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dated. “We. Never. Dated.”
    There’d been that one time…but that hadn’t been a date. And she’d put the whole nightmare incident out of her mind. Evidently he hadn’t.
    Despite the ice in her voice, he merely smiled. Well, mere wasn’t the appropriate word. When he smiled, his whole face crinkled up, deep lines around his eyes and mouth that said he was a man who’d smiled often through the years. His mustache wasn’t as big as Ty’s had always been and he wore a neatly trimmed goatee that framed his mouth, making his amusement and pleasure all the more obvious.
    “You see,” he continued, “The Garretts and Healys were friends from the beginning, so I was always escorting Ginny to various dances and parties, along with our parents of course. I almost asked her before I left for college, but I wanted to have my degree and be settled into a practice before I committed anything, so I waited until she got back from a yearlong trip to Ireland. Meanwhile, Tyrell moved into town, started working as a farm hand at the Healys’, and the next time I came home, I realized it was too late. I’d waited too damned long, and he’d won her hand before I could even ask.”
    She wasn’t surprised that Conn’s romantic heart had been snagged by the tale, a bemused smile on his face. But even her hard son, Victor, seemed interested in hearing more about his mother’s nonexistent love life. “That’s not how it went at all.”
    “We all managed to stay friends, though.” Jeb went on as though she hadn’t said a word. “Ty had a way about him that wouldn’t let people hold grudges. We even went out on a double date together years later, me with Sharon—my ex—and Ty and Ginny. So in that regard, we did date.”
    “Why don’t we say grace?” Virginia tried to change the subject, uncomfortable in a way that surprised her. She’d known Jeb had fancied her all those years ago. How hard had it been for him to see her married to someone else? For them to go out on a double date? She’d already been married by then, but he’d asked her to accompany him and Sharon as if he needed her approval of his bride first.
    Had he really pined for her? Surely not. The man had been married to the same woman for at least twenty, twenty-five years.
    Everyone reached out their hands. Which meant she had to slip her right hand into Jeb’s big palm, while her son gently laid his hand over her left hand in the cast. She hadn’t held a man’s hand in a coon’s age, even for something as innocent as prayer. His fingers were strong, gripping her firmly as though she might try to yank her hand away and he wanted to hold on. It brought out latent urges in her. She wanted to clamp her hand harder around his, to punish those fingers for touching her before she’d given explicit permission. Only so she could invite his touch again.
    Conn began the prayer before Victor could, which made her want to curse in a most un-Christian-like way. Dr. English Professor went on and on, leaving her hand pressed against Jeb’s for far too long. Long enough that the shared heat made her palm sweat just a little. The promise of so much more.
    The rattle of silverware made her jerk back to attention. Jeb tightened his fingers even more, keeping her hand pressed to his. She met his gaze and then couldn’t look away. Molten dark chocolate eyes locked onto hers, narrowed with intense concentration. It was like he was silently trying to tell her something. No, yelling at her, without saying a word, demanding some reaction from her.
    He’d moved her. The fact shook her to her core. No man had ever moved her except Ty.
    That’s a lie.
    A lie I can’t face.
    She firmly pulled her hand from his and looked down at the table. She put a bright smile on her face. “I’m so glad you’re all here, even if the circumstances aren’t the best. Thank you all for coming.” And then she endeavored to not even look at Jebadiah Garrett again.

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