The Gratitude Guarantee (Boyfriend in the Bargain #4)

16. Brenna

16

brENNA

I blink once, twice, my brain unable to comprehend the signals my eyeballs are sending. There’s so much skin, stretching across broad shoulders, a toned torso, and strong legs ending in bare feet. Then, all at once, my mind and body sync up with the situation and my hands fly up to cover my eyes as I whirl away.

“Why are you naked?” I exclaim, my averted eyes squeezed shut behind my hands for good measure. “Why are you naked in the hallway ?”

“I’m locked out,” Zach says, the distress in his voice apparent. “I don’t understand how this happened.”

“Just go back in the bathroom!” I instruct, and I hear a rustle of footsteps followed by the sound of a door shutting. Uncovering one eye, I squint over my shoulder cautiously, heaving a sigh of relief to see the hallway empty.

I step over to the bathroom door and tap lightly. Zach cracks the door open about an inch and peeks out with the reddest face I’ve ever seen on anyone in my life. I’d venture to guess that mine is pretty rosy right now too, but I set aside my discomfort and clear my throat.

“I’m so, so sorry,” Zach says before I have a chance to ask again what in the world is going on. “I didn’t have a full-sized towel and my door got locked somehow and you came out at the worst possible moment.”

I hold up a hand. Now that I’ve had a few seconds to compose myself, I can see the humor in the situation. Especially since it has to be even more mortifying for Zach than it is for me.

“It’s okay. I should have warned you that the lock on that door is wonky. It sometimes clicks into place on its own if you close the door too hard or jiggle the handle just right. Dad always said he’d fix it eventually, but that room doesn’t get used all that often so I guess he just never got around to it.” I smile nonchalantly to put him at ease. “They keep a key on top of the doorframe just in case. Wait here and I’ll get it open for you.”

I run my fingers over the frame, dislodging a puff of dust, and retrieve the key. Leaving the bedroom door wide open, I turn to see Zach still watching me through his little crack.

I give him two thumbs-up. “You’re good to go, just wait until I get to the stairs.”

He nods vigorously. “Will do.”

I don’t waste any time retreating to wait for him downstairs. It’s strangely quiet for how many people are staying here, and I wonder if some of them went home with Sara and Isaac to avail themselves of the extra bathrooms at their house. I check the time as I perch on a bench in the foyer. Twenty minutes until we need to leave for the church.

Out of habit, I open up my email app while I wait and immediately feel my stomach twist as I see the email from Mr. Springfield still sitting at the top of my inbox. In all the excitement of the race and pancake breakfast—not to mention a nearly naked Zach just now—I had almost forgotten about the massive contract waiting for my attention.

I squeeze my eyes shut and breathe deeply, trying to formulate a plan for dealing with this very large and inconvenient hiccup. It’s going to take hours, which is something I don’t have today or tomorrow without skipping out on family traditions I’m looking forward to. The only option that makes sense is to stay up tonight and knock it out after everyone else is in bed. With any luck, I’ll be done in time to catch a few hours of sleep before I have to get up for Black Friday shopping with Mom, Sara, Heather, and the girls. Then, when we come back, I’ll eat lunch quickly and drive back to Nashville to have the contract at the office before the end of the day, even though I wasn’t planning to leave until Saturday.

It's not at all ideal, but I don’t see a way around it.

I square my shoulders when I hear footsteps on the stairs. It’s not like I don’t know about working hard to get what I want, and I always knew long days would be par for the course in a prestigious corporate law firm. Now that I have a plan, I just need to put my head down and get it done. Under no circumstances will I allow Robert Springfield III to ruin my Thanksgiving.

I stand up as Zach steps off the bottom stair. His cheeks still look slightly pink, and I realize I’m faced with two options: act like nothing happened or tease him mercilessly. It seems like an obvious choice to me.

“I think we should have spent more time on the rules before we left,” I tell him, crossing my arms and keeping my face neutral. “I wasn’t prepared for nudity.”

“I wasn’t naked, I had a towel,” he says in a low voice, glancing around nervously as his face flushes crimson again. “I forgot to bring clean clothes with me, and I didn’t want to put my sweaty stuff back on. In my defense, I checked to make sure the hall was unoccupied before I made a break for it. It’s not my fault the door locked and that you came out while I was…uh, compromised.”

I press my lips together to hide a smile. “Compromised? Is that what exhibitionists call it these days?”

Zach rolls his eyes and shakes his head.

“It’s okay if that’s what you’re into,” I continue as seriously as I can manage. “I just would have liked some warning.”

“If I was into exhibitionism,” he tells me, squaring off in front of me with his eyes locked on mine. “I wouldn’t have bothered with the towel at all.”

My mouth goes dry as I try to hold his gaze, but I find I’m the one with pink cheeks now. I clear my throat and let my eyes and arms drop.

“Touché.”

My mother chooses that moment to bustle into the foyer with a stack of fluffy towels in her arms. “Oh good, you’re both ready. Brenna, would you run these to the upstairs bathroom? I forgot to restock the towels this morning. I’m glad you were both able to find something to dry off with.”

“We managed,” I say, shooting Zach a deliberate look as I accept the towels.

Zach clears his throat. “It’s a little warm in here. I think I’ll just wait on the porch.”

Mom looks at me questioningly as he hightails it outside. “Is everything alright?”

“Yep,” I say cheerily. “I’ll just run these upstairs and then I’ll be ready to go.”

I smirk to myself all the way to the bathroom and while I tuck the towels into their cabinet. Elaine Hartford would have a coronary if she knew what had transpired up here over the last few minutes. It would be a dual affront to her identity as a hostess and to her traditional values.

I take a moment to double-check my appearance in the mirror above the sink before I head back downstairs. Per my own advice to Zach, I dressed simply in clothes I don’t mind getting a little dirty, namely a pair of leggings and an old sweatshirt that’s soft and comfy. I noticed he did the same with jeans and a chocolate-colored long-sleeved tee that matches his eyes perfectly.

As I eye my reflection, I question my urge to make sure I look presentable. I’m going to serve, after all, not to impress anyone. But for some reason, it matters to me that I don’t look totally frumpy in front of Zach. I don’t know why I care, since he’s not actually my boyfriend. And yet…

I frown and point a finger at myself. “Knock it off. You’ve got enough going on without adding complications like a boyfriend.”

“Are you okay?”

The voice behind me makes me jump and stumble backward. My heel catches on the bath rug, and I barely catch myself on the edge of the tub before I tumble in. I’m starting to have really bad associations with this bathroom.

“Don’t sneak up on me like that!”

Heather holds her hands up. “I was going to turn the light out on my way past and then I heard you in here talking.” She frowns and looks around. “Were you talking to yourself?”

“That’s none of your beeswax,” I say sassily.

Heather arches a brow, clearly not impressed with this reversion to my ten-year-old self. Honestly, I’m not impressed either, but it’s been a stressful morning.

“I thought I heard you say something about your boyfriend. Are you and Zach alright?”

“Of course. I was just saying…how grateful I am to have such an awesome boyfriend. You know, because it’s Thanksgiving. We should be thankful for stuff.”

Heather frowns. “You sounded kind of irritated, not grateful.”

“Heather.” I take a deep breath so that I can address her calmly instead of exploding with oh my gosh why won’t you let this go like I would like to do. “Everything is fine. Yes, you caught me talking to myself. I do that sometimes. It’s not a big deal.”

Heather still doesn’t look convinced, but a glance at her watch seems to make her decide that there’s no time to investigate further. “Alrighty, then. You ready to go?”

I smooth a hand over my ponytail and nod.

Ben and Dad volunteer to drive, so we all pile into the cars and head out. I subtly pull Zach towards the car my parents are in to avoid Heather. The last thing I need is for her to decide that while we’re trapped in a moving vehicle would be a good time to ask personal questions about my and Zach’s relationship, which she’s definitely curious about. Heather always was the nosiest sibling. I guess there are some things you never outgrow.

We arrive at the church at ten forty-five, a little over an hour before the meal is scheduled to be served. Inside, Margie gives us assignments. My mom, of course, is asked to help with the preparation of the food since her kitchen skills are no secret. She takes my dad with her, and Margie randomly chooses Ben, Sara, and Isaac to assist them. Bella and Kenzie are given the task of setting the long tables in the fellowship hall with napkins and silverware.

That leaves me, Zach, and Heather to wash and dry dishes together at the back of the kitchen at the two industrial-sized sinks. The volunteers who were here before us have already left quite a pile of pots and pans, so we roll up our sleeves, pull on some sexy yellow rubber gloves, and set to work.

“So, Zach,” Heather begins almost at once. I temper the urge to sigh dramatically and tell her to mind her own again. Something about being in the place I grew up with my siblings brings out my juvenile side. “Tell me what it was that drew you to our Brenna.”

Zach cuts a glance at me, then smiles. “Well, it would certainly be hard not to notice how beautiful she is as soon as you meet her. But now that I’ve gotten to know her, I think the thing I admire most is how much she loves her family.”

I keep my eyes on the baking sheet I’m scrubbing, but I’m definitely listening.

“When she told me all about you guys and how much fun you have together, I could tell how much she cares about you all. I’m just lucky that she can spare some of that care for me, too.”

I glance up and he sends me a wink that makes my heart leap into my throat. And again I wonder, how did I never notice before this trip how attractive he is? It’s like I woke up out of a coma and had to relearn basic facts about life. Fact #1: Zach is a cutie.

“And how did you meet again?”

“At the gym,” he replies. “We usually get there around the same time most days, so we run together.”

Heather nods along. “And where was your first date?”

I’m starting to squirm as the questions get more specific, and I can’t help but wonder if she suspects that something isn’t right. Maybe I can head her off at the pass. “Why the interrogation, sis?”

“Can’t a girl ask about her little sister’s life?” she responds brightly. “I’m just interested in y’all’s love story.”

“Why don’t you tell Zach how you met Ben instead?” I suggest.

“Oh no, he doesn’t want to hear about that.” Heather looks distinctly uncomfortable now, as I intended.

“I really think he does.” I look over at Zach. “Heather was a pet sitter/dog walker one summer in college.”

“Oh yeah?” Zach takes my cue. “I bet that was interesting.”

“It sure was,” I say when Heather only responds with a smile. “She has lots of stories, but my favorite is how she nearly killed Ben.”

“I didn’t ‘nearly kill’ him,” Heather corrects me, taking over the story with exasperation. “I was walking four dogs regularly—two labs, a corgi, and a chihuahua. Ben was doing yard work for a few houses in that neighborhood, so I would see him a couple of times a week. I thought he was cute, but I wasn’t sure how to strike up a conversation.”

“Until one of the labs got loose,” I say helpfully.

Heather shudders. “And of course, it was the one who never listened. I don’t think he’d had any training at all. He was always dragging me around and jumping on people. So when his leash broke, he ran away and made a beeline straight for Ben. Ben didn’t see him coming, so when that stupid dog barreled into the back of his knees, he hit the ground hard.”

“Ouch.” Zach winces.

“Long story short, Ben is severely allergic to dogs, and here this one was licking his face. He was already wheezing by the time I got up there, but luckily, he had an inhaler and was able to get his asthma under control about as quickly as I got the dogs under control.”

“And then Heather felt so bad that she asked him if she could buy him dinner to apologize.”

“Yes, I did,” Heather says with a proud smile. “And after that first one, he’s been paying for all our dates ever since.”

Just as we reach the bottom of the pile, Isaac brings over a stack of baking sheets piled high with saucepans. “Got any extra gloves? Mom said that I should spend some time with my sisters.”

“What did you do?” Heather gives him a knowing look.

“I might have put twice as much salt in the gravy as Mom told me to because I was talking to Pastor Jeff instead of paying attention.”

“Talking too much has always been your downfall,” I quip as I scoot toward Zach to make room for Isaac. “Don’t worry, I’m sure Mom can fix it.”

“She said she could, but I don’t think she wanted to risk any other mishaps, thus my banishment hither.”

“Well, there’s no need for four of us to be here,” Heather announces, pulling off her gloves. “I’m going to go check on the girls.”

Isaac takes her place beside me and cuts his eyes back and forth between me and Zach. “So, how’d the two of you meet?”

This time I can’t hold back a groan and an eye roll. “Apparently, I should have sent out a newsletter before we came. It seems that Zach and I are all anyone can think about today.”

“Yeesh, sorry. I was just making conversation. Let’s talk about something else. How’s work?”

“It’s…fine.” There’s a moment of silence as my lackluster response hangs in the air like a bad smell. I elaborate vaguely. “Just busy. You know how it is. What about you? Still selling houses like crazy?”

Isaac reaches across me for the bottle of dish soap and shakes his head. “I guess now would be a good time to tell you I switched careers.”

My hands still and I turn to look at him. “But I thought you loved being a Realtor. What are you doing now?”

“There were some things I liked about it and other things I didn’t.” His brow creases as he explains. “Working evenings and weekends was getting to be hard as the boys are getting older. Sara and I really want them to have what we had—family dinners and a dad who came to all our soccer games. So, I got my insurance license and found a job with an agency nearby. Now I work eight to five every day and I never miss dinner.”

“Huh.” I absently scrub circles on another baking sheet as I try to process this. “That sounds like a big shift.”

Isaac shrugs. “Not as big as you might think. I already know a lot about what homeowners need in an insurance policy from my work as a Realtor, and I still get to talk to new people every day, which was my favorite part of realty.”

“So how long ago did you switch?”

“About two months ago?”

“Isaac! Why didn’t you tell me before now?”

“Why didn’t you tell me you have a boyfriend?” His pointed look hits its mark.

“Okay, so it sounds like we need to do better at communicating between holidays,” I admit. “Like a weekly update or something. And we should probably include Heather too.”

Isaac laughs. “That’s just like you to immediately propose an actionable solution. But I like it. I’m in.”

“Good.” I suddenly realize that we’ve been totally ignoring Zach and I make an attempt to pull him into the conversation. “Zach made a pretty big career shift, too.”

“What do you do now?” Isaac asks.

I barely listen as Zach gives Isaac more or less the same account of his professional path that he told me on the roof yesterday. Instead, I’m preoccupied with pondering my brother’s revelation. It hit me much the same way Zach’s similar story had. How were they able to make such a big change like that? It sounds terrifying, to be honest. To give up all the progress you’ve made on a chosen career and do something totally different?

I admire them for doing it because I know I could never make a switch like that myself. I spent years working toward the position I currently occupy in a prominent corporate law firm. Sure, it has its cons, but I can’t let all my hard work go to waste. If I can just stick it out long enough, I’ll take a few steps up the ladder and things will get better.

I’m sure of it.

The pile of dishes has dwindled to almost nothing, so now seems like a good time to excuse myself. I pull off my gloves and apron and pile them on the counter. “I’m going to the restroom. You boys be good while I’m gone.”

It only takes me about four minutes to take care of business, but when I get back, the kitchen is empty. I wander out into the dining room, where everyone is gathered to pray over the meal before we begin serving. I pause beside Heather just in time to see Isaac nudge Zach forward.

He clears his throat and looks around nervously. “I was just told that the newest volunteer always gives a Thanksgiving speech.”

Heather gasps beside me, and I follow her wide-eyed gaze to where Isaac and Ben are smirking and elbowing each other.

“They didn’t,” I whisper in horror. I take a step forward, but Heather stops me with a hand on my arm as Zach continues speaking. “You’ll just make it worse,” she whispers.

“I’m not much of a speaker, but here’s what I know about gratitude.” Zach slips his hands in his pockets and addresses the crowd with sincerity. “It’s all too easy to be grateful in hindsight after you’ve lost something or someone important to you. The harder way to be grateful is to be aware of everything you have in the moment, but it’s the best way to be grateful if you can manage it. So don’t wait for tomorrow. I challenge each of you to think of two or three things you’re thankful for today, right this minute.” His eyes find mine across the room and he smiles. “I’ll bet you can accomplish it just by looking at the people around you right now.”

“Thank you, Zach,” Pastor Jeff says graciously, patting him on the shoulder and rolling with this unexpected addition to the program. “That was beautifully said. Now, let’s have a word of prayer and dig into this delicious meal.”

Heather and I exchange glances and let out a breath of relief. I’m going to kill Isaac. As soon as the prayer ends, I march across the room to where Zach, Ben, and Isaac are gathered in one corner, Heather one step behind me.

As soon as I reach them, I smack Isaac on the shoulder. “What was that?”

He grins, not at all alarmed by my irritation. “Just a little good-natured fun. He did great, didn’t he?”

I glance over at Zach who wears a look of confusion. “These two comedians set you up. There’s no ‘Thanksgiving speech.’” I air quote with the greatest of sarcasm.

I expect him to be mad that he got played, but instead, he laughs and elbows Isaac. “Good one, man. You totally had me.”

Isaac grins back and offers a fist bump. “You really did do a good job. I didn’t know you had it in you.”

Zach dips into a mock bow. “Thank you very much.”

I just stand there, open-mouthed and off-kilter, unsure how to react when the guy who just got pranked isn’t even offended. I glance at Heather who just shrugs. “Boys,” she says with a shake of her head.

Mom’s voice cuts in, and we all turn to see her beckoning us toward the buffet line to help serve. I glance once more at Zach, double-checking that he doesn’t seem upset but he looks perfectly content. No harm, no foul, it seems. I breathe a sigh of relief, glad the man has a good sense of humor.