Gavin flagged her down when she’d reached the other side. She put the car into Park as he approached. So he was going to say goodbye, after all. She should at least thank him for his hospitality before she drove away.
Leaving the motor running, she opened her door and climbed out. “That was definitely interesting,” she said with a wry smile.
“A little too interesting. If that puddle had been an inch or two deeper, I’d have insisted you turn around and drive back up the hill.”
She was glad it hadn’t come to that. “Well, it’s been...”
She almost said “interesting” again, but decided she was getting a little repetitive. She couldn’t actually think of an appropriate adjective, so she allowed her voice to fade into a wry smile.
“Yeah. It’s been.” He, too, left it at that. “Drive carefully.”
“Thanks, I will.”
“Again, sorry about the mix-up this weekend. I’ll make sure that refund goes through immediately. I assume it can just be credited back to your card?”
“Yes, that would be fine, thank you.”
“I’ll have someone other than Lizzie take care of it, so it’s done right.”
She cleared her throat. “So...”
He met her eyes, though she still couldn’t tell what he was thinking or feeling. “So...”
“Goodbye, Gavin. Be careful with that shoulder, okay?” And on the job, she wanted to add. Please don’t get shot.
“I’ll take care,” he replied without smiling.
She nodded and started to turn back to her car.
“Jenny...” His hand fell on her arm, detaining her before she could slide behind the wheel.
She glanced up at him. “Yes?”
She was too startled to move when he lowered his head and covered her mouth with his. Or at least that was what she told herself. She wasn’t sure if she reached up to push him away or steady herself, but her fingers curled into his shirt.
His lips were as firm as they looked and so very warm. The kiss was brief, but it rocked her to her toes. Her heart pounded against her chest. She suddenly understood every old cliché about fireworks and trumpets.
During the past years, she had spent a great deal of effort trying not to remember explosive kisses and mind-blowing lovemaking with Gavin. On the rare occasion when erotic memories slipped through the cracks, she’d written them off as exaggerated by time, perhaps made more spectacular through the eager lens of youth and innocence. She’d convinced herself that no mere embrace could be that powerful now that she was a more experienced adult. No mere press of lips could turn her into a mindless mass of quivering nerves.
It seemed she’d been wrong. She couldn’t for the life of her figure out why her eyes suddenly burned as if with long-held-back tears.
Oddly enough, Gavin was smiling a little when he lifted his head.
“Sorry,” he said, though there was no apology in his expression. “Guess you could say that was for old times’ sake.”
She realized that her hand rested just over his bandaged shoulder. She drew it away as if her fingertips had been burned. Her voice was hardly recognizable to her own ears when she said, “Goodbye, Gavin.”
Only when she was in her car and driving away did it occur to her that he hadn’t said goodbye in return.
At least their parting had been amicable this time, disturbing as the unexpected kiss had been. Maybe there’d been a little sarcasm on his part when she’d mentioned her potential engagement, but no anger, no accusations. Perhaps her chest ached a little, but that was probably a normal reaction. Gavin had been an important part of her past. Of course there would be some nostalgia, some vague reflections of what-might-have-been.
The weekend could not have turned out more differently than she’d expected, but maybe she’d accomplished what she’d set out to do, anyway. She’d said a final goodbye to her past. While sitting on the porch in the rocker, she had reminded herself of all she had to gain by marrying Thad. All in all, a surprisingly constructive day.
So why was there such a hard lump in her throat and a knot in her stomach? And why couldn’t she stop reaching up to touch her lips, as if to see if they somehow felt different to her? And why was she finding it so hard not to compare that disturbing kiss to the pleasant, affectionate embraces she’d shared with Thad?
She had to stop. Going down that path could only lead to heartache again, surely, and she’d had enough of that to last a lifetime.
* * *