A Reunion And A Ring (Proposals & Promises 1)

“She’s not messing with my head.”

“Then why’d you almost rip into Rob just because he offered to help you carry a branch?”

“Long day,” Gavin muttered, a little embarrassed. “I’m tired. Shoulder’s sore. And I’m hoping we don’t find too much damage up on that roof.”

Avery shook his head. “Yeah, that’s a lot of excuses. And I’m not buying any of them.”

“Okay, it’s a little...weird that Jenny’s here.” He stumbled over the adjective, but he couldn’t come up with a better one. “I wasn’t prepared to see her, especially under these circumstances. It’s not like I still have feelings for her or anything,” he felt compelled to add. “It’s just weird.”

“Just don’t forget how bad she—well, she and her family—messed you up last time,” Avery warned in a growl. “I’d sure hate to see that happen again.”

“Not likely. Jenny’s champing at the bit to get off this hill, and chances are I won’t run into her again for another decade, if that.”

“I notice you didn’t say you’re in a hurry to get rid of her.”

Avery was concerned about him, Gavin reminded himself. And while the words annoyed him, he supposed the intention should count for something. “Why the hell do you think I’ve spent all morning trying to get that tree out of the drive?”

“Good,” Avery said with a firm nod. “Because I doubt she’s really changed all that much. Probably still a snob.”

“Jenny wasn’t a snob,” Gavin said without stopping to consider. Her grandmother, on the other hand, was, though there was no need to get into that now. “We just had different goals in life. Being a cop’s wife wasn’t one of hers, for a lot of reasons.”

His friend gave him a narrow-eyed scrutiny, as if trying to decide if he’d defended Jenny a bit too fervently. Gavin was relieved when J.T. called for his attention then. “Hey, Gav, I’m going up on the roof now. I forgot to ask where you keep the roofing nails.”

“They’re in a box on the shelf above the shingles,” he called back.

“Didn’t see them.”

“I can’t find them, either, Gav,” Rob agreed from the open door of the utility shed.

“Hang on.” With a glance at Avery’s still-frowning face, Gavin moved away somewhat

too eagerly.

He didn’t want to talk about Jenny just then, neither past, present nor future. Maybe because he was still trying to figure out his own convoluted feelings about all three. Maybe because he was starting to realize that after all these years he still wanted her. That he’d never really stopped wanting her.

* * *

Because the hammering from the roof was giving her a headache, Jenny moved out to the front porch. She wasn’t sure what the guys were doing exactly, but it required lots of banging and a few shouts and a couple of trips in and out of the back bedroom, so she just got out of the way.

A cool, damp breeze brushed her face and toyed with the strands of hair on her cheek. The clouds were lifting, letting glimpses of sunlight glint among the rain-heavy leaves of surrounding trees. Emerging from their shelters, birds were starting to chirp again and a couple of squirrels played tag across the wet ground. If she ignored the sounds of the men in the backyard and on the roof, she could hear the river rushing past below the cabin.

This, she thought, was the scene she had envisioned when she’d booked the cabin. She’d pictured herself sitting on this porch rocker, perhaps watching a gentle rain fall around her—no stress, no interruptions, no reason at all to be “on” for anyone else’s benefit. Away from her daily routines and obligations, she’d be able to reimagine her future, to see herself in a new reality. Once she returned to real life, rested and refreshed, she would be very busy planning a wedding, attending social and political functions, getting more acquainted with Thad’s family and associates, business, personal and political. After the wedding, she and Thad would travel quite a bit, and when they were in town there would be functions nearly every evening.

She’d always wanted to travel, to see all the places she’d only read about. But she’d been so focused on establishing her business and planning for the second store, and others down the road, so careful with her budget, that she hadn’t traveled nearly as much as she would have liked. All of that would change if—when—she married Thad. They would travel in style. Thad had even commented that she could take her mom and grandmother to some of the places they enjoyed exploring through television documentaries. Both women had worked so hard for so long, had seen so many of their dreams fall apart, it would mean a great deal to her to give them a few treats now.

It would be a good life. Comfortable. Secure. She would be able to use the skills she had developed in business and marketing, though perhaps not in the ways she’d expected. She’d be pushing Thad’s objectives more than her own—though as he’d predicted, she would surely make them her goals, as well. She could still make her mark, just in different venues than she’d planned.

Thad promised to be a loyal and considerate partner. Their children would have all the advantages of a comfortable social position, he’d always said—the best education, exposure to the arts, chances to see other parts of the world. They would be raised with an awareness of the obligations of privilege, and with knowledge of the inner workings of government. Just as Thad himself had been raised, and look how well he’d turned out, he’d added with a charmingly self-deprecating chuckle.

Not once in the seven months she had dated him had Jenny had to bandage Thad’s injuries or pace the floor worrying about whether he would be shot on his job. Thad wasn’t even a criminal lawyer. Unlike her firefighter father, whose favored off-duty pursuits were as risky—if not more dangerous—than his work, corporate attorney Thad could generally be found on the golf course when he wasn’t helping some business VIP wade through legal paperwork. The odds were fairly good that Thad’s daughter, if he should have one, would not be left fatherless at a young, particularly vulnerable age.

Maybe she’d finalized her decision, after all. With all the points she’d just enumerated, she would be foolish not to accept Thad’s proposal. There were cons, of course, as there were to any decision, but the pros certainly outweighed them. There was no good reason at all for her not to marry Thad.

“Hey.”

With a start, she turned to find Gavin watching her from the open doorway to the cabin. She had no idea how long he’d stood there. She’d been too lost in her thoughts to hear the door open. She cleared her throat. “Hey, yourself.”

“We got the leaks fixed, I think.”