A Reunion And A Ring (Proposals & Promises 1)

“Wasn’t that sweet of Avery?” she asked with an equally false smile now.

“Not particularly. You looked beautiful, by the way. I’m sure your boyfriend was very proud to have you there with him.”

“Thad’s not my boyfriend.” She’d cried herself to sleep that night, not because she’d been brokenhearted over her breakup with Thad, but because she’d been so confused about what to do about her overwhelmingly intense feelings for Gavin. That wasn’t something she would admit now. Probably ever. “He and I agreed to remain friends, but we aren’t seeing each other anymore.”

Gavin went very still. “Is that why you’re here? To tell me you aren’t going to marry him, after all? Took you a few days to get around to letting me know, didn’t it?”

“I needed some time to think,” she admitted. “I didn’t want to rush into anything without making sure I knew what I was doing. I’d already hurt one person, though I expect he’ll recover soon, and I infuriated my grandmother, who might take a little longer to get over it. So I wasn’t going to come to you until I was sure I wasn’t being too impulsive. Until I’d had a chance to overcome my fears and decide I could handle trying again with you, if you’re still interested.”

“I don’t understand why it scares you so much. I mean, yeah, my job carries a risk, but so does...”

“So do firefighting and race-car driving and construction work and piloting,” she cut in with a wry smile. “My mom reminded me lately that there are few guarantees in life. But I’m not going to lie, Gavin. I’m still scared.”

“Of...?”

“Of you. Of everything about you,” she confessed. “Of loving you and losing you, either on the job or off. Of spending the rest of my life missing you and grieving for you, the way my mom has for my dad. The way Gran did when her husband died. I’m afraid of loving you so much I lose myself, the way I almost did in college. You warned me about giving up too much for Thad, but there was always a part of myself I held back from him. I could never hold anything back with you. And that’s terrifying.”

He shook his head as he took a step closer. “You honestly think I don’t understand that? Seeing you again in my cabin scared the crap out of me, because the minute I did I knew I still wanted you. It took me so damned long to get over you the first time. You think I wanted to go through that again? I’ve tried to change to please other people before, to please you before, and it never worked. And yet I was half-afraid that if you asked me again, I actually might try one more time, just to be with you. Even knowing it would only lead to failure again.”

Another step brought him even nearer. “And do you really think I don’t worry about losing someone I love to an accident or an illness or any of the other tragedies that strike good people every day? Things I see every day on my job? Loving someone is accepting that risk, Jenny. It’s learning how to push the fear aside and to enjoy every day together, just in case.”

She swallowed a lump in her throat, but spoke as lightly as she could manage. She knew he wouldn’t want her to get too maudlin. “That’s very deep.”

“Yeah, well, I’m a complicated guy.”

Her lips twitched, though he wasn’t smiling. “You are at that.”

She reached out to him, needing desperately to touch him. Kiss him. “Gavin...”

He held her off, his face so stern that for a moment her heart stopped. Had he changed his mind? Had he decided she’d hurt him too badly the last time for him to ever trust her again? Had he concluded that it would be foolish to try again after so much time had passed?

His eyes held hers. “I’m not a daredevil, Jen. I don’t take unnecessary risks on the job or for fun. I can’t promise nothing bad will ever happen to me, but I can assure you I’ll take every reasonable precaution. You have to decide right now if you can deal with that. If you can take me exactly as I am.”

“I’ll take you however I can get you,” she answered quietly, beginning to breathe again. “That’s what I came here to tell you. That I know now that we’re right for each other, just as we are.”

His eyes warmed as the faintest hint of a smile curved his firm lips. “We were never wrong for each other, Jen. We were just together at the wrong time. Before each of us knew who we really were and what we wanted. We know now. I’d never stop you from going after your dreams. I’ll support you in whatever you choose to do, even if it’s to enter politics yourself. Hell, you’re as qualified as that pretty boy in the photo. If you want to open a whole chain of boutiques, I’ll back you in that, too. All I ask is that you offer the same support for my career, even if it’s not what you’d planned for your life.”

“Sometimes plans change,” she said, blinking back a haze of mist from her eyes. “I’m trying to learn to be more flexible. And to appreciate surprises.”

He surged forward, taking her in his arms and spinning her around. Clutching his shoulders, she laughed, not caring that he was grubby and a little sweaty from his work. She was definitely learning to appreciate surprises, she thought as his mouth closed over hers.

* * *

The cabin bedroom was dark, not from lack of electricity this time, but because they hadn’t bothered turning on the lights as one hour blended into the next in the big bed. Sated and exhausted, they lay tangled together on even more tangled sheets, bare skin pressed to bare skin, heart beating against heart.

“Gavin?”

“Mmm?” The sound was a sleepy, satisfied murmur in the shadows.

“As much as I love this cabin, I’m still going to want to vacation somewhere with room service and a pool occasionally. Maybe even a spa that offers facials and massages.”

He chuckled lazily. “I could appreciate that sometimes myself, but I wouldn’t mind you taking Stevie and Tess for an occasional pampered weekend while the guys and I gather here for poker and beer. Or Scrabble and beer, if it’s up to J.T.,” he added drily.

She appreciated that he still saw them having interests of their own even as they built a life together. Tomorrow they would return to Little Rock, where he would reintroduce her to his mother and she would present him to her welcoming mother and her sullen grandmother. Gran would either accept Gavin eventually or she wouldn’t. Jenny couldn’t let her grandmother’s wishes guide her anymore.

“Jen?”

“Mmm?”