“I try to be.” She looked at him. “Okay, enough about that. What are you getting Harrison for Christmas?”

They talked while she sipped her cocktail, then ordered dinner. Conversation flowed easily. Toby was as interesting as he’d ever been, and they still shared a sense of humor. He had her laughing at descriptions of failed hand pie flavors when she sensed someone approaching. She turned and felt her laughter fade when she saw Jake Crane standing by their table.

“Hello, Reggie.”

Toby’s first reaction was annoyance, followed by a somewhat violent urge to punch Jake in the face. He and the other man had been rivals in high school, which didn’t matter much, but they’d also both loved Reggie, which suddenly mattered a lot.

He glanced at her, trying to gauge what she was thinking. Her wide-eyed expression made it clear she’d had no idea Jake was back in Wishing Tree, let alone in the same restaurant.

“Jake,” she said, her voice surprised. “Hi.”

Jake smiled at her. “I was walking by and saw you. I thought I’d come say hello. It’s been a while.”

“It has.”

“I’m in town to spend the holidays with my mom. This time of year is hard for her, what with her missing my dad and all.” He turned to Toby. “Newkirk.”

“Crane.”

Reggie glanced between them. “You two do know you each have a first name, right?”

Toby kept his gaze on Jake. “It’s a guy thing.”

Jake looked back at Reggie. “I’ll let you get on with your dinner. I just... It’s good to see you.”

Good to see her? What the F did that mean? Only Toby could guess, and he didn’t like it one bit. Jake had proposed to Reggie and then dumped her, all within forty-eight hours. Guys who did that weren’t supposed to say it was good to see her. They were supposed to crawl into a cave somewhere and never come out. Or at the very least, they were supposed to stay away from Wishing Tree and not interrupt dinners.

Jake nodded at both of them before walking away. Reggie watched him go, then turned her attention to Toby.

“That was strange. No one told me he was back. I’m going to have to talk to Paisley and find out if she’s failing at being my best source for gossip or if she was scared to tell me.”

Her tone was more quizzical than concerned, and if he had to guess, he would say that she was surprised to see Jake but not emotionally overwhelmed. Still, she had agreed to marry him and spend the rest of her life with him, so she had to be feeling something.

“You okay?” he asked, still irritated but determined not to show it.

“I’m fine.” She smiled at him. “I’m also ready to change the subject.”