Gretchen looked at me. “You didn’t tell her?”
“It’s not my secret to tell,” I said, following her into the living room.
Gretchen plopped onto the couch. “Fine. I’ll just put it out there.” She looked up at Lucy. “I’ve been seeing Greg again.”
“What? Greg as inGreg? Greg Theo?” Lucy’s eyes doubled in size. “I think I need to sit down. Liv, alcohol,” she instructed. “Now.”
I kept one ear on the conversation as I headed into the kitchen to uncork the wine.
“Greg called me a few months ago to say he’d taken a job here,” Gretchen said. “In Chicago.”
“Oh, my,” Lucy said, and I could imagine her shaking her head.
“I didn’t call him back at first,” Gretchen continued. “After several attempts to get in touch, though, I finally gave in and agreed to see him.”
“Seriously?” Lucy asked as I took three wineglasses from a cupboard and got to pouring.
“Yes. It started with a drink, an apology for what he’s put me through. He said he’d made a mistake by leaving.” Gretchen sniffed. “The second time we met up, he said he wanted to try again.”
“And you agreed?” Lucy asked.
I carried out the three glasses of red wine, set them on the coffee table, and sat next to Lucy.
“Of course I protested,” Gretchen said, picking up her glass, “but you know how it goes. One thing led to another, and well, we’ve started dating again.”
Lucy clamped a hand over her mouth and muffled, “You’ve been keeping this to yourself?”
“Yes. I guess I was afraid he’d change his mind again. It was mortifying the first time being dumped like that. I don’t exactly want witnesses if it happens again.”
“He’sthe one who should be mortified,” I pointed out and took a sip.
“Why did he move here?” Lucy asked.
Gretchen handed Lucy the last glass of wine. “There was an opening with his company, but . . .”
“But what?” I asked.
“Well, he says that’s not the reason. Something about coming back to be with me,” she said, reddening. “Because he misses how we were.”
Lucy sighed and rested her chin in her hand. “Wow.”
“I’m not sure I believe it, though,” Gretchen added.
“Why wouldn’t you?” Lucy demanded, her tone teetering on outrage. “It’s every girl’s fantasy to have a man come back and grovel for her like that.”
“He doesn’t exactly have a squeaky clean record,” I reminded Lucy. “Who knows if he’s being sincere?”
“But maybe it’s different this time,” Lucy countered. “People change. They want different things as they get older.”
“That’s putting a lot of faith in him,” Gretchen said.
Lucy looked thoughtful as she took a sip of wine. “So let me get this straight. He left his entire life behind and moved across anoceanfor you. Geez, that’s like right out of a movie.”
Gretchen looked skeptical. “I don’t know if I would quite say—”
“This is like, super romantic,” Lucy chirped over her. “He realized he made a huge mistake and couldn’t spend another day without you.”
Gretchen rolled her eyes, but a dimple appeared in her cheek.
