Gray handed him the issue of Good Housekeeping, open to the inflammatory article about the Magruders. Luke hunkered over it, his eyes moving quickly across the page as he devoured every word.

“The Magruders are on the defensive,” Gray said once Luke finished reading. “Plenty of newspapers picked up on this story and are expressing outrage. A couple of them have undertaken their own test of Magruder products. Their ‘pure’ maple syrup has been found to be chemically flavored corn syrup. Same with their honey. The issue is snowballing, and the Magruders are backpedaling like mad. Every time Clyde makes a campaign speech, people ask him about it.”

“Do you think he can still get elected?”

Gray shrugged. “Impossible to say. He’s a glib speaker, and a lot of powerful interests are still behind him.”

Luke flipped back to the beginning of the article to read it again, a distinct look of satisfaction on his pirate’s face. In the endless days and months ahead, sheer boredom would no doubt drive him to devour every word of the magazine over and over, and Gray shifted uneasily on the bench.

“There’s another article in there,” he said reluctantly. “You can ignore it. The writer completely misinterpreted what she saw.”

Luke glanced up, questions in his eyes. It was better to answer them directly than let Luke’s imagination run wild.

“It’s on page thirty-two.”

Luke flipped to the drippy article that implied Gray was over the moon for Annabelle Larkin. It had been six weeks since he returned to Washington, and they hadn’t exchanged a single word. But that didn’t mean he hadn’t seen her.

Twice he had deliberately loitered outside the Library of Congress, where she came each day to escort her sister home. He’d told himself it was because he was meeting Caroline and already in that part of town, but it wasn’t true. He just wanted to see Annabelle. He couldn’t explain why. She never noticed him sitting on the park bench across the street, and he fully intended to quit doing it but hadn’t quite yet.

“You’re still seeing Annabelle Larkin?” Luke asked after finishing the article.

“No. She was there and she helped, but we have both moved on. My relationship with her is completely over.”

“Really? Caroline and I both thought she was the only person who could put up with your grayer-than-Gray personality and still be in a good mood.”

Should he tell Luke? He didn’t want to badmouth Annabelle, but Luke deserved to know.

“Annabelle is the one who turned you in. She was out at Windover Landing and found what was inside the raccoon shed.”

Luke’s eyes widened, first in amazement, then relief. “I was afraid it might have been Otis.”

“No fear of that,” Gray said. “In any event, I won’t be seeing Annabelle anymore. It’s over.”