A Reunion And A Ring (Proposals & Promises 1)

Jenny had to bite her tongue to keep herself from snapping at her grandmother, though she had spoken acerbically. “I don’t appreciate your implication that I would sneak around and lie to either you or Thad. If I had chosen to meet Gavin—or anyone else, for that matter—at the cabin, I’d have made no secret of it.”

“How was Gavin?” her mother had interceded, just a hint of wistfulness in her tone. “He was such a sweet boy. And his mother was a nice lady. Did he say how she is?”

Before she could reply, her grandmother had interrupted. “For heaven’s sake, Brenda, what do you care about that man’s family?” Gran had demanded with a scowl. “You should be more interested in Thad’s lovely mother. Have you heard from her since he’s been out of town, Jenny? You have spoken with Thad, haven’t you?”

“I talk with Thad every evening,” she’d answered with every ounce of patience she’d possessed. “His parents are on a Mediterranean cruise to celebrate their fortieth anniversary.”

“A Mediterranean cruise.” Lena Patterson’s eyes had gleamed with envy. “I’d always hoped to take a cruise with your grandfather, bless his soul. We’d have had a nice life like that, had he lived.”

Gran made no secret of her lifelong sorrow that her young physician husband had died of an unforeseen, massive heart attack at the age of twenty-nine. He’d died just before he’d paid off the last of his education loans, before he’d been able to set up his practice and provide her the life of a respected doctor’s wife she’d fantasized about. Gran had worked long hours to help put him through medical school, along with the loans they’d taken out, and she believed now that her efforts had gone unrewarded. She’d been left a pregnant widow with no one to support her except herself. Not at all the life she’d planned.

Still, Lena had always been a resourceful woman. She’d served as the secretary to the president of a medical supplies company, working up to a good salary and a tidy pension there. After paying off her late husband’s loans, she had invested the small life-insurance settlement from him and a modest inheritance from her own parents into rental property. For nearly forty years, while still working full-time, Gran had been a landlady. A shrewd one, at that, providing a good life for herself and her daughter. She’d sold her last property a few years ago, for enough to supplement her pension and Social Security quite comfortably. She had never remarried, which always made Jenny wonder if Gran had truly loved her husband for more than his potential earnings.

Gran had been bitterly disappointed when her daughter had also become a debt-ridden, widowed single mother after marrying beneath her, in Gran’s opinion. Gran had been determined the pattern would end with her granddaughter.

Gran saw Thad as embodying everything she had wanted for herself, whereas Gavin had seemed to represent all the heartache and regret she and her daughter had suffered. Gran had insisted that she didn’t want her granddaughter to marry only for money; but she’d often quoted the old adage that it was just as easy to fall in love with a rich man as a poor one.

Jenny realized suddenly that Tess and Stevie were studying her across the table with mirroring looks of concern. She blinked. “What?”

“You kind of zoned out there for a minute,” Tess replied quietly.

Jenny sighed and shook her head. “I’m fine. Let’s just enjoy our lunch, okay? I have a meeting with a supplier later this afternoon, and I need to prepare for it.”

Stevie started to speak, then stared over Jenny’s shoulder toward the entrance door with widened blue eyes. “Oh, my gosh, is that...? Yes, I think it is. Wow.”

Jenny looked up from her lunch to study he

r friend’s face curiously. “Someone you know?”

“Someone you know,” Stevie murmured. “And let’s just say, time has been very good to him.”

Jenny set down her chopsticks. The tiny hairs on her arms were suddenly standing on end. She didn’t have to ask her friend for further clarification. If she were a superstitious woman, she’d wonder if she had somehow summoned Gavin with her wandering thoughts.

* * *

Jenny couldn’t blame either of her friends for staring when Gavin stopped at their table. He was the type of man who elicited such a reaction. Heightened senses. Accelerated heartbeat. Visceral feminine awareness. It was the way she had responded to him the first time she’d noticed him in a college classroom. She reacted the same way now.

He was dressed in dark jeans and a short-sleeved navy pullover almost the same color as his eyes. The casual clothing emphasized his broad shoulders, strong arms and solid thighs. He hadn’t cut his hair yet. It waved back from his clean-shaven face as if he’d just run his fingers through it, the lighter streaks gleaming in the dark blond depths. She doubted that he’d deliberately tried to look like a walking sexy-bad-boy poster—he’d be appalled at the very suggestion—but he did, anyway. And judging by the admiring looks from women at nearby tables, she and her friends weren’t the only ones who noticed.

“Hello, Gavin,” she said when he didn’t immediately speak. She took some pride in hearing the evenness of her tone; she doubted that anyone who heard her could tell how rapidly her heart was racing. “Were you looking for me or is this another crazy coincidence?”

“The manager at your store told me I could find you here.” He set a bag from a nearby shoe store on the table next to her plate. Her left hand rested there and he brushed her bare ring finger with his fingertips as he released the bag. Was that merely an accident?

“I figured since you were close by, I’d deliver this to you personally,” he said, his voice a shade deeper than usual.

“What...?” She glanced into the bag, then shook her head when she saw the familiar shoebox. According to the label, this was an identical pair of shoes to the ones she’d ruined at the cabin, right down to the neon-green color. They were not inexpensive shoes. Even though he’d told her he would, she hadn’t really expected him to replace them, especially not in person. “You didn’t have to buy me new shoes.”

He shrugged. “It was the least I could do after you helped me clean up the storm damage. Did the new leasing agent refund your credit card?”

“Yes, thank you. Did you fire Lizzie?”

“Wasn’t my call to make, though I did file a complaint with the company. I understand she quit Monday afternoon. She didn’t care for the job apparently.” He turned his head to nod to her companions. “Ladies.”

Remembering her manners, she said quickly, “Oh, sorry. Gavin, this is my friend Tess Miller. And you remember Stevie McLane?”

“Of course he does.” Stevie hopped from her chair to give Gavin a typical Southern greeting of a quick hug. “Gavin, you look great. You’ve hardly changed. I knew you right away.”

He gazed down at her when she stepped back. “Were you this blonde in college?”