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“Okay, fine,” I hiss, looking around, like we’re spies about to exchange the dossier for the flash drive. “We kissed,” I say, even though that’s a little bit of an understatement. I spike a fever just saying it out loud.

She practically squeals, and I shush her.

“We’re being adults about this, Rowena.”

“I know, but Hattie! It’s Noble. Love of your life Noble,” she says. “This is a huge deal.”

“This is the opposite of playing it cool,” I hiss.

“I can’t help it,” she says. “It’s what I’ve been hoping for.” She reaches down and takes my hand like we’re kids on the playground again. “I’m so glad you guys sorted everything out. I mean, it was about time you talked it all through.”

I go still.

She looks at me. “You did talk it through, right? Why he left, how you felt . . .?”

“Not exactly,” I say, a wave of panic washing over me.

“Oh.” She frowns, then brightens. “Well, that’s okay. Talking is overrated anyway, right?”

I shoot her a look.

“Don’t overthink it, Hattie,” she says.

“Oh, I probably will,” I say on a sigh. I’ve been so caught up in the Noble of it all that I let myself forget about the Hattie part.

Hattie needs to know some things.

He said he was sorry, but I still don’t know why he left. Why he never said goodbye. The problem with falling for the same person twice in the same lifetime is that the second time you fall, it’s faster. Gravity’s doubled. There’s no easing in. No slow burn.

One delicious kiss and you’re just . . . gone. Logic and reason go straight out the window.

I cover my mouth with my hand. “I kissed him,” I blurt, reliving it momentarily. “A lot.”

“Was it amazing?!”

I nod, hand still over my mouth. “So amazing.”

“So, what’s the problem?”

“It’s Noble,” I say, resigned. “I’m going to fall apart when he leaves.”

“Who said he’s leaving?”

I give her a pained look.

“Maybe he won’t,” she says. “He’s been talking like he wants to stay. Maybe he just needed a reason to.”

“And what? I’m the reason?”

“Why is that so hard to believe?” she says.

“I wasn’t enough to keep him here before,” I say, a little miserable. A little terrified.

Rowe presses her lips together, like she’s thinking. She comes back with, “Just see what happens. Maybe it’ll be exactly what you’ve been hoping for.”

“Girls!” Momma calls out again. “Get over here and vote for these scarecrows! Your nieces are depending on you!”

Rowe squeezes my hand. “I mean, I didn’t know him as well as you did back then, but he sure seems like he’s changed. He was young and stupid and really messed up the last time he lived here, but he’s not a kid anymore. He’s a grown-up. A hot one.”