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I motion toward the woman standing on my patio.

“She’s not my girlfriend,” he says.

Oh. I stare at him. Then a stupid thought drops in my head, and I say it out loud. “Is she your wife?”

He chuckles to himself, like this is funny.

“Are you laughing?”

“Hattie,” he says, voice calm. “She’s my manager.”

My heart crawls into a little hole. I’m such an idiot. “Oh.” I wince. “Sorry about that.”

“Hey, at least I know you’re jealous.” He smiles. “We might need to talk about your trust issues though.”

I smack him across the arm, wincing and feeling like a fool. “I don’t really know anything about your life out there. The people, the places, you don’t really talk about it . . .”

“I didn’t think you wanted to hear about that,” he says.

I hold his gaze. “Noble, I want to hear everything.”

He smiles and leans in for a quick kiss, then turns back. The woman is waving now. “I’m sorry in advance for whatever she says. Nell is . . . a lot.”

I follow his gaze to the patio. “What’s she doing here?”

“I have no idea,” he says under his breath. He takes my hand, and we start walking toward the lodge.

Nell crosses her arms over her chest and waits. When we reach her, Noble doesn’t say anything, and the woman only stares.

I get the sense that I’m caught in the middle of a stand-off and all the exits are blocked.

“So, you are alive,” she finally says.

“Yep,” he says.

Her eyes dart to me, and I extend a hand. “I’m Hattie.”

She gives my hand a firm shake. “Nell Jacobs.”

“Pleasure. Come inside,” I say. “Let’s get some coffee.”

Noble looks suddenly out of sorts. Like Nell being here is the equivalent of having his wisdom teeth pulled without anesthesia.

It’s true that since he’s been here, I haven’t learned much about his life out on the road. Only what I’ve picked up in bits and pieces. I know he’s tired of living in a trailer, and he’s got a few friends on the circuit. But I know nothing about the business side of it.

He hasn’t told me about Nell, and now I want to know why. Because Noble looks uncomfortable.

I don’t know the relationship, but I do know Noble doesn’t like to be told what to do. My first impression is that this woman would try to tell him what to do.

A wave of protectiveness washes through me.

I squeeze his arm as I lead them back into the lodge, motioning for them both to sit at the counter in the kitchen while I make more coffee.

“How did you find me?” Noble asks.

Nell scoffs. “Well, it wasn’t easy, I can tell you that.” She heaves a large bag onto the counter and starts rummaging through it. “Especially since you weren’t answering my texts. Or my calls. Or my emails.”

I’m turned away, endlessly busy with the making of the coffee. I’ve never scooped grounds so slowly in my life.