A Reunion And A Ring (Proposals & Promises Book 1) (7 page)

Rob nodded and winked comically at Jenny. “I’d rather you wait until it’s safe. It’s my day off. As pretty as you are, I’m still not in the mood to administer CPR today.”

“Rob’s a compulsive flirt, but you should know he’s an EMT,” Avery said so quietly to Jenny that she wasn’t sure anyone else could hear. “Just another lowly civil servant who doesn’t move in your social circles. I doubt you’d be interested in him.”

A little gasp of indignation escaped her. Had Avery just blatantly accused her of being a snob?

Before she could retort, Gavin surged forward, planting himself in front of his friend with a glare of warning. “Jenny is my guest here,” he said in a low but unyielding voice. “I expect her to be treated courteously. Is that clear, Avery?”

Avery had the grace to look a little sheepish as he muttered, “Sorry, Jenny.”

Biting her lower lip, she nodded to acknowledge the halfhearted apology. The inexplicable acrimony between her and Avery had come between Gavin and his pal on several occasions back in college. She certainly wouldn’t want to cause a rift between them now. As unfair as the remark had been, she couldn’t entirely blame Avery. He was just watching out for his friend.

“Hey, Avery, help me carry this cooler and stuff,” J.T. shouted from his truck, seemingly unaware of the tension between the trio. “We might as well dig into the sandwiches and beer we brought until the rain stops again.”

Avery turned and walked away without looking back. Clearing his throat, Rob followed quickly.

“I’m sorry, Jen,” Gavin said quietly. “I’ll talk to Avery.”

She shook her head. “No, that’s not necessary. He has a right to his opinions of me. Even though they’re wrong.”

She didn’t expect to have to deal with Avery much longer, anyway. And she was perfectly capable of defending herself, if she had to. He’d simply caught her off guard this time.

“You know, I have driven in bad conditions before,” she said, turning to face Gavin fully. “If I’m very careful, and make sure to stay on the highest ground at the foot of the hill, maybe I could get around the flooded area. The road’s paved after that, so...”

She was startled when Gavin took hold of her arm. Feeling the tingle where damp palm met damp skin, she swallowed. “Um...”

He gave a light tug. “Come over here a minute.”

She allowed him to lead her off to the side of the property, a few yards to one side of the woods-lined drive. He motioned toward the river below them, at the bottom of a steep, muddy, rock-and-root-tangled incline. She remembered that the stairs down to the river lay at the back of the property. Only a few feet from the bottom of that staircase, a path led to the clearing in the woods where they’d sneaked away for a couple of sweet, private hours together the last time they’d been here.

She gazed down now with a sinking feeling in her stomach and an old, dull ache in her heart. The sight below wasn’t encouraging. Swollen by the storm, the river rushed and tumbled, carrying branches and other storm debris on its churning surface. “Maybe if I hurry, before the rain really starts falling again...”

“Sorry, Jen. That road’s always dangerous when it’s flooded. Dad and I talked about trying to get better drainage downhill, but the county hasn’t been in any hurry to address the problem. If I thought I could drive that little car of yours safely through the flood zone, I’d have the guys follow me down and I’d do it for you. But even as long as I’ve been coming up here, I wouldn’t risk your car or my life just to get you out a couple hours quicker.”

A few more raindrops trickled down her face and she glanced toward the cabin. “Then I guess we should go inside before we get soaked again.”

He released her arm, but didn’t immediately move away from her. Instead, he raised his hand to wipe her cheek with his thumb, his gaze locked with hers. “So,” he asked in a low, deep voice, “are you more anxious to run away from Avery or from me?”

She jerked away from his touch, then wished immediately that she’d been a little more discreet about it. “I’m not running away from either of you. I just...need to get out of this rain.”

With that, she turned and moved briskly toward the cabin, resisting an impulse to run.

“Jenny...”

Pretending not to hear him, she walked a little faster.

It seemed her grandmother had been right about this trip to the cabin being a bad idea. But then, her grandmother claimed to be right about a lot of things. Gran had always said Gavin would break Jenny’s heart. And now Gran claimed Thad and Jenny were the perfect match. She’d been right about the former. Maybe she was right about everything.

* * *

Jenny sat on the couch with a book she’d dug out of her bag, pretending to read in the glow of the fluorescent lantern next to her. She found the book dull as dishwater, but it was trendy among the social circles she and Thad moved in. It had been brought up during a dinner party last week, and she was the only woman there who couldn’t intelligently discuss the book’s theme. Thad had brushed off her chagrin later, telling her everyone should understand that her business kept her too busy for much reading time, but she’d made a mental note to try to stay more current. After all, there would be many more such gatherings in her future with Thad as he cultivated important connections among potential donors and supporters.

Being a political wife was a full-time job in itself, she’d murmured then with a nervous sigh. Thad hadn’t disagreed, but he’d squeezed her hand and told her he had no doubt she would be as successful in a political partnership as she had been in everything else she’d tackled.

Not that everything she’d ever attempted had been a success, she mused, glancing up from the book to study Gavin across the cabin through her lashes.

She ran a fingertip absently along the page she was trying to read and chewed lightly on her lower lip. One of the reasons she’d needed this time to consider Thad’s proposal was because she was so keenly aware of all the repercussions of accepting. How important it would be not to fail if she decided to take on the challenge. She wouldn’t be simply formalizing a relationship, adjusting to day-to-day life with a partner who shared her bed and her breakfast table. Marrying Thad would change everything in the life she had worked very hard to achieve. And while she could certainly see the rewards, she was also aware of what she would be giving up. Her self-assigned task this weekend had been to weigh those pros and cons and decide once and for all which path was best for her, even though she’d been fairly confident her answer would be yes.

She closed the book. She would read it. Eventually. It was just too hard to concentrate with insufficient light and the distracting noise coming from the other side of the room. Frankly, she was more interested in the men’s conversation.

Gavin and his friends sat around the table with beers and cards, playing poker while they waited for the rain to stop again. They had invited her to join them, but she’d declined. Aware that she was in the room, the men probably toned down the language a bit in their lively conversation. She’d smiled to herself when she heard a couple of quick substitutions for off-color adjectives. It didn’t take her long to deduce that J.T. was also in law enforcement, though he was a state trooper rather than a city cop like Gavin and Avery. Their anecdotes, like their language, were probably toned down for her benefit, but still she winced a few times at the reminders of the unpleasant situations the three officers and the emergency medical technician found themselves in on a regular basis. She couldn’t help thinking that this was a very different type of discussion than the ones Thad and his friends engaged in. She wasn’t judging, she assured herself, just noticing.

In addition to their work, they’d chatted about rowdy gatherings for barbecues and touch football games at various homes and parks, and about an upcoming charity baseball game between cops and firefighters that would apparently involve lots of beer and trash talk. They’d mentioned a patrolman who’d been hurt in a car crash during a high-speed pursuit, but was apparently recovering well. She bit her lip at the reminder that this cheerful, gregarious group willingly put their lives on the line every day in the course of their jobs. It was a brief glimpse of Gavin’s life now—perhaps of the life she’d have shared with him had they stayed together. Lively, communal, but always with that underlying edge of worry.

She set the book aside and wandered to the window. The rain had almost stopped, though the gray sky looked more like dusk than midafternoon. She turned from the window to find Gavin watching her from the table.

“Do you need anything?” he asked. “Want me to put the kettle on?”

“Thanks, but I can do it.” She forced a smile as she moved toward the stove. “I was just wondering how the road is looking down there.”

J.T. looked up from the phone in his hand. “I just checked the weather radar. Looks like the rain’s finally cleared. The flooding should start receding fairly quickly now. State and county police have been busy working wrecks all day, but it seems to be getting better out there.”

“Considering everything, it’s amazing we all have the weekend off,” Rob commented. “Can’t even remember the last time that happened.”

“So you decided to waste your day off cleaning up my property?” Gavin shook his head in skepticism.

Jenny saw his friends exchange quick glances, but Rob replied with a lazy chuckle and a shrug. “We owe you a few favors. Remember when you drove an hour and a half to help me out after that drunk ran a stop sign and hit my car in Brinkley? It wasn’t raining, but it was cold. Below-freezing cold. We nearly froze our, uh, body parts off before we arranged to have my car towed and unloaded my things from it. All while you were facing the graveyard shift that night.”

Gavin shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “That’s not...”

“You sat up with me at the hospital for three nights straight when my dad was sick last year,” J.T. joined in to add. “Brought me coffee and sandwiches, made calls for me, anything I needed. Mom was able to go home and get some rest because she knew you were keeping me company.”

“Guys...”

Speaking over Gavin’s embarrassed protest, Avery said flatly, “Truth is, we all owe you more than a few favors. Least we can do is to help you out here to keep you from doing any more damage to that shoulder.”

Jenny wondered if most of that exchange had been for her benefit. Just what had Avery said to Rob and J.T. while she and Gavin had lingered for a few moments outside earlier? Had he told them that she and Gavin had once dated, that he believed she’d broken up with Gavin because she hadn’t thought him good enough for her? Surely they didn’t feel they needed to defend Gavin’s character to her?

She gave Avery a narrowed look, but he merely gazed blandly back at her. Rob and J.T. weren’t looking at her, but were smiling at Gavin. They seemed to enjoy their friend’s discomfiture, as if good-natured ribbing was very much a part of their typical interactions.

Gavin tossed his cards on the table and scraped his chair against the floor as he pushed back. “Can’t really focus on poker right now. I’m going to check those leaks in the bedroom again, make sure they aren’t getting any worse.”

“We can help with that, too,” J.T. assured him. “Won’t take long to nail down those shingles. That is, unless Avery tries to help. Boy’s useless with a hammer,” he added, making Avery grumble and the others laugh.

Biting her lip, Jenny filled the kettle. It was truly nice of Gavin’s friends to have driven up to help him. Obviously they’d been worried about him up here, supposedly alone after a damaging storm, at risk for reinjuring himself with the repairs they knew he’d feel compelled to tackle. Perhaps they’d thought to cheer him up with their surprise visit, unaware that he had a visitor, even if an uninvited one. Very thoughtful and supportive of them, and yet...she could never have imagined she’d end up stranded here all day with Gavin and his buddies.

How much more bizarre could this weekend get? She wasn’t having a bad time exactly, but it was just all so...awkward. And she still had to figure out a way to try to explain it all to her mother, her grandmother and Thad. They were certain to ask how her solitary weekend had gone, and she wouldn’t lie to them.

“You want me to look at that wound for you?” Rob asked Gavin, who was pacing the living room and stretching his arm.

“No, that’s okay. Jenny helped me change the bandage when it got wet earlier. It’s fine.”

She felt all eyes turn to her again, though she kept her attention focused on the selection of teas in the cupboard. She reached for the chamomile, deciding she needed its soothing benefits.

Avery stood, shifting his weight restlessly. “Did you lock the utility shed, Gav? The rain’s done for now, I think. I can start hauling the ladder and extra shingles to the back porch so they’ll be ready for us to use.”

“I can help you with it.”

“Rest your arm awhile. No need to overdo it.”

“Avery’s right,” Rob agreed. “You’ve likely overused it already today. We’re here now. Let us help.”

“Look, I appreciate the offers, but...”

“C’mon, Gav, it’s not every day you get offered free labor,” J.T. chimed in with a laugh. “Most folks have to pay for repairs on their rental properties. All
you
had to do was get shot.”

The box she’d just taken from the cupboard fell from Jenny’s suddenly limp fingers, scattering tea bags over the countertop. The kettle whistled, but it took her a moment to remove it from the burner and turn off the gas. She felt as if she were trying to move through molasses as J.T.’s words reverberated in her mind.

Shot.
Gavin had been shot? He’d lied to her?

She hadn’t realized until that moment that after all these years, he still had the power to hurt her.

Chapter Four

J.T.
seemed to sense immediately that he’d said something wrong. Maybe he picked up on the sudden tension radiating in waves through the room following his joking remark.

“I wasn’t shot.” Jenny sensed that Gavin directed the words to her, though he spoke to his friend.

Rob nodded. “Technically, that’s true.”

“Semantics,” Avery pronounced with a wave of one hand. “I’d say being hit by shrapnel from a ricochet counts as being shot.”

Gavin jerked his chin toward the back door in a less-than-subtle hint. “The utility shed is unlocked. The ladder’s on the left and the spare bundle of shingles is on the shelf to the right.”

“I’ll help you carry the stuff, Avery,” Rob offered, springing to his feet.

J.T. ambled toward the door behind them. “Might as well go out and take a look. We should be able to get started on the roof now that the rain’s stopped.”

“I’ll be out in a couple minutes,” Gavin said as his friends moved noisily outside.

Gavin waited only until the door had closed behind them before speaking to Jenny in a firm tone. “I wasn’t shot.”

She dunked her tea bag very deliberately into a mug of steaming water, her gaze focused fiercely on the task. “That’s what you keep saying.”

“I didn’t lie to you, Jen.”

He still read her all too easily. She moistened her lips. “Someone shot at you.”

“I was responding to a domestic disturbance call. A guy high on meth was shooting wildly in a courtyard. I ducked behind an open door of a panel truck, he fired a few shots in my direction and some sharp pieces of metal from the truck embedded themselves in my shoulder. The wounds weren’t life-threatening, but I had to have a minor surgical repair and I developed a mild infection afterward. Once the stitches come out in a few days, I’ll do some physical therapy to loosen up the shoulder, and then I’ll be back on the job. End of story.”

She tossed the tea bag in the trash can. “Until the next time someone shoots at you.”

“He wasn’t shooting at me. Just firing in all directions. Like I said, he was high as a kite.”

“Was anyone else hit?”

“No. The whole incident only lasted a few minutes. His weapon jammed and he was taken into custody. He’s being held now for mental evals before standing trial.”

She suppressed a shudder as she all too clearly envisioned the harrowing scene he’d described. “I guess I missed the news coverage.”

How would she have reacted, she wondered, if she’d heard Gavin’s name in a report of an officer shooting? It was one thing to hear about it when she could see him standing in front of her, looking relatively healthy and strong. But would she have panicked at not knowing how he was, even after all those years of not seeing him? Would she have hoped for the best and let it go, or would she have felt compelled to find out for certain that he would be okay?

He shrugged his good shoulder. “It happened the same day as that big warehouse fire downtown. The next morning there was that six-car wreck that shut down the river bridge and backed up rush-hour traffic for a couple hours. An addict with a gun in a high-crime neighborhood didn’t make the lead coverage. Since I didn’t actually take a bullet, the department downplayed the reports at my request.”

“Just another day at the office,” she murmured through a tight throat.

“Hardly. Despite what you see on TV, it’s a very rare occasion when I have to draw my weapon, much less fire it. I was just standing in the wrong place at the wrong time that day. The only reason I didn’t explain earlier was because I knew even after all these years, you’d turn it into an I-told-you-so.”

She met his eyes fully then. “That was a rotten thing to say.”

“Well?” he challenged, his brows drawn into a scowl. “Isn’t that exactly what you’re thinking? That you predicted ten years ago I’d probably get shot on the job?”

She hadn’t predicted it exactly. But she had feared it with every fiber of her being. She saw no reason to point out that those fears had even more justification now. By how much had that shrapnel-scattering bullet missed burrowing into his chest? A few inches? Less? Would it have made the front page if the bullet had slammed into him rather than the truck door?

“You were willing to accept the danger.”

“But you weren’t.”

Staring blindly into her tea, she heard a vague echo of her widowed mother’s heartbroken sobs whispering in the back of her mind. Remembered her own grief at the untimely loss of her father. She had never wanted to risk that devastating loss again for herself. “Do we really want to have this discussion again?”

After a moment, he muttered, “No. Hell, no.”

He moved toward the back door. “I’ll go help the guys with the shingles. No need for you to come out this time. Enjoy your tea.”

She had no intention of going back out unless her assistance was specifically requested. She very much needed some time alone, to regain her emotional equilibrium and steel herself against any further painful reminders of the past.

* * *

“Here, Gav, let me get that,” Rob said as he reached for the good-size fallen limb Gavin had just picked up. “I’ll haul it over to the burn pile for you.”

“I’ve got it.”

“It’s a little heavy. Maybe I should...”

“I said, I’ve got it.”

Rob held up both hands in response to Gavin’s snap and backed off deliberately. “Yeah, okay. It’s cool. I’ll just go get that one over there.”

Gavin let out a gusty sigh and pushed a hand through his hair. Water was still everywhere, gathered in puddles, dripping from raised surfaces, running down every incline. The ground was a slick coat of mud over the rocky surface, making them have to plant their feet carefully. They hadn’t yet started on the roof, but they’d been cleaning up debris. He’d been relieved that the damage was limited and easily repairable. It could have been much worse. Which didn’t explain his lousy mood.

Avery stood nearby when Gavin turned from throwing the limb on the pile. Hands on his hips, he scowled at Gavin. “Damn it, you’re letting her mess with your head again, aren’t you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Right.”

“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.”

She hadn’t even noticed the hammering had stopped. “That’s good. I hope there wasn’t much damage.”

“I don’t think so, but I’ll have someone out to check it before I rent the place again.”

“Good idea.”

“Look, I’m, uh, sorry about earlier. If I sounded...”

She shook her head quickly and cut in. “It’s fine. Really.”

His expression rather grim, he nodded. “The guys brought a big box of chocolate-chip cookies that J.T.’s wife made. They look really good. We thought you might like one.”

“Thank you, but I’m not hungry.”

“We’re going down to check the road in a little while, after we take a short coffee break.”

She sat up a bit straighter. “You think I’ll be able to leave soon?”

“Maybe another hour or so, just to be sure.”

She glanced at her watch. It was already four o’clock. It wouldn’t yet be fully dark by five, so it should be safe for her to leave.

“You’ll still have a long drive ahead of you back to Little Rock,” he warned. “It will be late when you get back home.”

“I could always stop somewhere along the way if I get tired. I’ll be fine.”

“You’re in quite a hurry to get away, huh?” he said after a moment.

She shrugged, her eyes trained on her car in the driveway. “It seems best, considering everything. You’ve been a very gracious host and I appreciate it. But if I can get out safely today, I think I should go.”

He didn’t try to make another argument for her to stay. He would probably be relieved when she was gone, though she couldn’t read any emotions in his expression.