowl again. Had she just brushed him off? He glared after her as she walked down the steps with Rob, but she didn’t glance back. With a grumble, he snatched up the chain saw and followed.

“Big tree,” Rob commented unnecessarily as they approached the fallen oak. “You got a lot of it cut up this morning.”

“I figure I can drag the rest of it out of the way with my truck. There’s a heavy chain and a few more tools locked in the utility shed behind the cabin.”

Rob nodded. “Might be better to hook it up to J.T.’s heavier rig. They should have the other tree out of the road pretty quick. It’s not nearly as big as this one. They were dredging out the ditches at that low spot with shovels, too, to help the water run off faster.”

“Maybe I should take that branch off while we wait.” Gavin motioned toward the one he meant. “If the trunk rolls when we try to move it, that one could dig in and give us problems.”

“Agreed. But why don’t you let me cut it? That shoulder’s got to be giving you fits by now.”

Actually, the pain was a heck of a lot worse than that, but he didn’t want to admit it. Especially in front of Jenny. “Fine, you cut the limb while I get the chain. It’s too bulky to carry, but I can bring it around in the back of my truck. Jenny...”

“I’ll help Rob.” Donning her safety glasses, she moved into position to grab hold of the branch after it was cut. As he turned to head around the side of the cabin, Gavin could already hear Rob chatting with Jenny as if they were old friends. But then, Rob had never met an attractive woman he didn’t like. An impressive percentage of them liked him in return.