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back. James didn’t notice as he focused completely on Lindsey, smiling in a way he never smiled at Gracie.
    Wait. Gracie blinked, her heart speeding up. Was she his girlfriend? Were they, like, a couple? But nobody had ever mentioned him having a girlfriend. Maddie had never mentioned it. Cecilia hadn’t. God knew James had never said anything. Surely, at some point, someone would have said something . Gracie’s mind searched frantically through a year’s worth of conversation only to discover she hardly knew anything personal about the professor.
    So it was possible.
    But then why wasn’t she joining them for dinner?
    As soon as they’d sat down, Maddie worried at her bottom lip as she looked back to where James still stood. “I hope that’s not trouble.”
    Gracie’s ears perked up. What was this? She quelled the urge to twist around and check out what he was doing. She cursed her choice of a spot. Damn it. She couldn’t see anything.
    Shane peered over Gracie’s shoulder to where his brother stood, and scowled.
    What was going on? What was he frowning at? She gripped her menu. She had to know. Not because she cared, but because she was curious. She’d always been a curious person. Her momma had always said as much.
    â€œI’m sure he’ll be fine. That was a long time ago,” Shane said.
    Okay, that sounded like the past. But Gracie couldn’t be sure with the way they’d looked at each other, with those sweet smiles. Or the way Lindsey fluttered her thick lashes at him. And the tilt of James’s body into her frail frame.
    Gracie needed to know what they were talking about right now. But she couldn’t very well ask. She scanned the table and settled on her target. Mitch. After living next door to him for so many years in Revival, she’d been friends with him longer than anyone else at the table. She picked up her water glass, cleared her throat, and zeroed in on him. She narrowed her eyes, staring at him until he sensed her and glanced in her direction.
    Ask what’s going on. Ask what’s going on. Ask what’s going on. A frantic chant in her head.
    Amber eyes dancing with amusement, he raised a brow. “What?”
    Stupid man. She sighed and tilted her head fractionally at his wife.
    Mitch stared at her for ten full seconds and then comprehension dawned, lighting his expression. He poked Maddie’s waist, and pointed in Gracie’s direction. “Gracie wants to know what’s going on.”
    The rat bastard. She huffed. “You’re the worst friend ever.”
    With a sly smile, he shrugged. “Turnabout is fair play.”
    â€œWhat did I ever do to you?”
    â€œDo you want a list?”
    Since they’d known each other since childhood, when Mitch and Cecilia would come visit their grandparents in Revival every summer, Gracie wasn’t surprised he had a standing list of grievances.
    She shifted her attention toward Maddie. Cover blown, she might as well ask all the questions burning a hole in her gut. “Who is that woman?”
    Maddie glanced around and leaned forward.
    Gracie held her breath. It was his girlfriend. Gracie could feel it in her bones.
    â€œLindsey and James met in graduate school,” Maddie said.
    Gracie experienced a sinking in her stomach.
    â€œThey were together for five years. We thought they were going to get married, but then one day she wasn’t with him for Sunday dinner,” Maddie continued, ripping Gracie away from the questions racing through her head.
    Gracie released her pent-up breath. Not a girlfriend. An ex -girlfriend. But, still, there were obviously feelings there. Or were there? She got along famously with Charlie. They even flirted sometimes. It was possible to have a good, nonsexual relationship with someone you used to sleep with. She was living proof of that.
    But she didn’t look at Charlie like she wanted to eat him for